"A New Era"

Saturday was the Neshanock's annual game in Princeton hosted by our longtime partner the Historical Society of Princeton.  It was also the 15th anniversary of what we call the "Tumbles" game.  On that long ago day, Ken Mandel, came out of the crowd, Frank Merriwell like, to help out a shorthanded Flemington squad.  And not long after that, Ken became a regular member of the team.  I'm confident that every member of the Neshanock would agree that the club hasn't been the same since.  It took a few tries to find an appropriate nickname, but I would also venture to say that we all agree that "Tumbles" fits perfectly.  Unfortunately, "Tumbles" couldn't play this year because of an injury, but we hope he's back soon.

Picture of the October 31, 1868, game between the Athletic Club of Philadelphia and the Nassau Club of Princeton

Tumbles did, however, play an important role in Saturday's game as the aged scorekeeper couldn't be there.  Keeping track of the Neshanock tallies, however, wasn't that difficult since only six Flemington strikers crossed home plate as the Newtown Strakes prevailed 15-6. Leadoff batter Chris "Sideshow" Nunn scored three times thanks to his two singles and a double.  Rene "Mango" Marerro and Paul "O'Neill" Cincotta went him one better, with four hits apiece.  Also contributing to the Neshanock offense were Jeff "Duke" Schneider and Chris "Lowball" Lowry who each had two hits. We are very grateful to the Newtown Club for joining us for the second straight year.

 

Jeff "Duke" Schneider poised for one of his classic fair/foul hits - all game photos by Rene "Mango" Marrero

The two teams in the 1868 game pictured at the beginning of this post were very different.  The Athletic Club, which had a number of paid players, had just won the unofficial national championship while the Nassau Club was an amateur team of Princeton students.  Surprisingly, the collegians prevailed 25-17 probably partially because the Athletics were missing three of their regular players.  The Philadelphia club did, however, have one memorable accomplishment, pulling off a triple play.

Field Captain Chris "Lowball" Lowry at the striker's line under the watchful eye of Sam Bernstein

Paul "O'Neill" Cincotta about to make one of his four hits.

What was important about the game, however, was neither the Nassau Club's upset win nor the triple play.  Rather, the significance was the presence of one of the men standing against the fence.  Just four days earlier James McCosh had been inaugurated as the 11th president of Princeton.  According to the book Athletics at Princeton, McCosh's attendance "astonished the whole college" and "lent dignity to the sport."  It meant that baseball was "no longer a mere pastime, but an acknowledged factor in college life."  Nor was it "an accident" or a "whim" on the new president's part.  It was just one piece of McCosh's plan to better "the physical condition of the students." It marked the author said, "a new era" for baseball at Princeton. 

A cropped version of the above picture.  Based on the position of the cupola of Nassau Hall in the background, the field was located near where the Nassau Inn is today

All of this sounds like, and may be, hyperbole, but in the late 1860s, athletics had by no means been accepted as part of college life.  Charles Eliot, who became president of Harvard a year later, supposedly said that teaching students deceptive pitches like the curve ball was not something that should be encouraged at Harvard.  While it appears Eliot never made such a statement, it does symbolize the challenges faced by those first advocates for college athletics.  The proper place for sports in college has been debated ever since and, it's fair to say the future has never been more clouded.  But there's also no question that athletics can be a positive part of college of life.  It was good as part of this annual game in Princeton to remember an early believer in the possibilities.

An "Ornate" Double Play

In April of 1943, St. Louis Browns manager, Luke Sewell discussed his greatest day in baseball with Chicago Daily News writer, Jack Ryan.  Sewell had a long career with no shortage of memorable baseball days, including catching three no-hitters. But he had little difficulty choosing his biggest day with, as we shall see, one major qualification.  Sewell's chose an April 29, 1933, game at Yankee Stadium between his Washington Senators and the defending World's Champion New York Yankees.

