Ask a Cornell fan, and he'll tell you the Big Red looks damn good this year. In Annapolis, the officers are talking dynasty about defending champion Navy. But hold on to your one-size-fits-all adjustable caps and stand your ground, Crimson rooters: the 1980 Harvard baseball team just may be best of all.

Eighteen players return from last year's disappointing (9-5 EIBL, 22-14 overall) yet potent fourth-place squad. Two that won't be back are now shagging flies for money in the Florida sun, but the way the crop of freshmen are playing, Houston's Larry Brown and Montreal's Mike Stenhouse may not be missed.

And, for good measure, last year's grueling road trips have disappeared. Cornell and Navy visit Cambridge this season, and the longest bus ride is a mere jaunt to New Haven, where the hapless Elis haven't had a winning season since 1963. Otherwise, Coach Alex Nahigian and his charges will travel to exotic colleges like MIT, Northeastern, Boston College and Tufts, and sit back while Army, Princeton, and Dartmouth charter their way to Soldiers Field.

Once they get here, chances are the rest of the league won't like what they find. Firstbaseman Mark Bingham (a .403 hitter last year with 36 runs batted in, second-sacker Bobby Kelley (.284 and riding a 20-game hitting streak) led a potent attack which pounded out a .282 team batting average last season and yardling sensation Brad Bauer anchor a steady infield which ranks with Navy's as the best in the league, defensively as well as with the bat.

Rookie hurlers Billy Doyle, Bill Larson and Greg Brown will join vets Jim Keyte (3-2 with a 3.21 Earned Run Average in '79), John Sorich (0-1, 3.86), Rob Alevizos (3-1, 4.22 with arm trouble) and stopper Ron Stewart (3-3, 2.48) to form a potentially spectacular mound corps. Sure, Brown and Tim Clifford's eleven wins will be missed, but a healthy Alevizos ("I feel like I'm ready to pitch right now," he says) and a few more performances from the freshman like Sunday's twin shutouts of Columbia will help to fill the void.

Come Saturday Morning

The hole left by departed rightfielder Stenhouse may be harder to fill, and a thumb through the Harvard record book reveals why. The Cranston, R.I., native set almost every career adn single-season mark a hitter can set in just three years. The remaining few were his for the asking, had he elected to stay at Harvard, but instead freshman Don Allard and returnee Billy Blood (.143) will inherit the job.

The rest of the outfield is set. Captain Charlie Santos-Buch (.278) holds down centerfield, and burly Chuck Marshall will anchor his .307 bat in left with Danny Skaff and Paul Scheper to provide ample relief.

Cannon-armed Joe Wark camps out behind the plate, and another defensive specialist--Rick Pearce--owns third. Both hit on the underside of .200 last season but have started off this campaign with a bang.