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The Plowboys hail from Downers Grove Illinois, 20 miles west of Chicago. In 2004, a group of local men organized a rousing exhibition match of Vintage Base Ball. It was decided at that time to officially organize the Downers Grove Plowboys Vintage Base Ball Club. The inaugural season commenced in 2005 to roaring success! The Plowboys currently schedule many matches during the summers with other Vintage Base Ball clubs in Northern Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Organized base ball in Downers Grove dates back prior to the Civil War. In 1857, Judge Walter Blanchard stated about the community’s original settlers that “…there are still enough around to get up a good game of ball now and then.” In an 1858 Chicago Tribune article, a group of “country boys” from Downers Grove defeated the Chicago Union in a game of base ball. And what about the name? The "Plowboys" were a real Downers Grove social group in the mid-1800s. It functioned as a political group organized in the late 1850s to support the abolitionist and Union candidates. During the Civil War the original group dissolved and scattered but was briefly resurrected as the “Sons of the Plowboys” for the 1888 Presidential campaign. According to a recently discovered c.1932 reminiscent article, members of the original Plowboys stayed together between the political campaigns by playing base ball. The 2009 Plowboys plan to continue that tradition. ContactAlan Baldwin |
