[...]

During the season of '67 the interest in baseball seemed to increase. The first game of the season was between the Sophomore class teams of Princeton and Yale. On May 4, 1867, representatives of these "old rivals" met for the first time, and Princeton won, 58 — 52. Princeton won the return game also on June 27 by a score of 19 — 18. In May the Nassaus played three games, being beaten once by the Princetons.

The fall opened with a victory over these same Princetons, but closed with a defeat by the Columbias, of Bordentown. A very interesting series of class games had been played, which seemed to arouse greater interest than the Nassau games.

The season of '68 marks the beginning of a new era in baseball at Princeton. Before this time the team had received absolutely no financial support from those students who did not play. But now the college was so enthusiastic over its team, which had just defeated Columbia College, 59 — 12, that a subscription was taken among all the students, and the team was sent on a trip after Commencement — not to Brooklyn, but to Harvard, Williams, and Yale. The Nassaus had met and defeated the teams of Williams, Rutgers, and Columbia in previous years, but in this spring began the long series of Princeton-Yale games and the more interrupted Princeton-Harvard series. The supporters of a dual league of the two New England colleges are always reminding us that Harvard and Yale are such old time-honored rivals in athletics. This is undoubtedly true in boating, for the Yale-Harvard races began in 1852. But if we turn to baseball and football we find that on this trip of '68 Princeton had played both Yale and Harvard before they ever crossed bats with each other, and that Princeton had defeated Yale in football in 1873, two years before the representatives of Yale and of Harvard met on the "gridiron."

[BaseballChronology note: Harvard and Yale actually met in both 1866 and 1867.]

The club left college immediately after Commencement, going directly to Cambridge, where it was defeated by Harvard on June 23, 17 — 16. The next day it played Williams College, and defeated its team, 24 — 14. On June 25, after four days of hard travel and two days of hard playing, the Nassaus were defeated by Yale, 30 — 23. At this time ball-playing, and especially these summer tours, were of more social importance than the younger graduates realize. In the fall, when the students came back and this tour was discussed, no one talked of the defeats, but the whole college criticized the way the team had been treated at Yale. At Harvard it had been hospitably received and at Williams trebly so. But the Yale men were absorbed in the elections to their secret societies, and left their visitors to shift for themselves. But this lack of courtesy has been forgotten in the long series of amicable relations that have made Princeton and Yale the standards of the intercollegiate world.

In the fall of '68 baseball became even more popular. The classes fought zealously for the class championship, and "everyone in Princeton either played or talked baseball." The Princeton club had been reorganized so that every member was either an alumnus, tutor, or an undergraduate of Princeton. On Oct. 31 the Athletics of Philadelphia came to Princeton and were defeated. But the students forgot the glory of the victory in their joy and astonishment that the newly inaugurated President, Dr. James McCosh, had been an interested spectator. His presence informed the boys that baseball was officially sanctioned and raise'd from a mere pastime to a definite and dignified place in college life.

The good old Doctor was always ready to listen to the requests of the students and to anticipate their needs. In his inaugural address he had pointed out that the college needed a gymnasium. At the close of the exercises Mr. Robert Bonner, and Mr. Henry Marquand informed him that each would give $10,000 toward a gymnasium, and work was at once begun on the present gym. Twelve thousand dollars more was added before the building was completed in June, 1870.

It was at the inauguration of Dr. McCosh that college colors were first worn by the students. In this connection George K. Ward, '69, writes:

"In the early part of the year 1866 it occurred to me that as many of the sister colleges had a distinguishing color Princeton ought not to be behind the rest in such an excellent custom, and at a '69 class meeting, held on the 5th day of April, 1866, I brought the subject to the notice of the class. The matter was discussed quite freely, and as I had introduced the idea the question was put to me what my thought was as to the color. It so chanced that just about this time I had been interested in the history of William of Orange, the Prince of Nassau. Under a 'nom deplume' ' Ignobilis Pila' ('baseball') I afterward contributed an article to the Nassau Lit. entitled 'The Two Heroes,' one of the characters being William of Orange. The fact that William of Orange was also Prince of the House of Nassau suggested to my mind the propriety of orange as a color for Princeton, and having explained this connection to the class I proposed orange as the color and suggested that Mr. F. Thomas Finley, one of the brightest men of the class, should be appointed a committee of one to talk with the members of the other classes in regard to this choice. The chairman thought a committee of three would be preferable and forthwith made Mr. Finley chairman and associated with him Messrs. Keasbey and Aitken.

