On any given Sunday in the San Francisco Bay Area, cranks and players lean back in time to enjoy 1886 vintage “base ball.” Last week, this crank (baseball fan) watched the San Jose Dukes and San Francisco Sea Lions battle it out at Raynor Park in Sunnyvale, Calif. The players used equipment and wore uniforms true to the 1880s. They played by Spaulding’s rules of 1886. That’s the way it’s done in the Bay Area Vintage Base Ball league (BAVBB), where good sportsmanship rules, and everyone plays to have fun.
A San Jose Duke fields for second base. (courtesy of Karen Gough)
BAVBB History
In November 2005, when Corey “Pup” Gazay was 18 years old, he co-founded the BAVBB with his father, Steve Gazay. Corey first discovered vintage base ball while watching an ESPN classic. Being a self-described history nerd, he spent countless hours in the library researching base ball history in the SF Bay Area. His father put the word out, and eventually they recruited enough players to start a team called the San Jose Dukes. They also convinced Corey’s uncle to start a team in Morgan Hill, called the South County Jaspers. “We played a lot of games between the two teams,” Corey explains, “before expanding to the likes of Santa Clara, Oakland, Fremont, and San Francisco.” BAVBB’s first season began in 2006. Though vintage base ball clubs exist nationwide, theirs was the first 1880s league west of the Mississippi. Los Angeles (SCVBB) was second. Today, the BAVBB is celebrating 15 years of vintage base ball (not counting the canceled 2020 season)….