Luke Sewell

Although an April game can't have much impact on the pennant race, this one was unforgettable because Sewell became the first major league player to achieve one of baseball’s rarest feats.  Rarer than a perfect game, rarer than an unassisted triple play and even rarer than hitting four home runs in a single game.  What could possibly be rarer than this trinity of extraordinary baseball feats?  

Lou Gehrig

Washington led the game 6-2 in the bottom of the ninth, but the Yankees had one run in with two on and none out.  Lou Gehrig was on second, Dixie Walker on first and Tony Lazerri was at the plate.  The power hitting Yankee second baseman hit a long drive to deep right center beyond the reach of Goose Goslin.  The Hall of Fame right fielder recovered the ball and threw to another future Hall of Famer, Joe Cronin, the Washington shortstop who threw home to Sewell.  

Goose Goslin

Let's let Sewell describe what happened next.

Now I saw this throw coming in from Cronin and I saw Gehrig who must have delayed on the chance that Goslin would catch the ball, coming down the baseline from third to home.  My glimpse of Gehrig was just out of the corner of my eye because I was watching the ball but never by as much as a twitch, revealing to Gehrig that I was expecting a throw.  That’s why Gehrig never slid, if he had I would have been licked.

Washington Herald - April 30, 1933

Lou sort of broke stride and started to pull up as he neared the plate and that’s when I grabbed the ball . . . . Cronin’s perfect throw . . . and slapped it on Gehrig.  The impact of that whirled me completely around but as I started to spin I caught a glimpse of Dixie Walker roaring toward home.  I came out of the spin diving down the third-base line and blocking Walker off the plate.  And the instant I smothered him I’d completed a double play at home plate!

It all happened so quickly Washington pitcher Monte Weaver didn’t realize he only had to get one more out to win the game, which he did.  Also surprised was Senators owner Calvin Griffith who had seen more than his share of baseball and believed it the “first play of its kind.”  And he was right.  Not only was it the first ever two-tag double play by a catcher, but there have only been five since.  Far fewer than perfect games (24), unassisted triple plays (15) or four home run games (21).

Bob Considine

Contemporary reaction depended on one’s point of view.  Bob Considine of the Washington Herald, called it “most poetically perfect play I’ve ever seen.”  Considine claimed Goslin’s perfect shoulder high throw to Cronin had the “speed and thrust of a 16-inch shell.”  Equally exceptional was Cronin’s throw home a foot ahead of Gehrig who was himself only a foot ahead of Walker.  It was said the scribe, the “greatest play ever seen here.”  Considine also mentioned another two-tag double play by Yankee catcher Wally Schang, "11 years" before, but my research thus far has not confirmed his claim.   

Dixie Walker

New York writers, however, focused on the Yankees problematic base running.  In an article headlined “Yanks Steal Dodgers Act,” Marshall Hunt of the Daily News, claimed Gehrig waited so long to leave second Walker “wasn’t any further behind the large fellow than his fly shirt tails.”  Since the Yankees managed to score only one lone run on four hits, the "hilarity" led fans "to roll in the aisles" and "cackle with mirth."  Hunt claimed it “couldn’t have been any funnier to the gallery if the victims had been a couple of daffiness boys,” otherwise known as the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The 1944 St. Louis Browns celebrate the franchise's only American League pennant

Once they stopped laughing those in attendance realized they’d seen a play they would never forget.  Obviously, Sewell, never forgot it, but he made one qualification to choosing the two-tag double play as his greatest day in baseball.  It would he thought be surpassed should he manage “a pennant winner for the St. Louis Browns.”  Since the Browns had never won an American League pennant, those who read the story in 1943 must have thought “That will be the day.”  But just a year later, Sewell led the Browns to their first and only American League pennant.  He did not, however, at least publicly, retract his original choice of what Considine fittingly called an “ornate double play.”
 

