Hancock's First Field of Dreams
HANCOCK HERALD - AUGUST 3RD, 2022
Hancock’s first Field of Dreams celebration honoring Hancock native and baseball great “Honest Eddie Murphy.” The celebration also recognized The DepositHancock softball and baseball teams which were named State Class D champions this year.
Members of John Edward “Honest Eddie” Murphy’s family gather in front of The Field of Dreams backdrop on Saturday, July 30, during Hancock’s first Field of Dreams celebration honoring Hancock native and baseball great “Honest Eddie Murphy.” The celebration also recognized The DepositHancock softball and baseball teams which were named State Class D champions this year.
“If we build it, they will come—so, that’s what we did,” Dr. Robert Sintich, a board director of the Hancock Partners, Inc., which sponsored the event, told the crowd of residents, politicians, athletes, and members of “Honest Eddie” Murphy’s family who traveled to Hancock for the occasion.
We have asked FedEx to formally consider a new slogan: “If You Land it, They Will Come!”, said Lowe. The custom-made backdrop was made in Georgia then flown to upstate New York, said Lowe. But in the course of its journey to Hancock, the backdrop had two separate emergency landings, one in Rome, NY, and the other in Syracuse. Thanks to coordination with truck drivers from FedEx Binghamton, the Partners were able to get the backdrop to Hancock with less than an hour to spare before Saturday’s event.
Saturday’s festivities were the first of what will be a regular celebration of local sporting events, known as “Honest Eddie Murphy Day.” The Partners also announced the establishment of a sports scholarship and activity fund which will be funded and awarded through the event. The scholarship and activity fund will be available to all D-H students involved in school sports and offered to athletes in both the Hancock and Deposit
School Districts. The first contribution to the fund was received from Jack Hillerich, C.E.O. of the Louisville Sluggers, said Sintich, who announced the creation of the scholarship and activity fund. In another facet of Hancock’s baseball history, a mill operated in the town by the Hillerich & Bradsby Company made baseball bats for over 80 years from local ash logs for the Louisville Sluggers including such baseball greats as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Ted Williams.
Going forward, the Hancock Partners hope to tie-in to Baseball Hall of Fame programs in Cooperstown, NY, and envisions Hancock as a destination for baseball fans. Baseball historian and author, John Heeg, was on hand to talk about “Honest Eddie” Murphy’s history. Heeg has written a biography about “Honest Eddie” for the Society For American Baseball Research. So often it is easy to get lost in statistics about a baseball player’s career, Heeg noted. But Murphy was a player not only of great stats but of character and decency, he said. Murphy was famously nick-named “Honest Eddie” when he played with the Chicago White Sox in the 1919 world series, an event best known for the “Black Sox Scandal.” Murphy was called “Honest Eddie” due to his refusal to join in a game-fixing scheme.
Murphy played major league baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago White Socks, and Pittsburgh Pirates and appeared in three World Series. In an American era known for corruption, “He was a guy who decided to do the decent thing,” said Heeg. “I appreciate how this community celebrates him,” said Heeg, naming Murphy’s legacy as “an ability to bring people together.” Edward Murphy, grandson of “Honest Eddie” recalled his grandfather as a “quiet and humble man” and recalled stories told about how Murphy would visit his family in Dunmore, PA, and take drives around the countryside through Wayne and Susquehanna counties with other baseball players like Babe Ruth.
Following the parade, members of the D-H baseball softball and baseball teams and their coaches were presented awards and t-shirts for their State Championship wins by District 122 New York State Assemblyman, Joe Angelino and District 51 New York State Senator, Peter Oberacker. Other featured speakers were Hancock Town Supervisor Jerry Vernold and Hancock Superintendent of Schools Terrance Dougherty. The event also included live jazz music provided by the French Woods Performing Arts Camp, chicken BBQ provided by the Hancock Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad, and an evening showing of the movie “Field of Dreams” on an outdoor screen in the Square. Donations to the Honest Eddie Murphy Scholarship and Activity Fund can be made on the Honest Eddie Murphy Scholarship Athletic Fund GoFundMe website.
