At 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 1, at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, Adam “Butter Bean” Alfrey will bring to life the national pastime as it was played in 1864. Back then, base ball (most often written as two words) was played without gloves and ascribed to be a gentleman’s game. Butter Bean plays for the Knoxville Holstons Vintage Base Ball Club, a member club of the Tennessee Association of Vintage Base Ball, that entertains and educates through the re-creation of 19th-century base ball and, more specifically, through the interpretation of the Holstons, a team that first played in Knoxville in 1867. Come learn about Tennessee’s earliest base ball clubs, as well as the rules, equipment, uniforms, and customs you can expect to witness when watching a vintage match!* Hurrah!

This event — part of the programming for our ongoing special exhibit “Made in Tennessee: Manufacturing Milestones” — is free and open to the public.

For more information about this talk, call 423-573-1927. For more information about the Tennessee Association of Vintage Base Ball, go to www.tennesseevintagebaseball.com.

* After you’ve learned all about vintage base ball from Butter Bean at the museum on June 1, be sure to check out a match between the Knoxville Holstons and the Emmett Machinists of Knoxville at Rocky Mount State Historic Site on Saturday, June 4, at 12pm. For more information about the match at Rocky Mount, go to www.rockymountmuseum.com.