Twenty Years of Harvard Base-Ball.

The season of 1867 opened with a game between Harvard and "Beacons," 67-20, in which "Parker made three magnificent home runs." In the second game, with the "Sonnets," this same Parker has a "great deal of enthusiasm wasted on him;" for "besides performing his usual course of circus-feats to amuse the spectators and the 'muckers,' and turning over the fence on his head, he made four stunning home runs, and played his base perfectly." The score in this match, 56-4, led the Lowells who had only defeated this same club, 47-29, to reconsider the remark of their captain, - that the "Lowells didn't believe thay would enter the New England tournament, as no club would care to try them."

The Harvard Club did try them on May 15th and failed. They changed the personnel of their nine slightly, and met them again, administering two successive defeats which I have already described.

In the practice game with the "Granities" which I mentioned, Harvard won, 76-27. Other practice games were played with picked Harvard nines.

In June the nine again fell foul of their friends, the "Somersets," and again won, 60-11, and four days afterwards met the "Athletics" of Philadelphia and United States Champions. The "Athletics" were naturally victorious, 22-10, but the Harvard team made an exceedingly creditable showing. The game was the "most scientific ever seen in New England, up to this time. As errors were not scored, we cannot tell the relative merits of the nines, but the "Athletics" probably excelled in both fielding and batting. Parker again distinguished himself in this game by his up-in the-air fly-catching" and all-round play. This Parker, by the way, played in forty-two matches while '67 was in college.

At this time we find base-ball enthusiasm in all colleges at a high pitch. The Hamilton paper I have alluded to before, prints a lurid editorial on the subject: "Wake up, ballers! Make Hamilton shine this year. Make ball playing red hot! . . . . Our practice here don't amount to shucks! We are lazy and self-conceited; and we had better not practice at all than practice as we do. . . .One and all, wake up!"

The sophomore and freshman classes at Harvard felt the fever and both played intercollegiate matches with Yale, and were beaten 23 to 22, 38 to 18. In the sophomore match a "Sheff" man played on a Yale class team for the first time, by Harvard permission. The university game with Williams for the championship was twice postponed on account of rain, and at last abandoned. Yale again declined to play.

The games in which the nine took part during the rest of the season are devoid of much interest. "Wabars," "Excelsiors" and "Eagles" go down to the tune of 34 to 20, 26 to 10, and 59 to 21. In these last two games base hits are first recorded. Harvard's hitting (in the "Eagle" game) was fine, says the Advocate, - (T. B. 611) - "but the fielding weak, owing perhaps to some of the men having had no dinner'." The "Eagle' club generously gave them "refreshments" after the game, however.

The freshman and sophomore nines went about seeking whom they might devour and devouring them handily, all during the autumn.

The rest of the season was taken up with controversial correspondence over the silver ball, which had to be surrendered to the Lowell's, owing to a technicality. I shall treat this more fully in my next paper.

The 'varsity nine of '67 was made up from: Sprague, Smith, Hunnewell, Parker, Ames, Mealey, Shaw, Willard, Flagg, McKim, Bowditch, Bush, Rawle.