"The committee made no headway and later in the year reported that the scheme had failed to meet with approval. I do not know that any subsequent official action was taken by our class upon this question until our Senior year. But I do know this, that '69 approved the idea of orange for a class color; for in 1868, when we went to Yale to play our '69 class game, we carried along badges of orange ribbon with ''69 B. B. C.' printed upon them.

"In our Senior year it was felt to be quite essential that we have a distinctive color, and at a meeting of the class at which I was not present Mr. Finley brought the matter up, and it was decided the color should be orange, with 'Princeton' in black letters printed thereon. We felt this selection of a color to be important, as the inauguration of Dr. James McCosh as President of the College was at hand. Evidently there was no true orange ribbon to be had in town, so we used the nearest thing to it that could be found — a dark lemon color.

"From this it is sufficiently evident that the 'orange and black' originated with the class of '69, — the color of the ribbon, orange; the word 'Princeton' printed thereon in black ink. The class of '69 is entitled to the honor of the selection, although, of course, so far as black is concerned, there was no significance attached to that in our minds. It was merely that the word 'Princeton' was appropriate, and black was the natural color to use in printing it."

Their idea, however, was not carried out by their successors, for when the baseball team went on their northern trip in the summer of '70 their stockings were blue, not orange and black; and though their suits are minutely described nothing is said of their 'colors.' During the early seventies this matter of colors seemed to have dropped completely out of College gossip. It was reawakened in '74, when an attempt was made by Rutgers to adopt orange and black. At the Saratoga regatta in '74 these colors became the recognized colors of Princeton, as they have remained ever since.

The Nassau Baseball Club was by no means successful during the season of '69. The Princeton club was in a good financial condition, with excellent grounds and ample accommodations for the visiting teams. Consequently it was the popular team among the students and we cannot find the record even of any contests of the Nassaus.

The important event of the season of '70 was the opening of the gymnasium on May 30 and the first gymnastic exhibition. There was also a livelier interest in the baseball team. The [other] Princeton club had disbanded, probably because they realized how much their club was injuring pure college athletics. Consequently all attention was focused on the Varsity team, and a fund was subscribed among the students to send the nine on another tour of the colleges like that of '68, even though Yale and Harvard had made no return trips to Princeton. For this tour the team was equipped with suits of white shirts, knickerbockers, and blue stockings. A large number of students accompanied the team and saw Brown and Yale defeated; but Harvard won its game.

In the fall of '70 four unimportant games of baseball were played and Rutgers sent twenty-five men to Princeton to play football. In the spring of '71 we find records of the first definite organization of the baseball team. The control was vested in a board of directors, including, first of all, the captain, the secretary, the treasurer, and the scorer, for in those days the scorer held a very important position, although his careless successors have lost his carefully recorded accounts. Five hundred dollars were subscribed by the students to send the team on a northern tour after commencement, but so many of the regular players were compelled to be absent that the project was abandoned, lest the excellent reputation of the previous year should be overthrown. If we judge from the columns of the Lit., the most important thing of the whole season was the change of uniform to "brown tights and light shirts." There were no football contests of any sort, except, of course, the daily "kicking for fun over the Cannon."

The spring of '72 seems to mark a decline in the interest in all sports. There is only one game of baseball recorded, and there was no enthusiasm shown even in the recently established gym. contests.

Games of 1860

In the fall of '59, the game was taken up by the Seminary students and match games were played every two weeks, in which the Nassaus were usually the victor. One year later the First Nine of the Nassau Club was invited by Dr. E. D. Pierson '54, of Orange, to come to Orange and play a team of amateurs. This of course marked an important development in the sport, and it was only after much persuasion that the Faculty consented and on October 22, 1860, the nine went to Orange to play the first game of baseball in which representatives of Princeton played a team outside of Princeton itself.

Oct. 22—Nassau at Orange. Tie game at 42. Umpire—Tom Morris of the Star Club.

