History Takes the Field at Raimondi Park

Bay Area Vintage Base Ball League’s Summer All-Star Game

by Kyle Robinson

There was a scorebook on Saturday afternoon at Raimondi Park, and the league’s scribe recorded every play. Beyond that, there seemed to be little concern over who would eventually win the Bay Area Vintage Base Ball League’s Summer All-Star Game.

The competition was genuine. Every pitch, every at-bat, and every close play was contested. But the afternoon was about more than the outcome. Players from across Northern California gathered to celebrate base ball, two words, as it was played in the 1880s while spending the day on one of the Bay Area’s oldest baseball grounds.

For a league dedicated to preserving baseball’s history, Raimondi Park was an appropriate setting.

Long before it became home to the Oakland Ballers, the site was known as West Oakland Park and later Bay View Park. Organized baseball has been played on these grounds for well over a century, making it one of California’s oldest continuously used baseball sites. In 1947, the City of Oakland renamed the park in honor of Ernie Raimondi, a West Oakland native, Pacific Coast League infielder, and veteran who was killed in action during World War II.

According to the BAVBB, its mission is to recreate base ball as it was played during the 1880s while sharing the history of the sport with modern audiences. That commitment extends well beyond the uniforms. Players use reproduction equipment, period terminology, and many of the customs that defined the game during its formative years.

Some of those differences are immediately noticeable.

Before first pitch, volunteers carried canvas pillow bases onto the infield. The catcher worked behind the plate with minimal protective equipment, while the umpire took his position behind the pitcher to call balls and strikes, just as the rules prescribed during that era.

Other differences require a closer look.

Speaking with the league’s scribe, along with several players and coaches, one theme surfaced repeatedly: authenticity sometimes has to meet modern infrastructure. Raimondi’s field was built for today’s version of baseball, so the league makes small accommodations while preserving as much of the historical experience as possible. The modern pitching mound is one example. While not historically accurate, it allows 19th-century base ball to be played on a field that continues to serve today’s players.

As different as the game looks, it doesn’t take long to realize how familiar it sounds.

Coaches still encourage hitters to use the opposite field. Defenders remind one another to watch runners who like to steal. Pitchers and catchers work through opposing lineups one batter at a time, and the occasional disagreement over the strike zone remains as much a part of the game today as it was more than a century ago. While the equipment reflects another era, the conversations do not. That may have been the most revealing part of the afternoon. Baseball has evolved in countless ways over the last 140 years, but the strategy, communication, and instincts that define the sport remain remarkably consistent.

In many respects, the BAVBB League wasn’t introducing something new to Raimondi Park. It was reconnecting the park with an earlier chapter of its own history. More than a century ago, amateur clubs gathered on fields like this throughout the Bay Area to play the same game, built on the same fundamentals and competitive spirit.

That continuity has been possible because Raimondi remains more than just the home of the Oakland Ballers. Since making the park their home, the Ballers have invested in restoring and maintaining the historic facility while continuing to make it available for community events, youth baseball, amateur organizations, and groups like the BAVBB. The result is a ballpark that serves professional baseball without losing sight of the neighborhood and the generations of players who have always called it home.

That spirit was evident throughout Saturday’s event.

While the All-Star Game continued on the field, a father and his young son played catch along the sideline near the grandstands. Their game caught the attention of the league’s scribe and one of the managers, who walked over carrying one of their vintage gloves and offered it to the young fan. For the next several minutes, the boy played catch with his father using the same style of glove the players had been using throughout the afternoon. There was no ceremony or announcement, just an invitation to experience a small piece of baseball history.

It was a simple moment, but one that reflected the purpose of the day. Baseball’s history isn’t preserved only through books or museum displays. Sometimes it’s shared one catch at a time, alongside one of Oakland’s oldest baseball fields, where another generation gets to discover why the game has endured.

And yes, Mayor Mike, ageless wonder, has faithfully served base ball fans for well over 100 years.

Find the Bay Area Vintage Base Ball League at their site and on Instagram.

Kyle Robinson is a transplanted Texan with a lifelong passion for the game of baseball. Residing in Oakland with his wife Randi, their daughter India, and a menagerie of pets. When he’s not slyly convincing his wife to name their pets after legendary baseball broadcasters (e.g. our corgi Milo Hamilton Robinson) he is probably balancing parenthood with trying to cram in as much baseball as possible. Whether it’s keeping the dream alive as a weekend warrior behind the dish, or on the sideline as a coach, volunteering, rest assured he has baseball on the brain. Find him on Instagram: @krob452