THE TEAM SPORT which was first played at Phillips Academy was baseball. Over the years many people have tried unsuccessfully to trace the source of the game, but it would appear at this writing that the origins will remain unclear forever. Whether baseball, as it ultimately emerged as the national pastime, developed from "batball," "one old cat," "two old cat," "cricket," "rounders," or a combination of two or all of these, some form of ball game was being played at Andover perhaps even before the turn of the 19th century. Young Josiah Quincy, the youngest member of the first entering class at Andover in 1778, writes, "I was an incorrigible lover of sports of every kind. My heart was in ball and marbles."(1) Apparently "bat-ball" was the popular game at Exeter in 1811, and later the game of "rounders" succeeded it.(2) Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, who graduated from Phillips Academy in 1825, told a reporter of a Boston paper that baseball was one of the sports of his college days at Harvard.(3) There is also some evidence that both baseball and cricket were being played at Andover as early as 1858:

In regard to games, as hot weather's approaching fellows generally concede that football exploded, base is low, and even cricket's beginning to get out of fashion.(4)

Without belaboring the question, it is a reasonable assumption that during the first part of the 19th century in this country baseball took its American form by partially adopting the two British games of "cricket" and "rounders" and adjusting their rules to local conditions, such as a scarcity of equipment and a limited number of players. There is strong evidence that "cricket" was the real progenitor of baseball since it was played in this country earlier than "rounders": its nomenclature is very similar to that of early baseball; the dimensions of the balls and bats of both games were the same; and the rules and methods of scoring were similar originally but changed to accommodate more "stakes" (bases) and more players as the game became increasingly popular. By the 1830's the modified game of cricket had become three different versions of another game, loosely called "rounders" but bearing only a slight resemblance to the British schoolboy game of that name. The American game was called "Town Ball" in Philadelphia and Boston. In New York it was "One Old Cat" and "Two Old Cat," or anything else by which the players cared to designate it, and eventually became the "New York Game." The rules varied from one geographical area to another, and even the fields were of different geometrical shapes and sizes. It was not until 1842 that Alexander Cartwright and his committee adopted the four-base concept and turned the square or rectangular field into a diamond, with home base and second base forming the vertical axis and first base and third base, the horizontal. But wherever it was played, the scoring terms were those which had been used in cricket. Obviously, the American boys had taken cricket as a pattern and woven a game to fit their requirements and imaginations.(5)

William Hardy of the Class of 1853 reminisces about the baseball played in his day:

We had baseball and football on Andover Hill forty years ago, but not after the present style. Baseball was called round ball, and the batter that was most adept at fouls, made the most tallies. The Theologues were not too dignified in those days to play matches with the academy. There was some sport in those match games.(6)

Dr. William A. Mowry, a classmate of William Hardy, gives a more elaborate description of a typical baseball contest which took place in 1853:

Nine of us signed and posted on the bulletin board of the Academy a challenge to play a game of ball with any other nine in the school. This notice remained posted for two weeks, but nine persons could not be found who would accept the challenge. We therefore tore it down and rewrote it, challenging eleven men. The number nine had no especial significance, except that it was a convenient number to play the game. Eleven would give that side a very decided advantage.

The challenge was accepted, and a Saturday afternoon selected for the game. It was played on the open field in the rear of the Seminary buildings. The game was a long one. No account was in those days made of "innings"; the record was made merely of runs. When one had knocked the ball, had run the bases, and had reached the "home goal," that counted one "tally." The game was for fifty tallies. The custom then was to have no umpire, and the pitcher stood midway between the second and third bases, but nearer the center of the square. The batter stood midway between the first and fourth bases, and the catcher just behind the batter, as near or as far as he pleased.

Well, we beat the eleven, the tally standing on the side of the nine, 50, and on the side of the eleven, 37. Of course there had to be another game. It was played, and they beat us; so the score stood "one-and." Several weeks passed before the "rubber" came off. Both parties waited until everything was "good and ready." The field was lined with a large number of interested spectators. After a time the tally stood 37 to 37. Then we put out the other side and took our turn at bat. When I came up instead of striking the ball, I let it hit the bat and glance away over the wall behind the catchers. Then I ran around to the home base before the ball got back to the field. This would be a foul to-day, but it was allowable then. Our side now had 38, and we succeeded in keeping in until we secured the 50.(7)

Both descriptions show very clearly that particular combination of cricket and rounders described as the "Boston Game." Any number up to twenty on a side was allowed, but the preferred numbers were nine or eleven, unlike the "New York Game," which called for twelve players. The game was played in a square, sixty feet on a side, the "thrower" was positioned in the middle of the square and the "striker" midway between the first and fourth bases. A "striker" scored a run if he "circled" the square and touched the fourth base before being put out. Home plate, as we know it today, and the triangular field had not yet been universally accepted. Like cricket, a foul ball of today was a legal hit if the striker chose to run. The length of the game was determined by the number of runs rather than by number of innings. Whichever team first scored fifty runs was the winner.