In the first part, Nassau was far ahead but by the close of the ninth inning Orange had tied the score, and the game had to be called on account of darkness, with the score 42-42. The Nassaus excelled in fielding but with the "live" ball, the ground to be covered was larger. The field was very rough and towards the end of the game the Princeton men became exhausted, while the superior strength of the older men of Orange, enabled them to continue strong claying.

In the fall of '60, Captain Mudge wrote to Yale, Columbia and Rutgers, challenging them to a match game but they replied that they had no team«, and were still playing the old Connecticut game [aka the Massachusetts game]. For two years the records are silent, though games were played every two or three weeks with the Seminary, in one of which on April 19, '62, the Nassaus won by the score of 45-13.

Games of 1862-1863

In the fall of '62, the Nassaus became the champions of New Jersey by twice defeating the former champions, the Stars, of New Brunswick. The first game was played on Sept. 24, 1862, at Princeton, and resulted in the score 22-16, in favor of Nassaus. The return game was played on Oct. 11, at New Brunswick and was a great affair in the history of the college, for the 'revered President — that patron of sports', had given the students permission to accompany the team. The Nassaus went to the bat first. "Their pitcher seized the ball and swinging his hand behind him as if in an effort to dislocate his shoulder, put his head between his legs — almost — and running furiously, discharged the ball some yards away from the home base. After repeating this action an indefinite number of times, our worthy captain, who was batting, at last got a ball that suited him and set a good example by a fine ¿it." Before the side was retired, five runs were scored, but the Stars immediately tied the score. In the second inning, a home run was knocked when the bases were filled and four runs came in at one time. This was the biggest inning for the Nassaus, for they scored thirteen runs. The play, however, was so slow that the game had to be stopped on account of darkness in the sixth inning, with the score 26-15 in favor of Nassau. The games of this period, in fact of all the sixties were more of a social event in the player's life than those of to-day. They were always followed by a jolly supper, with plenty of fare and speeches, for though the opponents were not college men, they were amateurs.

May 22—Nassau and Athletic of Philadelphia; 29 to 18; won by Athletic in Philadelphia.
May 23—Nassau and Olympic of Philadelphia; 20-14 won by Princeton in Philadelphia.

The success of this trip influenced the club to challenge the nines of Columbia, Rutgers, Yale and Williams, for a series of games, after Commencement, but there was no organized nines at these colleges and the challenges could not be accepted.

