SPRINGFIELD — In the expansive category of something for everyone in attendance, several bits of history were on display at the Saturday, Aug. 8, at the Union County: American as Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, Autos and Music event at Meisel Field.
For example: at the baseball game in sweltering heat between the 1859 Hoboken Base Ball Club and the Elizabeth Resolutes 1870 Base Ball team, fans saw a a continually moving umpire, dressed in black with a top hat and all, holding a rather unique for the time umpire baton, as he officiated the game.
On display from the Galloping Hills Cruisers were many, fine-looking older automobiles, including a 1953 Cadillac, white walls and all. It was explained that 1953 was the 50th anniversary of Cadillac, with the first two-seat horseless carriage ones powered by single-cylinder engines completed in October of 1902. The first Cadillac rolled out of the factory Oct. 17, 1902, and many of the new ones were on display at the New York Auto Show in January of 1903.
Lined up along the grass at Meisel Field were placards of information pertaining to the American Revolutionary War.
Did you know that: Jonathan Dayton, born in Elizabethtown, now Elizabeth, was the youngest person, at the age of 26, to sign the U.S. Constitution?
Did you know that: William Livingston was the first governor of New Jersey, elected exactly 250 years ago in August of 1776? Born in Albany, N.Y., he moved to Elizabethtown. His family later lived in Parsippany and he died at the age of 66 in Elizabeth.
There was quite a bit of history about the Battle of Connecticut Farms. Gen. Wilhelm Von Knyphausen, in command of the British garrison at New York City, attempted to reach and destroy George Washington’s camp at Morristown. British and Hessian troops had met heavy musket and cannon fire from Gen. William Maxwell’s NJ Brigade at Connecticut Farms and failed to cross the Rahway River Bridge that separated Connecticut Farms from Springfield.
Free admission to all; yes, there were hot dogs, ice cream and apple pie available for purchase.
It was hot, but it was a fun day for all, as the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs put on their latest exhibition honoring the country’s 250th anniversary.
“Including the band, I think we had about 150 people total who came out,” said John Prescott, who is the history programs coordinator out of the Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs of Union County. “That’s not bad, considering the storm we had the night before. We’re pleased.”
There were about 30 people, in folding chairs in the shade, in attendance watching the baseball game played between the Hoboken and Elizabeth teams. The players did not use any gloves at all – they caught everything barehanded. All the bats were pre-Louisville Slugger made and the catchers did not wear any protective gear. It was slow pitch.
“This is how the game was played back then,” said Frank “Walnuts” Stingone, who was the umpire and who is associated with the Hoboken 1859 Base Ball Club. “I think I’m the only one who still lives in Hoboken,” Stingone said.
The Elizabeth team, which included a home run from one of its lefty batters, scored seven runs in a very long top of the first inning. The game was 8-1 going into the fourth inning. The teams, despite the high heat and humidity, planned on playing nine innings.
The umpire baton held by Stingone had the appearance of what looked like a face on one side of it. The first official umpire’s baton, a wooden stick with a ball-and-strike indicator, did not appear until the 1870s, when devices such as the “Umpires Assistant,” by Peck & Snyder Sporting Goods, were introduced. It was considered a small wooden indicator, not a baton for signaling plays.
However, it was unusual to see an umpire holding what looked like a long stick or bat, while wearing a top hat.
Prescott said that the next event honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary will be about the history of United States immigration, sometime in September at Kean University.
The event was made possible by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. The program was organized by the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs.
For more information on upcoming America’s 250th Anniversary events, visit ucnj.org/250 or contact the Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs at 908-558-2550.
Photos by JR Parachini