"Within These Prison Walls"

In a recent post, I mentioned that I had the good fortune to be at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia for Kevin Millwood's no-hitter early in the 2003 season.  It's one of my favorite baseball memories.  There was, however, one sad aspect to it.  On the drive home, I realized I could no longer share such moments with my father, Hank Zinn who died the previous November (after the baseball season ended, of course).  Baseball in our family goes back to at least 1909 when my grandfather, John Zinn played for the Friendship Club of Hackensack. That makes it hard to think about Father's Day without remembering the game we've loved for so many generations.  Each generation has had their share of memorable moments, especially my father who achieved the most success on the field.

Aerial view of Sing Sing Prison about 1920 - the baseball field was to the right of the smokestack

After beating out almost 100 other candidates to make the Bogota High School baseball team in 1932, Hank was an All-Bergen County outfielder a year later.  He then went on to nearby Montclair State where he was a four-year letter winner in baseball, possibly the first in school history (he was definitely the first four-year football letter winner).  Graduation from college was followed by teaching and coaching at High Bridge High School where his baseball team won the 1939 Hunterdon County Championship.

1937 Montclair State Baseball Team - Hank Zinn is fourth from the left, second row

These are certainly noteworthy accomplishments, but this post is about another of his memorable baseball days, one of the few he ever talked about. It's an experience not many people have ever had and probably even fewer will have in the future.  In 1922 at the tender age of eight, Hank Zinn became the mascot of the Maywood Athletic Association baseball team – a local semi-pro team.  Three years later he was still the mascot when the team took a bus from Maywood with 30 of their “royal rooters” to Ossing, New York for a game at a very different kind of venue.  Ossing is the location of Sing Sing Prison where the Maywood team had been invited to play the prison team. (For some reason, the inmates didn’t play road games).

1922 Maywood Athletic Association baseball team with Hank Zinn as the mascot

The prison baseball team was part of a program introduced by Warden Lewis Lawes who worked his way up from guard to warden.  He believed that recreation could be a tool in rehabilitation and the baseball team was part of that effort.  In addition to amateur and semi-pro teams like the Maywood A. A., the New York Giants played at Sing Sing a number of times.  An especially memorable moment for the inmates was when Babe Ruth and the Yankees paid a visit in 1929.  

Sing Sing Penitentiary Baseball Field - note the difference in the size of the crowds on the two sides of the field

Naturally the experience was somewhat different from other baseball games.  The Maywood “royal rooters” sat in the bleachers along the right field line which they entered through one gate as a group and left as a group. Hopefully they brought their own refreshments since there were no concessions. The 30 Maywood fans were far outnumbered by an estimated 400 inmates sitting in bleachers on the left field line. Possibly among the guards was Bill Leith, who had a Moonlight Graham like career with the Washington National League team in 1899.  At least he got up to bat once.

Hank Zinn (left) and his father enjoy a Field of Dreams moment about 1929.  The farm is in Michigan not Iowa, but you can't have everything

The 1925 Sing Sing team was having an excellent season with a 43-7-1 record at the time of the Maywood game.  No score of that game survives suggesting the home team won easily.  But Maywood did score at least one run.  In the ninth inning, eleven-year-old Hank was put in as a pinch runner and scored to “the applause of the four hundred fans.”  It wasn’t until “late in the night” that the Maywood party returned home.  It wouldn’t be surprising if young Hank had fallen asleep by then.  But it’s also very possible he was far too excited to sleep after such a memorable baseball moment.  One he discussed with his father and eventually with his son.  Happy Father's Day!

Clutch

After a month without a Saturday game (remind me to speak to the schedule maker), yesterday, the Neshanock visited the Howell Living History Farm. At Howell, unlike other regular venues, we've played on multiple fields.  Saturday was at least the fourth different "field" on the farm's 100 or so acres.  Apparently, the choice is driven by the hay harvesting schedule which may suggest why organized baseball got started in the cities not the farm belt.  Once again, the Elizabeth Resolutes were our opponent, a renewal of New Jersey's oldest vintage baseball rivalry.  The Neshanock were very fortunate to have two new players with us. Sean Christman made his debut and Pete DiSciascio played, I believe, for the second time.  We would love to have them join us on a regular basis.