Games of 1863-1864

Sept. 26—Nassau and Athletic of Philadelphia; 29 to 13, in favor of Princeton. As no Princeton records of this game have been preserved, the following account is quoted from a Philadelphia paper: "No one but a topographical engineer could describe that ground. To get to first base you ran up a hill, ran down to 2nd base, up to 3rd base and home base. The right field played at the top of a hill, the centre field at the bottom and the left field in a gully. To the Nassau players, who had been accustomed to and had overcome the difficulties of fielding on such a ground, the irregularities were of no account, but the effect was terrible on the Philadelphians, while the weakening feeling of playing on empty stomachs also told heavily against them. The Athletics, however, always play a good uphill game, (and this was decidedly up hill and down hill too) and they went at it. Malone pitched in the 1st, 2nd, and 9th innings, McBride pitched the balance of the game; the fielding of the Athletics being marked by a fine fly catch by Mahne at short field — a beauty by Collum at right field, fine ones by Smith and Berkenstock, crowned by a magnificent one by Gratz at centre field, and which he elegantly threw to 1st base, putting a man out, thereby making the only double play of the day. The star play of the game was when Malone was put out at the home plate. The ball had been batted to deep left field; Malone started from second, and as he passed third base, Wickham turned away from the home plate as though it was useless to try to prevent the run. This induced Malone to moderate to a jog-trot. Milspaugh threw the ball to the home plate, but Wickham made no effort to catch it until it was almost there. Then, by a sudden jump, he caught the ball, and put out Malone, who was the most surprised man imaginable. The best score was by Mr. Smith, who played and base admirably. The gallant catcher of the Athletics was badly hurt on the face and left eye in the early part of the game by a foul ball, but he pluckily kept his position. From first to last, the Nassaus played with the steadiness, judgment, and skill of masters of the game. Knowing the ground well, they ran their bases with boldness and success. Their pitcher helped them greatly. He gives a slow ball with a heavy twist and is extremely irregular. The Athletics found it difficult to bat him for two or three innings. The game afforded a superior exhibition of nerve and skill on the part of the Nassaus, and of wretched muffing and feeble batting on the part of the Athletics. No doubt their empty stomachs rebelled against hard work. After play, the Nassaus conducted their guests to the Mansion House and gave them a hearty and most welcome supper. Here the ball was presented by Col. Fitzgerald, and received by L. B. Halsey, '64 ; and the occasion was marked by an interchange of many delicate courtesies; after which the Athletics tore themselves away from their gentlemanly and highly esteemed competitors."
Sept. 27—Nassau and Irvington at Princeton; won by the Nassaus 31-7.
Oct. 19—Nassau and Resolutes of Brooklyn; 13 to 9; won by Princeton.
Oct. 20—Nassau and the Excelsior of Brooklyn; 12 to 11; won by Princeton. The following accounts are taken from the New York Clipper: "The first game of the series, against the Excelsiors resulted in a well earned victory for the collegians, by a score of 13-9. Only seven innings were played on account of darkness. A heavy shower of rain in the morning and one in the afternoon, that necessitated a suspension of play in the second inning, placed the ground in a very unfavorable condition, especially where not covered with turf. The bases and catcher's and pitcher's positions were very slippery, so much so as to make fielding in these positions almost an impossibility. The ball also became wet and could not be either batted or caught well. In spite of these draw-backs, however, some very good play was shown on both sides, especially on fly catching as the score shows. In batting, Milspaugh took the lead, besides making the best catch in the game; Wickham being second best on the list; Weeden and Rogers doing the best on the Resolute side. Mr. Grum acted as umpire with his usual impartiality, and the game was played in the most friendly and gentlemanly manner throughout. The second match played on the Excelsior grounds, proved to be one of the best played and contested games of the season, and was exceedingly creditable to the skill of the young collegians, both in batting and fielding. Up to the 9th innings of the game, the totals were but 10-5, the Excelsiors having the lead, but in the last innings the Nassaus, by some excellent batting, and aided by some very poor fielding on the part of their opponents, scored no less than seven runs to the Excelsiors one, winning the game by one run. Of those who distinguished themselves in fielding on the part of the Nassaus were : Halsey, Mcllvaine, Condit and Wickham, in their respective positions, and Henry as pitcher, also Little in the same position. In batting Milspaugh took the lead, as in the first game, Henry being a good second and Wickham third. On the Excelsior side in fielding, Whiting at first base was the most successful ; the pitching and catching of the two Brainards being first class throughout. Cook and Chappell m the field and Jerome and Flanley at short stop and 2nd base, also played well and in fact until ' refreshments ' were served up, the play was good on both sides, but afterwards there was some very loose play indeed. In batting H. Brainard, Jerome and Chappell were the most successful, the latter making the best hit of the match. Mr. Pearce impartially and satisfactorily discharged the duties of umpire and he had several close points to decide."
Oct. 21—Nassau and the Brooklyn Stars; 16 to 7; won by Princeton.
Oct. 22—Nassau and the Brooklyn Atlantics; won 18-13 by the Atlantics.
June 30 (1864)—Nassau and the Athletic of Philadelphia; won 14-9 by Athletic.
July 4—Nassau and the New York Mutuals; won 19-10 by Princeton.
July 5—Nassau and the Brooklyn Stars; won 26-22 by Princeton.
July 6—Nassau and the Brooklyn Atlantics; won 42-7 by the Atlantics.
July 7—Nassau and the Eureka of Newark; won by Newark 24-12.

Games of 1864-1865

Nov. 22—Nassau defeats Williams College at Princeton 27-16.
June 30 (1865)—Williams defeats Nassau at Williamstown, Mass., 30-17.

Games of 1865-1866

May 5 (1866)—Nassau defeats Rutgers at Princeton 40-2.
May 19—Nassau defeats Edge Hills 41-24.
May 26—Nassau defeats Burlington in Burlington 40-22.
June 7—Nassau defeats "Princeton" (a similarly named local club) 38-10. "Before the team disbanded for the summer, they had the satisfaction of defeating their permanent rivals, the Princetons, by the score of 38-10."

