A Tale of Two "All-Star" Games

Although they weren't called all-star games, matches between "picked" or "select" nines became popular relatively quickly in the early days of organized base ball.  Especially noteworthy were the so-called Fashion Course games.  Matches played in 1858 at the racetrack of the same name located not far from today's Citi Field where a team made up of players from New York clubs defeated their Brooklyn counterparts in a best of three series.  The games were so popular that a group of Jersey City fans took ferries, horse cars and probably the railroad to witness the third and decisive game.   Needless to say, New Jersey players quickly took up the idea which seems to have reached its peak with two games played three years apart, the first in Philadelphia in May of 1864 and the second in November of 1867 at the Waverly fair grounds between Newark and Elizabeth.  In each case, the New Jersey lineup reflects both the early history of organized base ball in the state and how the game was changing in the Civil War period.

1858 Fashion Course Games

The 1864 game was played as part of the Great Central Fair in Philadelphia between picked teams from New Jersey and Pennsylvania and has been the subject of prior blog posts.  In anticipating the game, the New York Sunday Mercury observed that the contest was "not a real trial of [base ball] strength" between the two states - if it was, the New Jersey team would have been drawn entirely from Newark clubs.  Instead the organizers, who weren't named, opted to choose a broader representation consisting of players from five different teams including two from Newark.  Even so, there was no lack of talent and the New Jersey team prevailed 18-10 in no small part to the pitching of Fred Henry from the Nassau Club of Princeton.   As talented as they doubtless were, however, what also stands out is how the team represented different aspects of the almost ten year old story of organized base ball in New Jersey beginning with the representatives of the two teams from the state's largest city, the Newark and Eureka Clubs.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle - May 26, 1864

While the Newark Club may not have been New Jersey's first base ball team they were without question the first with any real staying power evidenced by the fact that 1864 was their tenth season, no small accomplishment at a time some clubs lasted only a single season.  If the Newark team represented the earliest days of New Jersey base ball, the Eureka Club symbolized the top amateur clubs, combining proficient play with gentlemanly behavior.  No one symbolized this better than left-handed shortstop Charles Thomas whose play was compared to some of the best in the game while at the same time being "ever gentlemanly in word and action."  The aforementioned Henry and another member of the Nassau Club of Princeton University came from one of not just New Jersey's, but also the country's earliest college base ball teams, The collegians were on the scene so early that it wasn't until later that same year that they could find college teams to compete against.

While the Camden Club was probably selected to some degree to help attract local fans, their representatives took a back seat to no one especially Weston Fisler who would go on to star for the Athletic Club of Philadelphia and play in the first National League game in 1876.  More importantly, in this context, however, the Camden Club is part of the story of New Jersey base ball because they are the only known team in the state to have played another bat and ball game, Philadelphia town ball, before converting to the New York game right around the time of the Great Central Fair.  Finally, the Bridgeton Club is historically significant because other than the Camden Club, they are the earliest known base ball club south of Trenton and represent the game's spread throughout the rest of the state in the second half of the 1860's.  Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, there were no African-Americans or women on the team, but otherwise most of the story of early New Jersey base ball can be found in the team's lineup although that was surely not part of the selection criteria.

Charles Thomas - Frank Leslie's Weekly Newspaper - November 3, 1866

Although I'm very familiar with the May 1864 game, that was not the case with the November 6, 1867 game between teams selected from teams from New York City (excluding Brooklyn) and New Jersey.  I had heard of the game, but it was old friend Eric Miklich who pointed out that it was not just any game between "picked" nines because there was filthy lucre involved some $500, no small amount at the time.  The various game accounts differ as to whether it was a winner take all contest or each team received $250.  Either way the very idea of playing for money found plenty of disfavor with the Sunday Mercury which wanted "to see this playing for greenbacks repudiated by clubs belonging to the Association."  By this point, approval by the National Association of Base Ball Players of playing for pay was only about a year away, but old ideas die hard.  Here again, however, the makeup of the New Jersey lineup which came primarily from two teams the Irvington Club and the aforementioned mentioned Eureka is interesting in its own right.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle - November 7, 1867 - the box score erroneously omits the New Jersey team's nine run second inning

The Eureka were the only New Jersey club represented in both games, but there is no comparison between the types of players involved, especially Patsy Dockney of the Eureka.  While professionalism was illegal in 1867, players were clearly being paid and the Eureka in spite of their gentlemanly background dabbed their collective feet in those waters that season.  Dockney had a well deserved reputation for playing baseball all day and then drinking and fighting all night which couldn't have been a worse fit with the Eureka and it's no surprise he lasted only one season with the Newark team.  Also representing the Eureka was Everett Mills who although he was no Dockney was playing his final season with the Newark team before moving on to the Irvington Club as a brief step on his climb up the base ball ladder that would end in the National League when he played for Hartford in the league's inaugural season.

