South Jersey Baseball History:
Dateline: September

Sunday, September 12, 1999

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 dates and facts listed below are taken from the manuscript entitled "A Day's Walk Through South Jersey Baseball".

September 1, 1951.   Swedesboro High's Earl Rapp was traded by the New York Giants to the St. Louis Browns. Rapp would appear in 56 games for the Browns before being moved to the Washington Senators. Rapp's big league career lasted 3 years, and he posted a .253 average.

September 3, 1988.   Brian Meyer, of Medford New Jersey, right-hand pitcher for the Houston Astros of the National League, made his major league debut. In his rookie season, Meyer pitched in 8 games, worked 12.1 innings, picked up no decisions, and had an excellent 1.46 ERA.

September 5, 1905.   Pemberton's ace hurler Bill Schroeder tossed a no-hit, no-run game to best the Medford ball club 3 to 0 in the Burlington County League. Schroeder wiffed 10 batters and allowed only 3 runners to reach base in hurling his masterpiece complete game victory.

September 7, 1987.   Randy Byers, of Bridgeton New Jersey, started his major league career as a outfielder for the San Diego Padres of the National League. As a late season call up from the minors, Randy would appear in only 10 games in 1987. In that time he had 17 official plate appearances, walked once, had 5 hits and a .313 average.

September 9, 1890.   In a shocking upset, the Riverton Base Ball Club of the Burlington County Semi-Pro League, defeated a major league team 8 to 7. The victims of the South Jersey squad was the Philadelphia National League Club. It marked the first time ever a semi-pro team had accomplished the feat.

September 11, 1923.   Salem County New Jersey's Whitey Witt, New York Yankee outfielder, singled to lead off the first inning and prevent Boston Red Sox hurler, Howard Ehmke, from pitching his second no-hitter in a row. Many thought the hit was an error, but the official scorer refused to change his ruling.

September 12, 1974.   Right-hand relief pitcher Rawly Eastwick, of Haddonfield New Jersey, made his major league debut with the Cincinnati Reds. In his rookie season. Rawly pitched in 8 games, worked 18 innings, had no decisions, picked up 2 saves, and posted a respectable 2.00 ERA.

September 13, 1948.   Hal Wagner, a Palmyra High grad, was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Philadelphia Phillies. Wagner would appear in only 3 games for the Phillies that season. The following year he played in just 1 game before the Phillies released him. His 12-year big league career included 677 games, 458 hits, 228 RBIs, 11 pinch hits, and a .248 average.

September 15, 1930.   The Sylvan Ball Club of Centerville won the Greater Camden League by sweeping the Fifth Ward team 2 games to none in the league playoff series. Bill Danley pitched a 4-hitter in winning the championship contest 5-1. Center-fielder Joe Miller led the champions' offensive attack with 3 key hits.

This is just a 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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