The reasons for such high-scoring games were several. The pitcher (thrower) had to throw the ball underhand from forty-five feet away. No balls were called on any batter, and no strikes, unless he actually swung at the ball. When a player stepped to the plate, he was supposed to indicate where he wanted the pitcher to place the ball, and it was his right to wait until the throw satisfied him. Any hit, fair or foul, was out if caught in the air or on the first bounce. A runner could be put out by being "plugged" or "burned," that is, getting hit by a thrown ball before he arrived safely at his base. This rather vicious practice was retained in the "Boston Game" rules long after the adoption of the "Knickerbocker" or "New York" rules, which forbade the practice after 1846. By 1865, however, the rules of the American game had been standardized, and the practice of "plugging" was only a memory:

Owing to the excitement which has prevailed this term with reference to ball-playing it was determined to have a match game between the two crack clubs in Phillips Academy, namely the Gone-up Goslings and the Dead Beats. For the benefit of the uninitiated we would state that the two crack clubs know nothing of the New York Game which they are about to play. Letters were sent to the members of the Eureka and Active Clubs of Brooklyn, the Philadelphia and Lowell Clubs to be present and witness the grand tournament at Phillips ball-ground.(8)

Continuing the parody in a later paragraph,

We are now astonished to behold Mr. G. take bat and make a fearful strike, almost hitting the ball by a few yards. He succeeds next in striking, and with but two strides reaches first base and here---thinking it was the Massachusetts Game-supposing the ball thrown at him, he dodged it, and fell heavily, --his head on the base, and his heels kicking up on the fence not more than two rods distant.(9)

Exactly when the "Cads" outlawed "plugging" at Andover is conjectural, but it must have been before 1865. That assumption is strengthened by reference to the history of baseball at Exeter between the years 1859 and 1862:

Baseball was played at Exeter in a desultory fashion, for a good many years before it was finally organized into the modern game. On October 19, 1859, Professor Cilley wrote in his diary: "Match game of Base-Ball between the Phillips Club and 17 chosen from the school at large commenced P.M. I was Referee. Two players were disabled and the game adjourned." One of the most enthusiastic players at Exeter during this period was George A. Flagg, '62. He and others, including Frank Wright, a classmate from Anheuser, New York, introduced the present game. Because putting a man out by striking him with the ball when he was running bases often led to injury, Flagg and his fellow players abandoned the Massachusetts style of baseball for the New York style. (10)

The publication of Haney's Base Ball Reference in 1867 finally put an end to many of the early controversies about the many different rules of the game. Cartwright's diamond-shaped field had won out, as had the New York style of baseball, which had eliminated "plugging" years before.(11)

By the close of the Civil War, interest in baseball began to grow very rapidly, particularly in the areas around Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, where there had been formed several semiprofessional teams. While there was not, as yet, a regular league, they played against each other occasionally. The Haymakers of Troy and the Lowells and the Tri-Mountains of Lowell, Massachusetts, were of particular interest to Andover baseball.(12)

There were class nines at Phillips Academy as early as 1864; James B. Wells, who had played for the Active Baseball Club of Brooklyn, entered the Academy in 1864 and taught his schoolmates the rules. The following spring Wells and his cohorts marked out a crude diamond in the rear of what is now Pemberton Cottage off Phillips Street and began practice. As self-appointed captain and coach, he invited his personal friends to join the team. The first year, however, the club was primarily a social organization and arranged no matches with outside teams; but they did play "scrub" contests and were attractively uniformed in white flannel shirts, long loose pants, and a buckle with a large "A" embossed on it. The "A" stood not for Andover, but for Actives, the name borrowed from the Brooklyn professional team.(13) Nevertheless, the majority of the class nines were pickup or scratch teams and were not uniformed. In the fall of 1865 the senior class organized and uniformed a nine which was called the Resolutes. The Class of 1867 did the same, and their nine was called the Alerts.(14) This custom of naming the nines was followed for two or three years, but later was dropped, and the class numerals were used to identify the teams.(15) The progression from name club teams to class teams to a system which included a school team, as well as class teams, can be seen in the listings of the Philo Mirror from year to year.

