6th Annual Copper City Classic
Bare-handed base ball as it was played when Abraham Lincoln was running for his first term as president returns to Bisbee’s 105-year-old ballpark for the sixth consecutive year! Teams from the Arizona Territories Vintage Base Ball league and the Colorado Vintage Base Ball Association will gather at historic Warren Ballpark on Saturday and Sunday, April 11 and 12 to take part in the Sixth Annual Copper City Classic Vintage base Ball Tournament. The home team – the Bisbee Black Sox – are off to a good start this season and are hoping to claim the tournament championship. Come cheer them on – or cheer on your own favorite team – as ballists wearing vintage-style uniforms play the game by 1860 rules.
Honoring ‘Scrap Iron’ and an Outstanding Lawman
This year’s tournament will honor two outstanding athletics who played baseball at Warren Ballpark in years past: Clint “Scrap Iron” Courtney and Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. Clint Courtney began his professional baseball career as the catcher for the 1947 Bisbee Yanks before moving up the ladder to a colorful and successful career in the big leagues during the 1950s and 60s. Clarence Dupnik, a 1954 Bisbee High School graduate, was a star third baseman for the Pumas before beginning a distinguished career with the Tucson Police Department and as Pima County’s longest-serving Sheriff.
Added attraction: The Post Game Blues
Jim “Mudcat” Grant, ace American League pitcher, baseball historian and musician, is planning to return for the Post Game Blues concert. Last year Mudcat missed the tournament to receive the prestigious Jackie Robinson Foundation Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Face of Adversity on the same date. Join Mudcat along with Tucson’s Cholla High School Blues Standards and Bisbee’s own Russell “Cat Daddy” Gillespie and his 12-Barz Blues Band for Saturday evening’s Post-Game Blues concert at the Stock Exchange Saloon and Grill in historic Brewery Gulch.
Tickets are $10 per day or $15 for both days. Children 12 and under are free with an adult ticket. Active military are free on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased on-line or at the gate. Gates open at 9 a.m. and play will continue until approximately 5 p.m. All funds are used to restore Warren Ballpark and specifically for the project to build modern, ADA accessible restrooms. For more information about the tournament and accompanying events, call 520 432-3813