Recognizing the tenth anniversary of the cancer diagnosis and senior season of former UC Santa Barbara infielder Chris Malec, the Gaucho baseball program today announced it will honor the three-time All-Big West selection with “Chris Malec Day,” scheduled for the Saturday, Mar. 28 home contest against Long Beach State.
After a wildly successful start to his UCSB career – including being named a Freshman All-American in 2002 and First Team All-Big West in 2004 – Malec’s entire future was thrown into question when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in the spring of 2005.
The Laguna Niguel, Calif. native underwent immediate chemotherapy treatments following his diagnosis. Malec then served as an inspiration to the entire Santa Barbara and college baseball communities when he returned to the field as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning of an 8-6 win over Long Beach State on May 6, 2005, mere weeks after a surgical procedure and a week after receiving four rounds of chemotherapy sessions over a five-day period.
Amazingly, Malec started the very next afternoon and hit a go-ahead grand slam in his very first at-bat to help the Gauchos to an eventual 7-6 win.
Malec showed a penchant for hitting dramatic grand slams against the 49ers, as he also connected for a bases-loaded round-tripper on Apr. 30, 2004 against future Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim ace Jered Weaver.
The New York Yankees went on to select Malec in the 16th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. The career .300 hitter at UCSB concluded his chemo treatments in July of 2005 and then went on to play six seasons in the Yankees organization, compiling a .282 career average. His best year came in 2007, when he hit .282 and had an on-base percentage of .419 with nine home runs and 79 RBIs between A-level Charleston and High-A Tampa.
Chris will throw out the first pitch against Long Beach State on Saturday, Mar. 28, with more festivities planned for the weekend.
