Fort Concho Devotes Weekends to America’s Baseball Pastime

A press release today announced that on April 15-16, Fort Concho will host a weekend event full of baseball history. The event will show a lineup that includes presentations on religion and America’s pastime, baseball literature, famed ballparks and the story behind a staple of the seventh-inning stretch.

Co-sponsored by the fort, its vintage baseball program and the Texas Vintage Baseball organization, the program seeks to promote the West Texas Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research.

The activities will be held at 215 E. Avenue D in Officers’ Quarters 8, and will begin Friday evening, April 15, and continue into Saturday, April 16.

The activities begging at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 15, will be presentations, including “Religion and Baseball” and “The Game That Was Never Played.”

Saturday's program begins at 8:30 a.m. with a presentation and a clinic on vintage baseball skills and a mock vintage game, followed by talks on the history of vintage baseball, the story behind the song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” the history of baseball literature and the history of umpiring and the evolution of ballparks. The latter topic will be presented by Fort Concho Manager and baseball lover Bob Bluthardt.

A book display, silent auction, raffles and book sales will take place throughout the event. Coffee, soft drinks and deserts will be available Friday night, and on Saturday a light breakfast will be available for all registered attendees. The cost is $15 for adults, $10 for students and $5 for children ages 7-14.

“We certainly hope that if we host it, they will come,” Bluthardt said of the event. “To crib another line from that movie, the reason why is the one constant through all the years has been baseball.”

For more information, contact Warren Simpson at [email protected] or Bob Bluthardt by phone at 325-234-0316 or email at [email protected].