Many people have wondered why baseball is not a varsity sport at Lake Forest. Actually, baseball was the first varsity sport at the College in the late 1890s. During both world wars, there was an elimination of varsity sports. However, baseball continued at the College until the early 1970s.
It died out because there was great pressure for fielding a lacrosse team. Coach Michael Dau ’58, who coached the baseball team in the 1960s, argued against having a lacrosse team, not because he opposed the sport, but because there were no Division III schools to play against east of Pennsylvania. Although Dau argued against a lacrosse team, it became a varsity sport.
“(Losing baseball) was always a great personal loss for me because it impacted recruiting,” Dau said. “On my baseball team, I had about 20 guys, probably seven or eight dual-sport athletes. I realize today everyone likes to participate in one sport, but that was not true in the ’60s and ’70s. I lost a lot of potential football players because we did not have baseball.”
In the ’60s, baseball was played on Farwell Field before there was artificial turf. The climate often affected the schedule due to terrible spring weather. “There were several instances when we opened up the season, there was snow on the edges of the outfield,” Dau said.
Weather will always force changes to a baseball schedule. Most schools in the Midwest Conference are “lucky enough to get the amount of games they play in because of the weather. God bless the softball team to play in any weather except the heavy rain,” Dau said. Growing up playing baseball for 13 years, Brendan Power ’17 said he would “love it if the College were to bring baseball back. I consistently encounter other students who also wish we still had a team. If the opportunity arose, I would start a club team in a heartbeat. A baseball team would receive a lot of support from the students here.”
As Dau had many two-sport athletes on his baseball team, Power said he would “play both football and baseball at the College.”
Athletic Director Jackie Slaats said club baseball “has continued on and off during my time as athletic director, but like all club sports, sponsorship is dependent on student interest and success on student leadership and commitment..
The last club baseball team was four years ago. “They ended up cancelling nearly all of their scheduled games due to a combination of poor weather or not enough players showing up for the scheduled contests,” Slaats said.
When asked if baseball should come back to the college, Slaats said she’s often asked about many sports.
“My answer is always that my opinion and those decisions are dependent on a combination of student interest, available local varsity competition, and College resources,” Slaats said. “For any sport to even be considered for elevation to varsity status, it must first have a sustained history of success as a club sport.”
As for baseball, “the club team would have to make a strong resurgence as a club sport,” she said. “But, unfortunately, there does not appear to be enough interest by current students at the College for this to happen.
If enough students are interested and committed to bringing club baseball back, Mike Raymond, Club Sports director, “would be happy to meet with them to discuss the next steps,” Slaats said. Hopefully, America’s pastime can find its way back to Lake Forest College.
