Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on January 10, 2020
Fear never crossed Chris’ mind.
Not in the minor leagues, not at the Division-I level, not in the Long Island Championship. Not even when he was 7-years-old playing on a 9-year-old travel team playing 3rd base just 45 feet away from the batters.
It’s not clear how Chris developed his fearlessness but he did admire and adopt the grittiness of the late 90s Yankees; although his favorite player may come as a surprise.
“My favorite player growing up was Chad Curtis,” he said citing the 10-year veteran that batted .264 in his career. Just about every Yankee fan from that era cites Derek Jeter as their favorite player, but Pike preferred the player that had to fight tooth-and-nail for his chance.
It was a sign of things to come.
The early days
Chris immediately jumped into the world of competitive baseball. When he was just 7-years-old he was invited to play on Gregg Sarra‘s CONYO (Connetquot Youth Organization) team. This was no typical recreation team. This team consisted of a group of player that all wound up playing Division-I or professional baseball. It was pretty clear from the time they were that age that they would all become stars and I can attest to that having faced that team. Any pitching staff that has Marcus Stroman has a decent chance to win, and they also had Boston College-catcher Anthony Italiano Binghamton outfielder Matt Parker and Hofstra outfielder Mike Annunziata.
The team played 100 games per season including a trip to the Dominican Republic.
This was travel baseball for the die-hard. Pike began pitching on the team the next year, but was playing third base right away. He joked that he loved fielding and learned from having rockets hit to him by Sarra on the practice fields of Connetquot that resembled the DR.
Additionally, he was getting pitching lessons from Neal Heaton when he was 7-years-old as well. He also enjoyed to play golf with his grandma and tennis with his mother.
Having grown up as the oldest of three boys (Garrett and Chad), family was always important to Chris. He noted that they were always playing ball together outside. Although he is closer in age to Garrett, he stated that Chad was the one that was the one that wouldn’t want to stop playing until it was dark.
Southampton HS
The Hamptons have never been regarded as a hot bed for developing baseball talent. The median property value is $1.68 million and the average household income is $107,702 in Watermill – which is where many of the Southampton students live.
Some have broken through the barrier.
Kyle McGowin made it to the big leagues from Sag Harbor and has a World Series ring with the Washington Nationals. Ross Gload played 10 years in the majors from East Hampton HS and the ultimate success story is Carl Yastrzemski who made it to Cooperstown and was an 18-time All Star and 7-time Gold Glove winner from Bridgehampton.
Even so, the chips are stacked against the east end players.
Pike stated that he was going to get called up to varsity as an eighth grader but waited until ninth grade. The team certainly needed him – they weren’t good.
“Our average run differential per game that year was probably minus 15,” he said. He enjoyed much more success over the summer seasons playing travel ball with the Paveco Storm for Head Coach Lou Petrucci.
During that time he began to think about his future and where he might want to attend college. His goal was to get away.
“I wanted to play down south,” he said. “I wanted to be able to play in the warm weather where I’m excited to play. Nobody is excited to play in the cold,” he said.
The problem was that he wasn’t garnering much attention playing high school ball.
“It always seemed like nobody cared regardless of how well I played – they would always say ‘you’re playing the worst competition, you’re only throwing 87-88 MPH, you’re too small,’ so it seemed like it wasn’t going to work out,” he said.
A funny thing happened though.
Southampton HS got really good in 2009, winning the Class B Long Island Championship over Cold Spring Harbor and Pike dominated. They received huge performances from Alex Antilety and Rick Wesnofske as well. All of a sudden people were starting to notice a little.
He received an offer from Florida Atlantic University and a roster spot from Louisville. His dad wasn’t content, though.
“My dad was pushing me for be a two-way player and he wanted me to go to Fordham,” he said. Rather than jump at the opportunity, he chose to bet on himself and he decided to wait until after his senior season. Surely another dominant year would have people noticing.
Half of that was correct. He wound up winning the Class B Long Island Championship again, with a “zillion strikeouts”, as he said. The actual numbers weren’t so far off. He went 10-0 with a 0.30 ERA, two no-hitters and over 100 strikeouts. The Paul Gibson Award went to Ed Macaluso (7-1, 1.50 ERA) of Islip, despite Pike having the superior numbers in every category. He said it’s still a point of contention.
Following the season, there wasn’t a brigade of schools vying for him, but Fordham was still there and offering him the chance to play the infield when he wasn’t pitching.
Fordham University
Entering college, Pike was the small-town kid facing older competition.
Sound familiar? Fortunately, for him, this was his comfort zone. He had always been the youngest player on all his travel teams and always from the small town out east.
“I felt welcomed by the team,” he said. “They didn’t treat me any different and there was no animosity for deciding to come late. I loved playing with older kids. My mentality was let me show them that I’m just as good if not better than them. I wanted to prove everyone wrong,” he said.
During the fall season, he played third base, first base and pitched. The plan was for him to be the ‘super reliever’ meaning he could come in during the 7th inning and finish the game.
