In 1923, The Apex Dart Company invented a new board made of basswood and emblazoned with a general likeness of a baseball field and created a new game called ‘Dartball.’ From there, it took several years to gather steam, but the first known Dartball league came to be in a Pennsylvania Lutheran church basement 5 years later.

Over the next several decades, the game slowly spread around the Upper Midwest and Rust Belt, particularly catching on in Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Kansas City. By the 1950s, it had held a following in Pennsylvania and Ohio, but truly had a cultural grip in church basements and clubs throughout Wisconsin where it is still popular today.

This is where the story of Underhanded Events begins. In the late 1940s at a Catholic Church named St. Willebrord’s in Green Bay, WI, a group of parishioners got together weekly for games while their spouses played cards. A piece of Americana almost too cliché for Norman Rockwell to memorialize. St. Willy’s was a formidable team with an ace up their sleeve- Hank Eisch. Hank was a renowned triples-hitter with multiple league ‘batting titles’ spanning the 50s, 60s and 70s. He was something of a legend in the local Dartball scene (which yes, it was and is a scene).

Three generations later, his great grandson, Nate Berg, and his dad, Gary, caught the Dartball bug. Not literally of course, as no one wanted to get ‘the bug’ in 2020! They wanted to revive the game that has been mostly lost or is still unknown outside of Wisconsin and bring the old family tradition, and great socializing and team building event to Minnesota and beyond.

Combining many of Gary and Nate’s favorite things: sports, tradition, laughing, and most importantly, sharing a great time with groups of people, Underhanded Events was officially founded in 2021 as a labor of love to help get people back together and have fun and get out of the isolated rut that the pandemic created.

The game is best described in our video. It is played like a baseball/softball game and it is accessible and fun for all adults no matter what their athletic skills. And what’s old is new again with this great game.

Leagues, tournaments, company events and fundraising events are forming all the time. You can learn more, and ask questions at: www.UnderhandedEvents.com