Early baseball history talk set Saturday at Lincoln Log Cabin

LERNA — Presentations about the early history of baseball in Illinois and about playing vintage baseball today are set for Saturday at Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site.

Charleston Tourism/Special Events Supervisor Lori Henderson said professor Robert Sampson will discuss his research for his forthcoming book, “Ballists, Dead Beats, and Muffins: Inside Early Baseball in Illinois,” at 1 p.m. in the site’s visitor center.

Henderson said Sampson’s presentation, “The End of the Gentleman’s Game: Early Baseball’s Growth and Collapse in Illinois,” will provide an activity for families gathering together for the long Thanksgiving weekend.

The presentation description reports that baseball in its early years was a game played with hard balls caught with no gloves, where teams ran up double-digit scores and inept players willingly adopted the label “muffins.”

“Between 1865 and 1868, it swept over Illinois as quickly, but less fatally, than cholera, attracting hundreds of spectators, men and women, to playing fields carved out roughly on vacant lots. Holding it together during those years were customs and rituals, including elaborate meals and pre and post-game entertainment for visiting teams, cheering an opponent’s good play and absolutely no questioning of the umpire, all designed to cool the competitive spirit.”

Sampson’s presentation will be followed by Michael Griffin, captain of the Summit Station Signalmen Vintage Base Ball Club, discussing the technical aspects of playing vintage baseball today. Griffin also is a member of the Vintage Base Ball Association.

“We recreate the game of base ball (two words then) as it was played in 1860 and present it to the public in a non-competitive, educational, and entertaining manner,” Griffin said. “I am attempting to bring vintage base ball to Charleston and start a new club based at the Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site. I am in the opening stages of recruiting players/actors.”