Gilroy
– There is a whiff of the old Harlem Globetrotter-Washington
Generals’
”
rivalry
”
to the inaugural season of Bay Area Vintage Base Ball.
There are only two teams in the competition
– the South County Jaspers and the San Jose Dukes. The Jaspers,
with a 13-12 win on Sunday at a game started at Morgan Hill’s
Community Park and wrapped up at Santa Clara University’s Stephen
Schott Stadium, are now 4-0 against the Dukes in head-to-head
play.
Gilroy – There is a whiff of the old Harlem Globetrotter-Washington Generals’ “rivalry” to the inaugural season of Bay Area Vintage Base Ball.
There are only two teams in the competition – the South County Jaspers and the San Jose Dukes. The Jaspers, with a 13-12 win on Sunday at a game started at Morgan Hill’s Community Park and wrapped up at Santa Clara University’s Stephen Schott Stadium, are now 4-0 against the Dukes in head-to-head play.
Of course, the Dukes, unlike those designated losers on the Washington Generals, aren’t really supposed to be fall guys for the Jaspers.
It’s just that it’s turned out that way, so far.
And if the Dukes are itching for a win – the BAVBB is as much about the “base ball” as it is about the vintage – their clashes with the Jaspers go far beyond who’s ahead in the standings.
Throw in a pinch of a Renaissance Fair and a generous helping of “Sunday in the Park with George,” and you’ve got vintage baseball. At each game, there’s solid competition, entertainment for the whole family and a history lesson to boot.
The teams play by the rules of 1886, dress in the baggy uniforms of that bygone age and sport nicknames out of a Victorian penny novel.
On Sunday, the Jaspers and Dukes were knotted at 11-11 after five innings of play at Community Park. The teams and their fans – or “cranks” as they’re called in the lingo of the late 19th century – then headed north to Schott Stadium to wrap up the game.
Some 250 cranks were on hand to see Jasper “striker” (hitter) David “Skip” Rodgers come through. With two runners on in the bottom of the seventh, San Martin’s Rodgers belted a triple, two “aces” (runs) scored, and Bob’s your uncle – the Jaspers were up 4-0.
It was the largest crowd for a BAVBB game this season, said Jasper skipper Gary “Pops” Cooper of San Martin.
“We’re used to having about 20 people, so it was different,” he said. “It put a little pressure on us. Even some of the college players (from SCU) were making some pretty good remarks about it.”
The Dukes raced out to an 11-7 lead after three innings at Community Park. Justin “Squeak” Keen of Morgan Hill, on the mound for the Jaspers, shut down the San Jose side for the next two innings as the boys from South County battled back to tie the score.
When play resumed at Schott Stadium, neither team could muster an ace in the sixth. The Dukes plated an ace in the top of the seventh to go up 12-11, but like those Generals, saw it all come to naught as Rodgers and the Jaspers pulled out another win in their half of the frame.
Leading the way for the Jaspers with the lumber was Kenny “Cyclone” Silva of Morgan Hill, who rapped out three base hits. With the leather – tiny replica leather, to boot – Morgan Hill’s Mike “Professor” Ballen was sharp, pulling off the old hidden ball trick to catch a Duke runner at second base.
Though the rivalry between the two teams has been one-sided so far, Pops Cooper explained that games are getting closer.
“(The Jaspers) have the oldest players but we also have the youngest players,” he said. “Our age group is 18 to 56 … the Dukes play us real tough in the beginning, but towards the end the (younger) legs win out.
“The gap’s definitely narrowing. We’ve won the last two games by just one run.”
He said BAVBB expects to have several more teams participate next season.
“We’re working all the angles publicity wise,” Cooper said. “(BAVBB president) Steve (Gazay) has had about 50 people saying they want to play … Steve’s put a lot of effort into this, spent hours and hours at libraries to find out how the game is played.”
Cooper said the sportsmanship dictated by BAVBB makes vintage baseball perfect for instructing young people about the game.
“I’m wanting to push on to the younger kids that you can play the game and have fun and you don’t have to be all in your face,” he said. “There’s no spitting, no cussing and that kind of stuff (in BAVBB games).
“We don’t allow wearing your hat backwards.”
In olden days …
The Jaspers and Dukes renew their rivalry May 15, with a game at San Jose’s Hamann Park at 9:30am, followed by a trip down Memory Lane on the recreated 19th-century streets of Kelly Park’s “History San Jose.”
For more information about BAVBB, visit their steam-powered Web site at www.eteamz.com/BAVBB.
