Articles:
Fields of Forever—
The “Chicken League”
May 2002
Baseball today has a time limit... A TIME LIMIT. Who’s kidding who in this regard? As fans, we go to games to relax, soak up some rays, have some UN-timed fun. Not today boy. Seven inning games have a two hour limit on them. Nine inning games are two and three quarter hours period!!! In this area with field use and space worth more than a good car, I can understand the need for it.
Did you know there was an alternative that offers no time limit? Most outsiders don't even know it exists at all, let alone thrives every Sunday from mid-April to Oct. It’s in a world all its own. Coaches, Players and Umpires don't wear watches or care about the time. The game is decided by the last man out in the ninth inning. It's baseball the way it once was played. It's not an all comers league (pay your money and we put you on a team). You must tryout or be invited or recruited by someone. The fields are all “Fields of Dreams” on private property. The league I'm referring to is called The Chesapeake Independent Baseball League. It’s an off shoot of the Old Mid-Atlantic Negro League. The league is also known as the “Chicken League.”
Many fields are just a short drive off the Beltway by distance but a lifetime away by feel. These games start at 3:00pm on a Sunday afternoon and are done when they are over...No time clock needed, not here. Come relax with several hundred friends, fans, locals who root for THEIR TEAM above all else.
The spirit of Baseball is alive and well throughout southern Maryland; places
like, Black Sox Park, Drury Giants Field, the Swamp Dawgs Swamplex, Lamonts,
Wicomico Braves and much, much more. Come visit a game, but
leave your watch at home and stay awhile. Eat a dog, get a chicken
sandwich, buy a cold one, relax and have some fun...You might never want
to go home again.
Originally published in The Squibber, the newsletter of the Bob Davids Chapter of SABR.
