Fort McHenry issues hardball challenge to Hampton Mansion

by Jenny Wierschem

Okay, Peninsula folks, here’s a chance to go on the road to root for the home team. Nope, the games isn’t the Orioles, and it’s not Ravens season. This away game is just a mere ball throw outside of city lines. The rangers at Fort McHenry, aka the Locust Point Lamplighters, and the rangers from Hampton, the Towsontown Toughs, are going to play an early version of baseball against one another—while wearing Victorian garb.

The rangers vs. rangers Town Ball game will take place Sunday, June 24 as part of the Victorian Games Day at Hampton National Historic Site in Towson. Vistors are welcome to bring picnic lunches and to participate in all games, including the Town Ball game.

“The thing that’s neat is that we want visitors to participate in the game,” says Vince Vaise, chief ranger for both Fort McHenry National Monument and HIstoric Shrine and Hampton. “Though we will have people in period attire, it’s by no means limited to them.”

Town Ball was a precursor of baseball. The games differ in a few important details. Town Ball uses five bases instead of four. The field is square shaped, rather than a diamond. The bat used for the game is smaller and the ball is sized somewhere between a baseball and a softball. As for the bases, they are as low-tech as it gets: bags filled with straw.

Vaise describes the game as more “rough and tumble” than baseball. Players can get a member of the other team out just by throwing a ball at them and hitting them. Of course, if the thrower misses, then that person’s team loses valuable time scrambling for the ball while the other team’s players round the bases.

“It was a game really enjoyed by most Americans, just like baseball is today,” says Vaise.

Civil War soldiers played Town Ball , as did working class people and gentlemen. Modern people also share other amusements in common with those from the Victorian era.

“We still have Little Leagues, picnics, and barbecues,” says Vaise. “What we do is living history too.”

Other games scheduled for the event include croquet, hoop and stick, graces and cup and ball. Hoop and stick is a game where a child runs alongside a hoop while keeping it moving forward with a stick. For graces, young women would toss a ring back and forth, catching it with a pair of sticks apiece. Cup and ball was a game where a ball was attached by a string to a cup, and a child would try to catch the ball in the cup.
To set the scene further, musicians will play period music at Hampton that day on hammered dulcimer, banjo and other instruments. The musicians will play tunes such as “Old Kentucky Home,” “Oh Susanna,” “Daisy Bell,” and “The Band Played On.”

All Victorian Day Games will take place at the farmhouse across the street from the historic mansion. (The mansion is currently closed for renovations.) The farmhouse, which is surrounded by pasture land, sits on 14 acres and dates to the colonial era.
As for the Town Ball game that day, Vaise is hoping for a strong showing from home, both in terms of vistors and fellow teammates.

“We want the Locust Point residents to come out and join us on the Lamplighters team,” says Vaise.

Note: For information about Victorian Games Day at Hampton, call the park at 410-823-1309. For information about Hampton National Historic Site (including directions) visit www.nps.gov/hamp. The event is Sunday, June 24 from noon-4:30 p.m. Admission is free and picnic baskets and blankets are encouraged.