My Dayton Baseball Experience - From Dragons To Marcos To Flyers To Clodbusters, Part III

To recap quick, my Dayton Baseball Experience so far was a trip to Day Air Credit Union Ballpark, home of the Dayton Dragons, then a stroll down the Dayton Walk of Fame for a history lesson on the Dayton Marcos and other “Daytonians.” Sitting in my rental car just a few blocks from the Dayton Walk of Fame, I googled my next intended stop – Carillon Historical Park, home of the Clodbusters Vintage Base Ball Club.

Carillon Historical Park is listed as a Dayton History Experience site. The beautiful stone entrance was the first thing I experienced driving into the park, just incredible. It reminded me of my favorite park back home in Rhode Island, Goddard Park. Down the driveway a bit, I found parking in the lot in front of a few breweries, restaurants, and the Heritage Center of Dayton Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship. And beyond the parking lot was a sprawling lawn which led up to a giant bell tower, which I got to know as Deeds Carillon. And it was that lawn that I remembered from the photos I spotted on Instagram of the one and only Clodbusters Vintage Base Ball Club, so that is where I headed first.

There were no bases, no baselines, no pitcher’s mounds, no scoreboards, no trace at all whatsoever of a baseball game or the Clodbusters. No worries, I walked all the way up to the Deeds Carillon and listened to the bells chime and marveled at the beauty of this piece of architecture. I snagged a few photos in and around the Deeds Carillon. Highly recommended visit if you are in the Dayton area!

So, my next stop was to inquire within the Heritage Museum about the Clodbusters. I was thrilled to meet up with one of the museum’s staff, who did know who they were, mentioned their social media sites, and had a flyer for me to take home. According to their flyer, the Clodbusters are “enjoying our 37th year of presenting vintage base ball for the fine folks of the Dayton, Ohio area!” Also from the flyer, the Clodbusters play 1860 Vintage Base Ball Rules. The team has players with nicknames like Ducktail, Babyface, Tea Cup, Gumbo, Marble, and Juggler. And from some of the photos in the flyer, appear to be playing on the lawn right there in front of the Deeds Carillon. By the way, you still have time this summer to catch a game, they have one scheduled in August – Sunday, August 16th vs. the Ohio Village Muffins. How fun!!!

Here is the flyer I received:

The inside of the flyer also has the 1860 rules and customs for base ball (Vintage). This is a really helpful guide for first time fans of Vintage base ball games. The game is mostly the same but there are some rules that differ from the game you/I watch on MLB or live at a professional baseball ballpark near you. For more information on the Clodbusters Vintage Base Ball Club, head over to their Instagram page below to read up on their season and learn about upcoming events.