Watch vintage baseball in Fremont

FREMONT – See how baseball was played during the Civil War era, when it was first rising to popularity, with the Spiegel Grove Squires. This season, the Squires, the vintage team at the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, have six home games and will participate in vintage base ball tournaments and games at other sites in Ohio. Home games are played on the lawn behind the Hayes Home, and admission is free. The Squires brought to life the sport when it became organized with standard rules of play for clubs. Back then, base ball was spelled with two words. The Squires are volunteers who have studied and learned the methods of play used in the 1860s, including playing bare-handed. Players are called ballists, and they wear period-style uniforms and adopt the language of 19th-century base ball during their matches, as games were called during the 1860s. The Squires are sponsored by Whirlpool Corp. The 2025 schedule is: Sunday, June 7 — at 11:45 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. vs. the Canal Dover Redlegs and Rising Sun BBC at Canal Dover Park in Dover, Ohio Saturday, June 21 — from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. exhibition play with kids during GroveFest at home. For information on GroveFest, visit https://www.rbhayes.org/news/2025/03/21/general/petting-farm-education-animals-crafts-games-more-at-annual-grovefest/ Sunday, June 22 — at 1 p.m. vs. the Fulton Mules at home Sunday, June 29 — at 1 p.m. with local celebrities at home Sunday, July 20 — at 1 p.m. vs. the Mansfield Independents at home Sunday, July 27 — at 1 p.m. vs. the Fulton Mules at location to be announced Sunday, Aug. 17 — at 1 p.m. vs. the Canton Cornshuckers at home Sunday, Aug. 24 — at 1 p.m. vs. the Akron Black Stockings at home Saturday, Aug. 30, OR Sunday, Aug. 31 — times to be announced at the Ohio Cup, presented by the Ohio Village Muffins at Thompson Park in Columbus Sunday, Sept. 7 — at 1 p.m. with the Sandusky County Raptors Special Olympics softball team at home Sunday, Sept. 14 — time to be announced vs. the Akron Black Stockings at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens in Akron Hayes Presidential is America's first presidential library and the forerunner of the federal presidential library system. It is partially funded by the state of Ohio and affiliated with the Ohio History Connection. Hayes Presidential is located at Spiegel Grove on Buckland Avenue. For information, call 419-332-2081, or visit rbhayes.org. Like Hayes Presidential on Facebook and follow on Instagram and X at rbhayespres and on Bluesky at rbhayespres.bsky.social.