Free Press Article 8-22-07

Sun Times News Group - July 28, 2007
"Team does base ball old school"
By Chaz Amidon

LOCKPORT -- With three ducks on the pond and two hands dead, Mike Ciurej laid the willow on the onion to tally three aces in the bottom of the first inning.

That's what fans (or "kranks") of the Lockport Sleepers would identify as a base-clearing triple.

"This is intended to be entertainment as well as education," said Sleepers Manager Mark Harmon, of Willowbrook. "We consider this living history interpretation, not just reenactment. (The vintage base ball players) are supposed to be there for the crowd, for the audience."

Donning replica uniforms from the pre-Civil War era and speaking the lingo of the 19th century, the Sleepers play on a grassy field in Dellwood Park in Lockport. There's no diamond, no fence and no dugouts.

"Most (historical presentations) forget an entire aspect of human life, which is leisure and recreation," Harmon said. "You go to most historic sites, and they're so used to telling you about candle dipping and spinning and weaving and blacksmithing. A lot of them forget what these people were doing with their off-time."

Vintage base ball is, essentially, a less complicated version of modern baseball. There still are three outs to an inning and nine innings to a game. But players don't wear gloves, hurlers (pitchers) toss underhanded and strikers (batters) can't be walked. The bats are thinner, the balls softer -- and harder to find, too.

In fact, the Sleepers order their equipment -- and uniforms -- from an online company that manufactures vintage base ball rarities.

"Sometimes if you dig up a time capsule you can find some balls," joked Patrick Boland, 21, of Lockport.

Harmon started the Lockport club last year, attracting its current members via news releases in local newspapers, fliers and mass e-mails.

While some members of the Sleepers are strictly baseball buffs, others admit they're enamored with the sport's history.

"Because it's a laid-back type of thing, not a real competitive thing, we can still play base ball and learn about history at the same time," said Ciurej, 28, of Lockport. "You'll notice around the league that some guys could care less about base ball. They've never played a day in their lives, but they're here for the history of it and having fun with it."

Harmon and teammate Dan Smaczny work at local museums and are history buffs, but the rest of the Sleepers -- lawyers, physical therapists, teachers and more -- find other motivations for playing.

"I like it because you don't have to slide," joked Peter Boland, 35, of Channahon.

Catering to some of the older members of the team -- and the busy schedules of others -- the Sleepers hold only one practice per week, on average.

But that doesn't mean they're not into making it authentic, especially when it comes to the lingo.

A good play, for example, might be greeted with cheers of "Huzzah!" or "That's the ginger!" A slow-moving baserunner might be referred to as an "ice wagon;" and a despised player -- someone like Ciurej, his teammates say in jest -- can be called a "lobster."

Vintage base ball calls for gentlemanly conduct. Players are expected not to swear, spit, or engage in mean-spirited conversations with the umpire (or "arbitrator") -- otherwise, they might be fined up to "two bits" -- a quarter.

"You have to remember that, before the Civil War, social mores were much more formal," Harmon said. "It wasn't until after the Civil War until things got more relaxed, as far as how you interact with people. It was a very polite society."

The Sleepers, though they are competitive at times, are more concerned with putting on a good show for an audience than winning a game.

They even brought in Earl Fischer, a 73-year old member of the Joliet Drama Club, to recite the "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" before their game against the Elk Grove Village Bucks on July 7. Harmon said it would not have been unusual to open a base ball contest in the 1850s with the reading of a poem.

"We are trying to have fun with it, but teaching people at the same time," Harmon said. "We're showing an authentic period of tradition."

This site was developed by Canal Corridor Association, manager of the Gaylord Building, with generous financial support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Interpretation and Education Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.