Baseball is a game of numbers, and Chris Walpole has the credentials. On the diamond, he ranks among the baseball program’s all-time leaders with a .374 career batting average, 210 career hits, 153 runs scored, 123 runs batted in, 40 doubles, nine triples, 17 home runs, and 61 stolen bases. He batted .336 or better in all four seasons.
He was named to the First Team All-New York State, encompassing Divisions I, II, and III, in 1989 and 1990. He earned distinction as a First Team All-Knickerbocker Conference in 1988, 1989, and 1990.
Playing baseball was just part of the mission Walpole was on at Mercy College. He was determined to earn his degree, and let everyone know that he was more than just an athlete.
Attending Mercy on an academic scholarship, he was named to the GTE Academic All-American team as a senior, earning his degree in criminal justice, with honors. He would go on to earn a doctorate in education from Northcentral University.
He never hit less than .338 in a season, and was a true five tool talent. He could hit for average, hit for power, covered the hot corner with ease, had a strong arm, and he could run. Not a bad combination for a switch hitting infielder from the Bronx.
In his final season for the Flyers in 1990, he hit .440, the eighth highest batting average in the country. The team went on to participate in the ECAC Playoffs, held in Lowell, Mass. Mercy finished with a record of 26-14 that season, with Walpole having 59 hits, 37 runs batted in, 13 doubles, three triples, four home runs, a .672 slugging percentage, and 19 stolen bases in 23 attempts. For his efforts, he was selected to participate in the New York-New Jersey All-Star
game, played at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, alongside student-athletes from Division I school Fordham, Army, LIU and Iona.
He went on to play professionally, working out with the New York Mets in Spring Training in 1995.
Walpole is married with four children, living in Mahopac, N.Y. For 20 years, he has worked with autistic adolescents in the Bronx, and at Eastchester High School. He is also the girls softball coach at Eastchester High School.
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