There are precious few reminders of the glory days of baseball left like the Ivy weekend.

Two days, four games. It is how the game was meant to be played, back before players' unions and owners' concerns over gate receipts made the double-header an endangered species, at least on the major league level.

But for all the nostalgia sparked by the Ivy League's scheduling format, that many games in so short a time can give a manager with a suspect pitching staff plenty of headaches. In a must-win game during the stretch run, there can be nothing more frustrating than having to hand the ball over to your, gulp, fourth-best starter.

Fortunately for the Crimson, however, depth at pitching has never been a concern.

Every year under Harvard Coach Joe Walsh, the Crimson has relied on its pitching, which is consistently among the best in the Ivy League. This year's staff figures to be as good and as deep as any in the Walsh era.

The talented rotation returns its top two pitchers from last year and, in junior Ben Crockett, now boasts a potential major league prospect.

"I feel real good about our one through four [starters]," Walsh says. "I'll even go as far as saying that not only do they match up with anyone in New England or in the Ivy League, but I think we match up on a national basis."

While senior righthander John Birtwell might be the staff leader, the biggest hype this season has surrounded Crockett.