Greenfield Village's Vintage Baseball Team Prepares for 20th Season

The public is invited to step back in time on Saturday to the opening day of baseball played 19th century style.

The Greenfield Village Lah-De-Dahs Base Ball Club will take on the Wyandotte Stars at 1:30 p.m. at Walnut Grove.

The team plays by 1867 rules for base ball (spelled with two words), the precursor to the modern day version of the sport, which makes for some very interesting entertainment, Brian Egen, program development officer for The Henry Ford said.

"One of the noticeable differences audiences will see is that players don't use gloves and dress in uniforms common in the 1860s, when many players took the field wearing neckties," Egen said.

In addition, there are no balls or strikes called by the umpire, although a batter can still strike out if he swings and misses three times; foul balls are not considered strikes; and the base runners can be tagged out if they over run first base. Egen said unlike modern rules, if a ball lands anywhere in fair territory and then rolls foul, even if it rolls into foul territory between home base and first base, for instance, the ball is fair.

"True baseball fans will notice some subtle changes, but for the most part, fans will be able to follow the game pretty easily," he said.

Saturday's game marks the 20th season for Greenfield Village's team, inspired by the original Lah-De-Dahs of Waterford. 

The idea and concept of a historic baseball program came while researching the J.R. Jones General Store in Greenfield Village. In the early 1990s, the J.R. Jones General Store received a major maintenance overhaul. While searching through the Waterford area newspapers, where the store originated, references were made to the Lah-De-Dahs base ball club from the area.

"Interest in the vintage baseball program has been growing every year," Egen said. "We started off with a small number of games, and now we're playing clubs all over Southeast Michigan every weekend."

The games have become so popular that in recent years organizers had to implement a waiting list for volunteers to join the team.

"We have a 42-member all-volunteer team, and probably a waiting list three times as long," Egen said. "When our current players retire or decide to move on, we hold tryouts and contact people on the waiting list. It's a good problem to have."

The Lah-De-Dahs season runs from June 8 through Aug. 18. The team primarily plays on Saturdays and Sundays at Greenfield Village, however members also travel to other cities to play against vintage teams in May and September.

All games are free and open to the public with admission to Greenfield Village.

The team will host its annual World Tournament of Historic Baseball on Aug. 10-11.

To view a complete schedule of games, visit http://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/baseball/lahdedahs.asp.