ABOUT US
Almost a century ago, 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, priests and ministers spread the love of this game 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 bars 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 wants 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 drinking game, to Minnesota and beyond- a frontier that somehow never really picked up on it like its neighboring state.
Combining many of Gary and Nate’s favorite things: sports, beer, tradition, laughing, and most importantly, sharing a great time with friends and family, Underhanded Events was officially founded in 2021 as a labor of love to help get people together and have fun and get out of the isolated rut that the pandemic created.
Now, with our partnering venues we lay down a stern, but fair gauntlet and challenge you to bring out your friends and try to NOT have fun… you can’t do it! No matter your age or athletic prowess (or lack thereof) Underhanded Events Dartball is an amazingly fun game and experience for ALL who participate. We look forward to seeing you and your squad Dartballing soon. Once you try it you will be hooked. . . . or is that stuck?!?
Leagues are always forming. Sign up, learn more, and ask questions and well help you get started!
Over the next several decades, priests and ministers spread the love of this game 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 bars 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 wants 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 drinking game, to Minnesota and beyond- a frontier that somehow never really picked up on it like its neighboring state.
Combining many of Gary and Nate’s favorite things: sports, beer, tradition, laughing, and most importantly, sharing a great time with friends and family, Underhanded Events was officially founded in 2021 as a labor of love to help get people together and have fun and get out of the isolated rut that the pandemic created.
Now, with our partnering venues we lay down a stern, but fair gauntlet and challenge you to bring out your friends and try to NOT have fun… you can’t do it! No matter your age or athletic prowess (or lack thereof) Underhanded Events Dartball is an amazingly fun game and experience for ALL who participate. We look forward to seeing you and your squad Dartballing soon. Once you try it you will be hooked. . . . or is that stuck?!?
Leagues are always forming. Sign up, learn more, and ask questions and well help you get started!