Gettysburg 2026

To say "the outlook wasn't brilliant" for the Neshanock nine late last Saturday afternoon is putting it mildly.  After a decisive loss in the opening game of the 2026 Gettysburg National Nineteenth Century Base Ball Festival, Flemington trailed 5-3 in the second game with only one last chance at the striker's line.  But when there's a chance, there's hope and, as we shall see, this past weekend hopes became reality.  Founded and hosted in a very manly fashion by the Elkton Eclipse Club, the Gettysburg Festival has come a long way from a small six team event back in 2010.  Not only were the Neshanock present at the creation, but Flemington has participated every year since.  Special thanks to the Elkton Club and all the others who make the Gettysburg Festival a truly splendiferous event every year. 

Friendly competition - the spirit of the Gettysburg Festival - Cole "King" Pellman of the Keystone Club chats with Rene "Mango" Marrero during a break in the action.  

All photos by Courey Dutton - http://www.coureyduttonimagery.com/

Saturday's first opponent was the Flower City Club of Rochester, a very strong team the Neshanock has played previously at the National Silver Ball Tournament.  Flower City got off to a quick start, scoring twice in each of the first three innings.  Flemington managed to close to within 6-3 going to the bottom of the fourth, but the Rochester club broke the game open with six tallies in the fifth and four in the sixth.  The end result was a dominant 22-6 win for Flower City.  Danny "Lefty" Gallagher had two hits for the Neshanock with six others adding one apiece.  Special thanks to Craig Combs, captain of the Elizabeth Resolutes, and Larry "Chops" Etgen of the Logan Club for helping fill out the Neshanock lineup.

Left to right - Bobby "Melky" Ritter, Danny "Lefty" Gallagher and Tom "Thumbs" Hoepfner.  Standing Jason "Professor" Blazakis of the Logan Club of Lambertville.  "Lefty" and "Thumbs" are trying (in vain) to credit someone with an RBI

Chris "Sideshow" Nunn

In Saturday's second contest, the Neshanock took on the Allegheny Ironsides.  The Ironsides took an early 4-1 lead and although Flemington kept it close, the Pennsylvania club led 5-3 going to the bottom of the ninth.  Unlike Casey and the Mudville Nine however, the Neshanock weren't finished.  Chris "Lowball" Lowry and Jeff "Duke" Schnieder singled to put the tying runs on bases.  One batter later, "Lefty's" double tied the match 5-5, but not for long.  Rene "Mango" Marrero's hit sent "Lefty" across the plate with the winning tally.  Fittingly, "Lowball" and "Duke" led the Neshanock attack with three hits while "Lefty" and Craig had two apiece.  Bobby "Melky" Ritter handled the pitching, leading a defense that limited the opposition to just five runs.  The one negative note was losing Matt "Fly" Nunn to a wrist injury - we wish him a speedy recovery.

Jeff "Duke" Schneider getting ready to set the stage for one of "Mango's" game winning hits

"Mango" delivers

Sunday morning saw Flemington back on the field for a match with the Lewes Club of Delaware.  Once again, the Neshanock fell behind early, rallied to keep it close, but trailed by one run after eight innings.  Having enjoyed one ninth inning rally, the Neshanock decided to try it again. "Lowball" and "Duke" singled and Chris "Sideshow" Nunn's single sent "Lowball" across the plate with the tying run.  Just like on Saturday, "Mango" came to the line with the go-ahead run-on base.  And once again, he didn't disappoint putting Flemington ahead 9-8.  Having given his team the lead, "Mango" had no intention of giving it back and made three "amazing" plays at third to close out a 10-8 win.  "Mango" and Tom "Thumbs" Hoepfner led the Neshanock attack with five hits each, followed by "Lefty" with three.  One of "Lefty's" hits was a home run.  "Sideshow" and Jim "Jersey" Nunn joined "Lowball" and "Duke" in the two-hit club.

Chris "Lowball" Lowry 

"Melky" about to induce an unsuspecting opposition striker to foul out at a crucial moment.

