Vintage Base Ball: Apple Jacks season opener brings beautiful day

It was a beautiful day Sunday for a game of baseball, so the La Crescent Apple Jacks played two.

They were participating in the 2017 Inaugural Juneau Vintage Base Ball Festival in Greenfield Park in West Allis, Wis., this past Sunday. Although the weather was in great contrast to the day two weeks ago when the Jacks home opener was rained out, they could not put it to their advantage.

In the opener, the Jacks fell to the Milwaukee Grays by a score of 9-3, The second game wasn’t as close as they lost 14-0 to the Creston, Ill., Regulators.

The fielding play of the day was made by Benjamin “George” Deetz, the Apple Jacks center fielder. He chased down a ball hit over his head and caught it on the first bound as it was going away from him. In accordance with the rules of 1860, by which the Jacks play, the batter was out because the ball was caught on the first bound.

The Jacks collected 23 hits in the first game. They were led by Paul “Swiss” Geronime and Erik “Stretch” Deetz, who each had four hits. Dan “Skunk” Deetz had three; Samuel “Roundabout” Deetz, Bill “Jimmy” Ohm, Joel “Hefty” Affeldt and George came next with two. Jon “Numbers” Jones, Steve “Whitey” Geronime, Greg “Smitty” Smith and Bill “Ho-hum” Ohm had one hit each.

The Apple Jacks return to La Crescent Saturday, June 10, to host the Quicksteps of Minneapolis and the Rum River Rovers. The first game starts at noon at Old Hickory Park, 1135 Jonathan Lane.

If you would like to join the Apple Jacks on the field, call Captain Joel “Hefty” Affeldt at 608-769-1782 or Captain Emeritus Bill “Ho-hum” Ohm at 507-895-691 for more details.

The Apple Jacks Base Ball Club is a community outreach program of the La Crescent Area Historical Society and respectfully acknowledges its eminent corporate sponsor, Merchants Bank of La Crescent.