Autumn Years Summer 2024

sembly, and he was working to create a baseball league in Bergen County. The financial panic of 1893 caused the base ball company to falter. In order to help make the company profitable, a fellow Assemblyman, Mr. Tine, introduced a bill requiring that the Dupuy curve ball be the only ball to be used in the state— under penalty of a $500 fine. Naturally, the bill did not become law. The com pany closed in 1893. If you build it, he will come The well-known line from the movie Field of Dreams refers to “Shoeless Joe Jackson” emerging from a cornfield onto the ball field built by Kevin Cost ner’s character. Bergen County had its own brush with baseball greatness, way back in the day. Westwood’s semi-pro team in 1922 was looking forward to its best season, having acquired several great players, most of whom used assumed names (so they could later play in the majors). Among them was a center fielder named “Josephs.” At a game on June 25, 1922, in Hackensack against the Oritani Indi ans, “Josephs” (playing for Westwood) showed his mettle with his five times at bat, resulting in a home run, a double, and two singles. The sportswriter for the Bergen Evening Record posed the ques tion on the minds of many fans: “Who played center field for Westwood?” The answer was none other than “Shoeless Joe Jackson,” who was one of the Chica go White Sox players accused of “throw ing” the 1919 World Series. Having a banned player on the team brought cries of foul. During the outcry, Westwood’s manager denied know ing it was Joe Jackson and said that he

Fairview,” the former home of the Fair view Fletchers, to be the home field for a “high class semi-pro team” called the Bergen Pros. The team was to play every Sunday afternoon. In 1921, the Hackensack-Bogota Club, known as the Nabors, joined the Newark League. The league’s teams were from Essex, Morris, Union and Bergen counties, and games were played in all the counties. Games were held on Satur day afternoons and Sunday mornings, which allowed players to be active with other teams that played on Sunday af ternoons. Each home team in the league received $100 a game plus 40 percent of the gate receipts. Visiting clubs were paid a fixed $200. By 1924, amateur teams from May wood, New Milford, Fort Lee and En glewood formed their own league to challenge the Bergen County Semi-Pro League formed that year. Other semi pro teams were formed in 1927, includ ing the All-Stars of Wortendyke (Mid land Park), Ridgewood Elks, Allendale Swamp Rats, Wyckoff Grange and the Tallmans. The All-Stars of Worten dyke were noted by the Bergen Evening Record to be the “classiest club.” Lodi, in

1927, held the record for most amateur and semi-pro teams per square mile (unfortunately, the newspaper account does not name the teams). Baseball factory When it comes to the baseball itself, few people know that a factory in Ruth erford, with 100 employees, produced an astounding 4.38 million balls in its peak year. In 1875, Martin J. Ryan filed for a patent involving a new type of baseball cover. Relocating from Brook lyn to Rutherford, Ryan immediately

advertised for “50 girls to sew baseballs.” In 1881, Ryan sold the company to John J. Dupuy, a local successful businessman and politician who doubled the size of the workforce. Dupuy increased production and had a retail outlet at 112 Chambers Street in New York City. The Dupuy curve ball was sold all over the country. By 1892, Dupuy had been elected to the New Jersey As

42 AUTUMN YEARS I SUMMER 2024