Playing from behind had been the norm thus far and it seemed like it would continue when the Keystone Club of Harrisburg took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first of the final game.  However, Flemington tied the game in the bottom of the inning on "Lefty's" home run and never trailed again.  The Pennsylvania team tied the game at 3-3, but Neshanock went ahead 7-3 after six innings and then broke the game open with an 8 run eighth to close out the weekend with a 15-4 win.  "Duke" had another strong game at the striker's line with four hits, followed by "Lefty," "Mango," "Sideshow" and the "Professor" with three apiece.  "Shredder" and "Lowball" added two each.  "Sideshow" and "Thumbs" supported "Melky's" pitching with some solid defensive plays.  

A mighty swing by Ernie "Shredder" Albanesius

Jersey "Jim" Nunn pensively prepares for the next pitch

Only three outs away from being 0-2, Flemington made a remarkable comeback to win three games, matching the Neshanock's highest win total ever at the festival.  As always, it was a splendiferous weekend, and the Flemington club appreciates everything the Elkton Club and others do to make the event happen.  Special thanks to Jason Blazakis, Larry Etgen and Craig Combs for playing for the Neshanock.  And we're also very grateful to Courey Dutton for the insanely cool pictures.  We're already looking forward to 2027.

"No Balls"

Yesterday, just a week after the 250th anniversary of July 4, 1776, the Neshanock resumed our Semiquincentennial tour of New Jersey revolutionary war sites.  It would have been hard to find a more appropriate host than the Bergen County Historical Society which operates Historic New Bridge Landing.  Located on the Hackensack River where the Continental Army crossed on the way to their victory at Trenton, New Bridge Landing preserves "a compelling and scenic fragment" of New Jersey's Dutch countryside. 

Courier-Journal (Louisville) - May 24, 1895

Until this year, the game was played at the site itself which presented no shortage of ground rule challenges.  This time, however, the game was moved to a local park, but for a very good reason.  The BCHS is building a Visitors Center, an initiative well worth supporting. Unfortunately, Saturday was one of those games that happens every so often with very low player participation.  Fortunately, Bob "Riverboat" Smith, captain of the local Enterprise Club and sometime "Neshanock" was able to find enough volunteers to fill out the Flemington lineup.  The Enterprise Club is tough to beat under normal conditions and in this less than desirable situation, it's no surprise local team won both games by scores of 11-7 and 15-3.  The important thing though is that the Neshanock, with help, was able to honor the commitment.

Sam Bernstein - master of all he surveys - all pictures by Jeff Schneider

Every venue has its own memories, and New Bridge Landing is no exception.  For this aged scorekeeper, I'll never forget a game a few years ago that almost became my most embarrassing vintage baseball moment.  As usual I arrived early, only to realize I'd forgotten the game balls. Hard to play a baseball game of any era without a game ball.  Fortunately, New Bridge Landing, as a gesture of hospitality, provided the game balls so I was spared having to figure out how to retrieve the ones I'd forgotten.   I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when Sam Bernstein told me about an 1895 game between Louisville (then a National League team) and the Brooklyn club.

Not quite the pitch that Jim "Jersey" Nunn expected

At the time, game balls were used very differently from today where the ball is replaced seemingly at will, with or without a reason.  In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the game ball was used until it was lost which wasn't that often because fans weren't permitted to keep foul balls.  Typically, about a dozen balls were sufficient for a game.  However, when the Brooklyn team turned up for the May 23, 1895, game at Louisville, the home team only had five new balls.  Supposedly ownership had decided that if too many balls were left lying around the players would use them so "extra" balls were kept off site. 

Chris "Lowball" Lowry at the striker's line

Under the custom of the day, two of the balls were given to the Brooklyn club for pre-game practice with the understanding that if more balls were needed, the game would be delayed until they were obtained.  In the meantime, a boy was dispatched by trolly car to obtain some new balls.  Predictably, the remaining game balls were lost fairly quickly.  Apparently, "forgetting," the prior agreement, the Brooklyn club demanded the game proceed.  An argument ensued, and the umpire forfeited the game to Brooklyn 9-0 based on the rule that a team cannot inappropriately delay the game.  Also predictably, just after the umpire announced the forfeit, the boy, who had been delayed because the trolly went off the tracks, arrived.  As the Louisville paper noted (quoting from Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade") "Someone had blundered."  Embarrassing to say the least - something I was fortunately spared for my own blunder.

