Baseball at the Brewery

Our first trip to Cooperstown was some 32 years ago and I've long since lost track of how many times we've visited the pristine village on the shores of Otsego Lake.  Hard as it may seem to believe, back in 1986 there wasn't a single baseball memorabilia store on Main Street although there were a few baseball card stores on some of the side streets.  That first visit also predates the past 20 years or more of extensive and intensive research into the game's early days so one of the first things encountered in the Hall of Fame was an exhibit case with an old baseball purportedly proof Cooperstown was the game's birthplace given added emphasis by a sign proclaiming "Only a cynic would need further proof" or words to that effect.  Now, of course, no such claims are made and with the benefit of hindsight it seems hard to believe that creation story had such a long shelf life - perhaps it's because Cooperstown is the kind of place where we would like to think baseball was born.  Someone may have already done so, but I think it would be interesting to research the history of organized baseball in Cooperstown itself, beginning with when the village had it's first competitive team  My best guess would be late 1860's or early 1870's, but I've never seen any such research and it's one project I have no intention of undertaking.

Brewery Ommegang

The cause of these rambling reflections was the Neshanock's visit to Cooperstown or more specifically Brewery Ommegang for a vintage base ball festival organized and hosted by the Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn.  Other participants included the Rising Sun Club from Maryland, the Brandywine Base Ball Club from Pennsylvania, the New York Mutuals and the Bouckville Summits, a relatively new team.  Flemington's first match on Saturday afternoon was with Rising Sun which got off to a promising start when the Neshanock limited the Marylanders to a single tally, closing the door with a runner on third and just one out.  Things looked even more promising in the bottom of the first when Danny "Lunch Time"Shaw and Tom "Thumbs" Hoepfner each made their base and then used aggressive base running to make their runs and give Flemington a 2-1 lead after one inning.  Rising Sun more than returned the favor, however, in their next two opportunities at the striker's line, combining strategic hitting and their own aggressive base running to score five times and take a 6-2 lead heading to the bottom of the third.  Fortunately the Neshanock rebounded quickly thanks to Joe "Irish" Colduvell and "Lunch Time" who each made their base and then their runs on a highly productive out from "Thumbs" who drove in two runs on a bound out to right.

Note the extra fielder who had extremely limited range

Although the Neshanock didn't score in the next two innings, they kept the deficit at 6-4 thanks in part to a fine running catch of a foul fly by Dave "Illinois" Harris at first.  While the top of the Rising Sun lineup was held at bay in the fifth, the lower half came through in the sixth, earning two tallies and giving the Maryland team an 8-4 lead.  Flemington again held the top of the Rising Sun order in check in the seventh, aided this time by a fine bound catch at third by Joe "Mick" Murray.  The Neshanock finally broke through with two runs in the eighth, but the Maryland team added three in their half of the ninth and quickly retired the Neshanock for a well earned 12-6 victory. It was, to put it mildly, a weak offensive showing for Flemington which managed only five hits. With one game in the books, the Neshanock moved to another field to take on the Summits, a relatively new club located only about 50-60 miles from Cooperstown.  After the Summits went out in order in the top of the first, Flemington finally got its offense untracked in the bottom of the inning scoring ten times to put the match out of reach early in a 17-3 victory.  "Lefty," "Thumbs," "Illinois" and Chris "Low Ball" Lowry each contributed four hits for Flemington, but the standout offensive performance belonged to "Illinois" who managed a clear score in five times at the striker's line - no small feat.

The Bouckville Summit Club

A cloudy, somewhat misty Sunday morning turned into a cloudy, misty Sunday afternoon while the Neshanock waited for an 11 inning game between the Mutuals and Rising Sun teams to end before playing a match with the host Atlantic Club of Brooklyn.  While there are many fine vintage clubs throughout the United States, of all the teams I've had the chance to watch in person, the Atlantics are, in my opinion, consistently the best.  It was remarkable therefore that the Neshanock entered the match not having lost to the Atlantics in well over a year, the fact that the teams had only played once in that period being merely a technicality.  Having lost the bat toss for the only time all weekend, the Neshanock went to the striker's line first and got off to a fast start when six Flemington strikers made their base and Dan "Lefty" Gallagher and "Thumbs" made their runs.  Although the Neshanock left the bases loaded, they quickly retired the top of the Atlantics order (no small accomplishment) without a run and then added three more tallies in the second for a 5-0 lead.  No one with any experience with the Atlantics thought that lead would last and the Brooklyn club tallied five times in the bottom of the second and then, to make matters worse, pounded out nine hits in the bottom of the third, scoring six times for an 11-5 lead.

Flemington was not done, however, adding three in the fourth and two more in the fifth to close within one after five innings.  "Thumbs" contributed his third and fourth hits during these two rallies while "Lefty" added his third with "Lunch Time" and "Mick" contributing two well placed hits.  The Neshanock could not, however, get any closer and the Atlantics broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth by scoring five runs and then retiring the top of the Neshanock order 1-2-3 in the seventh.  Although the Atlantics added two more in the bottom of the seventh, the rally was cut short by a fine relay from Jeff "Duke" Schneider to "Mick" to "Thumbs" to put out an Atlantic runner at the plate.  Although the game was closer than the final 18-10 score indicated, it was a well earned victory for the Atlantics who once again lived up to their reputation.  Just one statistic tells the tale, while nine of Flemington's ten runs were scored by the Neshanock's first three strikers, the Atlantics got six from their first three, six from the next three and six from the bottom four - talk about balance!  "Thumbs" led the Neshanock with four hits while "Lunch Time," "Lefty" and "Duke" added three apiece.  Now 5-3 on the season, Flemington will spend the rest of June in New Jersey beginning with two games on Saturday June 9th against the Elizabeth Resolutes at the Howell Living History Farm near Lambertville.