James once again boarded a train and today he was on his way to Philadelphia. James was traveling to see the University of Pennsylvania, or Penn for short. When he arrived, he met with university President Daisaku Moriyama. Philadelphia was a thriving city, about half the size of New York, with a population of 674,022. The city was a huge manufacturer of textiles, train locomotives and ships.
James accompanied Moriyama to the university, which had been established by none other than Benjamin Franklin. When he arrived at Quakers Ballpark, he met Athletic Director Eddie Camacho. Camacho said the university was averaging about 477 people per game, but acknowledged the numbers had been boosted significantly after this past weekend's series against Lafayette.
"It was standing room only for all three games. The ballpark holds 1400 people, but we had more than that the whole series," Camacho told James.
James took a tour of the facilities and was introduced to Manager Isaiah Benjamin. The field was comparable to others in the association. It was 321 feet and 326 feet down the left and right field lines. The left and right power alleys were fairly deep at 398 and 405 feet. Dead center field measured 426 feet.
Benjamin said he was a bit disappointed by his team's performance so far. "We're 10-15, but we can do much better."
"Who's your best player, Mr. Benjamin?" James inquired.
"Well, if we're being honest, I'd have to say my shortstop, Luke Rising," Benjamin answered. "Problem is, the kid's a selfish player. Only thinks of himself. I've nicknamed him 'Tired'."
James was almost afraid to ask, but did. "Why do you call him that?"
"Cause I told him I'm tired of him being a selfish player, so I told him I'd call him 'Tired' until he changed his ways. He hasn't changed, so I keep calling him 'Tired'."
When game time rolled around, it was clear and 51 degrees. A light wind was blowing from left to right and a near capacity crowd was on hand to see the team play Dartmouth, who was now 9-15. The official attendance was counted at 1358 people. Penn jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the 1st inning, but Dartmouth was able to tie the game in the top of the 3rd. Penn took the lead again in the bottom half of the frame, leading 4-3 after three innings. Dartmouth would take a brief lead in the top of the 4th, scoring two runs to make it 5-4, but Penn would score again in the bottom half to tie the game at 5. Penn took the lead for good in the bottom of the 5th inning, scoring three runs and holding on to win the game 8-6.
James was happy to see the attendance numbers on the rise and hoped with warmer weather on it's way, that it would be the case for all school in the association. James would be keeping a watchful eye on the numbers reported by all of the member schools when they sent in their monthly reports.