East Tennessee veterans honored with vintage baseball game

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Veterans Heritage brought veterans together from across East Tennessee to honor them with a fun vintage baseball event.

The game was hosted at the historic Ramsey House, a place with a lot of history that added even more antiquity to it Saturday with an 1860′s style of baseball event.

“Support the veterans. Love the veterans. I love talking to them,” East Tennessee veteran Mack Orick said.

Orick served in the Army back in the 1960′s. He has three brothers who also served. His granddaughter currently serves in the Air Force, and his grandson is about to graduate from West Point.

“You see me smiling. I’m so proud of him,” Orick said.

Orick said he was happy to see the vintage style of baseball along with chatting with several veterans. The game from Saturday has a couple different rules than we see today.

“We play bare handed baseball which is the way they played all the way into the 1870′s,” vintage baseball player William Hardy said.

This type of baseball brought some historic characters from the time period, including Tom Wright who played the part of Abraham Lincoln.

“This was baseball that was in my time period. They played this game; well, the soldiers did out on the field,” Wright said.

Even though the event is meant to be fun and showcase baseball, everyone remembered why they were there: to honor veterans.

“Very honored to play before the veterans who have given us the freedom to come out here on a day like this and enjoy the national pastime,” Hardy said.

Veterans Heritage also gave Quilts of Valor to some veterans at Saturday’s event.

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