Morven Preview - Part III

All photos by Mark "Gaslight" Granieri 

This past Saturday, the Neshanock were honored to be part of the final day of Woodbridge Township's 350th-anniversary celebration (that's a Sesquarcentenial for those keeping score at home).  In honor of the occasion, the township put together its own team, the Woodbridge Claypitters.  Assisting the local players on and off the field were Danny Jurgens and Dennis Lipari of the Elizabeth Resolutes and Hank Hart, a distinguished alumnus of the Neshanock club.  Probably thanks to all that preparation, the local team got off to a quick start, tallying five times in the first two innings for a 5-1 lead going to the bottom of the second.  However, Flemington rallied for two in the second, one in the third, and then took control of the game in the bottom of the fourth with a six-run inning.  The Neshanock defense also settled down at that point holding the Claypitters to only one tally the rest of the way, for an 18-6 Flemington victory.  The local team had no reason be embarrassed, however, getting started in vintage baseball is no easy matter and the Woodbridge team played good defense throughout and the Neshanock hope to see them on the field again.

The Woodbridge Claypitters

Flemington's attack was led by Rene "Mango" Marrero, who had four hits while Dave "Illinois" Harris and Jeff "Duke" Schneider contributed three apiece.  "Duke's" first career triple was a key hit in the Neshanock's six-run fourth inning while "Illinois" demonstrated his skill at the "fair/foul play."  Both Dan "Sledge" Hammer and Ken "Tumbles" Mandel flirted with clear scores with each coming up one at-bat short.  "Sledge" preserved his clear score until his last time at the striker's line while "Tumbles" actually reached base each time up, but was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double.  Danny "Lefty" Gallagher and Scott "Snuffy" Hengst also had two hits apiece.  Flemington was pleased to welcome Don Sachau who made his Neshanock debut and we hope he will be back.  With the win, the Neshanock are now 4-1 on the season with a match next Saturday at the Howell Living History Farm in Hopewell Township against the Elizabeth Resolutes.  After that Flemington plays in Piscataway, Princeton, and Delanco - plenty of New Jersey opportunities to see the Neshanock and 1864 base ball.

Neshanock Alumnus Hank Hart (left) and Elizabeth Resolutes veteran Danny Jurgens

Anyone who has done historical research for a book, an essay or even a blog post, knows the challenges in finding adequate contemporary source material.  One thing I've learned from working on the Morven Museum baseball exhibit is that the challenges increase tenfold, if not more, for a museum exhibit, at least on baseball.  The first reality is that there really weren't a lot of objects to start out with and, secondly, the people of the time didn't realize that what did exist had historical value so they had little reason to preserve anything.  Thanks, however, to the generosity of a number of institutions and individuals, the Morven exhibit will have a good sampling of what is available.  Fortunately, these artifacts also serve as symbols for a larger part of the story.  Just two examples are the financial ledger book of the Star Club of New Brunswick (courtesy of the New Jersey Historical Society) and a series of notes from the corresponding secretary of the Bergen Base Ball Club.

Jeff "Duke" Schneider having recovered from running out his triple

The Star Club book was used by the club treasurer to keep track of dues payments while the Bergen Club's notes were notices of an upcoming practice, both fairly mundane concerns, (unless you are the treasurer or the corresponding secretary), but they symbolize an important reality of club life.  For obvious reasons, early base ball clubs are thought of primarily as teams playing a game, but they also were similar to modern not-for-profit organizations.  Such organizations require a lot of administrative tasks above and beyond the work associated with the not-for-profit's mission.  Those familiar with the not-for-profit world today know full well how important it is to have someone to keep financial records or take meeting minutes.  Many early base ball clubs proved to be short-lived and we tend to believe it was because of the difficulty in fielding a team on a regular basis which was doubtless a challenge.  But another contributing factor may have been the difficulty in finding someone willing to handle the finances, communications and other matters necessary for the club to operate.  Most likely some clubs disbanded because there was no one willing to do those jobs.

The Woodbridge bench reacts to a prodigious wallop by Ken "Tumbles" Mandel

Another interesting thing about these artifacts is how they connect to other parts of the story of early New Jersey base ball and, again, the Star Club book is an example.  Founded before the Civil War, the Star Club has the distinction of hosting what was probably the first road trip by a college team.  Although the Nassau Club of Princeton University had made a pre-war trip to play an alumni team in Orange, their first true road match was an October 1862 visit to New Brunswick to take on the Star Club.  Not only did Princeton president, John Maclean allow the team to leave campus for the game, he also permitted members of the student body to join the team for the train ride which according to one participant consisted of "songs, shouts, and visions of a jolly day."  Did the students comport themselves with the dignity expected (hoped for) by the college president?  Unsurprisingly, they did not. College students, then, as now, were, after all, college students.  After being welcomed by their hosts, the Princeton party promptly visited a "billiards saloon," before walking around the "rustic village" of New Brunswick, taking special note of "a few pretty girls with skirts fastened (enchantingly) up to avoid the wet." For shame!

How do we know such much about the Princeton students less than exemplary behavior?  They were not only foolish enough to wander off the straight and narrow, but one of them was perhaps even more foolish to write about it in the school's literary magazine.  If there were any consequences for their behavior, they weren't recorded, but the college authorities did begin to exercise greater restraint over at least the team, forbidding them, a few years later, to leave campus for a game in nearby Bordentown.  Did that stop them?  It did not.  College students, then as now, were resourceful and the Princeton players overcame that particular prohibition by playing as the Pickwick Club under assumed names.  The Star Club book and Bergen Base Ball Club notes may be inanimate objects, but they definitely have stories to tell.