INTERVIEW WITH ST. LOUIS MAGAZINE 2013

For your off-season pleasure, re-upping this 2013 interview in St. Louis Magazine with Perfectos Charter Member Tony "Danger" Pellegrino:

Scouts in the Outfield

What do you get when you mix America’s pastime with Civil War reenactment? Vintage base ball, of course. Players don old-timey uniforms and follow rules from the 1860s, playing the game as it was originally intended. Everything about vintage base ball (always two words) is charming, right down to its unique language: Umpires are arbiters; fans are cranks; pitchers are hurlers; and outfielders are scouts. We asked Tony “Danger” Pellegrino, an original member of St. Louis’ first vintage base ball team, the Perfectos, to straighten us out on some of the other particulars.

Are your uniforms wool?

They’re a blend. We don’t do the wool because of allergies and heat, especially in the St. Louis summers. We’re more for the appearance of authenticity than actual authenticity, I guess would be one way to say it.

I know you don’t wear gloves in the field. Any other major rule changes?

Any ball caught on the first bounce is an out, similar to a fly-out in today’s game. The only difference is the runners don’t have to go back and tag-up on a bound-out, so they’re free to advance.

Do you play nine innings?

We normally play two seven-inning games. If a team is coming from a couple of hours away, we’ll make sure we get two games in. Most of us are either fat or old or both. Seven innings seems to be about good.

Does the arbiter call balls and strikes?

At the time, you were up there to put the ball in play. Unless somebody is taking perfect pitches right down the middle every time, there are no called balls and strikes. I’ve never seen somebody called out on strikes.

Do you pitch overhand?

We call it swift underhand. It’s basically a bowling motion.

And you’ve all got nicknames, right?

You’ll play with a guy for three years before you know his real name, but you’ll know his nickname the first time you play together… There’s Molasses, one of the fastest players on our team. Cyclone is known to hurt anything or everything in his way, including himself, to try to get to a ball.

You guys play most Saturdays in the summer, with home games at Lafayette Park, and there are now quite a few teams in the area. Are there standings and playoffs?

It’s not that competitive. You don’t play to lose, but you don’t play to win, either. You’re out there to have a good time and spread the game. We keep our records, but it’s not a league or anything.

Still, any stories of thrilling victories?

Every year since 2004, we’ve held the Missouri Cup, which is kind of like the state championship, if there is such a thing. We try to get all the teams from Missouri to come together and play over one weekend. We’ve won three of those, and we won the last two. Those have been really fun.

A big part of vintage base ball is sportsmanship.

That’s definitely something we want to promote, making it family-friendly and encouraging the good aspects of baseball and competition. Most close plays on the bases, the players are on their honor to make the call. It’s something that we really find draws the cranks to the game, because it’s unlike anything they’re used to in professional sports.

Any examples?

An older gentlemen was trying to run out a base hit, and our first tender was trying to make a play on the ball. They ran into each other and collided. Instead of picking up the ball and tagging the runner out, our first baseman went over and helped him up and made sure he was safe on the base before he went and fielded the ball.

In a win-at-all-costs era, that’s refreshing.

We feel the best thing we can give back to the game is to make it a game again. It’s not the end of the world. It’s a base ball game. It’s supposed to be fun.