School Name Goes Here

Eddie Plank‘s Hall of Fame baseball career received a helping hand at Gettysburg College. The local star spent two seasons pitching for the College team, posting a 10-4 record before he was drafted by the Philadelphia Athletics in the spring of 1901. In 17 major league seasons, Plank racked up 326 victories, which ranks third among left-handers in Major League history. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946. His brother, Ira, was the College baseball coach from 1912 to 1947.

Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower is an important figure in Gettysburg’s long history. He first came to Gettysburg in 1918 as a young officer and later became commander of Camp Colt. The Eisenhowers purchased a farm near the battlefield and President Eisenhower became a trustee of the College. The President was a fan of Bullets athletics as well and helped dedicate Musselman Stadium in 1965.

Bream Gymnasium is named for the iconic Henry T. Bream ’24. Bream was three-sport star for the Bullets in the early 1920s and returned to his alma mater as a coach. From 1927 to 1956, he led the football, basketball, and baseball teams to 448 victories. He later served as Director of Athletics from 1953 to 1969. His son, Jack Bream ’57, spearheaded the formation of the Orange & Blue Club in 1974 and joined his father in the Hall of Athletic Honor in 2003.

Athletes composing the teams of Gettysburg College were designated “Bullets” in 1924 by Paul L. Roy, city editor of the Gettysburg Times. The nickname originated after a Rotary Club dinner at the Quaker Valley Country Club at which football coach William W. “Bill” Wood spoke. Roy, a guest at the dinner, wrote an article for the Times the following day in which he compared the team to “Bullets,” a take-off on the Civil War Battlefield. Thereafter, the Times always referred to Orange and Blue teams as the “Bullets.”