Before last Saturday's game, a reporter from the local Washington radio station asked me "Why do you do this?" Why, in other words, does a group of men and women regularly play baseball by nineteenth century rules? It's a frequent question with a wide range of answers, but the timing matters too. If, for example, someone had asked me that same question about 6:00 on Friday night, the answer would have ranged from "Who knows?" to words not suitable for a family blog. The first step in every vintage baseball game is an email/text message, a week beforehand, asking who is in or out. While the numbers vary with the game, before Saturday's game in Newark, Delaware with the Diamond State Club, there were almost enough "outs" for an entire nine inning game. Unlike any year in recent memory, the Neshanock have been plagued with injuries and illnesses dramatically reducing the number of available players.
On the way to Newark, Delaware - all photos by Mark Granieri
Although it was a struggle all week, by Friday afternoon, eight players were going, one less than the minimum stipulated by Mr. Doubleday, but enough to make it work. Friday night, however, the numbers started shrinking which led to a long two hours of trying to figure out what to do. In the end, after consultation with the Diamond State Club and some last minute recruiting, we were back at eight players to play one, nine inning game rather than the scheduled two, seven inning contests. On arrival at Paper Mill Park, Jen offered to join our little group, giving the Neshanock a full nine. Next, Mark "Gaslight" Granieri, although still injured, but no less wily, made a Frank Merriwell like appearance. Fielding a team, however, was just the first step, next came defensive positions. Last week the challenge was a lack of experienced infielders, Saturday, it was a shortage of pitchers. Jeff "Duke" Schneider manfully stepped forward and more than acquitted himself.
With those challenges met, it was finally time to play baseball. Flemington won the coin toss and Diamond State promptly sent two tallies across the plate. The Neshanock got one back, but the local club kept scoring while holding Flemington pretty much in check. Going to the bottom of the fifth, Diamond State led 6-2 and the margin would have been greater, had it not been for some stout Neshanock defense. Especially impressive was a double play pulled off by Joe Prioli and Renee "Mango" Marrero. With a runner on second, the striker hit to Joe whose throw to "Mango" retired the batter. When the runner on second tried to advance to third, "Mango" nailed him with a return throw, an unusual twin-killing where both players had a putout and an assist.
Still, the Neshanock trailed by four and there didn't seem much chance of closing the gap when after a single by Nick Prioli, the next two strikers went out. However, Dani Dondero singled Nick home and kept the inning going. Her hit proved clutch as the next four Neshanock strikers hit safely with "Duke" and "Mango" delivering key blows that sent four runners across the plate. When the smoke cleared, Flemington had tallied five times and taken an unlikely 7-6 lead. Diamond State quickly tied the game which remained tied 7-7 after six innings. The local team added two more tallies and led 9-7 with two out and none on in the ninth. "Gaslight" and Joe Prioli kept the inning alive, but Diamond State closed out the game for a hard fought, and well deserved, win.
"Duke" and Paul "O'Neill" Cincotta led the Neshanock with two hits apiece. In addition to those already mentioned, Tom Prioli and Chris "Sideshow" Nunn also played solid defense. The Neshanock are especially grateful to Jen, Dani, Joe and Nick without whom there wouldn't have been a game. In addition to a well played match, it was, as always, a pleasure to see John Medkeff, Matt Bartnicki, Jeff Kabacinski, Brian Betts, Bob Zappaterrini and the rest of the Diamond State players. Like the Neshanock, the Delaware Club was missing players and then suffered some injuries during the game. Given the circumstances, one would not have expected such a well-played close game which brings us back to the original question "Why do we do this?" It's because every baseball game, no matter the difficulties, offers the opportunity for special experiences and that is why "we do this."
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