1881 Diamond Club

The Ohio State University Baseball TEAM has been playing on campus since 1881 and was the university’s first varsity athletics program. The Ohio State Athletic Department has always been centered around three things:

The Tradition, The People and The Excellence.

It is in that spirit that we are bringing back the Diamond Club to help raise funds, and connect friends, fans, and alumni of Buckeye Baseball, helping to return our program to prominence.

The Tradition

Before it was disbanded, the Buckeye Diamond Club was not just a fundraising entity, but a connection point of supporters, friends, fans, and alumni. It was an integral part of helping elevate our program. The 1881 Diamond Club will look to fill that void and bring Buckeye Nation back together in both fellowship and fundraising, creating a social and supportive connection around our program.

The People

The godfather of Buckeye Baseball-the late, great Bill Wells-and many of his friends- was the fire-starter for bringing people and resources together around the common theme of seeing the Buckeyes succeed on the diamond at the highest levels. The 1881 Diamond Club will honor that legacy by helping to bring different personalities and resources together to help provide our young men with an unparalleled experience while they wear the Scarlet & Gray.

The Excellence

Ohio State Baseball has a long and storied history of producing winners both on and off the field. Champions in athletics, in business, and in life have stamped the legacy of this program. The 1881 Diamond Club will help to ensure that the young men that come through this program have the best opportunity to not only become champions while they are here in Columbus, but also after their time at Ohio State. We will connect them to one of the best networks of alumni and friends of any program in the nation.

The 1881 Diamond Club will reestablish a fundraising arm for our baseball program that will provide opportunities for so many to reconnect and make a lasting impact within our program, and beyond. Every dime that is given to The 1881 Diamond Club will go directly back to our program. Just in the last year—through the generous support of many supporters- we have been able to upgrade in the following areas:

Improved TEAM travel accommodations
The addition of a full-time FUEL Zone at Bill Davis Stadium
Upgrades to our indoor cages, including new L-Screens, training tools, and pitching machines
Modern technology upgrades such as mobile TrackMan, Blast Motion sensors, and various recovery modalities.
Upgrading to custom Wilson baseball gloves for all our student-athletes
Redesigning the home and visitor dugouts to provide both in-dugout heating as well as almost doubling the square footage of each.
Updated flooring, paint, and branding in various places throughout the facility

We have hit the ground running, but there is much work to still be done. There are small, medium, and large-scale projects on the horizon that will touch every aspect of our program: player development, recruiting, travel, student-athlete experience, fan and gameday experience, and much more.

We need your help to make the “Rebirth of Buckeye Baseball” real, meaningful, and long-lasting. Join The 1881 Diamond Club and help us bring this part of Buckeye Baseball history back with a bang!