All photos by Mark Granieri

Having lost the coin toss, Flemington started out at the striker's line and tallied three times due in large measure to doubles by Don "Splinter" Becker and Sean.  Elizabeth got one back in their half then closed the margin to 4-3 after three innings and 5-4 after five.  But the Neshanock added two in the top of the sixth sparked by Chris "Sideshow" Nunn's double and his aggressive baserunning.  And the Flemington offense was far from done adding four more tallies over the last three innings on the way to an 11-6 victory.

With these four in charge what could possibly go wrong?

Rene "Mango" Marrero led the Neshanock attack with four hits including two doubles.  Right after him were our two newcomers, Sean and Pete who contributed three hits apiece.  "Sideshow" and Mark "Gaslight" Granieri chipped in with two hits each.  Usually a singles hitting team, Flemington struck six doubles with Chris "Lowball" Lowery also joining the club.  Although there were some muffs by the Flemington defense, in almost every case, the Neshanock fielders limited the damage. At second base, Paul "O'Neill" Cincotta had three assists and three putouts.  

Muffin Pete DiSciascio

If there was a theme to the win, it was clutch play both at the striker's line and in the field.  Two of Pete's three hits were two out hits, late in the game, sending three tallies across the plate.  Especially noteworthy on the defensive side was "Gaslight's" play in the seventh and eighth innings when he retired four Resolute strikers on foul bound outs.  The importance of foul bound outs can't be overemphasized as it's an at bat where the opposition doesn't even put the ball in play.  Bobby "Melky" Ritter's pitching was effective, as usual.  He also recorded two strikeouts, a fairly rare occurrence in vintage baseball.

Sam Bernstein keeps a watchful eye on muffin Sean Christman in his first time at the striker's line

In the last post, I used an 1858 box score to illustrate the long history of prep school baseball in New Jersey. I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the details, but little escapes “Gaslight’s” eagle eyes. He was quick to point out three things that differ from the modern game beginning with the description of the contest as a conquering game.  It’s a fairly common term in the 1850s and 1860s for the deciding game of what was effectively a best of three game series.  I was not, however, familiar with the abbreviation “L.S” instead of “C.F” for center field. “L.S.” stands for “long stop” and was apparently originally a cricket term. 

1858 Box Score probably from the New York Clipper

Most interesting of the three, however, were two almost identical batting orders with the places determined by the players’ defensive positions.  A look at the New York Clipper for the same month revealed at least five other games with similar batting orders.  This approach especially with boy's teams suggests that since captains had limited knowledge of their players hitting ability, they used a method that was systematic and probably limited debate. It didn't take long though for teams to begin strategizing how to effectively use their best hitters, a debate that continues to this day. These box scores capture one phase of baseball's evolution.  A process that also continues and always will.

Back to School

After the weather wiped out our annual Memorial Day game in Newtown, the Neshanock were glad to get back on the field on Friday evening. To say we enjoyed much nicer conditions on our third visit to the Hun School in Princeton is to put it mildly.  Pristine is the only word to describe both the weather and the playing field (some might prefer splendiferous, but we'll go with pristine). The prior two visits were part of the school's Next Term program, specifically a class entitled "Baseball More than a Pastime," taught by Bart Bronk, the Head of School.  The class wasn't held this year, but the Neshanock were invited back to play a game with the Hun varsity baseball team.  Considering the team won the State Prep Group A championship it was no small challenge. 

