Photo by Mark Granieri
Saturday was a long day for the Flemington Neshanock both on and off the field. We had a doubleheader with the New York Gothams who now play all or almost of their home games on Governor's Island in New York harbor. For most of the Neshanock that meant a car ride to Staten Island followed by not one, but two ferry rides - first on the Staten Island ferry to lower Manhattan and then a brief ferry trip on the Governor's Island Ferry. I opted for two subway rides and one ferry boat, but it was still pretty complicated.
Photo by Mark Granieri
Once on the island itself, it wasn't a great day of base ball as the Neshanock dropped both games, by scores of 14-8 and 19-4. Perhaps not surprisingly there were no clear scores and more than a few players in the "no runs scored" column. The first game was actually pretty competitive until a moment when unknown to the Neshanock, there was a temporary suspension of the 1864 rules and we apparently went back to a predecessor game where there was no such thing as foul territory.
Things got out of hand during the second game as the heat and some strong hitting by the Gothams put the game out of reach fairly early. The day wasn't over, however, as there was first the wait to get on a ferry back to Manhattan (took me two tries) and then a 25 minute ride in a sardine packed subway car. All in all, it made historically accurate travel in a stage coach or horse and carriage sound pretty attractive.
Good article, read with great interest.
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