Diamond State Base Ball Club
| Diamond State Base Ball Club | |
|---|---|
| League | Mid-Atlantic Vintage Base Ball League (Federal Conference) |
| Location | Delaware City, DE |
| Ballpark | Fort DuPont Ball Field, Fort DuPont State Park, Sussex Avenue |
| Year founded | 2008 |
| Nickname(s) | Blue & Black, Diamond States |
| Colors | Navy blue and black |
| 2014 season | 23–12 |
| Ownership | Unincorporated club |
| Management | Jeff Kabacinski (President) Matthew Bartnicki (Vice President) Chris Goering (Secretary & Treasurer) |
The Diamond State Base Ball Club is a baseball team that played in Wilmington, Delaware in the mid-1860s through the early 1870s. The ball club was revived as a vintage base ball team in 2008 in Delaware City, Delaware.
At the conclusion of the Civil War, the sport of baseball (or base ball, as it was spelled at the time) experienced a tremendous explosion in interest. New ball clubs began to form in every city and town in the country almost as soon at the war was settled. Interest in base ball certainly was no different in the burgeoning industrial city of Wilmington, Delaware.
On October 2, 1865, a group of Wilmington's leading businessmen and attorneys met to discuss the formation of a new amateur club to represent its city. Founders of the club, called the Diamond State Base Ball Club, included attorneys Levi C. Bird, Anthony Higgins, Benjamin Nields and several others.
The ball club rented a home ball field for its practice and games, which was located at Delaware Avenue and Adams Street, adjacent to the Wilmington & Brandywine Cemetery, at what was then the edge of the Wilmington's city limits.
Diamond State Base Ball Club hastily arranged its first ever match, which was played at its home field on October 7, 1865 against a student team from nearby St. Mary's College. Rival base ball clubs soon formed all around the city and state, though none would prove to be as well-organized or competitively strong as the Diamond State nine. They went on to dominate play in Delaware throughout the remainder of the 1860s, winning several state championships during that period.
Interest in the Diamond State Base Ball Club began to wane by 1870, as other Delaware clubs rose to challenge them. The club disbanded in the early years of the decade. A brief attempt was made to revive the club in the mid-1870s to little avail.
The most accomplished Diamond State ball player was Fergy Malone, who led the club to the Delaware state championship during the 1866 seasons. Malone is widely recognized as a baseball pioneer and one of the finest catchers of the 19th century.
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