Vintage Base Ball Day

Experience 19th century style “base ball” at Meadowcroft.

It’s time to PLAY BALL, 19th-century style! Come watch base ball (originally two words) 19th-century style with the Somerset Frosty Sons of Thunder and the Addison Mountain Stars who will use 1860s rules. Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy America’s favorite pastime! 

The teams will use the rule book adopted on March 14, 1860, by the National Association of Base-Ball Players that included many distinct differences from the pastime we know and love today:

• Gloves were not commonly used.
• Players were referred to as “ballists.”
• A batter was called a “striker.”
• A fly ball caught after one bounce resulted in the batter, or striker, being called out. 

Throughout the day, step even further back in time and enjoy family-friendly activities offered at Meadowcroft. Please note that the Frontier area will be closed due to the game. 

Explore an Indian wigwam in a recreated 16th-century Monongahela Indian Village, watch a blacksmith forge red-hot iron in the 19th-century Meadowcroft Village, and tour the Rockshelter, a National Historic Landmark and the oldest site of human habitation in North America. 

Admission

Vintage Base Ball Day is included with regular admission.