three o'clock
On the bleachers at one side of the grandstand sat hundreds upon hundreds of Harvard men , cheering all together and being answered by the hundreds of Yale men on the other side of the grand stand . There were plenty of ladies and citizens present and the scene was inspiring . A band of music served to quicken the blood in the veins which were already throbbing . There was short preliminary practice , and then at exactly three o'clock the umpire walked down behind the home plate and called : `` Play ball ! '' Yale took the field , and as the boys in blue trotted out , the familiar Yale yell broke from hundreds of throats . Blue pennants were wildly fluttering , the band was playing a lively air , and for the moment it seemed as if the sympathy of the majority of the spectators was with Yale . But when Hinkley , Harvard 's great single hitter , who always headed the batting list , walked out with his pet `` wagon tongue , '' a different sound swept over the multitude , and the air seemed filled with crimson pennants .