For example, their publishing of the box scores of the important games of the fall term of 1867 showed that between 28 September and 9 October the Enterprise Baseball Club played a three-game series against a picked nine, the rubber and deciding game being won by the picked nine 32 to 24 in seven innings.(16) By 1873 the class team was organized and supported by a committee consisting of a President, a Treasurer, three directors, and the captain. Beginning the following year each of the three upper classes had two teams, one group chosen from among those pursuing a classical course of study, the other selected from the scientific scholars. The school nine was made up of the best of both teams.(17)

During the three years between 1873 and 1876 a pattern of competition had taken shape. The class nines competed intramurally in the fall and in the spring, but in the latter term each of them played an occasional contest with local teams from the Andover-Lawrence area. Nonetheless, the most spirited on-campus rivalry during both terms was that between the school nine, usually selected in the fall, and the Theologues. Since outside games were not allowed, these contests tested the mettle of the Andover varsity in a series of games early in the school year and again early in the spring term. Some idea of the intensity of the rivalry can be gained from the Mirror's comments on the 1875 seasons. The school nine defeated the "ministers" twice out of three games played that spring. They met only once in the fall:

The school nine have had the pleasure of defeating only one opposing nine, and that the Theologues brought against us, although their pitching was Love(ly), yet it is needless to say they were defeated, and through regard for their feelings, we omit the score.

This strong "in-house" competition better prepared the school nine to conduct itself with honor against some formidable outside opponents.(18)

The pivotal school year for Andover athletics in general and baseball in particular was the year 1865-66. In December 1865, James G. K. McClure and Archibald McClure Bush, two cousins who had played on the Nationals and Knickerbockers, both junior amateur baseball clubs in Albany, entered the classes of 1866 and 1867, respectively; they came with brilliant reputations. Their presence proved a great incentive to baseball in the school, and in the spring of 1866, under the leadership of Bush, the school nine was organized.(19)

Perhaps coincidentally, but certainly fortuitously, the Trustees in that same year saw fit to build a new playing field for the students. Prior to the spring of 1866 there had been no regular school diamond. All the early outdoor game activities, both football and baseball, had been played on an old rocky field to the east of the Theological Seminary, now the site of the science building. Later they were played on two pastures immediately south of the old row of Latin Commons, which then extended westward from what is now the Archeological Building.(20) Agitation by the students for a new field went back as far as 1859, when the Philo Mirror stated,

The Trustees, in the fullness of their hearts, have given us a new ball ground and, with the assistance of the school, have fitted up a few gymnastic fixtures.(21)

Whatever delayed the intentions of the Trustees will never be known, but nothing was done to implement the plan until 1865. On 24 July of that year they voted that when the new academy, known for years thereafter as the Main Building, was completed, the Old Brick Academy, "no longer needed for the purpose of recitations," be fitted up as a complete gymnasium for both the "Cads" and the Theologues.(22) More immediate to the point, at their November meeting of that year, they voted,

That the grading of the ground in the rear of the new academy between the two ranges of dormitories be continued into the next year so far as may be necessary to make the land suitable for a playground for the school.(23)

The following spring the land to the west and southwest of the Main Building was graded for a baseball diamond. The new field was laid out behind what we know now as Graves Hall and was to be the main playing field of the school for forty years.

Excitement about the prospects for baseball ran high in the spring of 1866. The team would be playing on a new diamond, and there seemed to be an abundance of talent on the campus. Also, everybody was naturally interested in the formation of the first preparatory school nine in the country.(24) The competition for the nine was intense, but all eyes were on Archie Bush. He had entered Andover after having served as a soldier in the Union Army and had the reputation of being a very clever baseball player .(25) During the next five years he would be regarded as one of the best in the country, either amateur or professional.(26) At Andover he was elected captain of the team in his first year, as an underclassman. Under his leadership the team practiced every day and gave a good account of themselves in matches with outside teams. As a coach, Bush established the first training table at the school; as a player, he was a catcher but could play any position if necessary.(27) Both he and Wells from that first Andover team went to Harvard; both played there for four years; and Bush captained the team for three of those years. He was regarded as the finest college baseball player in the country and also voted the most popular man in his class at Harvard. During his four years on the team, Harvard never lost to Yale in baseball. His name is legendary in the annals of both Phillips Academy and Harvard athletics;(28) the present baseball scoreboard on Brothers Field is dedicated to his memory.(29)

