Flemington Downs Philadelphia in Bartram’s Garden; Chessies Stun Eclipse

(Editor’s Note: Make sure you read this week’s historical story as it talks about the very first all-star game in 1858!)

The Athletic of Philadelphia hosted the Neshanock of Flemington in a new location for the Philadelphians. The site of the match was the historic Bartrams Garden in West Philadelphia. (http://www.bartramsgarden.org/). A good crowd was on hand to see this curious “new” sport to Philadelphia including several news cameras (yes foreign to the 19th century ballist, but is well known to the 21st century player). While the air was hot for this match, the Neshanock’s bats were even hotter as they lead after just 3 innings 10-0. The Neshanock slowly built on their lead each inning and finally when the match was over and the players could head for shade the scoreboard read 22-3 in favor of the Neshanock. The Athletic playing in just their 8th match have the eventual look of a real contender as they gain experience in 19th century base ball, but on this day, the Neshanock’s experience, bats and fielding were just too much for the new Athletic.

Brooklyn 6 Newtown Sandy Hooks 5 (10 innings)

Brooklyn 11 Newtown 1

Atlantic journeyed north once more, to picturesque McLaughlin Vineyards in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, to face the Newtown Sandy Hooks. The first contest saw Atlantic scoring early to take a 5-0 lead, but Sandy Hook fought back late, scoring twice in the top of the 9th to tie at 5-5. Atlantic pushed a run across in the bottom of the 10th on hits by Shakespeare and Dreambucket to capture the 6-5 victory. Dreambucket, Toothpick, and Pigtail each had 2 hits, with Pigtail pitching the victory. In the second contest, Atlantic again struck early, with 2 runs in the 1st inning, then 6 runs in the 4th and 3 more in the 6th to triumph 11-1. Shakespeare and Flash led Atlantic with 3 hits each, and Dreambucket, Toothpick, and Wildhorse had 2 hits apiece. Hammy went the distance to pick up the win.

Elkton 20 Chesapeake 5

Chesapeake 11 Elkton 9

The home nine from Elkton rolled in the first game 20-5 and expected more of the same for the second match of the day. The Eclipse however are still getting used to their new field for 2010 with a short right field. The Chessies snuck up on the Elkton club in the second match scoring early and often to jump out to a large lead. An agreed upon 7 inning affair was not enough time for the Eclipse to make a comeback and the Baltimore club walked away with their first win ever against Elkton. Congratulations to Chesapeake on their big win not only in the MAVBBL Eastern Division, but also in the Maryland State Championship Series.

Mountain Athletic Club 23 New York Gothams 3

Mountain Athletic Club 13 New York Gothams 4

Fleischmanns, New York

While taking the iron carriage up to Fleischmanns, Wickets and Stacks made a astute observation – Another reason to hate the Yankees – Bronx Traffic.

The day began inauspiciously due to the afore mentioned hated Yankees when Wickets and Stacks arrived 10 minutes late. After quick preparation our 1902 match began. In the top of the frame the Gotham Club got two hits and no runs. In the bottom of the half, Monk pitched a decently but allowed 4 runs. In the top of the 2nd frame, the Gotham Club’s only base runner was a Rugs’ walk. In the bottom of the 2nd frame, MAC scored 4 runs. In the top of 3rd frame, Monk singled, stole 2nd base and came home on Crash’s single. The Gotham Club scored no more that frame. In the bottom of the 3rd frame, the Gotham Club did not allow a run. The Gotham Club did not score another run the rest of the game. MAC scored 10 in the of the 6th frame. The game finally ended with the score Gotham 3 MAC 23.

The second game of the day was played with good ol’ 1864 rules and the Gotham BBC of NY played a more competitive game (note: we’re all winners in competitive games (say losers)). The Gotham BBC lost the bat toss and we batted around first. Monk started off the game hitting a 1 base hit, stealing 2nd and running home on the next three outs. For the first time today the Gotham Club had a lead. Unfortunately, it was relinquished in the bottom of the frame when MAC scored 2. In the top of the 2nd frame Rugs scored on a 1 base hit, a steal of 2nd base and a 2 base hit by Stacks. Both teams were held off the scoreboard by some magnificent pitching by Stacks (and maybe by some good defense by his “teammates). In the bottom of the 5th frame MAC scored 2 runs. In the 6th frame, the minimum 6 pitches were thrown by both sides demonstrating Stacks amazing ability to pitch better than any Gotham ever (excepting many other Gotham who’ve pitched). In the the top of the 8th frame with the score Gotham 3 MAC 6, the Gotham Club scored 1 with a 1 base hit by Stacks, a steal of 2nd base and a 1 base hit by Cannon. Unfortunately, in the bottom of that inning MAC saw through Stacks’ t-ball like pitches and scored 7 aces. In the top of the 9th frame, Wickets hit a 1 base hit, stole 2nd base and came home on Bugs’ one base hit. That was the only ace scored that inning. The final tally was Gotham 4 MAC 13. Except for one inning the Gotham Club played a very good game.

The awards for the 1st game: Offensive – Monk, Defensive – Crash

The awards for the 2nd game: Offensive – Stacks, Defensive – Monk and Cannon (tie)

On the 27 hour carriage ride back to our fair city, Wickets and Stacks made another astute observation. After sitting in 5 miles of traffic in the County of the Bronx and observing for the 2nd time in the day that the Yankees suck because of Bronx traffic, we crossed the Long Island Sound and observed that the Mets are the better NYC team because Queens’ traffic was nonexistent.