St. John's Grads Miss Connection

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Friday night it was Hernando High School night at Great American Ball Park as two grads faced each other.

Bronson Arroyo was the Reds’ starting pitcher.  He faced young Christian Arroyo who attended Hernando High 18 years after Bronson did.  Christian hit a home run off the older alum.

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On Saturday, two St. John’s University students were a potential matchup.  Reds’ starting pitcher Amir Garrett took the mound.  The Giants regular secondbaseman Joe Panik attended St. John’s.  Panik played baseball at St. John’s.  Garrett played basketball.

Panik, born October 30, 1990, batted .371 with 24 home runs and 48 doubles for the Redstorm. In his three seasons, Panik knocked in 156 runs in 166 games.

Garrett averaged 6.2 points and 4.2 rebounds in 55 college games for St. John’s until he transfered to Cal State - Northridge.   Garrett was born on May 3, 1992

The meeting would come to a head but Panik got the day off from manager Bruce Bochy with the left-handed Garrett pitching.  Kelby Tomlinson started at secondbase instead.

“I’ve never met him,” Panik said.  “It’s cool though.  It doesn’t matter if it’s baseball or basketball, another St. John’s guy in the majors. There’s been a few Johnnies in the majors. The more the merrier.”

St. John’s alumni who played for the Reds and Giants.

John Franco, Rich Aurillia, Frank Viola, and C.J. Nitkowski, the Reds first pick in 1994, played for the Reds.  Terry Bross pitched two innings for the Giants in 1993.  He was on St. John’s 1984-85 Final Four team.  He is now an agent with one of his clients, the Reds’ Bronson Arroyo.