Vintage Ballplayers Head to Bovina for Festival

BOVINA CENTER - On October 5th and 6th, ten baseball teams from across the Northeast will descend into Creamery Field Vintage Baseball Park amid the splendor of early autumn in the western Catskills for the fourth annual Cowtown Scramble - a showcase of nineteenth century rules baseball. The event is hosted by the Delaware County Vintage Base Ball Association with funding support from the Livestock Foundation and Delaware County Office of Tourism and Promotion. 

"It's become a premier event for vintage baseball enthusiasts," said Collin Miller, captain of the Fleischmanns Mountain Athletic Club and co-organizer of the event along with Nick Frandsen of the Bovina Dairymen and Andrews Landsman of the Polecat Base Ball Club. Miller said even the most casual baseball fan will enjoy themselves and learn a bit about how the rules and customs differed from the current game. Admission to the event is free and fans are encouraged to bring a chair.    

In keeping with the dairy heritage theme of the event, Frandsen said the organizers award an engraved antique butter churn to the team that demonstrates gritty play, sportsmanship and class at the festival. "We call it the "Cream of the Crop Award" and tell the Clubs they can earn the churn," said Frandsen. Last year's winner was the Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn, a throwback to one of the first baseball teams in New York City in the nascent years of the game. Frandsen explained that just like their predecessors from the original Club, the Atlantics play a schedule of nearly 50 games per year. 

The action gets underway at 11am Saturday and 9am Sunday with games starting every two hours across three fields on the former MacPherson Farm just south of the hamlet of Bovina Center. Live music provided by the Godforsaken String Band during the day and BBQ for sale. Saturday night will feature special guests Micky & The Motorcars in a post-game concert with doors opening at 6pm and the show at 8pm. Tickets are $25 online at chicosbarn.com. For a full schedule of games and a festival map visit delcovintagebaseball.com/festival and follow the teams on Facebook at delcovintagebaseball.