me years baseball languished in the University; partly because of
the lack of opponents for so redoubtable a nine, and partly because the
first enthusiasm for the game had waned. Interest revived somewhat in
1873, but aside from inter-class games the only available opponents were
mostly professional clubs from the neighboring towns, who were
ordinarily outclassed by the college men. With the abolition of the old
straight-arm pitching in 1875 and the calling of strikes established,
the extravagant scores began to be materially reduced.

Michigan's first inter-collegiate baseball game was with Wisconsin on
May 20, 1882. It was played at Ann Arbor and resulted in a victory 20 to
8. This game came as a result of the formation of an Inter-collegiate
Baseball League, composed of Michigan, Wisconsin, Northwestern and
Racine, in which the Varsity easily won the championship. Unsatisfactory
arrangements for the traveling expenses of the team, however, caused
Michigan to withdraw from the League the next year and the nine was
forced once more to fall back upon the professional and
semi-professional teams in neighboring cities. Oberlin appeared upon the
schedule in 1886 and Michigan Agricultural College twice defeated the
Varsity the following year. But if these years saw no remarkable
schedules, the team was, nevertheless, steadily improving. The fielding
average of the '88 team was .908; and though less can be said of the
batting, two members, McDonnell, '88, and McMillan, '86-'89, had
averages of .448 and .406 respectively. The _Chronicle_ also was
jubilant over the financial success of the '88 season which left a
surplus of $50 in the treasury, after "elegant new suits" had been
purchased.

Confidence in the ability of the team led to the first Eastern trip in
1890, which resulted in a close and exciting 2 to 1 victory over Cornell
at Ithaca, May 16. From this time on Cornell and other Eastern colleges
appeared with fair regularity in the schedule. Games with Harvard and
Yale were arranged in 1891, and every candidate was pledged to strict
training after February first under Peter Conway, a famous National
League pitcher. The trip resulted in a creditable record; and although
the game with Yale was lost 2 to 0, only three hits were scored off the
pitcher, Codd, '91, a record for the Varsity almost as welcome as a
victory. The game with Harvard, won 4 to 3, was peculiarly satisfying to
the tired team, which had already played