National Association

Harvard

By Patrick Mondout

The Harvard Base-Ball Club of Cambridge (also known simply as the Harvards) were a mid-19th Century team in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP), the first national baseball organization.

At a glance... HARVARD Club Facts Established October 12, 1864 Disbanded  No Located Cambridge Uniform Light gray throughout, trimmed with magenta (why magenta?) Officials (1864) President: F. Wright Vice-President: J.B. Ames Secretary: D.B. Abercrombie Treasurer: D.B. Abercrombie Year by Year Results   W L T 1865 7 2   1866 7 6   1867 9 2   1868 13 2   1869 14 5 1 1870 31 11   Affiliations NABBP (1865-1871) Pennants NABBP None Nicknames Harvard Ballparks

They still exist today as a college team, but their accomplishments beyond 1870 are beyond the scope of this website.

See also: National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, Defunct Leagues, 'Early Baseball' Terminology.

Peverelly's Early History of the Harvards

Here is Charles Peverelly's 1866 look at the early history of the Harvards (with additional scores unknown to Peverelly):

The Harvard Base Ball Club of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is composed of the students of Harvard University, and was organized October 12, 1864.

During their visit to New York and Brooklyn, in May, 1866, the Harvard Club created the most favorable impression, and were spoken very highly of by all of the metropolitan press. heir play-grounds are located in Cambridge, on the College Delta.

The Club is made up of the best players from the Class Clubs, which generally comprise about one-half of each class-fifty or sixty in number.

Games of 1865

The Harvard's first game was played in Boston, June 17—with the Trimountain, of Boston. Harvard, 60 runs; Trimountain, 32 runs.
July 1—Harvard and Trimountain, on Boston Common. Harvard, 27 runs; Trimountains, 17 runs.
July 4—Harvard and Granite Club, of Holliston, Mass., at Holliston. Harvard, 44 runs; Granite, 14 runs.
July 16—Harvard and Lowell, of Boston, on Boston Common. Harvard, 28 runs; Lowell, 17 runs. Umpire, Mr. Chandler, of Trimountains. By this game the championship of New England was won by the Harvard Club.
July 19—Harvard and Williams, of Williams College, Williamstown, Mass., at Williamstown. Harvard, 36 runs; Williams, 30 runs.
July 28—Harvard and Charter Oak, of Hartford, Conn., at Worcester, Mass. Harvard, 35 runs; Charter Oak, 13 runs.
September 27—Harvard and Atlantic, of Brooklyn, N.Y., on Boston Common. Harvard, 22 runs; Atlantic, 58 runs.
September 30—Harvard and Lowell, of Boston, on Boston Common. Harvard, 37 runs; Lowell, 40 runs. By this match the championship of New England was lost.
October 20—Harvard and Lowell, of Boston, on Boston Common. Harvard, 73 runs; Lowell, 37 runs; eight innings. By this game the championship was again obtained.

Games of 1866

May 1—Harvard and Trimountain. Won by Harvard, by 55 to 33.
May 19—Harvard and Orient. Harvard won by 97 to 11.
May 30—Harvard and Atlantic, at Brooklyn. Score, 37 to 15, in favor of Atlantic.
May 31—Harvard and Eureka, at Newark, N.J. Eureka, 42; Harvard, 39.
June 1—Harvard and Excelsior, at Brooklyn. Won by Excelsior, by 46 to 28.
June 2—Harvard and Active, of New York, at Hoboken. Won by Active, by 24 to 15.
June 9—Harvard and Beacon. Won by Harvard, by 77 to 11.
July 4—Harvard and Charter Oak, at Hartford. Score in favor of Harvard, by 16 to 14.
July 14—Harvard and Lowell, at Boston. Won by the Lowell, 37 to 27.
July 17—Harvard and Beacon. Won by Harvard, by 56 to 20.
July 26—Harvard and Williams College, at Worcester. In favor of the latter by 39 to 37.
October 13—Harvard and Beacon. Beacon score, 18; Harvard score, 53.
October 27—Harvard and Trimountain. In favor of Harvard by a score of 33 to 16.

Harvard The 1867 Harvard Base Ball Club. From left to right: G.A. Flagg, N.S. Smith, G.G. Willard, R.G. Shaw, A. Hunnewell, J.B. Ames (captain), C.F. McKim, H.P. Parker, E.E. Sprague.

