Heinie Manush Day

Heinie Manush Day.Keep April 17 open for the season opener of the Tennessee Association of Vintage Base Ball teams The Stones River Scouts and The Cumberland Club of Nashville at Heinie Manush Field. The rules of 1864 Base Ball will be used and are different than today's rules. There are no balls and strikes. The pitcher’s job is to deliver the ball as near as possible over the center of the home base, and for the striker to hit. The Tennessee Association of Vintage Baseball was established in 2012 to entertain and educate by recreating the civility of 19th century baseball. The association promotes living history by bringing the 19th century to life through baseball events that use the rules, equipment, costumes and culture of the 1860’s. Teams are traveling to Tuscumbia at their own expense.

The game is to honor the legacy of Tuscumbia's native son Heinie Manush, who was the first Alabamian inducted into Cooperstown is planned. Heinie Manush, during his career in seventeen seasons from 1923 until 1939, he batted over .300 eleven times, nine with averages .333 or better. He finished with a lifetime batting average of .330 with 110 home runs. In nine of his seasons, he finished in the top ten in batting. He played for the Detroit Tigers 1923-1927, St Louis Browns 1928-1930, Washington Senators 1930-1935, Boston Red Sox 1936, Brooklyn Dodgers 1937-1938, Pittsburgh Pirates 1938-1939. Heinie Manush was the first Alabamian inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964. In addition he was inducted into the, Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1964, Alabama Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, and the Colbert County Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.Two games are planned starting at noon. The gates will open at 10:30 Ted Guillaum, Organ grinder from Nashville will play an hour before the game and between the first and second game. Shoals Fox Sports will broadcast the game. Skip Nipper “Mr Baseball of Nashvile, author, a board member of the Nashville Old Timers Baseball Association, a member of SABR (Society of American Baseball Research – sabr.org), and SABR’s Grantland Rice-Fred Russell (Nashville) chapter and baseball historian will umpire the game. The teams have challenged the Shoals to the second game, so dust off your shoes, not your glove; the games using 1864 rules is played without baseball gloves. The Tuscumbia Fire Department will have a First Aid Station set up. A food vendor will be available.