NYU's baseball program was established in the 1870s as something akin to a club sport. The move to the University Heights campus in 1894, with its expansive athletic facilities and fields, allowed the NYU baseball team to become a legitimate intercollegiate competitor. The team was not very successful in its early years, however, with the varsity team losing all but one of 13 games in 1902.
The team did experience a resurgence in the 1920s under coach William McCarthy. Between 1922 and 1961, he led the NYU Violets to 476 victories and 258 losses. Among the outstanding players of the 1920s was George "Kiddo" Davis, the first NYU baseball starter to break into the major leagues. In 1927, Davis signed with the New York Yankees, and six years later the Yankees won the World Series. Numerous other baseball alumni would go on to play in the major leagues. By the early 1970s the University's financial situation was critical, and radical changes to the overall budget were necessary. The University Heights campus was sold, and the baseball team was cut. With the loss of the Bronx campus there was no space to practice or play home games. Baseball was reinstated in 1996 as a club sport. It joined the NCBA and played in Division II, District II alongside Hofstra University, Cabrini College, and Rider University.
Varsity baseball returned to NYU in spring 2015 as a Division III sport when NYU-Poly, which had its own team, officially became part of NYU.
