Partial list of D-1 schools dropping baseball over the years

[Affirm]

Partial list of D-1 schools dropping baseball over the years:
American
Boston U
UTC
Colgate
Colorado College
U of Colorado
DePaul
Drake
Duquesne
Drexel
Eastern Washington
Wisconsin - Green Bay
Howard U
Idaho
Idaho State
Loyola Chicago
Marquette
Montana
Montana State
Northern Iowa
Northern Arizona
Providence
Robert Morris
SCSU
SMU
Syracuse
Temple
Tulsa
Utah State
UTEP
Vermont
Wyoming
Bowling Green
Again, the above is a partial list.

[Furmanoid]

I don’t see how they could even play baseball in most of those places.

[Affirm]

I don’t see how they could even play baseball in most of those places.

Actually, MLB games occur in cities where a number of those colleges are located: Pittsburgh, Dallas, DC, Chicago,Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Boston, and not very far above Atlanta (=Chattanooga). I do not accept your blithe or snide dismissal of my list.

[FUpaladin08]

I don’t see how they could even play baseball in most of those places.

Actually, MLB games occur in cities where a number of those colleges are located: Pittsburgh, Dallas, DC, Chicago,Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Boston, and not very far above Atlanta (=Chattanooga). I do not accept your blithe or snide dismissal of my list.

But there’s a reason MLB has Spring training in ARZ and FLA, not to mention the money to throw at indoor facilities.

Agreed, these schools most likely dropped baseball bc of their geography and a general lack of interest by their community. Kinda like Furman fielding a Lax team in Greenville, SC. Cool idea, but not really any community interest in that sport.

[Furmanoid]

I don’t see how they could even play baseball in most of those places.

Actually, MLB games occur in cities where a number of those colleges are located: Pittsburgh, Dallas, DC, Chicago,Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Boston, and not very far above Atlanta (=Chattanooga). I do not accept your blithe or snide dismissal of my list.

MLB starts up about a month and a half after college. Lots of those teams on your list couldn’t have even scheduled home games for the first half of the season. They had to do a lot of traveling just to play. Furman is in a baseball-crazy region with great weather and tons of nearby comp. Hard to understand why we sucked so bad but we did.

[Affirm]

OK.
So you did not want baseball eliminated.
What would YOU have eliminated instead?
And if baseball was so popular and so beloved and so vital and so well-supported by player-alumni at Furman and by the community, why was there no noticeable evidence of that?

[Furmanoid]

Honestly I’m neither hot nor cold about baseball. It didn’t seem like there were ever more than 50 people at games when I went there. But I recognize that dropping the national pass time after 125 years is sort of a big deal. Dropping lacrosse seems almost more baffling since that was a huge team and almost all pay to play. Hopefully they took a reading of those guys and determined they would hang around regardless. I’m not sure I believe the savings claims. If we are honoring all scholarships, then you only save coaches’ salaries, equipment, travel etc. That could be largely offset by an exodus of walk ons. I’d have looked at going non scholarship, eliminating some coaching positions and cutting salaries for the remaining coaches. But those sports are gone now and they aren’t coming back. Honestly I think it’s just a first step.

[Affirm]

Honestly I’m neither hot nor cold about baseball. It didn’t seem like there were ever more than 50 people at games when I went there. But I recognize that dropping the national pass time after 125 years is sort of a big deal. Dropping lacrosse seems almost more baffling since that was a huge team and almost all pay to play. Hopefully they took a reading of those guys and determined they would hang around regardless. I’m not sure I believe the savings claims. If we are honoring all scholarships, then you only save coaches’ salaries, equipment, travel etc. That could be largely offset by an exodus of walk ons. I’d have looked at going non scholarship, eliminating some coaching positions and cutting salaries for the remaining coaches. But those sports are gone now and they aren’t coming back. Honestly I think it’s just a first step.

“National pastime” in relation to baseball may be an anachronism. Obviously, Furman students, alumni, and community have many more important pastimes. I would say Furman baseball was a pastime for those students who played it in college but an albatross for others and for the institution.

[Furmanoid]

I mostly agree. Just think that with a little imagination it could have converted to nonscholarship and made a profit off rich kids who want to say they play DI baseball.

[fufanatic]

I mostly agree. Just think that with a little imagination it could have converted to nonscholarship and made a profit off rich kids who want to say they play DI baseball.

I agree that could have been an option, but how many on here that are devastated right now, would have been pumped to go out daily and watch a non-scholarship team that would have probably been the worst in the conference by far? Maybe it could have been a short-term solution until things get better, but I don't know.

[Roundball]

I mostly agree. Just think that with a little imagination it could have converted to nonscholarship and made a profit off rich kids who want to say they play DI baseball.

I agree that could have been an option, but how many on here that are devastated right now, would have been pumped to go out daily and watch a non-scholarship team that would have probably been the worst in the conference by far? Maybe it could have been a short-term solution until things get better, but I don't know.

How many were pumped about going out daily to watch a scholarship team play?

[Paul C]

and don't forget, non-scholarship costs money too....coaches, travel, etc...

[Furmanoid]

Yes, but supposedly the little schools have figured out a way to make money off of them. DIII schools have been adding football to make money even though their crowds are tiny. The idea is that there are tons of guys who just can’t stand the thought of never playing again, but aren’t big enough or good enough for scholarships. Since they have to pay no matter where they go, they go somewhere where they can play. This boosts enrollment. You just have to really contain the other costs. But we ain’t gonna do it so it doesn’t matter.

[Fessor]

Partial list of D-1 schools dropping baseball over the years:
American
Boston U
UTC
Colgate
Colorado College
U of Colorado
DePaul
Drake
Duquesne
Drexel
Eastern Washington
Wisconsin - Green Bay
Howard U
Idaho
Idaho State
Loyola Chicago
Marquette
Montana
Montana State
Northern Iowa
Northern Arizona
Providence
Robert Morris
SCSU
SMU
Syracuse
Temple
Tulsa
Utah State
UTEP
Vermont
Wyoming
Bowling Green
Again, the above is a partial list.

With 1-2 possible exceptions, it's not exactly a Who's Who of excellence in the men's basketball.

So, dropping baseball to make a concentrated bet on basketball doesn't guarantee anything.

[apaladin]

I admit that I don't have a clue how all of this works but I have a simple question I think. There are 91 baseball and lacrosse players with very few scolarships. If every one one of these players is paying say $25,000 a year., which is polly low. That is a total of $2,275,000 a year. Realizing that not all would leave, just say half leave that is still way above a million a year. How will the school go about replacing these actual dollars that will be gone. In these days and times they may not be able to replace these students that leave and certainly it is too late for the coming year. When you think about these teams pay for themselves or it looks that way.