After 150 Years, the Original College Baseball Rivalry Plays On

By Steve Kolowich

A century and a half after an Amherst College senior, James L. Claflin, challenged the boys at nearby Williams College to a game of Massachusetts-rules “base ball,” the two colleges will square off once again on Sunday, marking the 150th anniversary of the first college baseball game ever played.

A lot has changed since the colleges first clashed on a neutral field in western Massachusetts. In the inaugural match, the baseball diamond wasn’t even a diamond; it was a