South Jersey Baseball History: Dateline: July Sunday, July 3, 2000 By Charlie Schick South Jersey Baseball Historical Society Dateline is a diary of South Jersey baseball that highlights area players, games, events, and outstanding accomplishments in the past history of the great game of baseball. The June dates and facts listed below are taken from the manuscript entitled "A Day's Walk Through South Jersey Baseball." July 1, 1924.  The great Babe Ruth visited South Jersey and played first base for the semi-pro Delanco baseball club against the Burlington County League All-Star team. The Babe went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI. His 5th inning tremendous 2-run home run led the Delanco team to a 4 to 2 victory over the league elite squad. July 3, 1977.  Vineland New Jersey resident Don Money, infielder for the Milwaukee Brewers of the American League, hit his second career major league grand slam home run. Money would go on to produce his highest single season home run total twenty-five, and collect 83 RBI for the Brewers. July 4, 1931.  The R.D. Wood baseball club of the Burlington County Semi-Pro League completely shut down and defeated the Moorestown squad by the count of 3 to 0. Bill Woodington's no-hitter silenced the Moorestown bats and he also helped his cause offensively as he contributed 3 key hits to the winner's attack. July 5, 1970.  In a Garden State League game, Cherry Hill's Al Ginter stroked 5 hits in 6 plate appearances to lead his squad to a 20 to 2 romp over Haddonfield. Cherry Hill rapped out 25 hits including Ginter's 5 and 3 each from Tom Speas, Mark Brown and Leo Michaleski. Right-hander Mark Batten hurled a 3-hitter to pick up the victory. July 8, 1941.  At the All-Star game in Briggs Stadium in Detroit Michigan, the American League downs the National League 7 to 5. Ted Williams' 3-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning makes Columbus New Jersey's Eddie "Gorby" Smith (Chicago White Sox left-hander) the winning pitcher. July 9, 1980.  In the Tri-County Baseball League, Brooklawn's Steve Cordner ripped 5 hits to help his mates pound Audubon 19 to 5. Brooklawn's 15-hit offense featured home runs by Cordner, Bob Shannon and Dan Babcock. Cordner also had 4 singles and a total of 6 RBI for the day. July 12, 1985.  Scott Lodgek hurled a no-hitter to lead Haddon Township to a 6 to 0 win over Haddon Heights in an American Legion contest. Lodgek fanned 9 and walked 3 in firing his no-hit shutout. The winners scored all their runs in pairs, as they produced 2 runs in the first, fourth and fifth frames. Key RBI were driven in by Bob Bickel and Ron Lutz. July 14, 1910.  Bridgeton New Jersey's Rube Oldring, center fielder Philadelphia Athletics, had an outstanding game against the St. Louis Browns. Batting second in the line-up, he led all hitters in the contest going 3 for 4 including a key double. In addition, he stole a base and scored a run in the Athletics 5 to 4 loss to the Browns. July 16, 1939.   Millville New Jersey native Larry Milbourne, 1968 and 1969 All South Jersey Team, was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Yankees. Milbourne would appear in just 31 games for the Yankees and hit .200 while he shared time playing second base, shortstop and third base. July 17, 1998.   Jeff Datz, Clearview New Jersey, manager for the Buffalo Bisons AAA ball club of the International League, collected his 300th win as a minor league manager. Now in his 5th year managing in the Cleveland Indians organization, Datz has guided the Bisons to a 50-43 record so far in 1998. July 19, 1984.   Cherry Hill East High grad right-hander pitcher Orel Hershiser, threw a 2-hitter and his third straight shutout to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers over the St. Louis Cardinals 10 to 0. Hershiser struck out 10 Cardinals while throwing his 2 hitter. He would go on to toss 2 more shutouts and lead the National League with 4 for the season. July 21, 1975.   In a Garden State League National Division contest, Pennsauken's Bob Gornowski produced 7 RBI in powering his team to a 12 to 1 victory over Cherry Hill West. Gornowski stroked 3 hits including a first inning 2-run homer and a grand slam blast in the 4th to help pick up his 7 RBI. The winners collected 12 hits and led 12-0 after 5 frames. July 23, 1910.   The Beverly baseball club's pitcher Jim Martin hurled a no-hit, no-run game to slip past the Medford team 1 to 0 in Burlington County Semi-Pro League play. Martin's masterful performance featured 10 strikeouts and he allowed only 2 base runners in hurling his near perfect complete game. July 25, 1990.   In a high scoring Garden State League contest, National Park's Mike Jabionski went 5 for 5 to help his squad slip past West Deptford 12 to 10. Jabionski's perfect day included a home run and 5 RBI. The winner's offense also featured Chris Lindsey's 3 for 5 with 3 RBI and Neal Houser's 3 for 4 and 2 RBI. July 27, 1916.   Bridgeton New Jersey's Rube Oldring, New York Yankee outfielder, hit his first major league grand slam home run. This would be his only home run of the 1916 season. Earlier in the year he had been traded by the Philadelphia Athletics to the Yankees. July 28, 1936.  Detroit Tiger outfielder Goose Goslin, Salem New Jersey, hit an inside-the-park home run, as the New York Yankee outfielders Joe DiMaggio and Myrit Hoag collided while chasing down his long fly ball. DiMaggio was not hurt, but Hoag was hospitalized with a concussion. Goslin would go on to hit 24 homers in the 1936 season. This is just a small sample of South Jersey's baseball history, but I hope you enjoyed it half as much as I did researching these outstanding scholastic, college, and major leaguers from our area.

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