Williams-Amherst Game Celebrates Baseball History
 Photos by Kris Dufour/Williams College
The Ephs were the three-time champs on Sunday in the historic matchup against the Lord Jeffs, earning a West Division first place in NESCAC play as well as the vintage game and chess tournament. |
On Sunday, Nutting was just like any other fan at Wahconah Park. With a bird's eye view of the 150th anniversary of the first game played between Amherst and Williams colleges, Nutting got a chance to look back at the longest rivalry in college baseball history.
The principal owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates and a 1984 graduate of Williams, he was in Pittsfield for two reasons: To cheer on his beloved Ephs and to represent Major League Baseball and Commissioner Bud Selig.
"The commissioner wrote a proclamation recognizing this as the first collegiate game and also recognizing a historic rivalry between two great schools and some of the history of this park from Jim Thorpe playing here until Lou Gehrig's professional debut," Nutting said while watching Williams earn an 8-5 victory over the Lord Jeffs.
Nutting read the proclamation as part of a pre-game ceremony that was followed by an alumni re-enactment game of the 1859 contest between Amherst and Williams. The Ephs also won that game 19-17 as well as a 4-on-4 chess match by a score of 3-1. Why mix chess and baseball one might ask? The two schools also played a chess match when they met on the baseball field for the first time.
"It really is one of the great rivalries of institutions in sports," Nutting said. "You have such loyal fans, loyal alums who love the institution and, frankly, who play athletics at a pretty good level."
Nutting later admitted there was a third reason he made the trip from his home in West Virginia to watch the game.
"I'm here as a Williams graduate and a Williams father," he said.
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 The vintage game celebrating the 150th anniversary of college baseball was played by faculty and alumni. Top: Williams alum and Pirates owner Robert Nuttingham, second from right, reads a proclamation from MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. To his right are Pittsfield Defender owners Dan Duquette and Buddy Lewis. |
As far as Nutting was concerned, all the elements of history, family and a classic rivalry seemed to provide the perfect mixture for day at the ballpark.
"I think it's important for all of baseball to celebrate the history that we have," he said. "Baseball really is America's game. It's a tough economic climate that we're in now, so having those touchstones back to family connection, touchstones back to the good times of America is a positive thing. That's exactly what baseball has done, and it's what they've done in this park since 1892. So it's fun to reconnect those little bits of history."
While Nutting is very familiar with both the Berkshires and the Amherst-Williams rivalry, there were other people who were experiencing it for the first time on Sunday. Mike Gustafson, a representative from the College Baseball Hall of Fame, came all the way from Lubbock, Texas, to acknowledge the historic event.
"We came in on Friday, and we're leaving on Monday," Gustafson said. "Dan Duquette and Mike Barbera contacted us a couple of years ago to basically acknowledge that this is the first college baseball game ever. We've never seen anything to indicate that it wasn't, so we've been involved ever since."
Barbera, a former Williams baseball player, had the idea for the game, while Duquette, an Amherst graduate and current owner of the NECBL's Pittsfield American Defenders, helped with the planning and the implementation of the many events included in the weekend.
Gustafson said it was an amazing feeling to see the 150th anniversary game develop from start to finish.
"For us, it's the culmination of almost two years of work," he said. "Dan Duquette and his people have done all the work, but just our involvement, in terms of sponsorships and acknowledgment and things like that, it was a no-brainer. We did all the work, we've been around doing all the planning, so this is the fun part."
Gustafson said the Hall of Fame plans on taking a few display items, including the first pitch of the game, back to Lubbock with them. He also said it's pretty clear that Williams-Amherst was the first game ever played, and that Fordham came in just behind when its team played its first game in November of that year. Just for good measure, the Ephs earned bragging rights over Fordham by going into the Bronx last month and defeating the Division 1 squad by a score of 5-2.
"There is another incidence of a game that was played with rules a little bit closer to what we know today, more nine to a side, a little more baseball and a little less cricket, later on in 1859, but this is the first challenge from one school to another that we were able to find," Gustafson said.
As for the game itself, the Ephs' offense came through with 12 hits, scoring in four out of the first six innings to open up an 8-3 lead. Freshman reliever Dan Grossman earned the win in relief for Williams, taking over for Ben Horwitz in the third inning and giving up just one run over the next five plus frames. Amherst was able to bring home two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but freshman Harry Marino buckled down and got the final two outs to earn the save.
The win earned the Ephs first place in the NESCAC West Division and assured that the Jeffs would be left out of postseason play. Williams won last year's warmup to the 150th anniversary game as well, with a score of 9-4.
Gustafson wasn't rooting for any particular team on Sunday, but he was very happy with how the day ended up.
"It's been awesome really," he said. "I loved it. It's been so wonderfully Americana. With the band and everything that's been put together. It's nice, quaint historic facility and it just couldn't have been any better. The teams have been great working with us and the level of play has been great."
