The Moving Finger Types

Whenever the Neshanock recreates nineteenth-century baseball for a new audience there are some predictable reactions.  One of the most common is the spectators' response the first time a player catches a well-hit ball without the benefit of a glove.  Last Saturday in Holland Township, Flemington outfielder Jeff “Duke” Schneider elicited that reaction in the very first inning.  There's also almost always interest in the Neshanock’s replica 1860s scorebook.  That’s because the book is a large bound volume that looks like it came straight from the dusty shelves of a nineteenth-century office. Inside the scorebook are scoresheet pages copyrighted in 1868 by Henry Chadwick.  Chadwick has a well-deserved reputation as the Father of Baseball, not because of any claims he invented the game, but due to his ceaseless newspaper reporting and promotion of baseball for over 50 years.  

  

A page from the scorebook created by Henry Chadwick, specifically from the June 14, 1870 game when the Atlantic Club ended the Cincinnati Red Stockings 89 game winning streak.  All other photos by Mark Granieri

Chadwick's scoresheet is very different from those used by the original 1860s teams who only needed to track runs and outs. Early baseball writers like Chadwick and William Cauldwell needed more details to report the game to an audience, almost all of whom, unlike today, had no other source of information.  And recording the details accurately on the scoresheet was no easy matter.  Players didn't wear numbers and they sometimes changed positions during the game. As difficult as the task was then, recreating 1860s scorekeeping today is even more challenging because the laudable idea of maximum participation means multiple players rotate in and out of multiple defensive positions.  Due to these difficulties and other in-game responsibilities, I use the Chadwick system just for the Neshanock side of the book and track only runs and outs for the opposition.

An Atlantic striker heads for first

I’ve often wondered though what it would be like to score a game the way Chadwick did and then, like those early newspapermen, use the scorebook to write a game account. Since I was already there on Saturday with no duties for the second game I had the chance to do just that.  And the opportunity to try the experiment in a match between the Talbot and Atlantic Clubs, two top teams, was too good to pass up.  I was further assisted by the gracious permission of Tim Anstett of Vintage Numbers to use an 1862 box score format he created. In one variance from how games would have been reported in the 1860s, I used nicknames rather than the actual names.

The view from the grandstand

The match between the Fair Play Base Ball Club of Talbot County Maryland and the Atlantic Base Ball Club began under gray skies and persistent drizzle.  First up to the striker’s line was the Talbot Club and they wasted no time going on the attack.  After an Atlantic muff, “Double Dip” and “Moonlight” singled, loading the bases with no hands out.  The stage was set for a big inning, but the Atlantic defense rose to the occasion.  Talbot's “Tin Cup” hit a hard shot to third, but “Willy Mo” made a fine stop. He tagged third for one out and then retired the striker on a strong throw to first, one run scoring on the play.  Talbot continued to hit the ball hard and tallied two more times before the Atlantics ended the inning on a fine throw to home from center fielder “Hobo” with the tag applied by the “Dirty Pirate.” 

And the view from center field

Inspired by escaping with only a three-run deficit, the Long Island team used five hits and aggressive base running to tally seven times.  If Talbot was discouraged it wasn’t evident in their second at-bat.  With one hand out, six straight members of the Maryland team reached base and Talbot tallied five times to regain the lead at 8-7.  A double, by “Sledge” of the Neshanock, manfully helping out the short-handed Talbot Club, was a key blow.  As in the first inning, things could have been worse for the Atlantics, but their defense came through again as a fine catch by “Hobo” in centerfield retired the side.  The back-and-forth nature of the contest continued in the bottom of the second as the Atlantics used three hits and three walks to tally four times and lead 11-8 after two.

The less than ideal weather conditions

Given the fireworks in the first two innings, it looked like the final score might end up in the thirties.  However, the Talbot defense came on strong, allowing just four hits and no Atlantics tallies over the next three innings.  At bat, Talbot scored once in the third and twice in both the fourth and fifth.  The fourth-inning rally was sparked by hits from “Pick,” “Sledge,” and “Preacher,” while the two tallies in the fifth were keyed by well-struck balls from “Moonlight” and “Butcher.”  The Maryland club added one more run in the sixth and led 14-11 going to the bottom of the inning.  Although they hadn’t scored since the second, the Atlantics are far too good a team to give up in the face of adversity.  Once again their offense responded as a double by “Dreambucket” and singles by “Milkman,” “Chaos,” and “Willy-Mo” tied the game at 14.  They might have had even more runs, but this time Talbot’s defense short-circuited a rally when “Sledge” made an acrobatic catch to end the inning.

Joe "Double Dip" Jordan, Talbot captain holds Dean "Dreambucket" Emma at third

The tie score after six was an indication of where the game was headed.  In the top of the seventh, Talbot tallied twice, led by "Butchers's double and "Pick's" well-executed “fair-foul” play.  However, the Atlantics matched that in their half, keyed by “Ducky's” lead-off single and hits by “Hawk” and “Shakespeare.”  Neither team tallied in the eighth so the game headed to the ninth tied at 16.  Talbot was retired without incident and Atlantic came to the striker’s line with a chance to win.  Just as he did in the seventh, “Ducky,” the last striker in the lineup, led off with a single.  After a walk and a force-out, "Ducky" was on third with the winning run. Next up was “Dreambucket,” one of the last strikers any opponent wants to see in that situation.  The Atlantic left fielder didn’t disappoint, hitting a single that drove in “Ducky” and gave the Long Island club a hard-earned 17-16 victory.

Thanks to Tim Amsett for allowing me to use his excellent 1862 box score format - click to enlarge

It's going to take some reflection before I know how I feel about this exercise. One thing that stands out though is that, unlike modern journalism, the writer has to operate on the basis that the reader doesn't have any other source of information about the game.  The required focus on reporting the details lessens the opportunities for comment and opinion.  My mental picture of the game was two veteran nineteenth-century baseball teams giving it all they had in less ideal conditions.  Regardless of whatever misplays or mistakes there may have been, there was plenty of high-quality baseball and a bottom-of-the-ninth ending was more than fitting.  Whether this account captures that picture or not is up to others to discern, but thanks to both teams for a game well worth watching and writing about.