History of the NCAA

[World Wide Webb]

A meeting of seven Midwest university presidents on January 11, 1895, at the Palmer House in Chicago to discuss the regulation and control of intercollegiate athletics was the first development of what would become one of organized sports' most successful undertakings.

Those seven men, behind the leadership of James H. Smart, president of Purdue University, established the principles for which the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives, now known as the Big Ten Conference, would be founded.

At that meeting, a blueprint for the control and administration of college athletics under the direction of appointed faculty representatives was outlined. The presidents' first-known action "restricted eligibility for athletics to bonafide, full-time students who were not delinquent in their studies."

This helped limit some problems of the times, especially the participation of professional athletes and "non-students" in regular sporting events. That important legislation, along with other legislation that would follow in the coming years, served as the primary building block for amateur intercollegiate athletics.

Baseball had been played by colleges and universities in an organized way since 1860, but in 1896 began the first Conference play and uniformity of rules and eligibility of players.

1896 teams

Independents
Alabama Crimson Tide
Army Black Knights
California Golden Bears
Clemson Tigers
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Indiana Hoosiers
Iowa Hawkeyes
Kentucky Wildcats
Lafayette Leopards
Marshall Thundering Herd
Maryland Terrapins
Michigan State Spartans
North Carolina Tar Heels
Northern Iowa Panthers
Stanford Cardinal
Villanova Wildcats
Washington State Cougars

Big 10

Chicago Maroons
Illinois Fighting Illini
Michigan Wolverines
Wisconsin Badgers


**I am using modern names for conferences and schools for my ease of use (i.e. Big 10 was originally named the Western Conference

[World Wide Webb]

1896 Overview

Independents Standings

Team W L WPct GB R RA Villanova Wildcats 8 0 1.000 - 60 18 Iowa Hawkeyes 8 1 .889 ½ 52 24 Lafayette Leopards 6 2 .750 2 39 18 Northern Iowa Panthers 6 2 .750 2 51 36 Clemson Tigers 6 3 .667 2½ 38 46 California Golden Bears 5 3 .625 3 43 22 Stanford Cardinal 5 3 .625 3 42 36 Alabama Crimson Tide 5 4 .556 3½ 61 42 Army Black Knights 5 4 .556 3½ 43 37 North Carolina Tar Heels 4 4 .500 4 47 36 Marshall Thundering Herd 4 5 .444 4½ 34 42 Michigan State Spartans 3 5 .375 5 26 24 Maryland Terrapins 2 7 .222 6½ 46 67 Kentucky Wildcats 2 7 .222 6½ 17 41 Washington State Cougars 1 7 .125 7 22 64 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 1 8 .111 7½ 33 68 Indiana Hoosiers 1 8 .111 7½ 24 71

Villanova played their first year of organized baseball defeating teams with powerful bats and steady pitching. Only 2 games were within 5 runs for the Wildcats (5-3 win over Northern Iowa, 7-6 win over Army, and 6-5 over Alabama). Finishing undefeated they take the crown as Independent champions.

Arlen Rogers (Sr, Clemson) led the league with 7 HR in his team’s 9 games. Roger’s teammate, John Rey (Sr) dominated batters with 36 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched.

Big 10 Standings

Team	W	L	WPct	GB	R	RA
Wisconsin Badgers	7	2	.778	-	70	43
Illinois Fighting Illini	5	4	.556	2	59	44
Michigan Wolverines	3	6	.333	4	48	66
Chicago Maroons	3	6	.333	4	44	68

Wisconsin Senior First Basemen Mark Miller dominated the nation with a .556 Avg, 4 HR, and 19 RBI leading the Big 10 in all three categories. Joined by teammate Millard James (Fr) who led the conference with a 5-1 record, 2.44 ERA and 14 strikeouts, Wisconsin won the first ever Big 10 conference title.

[No Pepper]

Way to go Big Red!