Everett Mills

Back in 1864, the Irvington Club was one of New Jersey's many mid-level teams, but in 1866 and 1867 they wreaked havoc in the base ball world with a line up that was highly proficient, but far from gentlemanly.  Two of the participants in the 1867 game, Charles Sweasy and Andy Jackson Leonard, were playing their last game representing the Irvington team as they were on their way west where in 1869 they would become part of the legendary Cincinnati Red Stockings historic 57-0 season.  Joining them on that team would be a member of the New York "picked" team, Fred Waterman then a member of the Mutual Club of New York.  And yes, the Ebbets on the Manhattan team was a relative of Charles Ebbets. The financial incentives offered for the November game were apparently provided by the managers of the fair grounds in attempt to attract paying customers.  While a "cold, raw wind," did them no favors, the New York Clipper claimed a crowd of 3-4,000 took in the game which in spite of the unfavorable conditions was "by no means tedious."

After the New York team took a 2-0 lead, the Jersey boys tallied nine times in the second, largely due to some shoddy New York defense, but the visitors then regained the lead by scoring eight times in their half of the inning.  The game went back and forth, but three consecutive three run innings by the team from Manhattan were too much to overcome although the New Jersey team never quit finally dropping a 24-23 decision.  This time whoever organized the New Jersey team drew more heavily on the state's best teams - the Eureka and Irvington teams, but with very different kinds of players.  Players much more interested in getting paid for their labors, a far from unreasonable request.  And those who enjoyed some real success in doing so, like Sweasy and Leonard would have to move beyond their home state to do so.  Like almost everything else in base ball, the shift from amateur play to professionalism evolved gradually, but the makeup of the 1867 team especially compared to the 1864 version shows very clearly where the game was headed both in New Jersey and nationwide.

In the Footsteps of "Mule" Haas

Joe "Mick" Murray winning the pre-game bat toss

After a seven-week break between games, probably the longest in team history (the modern version at least), the Neshanock returned to the field on Saturday and not just any field.  It was the Neshanock's annual visit to Cameron Field in South Orange, New Jersey which has seen more than its share of baseball.  Although one Neshanock seemed confused by the requirement to remain on first base after arriving there safely, not too much re-training was required.  Saturday's game marked the fifth time Flemington has come to this Essex County community to take on the home standing Villagers - a local team that comes together for just this one game.  It's hard for such teams to compete successfully against vintage teams that play 20-30 games a year, but the South Orange club always played hard and on one memorable occasion (for them) defeated Flemington.  In the early innings of today's game it looked like another upset might be in the offing.  South Orange took an early 1-0 lead and after Flemington had tallied four times in its first two trips to the striker's line, the Villagers rallied for two runs, cutting the gap to 4-3.  The Neshanock however responded with four tallies of their own and added three more in both the fourth and fifth innings for a commanding 14-4 lead, ultimately prevailing 19-8.

Historic Cameron Field

While the Neshanock did tally 19 times, the offense seemed somewhat spotty at some points.  Leading the way was Chris "Sideshow" Nunn who not only managed three hits, but had Flemington's one clear score of the day.  Joe "Mick" Murray and Danny "Lefty" Gallagher also had three hits apiece and missed a clear score by only one at bat.  The balance of the Flemington attack came from Jeff "Duke" Schneider, Rene "Mango" Marrero, Scott "Snuffy" Hengst, and Matt "Fly" Nunn all of whom contributed two hits. "Duke" recorded the sole Flemington extra base hit of the day with one of his perfectly placed hits down the right field line.  Also of note, or at least so he says, was the play of Ken "Tumbles" Mandel who contributed his third successful hidden ball trick of the season and manfully caught a hard throw from "Mango" at first base.  Bobby "Melky" Ritter and "Snuffy" handled the pitching chores until the ninth when "Duke" came on to close things out.  Mark "Gaslight" Granieri caught most of the contest and also made his first ever appearance in center field while also contributing all of the photographs for this post.

Sam Bernstein calling his last game of nineteenth century base ball

Speaking both for myself, and I know, the rest of the Neshanock, I want recognize the many years of umpiring provided by Sam "It ain't nothing' 'till I say" Bernstein.   After 18 years of distinguished service, Sam called his last game of nineteenth century base ball on Saturday.  Well done sir, it has been a pleasure to have you with us lo these many years.

The always attentive Neshanock bench

The story of Cameron Field's place in baseball history understandably begins with the game that Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth played there on October 27, 1929.  Interestingly, however, another game a week earlier attracted an even larger crowd who watched Hall of Famer Mickey Cochrane, Howard Ehmke and George "Mule" Haas, members of the newly crowned world champion Philadelphia Athletics, play in an exhibition game.  What was both surprising and interesting to me was learning that Haas was a New Jersey native, born in nearby Montclair and began his baseball career there.  Haas played in the majors from 1925 to 1938 including being a starting outfielder on Connie Mack's three consecutive American League championship teams beginning with the 1929 squad which had just finished its championship season, knocking off the Cubs in the World Series.  Not only was Haas a member of that team, he also played a key part in the last two games of the Series, one of which was, depending on your point of view, one of the greatest games in the history of the fall classic.

