Chirino Hit King Countdown
May 24, 2018 - Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
Santiago Chirino of the Normal CornBelters at the plate
(Normal CornBelters, Credit: Hannah Conlisk)
"He is just a great guy, great player, great human being, " said CornBelters first-year manager, Billy Horn.
On May 17, 2013, 3,553 fans witnessed this "guy" and the start of something truly unbelievable at Bosse Field.
In what seemed like an ordinary baseball game for the visiting Normal CornBelters, wasn't.
The cloudy night went on, and the cool breeze blew in from the east on a chilly Friday night in Southwest Indiana.
It was opening night for the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League, as they hosted the Normal CornBelters, a team that was only experiencing opening night for the third time in franchise history.
The game went slow and fast like how baseball normally does.
History began in the top of the fifth with two outs on the unlucky thirteenth pitch. A young Venezuelan second baseman pressed his luck and knocked his first hit, a single. Which would be quite fitting.
Flash forward 608 hits later and Santiago Chirino sets his sight on becoming the "Hit King" in the twenty-fifth year of the Frontier League.
Horn knows that this record will go a long way not only for Chirino.
"It would mean a lot, not only for just this ball club but the city. Hopefully, it comes and goes real quick, but we want to relish the moment and celebrate it. It's a historic moment for this league, for Santiago, his family and his home county of Venezuela"
He only needs 27 more hits to take the crown from former Washington Wild Thing, Chris Sidick.
And it should be no problem for Chirino.
Images from this story
 Santiago Chirino of the Normal CornBelters takes a swing (Josh Hartsook) |
 Santiago Chirino of the Normal CornBelters (John Fageaux) |
 Santiago Chirino of the Normal CornBelters at the plate (Hannah Conlisk) |
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