The First College Game
In an unusual doubleheader held in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the first intercollegiate baseball game was paired with a chess match. Amherst and Williams used the Massachusetts Game rules and boasted thirteen players to a side. Amherst’s victory in both events hinted at the popularity of college sports and the nature of fandom that was to come, as its spirited supporters rang the chapel bells, lit a bonfire, and “celebrated with a copious display of enthusiasm and rockets.”