New England Standoff

Photo by Mark Granieri

When the Neshanock traveling party, including three members of the Elizabeth Resolutes, arrived at Old Bethpage Village on Saturday, it would have been understandable to believe we somehow missed a turn and ended up in New England instead.  On tap for Flemington were two matches in the Doc Adams Festival against the Providence Grays and the Boston Beaneaters, two New England clubs with more than a little base ball history behind them.  The Providence Club, for example, is famous for its 1884 National League pennant winning season led by the unbelievable pitching performance of Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn who won 59 games (yes 59) that season, throwing some 678 innings with a 1.38 ERA.  Just mind boggling numbers.  Anyone interested in learning more should take a look at Ed Achorn's fine book Fifty-nine in '84.  More information about the Grays and their recreation of late 19th century base ball including overhand pitching can be found at http://www.providencegrays.com/home.html.

Photo by Mark Granieri

Back in mid July, the Neshanock took on the Grays at the Gettysburg Festival and emerged with a hard fought win in a game played under 1864 rules.  For Saturday's game on Long Island, the two clubs moved the rules up a year to 1865 (no fair bound outs), but the game could have been played by the rules of 2000 BC for all it would have mattered.  Flemington did score twice in the top of the first and was still close at 4-3 after two, but Providence tallied eight times in the third, to lead 11-3 on the way to an easy 20-4 victory.  Flemington's offense was led by Lawrence Major with three hits, followed by two apiece by Jeff "Duke" Schneider, Danny "Lunch Time" Shaw, Ken "Tumbles" Mandel and Joe "Mick" Murray, with "Mick" coming up with a clear score.  Lawrence was one of three Resolutes, helping the Neshanock out on Saturday, even though he was wearing the uniform of the Liberty Club of New Brunswick, a club he is starting.  Thanks also to Paul Salomone and Kyle Gautieri for filling out the limited Flemington roster and thanks to the New York Mutuals for organizing this fine event.

Photo by Mark Granieri

After a brief break with nary a "Casey at the Bat" to be heard, Flemington's second match was against the Boston Beaneaters, the first time the Neshanock have taken on the Massachusetts club which like the Grays favors the overhand game.  The Beaneaters have a long and distinguished history that I seem to keep running into in some of my writing endeavors.  For example, one of the essays that I wrote for the SABR publication Inventing Baseball, was about the National League's first game which featured the Boston club (then called the Red Caps) against the Philadelphia Athletics (http://www.sabr.org/gamesproj/game/april-22-1876-new-age-begins-inaugural-national-league-game).  Next, I wrote four game accounts for another SABR book, Boston's First Nine about the Boston club's dominance of the National Association from 1871 to 1875 (they were then called the Red Stockings).  In 1883 the club adopted the name Beaneaters and went on to dominate the National League winning seven 19th century pennants and putting seven players and one manager in the Hall of Fame.  I'm currently working on two game accounts for another SABR book about the Beaneaters.  Although they are long since gone from Boston, the club still exists as the Atlanta Braves.  More information about the vintage version can be found at http://www.beaneatersbaseball.com/.

Photo by Mark Granieri

Striking second in the second contest, Flemington kept Boston off the board and tallied six aces in their half of the first, before adding two more in the second and one in the third for a 9-0 lead on the way to an 18-5 win, almost the direct opposite of the first match.  Danny "Lefty" Gallagher led the Neshanock attack with four hits, earning his first career score in what was only his fourth vintage match.  "Duke," Kyle and "Mick" also chipped in three hits while "Gaslight," "Lunch Time," "Mick" and Lawrence added two apiece.  Lawrence also pitched the full nine innings and made an outstanding defensive play, catching a line drive on the bound in the top of the seventh.  Having split the days two matches, the Neshanock are now 19-8 on the season, heading into a long weekend in New England (where else) with Saturday and Sunday games in Connecticut.  As noted a few weeks ago, the Neshanock trip takes place 150 years after the Olympic Club of Paterson made a similar visit to the Nutmeg State and a post towards the middle of the week will reprint a contemporary account of that trip.