7/15/2011:
Donkey Ball is exactly what it sounds like—a game of baseball or basketball, played atop a donkey. It dates back to the 1930s, when tough times called for cheap or free entertainment. And the game still exists today. In fact, the Buckeye Donkey Ball Company in Ohio has been running since 1934, training and leasing Donkeys in sixteen states for this peculiar sport, usually to be used as a fundraiser. There is also still in existence a nine-minute documentary of the game, simply titled Donkey Baseball, released in 1935 by MGM studio. And then there are clips of recent game attempts on the Internet.
On this date in 1937, the craze was documented in North Dakota as the Hazelton Independent reported that a Donkey Ball game had recently been organized at the local baseball diamond. The largest crowd in many years gathered around to watch—in fact, more than five hundred people were present. As the Independent reported, “…It reminded one of old times when Linton fans used to charter a special train and come up here with their team, a brass band and plenty of money to bet with the Hazelton sports. Only this time there was absolutely no rivalry in evidence.”
The fans came to see businessmen and farmers alike, riding atop donkeys, while attempting to play baseball. Teams were picked at random from the crowd. The Independent reported, “It didn’t seem to matter how good a rider a man was; not one ever rode from home to first without being unceremoniously dumped into the dirt before he reached his base. Those donkeys just didn’t have any place to hang onto…”
The game was played by time instead of the usual innings, and the teams were both unnamed and almost indistinctive, but one scored two runs, the other scored four, and it provided great entertainment for everyone who attended.
After the Donkey Game, Hazelton and Moffit played a traditional baseball game, with Hazleton winning 9 to 3, a game the Independent characterized as “not overly spectacular, especially after witnessing the show just before.”
Dakota Datebook written by Sarah Walker
Sources:
http://www.donkeyball.com/index.cf
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0225542/
The Hazelton Independent, July 15, 1937, p1
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/10/sunday/main540054.shtml