Games of 1866-1867

Oct. 31—Nassau defeats "Princeton" (a similarly named local club) 23-9 in six innings.
May 4 (1867)—Nassau '69 defeats Yale '69 58-52.
May 18—"Princeton" defeats Nassau 27-15 at Princeton grounds.
May 25—Nassau defeats "Princeton" 42-25 at Nassau grounds.
June 1—Camden defeated Nassau at Princeton 21-20 at Princeton.
June 27—Nassau '69 defeats Yale '69 19-18.

Curve Pitching and Princeton

For many years Princetonians have claimed that J. M. Mann, '76, was the first pitcher to pitch curve balls; his first curves were pitched in the fall of 1874. On the other hand, the professionals claim that A. J. Cummings, of the Excelsior Club of Brooklyn, invented curve pitching in the spring of 1867. It is impossible to determine who was the actual discoverer or inventor; but there can be no doubt that Mann was not the first Princetonian to pitch curve balls, for in 1866, E. Davis of the class of '70, and in 1870, J. W. Hageman '72, had pitched curve balls. Possibly the first curve ball pitched at Princeton was by F. P. Henry '66 in the Nassau — Athletic game of September 26, 1863. The Nassaus won by the score of 29-13. The correspondent of the New York Clipper writes : "In this match slow pitching with a great twist to the ball achieved a victory over swift pitching." If "a great twist" means a curve, this was curve pitching even though the pitcher and batter were unconscious of the character of the peculiarity. The idea of curve pitching was known as early as 1856,when Porter's Spirit of the Times speaks of the swift pitching of Mr. Stevens: "it is questionable, however, whether his style of pitching is most successful, many believing a slow ball curving near the bat, to be the most effective." Twelve years later it speaks of Mr. Martin of the Eckford Club of Brooklyn, as a pitcher who had a peculiar curve line delivery. Meantime the players at Princeton were learning how hard it was to hit curve balls, though they did not know the reason. In the fall of '66, E. Davis, '70, a Freshman, was made pitcher of the first nine of the Nassau Club, because few batters could hit his pitching effectively, for he was pitching curved balls. The reason why Davis has not received due credit before, is that he pitched for one year only; in the fall of '67, he was disqualified by the newly adopted rule requiring a straight arm delivery and gradually the stories of the wonderful Freshman pitcher fell out of college gossip.

The sports of that day formed a smaller part of the students life than those of to-day, and it is not surprising that this subject has not been discussed. All the members of the Nassau nine of '66-'67 who are yet alive, are firm in their statements that curves were first pitched in Princeton by Davis. Davis prepared for college in Princeton at the Edge Hill School where he was both captain and pitcher of the nine. Constant attendance at the Nassau games made him desirous of playing on a good nine of the six that were then organized in college. During his summer vacation he practiced pitching against a brick wall in order to get control over the ball and put it just where he wanted. He noticed that when the ball struck the wall, it bounded back according to the twist of rotation of the ball. Then he endeavored to give the ball a perpendicular twist so that when the batter hit it, the ball would go straight up in the air and be caught easily by the catcher or pitcher. There was no attempt made to prevent the batter from hitting the ball, nor did Davis think then of curving the path of the ball. When he began to pitch in the Nassau matches, experience taught him that it was easier to field the hits when the ball struck the handle of the bats; and it was not long before he was pitching a regular inshoot, with a perpendicular twist. During the winter, Davis would pitch in the long hall at the west end of North College, where the students gathered to watch and to attempt to catch the balls he pitched. His work, however, was so soon forgotten that a player graduating four years later claimed that J. W. Hageman, '72, had invented curve pitching. Hageman played a scientific game in the box, and puzzled the batters by varying the speed of the ball without changing his style of delivery, so that years later, when curve pitching had been demonstrated, the men whom Hagernan struck out, tried to excuse themselves by saying he pitched curves. It was simply his deceptive speed; probably he may have pitched an inshoot or an upshoot but not in match games. Later in 1874, the rules granted greater freedom to the pitcher and J.M.Mann, '76, began to develop curve pitching and made it the popular and most effective style of delivery