Games of 1867

April 6—Harvard and Beacon. Won by Harvard 67-20.
April 20—Harvard and Somerset of Cambridge. Won by Harvard 50-4.
May 7—Harvard and Trimountain, won by the Harvards 32-16.
May 11—Harvard and Granite of Cambridge. Won by the Harvards 67-27.
May 15—Harvard and Lowell of Boston. Won by the Lowells 37-28.
May 24—Harvard and Lowell of Cambridge. Won by the Harvards, 32-26.
June 1—Harvard and Lowell of Medford. Won by the Harvards 39-28.
June 8—Harvard and Somerset of Boston. Won by the Harvards 60-11.
June 12—Harvard and Athletic of Boston. Won by the Athletics 22-10.
June 17—Harvard and Upton of Cambridge. Won by the Harvards 30-12.
October 7—Harvard and Excelsior of Brooklyn. Won by the Harvards 18-6.

Games of 1868

June 13—Harvard and Athletic of Boston. Won by the Harvards 67-2.
June 20—Harvard and Eureka of Cambridge. Won by the Harvards 70-7.
June 23—Harvard and Nassau of Princeton. Won by the Harvards 17-16.
July 4—Harvard and Lowell of Boston. Won by the Lowells 23-20.
July 11—Harvard and Trimountain of Boston. Won by the Harvards 23-11.
July 14—Harvard and Eon of Portland, Maine. Won by the Harvards 42-10.
July 21—Harvard and Lowell of Boston. Won by the Harvards 28-27.
July 29—Harvard and Yale of New Haven. Won by Harvard 25-17.
September 19—Harvard and Eagle of E. Cambridge. Won by Harvard 29-7.
September 26—Harvard and Brown of Providence, RI. Won by Harvard 35-15.
October 3—Harvard and Lowell of Boston. Won by Harvard 27-24.
October 9—Harvard and Lowell of Boston. Won by Lowell 33-30.
October 19—Harvard and Lowell of Boston. Won by Harvard 28-15.
October 27—Harvard and Trimountain of Boston. Won by the Harvards 32-12.

Harvard The 1868 Harvard Baseball Nine. From left to right: G.G. Willard, E Bowditch, R.G. Shaw, N.S. Smith, J.B. Ames (captain), F. Rawle, A. Hunnewell, A. McC. Bush, E.E. Sprague.

Games of 1869

April 27—Harvard and Lowell of Boston. Won by Harvard 41-22.
May 22—Harvard and Fairmount of Marlboro, MA. Won by the Harvards 34-16.
May 25—Harvard and Mutual of New York. Won by the Mutuals 43-11.
June 5—Harvard and Dartmouth of Hanover. Won by Harvard 38-0.
June 12—Harvard and the Red Stockings of Cincinnati. Won by Cincinnati 30-11.
June 24—Harvard and Lowell of Boston. Won by Harvard 35-19.
June 26—Harvard and Williams College. Won by Harvard 45-8.
July 3—Harvard and Lowell of Boston. Won by Harvard 21-4.
July 5—Harvard and Yale of New Haven. Won by Harvard 41-24.
July 7—Harvard and Eckford of Brooklyn. Won by the Eckfords 17-5. Umpire: Mr. Ferguson of the Atlantic club.
July 9—Harvard and Athletic of Philadelphia. Won by Harvard 35-21.
July 10—Harvard and Keystone of Philadelphia. Won by the Keystones 24-18.
July 13—Harvard and National of Albany. Won by the Harvards 58-17.
July 14—Harvard and Union of Langsingburgh, NY. Won by the Unions 22-10.
September 19—Harvard and Fairmount of Marlboro, MA. Won by Harvard 40-14.
September 25—Harvard and Lowell of Boston. Won by Harvard 39-16.
October 2—Harvard and Clipper of Lowell, MA. Game ended in a 17-17 tie.
October 9—Harvard and Lowell of Boston. Won by Harvard 32-14.
October 19—Harvard and Mutual of Springfield, MA. Won by Harvard 26-1.
October 26—Harvard and Lowell of Boston. Won by Harvard 36-24.

