The Gehrig Cup: A Princeton Baseball Tradition Unlike Any Other
It started with an email from Ryan Reich ’04.
“It’s imperative to make an effort to set aside one weekend a year for a guys’ only trip,” Reich stated in the email.
The group settled on a golf trip. It started in 2013 with 12 baseball alumni spending the weekend at the Greenbrier golf course in West Virginia.
With what the now-yearly get togethers sans 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic have turned into, you can tell the competitive juices among the alumni have not gone away.
Trips are usually three days featuring two-man scramble matches that are nine holes each. Like the Ryder Cup, it’s a match play tournament where the two teams wear designed shirts and pants. The two teams are called the Band of the Brothers, which has alums from the Class of 2006 and older, and the Young Guns, which is comprised of alums from the Class of 2007 and younger.
What does the winning team get?
The Gehrig Cup, of course.
The first Gehrig Cup ended in a tie, forcing a putt off to crown a champion. Aaron Prince (’07) finally made the 100+ foot putt to give the Young Guns the title. The Young Guns successfully retained the Cup in 2014 in Scottsdale when Brad Gemberling (’09) drained the last putt of the tournament to secure yet another tie.
In 2015 and 2016, the Young Guns defended successfully, winning at Kiawah Island and Las Vegas, respectively. Finally, in 2017, the Band of Brothers tasted victory for the first time, winning their first Gehrig Cup at Bandon Dunes.
The Young Guns dominated the Band of Brothers again in 2018 at Streamsong and came from behind on Sunday in 2019 at Torrey Pines to win again. After a skipped year due to the pandemic, the Band of Brothers secured their second Gehrig Cup with a win in 2021 at Big Cedar Lodge. 28 alumni were on that trip.
“It’s awesome to see everyone together,” said Stephen Wendell ’06, one of the founding fathers of the event who helps do the pairings each year. “It was started for the right reasons and gets a bit tougher to plan as it gets bigger, but it’s rewarding to see all the guys together.”
For more information on the Gehrig Cup, check out this website.
