Saturday, September 14, 2019

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.

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