Announcement
Justin Crisafulli Records 400th Chiefs Hit
Medford- His first hit came in 1994 on a rainy night at Alumni Stadium in Lowell when he was a shy 18 year old rookie a few days removed from his Medford High graduation. YEAR AB R H HR RBI AVG 2006 44 9 11 2 5 .250 2003 79 7 21 1 13 .266 2002 110 13 39 3 27 .355 2001 106 35 43 6 34 .406 2000 109 36 44 13 41 .404 1999 114 34 44 13 32 .386 1998 105 24 32 9 40 .305 1997 136 50 70 13 57 .515 1996 110 24 38 9 33 .345 1995 129 36 47 8 35 .364 1994 50 10 14 1 7 .280 Totals 1,092 278 403 78 324 .369
His 400th came in the second inning of last Thursday's game at Woburn's Ferullo Field.
In his almost eleven Chiefs seasons in between, Justin Crisafulli has established himself as one the greatest and most feared Chiefs hitters of all time.
Crisafulli reached the lofty ICL 400 hit plateau with a two RBI single down the left field line and now trails only Mike Langston (530) on the Chiefs all time hit list. Along the way, Justin has ripped 78 home runs and knocked in 324 runs. Add to those impressive totals the fact that he has a career .369 batting average, it becomes obvious to see why he is considered among one of the Intercity League's all time best. And for Chiefs fans the good news is that he is still going strong and will be an odds on bet to break every ICL batting record before he hangs up the spikes.
Crisafulli emerged as a star at Medford High School in the early 1990's. His baseball ability was not limited to the plate as he was considered one of the state's top high school pitchers of that era. In fact, he was actually selected by the Boston Red Sox as a pitcher in the 17th round of the 1995 major league draft. He opted to attend Western Arizona Junior College instead. That decison rewarded him with a trip to the JUCO World Series. Following his career in Arizona, Crisafulli accepted a baseball scholarship to Divison II powerhouse Central Missouri State and once again found himself playing for post season honors, this time in the D-2 World Series.
After one of the the most incredible individual ICL season's of all time, when he hit a remarkable .515 (70 for 136) with 13 homers and 57 RBI's, leading the Chiefs to a 36-6 record and another championship, Justin signed with the Cleveland Indians on the day after the 1997 season ended.
At 30, Justin still puts fear into ICL pitchers. Although his home runs totals have decreased, along with the rest of the ICL, since the league's wood bat era began in 2002, he still is always among the home run leaders.
A "True Chief" in every sense of the term, Crisafulli has now become the elder statesman of the Chiefs franchise. When his playing days are over, hopefully not for many more years, he will be remembered as not only one of the greatest hitter's in ICL history but also one of the most classiest guys to ever to wear the Chiefs uniform.
Justin Crisafulli's Road to 400 Chiefs Hits
