Monthly Archives: May 2012

Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?

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Over the last 24 games of the 2012 season, Muhlenberg second baseman Chris Manfredonia hit .320, raising his average from .260 to .299.

A solid end to a promising first season of collegiate baseball, especially for someone who missed most of his senior season in high school due to a back injury, but nothing extraordinary.

Except for the fact that Manfredonia had at least one hit in each of those 24 games.

Manfredonia broke a 25-year-old school record for longest hitting streak. But the streak was so inconspicuous that it flew under even his own radar until he surpassed the previous mark of 17 games in the second game of the Gettysburg doubleheader.

“After the Gettysburg game a couple of guys came up to me and told me that I broke the record for longest hitting streak,” said Manfredonia. “I thought they were joking.”

Manfredonia had exactly one hit in 18 of the 24 games. In 15 of the 24 games, his first hit came in the sixth inning or later – including the record-breaking single against Gettysburg, which came on a two-strike pitch in the ninth. That was one of five ninth-inning streak-extenders.

True to form, Manfredonia made sure his streak would carry over into 2013 by going 1-for-6 in each game of Sunday’s season-ending twinbill vs. Johns Hopkins. He beat out a slow roller to third with the bases loaded in the eighth inning of the opener and went opposite field for his only double of the season in the sixth inning of Game 2.

By comparison, Kelly Kline of the Muhlenberg softball team had a school-record 25-game hitting streak this season in which she batted .512. Joe DiMaggio hit .406 in his Major League Baseball-record 56-game streak in 1941.

This wasn’t so much “Joltin’ Joe” as it was “Consistent Chris.”

“I just try to not get too low, stay on an even keel and play the game with a consistent approach,” said Manfredonia.

Of course, you can’t get hits without putting the ball in play, and Manfredonia did plenty of that. He struck out 10 times in his 50 pre-streak at-bats but whiffed only 11 times in 97 at-bats during the streak.

“I was striking out a little more early in the year than I would have liked,” he said. “So I tried to get fastballs early in the count, make hard contact and put the ball in play.”

A big Yankees fan, Manfredonia gained a new appreciation for DiMaggio’s streak, which would take almost another full year for him to approach.

“In the Major Leagues you play every single day; here you play only four days a week,” he said. “It’s hard to stay healthy to be able to hit in 56 straight games, and you have to get lucky once in a while. I can’t even imagine doing that.”

One of the ironies of Manfredonia’s record streak is that before it got going, he was on his way to a different school record. He had six sacrifices, one short of the record, halfway through the season, but as the hits kept coming and he moved up in the order, the bunt sign stopped coming. Another unfortunate irony is that most of his streak coincided with a team losing streak that turned the program’s best start in 84 years into a 19-21 final record.

So would Manfredonia, the would-be king of sacrifices turned king of hitting streaks, be willing to sacrifice his streak for a few more wins next year?

“Any day!” he said.

Waiting for The Call

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When she traveled to Italy with the Muhlenberg women’s basketball team during the summer of 2010, Alexandra Chili fell in love with the culture and European way of life (especially the croissants and cappuccino).

Now, she wants to make another trek across the pond. But this time she hopes the trip will be primarily about business.

After completing one of the most accomplished careers in both Muhlenberg and Centennial Conference history, the two-time All-American was invited to the 2012 Women’s Final Four Combine held in late March in Denver.

Alexandra ChiliThere, Chili took the next step in a journey she hopes will end in a place not normally associated with Division III athletes: professional basketball.

Chili was part of a group of about 80 players from all NCAA divisions, as well as former college players, who took part in a series of drills and games played in front of scouts from the WNBA and several European professional leagues.

And just like she had during her time in a Mule uniform, Chili stood out from the rest, thanks in large part to her lethal jump shot.

The school and conference career three-point leader for men or women, Chili knocked down 21 of her 25 attempts from beyond the arc, more than any other player at the combine. Then when teams were picked for the games, she found herself alongside players from conferences like the Big Ten and Pac 12.

And after taking a short while to get used to the thin air in the Mile High City, she felt that she more than held her own despite being one of just a handful of Division III players invited to the event.

“You could really notice the elevation difference,” she said. “But I feel like I played pretty well. I was a little nervous at first, but once we got going I didn’t really think about that.”

Chili played so well, in fact, that she’s already garnered interest from teams in Israel and Italy. Although there have not been any official offers yet, she received positive feedback from the combine’s director, who told her she had the ability to play professionally.

Now comes the hardest part for Chili, who made a habit of scoring points quickly: waiting. She’s done all she could to leave a positive lasting impression for the scouts, and as she gets ready for finals week, she’s anxiously hoping for the phone call that could come as early as today, or not until August or September.

But as she was during her entire career, Chili is prepared. After she dons her cap and gown and graduates in two-and-a-half weeks, she will continue working to improve her game. She has a summer job lined up in case she doesn’t hear back soon, but she’s also put her long-term plans temporarily on hold so she can chase her dream.

It’s not every day that an athlete is given the opportunity to make a living playing the sport they love. Then again, considering she’s the only player in conference history, male or female, to score 2,000 career points, Chili has shown she’s not like every other player.

Now she’s ready for the opportunity to take her game to the next level. All that she needs is a call.

“I had never really thought about playing professionally until this season,” she said. “But when I looked into it, I thought it might be pretty cool. It would be a great to get to live in Europe and experience the culture. I’ll probably never have a chance like this again, so I want to make the most of it.”

“Hopefully I’ll get a call soon; between that and graduation, it would really be time to celebrate.”