Raymond Peters
Baseball
Graduation Year
1969
Induction Year
1993
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame
Harvard Athletic Achievements
Raymond Peters was an All-District pitcher, a Sporting News All-American selection, as well as the MVP of the 1968 Crimson baseball team. In his sophomore season he pitched 80 1/3 innings allowing 49 hits and 23 walks while striking out 109 batters and maintained an 1.67 ERA. He struck out 16 batters twice in the 1967 season and finished with a 9-3 record, the best record since fellow Harvard Hall of Famer Paul Del Rossi ’64.
Ray lost 35 lbs. after contracting mononucleosis in the summer between his sophomore and junior seasons. However, he came back to the team and, despite having a poor first half of the season and winning only one game, turned it around that April and finished the spring 8-1 with an ERA of 1.87. His efforts helped Harvard go 19-7 and earn an invitation to their first-ever appearance in the College World Series. Ray currently holds the top two single season strikeout records with 115 and 109 respectively. He also ranks 3rd in career strikeouts recording 224 over his two seasons with the Crimson.
Ray was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1969 and played at the professional level until 1972.
Hall of Fame
Remembering Harvard Athletics
My senior year in high school was extremely stressful. I was recruited by over 80 colleges for baseball and basketball and the pro-baseball scouts were everywhere. Do I sign professionally? Or attend which college? Once I set foot in Cambridge and met Norm Shepard I never looked back. I made the right decision.
Harvard simply has the most extensive college sports program in the country. It was as much fun to compete in the intramural program as it was to play varsity baseball. The talent found on the intramural fields of play was astounding. In true Harvard fashion many chose to excel in other ways in college than on the gridiron or diamond. The quality and diversity of athlete at Harvard is to be envied.
“Beat Yale!” Nothing motivated me more while participating in varsity athletics at Harvard. TRADITION does grab one as soon as one steps onto the Crimson’s playing fields. Striving to win the Strauss Cup for Winthrop House ranks just a notch below “Beat Yale” in motivation.
In my professional life it is exhilarating to respond to the constant queries about “are there really good athletes at Harvard and the rest of the Ivy League?” with a litany of professionals in hockey, baseball, football, etc.; and the coup-de-grace, to tell the disbelievers that “too bad the really good athletes decided to concentrate on biology and chemistry instead of hockey and football!!”
To be a part of an historic tradition as Harvard athletics has been a rewarding, fulfilling experience that lasts a lifetime. I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to contribute to this tradition.