Box Score of a September 1, 1858 game between two private schools in Bloomfield, NJ - All remaining photos by Mark Granieri

Perhaps the most surprising part of the evening was how close the game was for the first three innings.  After the Neshanock tallied once in the top of the first, Hun matched it in their first opportunity at the striker's line.  The next two innings were scoreless due to solid pitching and defense on both sides.  After that however, Hun took over, scoring fourteen runs over the next three innings in route to a dominant 15-2 win.  Although not quite splendiferous, it was an enjoyable evening playing a game with some fine young men  

Not even the coin toss went Flemington's way 

While not many Neshanock runners crossed home plate, Jim "Jersey" Nunn did have three hits, missing a clear score only because he was put out once on the bases.  Sam "Ewing" Ricco, Jeff "Duke" Schneider and Rene "Mango" Marrero had hits two apiece.  "Mango" also contributed an impressive play on defense, luring an unsuspecting Hun runner into an easy out at third.  One negative note was an injury suffered by Ken "Tumbles" Mandel while hustling back to third.  His many fans will be pleased to know his finger wasn't broken or dislocated and he plans to return no later than the June 27 game in Princeton.  Charlie Hoepfner once again helped out the Neshanock playing solid outfield defense and getting a hit.  

Game action at the Hun School's pristine field

Charlie Hoepfner waits his turn at the striker's line

The old and the new of New Jersey prep school baseball was on display Friday night.  The new was obvious - the Hun varsity baseball team - young men all still in their teens.  Also new, or at least modern, was the equipment and the playing field itself.  But playing a game by 1864 rules was also a reminder that prep school baseball in New Jersey goes back to the earliest days of the organized game.  Almost a decade before the original Neshanock were formed in 1866, two prep schools in Bloomfield played a best of three series.  To my knowledge those 1858 games are still the earliest known instances of inter-scholastic baseball in the United States.  Playing by 1864 rules gave the Hun players a small taste of baseball history and, I hope, a sense of how they continue the long New Jersey tradition of prep school baseball.  

Great Baseball

On Friday, the Neshanock played a rare night game under artificial lighting.  While the lights lacked historical accuracy, it was an opportunity to support two worthy organizations and teach baseball history to a new audience.  The hosts for Friday's game were the Lawrence Historical Society and the Lawrence Little League.  Thanks to Joe Ciccone and Paul Alfieri, the respective presidents of both organizations and their members for hosting the game.  Thanks also to Scott "Snuffy" Hengst and Tristan of the Logan Club of Lambertville who helped out the Maidenhead team, organized for this event.  Maidenhead was the original name of Lawrence Township when it was formed in 1697. 

All photos by Mark Granieri

Predicting how well any baseball game will be played is difficult, but it's especially true of vintage contests with a local town team almost all of whom are playing 1864 baseball for the first time.  But it didn't take long on Friday night to realize the local players adapted very quickly.  Flemington managed only one tally in the first two innings while the Maidenhead team scored five times in the second for an early 5-1 lead.  Fortunately, the Neshanock rallied for three runs in the top of third thanks to a clutch hit by Mark "Gaslight" Granieri.  But Maidenhead kept adding runs while limiting the Neshanock's offensive production and led 8-5 as the game went to the top of the seventh.  

Jeff "Duke" Schneider welcomes back Meshack "Shack" Desane

In their half of the seventh, Flemington rallied for four runs, keyed by another clutch hit, this time from Paul "O'Neill" Cincotta.  Maidenhead tied the game in the bottom of the inning and after neither team scored in the eighth, the game went to the ninth knotted at 9-9.  Flemington broke the tie when Rene "Mango" Marrero's double sent Chris "Sideshow" Nunn across the plate.  Another clutch hit by "O'Neill" added a second run, but a two-run lead is seldom safe in 1864 baseball.  Fortunately, for Flemington, Derek "Marqui's" Schneider's insanely well-placed hit, added two more tallies for the Neshanock.  The runs were badly needed as Maidenhead threatened in their last at bat, but Flemington was able to hold on for a 13-10 win.