[Kobeck]

First I like the format and I am subscribed. But second I just cant help noticing that even back then the Big Ten had difficulity counting to 10 - lol

[World Wide Webb]

1896 Offseason
Teams Dropping Baseball for Season
Clemson Tigers
Marshall Thundering Herd
Maryland Terrapins
Washington State Cougars

Teams Entering

Louisiana State Tigers
Tennessee Volunteers

Future Major Leaguers Entering College

Player	Position	Team
Carl Lundgren	SP	Illinois
Claude Rothgeb	RF	Illinois
Addie Joss	SP	Wisconsin
Jack Hayden	LF	Villanova

Top Recruits

Rank	Player	Position	Hometown	Team
1	Harry Porter	SP	Indianapolis, IN	Indiana
2	Roosevelt Brooks	SP	Monroe, NC	Kentucky
3	Matt Green	SS	Wincester, KY	Kentucky
4	Bob Perry	SP	Kendall West, FL	Northern Iowa
5	Wally Wilcox	CF	Loveland, CO	Villanova
6	Bobby Williams	SP	Milpitas, CA	Georgia Tech
7	Lee Jones	SP	Detroit, MI	Lafayette
8	Gregory Murry	SP	Lakewood, WA	Illinois
9	John Walker	SP	Ann Arbor, MI	Indiana
10	Ken Everhart	SP	Zephyrhills South, FL	Michigan
11	Mark Schaefer	SP	Plano, TX	Georgia Tech
12	Myron Murphy	SP	Hesperia, CA	Lafayette
13	Al Wilson	SP	Shelby, NC	Tennessee
14	Dusty Casey	SP	San Diego, CA	Northern Iowa
15	Aaron MacBurie	SP	Monroe, LA	Indiana
16	Matt Clark	1B	Norfolk, VA	Army
17	John Parker	SP	Anaheim, CA	Army
18	Joe Green	RF	Baltimore, MD	Louisiana State
19	Wayne Johnston	SP	Livonia, MI	Tennessee

[World Wide Webb]

1897 Year Review

Independent Standings

Team	W	L	WPct	GB	R	RA
Alabama Crimson Tide	8	1	.889	-	48	31
California Golden Bears	7	2	.778	1	49	27
North Carolina Tar Heels	6	3	.667	2	75	56
Lafayette Leopards	6	3	.667	2	55	40
Kentucky Wildcats	6	4	.600	2½	47	47
Michigan State Spartans	5	4	.556	3	51	42
Villanova Wildcats	5	4	.556	3	54	42
Northern Iowa Panthers	5	4	.556	3	57	51
Stanford Cardinal	4	5	.444	4	52	57
Army Black Knights	4	6	.400	4½	49	66
Tennessee Volunteers	4	6	.400	4½	51	56
Iowa Hawkeyes	3	6	.333	5	30	46
Louisiana State Tigers	3	7	.300	5½	39	55
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	3	7	.300	5½	44	62
Indiana Hoosiers	1	8	.111	7	35	58

Top Players
Mathew Montell (Sr, 3B, Lafayette) .552 avg, 12 RBI, 5 SB
Richard Younger (Sr, CF, California) .440 avg, 3 HR, 10 RBI
Michael Williams (Sr, SP, Alabama) 3-0, 1.33 ERA, 27 IP, 5 BB
Roosevelt Brooks (Fr, SP, Kentucky) 3-1, 1.75 ERA
Jon O’Neal (Fr, C, Tennesse) .439 AVG, 9 SB

Big 10 Standings

Team	W	L	WPct	GB	R	RA
Illinois Fighting Illini	6	0	1.000	-	52	18
Michigan Wolverines	3	3	.500	3	31	37
Chicago Maroons	2	4	.333	4	28	46
Wisconsin Badgers	1	5	.167	5	30	40

Top Players
George Mason (Fr, 1B, Illinois) .667 Avg, 11 RBI, 10 R
Claude Lundgren (Fr, SP, Illinois) 2-0, 2.00 ERA, 2 GS, 2 CG

[jacksparrow]

WOW! This is great!

