With the turn of the calendar to April, most vintage base ball clubs have either begun play or will begin play shortly. All ballists look forward to the day they can put their uniform on again, go out there, bang out hits, and make incredible catches on the fly, or bound. But with that comes a responsibility. Know the rules and customs of the era you're playing.
Vintage base ball clubs do not play one uniform era, it runs the gamut from the late 1850s to the turn of the 20th Century. The reasoning for this is legion. Some groups portray specific clubs (i.e the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, The New York Mutuals, the Brooklyn Atlantics, etc.) and they play the rules observed by the clubs they're portraying. Some nines play rules popular among clubs in their region. My club, the Bluegrass Barons, plays in a region that plays by the 1865 rules and most clubs portray themselves around 1869. The Tennessee Vintage Base Ball Association plays by 1864 rules. Each club or region does it a little differently in this regard, however, that doesn't excuse not knowing the rules and customs.
In my experience, I've seen people lose tempers and get upset over misinterpretation or ignorance of the rules, whether it's because they're playing by a set of rules different from their own or for the fact they've never sat down and read the rules of the game they're playing. There's no excuse for this, if we're going to portray the game as it was in 1860, 1870, or 1900, we as vintage ballists need to know what the rules say.
The old axiom of "ignorance of the law is no excuse," applies for base ball as well as it does the law. Just because a player doesn't know something is a rule, doesn't mean they cannot be called out on it. This doesn't just mean for the rules of their club's era, but also for clubs they play against.
My club plays by rules approved by the National Association of Base Ball Players for the 1865 season, the "Fly" Rule. This rule stated that a ball had to be caught on the fly in fair territory in order to be an out. Many clubs play by the rules of the previous era, known as the "Bound" Rule. This set of rules stated a ball could be caught on the fly or one bound in fair territory and be considered an out. (Both the "Bound" and "Fly" rules allowed for balls caught on one bound in foul territory and considered an out.) Just because I play by the fly doesn't mean I should know just those rules, I need to know the bound rule as well. By knowing those rules, I can play that game more competently and be able to answer spectator questions about the rules. That's part of being a vintage ballist.
The availability online of rules makes it easy for anyone interested to learn the rules of the era they want to portray. The Vintage Base Ball Association (VBBA), which helps oversee the 450 or so vintage clubs in existence in America has rules for just about every possible variant of the game on their website. Along with that, there are people in this organization who can help clarify and interpret what they say. They've done a yeoman's work in researching base ball's past and it's so easy to access.
Many times, I've seen local custom determine how the game is played more than the rules governing the era. What I mean by this is certain aspects of on-field play, such as sliding, stealing, leading off, and defensive shifts are all regulated by custom, and this custom in many instances usurps the rules. I've played in many areas where a runner can only get a two step lead off, I had a pitcher in a game last year who told me that I lead to far off (more than two steps) and that he'd start trying to pick me off if I didn't get back in accordance with the "rules." The thing is, there's nothing in the rules which limit the amount a runner can lead off. It's strictly a ground rule of that club, however over time, these ground rules become "The Rules."
The same goes for defensive shifts, many games we play require a straight up outfield defense and for the infield to play two steps off the bag, with the exception of either the second baseman or shortstop, one of those can play as far off the bag as they wish, so long as the other part of the combination is two steps off. There's never been a limitation as to how the defense can play in this regard. As the game evolved, so did the tactics by which clubs played. Clubs always played to win and they sought better ways to go about it. The limits we place on play we do ourselves.
That said, should we not impose such rules? That's not for me to say, that's up to the members of each nine. However, IF a club decides to play with certain ground rules, let the spectators know. It's alright to not call strikes (as the rules beginning in the late 1850s stated for batters unwilling to swing at hittable pitches after receiving a warning), but the club should be able to explain this to the crowd, that the fact they don't do this is a ground rule and not what the rules of the era stated. Don't let custom take the place of actuality. It's okay to have these rules as long as a club can explain that to the spectatorate, but let's not enshrine our ground rules into an equality with the actual rules of the era.
I'm not saying clubs shouldn't have ground rules or local customs, but they should also not conflate them to being the actual rules, nor should they take offense if teams they play do not have such edicts in effect on their grounds. Vintage base ball is supposed to be fun, but also supposed to be "vintage," which means we must know the rules and customs of the era we're playing.
The vintage base ball player is a teacher as much as a hobbyist, we're imparting knowledge to the crowd as much as we're having fun.
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