After their first trip of the season, it was decided that he was too valuable to use in relief and was moved to the rotation. The decision certainly worked out.
Pike went 8-1 with a 2.41 ERA over 93.1 IP. He fired three complete games and even added three saves. Opposing batters hit just .233 against him. He was named to Louisville Slugger’s freshmen All-American team.
“Once I was able to start I felt comfortable, I felt like I had arrived,” he said. He was throwing 88-91 MPH and carving up hitters at will.
That summer he was invited to pitch in in the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League. After throwing 93 innings, though, he was feeling ‘shot’ and didn’t actually pitch in a game.
The next season, he tried to take his velocity to the next level. It didn’t go as planned.
“I think I went about it the wrong way. I was doing a lot of biceps and lifting heavy. I got tight and lost my flexibility. It resulted in losing my command and feel, and I was really a ‘feel’ pitcher,” he said.
The numbers dropped off, as he struggled to a 5.21 ERA over 76.0 IP. Most concerning was his 14 wild pitches and 8 hit batters that showed he had lost that command that made him unhittable for his entire career.
Prior to the season, there was a change in the coaching staff. Nick Restaino was replaced by Kevin Leighton. The Rams finished 22-34 and finished in 8th place in the Atlantic-10.
“I hated being on a losing team,” said Pike. “I feel like some of the players didn’t take it as serious as I did. I feel like I needed to get away.”
He stuck around for his junior season in 2013 and compiled a record of 4-6 with a 4.48 ERA over 84.1 IP but he decided it was time to make a move. While he was strongly considering going south to the University of Tampa, there was a more appealing option. That summer while playing in the Valley League, his coach put him in touch with the recruiting coordinator at Oklahoma City, an NAIA school.
He decided to make the leap.
Oklahoma City
“I loved it,” he said. “It was very different – almost the opposite of New York. I was a little shell shocked by the size of the school and how small the classes were, it almost felt like a high school. But it had a city feel to it and there was a lot to do.”
From the baseball perspective, it was the perfect fit. He noted that “the coaching staff was exactly what I needed.”
He wound up going 10-3 with a 1.89 ERA and 125 strikeouts. He fired 8 CGs and held the opposition to a .182 AVG. He fired a perfect game and a no-hitter in back-to-back starts and was and Player of the Week both times.
Just as importantly, his fastball was up to 94 MPH so MLB teams were taking notice.
“There was a lot more buzz than my junior year. I had a feeling I’d get drafted because I had heard from just about every team and spoke to about 10 scouts. Being a senior I had a feeling a team would want to save money by taking a senior. I figured I would either get drafted in the top-10 rounds or not at all.”
In the 8th round, he got a call from a scout from the Tampa Bay Rays who said they’ve be selecting him in the next round. He was drafted in the 9th round of MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays.
“It felt like a huge weight off my back – there was this instant gratification that everything that I worked for over 20 years was working out. I felt like it’s finally here, let’s do this. At the same time, though, I knew there was a lot of work to do,” he said.
Minor Leagues
Pike went off to the New York Penn League, where he was a member of the Hudson Valley Renegades. It couldn’t have gone much better, as he compiled a record of 4-1 with a 2.72 ERA over 53.0 IP.
“I felt good, I felt like I was right on track. It was still a grind, though, and I knew there were still things I was trying to get better at,” he said.
The next season, he was promoted to A-ball with the Bowling Green Hot Rods. He performed yet again, going 10-7 with a 3.13 ERA over 129.1 IP.
Regarding the change in competition, he said, “It wasn’t really much harder but it was harder to strike guys out. The 8 and 9 hitters aren’t bad and guys have a better approach,” he added.
Success would be fleeting, however, as 2016 was not the same as he moved to High-A. He struggled to a 4-12 record with a 4.58 ERA. After the season, the team requested he make a significant change. Based off the fact that his velocity wasn’t where they hoped it would be, they requested he make the switch to a knuckleball pitcher. They thought he would have a renaissance considering his arm action. To do so, they also wanted him to gain 15 lbs in the off-season.
“I was always in the 180-185 lb rang. To gain the weight, some of it was good but some of it was bad too,” he said.
2017 was a mixed bag for Pike as he did reach Triple-A, but only for 3.2 innings as the season was winding down.
He stated it didn’t come as much of a surprise given the results, but he was still disappointed when he was released by the Rays. He wound up signing with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League.
In the off-season between 2018 and 2019, he re-dedicated himself to being the best player he could be. He worked hard every single day but was told there wasn’t a spot in the rotation due to the presence of some big league arms like Jon Niese.
“I told myself I can’t keep doing this,” he said. He decided to start a business with his brother, Garrett. They opened a Property Management company and he was excited to get his career started, making his own hours without the pressures of minor league baseball.
Once a baseball junkie, always a baseball junkie, though. After the 2019 season, Chris decided to make a “semi-comeback”. He throws with his youngest brother, Chad, and works out in hopes of getting the call.
“My dad told me, ‘maybe you throw 95, maybe you don’t,” he said. “I just love competing. This time it’s more laid-back, though.”
