YALE TODAY.

The University nine will play the first game of the series with Yale at 3 o'clock this afternoon on Soldiers Field. Both teams have an unusually large proportion of new men this year. This is especially true of Harvard, as only three of last year's nine will take part in the game this afternoon, while the Yale team includes five veterans.

Reid, Fincke and Clarke are playing as well as they did last season, and, with this year's experience, should prove somewhat steadier. Kendall is a reliable man on first base, but he does not cover enough ground and his batting is not strong. Coolidge, at shortstop, is a brilliant player and covers a great deal of ground, but is not sure. Wendell covers his territory well, is strong in throwing to the infield, and leads the team in batting. Devens and George have shown great improvement lately and may be relied upon to do good work this afternoon. Stillman has more ability as a pitcher than any one on last year's team. He is cool and steady, but sometimes has an off day when he is not up to form.

Of the Yale infielders, Sharpe is the most reliable, and Guernsey is playing a fast game at third. Camp and Quinby are brilliant but erratic. Cook is the best of the outfielders. He covers a great deal of ground and is one of the strongest batters on the team. Barnwell is a good fielder, but Sullivan in right field is not satisfactory. Hirsh is a new man, but is catching a much steadier game than Cunha and throwing to second more accurately than Sullivan. Robertson is a very able pitcher, but is likely to weaken towards the end of a game.

Both teams are stronger in pitching and fielding than in batting, and both have made an excellent showing against the weaker college teams, but have not been so successful against Princeton, Brown and Georgetown. If both Stillman and Robertson are in good form this afternoon the score will probably be small. The game should be closely contested, with the chances lightly in Harvard's favor.

The batting order: Harvard.  Yale. Kendall, 1b.  2b., Quinby. Coolidge, s.s.  s.s., Camp. Wendell, r.f.  l.f., Cook. Reid, c.  1b., Sharpe. Devens, l.f.  r.f., Sullivan. Fincke, 2b.  3b., Guernsey. George, c.f.  c., Hirsh. Clark, 3b.  c.f., Barnwell. Stillman, p.  p., Robertson.