Three Florida vintage base ball teams - the Bradenton Shamrocks, Central Florida Awkwards and Fort Myers Vagabonds - will play Saturday at Terry Park in Fort Myers. PROVIDED

This Saturday, March 22, Edison and Ford Winter Estates will host its annual vintage “base ball” game at historic Terry Park in Fort Myers. The vintage team roster includes the Awkwards Vintage Base Ball of Central Florida, Bradenton Shamrocks Vintage Base Ball Club and the Fort Myers Vagabonds Base Ball Club (the Fort Myers home team). The teams will play a nine-inning game, starting at 11 a.m. The game is sponsored by Humana. 

Vintage base ball (baseball in the 1860s, was spelled with two words) is played by 1860s rules, which include using wooden bats, no gloves and lemon peel baseballs. Players will wear vintage uniforms and the umpires will call the shots the way they did during the time period. 

Admission to the vintage base ball game at Terry Park will be $5 for adults; children 18 and under will be admitted free. Tickets may be purchased at Terry Park on game day. The park address is 3410 Palm Beach Blvd., Fort Myers.

The game coincides with major league baseball Spring Training that is now locally played at JetBlue Park and the Lee Health Sports Complex; however, Terry Park was once the hub of baseball’s Spring Training, and where Thomas Edison visited. 

Presentations at Edison and Ford Winter Estates

For spectators wanting to learn more about the history of Spring Training and the baseball legends that played in Fort Myers, the estates’ museum manager, Holly Shaffer, will give presentations Friday, March 21. At 11 a.m., she’ll speak about the Boston Red Sox and their spring training history in Fort Myers. Then, at 2 p.m., she will present an overview of the 100 years since spring training began in Fort Myers. The presentations are included with admission to Edison and Ford Winter Estates. Visitors will also be able to stroll through the new baseball exhibit inside the museum.  

History of Terry Park and the connection to Thomas Edison

In 1921, Dr. Marshall Terry, along with his wife Tootie McGregor-Terry, donated several acres of land that had in its earliest days been a cow pasture and later the site of the Lee County Fair. Lee County government took formal possession of the land, which was a mile east of the city of Fort Myers with the stipulation that “all property shall be used as a park and public property.”

Using the specifications put forth by Cornelius McGillicuddy, aka “Connie Mack,” manager and owner of the Philadelphia Athletics, construction of the original ball field began in 1923 and was officially named Terry Park. After two years of negotiations between Mack and a committee led by Richard Richards Sr., owner of the Fort Myers Royal Palm Pharmacy, the Athletics agreed to play their Spring Training games in Fort Myers, starting in 1925.

Terry Park served as the official Spring Training home of the Athletics until 1936. The team won the World Series in both 1929 and 1930. Over the next five decades, other major league baseball teams used the ballpark to play their pre-season exhibition games, including the Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates. Hall of Famers such as George Brett, Roberto Clemente, Ty Cobb, Jimmy Foxx and Babe Ruth are just some of stars who graced the fields at Terry Park, helping bring national exposure to the “City of Palms.”

Thomas Edison, world-famous inventor and businessman, was also a baseball fan. In a 1927 interview, Edison was quoted as saying “Baseball is the greatest of American games. I don’t believe you can find a more ardent follower of baseball than myself, as a day seldom passes when I do not read sporting pages of the newspaper.” Edison decided to visit Terry Park on a few occasions to watch the Athletics play, even seizing one opportunity to participate in the team’s batting practice session.

Edison and Ford Winter Estates

Edison and Ford Winter Estates is the internationally known winter home site of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. More than 220,000 visitors walk through the location each year from all around the globe. The organization has received many awards, including the National Stewardship Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Garden Clubs’ Historic Preservation Award. The property is an official project of “Save America’s Treasures,” a Florida Historic Landmark and a National Register Historic Site. The Edison Botanic Laboratory is a National Historic Chemical Landmark. The site is open every day – except Thanksgiving and Christmas – from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and until 9 p.m. during the month of December for Holiday Nights.