And now, as Birtwell and the rest of his senior class departs, Harvard is yet another year removed from the success of 1999.
The risk, of course, is that the Crimson's younger players will forget what it takes to succeed at the highest level.
But there is no such danger with Walsh's club. Birtwell, the team's elder statesman this year, has made sure of it.
If nothing else, that is his legacy.
With the Harvard weekend rotation as talented as it has been this year, the claim has been made that the Crimson doesn't have a true ace.
That may be so to an extent. Junior Justin Nyweide has a lower ERA than Birtwell. Junior Ben Crockett has more strikeouts.
But to the extent that an ace is a leader, Birtwell has owned that role unquestionably.
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