The Riverside Smudge Pots opened their 2025 vintage baseball season with a stunning 17-10 comeback victory over the Temecula Dear Bros on Saturday, overcoming an 8-1 deficit in dramatic fashion to begin another campaign for the two-time Southern California Vintage Base Ball League champions.
The Smudge Pots, who captured back-to-back SCVBB titles in 2019 and 2021, are one of eight teams in the league that plays baseball using 1886 rules and period-appropriate equipment and uniforms. Other teams include the Fullerton Fire Knockers, Lake Arrowhead Loggers, Crestline Highlanders, Lordsburg Trolleymen, Perris Prospectors, Redondo Beach Wharf Rats and Temecula Dear Bros.
Founded in 2018 by Chris "The Curator" Johnson, a baseball historian with an extensive ephemera collection, the team takes its name from the smudge pots once used to protect Riverside's citrus groves from frost damage.
The Smudge Pots debuted new alternate uniforms in Saturday's victory, featuring completely orange tops with lace-up fronts and black collars.
"We got these completely orange tops with the lace-up, and it's got a black collar, and it says Riverside across the chest," Johnson said before the season. "We were calling them our Orange Crush alternate uniform. It's kind of like a City Connect uniform."
The team added several new players this season, including a recent college baseball player and a former college basketball player who has appeared in films.
While the season opened on the road, the Smudge Pots are still working to secure a home field for their home opener scheduled for Aug. 21. The team previously played at California School for the Deaf but can no longer use that facility.
"We're not playing at CSDR, and so we're still looking through, or working with, parks and rec to secure a field," Johnson said. "We should know that within the next month or so."
Johnson said the team plans to make their home opener a major community event when a venue is confirmed.
"One thing that our team's known for compared to other teams in the league is that we really try to make it an old-timey event with concessions, merchandise, even bringing in musical acts to really enhance the experience for families and people from the city," he said.
More information about the Southern California Vintage Base Ball League is available at socalvbb.com.
Readers can look for updates on the Smudge Pots' home opener in the Raincross Gazette as the team works to finalize a venue for the Aug. 21 event.
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