Events
Back to Events
to 1:00 PM
Contact:
Darci Peralta
Captain, Yuma Aces Vintage Base Ball Club
(928) 379-0706
Press Release
For Immediate Release
November 28th, 2022
Vintage Base Ball Comes to Yuma
Yuma, AZ – On Saturday, December 17th, at 12:00 p.m., the Yuma Aces Vintage Base Ball Club will host an informational meeting and player recruitment at the Colorado River State Historic Park.
The Yuma Aces is a newly organized base ball team bringing the game of vintage base ball to the Yuma community. The team, officially known as a “club” among vintage base ball enthusiasts, is the first of its kind in Yuma, and is the newest club organized within the Arizona Vintage Base Ball League.
Contact:
Darci Peralta
Captain, Yuma Aces Vintage Base Ball Club
(928) 379-0706
Press Release
For Immediate Release
November 28th, 2022
Vintage Base Ball Comes to Yuma
Yuma, AZ – On Saturday, December 17th, at 12:00 p.m., the Yuma Aces Vintage Base Ball Club will host an informational meeting and player recruitment at the Colorado River State Historic Park.
The Yuma Aces is a newly organized base ball team bringing the game of vintage base ball to the Yuma community. The team, officially known as a “club” among vintage base ball enthusiasts, is the first of its kind in Yuma, and is the newest club organized within the Arizona Vintage Base Ball League.
“We’re trying to bring the history of base ball to Yuma by promoting and playing the game as it was played in the 1860s,” said Darci Peralta, organizer and captain of the Yuma Aces.
Vintage base ball is played with period reproduction equipment, uniform styles inspired by early clubs, and using rules from a period when the game was still developing into America’s favorite pastime.
The rules and regulations of a vintage game are quite different from modern baseball. “We use wooden bats, there are no gloves allowed, you can catch the ball on a bounce to get an out, and a bystander can catch the ball and get an out,” Peralta said.
Peralta first became familiar with vintage base ball while living in Prescott, where she and her husband met organizer Mike Adrian--better known as “Ace” in the vintage baseball world--and joined his club of the Prescott Champions.
After recently moving back to Yuma, Peralta and her husband missed the game and decided to start a new club, named the “Yuma Aces” after their Prescott mentor. The Yuma Aces are currently actively recruiting new players.
“Vintage base ball is fun and non-competitive. No experience or athletic ability is required, and we invite anyone that is interested to learn more about us, and to consider joining our club,” said Peralta.
The vintage base ball season in Arizona runs from November through April, and the Yuma Aces hope to host clubs from around the state for a day of vintage games at the Colorado River State Historic Park in March.
Throughout the base ball season, the Arizona Vintage Base Ball League promotes one game per month, with each month hosted by a different club in Arizona. Some club members choose to travel to these “away” games but travel is not required to join the Yuma Aces Club.
“When we are short the required number of players for away games, we will combine with another club to be able to play. Our goal is really just to have fun and to spend time with other vintage base ball enthusiasts,” said Peralta.
The Arizona vintage base ball season is capped off with the Copper City Classic Vintage Base Ball Tournament in Bisbee. This is a three-day event that all clubs throughout the state are invited to join.
Base ball has a long history in the Yuma community. Based on research from the Arizona Sentinel, Yuma’s oldest newspaper, the earliest organized base ball club in Yuma dates to 1874. The players gathered on Main Street, with one team comprised mostly of experienced members that had played base ball “in the States,” and the opposing team comprised of Yuma natives.
The Arizona Sentinel reported, “We have not room to give a detailed description of the game, but the native boys were victorious by great odds. The vanquished nine accepted their defeat with great good humor, as they are gentlemen.”
If you are interested in learning more about vintage baseball or the Yuma Aces Vintage Base Ball Club, please contact Darci Peralta at (928) 379-0706, or by email at YumaAcesBB@gmail.com.
