Learning from Father

After a weekend off, the Flemington Neshanock returned to action on Saturday, traveling to Piscataway, to take on our friends the New Brunswick Liberty.  A relatively new vintage club, the Liberty recreate the first base ball club in Middlesex County, founded in 1857.  The original Liberty have the distinction of being the first New Jersey team to become members of the National Association of Base Ball Players, a loose confederation of teams that played a major part in establishing the rules of early organized base ball.  In addition to playing our friends on the Liberty, the Neshanock were also pleased to welcome back our founder, Brad "Brooklyn" Shaw and his son, Danny "Lunchtime" Shaw.  Also playing on Saturday, were three muffins or new members of the Neshanock - Joe Tomlinson, Rick Mosher and Tom Prioli.  We were glad to have them with us and hope that they will become regular members of our team.

Henry Zinn, a fifth generation baseball player 

Today marked the first time in 2021 that the Neshanock played two games, both seven inning contests, one by 1858 rules and the other by our more familiar 1864 regulations.  One of the features of playing games by two different sets of rules is that players and spectators get a sense of how and why the rules changed as the game evolved.  The major difference between 1858 and 1864 is that in 1858, there were no called balls and while strikes could be called it didn't happen very often.  The result is a game where the batter has less incentive to swing and the pitcher has less incentive to throw the ball where the batter can hit it.  The net result is usually a longer game.  Playing under those rules illustrates pretty clearly why balls and strikes became an essential part of the game.  

All additional photos courtesy of Mark Granieri

In the 1858 contest, the Neshanock not only struck first, they tallied three times and led 3-1 after one inning.  Flemington then added four runs in the second inning and another in the third for what seemed like a comfortable 8-2 lead going to the bottom of the sixth.  However the Liberty rallied, scoring four times, to close within two, before Flemington retired the side.  Fortunately, the Neshanock added an insurance run in the top of the seventh and then shut out the Liberty in the bottom inning, aided by an acrobatic catch of a foul ball by Flemington catcher, Mark "Gaslight" Granieri.  "Lunchtime" marked his return to the Neshanock with two hits, a feat equaled by teammates Jeff "Duke" Schneider and Chris "Sideshow" Nunn.  

The return of the Shaws - Brad "Brooklyn" Shaw center, Danny "Lunchtime" Shaw right

After a brief break to rehydrate, the teams returned to action for a game by 1864 rules which turned out to be one of the most unusual in Neshanock history.  Flemington tallied once in the bottom of the first which was matched by the Liberty in the top of the third.  In the bottom of the inning, the Neshanock added two more runs, thanks to some clutch hitting by "Lunchtime" and Bobby "Melky" Ritter for a 3-1 Neshanock lead.  Remarkably, that was the end of the scoring as the Neshanock not only kept the Liberty off the scoreboard the rest of the way, but also retired the last six men in order.  Special notice should be taken of fine defensive plays by "Sideshow" and Joe "Mick" Murray on foul ball bound outs as well as "Lunchtime's" pitching.  The two teams committed only one muff between them. Looking back through 2011, the game marked the fewest Neshanock runs scored in a win and the four total runs scored, equals a June 13, 2012, 4-0 loss to the Essex Club of Massachusetts.  Flemington returns to action next Saturday at Greenway Meadows Park in a game against the Monmouth Furnace Club sponsored by the Historical Society of Princeton. 

Dave "Illinois" Harris threatening (sort of) to steal second

Playing baseball on Father's Day weekend always reminds me of Billy Crystal's comment in Ken Burn's baseball series that baseball is "the game my father taught me."  Many of us can identify with that remark because regardless of our age, we've had a similar experience.  Baseball is unique in that respect because fathers teaching the game to their children dates back far beyond any other American sport.  It's not unreasonable to believe that by the 1870s, New Jersey's pioneer baseball players were teaching their sons about a game that was simultaneously old, new, and constantly changing - much as it remains today.  Depending on when our families came to this country, the experience can date back for generations.  The Zinn family, for example, arrived in America on July 3, 1849 when Johannes Zinn landed in New York harbor.  While organized baseball was being played then there is no evidence of Zinns playing the game until John G. Zinn (1892-1955) played in the early years of the 20th century.  In fact, exactly one hundred years ago, he played first base for the Bordens Milk Company team in the Hackensack industrial league.

"Lunchtime" at bat, Lawrence Major, Liberty Club founder is the catcher

There is also no question, he taught the  game to his son, Henry G. Zinn (1914-2002) who in turn taught it to me.  Almost without thinking about it, I continued the practice with Paul Zinn who is now doing the same with Sophie in softball and Henry in baseball.  Hard as it may seem to believe competitive softball wasn't an option for girls when I was growing up so I'm grateful Sophie has the opportunity.  There are three things in particular that I remember learning from my father about baseball.  The first was how to wear a baseball uniform.  In a day when youth players wore wool stirrup stocks without elastic support to hold them up, he figured out a way for me to avoid looking like my peers who constantly had their baseball socks around their ankles.  I may not have been a baseball player, but at least I looked like one.  That same initial season when I was struggling hitting, he taught me to hold my bat level rather than vertical facilitating a level swing that produced results right away. 

Game Action

Most of all though, the thing that continues to stand out has to do with throwing.  Early on he told me that the way to control where your throws go is to focus on where the ball leaves your hand.  If your hand is up high, the throw will be high, if it is low, the throw will be low.  Not only did I teach that to Paul Zinn, I also stressed it to his teammates when I coached youth baseball almost always with good results.  And anyone who has pitched for the Neshanock, especially Bobby "Melky" Ritter, is used to hearing me remind them to "Follow through." This is hardly a groundbreaking new approach to baseball. It's significance lies in how it teaches an important principle in just a few words, an approach to teaching that has a better chance of success because of its simplicity.  Now, of course, a new generation of Zinns is learning the game be it softball or baseball.  Sophie enjoys pitching and one time I mentioned the release point principle to her.  With the withering look, only a nine year old can manage, she said, "I already know that!"  Of course, she does, after all, she learned it from her father!