Games of 1867-1868

Oct. 15—Nassau defeated "Princeton" 19-18 at Princeton.
Oct. 29—"Princeton" defeated Nassau 27-24 at Princeton grounds.
Nov. 2—Columbias of Bordentown defeated the Nassaus 23-20 at Princeton.
May 9 (1868)—Nassau defeated "Princeton" 30-5 at Princeton.
May 16—Nassau defeated Columbia College 59-12 at Princeton. Note that Columbia played with only 8 players.
June 16—Irvingtons defeated the Nassaus 23-18.

The college was so well satisfied with the work of the team that they raised a subscription and sent the team on its first tour. It is interesting to note that on this tour the representatives of Princeton played both the Yale and the Harvard nines, before they met each other on a baseball diamond. Before this, Yale had played two college games, with Wesleyan and Columbia, and Harvard had played two games with Williams. But the first Yale-Harvard game was probably suggested by the tour of the Nassaus, for it did not occur until one month later, on July 25. [BaseballChronology note: Harvard and Yale actually met in both 1866 and 1867.] Princetonians may well be proud of their representatives, who, in 1868, established the intercollegiate baseball contests among the leading colleges. This precedent of leadership was later strengthened, when the Football Association was founded at Princeton's request; in late years it has been well supported by the contributions which Princeton has made to the development of the science of football. The first game of this tour was played at Cambridge, with Harvard.

June 23—Harvard defeated Nassau 17-16 at Cambridge. The game opened sharply, Harvard scoring two runs and Nassau one in the first inning, which was closed by a splendid fly catch by Sprague. In the next two innings the Nassaus took the lead, for Harvard played rather loosely in the third inning and allowed their opponents to score four runs. This lead the Nassaus held up to the eighth inning, when Harvard, who had given up all hopes of a victory, got down to solid work, and by some heavy batting scored eight runs. They added two more in the ninth inning and put out the Nassaus in one, two, three order; consequently Harvard won. After a supper with the Harvard men, the Nassaus took the evening train for Williamstown, and on the next day defeated the Williams nine who, at the time, were champions of the colleges in baseball. Nassau vs. Williams, at Williamstown.
June 24—Nassau defeated Williams at Williamstown 24-14. The following report of this game is taken from the Williams College paper : "The game with Princeton began at two o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, June 24. The weather was cool and pleasant and a large number of spectators were on the grounds. "Every one seemed in considerable doubt as to the result of the game, which doubt however ceased to disturb most minds at the close of the second innings, 11-0! This went far beyond expectations. There was some feeble applause and muttered abuse against the Williams nine on feeble applause and muttered abuse against the Williams nine on the part of those who had not believed Williams invincible in the baseball line. After the second inning the Williams nine made enough runs to keep up a lively interest throughout the game. Some ingenious youth showed us how, if you would take off the first two innings, you would find that Williams kept and came out ahead; which fact we state merely by way of consolation. It would be a difficult matter for our nine to beat Princeton, if that first class University nine always plays as well as it did here. After the supper at the Mansion House, given by the college to the two nines, Van Ingen, Captain of our nine, presented the ball to Rankin, Captain of the Princeton nine, when there was an interchange of appropriate remarks. Songs were sung by both parties and the entertainment though brief, passed off pleasantly." The team traveled that night to New Haven, and on the following day met Yale College for the first time. This first Princeton-Yale game resulted in a victory for Yale.
June 25—Yale defeated Nassau 30-23 at New Haven. The Nassaus were exhausted with traveling at night and playing all afternoon and were completely fagged out. The large score was due to excellent batting on each side, rather than weak fielding. The Nassaus returned by evening boat to New York, gratified with their entertainment at Harvard, enthusiastic over their welcome at Williams, but disappointed at their cool reception at Yale. At Yale they had not been entertained and after the game, the Yale men had been so interested in their society elections, that the visitors were left to shift for themselves. In the fall there was some talk of a game with Yale at Princeton, and the whole college was divided on the question of their reception: ''whether we should heap coals of fire on their heads by treating them well — as they did not treat us — or whether we should treat them, as students of one college should not treat those of another— as they did treat us." It is gratifying to know that gentlemanliness overcame the desire for revenge, even in anticipation.
July 4—Greenpoint Orientals defeated the Nassaus 54-37.