From "The Scrap Book"

The following passage from an article entitled The Story of Baseball by George V. Tuohey (published in 1906 in The Scrap Book) demonstrates a still widely-held belief that the Harvards were "one of the strongest nines in the country." This really does overstate the extent to which college nines (or even Harvard in particular) were competitive with the best clubs of the era, at least to the extent that anyone now might read such accounts and assume Harvard seriously contended for the NABBP championship. The Harvards destroyed local teams but almost always lost to any truly elite teams they faced and that can be said about a few dozen teams of the mid-to-late 1860s. They were good and they were competitive, but they were not great like the Atlantic of Brooklyn, Union of Morrisania, or Red Stocking of Cincinnati.

Harvard's Great Baseball Nine.
The Harvard University nine was famous at a very early date as one of the strongest nines in the country. The games were played in Cambridge, on the Delta, where Memorial Hall now stands. As early as 1866 the Harvards played the Atlantics, Eurekas, Excelsiors, and Actives, in New York, and were beaten, 37-15, 42-39, 46-28, 54-15— a plucky- showing, considering that Catcher Flagg's hands were in bad condition.

On the Fourth of July the Charter Oak nine, which had thrice beaten the Yales, was vanquished, 16-14. The Beacons were beaten, 77-11 and 56-20. The Williams nine won the championship from Harvard, 39-37. Flagg, Abercrombie, and Hunnewell were regarded as the great men of the Harvard team. Hunnewell made twelve runs in one game.

The Harvards were beaten 14-9 by the Forest Citys, of Cleveland, 18-7 by the Olympics, of Washington, 22-15 by the Mutuals, 27-9 by the Athletics, 13-4 by the Atlantics, and 20-17 by the Cincinnati Red Stockings. In the latter game Harvard had the game well in hand when Cincinnati made eight runs in the last inning, blanked Harvard, and won. Harvard beat Niagara at Lockport, New York, 62-4 in five innings, making thirty-six runs in the third inning. In the Harvard nine were Bush, catcher; Goodwin, pitcher; Perrin, White, and Reynolds, basemen; Austin, short-stop; Thorpe, Wells, and Eustis, fielders.

In 1871 Harvard beat Tufts, 32-9; Brown, 42-10, 34-15; Yale, 22-19; Haymakers, of Troy, a strong professional club, 15-8; Lowell, 14-9; was beaten by Boston, 13-4; Athletics, of Philadelphia, 14-6; Olympic, of Washington, 17-5; Chicago, 12-2; Eckfords, of Williamsburg, 15-9. This shows what the caliber and mettle of the college teams were in those days.

From "The Official Guide to Harvard"

The Official Guide to Harvard, published in 1907, contained an entry on the history of Harvard baseball that we will reprint below:

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.

NOTES:
Most of the statistical information and rosters come from Marshall Wright's groundbreaking book, The National Association of Base Ball Players 1857-1870 (see bibliography below) and Charles Peverelly's American Pastimes. Any "rosters" are compiled from surviving boxscores and/or Wright's book and may not be complete and players may have played at more positions than indicated. Accounts and boxscores come from many sources including the New York Times, the Brooklyn Eagle, the New York Clipper, and Spirit of the Times: A Chronicle of the Turf, Agriculture, and Field Sports. Information on years of NABBP membership are from Henry Chadwick's Base-ball Manual for 1871. Read more about our NABBP sources.

National Association of Base Ball Players sources/bibliography:
Baseball: The Early Years by Harold Seymour.
Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search For The Roots Of The Game by David Block.
Baseball in Blue and Gray: The National Pastime during the Civil War by George B. Kirsch.
Early Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1825-1908 by Dean A. Sullivan
The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870 by Marshall D. Wright.
Playing for Keeps: A History of Early Baseball by Warren Goldstein.
When Johnny Came Sliding Home: The Post-Civil War Baseball Boom, 1865-1870 by William J. Ryczek

General Baseball History sources/bibliography:
Baseball: A History of America's Game by Benjamin G. Rader.
Baseball: A Film By Ken Burns (PBS DVD)
The Formation, Sometimes Absorption and Mostly Inevitable Demise of 18 Professional Baseball Organizations, 1871 to Present by David Pietrusza.
The Great 19th Century Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball, 2nd Edition by David Nemec.
Early Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1825-1908 by Dean A. Sullivan.
Middle Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1900-1948 by Dean A. Sullivan.
Late Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball 1945-1972 by Dean A. Sullivan
Past Time: Baseball as History by Jules Tygiel
America's National Game: Historic Facts Concerning the Beginning, Evolution, Development and Popularity of Baseball by Albert Spalding
Total Baseball: The Ultimate Baseball Encyclopedia by John Thorn, et al.