"The Best Pitcher"

In anticipation of next week's All-Star game, this post will recall one of the greatest pitching achievements not just of the midsummer classic, but in all baseball history.  At the 1934 All-Star game, the Giants Carl Hubbell struck out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin, all future Hall of Famers, in succession. It's no surprise Hubbell, who was also headed to Cooperstown, chose the game as his greatest day in baseball. But when asked immediately afterwards how he felt, Hubbell said simply “Low, we lost.”  That's a reminder of how important winning and losing the All-Star used to be.  At the time and, at least until I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, the result mattered.

Liberty-Tribune - July 11, 1934

This is not in any way to suggest that Hubbell’s accomplishments didn’t receive due credit at the time.  American League manager, Joe Cronin, and Hubbell’s fifth victim, claimed Hubbell was the “best pitcher I’ve ever seen.”  Nor were media accolades wanting.  Paul Gallico of the New York Daily News illustrated the magnitude of Hubbell’s achievement by estimating some of the probabilities of what did and didn't happen.  With two men on, none out and Ruth, Gehrig and Foxx coming up, Gallico projected the odds the American League wouldn't score at least once were 500 to 1.  Even greater, he thought, were the odds against Hubbell striking the three out in order which Gallico put at 1000 to 1. 

The fans also appreciated what they had witnessed.  Legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice broke it down like this:

Hubbell strikes out Ruth – “A National League uproar.”

Hubbell strikes out Gehrig – “The stands began to rock”

Hubbell strikes out Foxx – “Even those supporting the American League stood up to pay him tribute.”

It's no wonder sportswriter Lee Scott called Hubbell's All-Star game performance "the greatest thrill that baseball enthusiasts could ever hope for.”    

Carl "The Meal Ticket" Hubbell

In his account of that historic day, Hubbell not only described the game but also explained his pitching strategy. According to Hubbell, his catcher Gabby Hartnett, told him to throw his screwball for strikes and to waste (throw outside the strike zone) everything else.  Although out of fashion today, Hubbell used the screwball to dominate baseball for a decade.  From 1929 to 1938, he won 195 games with a 2.81 ERA (the best in the majors) and earned two Most Valuable Player awards.  Joe Cronin’s opinion of Hubbell didn't come from one at bat in the All-Star game.  A year earlier in the World Series, pitching against player-manager Cronin’s Washington Senators, the Giants left-hander didn’t allow an earned run in 20 innings.   

Carl Hubbell receives the 1933 Most Valuable Player Award - fair warning to the American League about what lay ahead - Daily News - July 11, 1934

Carl Hubbell as told to John Carmichael

"I can remember Frankie Frisch coming off the field behind me at the end of the third inning, grunting to Bill Terry: "I could play second base 15 more years behind that guy.  He doesn’t need any help.  He does it all by himself.”  Then we hit the bench, and Terry slapped me on the arm and said: “That’s pitching, boy!” and Gabby Hartnett let his mask fall down and yelled at the American League dugout: “We gotta look at that all season,” and I was pretty happy.

As far as control and “stuff” is concerned, I never had any more in my life than for that All-Star game in 1934.  But I never was a strikeout pitcher like Bob Feller or “Dizzy” Dean or “Dazzy” Vance.  My style of pitching was to make the other team hit the ball, but on the ground. It was as big a surprise to me to strike out all those fellows as it probably was to them.  Before the game, Hartnett and I went down the lineup . . . Gehringer, Manush, Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Simmons, Cronin, Dickey and Gomez.  There wasn’t a pitcher they’d ever faced that they hadn’t belted one off him somewhere, sometime. 

The New York Daily News - July 11, 1934

We couldn’t discuss weaknesses . . . they didn’t have any, except Gomez.  Finally Gabby said: We’ll waste everything except the screwball.  Get that over, but keep your fast ball and hook outside.  We can’t let ‘em hit in the air.”  So that’s the way we started.  I knew I had only three innings to work and could bear down on every pitch.

