Fordham baseball—The Beginnings

But another event of considerable importance took place during the presidency of Father Tellier, an event which is of more interest to the average college student the struggles of ambitious journalists. We refer to the organization of the college baseball team. It was the first step toward an organized athletic association, and for many years the only field of athletics in which Fordham was represented. Cricket and “rounders” had been favorite pastimes, but as baseball grew in public favor, the other sports lost ground and were gradually dropped. For years the game was played without any attempt at organization, but it was before a movement was started in that direction. The first regular team was organized September 13, 1859, under the name of the Rose Hill Baseball Club, the college at that time being generally known as Rose Hill College. The first game was played on November 3, 1859, with a team from St. Francis Xavier’s College, New York. The score at the end of the sixth inning was 33-11, in favor of Rose Hill.

Thomas Gaffney Taaffe, A History of St. John’s College, Fordham, N.Y. (1891), p. 97.