A play from the 2014 Father's Day vintage baseball game at Engel Stadium.There are two new baseball teams coming to Chattanooga this summer.
Well, not exactly new.
"We play 1864 baseball," said Trapper Haskins. "We play Civil War-era barehanded baseball."
In a most beautiful and democratic blending of history and baseball, Haskins presides over the Tennessee Vintage Baseball League, which is just as it sounds: baseball like it was in 1864.
For more information
* Visit Tennesseevintagebaseball.com for rules, scheduling and sign-up information. * Visit vbba.org to learn about the Vintage Baseball Convention in Nashville on March 27-29. * Email Trapper Haskins at commissioner@tennesseevintagebaseball.com.
It is the re-enactment not of America's war but of America's pastime.
"I like to tease Civil War re-enactors," Haskins said. "The difference is when we step on the field, we don't know who's going to win."
Two years ago, Haskins started two vintage baseball teams in Nashville. It spread like hasty pudding. The league grew to eight teams in 2014. Last Father's Day, there was an exhibition game at Engel Stadium that drew more than 1,000 fans.
Why?
Because there's no BALCO or Barry Bonds or beers that cost $15.50. No stadiums, no foam #1 fingers, no $40 cheap seats. It's honest, bare baseball.
"Barehanded baseball," Haskins corrected.
Now, in 2015, the league is expanding to Chattanooga as two old-yet-new-again teams are coming back to life here.
The Lightfoot Club of Chattanooga.
The Mountain City Club of Chattanooga.
Both existed 150 years ago (as did the Chattanooga Lookouts) and were fielded by working-class Chattanoogans: machinists, clerks, carpenters.
And today's teams?
"We still need players," Haskins said.
Yes, you read that right.
"Anybody is welcome to come out and play," he said.
Anybody. Young, old, in between. There aren't tryouts or cuts. As long as you love baseball and can spare $200 or so, you can sign up for one of the few remaining spots.
Visit Tennesseevintagebaseball.com.
"This is not your daddy's baseball game," Haskins said. "This is your great-great-great-granddaddy's baseball game."
Reproduction wooden bats. Suspenders, trousers and wool hats. No gloves.
"They hadn't been invented yet," Haskins said.
That makes a hot grounder to third even hotter. Instead of scooping it up with a glove, players field the ball the way you would an egg on Field Day.
"If somebody threw you an egg, you wouldn't hold your hand out there stiffly. You'd try to bring it back, and cushion the egg," Haskins said.
(Umm, sure, but a baseball isn't an egg.)
"Yeah," Haskins said. "It still stings."
A few rules are different. You can catch a fly ball after the first bounce for an out. No running through first base. The pitcher throws underhand, but not like your church league pitcher. More like a low, arcing lob.
And language is different.
Put some steam on it = run faster.
Striker to the line = batter up.
Show some ginger = pick it up. Show some hustle.
There's still 90 feet between bases. Still nine players on the field. Fans can come chat up players on the bench. There's no trash-talking. One team cheers for the other. If there's a commotion on first -- was he safe or out? -- the runner and first baseman try to agree before calling in the ump. If he can't make an honest call, then they turn to the stands: anybody out there see it?
"This was amateur-era baseball," said Haskins. "They weren't playing for millions of dollars, or even tens of dollars."
Opening Day is Saturday, April 4, when teams from Nashville and Franklin will travel here for a double-header. All games are played at 6th Cavalry Museum in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. The season is 11 games long, with only a handful out of town.
"One of the things our league prides itself on is baseball for everybody," he said. "Walt Whitman called baseball our game, America's game, and we play it that way."
Contact David Cook at dcook@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6329. Follow him on Facebook at DavidCookTFP.