They talk about those All-Star games being exhibition affairs and maybe they are, but I’ve seen very few players in my life who didn’t want to win, no matter who they were playing or what for.  If I’m playing cards with pennies, I want to win.  How can you feel any other way?  Besides, there were 50,000 fans or more there, and they wanted to see the best you’ve got.  There was an obligation to the people, as well as to ourselves, to go all out.  I can recall walking out to the hill in the Polo Grounds that day and looking around the stands and thinking to myself: “Hub, they want to see what you’ve got.”

 

New York Daily News - July 11, 1934

Gehringer was first up and Harnett called for a waste ball just so I’d get the feel of the first pitch.  It was a little too close, and Charley singled.  Down from one of the stands came a yell: “Take him out!”

I had to laugh.

Terry took a couple of steps off first and hollered: “That’s all right,” and there was Manusch at the plate.  If recollect rightly, I got two strikes on him, but then he refused to swing any more, and I lost him.  He walked.  This time Terry and Frisch and “Pie” Traynor all came over to the mound and began worrying. “Are you all right?”  Bill asked me.  I assured him I was.  I could hear more than one voice from the stands: “Take him out before it’s too late.”

Ruth fouls one off before striking out - New York Daily News - July 11, 1934

Well, I could imagine how they felt with two on, nobody out and Ruth at bat. To strike him out was the last thought on my mind.  The thing was to make him hit on the ground.  He wasn’t too fast, as you know, and he’d be a cinch to double. He never took the bat off his shoulder.  You could have pushed me over with your little finger.  I fed him three straight screwballs, all over the plate, after wasting a fast ball, and he stood there.  I can see him looking at the umpire on “You’re out,” and he wasn’t mad.  He just didn’t believe it, and Hartnett was laughing when he threw the ball back.

So up came Gehrig.  He was a sharp hitter. You could double him, too, now and then, if the ball was hit hard and straight at an infielder.  That’s what we hoped he’d do, at best.  Striking out Ruth and Gehrig in succession was too big an order.  By golly, he fanned . . . and on four pitches.  He swung at the last screwball and you should have heard the crowd.  I felt a lot easier then, and even when Gehringer and Manusch pulled a double steal and got to third and second, with Foxx up, I looked down at Hartnett and caught the screwball sign, and Jimmy missed.  We were really trying to strike Foxx out, with two already gone and Gabby didn’t bother to waste any pitches.  I threw three more screwballs, and he went down swinging.  We had set down the side on 12 pitches, and then Frisch hit a homer in our half of the first, and we were ahead.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle - July 11, 1934

It was funny, when I thought about it afterwards, how Ruth and Gehrig looked as they stood there.  The Babe must have been waiting for me to get the ball up a little so he could get his bat under it.  He always was trying for that one big shot at the stands, and anything around his knees, especially a twisting ball, didn’t let him get any leverage.  Gehrig apparently decided to take one swing at least and he beat down at the pitch, figuring to take a chance on being doubled if he could get a piece of the ball.  He whispered something to Foxx as Jim got up from the batter’s circle and while I couldn’t hear it, I found out later he said: “You might as well cut . . . it won’t get any higher.”  At least Foxx wasted no time.

Of course the second inning was easier because Simmons and Cronin both struck out with nobody on base and then I got too close to Dickey and he singled.  Simons and Foxx, incidentally both went down swinging and I know every pitch to them was good enough to hit at and those they missed had a big hunk of the plate.  Once Harnett kinda shook his head at me as if to say I was getting too good.  After Dickey came Gomez and as he walked into the box he looked down at Gabby and said: “You are now looking at a man whose batting average is .104.  What the hell am I doing up here?  He was easy after all those guys and we were back on the bench again.

We were all feeling pretty good by this time and Traynor began counting on his fingers: “Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Simmons, Cronin!  Hey, Hub, do you put anything on the ball?”  Terry came over to see how may arm was, but it was never stronger.  I walked one man in the third . . . don’t remember who it was . . . but this time Ruth hit one on the ground and we were still all right.  You could hear him puff when he swung.  That was all for me.  Afterwards they got six runs in the fifth and licked us, but for three innings I had the greatest day in my life.  One of the writers who kept track told me that I’d pitched 27 strikes and 21 balls to 13 men and only five pitches were hit in fair territory."

"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.