Umpire Sam Bernstein waits to see if Chris "Lowball" Lowry's hit is fair or foul

The Neshanock had a well-balanced attack featuring three players with three hits each and six with two.  "Sideshow," "Mango," and Ken "Tumbles" Mandel were the three hit contributors.  "Tumbles" joined by "Mango" also provided plenty of ancillary entertainment besides their contributions at the striker's line.  The two-hit group was led by "Gaslight," followed by Meshack "Shack" Desane, "O'Neill," Jeff "Duke" Schneider, "Marqui" and Bobby "Melky" Ritter.  "Melky" handled the pitching responsibilities while Chris "Lowball" Lowry gave another solid performance at first base.

A regular post-game feature of every Neshanock game - kids get a chance to hit with a wooden bat

The prior post explored the characteristics of great baseball games - one of my favorite topics.  Watching Friday's game shortly after writing that post helped me appreciate what happened on the field in Lawrence Township.  The game didn't meet any of the criteria for a great game, but it was still great baseball.  Great, because it was friendly competition with equal emphasis on both ""friendly" and "competition."  Both teams took the game seriously and played to win. But the players also treated each other not just with respect, but the friendship that comes from the enjoyment of playing in a close and exciting baseball game.  Played that way, no matter the game's significance, we experience the essence of baseball, what makes it so special, indeed what makes it the greatest game of all. 

  

A Lot (500) of Posts

About ten years ago, four-year-old Sophie Zinn was regaling Carol and me with the story of her visit to a bookstore with her parents.  First, she proudly told us that she got three books. Then she paused and, clearly getting her parents' message, said "And that's a lot of books!"  How many is a lot?  It's a relevant question today because this post is the 500th since A Manly Pastime began over 14 years ago.  If the average post is 800 words that’s the equivalent of about four books which is also "a lot of books."  Although the initial subject matter was limited to early New Jersey baseball, the focus expanded to include the Neshanock and other baseball history topics.  One such topic baseball’s greatest games, a favorite of mine, is the subject of this 500th post.

Tyler Kepner - Senior Writer for the Athletic

Thanks to the seventh game of last year's World Series, a classic, if there ever was one, the subject has gotten more attention. Especially interesting is Tyler Kepner's four criteria for evaluating the greatness of such games.  To be great:

The game must go into extra innings

The winning team must overcome at least a three-run deficit

One team must lose the lead in the ninth inning or later

There is at least one “golden pitch”

Developed by Wade Kapszukiewicz, a golden pitch occurs when, in the seventh game of a World Series, either team can win the game on that pitch.  Once Toronto had two men on with one out in the bottom of the eleventh, the Blue Jays could win by scoring twice or the Dodgers could win by making a double play.  Each pitch from that point was a golden pitch.

Although these criteria are for World Series games, they can also be applied to regular season contests. This came to mind while working on Hall of Famer “Ki-Ki” Cuyler’s “Biggest Baseball Day” story. (Ki-Ki supposedly comes from repeating the first syllable of his last name). Cuyler chose the August 31, 1932, Cubs-Giants game, a contest also picked by Cubs manager Charlie Grimm.  Not only does the game meet all of the above criteria, the story is enriched even further by a bizarre development in the last inning.

The 1932 Chicago Cubs were a talented team that struggled under manager Rogers Hornsby.  Only 53-46 on August 2nd, the Cubs took off under new manager Charlie Grimm.  By August 31, the resurgent Chicago team had won 12 straight and 22 out of their last 27.  Unsurprisingly, they were in first place a full 7 ½ games ahead of second place Pittsburgh and on their way to winning the National League pennant.  

On August 31, the Cubs played the New York Giants, managed by Hall of Famer Bill Terry, in the last game of a five-game series.  Hoping to finish a series sweep, Grimm chose his ace pitcher Lon Warneke who was looking for his 20th win.  Seldom did a strategy backfire so quickly.  The Giants jumped out to a 3-0 lead and Warneke was knocked out of the game without retiring a batter.  New York added two more runs, but the Cubs got three back and trailed 5-3 as the game headed to the bottom of the eighth.

