Hardin Valley’s Drinnen combines 2 loves circa 1864
Batter Gary “Stove Pipe” Drinnen of the Knoxville Holstons Vintage Base Ball team gets a good look at a pitch during a game on the grounds of Historic Ramsey House recently.
“I really like baseball, but I also really enjoy history,” Drinnen, 37, said. “This was a great opportunity to play a game that I haven’t played as much at this point in my life.”
As a member of the Vintage Base Ball League’s Knoxville Holstons, “It wasn’t just baseball: it was baseball and history combined,” he said.
A former grade-school classmate of Drinnen’s was starting a Vintage team (1864 rules), though “I don’t think he had ever played organized sports,” said Drinnen, playing in his seventh Vintage season.
“He reached out to me and said, ‘I’m starting a baseball team as part of a history deal for me, and we need some guys who had actually played baseball before,’” this Hardin Valley resident added. “‘Would you consider coming out and playing? I think you’ll have a good time because I know you like history as well.’”
