Woodbury celebrates history with vintage baseball game
The Woodbury City Council highlighted a community event featuring a vintage baseball game played by 19th-century rules, organized by the Woodbury Heritage Society to celebrate local history and engage residents.
The Woodbury Barnstormers faced off against the St. Croix baseball club in a vintage baseball game that transported players and spectators back in time. The St. Croix team, which operates as a program of the Washington County Historical Society, defeated the Barnstormers 13-6 in a match played according to rules from the 1800s.
The game featured authentic 19th-century baseball mechanics that differ significantly from modern play. Players caught outs on the first bounce rather than requiring catches in the air, and fielders played barehanded without modern gloves. These rule changes fundamentally altered gameplay and strategy, giving the event educational value alongside its entertainment appeal.
The Woodbury Heritage Society initiated the event as a way to connect residents with the city's baseball heritage and local history. The vintage game format allowed community members to experience how the sport was played generations ago, making it both a cultural celebration and a learning opportunity.
Alongside the baseball game, organizers held Cow Chip Bingo, a quirky fundraising activity that drew additional community participation. Attendees purchased tickets corresponding to numbered squares marked on the grass. A cow was brought onto the field, and whoever owned the square where the cow left its mark won a prize. The event served as both an engaging activity and a fundraising mechanism for the community.
The council's discussion of these events reflects Woodbury's commitment to preserving local history while creating opportunities for residents to gather and celebrate their community's heritage.
Our proprietary artificial intelligence agent analyzed publicly available documents including meeting agendas, minutes, and transcripts to write this story to help inform local residents. Feedback helps us improve, so please consider rating how we did with the thumbs up or down below.
Go deeper on this topic
Research related meeting documents and build a brief — without rewriting the story.
Source document
[0:01] Pitching for the Woodbury
Barnstormers
[0:03] Woodbury firefighter
Nathan Beitler!
[0:13] There's a hit down the third
[0:14] base line.
[0:16] Go go go go!
[0:18] Comin’ around to third...
[0:21] and all the way
in home, there’s a run!
[0:24] and another one, he’s
got the afterburners on!
[0:28] Drop the parachute.
[0:29] Vintage baseball is baseball
[0:32] played, with rules
back in the 19th century.
[0:36] There are a lot of things
that are the same.
[0:38] There are a lot of things
that are different.
[0:39] The positions are the
same as they are today.
[0:42] Basepaths are 90ft,
just as they are.
[0:45] But some of the differences
are that
[0:47] the batter can be put out
if the ball is caught in the air
[0:51] or on the first bounce.
[0:53] And fielders do not wear gloves,
it's all barehanded.
[0:56] And if the base runner overruns
first base
[0:59] like they do today,
[1:01] they can be put
out.
[1:05] High fly ball.
[1:08] And she got it on the
bounce for the out.
[1:11] The
[1:12] St. Croix baseball club,
[1:13] is a program
[1:15] out of the Washington County
Historical Society.
[1:17] And, Bill Shrankler of the,
Woodbury Heritage society,
[1:21] reached out to us
[1:23] to ask us
if we could play a game in
[1:25] Woodbury against their
Woodbury mystery team
[1:28] which became
the Woodbury Barnstormers.
[1:41] I've always been interested
in baseball.
[1:43] I've been a fan of the Twins,
[1:45] and before the Twins came,
it was the Yankees.
[1:48] And I thought that would be
a great event to have, something
different that they’ve
[1:51] never had in Woodbury.
[1:52] And then we couple that
with
[1:53] a set of fireworks we had
[1:56] was called Cow Chip
Bingo.
[1:59] Here comes Leslie she’s
choosing her spot very
[2:01] carefully.
[2:03] Check your bingo tickets.
Follow along.
[2:06] There were squares marked out
on the grass,
[2:09] and a cow brought out
and whatever square that the,
[2:13] cow chip fell on, the person who
had that number won a prize.
[2:30] It was a great game, it
was a nail-biter all the way.
[2:33] You’d never guess it by
the final score however, the
[2:36] St. Croix team eeked out
a win,
[2:39] over our poor
Woodbury Barnstormers.
[2:42] The Woodbury team came out and
they were roaring pretty good,
[2:46] but the Saint Croix with their,
caliber of play,
[2:49] did defeat the Woodbury
Barnstormers by the score of
[2:52] 13 to 6.
Was this story helpful?
Want to know when new stories arrive?
Enter your email to receive updates.
We will not use your email for any other purpose. You can unsubscribe at any time.