Ivy League Baseball: A Gentleman's Game

Harvard 1904

Since baseball season is in full swing, I decided to do a little research on early Ivy League clubs. And yes, some teams were integrated. William Matthews (front row #11) played four years at Harvard and later went on to get a law degree from Boston University.

Base-ball has flourished at Harvard ever since 1862, when the base-ball club of the Class of 1866 was formed. It practiced first on the Common, near the Washington Elm, and later on the Delta. Yale had no club at that time, but in June, 1863, a game was played with the Brown Sophomores at Providence, and the Harvard nine won. The first game with Yale was played in 1868. Jarvis Field became the playground when Memorial Hall was built, and afterwards Holmes Field. In 1897, baseball was transferred to Soldier's Field.

 In 1896, athletic relations with Yale were resumed after a break of over a year. Of the twelve series of base-ball games played since that date, Harvard has won nine, with a total of nineteen games out of thirty-one. There was a tie game played in Cambridge in 1905. The game with Yale the day before Class Day at Cambridge is one of the great athletic events of every year. Harvard plays also with various other colleges.   -The Official Guide to Harvard, published in 1907,

Cornell 1896

Princeton 1896

Yale

Penn

1886 Harvard batter

Harvard-Yale Baseball 

  

Baseball crowd at Harvard 1930

Not just for gentleman: 1866 Vassar Team