The momentous event of 1866 was a baseball game played by the students away from the school grounds---a first in the history of the school. In late June of that year Archie Bush's team travelled to Medford and defeated the Tufts College team by a score of 35-4. Unfortunately, no picture was ever taken of that first interscholastic team at Andover, but the lineup is a matter of record.(30) However, thanks to the diligence of Frank L. Quinby, a three-sport star at Andover at the turn of the century and later a teacher-coach at Phillips Academy until 1920, individual pictures of seven of the members of that first nine were obtained.

According to George Huntress, a member of the team, two more games were played with the two leading semi-pro clubs, the Lowells and the Tri-Mountains. Since Uncle Sam Taylor, the Principal, would allow no outside contests during the academic year, an exception having been made in the case of the earlier Tufts game, the contests took place on the Boston Common on the first two days after commencement, 25 and 26 July. For a green team whose average age was seventeen, Andover did very well playing against men six and seven years their seniors, some of them college graduates. The first game against the Lowells was a heartbreaker to lose. Facing one of the most famous pitchers of the day, Jim Lovett, Bush hit the first ball pitched for a home run. The momentum of that blow carried Andover into the lead through the fifth inning. In the top of the sixth inning McClintock, who had apparently hit a home run, was tagged out between third base and home plate after he slowed down when the Umpire called the hit a foul ball and then reversed his decision, claiming that he had not ruled a foul. Their adrenalin drained by the official's blunder, the Andovers fell behind and lost the game.(31) However, they managed to compensate for their bitter loss the following day when they handily whipped the other team, the Tri-Mountains, by a score of 28-10. The 1866 season firmly established and popularized baseball on the Phillips Academy campus.(32) A Phillips Baseball Association was formed, and school and class nines were organized; it was not long thereafter that outside contests were played with the approval of the Principal.(33)

In addition to the first school nine, there were at Phillips Academy in the spring of 1866 three other baseball clubs: the Actives represented the Class of 1867, the Enterprise Club the Class of 1868, and the Clipper Club the Class of 1869. Interestingly enough, Archie Bush, captain of the Phillips Academy Baseball Club, was also president of the Active Club, while his battery mate, J. B. Wells, was captain of the team.(34) In the fall of 1866 the Actives defeated the Enterprises twice by scores of 42-8 and 49-8 respectively.(35) In the spring of 1867 each club had its own team, in addition to the varsity. In the fall of that year three games were played between the Enterprises and a picked nine. The Enterprises lost the series two games to one; they lost the first game 33-25, won the second 24-9, and dropped the third 32-24. The following fall of 1868 saw the Alerts take on a picked nine in a three-game series. The Alerts won the first game 34-17, lost the second 21-20, and won the third 21-19 to capture the very close series. The spring of 1869 brought the first school-championship series between the seniors (Alerts) and the middlers (Athletes). Again, in a very tight series the seniors lost the first game, won the second, and survived a fifteen-run inning by the middlers to win the third game and the championship. The following box score gives the details of the first game.(36)

Unfortunately, the enthusiasm among the student body for baseball, and particularly for a strong school nine, was temporarily dampened by an incident which occurred in the early summer of 1867. One beautiful morning three students decided to "cut" classes and spend the day at Haggett's Pond, boating and swimming. On that same glorious day Archie Bush and a friend decided that they preferred a league baseball game in Boston to geometry class and left the campus for the day. When the students returned to school late in the afternoon, they were peremptorily summoned before a sick and exasperated Samuel Harvey Taylor and expelled from school. The five seniors, all in good standing and leaders in the class, were given no chance for explanation by the Principal, who was becoming increasingly annoyed over the frequent "cutting" which had been going on during the spring term. On the following morning, when the news of Uncle Sam's harsh action spread throughout the school, the Senior Class, angry at the loss of five of their best citizens, decided on a demonstration to challenge the Principal. After a mass meeting on the Old Campus, twenty-four of the remaining forty-two members of the class hired a carriage to take them to Lawrence, where they had dinner at a hotel and returned to Andover past the Principal's house, where they attacked him verbally for his actions against their classmates. After a perfunctory investigation of this insurrection, Sam promptly expelled the latest culprits, a decision which catapulted the incident into national prominence.(37) Newspapers throughout the East published different accounts of the incident, which provoked such widespread comment that the Trustees, at a special meeting, felt forced to pass a resolution approving the Principal's action.

