Insanely Cool

After playing for seven straight weeks, the Neshanock are off until the National Silver Ball Tournament, August 13th and 14th, near Rochester, New York. We're not, however, totally devoid of content since Lauren Marchese Nunn took photos of the July 23rd match against the Atlantic Club that can only be described as insanely cool.  The selection below offers a pictorial explanation of Flemington's strong effort against one of the premier teams in the sport.  Photos by Lauren Marchese Nunn, all rights reserved.

Sound fundamental defense is essential to playing 1864 baseball well which applies not just to the rare great play, but also to handling "routine" chances with as few muffs as possible.  The above and below photos of Chris "Sideshow" Nunn literally looking an Atlantic fly ball into his hands is just one illustration of how to avoid giving teams extra outs.

Fundamentals are also important in making plays in the infield.  In the below photo, Ken "Tumbles" Mandel, having fielded a ground ball, focuses on taking the step necessary to make a strong throw to first under the watchful eyes of his teammates and an aging scorekeeper.

While the throw is obviously important it's only half of the job.  As obvious as it may sound, having a first baseman who can catch the ball is crucial.  Below, Gregg "Burner" Wiseburn is about to make one of  his many catches in route to a  flawless fielding performance.  Fully confident in his fielders, Neshanock pitcher Bob Smith is already signaling the out at first.

Even the best defensive efforts require some offense to make a match competitive.  In the picture below "Tumbles" executes a "fair-foul," a play unique to nineteenth century baseball.  Under the rules of the day, no matter where a batted ball hits in fair territory, it's a fair ball.  This differs from the modern rules where a batted ball has to go past first or third to be fair.  The idea behind the "fair-foul" is to hit the ball as hard as possible just inside the third base line hoping it will roll away into foul territory giving the batter at least a single and possibly more. 

During the early years of organized baseball when a batter reached first base, it was considered his responsibility to make his way around the bases.  As a result a runner forced out at any base was charged with the out rather than the batter.  Below is the first of three pictures showing how Matt "Fly" Nunn used sound base running principles to score from third on a ground ball to the left side of the infield.

Having gone back to third (above) to make sure the fielder makes the throw, "Fly" breaks for the plate and begins his slide (below) into home.

While the play at the plate might have been close, "Fly" put enough pressure on the defense to force the high throw shown below allowing him to tally an important run.

No matter the era, hitting with runners in scoring position is key to having a chance to win.  The below picture shows Dan "Sledge" Hammer taking full advantage of his opportunity.

So prodigious was the blow that "Sideshow" easily scored the tying run from first base while "Sledge" advanced to second.

While the Neshanock's performance was truly splendiferous, it wasn't quite enough to top the Atlantics.  Even so a good time was had by all, captured in the below photo of the two teams.  Let the record show that the aging scorekeeper once again regained his feet without assistance.