Fordham Rams baseball

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Fordham Rams
Baseball current event.svg 2024 Fordham Rams baseball team
Fordham Rams F Logo.png
Founded1860 (1860)
University Fordham University
Head coach Kevin Leighton (13th season)
Conference Atlantic 10
Location The Bronx, New York
Home stadium Houlihan Family Park at Jack Coffey Field
(Capacity: 1,000)
Nickname Rams
ColorsMaroon and white [1]
   
NCAA Tournament appearances
1987, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1998, 2019
Conference tournament champions
Patriot League: 1993
Atlantic 10: 1998, 2019
Regular season conference champions
MAAC: 1987, 1988, 1990
Patriot League: 1991, 1992

The Fordham Rams baseball team of Fordham University in New York City has been in existence since its first game played against the now-defunct St. Francis Xavier College in Manhattan, the first collegiate baseball game played with nine-man teams as today.

Contents

The team's 4,541 wins at the conclusion of the 2021 season are the most of any NCAA Division I baseball team. The Rams have reached six NCAA Tournaments, most recently in 2019. [2]

History

Tobacco card circa 1910 Fordham baseball card c. 1910.jpg
Tobacco card circa 1910

Founded in the late 1850s, the Fordham Rose Hill Baseball Club of St. John's College (the precursor to Fordham University, and of no connection at all to St. John's University) played against St. Francis Xavier College in the first ever college baseball game under modern nine-man-team rules ( Knickerbocker Rules , or "The New York Game") on November 3, 1859. [2]

There have been 56 major leaguers who have played for Fordham, including All-Star pitcher Pete Harnisch and Baseball Hall of Famer Frankie Frisch. Frisch, a star athlete in four different sports at Fordham, was known as the "Fordham Flash". [3] Steve Bellán, a Cuban who attended what was then St. John's College from 1863 to 1868, played in the major leagues, primarily as a third baseman, and was the first Latin American in professional baseball. [4] Gil McDougald, who played for the New York Yankees, was a coach on the team. Announcer Vin Scully, who played outfield at Fordham before achieving greater fame in the broadcast booth, hit one home run in his Fordham career, which included a game against George H. W. Bush who was playing for Yale University. [2] Fordham's most recent Hall of Fame inductee class in 2012 included a member of the baseball team, Bob Cole.

In honor of the 150th anniversary of the team's first game, Fordham played Williams College, which was also celebrating its sesquicentennial of baseball play. University President Joseph M. McShane, who had conceived of the anniversary game, threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the game. Williams had lost to Amherst College July 1, 1859 and considered the first college baseball game under the now defunct Massachusetts rules, losing 73-32. [2]

Home field

The team plays home games at Jim Houlihan Park at Jack Coffey Field. Jack Coffey Field, a multisport facility, is named after Jack Coffey, former athletic director and baseball coach at the University. He amassed 817 wins as a baseball coach. Coffey is the only player to play with both Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth in the same season (1918 Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox). The baseball portion of the field was renamed "Houlihan Park" after renovations completed in 2005.

See also

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The Fordham Rams are the varsity sports teams for Fordham University. Their colors are maroon and white. The Fordham Rams are members of NCAA Division I and compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. In football, the Rams play in the Patriot League of NCAA Division 1 Football Championship Subdivision. The University also supports a number of club sports, and a significant intramural sports program. The University's athletic booster clubs include the Sixth Man Club for basketball and the Afterguard for sailing.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fordham Rams football</span> Intercollegiate American football team for Fordham University

The Fordham Rams football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Fordham University, located in the borough of The Bronx in New York City. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Patriot League. Fordham's first football team was fielded 142 years ago in 1882; the team plays its home games on campus at 7,000-seat Coffey Field.

Jim Houlihan Park at Jack Coffey Field, or simply Houlihan Park, is a baseball venue located on the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University in the Bronx, New York, United States. It is the home field of the Fordham Rams baseball team of the NCAA Division I Atlantic 10 Conference. The field is part of a larger athletic facility called Jack Coffey Field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1939 Waynesburg vs. Fordham football game</span> 1939 American football game in New York City; first football game to be televised

The 1939 Waynesburg vs. Fordham football game was a college football game between the Fordham Rams and the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets played on September 30, 1939. The game was played at Triborough Stadium on New York City's Randall's Island. Fordham won the game 34–7. Broadcast by NBC, the contest was the first American football game ever televised.

The 2012 Atlantic 10 Conference baseball tournament was held from May 23 through 26. The top six regular season finishers of the league's thirteen teams met in the double-elimination tournament at Jim Houlihan Park at Jack Coffey Field on the campus of Fordham University in the Bronx, New York. Second seed Dayton won their first tournament championship and claimed the conference's automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.

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The 1859 college baseball season was the first season of intercollegiate baseball in the United States. The competing systems of rules known as Massachusetts Rules and Knickerbocker Rules were both used in different parts of the country. The season consisted of only four teams and two games, with each game featuring one of the competing systems of rules. No champion for college baseball was determined until 1893, and it would not be until 1947 that the College World Series began.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fordham–St. John's rivalry</span> American college sports rivalry

The Fordham–St. John's rivalry is an inter-conference rivalry between the Fordham Rams and the St. John's Red Storm who are both located in New York City: Fordham playing in The Bronx and St. John's playing in Queens. Conference-wise, the Rams play in the Atlantic 10 Conference, while the Red Storm play in the Big East Conference.

The 2009 Fordham Rams football team was an American football team that represented Fordham University as a member of the Patriot League during the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season. In its fourth season under head coach Tom Masella, the team compiled a 5–6 record and played its home games at Jack Coffey Field in The Bronx.

The 1859 Fordham Rose Hill Baseball Club team played in the first college baseball game under Knickerbocker Rules in the 1859 college baseball season. The team was composed of students at Fordham University's St. John's College. In the game played November 3, 1859, they beat St. Francis Xavier 33–11.

References

  1. "Fordham Colors – Fordham University Marketing and Communications" . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Curry, Jack. For 150 Years, Fordham Baseball’s Tradition of Winning, The New York Times , April 5, 2009. Accessed April 6, 2009.
  3. "Baseball Reference: Fordham". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  4. "Steve Bellán". Fordham University. Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2009.