"I think the scouts see me as a pitcher with a live arm, with some velocity and some pop. You know, I'm not going to go out and strike everybody or anything," Brown said. "But one criticism they must have is why the inconsistency?"

"Really, the last two outings have been the first time the last two years I've been flat," he continued. "I was overdue. Regardless of the sport or how you're pitching, you have to get a little stale period. But it's out of my system. I don't think I'll ever pitch back-to-back games like that again in my life."

"And," Brownie added with a grin, "we came out of it with one win."

And so, it would seem, there isn't really anything the matter with Larry Brown, or with the Harvard baseball team. Just a little lapse, a brief bout with mediocrity that afflicts even the most talented athlete, even the most talented team.

The test comes now. Six games--a pair at Dartmouth Saturday, undefeated Division 3 powerhouse Brandeis next week, and the tough three-game road trip to Cornell and Army next weekend--that can make the season.

The final chance for Brown, juniors Stenhouse and Bingham, and senior pitcher Tim Clifford to tell the scouts they're hot stuff. The time for Santos-Buch, Jim Pecerillo, Bobby Kelley and Burke St. John to prove that their suddenly super bats are for real, and for pitchers Ron Stewart and Jim Keyte to show they can be tough in the clutch. And Larry Brown's last two outings as a Harvard pitcher, if but one of the live league games is lost.

"I still have two more starts," Brown said. "Hell, if l finish those two games off well. I wouldn't regret one pitch I've thrown this year."

"You can't look back, especially in baseball," Brown went on, furrowing his sandy eyebrows and looking off at the clouding-over sky. "You can't look at this mistake or that loss and say, well, it could have happened another way. The way we're playing now is the way we were playing last year. We could easily win these next five games, and beat Brandeis."

"There's nothing WRONG with the Harvard baseball team," the senior continued. "In fact, everything's going right with Harvard baseball now."

"I just hope it's not a little too late."