Picture by Mark Granieri
One of the early events of the vintage base ball season is the annual New Jersey - New York Cup played at the birthplace of vintage base ball, Old Bethpage Village on Long Island. Even though it's only the middle of April, it's still one of the most pristine and enjoyable venues we play at over the course of a season. Typically the Neshanock go into the event having played at least one prior match, but this year Flemington's first two games fell victim to the weather, making the first games of the season more competitive than usual. For at least the past few years, the same four teams have competed for the cup, the Neshanock and the Hoboken Nine from New Jersey with the Gotham Club of New York and the New York Mutuals making up the New York contingent. Flemington won the cup in 2013 and 2015, and retained possession in 2014 when the event was rained out. The Mutuals are the host team and although it's a much smaller event than their early August festival it's always well run.
Picture by Mark Granieri
As if the uncertainty of the first game of the season wasn't enough, the Neshanock were extremely shorthanded with only six players making the long trip across the Verrazano - Narrows Bridge to Long Island. Fortunately some members of the Mutuals graciously helped out, special thanks to "Big Bat," "Samurai" (interesting name that), "Crazy Mike" and Danny for playing with Flemington at various points in the two games. Today also marked the premiere of the Neshanock's new uniforms (at least in some cases), long pants instead of knickers, reflecting the reality that most of Flemington's matches are played by 1864 rules and long pants were the norm of the period. Base ball players are nothing, if not superstitious so success in the new garb was important in it's first outing.
Photo by Mark Granieri
The new pants may or may not have been a good omen, but it was definitely a positive sign when captain Danny "Batman" Shaw won the bat toss for the Neshanock's first game against the Mutuals. Mark "Gaslight" Granieri quickly established a pattern for the match, retiring the first Mutual striker on a foul bound out and New York went out without scoring. Led by Chris "Sideshow" Nunn and "Batman," Flemington quickly put two tallies on the board and led 3-0 after two innings. The Mutuals broke through in the top of the third, however, scoring twice to close within one before Flemington broke things open in the bottom of the inning. When the dust had cleared, the Neshanock had recorded seven tallies, opening up a 10-3 lead and coasted the rest of the way to a 16-5 win. "Gaslight" recorded nine put outs on foul flies or bound outs, one short of his and the team's unofficial record and also recorded two assists on fair ground balls. "Batman" not only pitched the whole way, but led the offense with five hits, recording a clear score by reaching base six times without making an out. "Gaslight" didn't neglect the offensive end either, contributing four hits while Tom "Thumbs" Hoepfner wasn't far behind with three.
Photo by Mark Granieri
After a brief respite Flemington moved bag and baggage to another field to take on the Gothams who had defeated the Hoboken Nine in their first match which meant the winner of the Flemington - Gothams match would take home the cup. Although "Batman" again won the bat toss, things didn't get off to a particularly auspicious start when the Gotham's lead off striker hit a home run. However, the damage was limited to that single tally and the Neshanock quickly got that back, adding two more in the bargain. Strong defense on Flemington's part held the Gothams relatively at bay through the first six innings and when the Neshanock tallied seven times in the fourth and five in the sixth to take an 18-5 lead, it looked like another lopsided match. The Gothams, however, are far too good a team to go quietly and they rallied for six runs in the seventh cutting the margin to an uncomfortable, 18-11. But Flemington was far from done, scoring five times in the bottom of the seventh for a commanding 23-11 lead which held up even though the New Yorkers scored five times in the ninth before going down to a 24- 18 defeat.
Photo by Mark Granieri
Obviously when a team scores 24 times, there's a lot of offense going on and the Neshanock were again led by "Batman" who not only matched his first game feats, but exceeded them, reaching base all eight times he came to the striker's line and scoring seven runs. It marked two clear scores on the same day for "Batman," meaning he batted 14 times and didn't make a single out. Rene "Mango" Marrero also had a big offensive game with six hits including a double and a triple coming only one at bat short of his own clear score. "Thumbs," "Sideshow," and "Jersey" Jim Nunn each added four hits to the Flemington attack. The Neshanock also played strong defense throughout the match highlighted by "Gaslight" who while he didn't record as many foul outs, actually threw out three runners trying to steal. None of them were exactly things of beauty, but each one ended an inning, cutting off the Gotham's efforts to get back in the game. It's hard to imagine a better start to the season, playing two solid games and retaining the New Jersey - New York Cup for another season, not to mention breaking in the new pants.
Photo by Mark Granieri
Next Saturday, Flemington travels to West Chester, Pennyslvania to take on the Brandywine Base Ball Club before making its inaugural 2016 New Jersey appearances in Lambertville on April 30th and in Ringwood, the very next day. Come out and join us!
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