COLUMBUS, Ohio – Members of the Ohio General Assembly from both sides of the aisle will come together as one team Tuesday as they take on the Ohio Village Muffins in a game of vintage “base ball” on the west lawn of the Ohio Statehouse.
Game time is 5:30 p.m. Admission: Free
Billing themselves as the Capitol Cannons, the lawmakers will challenge the Ohio Village Muffins, as they have for the past four years, to a game of baseball as it was played during the 1860s.
Fans will notice some differences between how baseball was played in its infancy, compared to the modern version: The batter is out if the hit is caught on the first bounce, pitching is underhand, there is no stealing, and a number of bad habits – cursing, smoking, etc.—were not allowed.
Members of the 131st Ohio General Assembly, representing both the Senate and the House will be skippered by Senator Cliff Hite (R-Findlay).
Prior to the game, the Statehouse’s 1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery A will provide a cannon firing demonstration and a discussion of typical leisure activities Civil War soldiers would have used to pass the time in camp, including the relatively newfangled game of “base ball.”
Tracy Martin—baseball historian and member of the Muffins—will exhibit a portion of his collection of baseball equipment and memorabilia, which traces the evolution of the game and has been featured at the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, The Smithsonian National Museum of American History and The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.