The offseason was a busy one for Ephraim. He had wholeheartedly thrown himself into his job, determined to build the Collegiate Baseball Association into the pinnacle of college sports organizations. Ephraim, who was always on the lookout for new marketing ideas for the CBA, noticed an article in the paper about pharmacist John Pemberton from Georgia. Pemberton, it seemed, was injured in the Civil War and as a result on ongoing pain, became addicted to morphine. Realizing his addiction, he set out in 1866 to create an alternative medicine. In 1886, he patented his formula for Coca-Cola for the Pemberton Medicine Company. Unfortunately during this past year, Pemberton fell ill and agreed to sell the formula and patents to Asa Candler of Atlanta for $550 ($14,000 in 2018). Pemberton died shortly thereafter. Pemberton apparently believed his invention "some day will be a national drink." Ephraim wondered if it were really possible for a drink to become national, but he decided to keep an eye on the product and see what Candler did with his new business, which he was planning on naming "The Coca-Cola Company."
Ephraim had wondered if he had made a mistake with his decision to create two new regions and expand the playoffs. He was hoping the teams in the new regions would enter the postseason with winning records, or he was afraid he would never hear the end of it from the Board of Presidents or the sportswriters. The 1889 preseason predictions put his anxiety to rest, however, as all of the regional favorites were projected to finish above .500.
Harvard was the favorite to win the New England Region, which had produced four of the past five national champions. Brown and Yale were expected to challenge the Crimson, while Dartmouth was expected to finish at the bottom. Rutgers was named a slight favorite over Syracuse in the Northeast Region, followed by Columbia, Cornell, Fordham, and Princeton. In the Atlantic Region, VMI was projected to edge out Lehigh for the regional title. Penn was expected to contend for a playoff position and finish 3rd in the region. Mississippi State and Michigan State were expected to easily win their regions over the two new programs, Wake Forest and Northwestern.
On Opening Day, March 5th, Ephraim traveled to Evanston, Illinois to see Northwestern University begin their season in the CBA. President Matt Roman greeted Ephraim upon his arrival and introduced him to the team staff. He was already familiar with Athletic Director Dane Timpano, who had been fired by Harvard last year, while in his 11th season with the Crimson. Timpano had hired Travis Baughman, a newcomer to the CBA, as the Wildcat's manager. Baughman and Ephraim toured the Ballpark of Northwestern, which held 1700 people. The ballpark measured 319 and 317 down the left and right field lines, with left and right field coming in at 345 and 339. The gaps were 381 and 375 feet deep, while center field was 423 feet from home plate!! In addition, the walls were 10 feet high, expect in center, where it climbed to 14 feet.
"I'll be honest with you, Commissioner Herring, this team is going to struggle. They're young and inexperienced. They're going to have a steep learning curve getting adjusted to the CBA level of play," Baughman admitted.
Ephraim responded, "Manager Baughman, I have complete faith in you and your team. Yes, it will take time, but I expect great things from your program in the future. And trust me, with the size of this ballpark, there are going to be a lot of CBA players struggling to cover all this territory or getting the ball over the top of those walls."
The game didn't go well for the Wildcats, as they faced off against the Penn Quakers in front of 240 fans. Penn was up 9-0 midway through the 6th before Northwestern found their stride in the bottom half of the frame and scored twice. Eventually though, they lost 9-4.
The following week, Ephraim traveled to Wake Forest, North Carolina, for the Demon Deacons' home opener against Lafayette. Wake Forest had started the season 1-4, and President Omar Garcia wasn't thrilled, but realized the team had an uphill battle with being the new kids in town. Ephraim met with Athletic Director Steve McBride, who had just come back into the CBA after being away for a decade. McBride was the AD for Columbia from 1872-1875, in the association's early years. After doing an interim stint at Penn in 1877, he was hired by Lehigh. McBride made it about 3/4 of the 1878 season before being fired.
"I had to take a break, Commissioner Herring. It was just too much for my family, changing jobs and moving. We moved down south and just focused on what was important to us. But I still had the desire to run an athletic department, so when I heard about Wake Forest joining the CBA, I just had to go for it," McBride told him, as the two were touring the new stadium. Wake Forest Grounds held a capacity crowd of 1500 people and definitely had a unique design. The left field line was 342 feet, while the right field line was 323 feet. It was 370 to left field proper and twenty feet shorter in right. The gaps kept the 20 foot difference, with left center at 410 and right center at 390. Straight up center field was 422 feet from home. The park definitely favored to left handed hitters, not only in distance, but with fence height as well. The left field wall stood at 14 feet, dropped to 10 or 11 feet in left center and dead center, then plummeted to 6 feet high from right center on.
The game was rough, as only 197 people turned out for the contest. Wake Forest Manager Josh Christian was able to rally his team from deficits of 5-1 and 8-4, as the Demon Deacons walked off with an RBI single in the bottom of the 9th, winning 9-8.
The month of March seemed to be balanced, with a mix of headlines of shutout pitching performances and multi-hit games for batters. Michigan State lost their star player, sophomore right fielder Scott Johnson, to a ruptured achilles tendon. This was the second major injury for Johnson, who fractured his thumb in May 1888 to end his freshman campaign. Johnson had been hitting .438 on the season. By the end of the month, the favorites were performing as expected, with the lone exception being VMI, who was off to a slow start. Syracuse righty Jack Stivetts was named both Rookie and Pitcher of the Month. The sophomore transfer posted a 7-0 record and 1.43 ERA. Harvard junior right fielder Mike Tiernan was named Batter of the Month after hitting .403 in March, with three homers and 18 RBI.
