Cantigny playing host to vintage baseball
Most days when Will Buhlig goes to work, he is the assistant director of the Robert R. McCormick Museum.
For six days this summer, he will don the uniform of a baseball player from 1858.
No, he doesn't own a time machine.
He's part of Cantigny Park's vintage baseball team.
“We have an enthusiastic bunch, so I think we'll do pretty well,” Buhlig said.
The team, comprised of park administrators, frequently participates in weekend tournaments. Though the group is newer than most in the area, Buhlig believes what they lack in practice they make up for in effort. Though the Cantigny team will not take the field this weekend, baseball enthusiasts of all ages are invited to come out from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Sunday, July 24, to celebrate America's favorite pastime the way it was played in 1858.
The three-team round-robin tournament will be held on the Parade Field at Cantigny Park, 1S151 S. Winfield Road, and is a free event, excluding parking fees. The tournaments began at Cantigny in 2008 and a year later, the park had its own vintage baseball team.
“Here at Cantigny I think we have an excellent venue for this event,” Buhlig said.
This summer, after increased public interest, the park increased the number of vintage baseball events to six over the course of the summer.
“It's very colorful and it's very vocal,” Buhlig said. “A lot of the players try not only to play the game but also to see themselves as almost educational tools.”
Buhlig says the team that is up to bat often will wander among the crowd to chat with spectators and teach them about the game.
Die-hard baseball lovers won't find themselves struggling to understand the vintage regulations. The Civil War-era variation acts as a “prelude to modern baseball rules” with a few notable exceptions.
“There's no gloves,” Buhlig said. “Everything's barehanded, which is probably the most surprising thing people respond to.”
The DuPage County Plowboys, Somonauk Blue Stockings and Oregon Ganymedes will participate in an old-school showdown Sunday during the afternoon of seven-inning games.
Buhlig says there are between 15 and 20 vintage baseball teams throughout northern Illinois that keep interest in the historic hobby alive.