SPORTS ALWAYS have been an integral part of community life in Palisades Park, particularly baseball.

To this day, it is generally acknowledged that the town’s all-time top athletic organization was the Arrow A.C., a group formed prior to World War I. This unit fielded a powerful baseball team and basketball squad, both of whom met the best in the area and compiled a winning record in each sport.

The 1914-1918 global military conflict cut deeply into the Arrow membership and regular play was not resumed until the war was over. A player raid in 1919 by a newly-formed borough baseball rival, the Mohawks, drastically weakened the Arrows and that, along with the subsequent natural attrition brought on by advancing years of the clubs players, hastened the demise of the organization, with the club finally going out of existence about a decade later.

Never attaining team parity with the Arrows, the Mohawks lasted but a few seasons and were followed by the Community Club, a collection of new, young faces among the town’s athletes, plus some “outsiders.” The Community nine in the late 20’s and early 30’s was a county power on the diamond, with their roster strength being rated as perhaps just a shade below that enjoyed by the earlier Arrows.

The town’s baseball field in the early years of the century was east of Third Street between Palisades and Edsall Boulevards. The site is now the playground area for Lindbergh School. It was here, in the early 1920’s that Lou Gehrig, just out of Columbia University, unloaded a majestic shot to dead centerfield one Sunday afternoon as a member of Everett Millet’s “All-Collegians” against the Arrows.

A few years later, Bob Bodet of Leonia, playing with the Palisades Park Sterlings, a “Saturday afternoon” team of ex-high school performers, just about duplicated Gehrig’s blast. This writer was one of the Sterlings at the time and thereby became witness to both the Gehrig and Bodet clouts, the former clearing the top of a huge tree that stood far back in centerfield directly in line with home plate. Each shot was a high, well-over 400-foot swat.

The town has had a good share of athletes. Among the early standouts in baseball were - Peter Backstrom, who was a member of the Arrows’, and later became mayor, and his brother Herb. The many Watson brothers, Andy (Skip), Fred, Henry, Eppie and George. Adam and Steve Raymond; Ed (Eagle) and Al Reisch, Ed was another future mayor. Frank (Dadda) and Henry Galmiche; Doc and Bunny Cowan; Dave, Milt (Mick) and Joe Barry. Joe (Spiggidy) and Jack Shokoff, Joe later became the borough’s police chief. Other notable baseball players include: Julius (Bub) Graisser, Arthur Heder, Joe and Johnny Kearns and Joe and Gus Skalski.

Although a resident of Leonia, John “Kid” Wragge was a familiar figure in Palisades Park athletics, playing mostly with the Arrows.

With sports, you have to have officials. Coming readily to mind in this respect is the late Ernie Liegeois, who umpired baseball games during the Arrow’ heyday and beyond. Austere of mein and gard and officiating in major league style, the stocky Liegeois brooked no nonsense from players, was not a “homer” and moved the game along without delays. Another official was the scrappy, fast moving Chris Vonderschmidt.