Vintage baseball is a unique blend that a local artist in Hawaiʻi is passionate about bringing to life. Waikīkī visual artist Matías Solario has been collaborating with Old Queen Street Stadium to revive old-school baseball through the "Aloha Vintage Base Ball Association." He aims to create a baseball league following the 1886 rules set by "Spalding’s Official Baseball Guide," which showcases the game's similarity to modern baseball while having its own fun quirks like top hats, gardening mitten-like gloves, and old-timey lingo.

Bringing Back Baseball History in Hawaiʻi

There was baseball activity in Hawaiʻi before the U.S. West Coast, dating back to the mid-1800s plantation era. Plantation teams were often segregated by ethnicity, including Portuguese, Puerto Rican, Filipino, Japanese, and Chinese teams. Solario also shared that 19th-century baseball figures like Alexander Cartwright, credited with bringing baseball to Hawaiʻi, and Lefty O’Doul, a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, played a significant role.The "Aloha Vintage Base Ball Association" plans to hold an annual preseason tournament called the Kalakaua Cup to kick off the season. Solario has two California teams on board for the tournament next November and aims to have four teams in the league. As an artist, he has designed all the uniforms for the teams, reviving the older teams that played during the Hawaiʻi plantation era.It's a very accessible style of baseball that humbles everyone regardless of their skill level. The heavy ball and limited windup make it a challenging game that brings out the best in players.