Haverford College’s “Unlikely Pipeline” to Major League Baseball

The New York Times looks at how the tiny Quaker college on the Main Line came to rule the diamond.

Tommy Bergjan, No. 15, pitches for Haverford. He is the only current baseball player to come out of Haverford, which has also given Major League Baseball many of its executives, scouts, and employees in other roles, per the New York Times. Photo| David Sinclair

Tommy Bergjans pitching for Haverford. He is the only current pro baseball player in the major league system to have come out of Haverford, which has also given Major League Baseball many of its executives, scouts, and employees in other roles, per the New York Times. Photo| David Sinclair

When you think baseball, you think … Haverford College, right? That tiny little Quaker liberal arts bastion out on the Main Line?

Well, it turns out you should, according to the New York Times. It has a story about the school serving as an “unlikely pipeline” to the Major Leagues despite the fact it’s an NCAA Division 3 school and can’t grant athletic scholarships.

What it does have is alums peppered throughout the baseball world, including the Dodgers’ senior vice president for baseball management, the COO of Major League Baseball, the assistant general manager of the Rangers, and “two of the most influential sports agents in history,” according to the Times. The paper estimates that in total, 15 to 20 Haverford grads have prominent jobs as “front-office executives, agents and talent evaluators.”

Why Haverford? Well, for one thing, it’s full of nerds, and right now, baseball loves it some nerds. A fifth of the school’s economics majors write their senior theses on baseball or sports. One recent title: “Public Financing of Baseball Stadiums: Understanding Extortion and Its Remedies.”

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