Crimson Nine is Unlikely Powerhouse

Harvard athletes competing for a national title? Perhaps in squash or polo, but a Crimson squared facing teams from the Big Ten and Pacific Coast Conferences in the NCAA baseball World Series?

Unlikely as it may seem, Harvard's varsity nine has ranked among the top teams in the nation throughout the season. The Crimson's rise to success and attention has not been a fluke of poor scheduling. The squad, 26-6 entering the Omaha playoffs, included several pro prospects, three pitchers with 6-2 or better records, and a near flawless fielding team. This year's squad was more than just the New England champion; it was a national contender.

More important, Harvard won with the consistency of a professional squad rather than the explosiveness that abounds in college baseball. There were no 11-10 slugfests, no double headers that saw erratic 7-2, 2-7 splits. Except for a three-game slump in the middle of the season, Harvard played a cautious game; protecting one or two-run leads and scrambling to add another tally with a bunt here and a hit and run on the next play.

It was also an exciting season, for outside of the Greater Boston League, Harvard never really realized its full potential and didn't run away in any of its' victories. The key to the season wasn't an awesome hitting attack nor a stifling pitching staff. The victories were built upon tight defense, beating out singles, advancing on infield outs and coming from behind in the late innings.

The team started fast on its Southern tour during the Spring recess, winning six of seven (and that loss coming with the second string on the field). But recognition came slowly because of the recent history of this varsity nine.

When this year's seniors entered Harvard as freshmen, they built a Yardling squad that frequently over shadowed a varsity team that was headed to the Eastern title and the NCAA playoffs. The freshmen were the first undefeated nine in the twentieth century, and they belted out over 10 runs per game to demolish the opposition.

The baseball team made the cover of the Harvard Sports Information brochure the next spring, an indication that it was tabbed for fame. The returning varsity had lost only one Eastern League game behind the right arms of juniors Ray Peters and Bob Dorwart.

In the World Series, the pitching held, limiting the opposition to four runs in two games, but the Harvard line-up only delivered one tally in 19 innings.

The dream of the sophomore bats-Pete Varney, Pete Bernhard, Bill Kelly and Dan DeMichele-and the senior hurlers never came to be, for Peters accepted a bonus from the Seattle Pilots and commuted to Cambridge that spring for hour exams and finals.

The sophomore year of Varney and Co., all regular starters, had to be frustrating. While the Crimson crushed every team in the Boston area and won the GBL title, inconsistent pitching hurt Harvard. Losses to second division Penn, Brown, and Army put the varsity nine in a 1-4 hole in the Eastern League.

Fininshing with a respectable 13-8 season record and a tie for third in the League, the Crimson had to sit back and watch Dartmouth and Boston University, two teams it had beaten during the season, enter the NCAA District I playoffs.

But there was hope for the future. The freshman team, while losing one game, had surpassed their record-setting predecessors by averaging over 11 runs per game.

If the junior version of Varney and Co. was more successful, it was also more frustrated. Playing an inferior schedule in the South, the Crimson came north after recess with a 10-0 record. But the bubble hurts as Harvard dropped two of its first three Eastern League games.

The season boiled down to a head-to-head doubleheader with Dartmouth for the League title. The Crimson lost the first game in the ninth inning and lost the title with a 1-0 defeat in the second match.

Although Harvard won 13 of its last 15 games, embarrassing defeats to B.U. and Tufts left a 23-7 team without even the consolation of a GBI, title.

After years of frustration, the highly regarded freshmen began the season with guarded optimism. Hitting would be no problem. The Crimson had won the Eastern League title three years in a row. Pitching, how ever, was another question. For three years the Crimson Yardling squads had won games by scores of 11-6 or 13-8.

Four teams-Cornell, Dartmouth, Navy, and Princeton-began the season with a fast start and Harvard suddenly found itself in fifth place despite a 2-1 record. The lone defeat came in a ninth inning 2-1 loss to Navy. A Harvard hitting droughtruined a fine performance from right-hander Kelly.

But in the next three weeks, Harvard did something it had never done before: it consistently won its games against second division teams. The difference was a revitalized pitching rotation that featured three seniors; Kelly, J. C. Nickens, and Phil Collins. So while Dartmouth, Navy, and Princeton picked up one or two losses to non-contenders, Harvard moved to the top of the pack with Cornell.

