User:Henfan/Diamond State Base Ball Club

Diamond State Base Ball Club is an amateur baseball team that played in Wilmington in the mid-1860’s through the early 1870’s, one of the first to form in Delaware. The ball club was revived as a vintage base ball team in 2008 in Delaware City, Delaware.

History
At the conclusion of the Civil War, the sport of baseball (or base ball, as it was spelled at the time) experienced a tremendous explosion in interest. New ball clubs began to form in every city and town in the country almost as soon at the war was settled. Interest in base ball certainly was no different in the burgeoning industrial city of Wilmington, Delaware. On October 2, 1865, a group of Wilmington’s leading businessmen and attorneys met to discuss the formation of a new amateur club to represent its city. Founders of the club, called the Diamond State Base Ball Club, included attorneys Levi Bird, Anthony Higgins, Benjamin Nields and several others.

The ball club rented a home ball field for its practice and games, which was located at Delaware Avenue and Adams Street, adjacent to the Wilmington & Brandywine Cemetery, at what was then the edge of the Wilmington’s city limits.

Diamond State Base Ball Club hastily arranged its first ever match, which was played at its home field on October 7, 1865 against a student team from nearby St. Mary’s College. Rival base ball clubs soon formed all around the city and state, though none would prove to be as well-organized or competitively strong as the Diamond State nine. They went on to dominate play in Delaware throughout the remainder of the 1860’s, winning several state championships during that period.

Interest in the Diamond State Base Ball Club began to wane by 1870, as other Delaware clubs rose to challenge them. The club disbanded in the early years of the decade. A brief attempt was made to revive the club in the mid-1870’s to little avail.

Famous Alumni
The most accomplished Diamond State ball player was Fergy Malone, who led the club to the Delaware state championship during the 1866 seasons. Malone is widely recognized as a baseball pioneer and one of the finest catchers of the 19th century. A fine player for Diamond State in his own right, Anthony Higgins found greater acclaim away from baseball, as a member of the bench and, later, as a Delaware Senator.

Modern Club
The Diamond State Base Ball Club was revived and reformed in October 2008 as a vintage base ball club. The modern day ball club bases its uniform colors and design on the uniforms worn by its 1860’s predecessor. Also in keeping with the tradition of the original Diamond State club, the modern team plays all of its games according to baseball rules of the mid-1860’s to early-1870’s. The Diamond State Base Ball Club conducted its first practice on October 18, 2008 at Rockford Park in Wilmington, Delaware. In April 2009, the reformed club began playing matches at its regular home field at Fort DuPont State Park in Delaware City, Delaware. Diamond State also has played home matches elsewhere around Delaware and the region, including at Fort Delaware State Park on Pea Patch Island, the Governor William H.H. Ross Mansion in Seaford, Delaware, Hagley Museum in Wilmington, Delaware, the Port Penn Area Historical Society in Port Penn, Delaware and Riverview Beach Park in Pennsville, New Jersey.

Diamond State Base Ball Club is a founding member of the Mid Atlantic Vintage Base Ball League and has belonged to the national Vintage Base Ball Association since 2009.

Vintage Base Ball Festival
On May 22-23, 2010, the Diamond State Base Ball Club, in cooperation with the Governor Bacon Health Center, Fort DuPont State Park, the Town of Delaware City and the Mid Atlantic Vintage Base Ball League, hosted the First State 19th Century Base Ball Festival at the Fort DuPont Parade Grounds. The weekend festival featured 12 vintage base ball teams from Connecticut to Washington, D.C., playing in a total of 15 matches.