At first glance, nothing seems strange. Just another Sunday at Jefferson Park. Kids running around. Guys throwing balls. Butts parked in lawn chairs. Flames leaping from a charcoal grill.



But as you come closer, details emerge: tattoos, piercings, mohawks, a van with “Fart” rattle-canned on the side.



This ain’t no family reunion. This is Punk Rock Baseball.



But it is a family reunion, of sorts. A punk family reunion. Becka Baker, PRB’s unofficial chairwoman, says the Sunday tradition grew out of punk growing up. As years passed, scenesters got jobs, got married, had kids, and made it to fewer and fewer shows. Friends saw friends less often.



Just life, right? Not much you can do about it.



Or is there? “We’re just a bunch of anti-social, old-school punk rockers,” according to Baker, and not the easiest bunch to rally. But three years ago they came up with Punk Rock Baseball as a fun, family-friendly way to get the old crew together.  It worked. Between 50 and 150 folks show up most weekends, punk rockers and non-punk rockers alike.



“We accept everybody,” Baker says.



In keeping with the punk rock ethos, there’s no formal organization involved, no commissioner or committees.



“We have T-shirts and a MySpace page. That’s about it,” says a gent called Andy “Capp.” (“Because I wear a cap.”)



They also have rules.



One: Be respectful, clean up. Two: No egos.



“We try to eliminate the competitive nature of the sport so people can just have fun,” says Baker.



That means kids are safe every time. That means you set your beverage on home plate when you bat, and if the pitcher knocks it over, you’re out. That means you pick up your beverage before you run to first.



It doesn’t mean no trash talk.



“Hey Volcano man!” shouts a big dude called Dagger as I step up to the plate. “Write a story about your ass gettin’ out!”



You got it, Dagger: Hit a line drive to left center, but forgot the refreshments.

Out — by a punk rock mile.



[Hell’s Kitchen, Sunday, May 31, Punk Rock Baseball Benefit Show with I Defy, Dem Zaing and McMonster the Devastator, doors 6 p.m., $3, 3829 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]



[Jefferson Park, Punk Rock Baseball, Sundays, May-August, noon to 6 p.m., 801 N. Mason, Tacoma]