The first turning point of the season, and the first true recognition of the potential of the squad came in Ithaca in April. Holding a slim one half game lead in the League, Harvard belted Cornell 5-0, 1-0 to drop the Big Red far off the pace.. Meanwhile, miracles were reported as Princeton and Navy beat themselves on careless losses.

Entering the final weekend of play, able position. With three games to Harvard found itself in an unenvi-play, the Crimson could clinch the title with a victory over weak Columbia and a split with fast-fading Princeton. Somehow, the roof caved in that weekend, and not only did Harvard lose all three games, it lost badly. With its confidence badly shaken, Harvard (9-5) and Cornell (7-4) agreed to a single-game playoff for the League title. The match was as professional match-up as Soldiers' Field has hosted in years.

Kelly, who had shut-out the Big Red in Ithaca, came back with a two-hitter and Harvard delivered just enough offense to earn one run, and more than enough defense to win the Eastern League title and a place in the NCAA record book.

But graduates should remember this Crimson baseball squad as more than just a successful team. For the squad has been dominated by personalities that have added a distinctive character to the routine of baseball.

Behind the plate was Varney, all 2'0 Ibs. of him. After two years, Varney finally found himself playing catcher, the position that he will probably play in the pros. He may not have the quickest reaction to the steal, but passed balls and wild pitches have become a rarity in Harvard games. And few will forget the time a UMass batter tried a tackle on Varney and ended up sprawled across the plate.

Pistol Pete didn't have his best year, for he spent most of his time trotting to first base after four cautious pitches. But when the pitchers had to come to him, Varney delivered 23 runs, and runs were a premium for the scrappy squad this fall.

Varney also added the pro scout to the Harvard bleacher. There were always one or two trips to the water fountain each game to shake hands, smile, and joke about the game with the gentlemen in the fedoras. And at the District I playoffs, the press section was filled with stop watches and movie cameras.

In right field however, was the best entertainer of the team. Dan "The Monk" DeMichele brought cheers from Cooch Owen and Company in the bleachers every time he took a step. Oh, perhaps he did get caught at second several times when the crowd egged him into trying to stretch a single into a double. But DeMichele and his non-matching pair of golf gloves led the team with 27 RBI's and hit over 300 for the third consecutive year.

Few can remember that he was the only member of the team without an error, but many recall his greatest act against Brown. With a runner on first, a Bruin hit a short fly to right. De-Michele started in on it but, realizing he couldn't reach it, he stopped, pounded his glove, and held his hands up to catch the imaginary drive.

The fooled runner went back to first to tag up. When the ball dropped twenty feet in front of him, De-Michele ran forward and easily forced the runner at second.

Pete Bernhard did not have a good season this spring at the plate, but he will always be remembered as "Mr. Slaps," the backbone of consistency in the infield. Bernhard never missed a pick-off throw or even a poor peg to first. And our CRIMSON photo file has several pictures that prove his confidence at first led many umpires to make a poor judgment call.

The seniors certainly deserve the credit for the resurgence of the Harvard pitching staff. Kelly yielded more hits than any other pitcher in the Eastern League, but he outdueled Dartmouth's Pete Broberg' Cornell's John Geise, and UMass's Tony King.

Kelly was a gutsy pitcher. Having little breaking stuff, he worked for the corners. Having little speed, he fooled batters with many variations on half-speeds.

With the bases loaded and none out in the District I playoff, Kelly confused the batters with a change of pace rather than a fastball and struck out the side.

Collins was one of the hardest workers on the team. He frequently warmed up in the bullpen in the late innings of games he wasn't pitching, and sometimes he even threw on the sidelines while his team was at bat in games he was pitching. Collins had relied on his sidearm delivery to surprise batters the year before, but he worked this season on his overhand delivery so that the sidearm became a more versatile weapon.

Nickens has the frustrating honor of being a junk pitcher. Without blazing speed, Nickens succeeded with a jerky delivery, a lot of breaking stuff, and some tempting goofballs.

Nickens had been thrust into the line-up as a sophomore to take Ray Peter's place, and for two years he failed to attract much attention. His trouble has been that he goes for the corners of the plate, wastes a lot of pitches if he gets ahead on a batter, and walks himself into trouble. But this spring' Nickens asse?ed himself in the GBL for a 7-1 record. And an All Star berth.

While sports fans may recall Kelly for his on-side kick recovery or Varney's two-point catch, or DeMichele for his part in the ECAC hockey championship, they and the rest of the varsity nine have left styles that Harvard fans remember long after their records have beer broken.