Games of 1868-1869

In the fall, the interest in baseball was maintained despite the many gloomy predictions of the spring, that the sport had run its course, etc. But after the game with the Athletics, on October 31, 1868, every one played or talked baseball. The truth was, a new era for baseball was dawning at Princeton. The new President, Dr. McCosh, had been inaugurated on October 27, 1868, and three days later he astonished the whole College by attending the Princeton-Athletics game. His presence and interest in the game lent dignity to the sport ; baseball was no longer a mere pastime, but an acknowledged factor in college life. Hereafter there was a constant, steady development in all branches of athletics, which the good Doctor encouraged. One of the fundamental principles of his educational purposes was mens sana in corpore sano. His presence at this game was not an accident or the gratification of a mere whim, but it was the second step in his well formed plan for bettering the physical condition of the students — a plan begun in his inaugural speech, with a request for a Gymnasium. Everything that Princeton has accomplished in athletics can be traced to influences which arose in the genial environment of Dr. McCosh's administration. Was it not a good omen, that his first game resulted in a victory for Princeton?

Oct. 10—Atlantics of Brooklyn defeat the Nassaus 27-16.
Oct. 31—Princeton defeats the Athletics of Philadelphia 25-17.

During the winter the nine practiced faithfully in the Gym. and in the spring they became known as the Princeton University Baseball Club for the Princeton Club of the town had disbanded in favor of the regular college nine. Their grounds and equipment were placed at the disposal of the new Princeton University nine, though for some unknown reasons only a few games were played in the spring. The first game resulted in a defeat by the Athletics, on April 24.

April 24 (1869)—Athletics of Philadelphia defeated the Princeton Nassaus 28-27. The weather was exceedingly pleasant on the 24, and two thousand persons assembled to see the new nine of the Athletics, and speculate on the accessions to their ranks. Rather unexpectedly the game turned out to be close and exciting, and the spectators were well repaid. The Princetons led the score up to the fourth inning, but in that inning the Athletics overtook them, and from that until the end, it was nip and tuck, the score being tied at the end of the eighth inning. On their last turn at bat the Princetons scored five runs, being assisted by wild throwing and poor fielding by the Athletics — as they had been all along, in fact — and for the first time during the game the friends of the Athletics began to think they had their hands full. But they were fully equal to the task before them and rattled off six runs, and won the game by a score of 28-27. Both teams were in a rusty condition, and the Athletics were certainly very fortunate in escaping defeat.
Early May—Princeton defeated the Philadelphia Intrepids by an unknown score.
May 14—Brooklyn Atlantics defeated the Princetons 24-3.

Games of 1870

June 18 (1870)—Athletics of Philadelphia defeat the Princetons 22-4 in Philadelphia.
June 28—Athletics of Philadelphia defeat the Princetons 24-7 at Princeton.

Evidently the Athletics had an exceptionally strong nine for the College was well satisfied with the work of their men and were so confident of their ability that the nine was sent on an extended tour to the Eastern colleges. Before the trip new suits had been adopted, consisting of white shirts and knickerbockers and blue stockings, for at this time Princeton had no distinctive college color. Each player wore his class numerals on his shield and the word "Princeton" on his belt.

June 30—Princeton defeats Brown 25-18 at Providence.
July 1—Harvard defeats Princeton at Union Grounds, Boston by a score of 26-13.
July 2—Princeton defeats the Tri-Mountains at Boston 13-7.
July 4—Princeton defeats the Lowells in Boston 36-16.
July 5—Princeton defeats the Mutuals of Springfield 42-3.
July 6—Princeton defeats Yale 26-15 at New Haven.
Oct. 8—Princeton defeats Rutgers 46-7 at Rutgers.
Oct. 15—Princeton defeats Neptune of Easton 27-7.
Oct. 18—Princeton defeats Rose Hill of Fordham 22-18 at Princeton.
Oct. 22—Princeton defeats the Amateurs of Newark at Newark 17-13.