The consequences of this "Rebellion" were more far-reaching than would have been anticipated. Without Dr. Taylor's recommendation, the unfortunate twenty-six Seniors could not be admitted to Yale, and the rigid classical curriculum at Andover did not meet the admissions requirements of any other prominent college. Consequently, many of them---including Archie Bush and J. B. Wells---hired tutors, studied all summer, and passed the examinations for Harvard. The aftermath of the affair lasted several years. Archie Bush's exploits in athletics at Harvard, and particularly against Yale, have already been cited. He also, however, had a distinguished record in scholarship and religious activity. (38) Ironically, it was not until 1903 that the unfortunate incident was finally closed; acting on a petition drawn up by Vice-Principal Alfred E. Stearns, another great scholar-athlete and baseball captain in his time at Phillips Academy, a committee of the Trustees recommended that certain members of the class of 1867 expelled by Samuel Harvey Taylor, Principal, be reinstated as Graduates of Phillips Academy in "good and regular standing."(39) On 20 April 1903, the recommendation was unanimously approved by the full Board.(40)

Student opinion about the tragedy, at least as editorialized in the Mirror, was highly ambivalent. They were sorrowful at the expulsion of so many of the Senior Class, but they recognized the outright violation of a school rule. They felt that the punishment seemed "unfair and unjust." They were inclined to stand up for "our fellow schoolmates," but they also recognized that the increase of the violations of the rule forbidding students to leave town without permission demanded an immediate and firm check. In general, they endorsed the Principal's actions as necessary, but hoped that the event would serve as a "beacon light and warning to future students at Andover."(41) In passing, they noted the consequences to baseball of the entire affair:

Ball playing has not raged to such an extent as is usually the case in the summer term owing to the scarcity of its lovers. We have, however, witnessed several interesting matches, prominent among which was that which took place June 15th, between the Middlers and Juniors, which resulted in a victory for the Middlers, on a score of 24 to 12.(42)

One of the results of the "Rebellion" seems to have been the prohibition of outside games for the school baseball team, a ban which lasted while Dr. Taylor still lived. There is no proof that he directed his anger specifically at the baseball community of the school because of the part they had played in criticizing his actions. But he was certainly articulate in his report to the Trustees on the matter in 1868; he was angry and frustrated at Harvard for not respecting his decision and for their admitting several of the miscreants without his specific recommendations.(43) The records do show, however, that for some undisclosed reason or reasons no interscholastic games were played by a Phillips baseball team until the spring of 1871, after the death of Samuel Harvey Taylor. During the interim the editors of the Mirror perfunctorily reported the results of the club games but kept bemoaning the lack of ability, enthusiasm, or both on the school nines, just as they continuously belabored the apathetic student body for its failure to support a strong school team.(44) At that time five baseball clubs played intramurally, and in the year 1870-71 it appeared that the Olympic Club, representing the Seniors, assumed the role of the school team. The other four were named Athlete, Fearless, Hiawatha, and Scientific Baseball Clubs.(45)

But enthusiasm for a school baseball team would not be put down permanently; less than a year after the death of Uncle Sam the Philo Mirror reveals the evolution of a system for the selection of the players to represent Andover in interscholastic competition. A Phillips Baseball Association had been organized from among the three classes and consisted of four officers---President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer---three directors, and a "Nine Committee." All classes were represented among the officers. The treasurer, an underclassman, was to raise the money for expenses by soliciting the entire school for a donation of twenty-five cents. The "Nine Committee" had the responsibility for selecting the varsity from among the three class teams and the Scientific Club.(46)

To spur more interest among the student body, the editors of the Mirror published in the fall issue of 1871 and the summer issue of 1872 a synoptic review of the characteristics, abilities, and weaknesses of the nine members of the school team and closed with the following exhortation:

The nine with a few changes and a little hard work, could be made into a first class nine, and it is now above the average of junior nines. We do not believe that there are six better junior nines in the State. The condition of the nine is most hopeful. But one thing must be said: If the school wish to have a nine they must support it; the small sum of twenty-five cents was voted by the school---only about fifty of the whole school paid. True we think the Treasurer ought to be blamed for want of activity. Some have told us that they were not called upon. What we want is enthusiasm in the school. Next spring it is to be hoped that a good nine will be formed, and clubs invited to come here, and if they do come they must be well entertained; also that the faculty will see their way clear to allow the nine to go away to play. We hope that the members of the nine, and those who desire to play to fill vacancies, will diligently practise this winter both in the gymnasium and elsewhere. There is one thing the nine must learn to do, and that is to run bases, especially from home to first, and also to take care not to get scared when they play a better club than themselves.

