It's not uncommon for families to spend part of every summer at a favorite destination. Some families, for example, go to the New Jersey shore for the first two weeks of July, while others make an August visit to Cape Cod. Since 2010, the Flemington Neshanock family has spent the third weekend of July in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. While these visits have included the historic battlefield, the primary purpose of the trip is to participate in the Gettysburg National 19th Century Base Ball Festival. Founded and operated by the Elkton Eclipse Club, the event has grown from six teams to one of the largest vintage baseball gatherings in the country, this year featuring 25 clubs.
Perhaps equally impressive as the number of participants is the festival's broad geographic reach, attracting clubs from as far away as Michigan, Tennessee and Maine. Having teams from so many different parts of the country enables the organizers to design a schedule where the Neshanock, and the other participating clubs, play opponents they wouldn't, and probably couldn't, play anywhere else. But while Flemington has typically played four different teams each year, the games tend to fall into one of several categories. It seems worthwhile, therefore, to look at the Neshanock's 2025 Gettysburg experience from that point of view.
Every year, there seems to be a game with a team playing at Gettysburg for the first time. This year's opener against the Kingston Guards from Ulster County, New York, was such a contest. The Kingston club's name comes from the 120th New York Infantry, a Civil War regiment that served with distinction at Gettysburg, not far from the site of Saturday's match. Flemington got off to a fast start, tallying nine times in the first three innings en route to a 13-4 victory. Flemington was led at the striker's line by Rene "Mango" Marrero and Matt "Fly" Nunn both of whom earned four-hit clear scores. Danny "Lefty" Gallagher and Paul "O'Neill" Cincotta each had three hits, with "Lefty" hitting his first, but far from last, home run of the weekend.
The legend of Ken "Tumbles" Mandel grew over the weekend as he not only played four games but also helped another team short of players and umpired another contest. In addition, he "contributed" an unforgettable, but hopefully never to be repeated, base-running maneuver. As seen here, by Sunday, he had learned not to stray too far off third base.
Mark "Gaslight" Granieri had two hits for Flemington but was even more productive at catcher, recording seven putouts on foul balls. Wilely veteran that he is "Gaslight" also pulled off a trick play on a foul bound out. Since there are new readers to the blog this year, this seems like a good time to explain a major difference in 1860s baseball. Simply put, baserunners cannot advance on a foul ball, but must return to their base or risk being put out. This facilitates trick plays where, after a foul ball, a seemingly errant throw, tempts the runner to leave his base, only to learn to his chagrin that he is out because he cannot advance on a foul ball. We hope this explanation is helpful to new readers, anonymous as they may be.
Typically, at least one game at Gettysburg is close, and it would have been difficult to have one closer than the Neshanock's second game on Saturday against the Addison Mountain Stars from western Pennsylvania. We had the chance to watch the Addison team's first game and knew they were heavy hitters. Once again, the Neshanock got off to a fast start and led 5- 1 after three innings. There was, however, no way to shut down the Addison offense. The Pennsylvania team tallied six times in the fourth and twice more in the sixth to lead 9-5. Flemington rallied in their half of the sixth to tie the game at 9-9, but it didn't stay tied for long. Addison tallied four times, but their lead proved equally short-lived as the Neshanock rallied again to take a 14-13 lead after seven innings.
"Mango" again led the Neshanock attack with four hits while "Lefty," "O'Neill," and Sam "Ewing" Ricco contributed three apiece. Additional offensive support came from Chris "Sideshow" Nunn, "Gaslight," Joe "Mick" Murray and Jim "Jersey" Nunn, each with two hits. On the defensive side, "Gaslight" exceeded his first game performance, recording ten putouts on foul-bound outs, a Neshanock record. Again, for the benefit of new blog readers, batted balls, fair or foul, caught on one bounce are an out.
The Gettysburg Festival attracts some of the country's best vintage baseball teams - teams that are fun to watch, but not necessarily to play. Flemington was in that position on Sunday morning in a match against the Bear Clan Club of Flat Rock, Michigan. Surprisingly, the Neshanock trailed only 3-2 after two innings, thanks in part to another "Lefty" home run. In the bottom of the third, however, Flat Rock's heavy hitters took over. When the dust finally cleared, the Michigan team had tallied 13 times and had more than enough runs for a 19-5 victory. "Lefty" had one other hit besides his home run while "Mango," "Jersey," and "Fly" had two apiece.
Flemington quickly responded, scoring four times in the first and adding five more in the third. Westfield got four back in the top of the fourth, but the Neshanock matched that and prevailed 13-7 in a game shortened by the time restrictions. "Lefty" had a three-hit, clear score with all three hits home runs, giving him six for the weekend. "Sideshow," Mango," "O'Neill," "Jersey" and Chris "Lowball" Lowry each had two hit games. "Mango" and "Lowball" earned clear scores in the process. "Gaslight" finished up a memorable defensive weekend by short-circuiting a Westfield rally with the foul ball trick.
I want to reflect a little more on the Neshanock's classic struggle with the Addison Club. In my sixteen or so years of vintage baseball, I've been part of many close games. Some were satisfying wins, while others were heartbreaking, if not bitter, defeats. But I couldn't remember a game like the one on Saturday. Like the others, it was obviously a very close game, but it was somehow different. After a lot of thought, what stood out was the effort of both teams. This is in no way to say there isn't plenty of effort in other games, but in my experience, in this one, the effort was off the charts. I think the chances or opportunities for such memorable games are far greater at Gettysburg. And that's one more reason all of us in the vintage baseball world should be grateful to the Elkton Club for making it happen, every year on the third weekend in July.
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