In contrast to last year's nine, the baseball team started this season with six old players. This unusually large number of veterans was further increased later, when Fincke came out for second base. Under the same captain and the same head coach as last year, the seasoned material on the squad has played well together from the first, and no important changes in coaching or development were made necessary. The nine has won more than the usual proportion of games played, in spite of the most unfavorable weather conditions that have prevailed for many years. The schedule this year has not been as hard as in former years, which was perhaps fortunate, considering the continuous bad weather. Lately, however, the team has successfully come through a number of hard games, which should serve to season the men well, although none of them has furnished anything like the strain of a Yale game.

There has been an abundance of pitching material this year, and although the bad weather has affected the pitchers more than any of the other players, both the pitchers are now very effective and are also good hitters. The team is better off in this respect than it has been for a long time.

The infield as a whole shows better all-around form and consistency of play than it did last year. Its speed has not increased much, but the men back each other up excellently, and play their positions to the best advantage. The players have not been subjected to such severe tests last year's games with Georgetown, Princeton and Holy Cross, but in the present season they have shown no tendency to go to pieces at critical times. That there has been no decided slump in their work is no doubt due to the large number of experienced players.

The outfield has been much more unsettled, but the two old players have at last come up to their form and the arrangement of alternating the pitchers in the third position is working satisfactorily. The outfield is now fairly sure in its play, but has a tendency to be slow, especially in handling ground balls.

In batting, this year's team shows to best advantage in a big game. The men hit more freely than last year, and are most reliable when hits are most needed, as is shown by the fact that all but one of the more important games this season have been won more easily than many of the practice games.