Additionally, they listed the batting averages and run production of each individual. The schedule of games played by both the class teams and the varsity was printed, with the scores, and showed that of the ten games played, the middlers had beaten the seniors twice in a three-game series. The Phillips team had won six of its seven games, five of the wins against intra-school competition such as the Theologues and picked nines. They had, however, for the first time since 1867, played two outside games with two different teams from nearby Danvers, defeating Scott but being shut out by the Holtens.(47)

Apparently, the wise counsel offered the previous November was largely ignored in the spring and fall of 1872. The Mirror again published thumbnail sketches of the varsity players and listed the new members of the Baseball Association,(48) but no outside matches were played that year; the game scheduled against the Boston juniors on 30 May was rained out. Interest and enthusiasm in this popular amusement were kept up by the usual matches between classes.

The Phillips Base Ball Club is represented this Term by the nine dashing athletes, who might have been seen three times each week valiantly "muffing" in anticipation of the first blood from the Boston Juniors; but unfortunately this first blood did not come, and they were forced to content themselves with a sanguinary contest with the Theologues, whom the School Nine offered up, a sacrifice upon the altar of the far-throwing P. Apollo; and joyfully did they endure their sufferings, having lately read "Fox's Book of Martyrs."

Besides offering up these harmless creatures they have done no other deeds of blood, therefore we consign them to the bourne to which all baseballists must return in winter---the "gym."(49)

The year 1873 followed closely the pattern of the previous one. The selection and placement of the players for the school nine in the spring were a disappointment. One outside match was played against Harvard, and the Andovers performed abysmally, but there is no box score of the game. In the fall a temporary revival of enthusiasm led to many fine games at the inter-class level, but again the varsity left something to be desired, although they defeated the Theologues three times quite handily. "There can be no true and permanent success without constant practice; this was lacking, and it speaks for itself in the results."(50) The roster of the team was printed below.

Phillips' baseball fortunes took a definite upturn in the spring of 1874. The team was the best to represent the school since the days of Archie Bush, defeating the Theologues two out of three, beating the Lawrence club and the Methuen club, and holding the Excelsiors, the junior champions of Boston, to a 17 to 17 tie. The team was captained by third baseman Oliver D. Thompson from Butler, Pennsylvania; he had led the nine the previous year and would do so again in 1875, to become the only baseball player in the school's history to captain the team three years in succession.(51)

Interest in baseball sagged again in the fall of the year, in part because of the competition with football for participants. The widespread cutting of practices by members of the team was deplored by the Mirror, which suggested that the lack of practice was so evident in their performance that they would disgrace the fair name of the school in a match with a first class club. It was their responsibility to maintain Phillips' reputation on the ball-field, particularly now that the Faculty had favored them in allowing the nine to play out of town, "a circumstance which greatly aids the ball interest, if only repeated often enough."(52) There followed a listing of all teams in the baseball program for that year, spring and fall, along with the varsity lineups.(53)

On 8 May 1875 the Phillips Academy baseball team played the Harvard Freshmen team, an event which initiated the longest continuous rivalry in the history of Andover athletics. One hundred and five years later it is still very much alive. The first game was a thriller which Andover won 12-11. The Mirror, in its infinite wisdom, attributed the victory to superior pitching. There was a supposition that the team, which had never played together before the Harvard contest, with more practice and discipline could become one of the strongest amateur teams in Massachusetts.(54) The rivalry was continued the following spring and once again the Phillips boys acquitted themselves well and sent the Harvards back "ingloriously and without honor, score, 15-17." For the first time, as a matter of record, there was printed an abbreviated box score of the game and a running score by innings.(55)

For different reasons in each case the two teams did not meet for the next few years. In 1877 arrangements had been made for Andover to play both Harvard and Brown, but "circumstances will not allow the nines to participate in a contest." Instead, the school team added Adams Academy to the schedule, defeating the Quincy team 23 to 7.(56) Again in 1878 a game was arranged early in the season, but because of some "pecuniary embarrassment" Harvard was unable to come.(57) That year, however, provided a reasonable substitute---the first game in the Andover-Exeter rivalry.

