Fort 'Base Ball' Team Seeks to Even Series

Detroit Tiger great John Hiller sports the authentic look of a vintage 1880s base ball player during the 2004 game against rival Rocherster Grangers. The Mackinac Never Sweats battle the Grangers Saturday, July 22, for the fourth consecutive summer at Fort Mackinac.

Mackinac Never Sweats, the vintage base ball team fielded by Mackinac State Historic Parks, will seek to even the series with the Rochester Grangers in their annual dual of old fashioned baseball on Mackinac Island Saturday, July 22.

The Grangers took control of the series with their second win in three games last year, defeating the Never Sweats 9-5. The Grangers won the inaugural game in 2003, as well.

Saturday's game begins at 7:30 p.m. and will be played on what the Mackinac Island State Park Commission boasts as the oldest used ballpark in Michigan.

The earliest records of a "base ball" team on the Island date to 1871, according to Mackinac State Historic Parks, when a captain at Fort Mackinac noted in a report that soldiers were playing games of base ball. By the mid1880s, baseball was all the rage and soldiers organized a club, purchased equipment and uniforms, constructed a grandstand on the parade ground behind the fort, and took to the field.

Over the next several summers, the fort team played a full schedule of games against many teams in the area, from as far south as Cheboygan to as far north as Sault Ste. Marie.

Baseball remained a popular sport after the soldiers left in 1895, said Mackinac State Historic Parks Director Phil Porter, as summer employees formed teams and continued to play on Fort Mackinac's field, which is used still today by scout troops who serve as honor guards on the Island.

Saturday's game will be played according to 1860s base ball rules, along with antique uniforms, score keepers, vocabulary, and music.

The Grangers, who helped teach the Never Sweats the finer points of the game in 2003, was formed in 1999.

U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak is a guest player for the Never Sweats. Also, John Hiller, a member of the 1968 World Champion Detroit Tigers and a standout reliever for the Tigers throughout the 1970s, returns to the Never Sweats.

The Traverse City-based Northwind Brass quintet will play a pre-game concert at 6 p.m. Food carts will sell hot dogs and refreshments.

Tickets are available at the game at $15 for families, $5 for adults, $3 for youth ages 6 to 1