George "Mule" Haas

Philadelphia had won two of the first three games, so the Cubs had their backs to the wall for the fourth game, played at Shibe Park (later Connie Mack Stadium).  It looked like the Cubs had risen to the occasion as they led 8-0 heading to the bottom of the seventh at which point Mack was supposedly going to give his regulars one at bat and then let his reserves play in a World Series game.  Al Simmons led off the inning with a home run and the Athletics kept it going, closing to within four when Haas came to plate with runners on first and third.  The Jersey boy hit a vicious line drive to center field that Hack Wilson misjudged in the sun and when the dust cleared, Haas had a three run inside the park home run and the Athletics were down by only one run.  Philadelphia still wasn't finished, scoring three more times for a 10-8 lead.  Knowing a turning point when he saw one, Mack brought in his ace Lefty Grove who shut down the Cubs and the Athletics had a commanding 3 games to 1 lead.  That story is relatively well known in baseball history circles, I first read about it probably 60 years ago in John Carmichael's My Greatest Day in Baseball.  I was not aware, however, of what happened the next day in the fifth game.

Ken "Tumbles" Mandel who has never once been confused with "Mule" Haas

As understandably down as the Cubs may have been, they shook off the disappointment and led 2-0 heading to the bottom of the ninth when who should come to plate with one on, but Mr. Haas  This time he didn't need the aid of the sun, homering over the right field fence, tying the game and setting for the stage for the Athletics to win the game and the series in the bottom of the tenth.  Quite a few days for the former Jersey player and he must have been on top of the world when he made his appearance in South Orange, a few weeks later.  It was a performance reminiscent of another Athletic player, Frank "Home Run" Baker who hit two dramatic home runs in the 1911 World Series to lead the Philadelphia to a victory over John McGraw's New York Giants.  Perhaps Haas would have earned a nickname for his heroics, if he wasn't already known as "Mule."  It seems a strange nickname for someone brought up in suburban New Jersey, but apparently he acquired it while playing in the minors for Birmingham where a reporter wrote that his "bat packed the kick of a mule."  Regardless of how he got the name, it's nice to see another example of how New Jersey has been and continues to be a cradle for major league baseball talent.

How I Spent My Vacation From Base Ball

How does a vintage base ball team occupy its time during a seven week gap between games?  Ideally, it is an opportunity to catch up on yard work, but in my case there are no shortage of week days for those tasks, leaving a definite void on the weekends.  Some of the time has been devoted to a new non-book research project (more on that in a later post), but there has also been time to finally try to get my New Jersey base ball files in some kind of order.  Since they represent over ten years of research, it is no small task, but in addition to at least having some sense of where things are, the process has also unearthed some interesting things including the below article from the August 4, 1862 edition of the New York Times about a match between the Newark Club and the Union Club of Morrisania.  

I share the entire article for a number of reasons, but primarily because of the form used by the reporter where instead of giving a linear inning-by-inning account, he devotes a lot of space to listing the ten "more noticeable points of the game," a form, I've never encountered before.

Also interesting, at least to me, are the following:

1. The Union and Newark Clubs are referred to as "Provincial" teams.  I have no idea what Morrisania was like in 1862, but since Newark was one of the 12 largest cities in the country, located only a few miles from Manhattan, the "Provincial" label seems a bit much.

2. The length of the game, four hours to play ten innings, anticipating the length of modern games, but long before the practices that make so many of today's games interminable.  A partial explanation was provided by the New York Sunday Mercury which claimed that with the score tied, Newark batters in the tenth "were very fastidious in their choice of a ball to bat" so that the half inning took "nearly a half an hour."  If so, it did the Newarkers little good.

3. The praise for a play by William Lewis of the Newark Club when he "splendidly caught" a ball in the outfield earning a comparison to some of the top players of the day or at least those so viewed by the writer.  Lewis was also praised by the Mercury  which said his "splendid fielding was quite a feature of the game" and that "We never saw fly-balls taken in such style before," five in total.  By 1864, Lewis was being regularly praised by the media for his outfield play, especially eschewing the bound catch even before it was outlawed in 1865.  He would go on to play for the Irvington Club during its hey-day and, perhaps, also for the Elizabeth Resolutes.

4. Newark Club president Henry Dusenbery's reference to the lack of the progress of the Army of the Potomac under the far from effective leadership of its field general, one George McClellan.

5. While extensive post game festivities were still the order of the day in 1862, the references to toasts to the umpire, the "Press," and others unnamed probably makes it a good thing that the only possible post game driving was behind a horse.

6.  The reference to the Union Club's pitching as "bowling," an image which while understandable is one I don't recall seeing very often.  

7. The "manliness" of Terrill of the Newark Club who suffered a dislocated finger, had it snapped back into place and remained in the game, albeit moving to center field from second base.  

Hopefully, at least some of this is of interest to readers of this blog.  But either way, the good news is that the Neshanock return to action on September 14th for their annual visit to historic Cameron Field in South Orange.