Spring Break
The Daily OrangeSyracuse's past time
SU has a rich baseball history but little hope for a future
By Jared Diamond
Posted: 4/4/07, 11:50 PM EST Section: Front Page
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Mogish, Syracuse's last baseball coach, brought his team together and told them what happened. They all knew the rumors, but it was only gossip until that moment. Some players came to Syracuse for a baseball program that was snatched up from underneath them in the middle of their careers.
Weeks before the season, the Athletic Policy Board, a committee of university administrators, concluded America's pastime no longer fit in Syracuse's landscape. Officially, the program was only suspended, not discontinued, but there has been no NCAA baseball at Syracuse since.
No one on the team understood why the decision was made, Mogish said. Trying to calm everyone down, Mogish promised he would keep the program running as a club team. He would schedule games and the team would continue despite the Athletic Policy Board's decision.
Mogish started working, confident everything would eventually work out. A few days later, Mogish asked the team manager to prepare the equipment for future practices.
"We don't have any more," the manager said, Mogish recalled.
Without telling anyone in the program, the assistant athletic director sold all the baseball equipment and uniforms, marking the end of a 99-year era at Syracuse.
"That was a low blow," Mogish sighed, his voice cracking. "We never had a chance - Oh God! - that really was a low blow."
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Money was the deciding factor in baseball's demise at Syracuse. According to the minutes from the 1972 Athletic Policy Board meetings, a recession was sweeping through the university. Cutting several non-revenue sports was a potential solution, especially with the phenomenon of Title IX beginning to pervade college athletic departments.
Title IX is still a major reason why baseball has not resurfaced. Baseball - the first intercollegiate athletic program established at SU - had considerable costs and made little money for the school. Although Syracuse has considered new non-revenue programs, baseball is not a top priority.
Other obstacles that faced the baseball program 40 years ago prevent the sport's reinstatement today. Once one of the most popular sports on campus, baseball and Syracuse was always a difficult partnership.
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Mike Garemko
posted 4/05/07 @ 1:14 PM EST
When I arrived on campus in 1967 Baseball was still alive and in the Spring a group of the guys on my floor would go out to the games whenever we got the chance. (Continued…)
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