At the Manor Played

After Saturday's match in intensely urban south Brooklyn, it would have been hard for the Neshanock to have found a more different venue for Sunday's games which were played at Ringwood State Park in northern New Jersey, not far from the state line.  Yet interestingly, both locations were important historic sites during the American Revolution.  The Old Stone House, of course, is located where during the Battle of Brooklyn in 1776, 400 Continental soldiers from Maryland made repeated charges at great cost, to stop the advancing British army and allow the rest of the Washington's army to withdraw.  Ringwood, on the other hand, was the site of an iron mine which supplied the Continental Army including the links to the great chain that blocked the Hudson River from British war ships.  So at this far more rural, but also historic site, Flemington joined the Atlantic Base Ball Club (Brooklyn Atlantics for short) and the Elizabeth Resolutes, two historic teams in their own right, for a day of vintage base ball.

Photo by Mark Granieri 

Leading off the day was an 1864 match between the Neshanock and the visitors from Long Island.  The Atlantics are one of the finest vintage base ball clubs in the country both in terms of how they play the game and how they honor the history of the original club, one of the best of the pre-professional era (pre 1870).  While it's never easy to lose regularly to the same team, the more times I see the Atlantics, the more I appreciate their play.  At bat, they combine solid line drive hitting with smart and aggressive base running.  But what stands out for me even more is how they play defense.  Of special note are left fielder, Anthony "Dirty Pirate" Cannino and shortstop, Dean "Dreambucket" Emma.  If Bob Ferguson of the original Atlantics was known as "Death to Flying Things," these two are worthy heirs, not just for "flying things," but also for anything hit on the ground remotely in their vicinity.

Photo by Mark Granieri

But as good as "Dirty Pirate" and "Dreambucket" are, nothing should be taken away from their teammates who also play sound, fundamental defense.  While I can't mention all of them, one player who stood out for me on Sunday was first baseman, Anthony "Willy Mo" Stelmach who handled every throw to first flawlessly.  Sometimes there is a tendency to forget the importance in base ball of making the basic routine play.  One of the Neshanock's most historic victories was a win over the Cleveland Blues at the National Silverball Tournament in Rochester.  At the end of one inning when Cleveland had closed to within one run and had runners on base with two out, "Jersey" Jim Nunn caught a fly ball to end the inning.  It wasn't an especially difficult catch, nor did he have to run far to get to the ball, but by just making the play, the rally was over and Flemington went on to win the game.

Picture by Mark Granieri

As impressive as the Atlantics are on the field, their commitment to both historical accuracy and the history of their club is equally commendable.  In addition to how they use every game for teachable moments, they also host educational events throughout the year which can be found on their website (http://brooklynatlantics.org/index.php).  Before Sunday's game, "Dreambucket" told Brad "Brooklyn" Shaw and me about how they had recently acquired an actual Atlantic belt from a descendant of an Atlantic player who generously donated it to them.  It is apparently the first original Atlantic item they've acquired and clearly meant a great deal to them.

Photo by Mark Granieri

On Sunday, through the bottom of the seventh inning, the Atlantic and Neshanocks played a very close contest with Brooklyn leading 7-6 as they came to bat in the seventh.  Unfortunately for Flemington, a combination of a number of well placed (Atlantic's view point) or lucky hits (the Neshanock's point of view) loaded the bases for "Dreambucket" who cleared them with a grand slam home run, barely beating the throw to the plate.  With that the Atlantics were in clear control and won the match 17-6.  Leading the offense for Flemington were Joe "Mick" Murray with three hits and Tom "Thumbs" Hoepfner and "Jersey" Jim Nunn with two apiece.  "Brooklyn" pitched a fine match for Flemington including taking a line drive off the wrist from "Dreambucket" which he calmly caught on the hop for the third out of an early inning.

Picture by Mark Granieri

After that the Neshanock took a break while the Atlantics took on the Resolutes in a game played by 1870 rules.  I didn't see a lot of the match, but I believe the Elizabeth club led until the last part of the game when the Atlantics came back for a 17-13 competitive win.  Competitive also describes the final match of the day, a game played by 1864 rules between Flemington and Elizabeth.  The Neshanock benefited from a six run third inning getting off to a 8-1 lead, but no one on the Flemington side thought the lead was secure and it wasn't.  The Resolutes got strong relief pitching from Danny Marcus and strong center field play from Jesse Tomlinson who as per usual was death to both "flying things" as well as any thing that bounced once.   Tomlinson also hit a home run as the Resolutes chipped away at the Neshanock lead which Flemington struggled to augment.  Elizabeth twice got within two, but never any closer as the Neshanock held on for a tough, hard-earned 13-10 win.  For Flemington, "Mick" and "Thumbs" again had strong offensive games, joined by "Brooklyn" and Ken "Tumbles" Mandel both with three hits apiece.  Defensively "Thumbs" and "Tumbles" filled in admirably behind the plate for the injured Mark "Gaslight" Granieri, recording nine of the Resolutes twenty-seven outs on foul tips.

Photo by Mark Granieri 

All in all, it was a long, hot, but very enjoyable day of vintage base ball which the Resolutes and Neshanock get to repeat next weekend at the New Jersey History Fair at Monmouth Battlefield State Park where they will be joined by the Hoboken Nine.  If you are in the area, stop by.