Grimm, who also played first base, brought the Cubs to within one run with a double and then inserted Stan Hack in his place as a pinch runner.  Next Marv Gudat pinch hit for catcher Gabby Hartnett and made the third out of the inning.  As the Cubs took the field, Gudat stayed in the game at first base while Zach Taylor went behind the plate and took Grimm/Hack’s place (sixth) in the batting order (this will prove to be important). 

Zach Taylor

 

After keeping the Giants off the scoreboard in the top of the ninth, the Cubs tied the game at 5-5 on Cuyler’s single, his fourth hit of the day.  But the Cubs couldn’t push the winning run across as Johnny Moore, the fifth batter in the order, grounded out to end the inning.  At this point the game had met two of Kepner’s four criteria – it was headed to extra innings, and the Giants had blown in a lead in the ninth.

Having come back all the way to tie the game, Grimm brought in Charlie Root, a starting pitcher who was also usually effective in relief.  Like the decision to start Warneke, the move blew up in the manager’s face.  It had begun raining and Root had problems with the wet ball, walking one batter and hitting two.  Two hits and a wild pitch later, the Giants had a four-run lead.  A large enough cushion that Terry intentionally made out on the bases to move the game along and avoid a rainout.

Cubs Manager Charlie Grimm

With the outlook far from brilliant, Chicago came to bat with Zach Taylor, the sixth-place hitter, due up.  Grimm sent Billy Jurges up to pinch hit, but he was retired as was Gudat, who was hitting seventh.  Down four runs with two out, nobody on and the rain falling, it’s hard to visualize more dismal prospects.  But in baseball so long as there is an out left there is hope.

Mark Koenig, the eighth hitter, homered to bring the Cubs within three runs.  Next up was the pitcher’s spot.  Zach Taylor batted and singled, as did the next two batters.  With the bases loaded, Cuyler, looking for his fifth hit of the day, was at the plate.  Since there were two outs and the winning run at the plate, each of Sam Gibson’s pitches was a golden pitch.  With the count 2-1, Cuyler swung and hit one “through the swishing rain drops and the gathering dusk” beyond the desperate reach of Giants center fielder, Fred Lindstrom into the center field bleachers for a game winning grand slam home run.

Wrigley Field as it looked in 1932.  Cuyler's game winning grand slam to center field traveled about 440 feet.  The outfield was reconfigured in 1937 reducing the distance to center field to 400 feet.

  

With Cuyler’s bases clearing blast, we have an extra inning game, a more than three run rally (with two outs and no one on), a blown lead in both the ninth and tenth innings as well as four golden pitches.  How’s that for a great game?  

But we’re not done because the last four runs should not have counted.

Did you notice who pinch hit for the ninth place hitting pitcher with two out in the tenth?  

It was Zach Taylor, who was batting sixth after entering the game in the ninth inning.  And to make matters worse, Taylor had been taken out of the game earlier in the inning. Not only did Taylor bat out of turn, but he also did so after he had been removed from the game.  How can that be? Only because the entire Giants team, especially manager Bill Terry, didn’t notice.  

Once Taylor singled, if the Giants had appealed, he would have been out for batting out of order and the Giants would/should have won 9-6.  Equally in the dark was Cubs manager Grimm who many years later admitted that “Taylor did bat out of turn – and I as manager of the ball club didn’t know it either.”

Chicago Tribune - September 1, 1932

None of this, of course, was Cuyler’s problem. He had earned every moment of his greatest day in baseball. In fact, he could have claimed the whole five-game series since he went 12 for 23 with four homers and 14 RBIs.  But it was special for the future Hall of Famer for another reason.  In the Cubs dugout was his young son who by the time Cuyler told the story in 1945 was a pilot in World War II.  He was now, said Cuyler, “having thrills of his own. But like me, he’ll never forget that day in 1932.”  Nor should we – a great game by any standard.