Players sought for area vintage baseball team

Participants are being sought for a vintage baseball team that will play during Whitehall’s sesquicentennial celebration.

The Sand Scratchers — one of the names the Whitehall baseball team played under during the mid-1870s — will participate in a four-team tournament that will be held July 27, 2024, at the Melby Park ballfield. The sesquicentennial observance, marking the fall 1873 laying of the Green Bay and Minnesota Rail Road tracks through what would become Whitehall, will get underway this Sept. 10 and continue through the fall of 2024.

The Sand Scratchers will play 1860s “base ball” rules, which are somewhat different than the modern game’s. No gloves are allowed, the balls and bats are different, and the rules for making outs differ also.

The area team will participate in an exhibition game/orientation session that will be held in Whitehall in September, date to be determined based on the availability of an existing 1860s team. There are vintage base ball league teams in eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Membership in the Sand Scratchers is open to men and women, old and young; if there is sufficient interest it will continue playing after the 150th-anniversary celebration concludes. For more information, contact Jared Ingenthron, 608-387-0500, jaredingenthron@uwalumni.com. In order to plan for this fall’s event, it is requested that interested persons contact him by July 22.