Crimson Ball Players Await Ground Thaw

Weather permitting, the Harvard baseball team will take to the outdoor practice field within a fortnight. At that time, the 20 pitchers and catchers now limbering up inside Briggs Cage will be joined by about 25 infield and outfield hopefuls.

The season will open after the first Saturday in May, and, with the exception of a short lay-off during final exams and between terms, will run for the greater part of the summer. In addition to the schedule announced last Tuesday, bids have been received from several teams for a place on the Crimson schedule. They are now being considered and will be released shortly. Notable exceptions are the absence of any plans to meet Harvard's traditional Ivy League rivals: Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Pennsylvania, Columbia, and Cornell.

Coach Floyd Stahl declined to comment on the pitching prospects. He based his decision upon the fact that as yet the moundsmen have not pitched to batters and it is impossible to judge their wares until used against a few heavy hitters.

As a nucleus about which to form his ball club Coach Stahl has only three veterans of last summer's team. Sherm Clark, Bill Lutz, and Slats Slattery. Clark is a fly chaser, Slattery plays first, and Lutz holds down the hot corner. Most of the candidates for the team are V-12ers, however, and it remains to be seen what kind of talent the Navy has brought to Harvard.