Hello! We appreciate your interest in Genesee Country Village & Museum’s 19th-century vintage base ball program. Here are some basic facts, along with contact information if you would like to know more. Take a look, check your calendar, and make plans to visit us at the base ball park this summer!
What is it? It’s a vintage base ball program in which a league of four teams plays base ball in the country’s only replica 19th-century base ball park. Situated on 4.5 acres of former farmland, Silver Base Ball Park is home to the Rochesters, the Excelsiors, the Live Oak, and the Knickerbockers, who play the national pastime in historically accurate uniforms with historically accurate equipment and according to 19th-century rules. Admission to games is free with a museum day pass or membership.
When is it? Games will be played every Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 pm, beginning July 6 and extending through October 6, 2002. The single exception is the weekend we host a Civil War re-enactment, July 13-14. On Saturday, July 13, Civil War re-enactors will play an impromptu 1860s base ball game at the park at 4 pm.
Where is it? The park is located on the edge of the historic village at the Genesee Country Village & Museum. We are located in Mumford, New York, just 20 miles southwest of Rochester. For directions, check out our web site at www.geneseecountryvillage.org or look at the end of this message.
What will we see and do? You’ll see players dressed in dapper handmade uniforms, playing the game the way it was meant to be played. Sportsmanship is all-important and honor is evidenced at every turn. Players commend each other for plays well made. Booing and other ungentlemanly behaviors are frowned upon. The umpire, dressed in frock coat and top hat, rules. Yet, make no mistake—each club wants to win and tries its very best to outwit, outstrategize, outplay and emerge victorious over its opponent.
Within the park, you’ll meet and interact with not only the players, but also members of the press, the umpire, hawkers selling snacks, and the roustabout—there to help keep the peace—and the young ladies courted by the teams for their calming effect on the rest of the fans.
As you sit on bleachers gazing at a glorious view, you’ll see an outfield fence painted with period-style advertising; a manual scoreboard operated by two young lads perched on scaffolding; a press box; a tower for the tally keeper and announcer; special seating for unattended young ladies; and a refreshment tent serving peanuts, birch beer, and other appropriate food.
You’ll get to know the players by their given names and their nicknames. A printed program will help you understand the rules and provide you a score sheet to keep track of the game. Or—you can just listen to the announcer explain the action.
Best of all, you’ll get caught up in the best family fun around. Come check it out. We’d love to see you here.
For more information, call (585) 538-6822, visit our web site at www.geneseecountryvillage.org, or e-mail us at Baseball@gcv.org.
Directions
From the North:
There are many routes to Mumford, including:From the South:
Take I-390 north to the Avon Exit #10, turn left onto Route 5, go west to Caledonia, and at the traffic circle in Caledonia make a soft right onto Route 36 north to Mumford.From the East:
Take Exit #46 off the NYS Thruway, follow I-390 south to Avon Exit #10, turn right onto Route 5, go west to Caledonia, and at the traffic circle in Caledonia make a soft right onto Route 36 north to Mumford.From the West:
Take Exit #47 off the NYS Thruway, follow Route 19 south to LeRoy, turn left onto Route 5, take Route 5 to Caledonia and follow the traffic circle onto Route 36 north to Mumford.Once you reach Mumford . . .
At the flashing traffic light, turn west onto George Street, which becomes Flint Hill Road. Genesee Country Village & Museum is on the left about one mile from the flashing light.