James was happy to return home and not having to travel much. This week, he would make two visits to schools, but both were in New York City. After spending the weekend at home with his family, James traveled to the Bronx, where he met up with his old friend, and President of Fordham University, Chris Hellerich.
James took a tour of Fordham's ballpark, named Rams Ballpark. He was amazed at the sheer size of the place. The park would hold 1600 people and the field was the biggest he'd seen thus far. The left field line measured 339 feet and right field was 337 feet. The alleys were 413 feet in left and 408 feet in right, with center field measuring a whopping 431 feet!! Chris wasn't real happy with the attendance so far. In three home games, only 1404 people had come to the games. In a city of 1.4 million people, Chris thought sellouts would be easy. James and Chris both agreed, however, that it was just too soon to say whether this venture would be successful or not. Athletic Director Bill Abraham introduced himself and relayed his disappointment with how the team had performed so far. With a 1-4 start, the local press hadn't been kind to the team and Abraham felt this was preventing people from coming to the games.
James also spoke with Manager Josh Rickett. Rickett reflected on the two losses to Villanova on the road and losing two of three at home to Syracuse. "We're still figuring out who we are as a team. We're still a work in progress, but these kids will figure it out." Rickett said the bright spot five games into the young season was second baseman John "Bubba" Horne, who was hitting .318 so far. "He needs to work on his defense, but he's been hitting well."
As game time came around, the weather was 46 and cloudy and it looked like it might rain. The wind was blowing in hard from left field. Only 316 people showed for the contest. James was concerned and knew he needed to find a way to promote baseball at the collegiate level. Fordham was again hosting Syracuse, although this was only a two game series. After losing two of three, Fordham was fired up after a pre-game speech by Rickett. The Rams scored four runs in the 1st inning and never looked back, winning the game 11-9. Syracuse trailed the entire game, but made a heck of a rally in the 9th that fell short.
James returned home and his thoughts turned to how he could make the college game of baseball more enticing to fans. The universities had invested a lot of money into this venture and so far, the returns were far less than what was expected.