Baseball Varsity Loses To Rain in One Inning

"It droppeth like the gentle rain from heaven." What a lot of hooey. The rain came down in buckets yesterday afternoon, and washed out the Harvard-Yale baseball game despite the best efforts of all concerned.

In fact, it was one of the more pleasant days of the Cambridge spring--the temperature only dropped 20 degrees in six hours, and a strong man could actually walk into the wind for a few feet. But the returning alumni, spoiled by three nice days, didn't take to it too well.

Everybody tried to have fun. The traditional parade from Eliot House to the ball field took place on schedule, as fathers and sons reassured each other that the game would be played. While the colorful procession lurched spasmodically toward Soldiers Field, the skies grew more threatening with each passing minute.

Just when everybody had reached the field, at about 2:15 p.m., the rains came--at first lightly, and then with chilling violence. The alumni and their wives and children broke ranks and headed for the interior of the Stadium and other available cover.

But hope springs eternal and all that, and, when the rain stopped after 25 minutes, the fans marched to their seats with renewed expectations. But as soon as the players took the field, at 3:05 p.m., Cambridge responded with some more of the usual, and the game was called after a feeble attempt at an inning.

Still, it was an interesting afternoon. Among Classes present at the game-of-sorts were 1901, 1911, 1924, 1926, 1931, 1936, 1941, 1946, 1955 and 1958. The men of '46 staged an impressive burial procession for the "46 Roman Ashes," and carried signs with inscriptions like, "Et tu, Pusey--20th century Brutus."

Racy Space

The Class of '41 was on a space kick. Members displayed some really far-out signs; some of the best (or worst) were "Let's play space tennis--you bring the rockets," "Pleased to meteor," "Is your wife backwards? Give her a retro-rocket for Xmas," "There is no lead in our astronaut," and "Insist on a genuine Van Allen belt."

Free Beer

Free Ballantine beer was a feature of the afternoon. One old grad ran into a wife bearing beer and asked, "Where'd you get that?" She answered, "It's free. We're having dozens of it."

Overheard in the confusion: "... and then after a few cocktails he asked me where I went to college...."