[World Wide Webb]

1897 Offseason

Team dropping Baseball for Season

Kentucky Wildcats
Tennessee Volunteers
Wisconsin Badgers

Teams Entering Baseball

Bradley Braves
Clemson Tigers
Marshall Thundering Herd
Maryland Terrapins
Northwestern Wildcats
Southern California Trojans
Washington State Cougars

Future Major Leaguers Entering College

Name	Position	Team
Deal Snake	1B	Villanova
Fred Beebe	SP	Illinois
Jim Cook	CF	Illinois
Cy Falkenberg	SP	Illinois
Jake Stahl	CF	Illinois
Ed "Peanuts" Pinnance	SP	Michigan State

Top Recruits

Rank	Name	Position	Hometown	Team
1	James Sheppard	SP	New York, NY	Iowa
2	Whit Gordon	3B	Chicago, IL	North Carolina
3	Dan Long	SP	Painesville, OH	Alabama
4	Darryl Hill	2B	San Antonio, TX	Alabama
5	Sam Bailey	SP	Riverside, CA	Washington State
6	Victor James	RF	River Falls, WI	Villanova
7	Kelsey Ward	LF	Prattville, AL	North Carolina
8	Robert Yates	2B	Hutchinson, MN	Iowa
9	George Crowder	SP	Lakeland North, WA	Illinois
10	John Wilson	C	Detroit, MI	Michigan

[World Wide Webb]

1898 Recap

1898 Independent Standings

Team W L WPct GB R RA Villanova Wildcats 10 0 1.000 - 61 39 Iowa Hawkeyes 6 1 .857 2½ 41 22 Maryland Terrapins 6 1 .857 2½ 39 20 Stanford Cardinal 6 4 .600 4 59 38 Indiana Hoosiers 5 3 .625 4 44 41 Army Black Knights 5 4 .556 4½ 39 35 Clemson Tigers 5 4 .556 4½ 50 49 California Golden Bears 5 5 .500 5 47 42 Washington State Cougars 4 4 .500 5 27 36 Marshall Thundering Herd 5 5 .500 5 54 47 Michigan State Spartans 3 4 .429 5½ 32 25 Alabama Crimson Tide 4 5 .444 5½ 47 54 Louisiana State Tigers 3 4 .429 5½ 20 28 North Carolina Tar Heels 3 5 .375 6 30 37 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 4 6 .400 6 56 45 Southern California Trojans 3 6 .333 6½ 35 35 Lafayette Leopards 2 5 .286 6½ 25 33 Northern Iowa Panthers 2 5 .286 6½ 30 44 Bradley Braves 0 10 .000 10 23 89

Top Players
Dustin Armstrong (Jr. RF, Georgia Tech) .538 Avg, 2 HR in 39 AB, 0 Strikeouts
Stephen Landau (So, LF, Georgia Tech) .442 avg, 4 3B
Christian Bormann (Jr., SP, Stanford) 3-0, 2 SHO, 0.69 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, .163 OAVG

1898 Big 10 Standings

Team	W	L	WPct	GB	R	RA
Michigan Wolverines	7	2	.778	-	67	53
Northwestern Wildcats	6	3	.667	1	54	36
Illinois Fighting Illini	3	6	.333	4	41	58
Chicago Maroons	2	7	.222	5	45	60

The season came down to the final game between Michigan and Northwestern. In two previous meetings this season each team won their home game in convincing fashion (March 26 UM @ NWU, 1-15, April 16 NWU @ UM, 2-7). Now came the rubber match on May 7 at Northwestern’s Rocky Miller Park. 589 fans showed up to watch Michigan’s Dave Carter (So) battle the Wildcat’s ace Ollie Fairchild (Sr). Michigan slowly chipped away at Fairchild earning 2 runs in the 3^rd and 2 runs in the 7^th. Michigan Head Coach, Leon Martin, felt comfortable enough with Carter’s pitching that he decided to put in his defensive subs taking out his 3 best bats who finished the season 1, 2, and 3 in the Big 10 batting race (Adam Hairston, So, 3B .453 AVG, Kelly King, Jr, LF, .438 AVG, and John Ball, Jr, SS, .425 AVG). Northwestern did their best to test Martin’s decision.

In the bottom of the 8^th Dan Davis, pinch hitting for the pitcher, hit a single over the shortstops head. This began an onslaught of hits and sacrifices that led to 3 runs. With two outs Northwestern’s Freshman left fielder, Kyle Ellison, came to the plate with the bases loaded. Ellison was batting .391 on the season and needed one to find it’s way pass the gloves of the defenders. It was not to be this time. Carter was able to finish out the ninth to win his 3^rd game of the season and bring the Big 10 championship to Ann Arbor.