Sportsmans Cork Ball

Sportsman's Corkball Club is a historic St. Louis institution dedicated to preserving and advancing corkball, a unique American sport born in Missouri's brewery culture. Established in 1957, this club represents nearly seven decades of competitive corkball tradition.

Corkball is a distinctive bat-and-ball sport that originated in St. Louis around 1900 in brewery worker saloons. It resembles baseball but is played with a cork-wrapped ball (roughly the size of a golf ball) and a thin bat, typically in a compact outdoor or indoor space.

The sport involves a pitcher, batter, and catcher with no bases or base runners, making it accessible for players well into their 50s and beyond. Key gameplay elements include:

• •Scoring: Four singles equal one run, making it a station-to-station game
• •Strikes & Balls: Three strikes (swinging strikes are automatic outs if caught), five balls equals a walk
• •Hits: Any contact traveling 15+ feet counts as a single
• •Extra Bases: The club recently voted to allow doubles, triples, and home runs (250+ feet)

Sportsman's Corkball Club operates as a competitive league with multiple teams, comprehensive statistics tracking, and a rich historical archive. The club maintains detailed records of all-time player stats and awards dating back to its founding. Members compete in a structured schedule with standings and seasonal statistics.

Historically based in Tower Grove Park, the club relocated to Jefferson Barracks to accommodate facility needs and gameplay expansion. This move enables play with the full range of extra-base hits using clearly marked field distances.

The club preserves a uniquely St. Louis sporting tradition with deep cultural significance. Corkball was famously played by Navy veterans on aircraft carrier flight decks during WWII and helped spread the sport throughout the South.