University of Vermont Athletics

Arlington Pond 1893 - Baseball

Truly one of the greatest pitchers ever to don the Green and Gold at Vermont, Erasmus Arlington "Arlie" Pond went on to pitch for the 1895-98 National League Baltimore Orioles. A 1993 UVM Hall of Fame inductee, he was a member of two World Championship teams with the Orioles before embarking on a career in medicine.

Pond, who grew up in Rutland, attended Norwich for two years before enrolling at UVM for its medical program. He had two successful seasons, 1892 and 1893, at Vermont pitching and playing the outfield. Along with Hall of Famer and fellow big leaguer, Bert Abbey '93, Pond helped lead UVM to a second place finish at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, a tournament similar to today's College World Series in Omaha. Vermont finished that season with a 19-6 record.

Pond signed with Baltimore and made his major league debut on the mound in 1895 appearing in six games for the eventual National League Champions that featured Baseball Hall of Famers Wee Willie Keller, Wilbert Robinson, Joe Kelley, John McGraw and Hughie Jennings. He moved into the Orioles rotation in 1896 going 16-8 as Baltimore won its third straight NL crown with an amazing 90-39 record. Baltimore went on to sweep Cleveland (featuring Cy Young) in the postseason to win the Temple Cup, baseball's highest team honor at the time.

Pond went 18-9 with 23 complete games and a 3.52 ERA in 1897. The Orioles finished second in the standings but came back to knock off Boston, 4 games to 1, to win the 1897 Temple Cup. He appeared in only three games in his last season, 1898, before retiring from baseball to concentrate on his medical career. Some of his impressive pitching stats included winning 34 games in two seasons, 1896 and 1897; an earned run average of 3.45 for his four years in the majors and 44 complete games of the 60 started in 1896 and 1897.

Dr. Pond earned his medical degree from UVM in 1895 and served his internships and residency at hospitals in Baltimore while playing with the Orioles. Commissioned into the U.S. Army medical corps, Dr. Pond was shipped to the Philippines for the Spanish American War. There he became an internationally famous physician treating diseases such as cholera, malaria and small pox. Following the war, he remained in the Phillipines as the country gained its independence. Dr. Pond passed away in Cebu, Philippines in 1930 at the age of 58.