Villanova University - Belle Air Yearbook (Villanova, PA)

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Top Loft: Sal Slavln. brother oi William Slavln—a member oi Above: Scene of this meet was the ball field at 44th and Park- the present faculty- models the latest In football apparel. side In Philadelphia. Below is Fred Crolius. first coach of Wild- cat olevens. feating the Kittens. 69-7. Villanova baseball teams at the turn of the century were powerful despite their shoddy work afield In 1903 Villanova opened its season against the Phila- delphia Athletics, with Chief Bender on the hill for the Mackmen. Villanova and the Athletics each had one earned run. but the Wildcat nine made six errors — result: Athletics. 7. and Villanova, 1. It was not uncommon for college teams at that time to commit three and four such errors a game. Villa- nova won 7 out of 17 games in 1903; at least five of the games lost were sacrificed by untimely Wild- cat errors. In 1904 the Villanova Athletic Association spon- sored a play, Alexander Dumas' Sire and Son”, in order to help defray the expenses of the Villanova road trip. In 1905 Villanova put on the field one of the most powerful teams in its diamond history; 28

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Villanova ha probably qainod more recognition ior baieball than ior any other sport. To th riqht ar the 1906 and 1904 teams. The schedule above is typical oi this era and gives an idea oi the number and type oi teams met during a single season. squads averaged about 14 players per season. In addition Villanova rarely played more than one or two games a year at home. The only opponent Villanova constantly defeated was Fordham; the Wildcats also regularly met teams from Carlisle, Princeton, Penn, Navy, and Army but generally emerged with the wrong end of the score. In 1912 Tim Spillane was at the coaching helm and 1914 Tom St. Germaine. In 1914 and 1915 Frank ''Dutch Summer directed the Wildcats. He was succeeded in 1916 by Ed Bennis and in 1917 Tom Reap took charge. In 1915 Villanova had its most successful season thus far chalking up six on the successful side of the ledger and dropping only one, a close 106 contest, to Catholic University. It was during this year that the Wildcats earned a 16-13 triumph over a powerful Army team; the next year, however, the Kadets got revenge by de-

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1872 Jr jRS VilUnova ‘ Prqvaralory School Baseball Schedule 1908 I P. H. QUINN. C.r uM. M «i J.F.Gr«y.2S2rf£ H Hn MrtMa I»» SpaMiftf 4 ' I ATHLETIC goods M» C—l I'albt .■ V.IUm... ■11- Pm. NIA)w OBr . » 1 Imt. IV 8«. p.pi. cj 0 IW|- - VdM» His tv -i«i - ru-w, I» ' cav Viiu... H V b4m . I-. ,. Sdwal - V M • H7 St )cm,V.IV,. « IVUW.I-, JM 6 Sum NUmmI SUol « Vn.U,. I'. I XTKU-( ’GASS 1 AMIvS Vll.MXO'.X CoM.UII'- MAY •». IIHMI CHKULS r lkaor-lbW r »--■ f t.. | IKImmM oai ■m-|. a. «V». Kf • r r ii v-m I'K’dCk’AM I Ito-YAROS PASH—TV.. H..s I I»-YARDS PASH—SfMi h«l I SHOT-PUT I TVC-OP-VAR ; ICQ YARDS PASH I HOP. STEP AND JUMP I ♦•WARDS RUN I HIGH JUMP » HIGH HURDLES T.ul Hmb » INWARDS DASH I BROAD JUMP u-im LOW HURDUS T.ul H« 7 El TUG-OP WAR i Ui-YARDS RUN f HIGH HURDLES F X I LOW.HURDLE P-J RELAY RACE f-vih Prep. to 9 7 Track meets wero frequently held behind Monde! Hall on the present site of the infra-mural baseball field. To the riqht is R. A. Escarzaqa. one of the outstanding track stars In the College history. Below is Mike Doolin. first Villanovan to enter big isague baseball. it won 19 games and lost only five. Many of the newspapers commented on the quasi professional polish of the Wildcats. One of the first Villanovans to reach the major leagues was Mike Doolin who after a year of sea- soning with the Jersey City Giants took over the shortstop slot for the Philadelphia Phillies . Track as a competitive sport was introduced in the spring of 1902. Five years later Villanova had its first annual Field Day. Track never reached a point of ascendancy in the third quarter of Villa- nova's history because it was overshadowed by baseball. Not infrequently possible track candidates passed up the cinders for the diamond. The track team rarely had more than ten representatives and no field men at all. Track, however, was always a popular sport with the student body; some of the student halls were equipped with indoor tracks.