MENOMONIE – Soon the sounds of “Striker to the Line,” “Huzzah” and “Two Hands Dead” (two outs) will return to the area as the Menomonie Blue Caps Base Ball Club will open the 2025 season.

The vintage base ball (that is two words) team that plays under 1860s base ball rules open their season April 19 in Afton, Minn., and have two other road contests before opening the home portion of their season at Phelan Park with the Menomonie Blue Caps Base Ball Festival, which, besides Menomonie, is scheduled to include eight other teams Saturday, June 21 and Sunday, June 22.

The Blue Caps will also play in nearby towns when they travel to Eau Claire, June 7; to Chetek, July 3, to Barron, August 17, to Dallas, Oct. 4 and to Sand Creek, Oct. 18. The Blue Caps last year played at a vintage tournament in Gettysburg, Pa., and this year are scheduled to travel to Madeline Island for a festival July 19.

The original Blue Caps started play in Menomonie in 1882 and continued into the 1940s The Blue Cap name was revived as a vintage base ball team in 2012, playing under the auspices of the Dunn County Historical Society. A complete 2025 schedule appears below. The schedule is subject to change.

The Menomonie Blue Caps welcome anyone interested in the game to join the roster. For more information, contact Dustyn Dubuque, at 715-232-8685.

2025 Menomonie Blue Caps Schedule (subject to change)

Date, Location, (Teams), Time
Saturday, April 19, at Afton, MN (Afton Red Sox)
Saturday, May 17, at East Bethel, MN (Afton Red Sox, Rum River Rovers, St. Croix Steps, Mankato Baltics)
Saturday, June 7, at Carson Park, Eau Claire, WI (Rum River Rovers), noon
Saturday, June 21 and Sunday, June 22, Menomonie Blue Caps Base Ball Festival (Oregon Ganyemedes, IL; Flat Rock Bear Clan, MI; Decatur Long Squirrels, IL; Rum River Rovers, MN; LaCrescent Apple Jacks, MN; Fillmore Fungi, MN; Afton Red Sox, MN; Sand Creek 9, WI) 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, June 28, at Richfield, MN (All-Comers Festival)
Thursday, July 3, at Chetek, WI (Sand Creek 9) 6 p.m.
Saturday, July 12, at Mankato, MN (Mankato Baltics; Rum River Rovers), noon
Saturday, July 19, at LaPointe, WI – Madeline Island Base Ball Festival (Milwaukee Cream City, WI; Topeka Westerns, KS; Afton Red Sox, MN; Rum River Rovers, MN; Sand Creek 9, WI)
Saturday, Aug. 9, at Oak Creek, WI (Milwaukee Cream City, TBD)
Friday, Aug. 15, at Canton, WI (Sand Creek 9), 7 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 17, at Barron, WI (St. Croix Steps; Rum River Rovers)
Saturday, Sept. 13, at DesPlaines, IL (TBD), 2 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 14, at Hobert, IN (TBD), 2 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 20, at Bayport, MN (Dunn County All-Stars vs. Afton Red Sox and Rum River Rovers)
Saturday, Oct. 4, at Dallas, WI (Sand Creek 9)
Saturday, Oct. 11, at Afton, MN (Stache Bash All-Comers Festival)
Saturday, Oct. 18, at Sand Creek, WI (Sand Creek 9)

1860 Base Ball Rules  

The rules and regulations adopted by the National Association of Base Ball Players in March 1860, govern the game of base ball as played by The Dunn County Blue Caps, with some adaptations. There are fewer than 40 written rules for base ball of that era, all else was left to the codes of general behavior of the time. A summary of the rules appears below. Read the full rules and regulations at the Vintage Base Ball Association website.

• Prior to a match, the umpire assembles the opposing nine for a review of the rules and home field ground rules.

• The pitcher delivers the ball in an underhand manner to the striker. Strikes are called only on a clean swing and miss. Foul balls don’t count as strikes. The umpire may warn a striker who is not swinging at good pitches and begin calling strikes. He may not call balls. Calling balls was not added until 1864.

• The umpire calls a baulk whenever the pitcher fails to complete a delivery after beginning his throwing motion or has either foot in advance of the line when delivering the ball. The umpire calls all baulks and foul balls immediately in a forceful manner. Fair balls are not called.

• A hit ball is considered fair or foul by where it first hits the ground, or a player, first. A fair ball remains in play anywhere. Balls that hit trees, will be discussed in the home field ground rules by the umpire before the match.

• A ball caught in the air or on the first bound, fair or foul, puts the striker out. Base runners may advance at their own risk on a fair ball caught on one bound. On a fair ball caught on the fly, base runners may advance at their own risk after first returning to tag their base. Base runners may not advance on a foul ball, caught on the fly or the bound, until the ball has settled in the hands of the pitcher.

• A baserunner is out if he is forced at any base or tagged in a non-force situation. He may not over run any base, including first, and can be put out when doing so. Running more than three feet from the base path to avoid making an out is not allowed.

• There are no free backs to base for base runners. They may be doubled off the base on a foul ball that is first returned to the pitcher. They may be doubled off base on a fair ball the fielder returns to the base before the runner reaches it; the ball does not have to return to the pitcher first.

• An ace (run) is scored by the base runner successfully making all four bases.

At a match, spectators will see base ball when it was in its youth. It was truly a gentleman’s game played for pleasure. Soldiers returning from the Civil War camps brought the game home to their communities for all to enjoy, and the game continued to spread.