On Friday, May 31, at 7 PM Antioch College will once again have a baseball game on campus, if just for one night. The College will host the 1869 Red Stockings in a historic rematch with the Antioch Nine, reenacting the first professional baseball game that was rained out 150 years ago. The game is open to the public and will take place on Antioch College’s Main Lawn.

The resurrection of the Antioch Nine began in the Fall of 2017 when students in Visiting Professor of Visual Arts Forest Bright’s course on contemporary collaborative practices in the arts developed a public group project where they learned to play baseball, and as the 

Antioch Nine, challenged local candidates for office to a game at Gaunt Park in Yellow Springs. Buoyed by a successful match, the Nine, with the help of Antioch College President Tom Manley, sent a letter to challenge the Cincinnati Red Stockings, now the Cincinnati Reds, to a rematch of the historic, rained-out first game of professional baseball.

In the rematch on Friday, the 1869 Red Stockings will play the Antioch Nine, which will be represented by the Champion City Reapers of Springfield, OH. Spectators are welcome to enjoy the game on Antioch College’s Main Lawn in what looks to be excellent baseball weather.

More information about the 1869 Red Stockings team, the game on May 31, and upcoming games, are available on the 1869 Red Stockings website.

Directions and a campus map are available at our website at antiochcollege.edu/about/directions-map. Parking is available at the Foundry Theater on Corry Street.

A special thanks to the Antioch College Facilities and Grounds crew for helping prepare Main Lawn for this exciting event.

Alums will have the opportunity to learn to play vintage style “base ball” at Reunion 2019 with the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame Team.