The Yale Nine.

The prospects for the Yale nine this year are unprecedentedly good, and, strange to say, this fact has appeared in print many times, and seems to be an acknowledged fact, even at New Haven. O'Rourke, who is in the Yale Law School, is coaching the candidates again this year. His work told last season, and there is good reason to believe that his services are still of much value. He himself says that the nine have remarkably good prospects for a successful season. The old superiority which Harvard has held at the bat bids fair to disappear from Cambridge, only to emerge in the vicinity of New Haven. The daily practice which the Yale men take in the cage, especially at the bat, has shown marked improvement since the beginning of winter, and if Yale's prospects were good in the fall, they now, at the beginning of spring, are better than any college ever had before, not even excepting Harvard a year ago. Kellogg, who was change catcher last year, Sullivan, '90, and Hunt of the Law School have done excellent work at the bat during the winter, while the capabilities of Cross, Shepard and Brigham are well known. Hunt is a heavy man, weighing over 200 pounds, and is all muscle. He will play somewhere in the out-field. As for the battery, Stagg and Dann are ready to repeat the up-hill work they accomplished a year ago, if it should be necessary. Stagg is getting a reputation far beyond the limits of college circles, and now is considered by many as the finest pitcher that any college has ever been fortunate enough to possess. The old trouble which has affected Yale very much in times gone by, that of getting "rattled," seems to have disappeared with most of the other faults. Harvard need never hope that the aspect of Holmes field on a June afternoon will be sufficient to demoralize completely every blue jersey that is seen on the diamond. The makeup of the nine will probably be somewhat as follows: Batteries, Stagg and Dann, and Dann and Sullivan; bases, Spencer, Kellogg and Cross; short-stop, Noyes; out-field, Brigham, Hunt and Shepard. Osborn, '88, may play first base.