The years between 1874 and 1878 mark an important transition period in the development of the athletic program at Phillips Academy. Prior to the demise of Samuel Harvey Taylor, the students, in order to play games and organize teams, had to struggle against the inflexible regimen of an outdated educational system and an autocrat who was its unyielding disciple. In a sense they had revolted successfully in 1867 to bring about the end of the regime four years later. The years between 1871 and 1874 were experimental for student athletic organizations. Within a year after the appointment of Cecil F. P. Bancroft as Principal, the athletic program assumed a more reasonable place as part of an academic curriculum. Outside games could now be played during the school year; teams could play away from the campus; interscholastic rivalries could be developed as extradimensional education. To expand and broaden the academic requirements, the school was now divided into the Classical and the Scientific Departments. Consequently, the number of class teams doubled; as the interscholastic program expanded, so did the intramural. Most importantly, the new administration was more willing to listen to the students' point of view in regard to athletics, and the Phillipians, with their Clubs and Associations, had already acquired considerable experience on how to develop and finance school and club teams. By 1878 athletics at Andover were ready to blossom into a full-scale interscholastic, intramural, student-directed and student-supported program whose dimensions would be expanded and modified over the next century into its present-day shape.

Since the capstone of competitive sports is the establishment of a traditional rivalry, as will be discussed more fully in Chapter VI, 22 May 1878 stands as the most important date in the history of athletics at Phillips Academy. On that day the Andover baseball team travelled to Exeter to play the first contest between the two schools.(58) It was inevitable that this competition develop between these great academies; by birth, tradition, and similar educational philosophies they were sister schools and natural rivals from their beginnings. Only the imposition of strict rules against outside competition and "away games" by the principals of both schools prevented the first confrontation from occurring earlier after the Civil War. Like the Andover student "Rebellion" in 1867, the Exonians, as early as 1865, had put on a mock funeral by burying their balls and bats in a rude coffin after Principal Soule had refused them permission to play Andover. Within the next ten years, however, and over the objections of Reverend Andrew P. Peabody, President of the Trustees, a more sympathetic view gradually prevailed at Exeter. The stage was set for the first game.(59)

The Andover team of 1878 was capable, well-trained, and prideful. The fourteen members had been picked by the Baseball Committee in the late winter, and they had worked out faithfully in the gym for the rest of the term under the excellent supervision of their energetic captain, Charles F. Gardner, and a Mr. Skeele of the Faculty. Prior to going to Exeter, they had beaten the Theologues 17 to 0 and the Websters of Lowell 7 to 3. It appeared that the regular training program was proving its worth. But the proud Andovers were completely deflated at Exeter, losing by a score of 11-1. The partisan Mirror attributed the loss to other causes:

The game was lost owing to the gross ignorance of the umpire, and the unevenness of the ground, on which there were many trees; our nine played without any dinner, and the Exeters allowed them to return home without any supper.(60)

The real reason for the loss, of course, was the weak, underhanded pitching of Manning, who was no puzzle to the Exeter batters.

On 25 May the team went to Quincy and defeated Adams Academy 8 to 4. In strong contrast to the treatment they had received at Exeter, they were given an elegant dinner after the game, served by Weber of Boston. On Memorial Day, for the first time in many years, they defeated the Andover Town Team 15 to 8 under rainy conditions.

The return game with Exeter was played 1 June at Andover. The visiting nine, accompanied by a crowd of eighty supporters, was supremely confident. This game showed the "clear superiority" of the Phillips Andover nine. The score was 10 to 8 in Andover's favor. Mr. Ogden of the Theological Seminary umpired, and gave general satisfaction. The Mirror could not resist a last pointed reminder: "The visitors did not go home hungry."(61) The Exonian was less prickly in its review of the event:

The best of good feeling prevailed, although our men felt a little irritated over their defeat, but the victors strove to show as little exultation as possible. Such contests as these can certainly be productive of nothing but good and we hope they will be kept up.(62)

In this game the Andover men were uniformed in white flannel suits with blue trimmings, the Exeters in white flannel decorated with red. The Mirror carried the team's record for the spring, plus a team picture, and an action shot of the second Exeter game. The great rivalry had begun.