Ganymedes win one, tie another in cross-county rivalry with Regulators

Three extra innings were not enough to determine a winner in a classic, cross-county rivalry between the Oregon Ganymedes and Creston Regulators, at Solar Reef Field at Oregon park West, Saturday, July 20.

The Ganymedes, Oregon’s official vintage “base ball” team, won the first game 5-1 and trailed by three runs in the seventh inning in the second before rallying to tie the game and force extra innings.

“A big thunderstorm wet everything down in the morning and the humid air held a threat of rain all afternoon, but we still had a nice loyal crowd of about 75 people come out for what turned out to be 17 innings of vintage base ball,” said Ganymedes captain Mark Herman.

After a couple of fielding miscues, the Ganymedes trailed 6-9 heading into the seventh inning.

“We scored three runs with two men out after a ball ended up in the tall grass prairie next to right field to tie the game at 9-9,” Herman said.

After three scoreless innings, the two clubs decided to end the game in a 9-9 tie.

“Then the teams and their families sat down for post-game pizza donated by Father & Son’s Pizzeria of Oregon,” said Herman.

The Ganymedes’ next game is 1 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 3 in Malta, Illinois where they will once again face the Regulators.

The Ganymedes’ home venue, Iron Chest Field, located south of the Chana School Museum home at Oregon Park East, is out of commission for 2025 games due to renovation work at Park East.

The team received permission from the Oregon Park District for a new temporary field location for their 2025 games at Oregon Park West - 1402 Koontz Place. Solar Reef refers to the large round statue that stands on top of the park’s sledding hill.

The Ganymedes Vintage Base Ball Club is an educational outreach program of the Chana School Museum that has offered historic base ball games since 2005.

Vintage-rules base ball (spelled as two words in the 1800s) is played with authentic wool uniforms, no gloves, underhand pitching and “gentlemanly conduct”.

Other rule differences include outs for balls caught on one bounce, no called balls or strikes unless the batter swings three times and misses, and a requirement that players call themselves out on close plays. Base paths are 90 feet and there are three outs per inning.

For more information visit the Oregon Ganymedes Base Ball Club Facebook page.

Remaining games

Sunday, Aug. 3, 1 p.m. – vs Creston Regulators of Creston, at Lions Park in Malta

Saturday, Aug. 9, and Sunday, Aug. 10 – vs. 12 teams from five states at the 22nd annual Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation Greenfield Village World Tournament of Historic Base Ball in Dearborn, Michigan

Sunday, Sept. 14 – vs. Creston Regulators and DuPage Plowboys at Creston Booster Days Festival in Creston

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