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Article published Apr
19, 2006
DWC’s Shanahan holding
out hope of playing professional baseball
By Tom King
Telegraph Staff
 NASHUA
– Chris Shanahan’s chance may come on April 21, when the Nashua Pride
holds a positional player tryout. Or, it may happen at the end of the
month at an independent league tryout in Connecticut.
Whenever, this is his window of opportunity, and it has a slimmest of
openings. Not only does Shanahan catch and hit – and hit well – in
relative anonymity at Daniel Webster College, he’ll be 27 years old in
May. Pro scouts from affiliated baseball simply aren’t going to take a
chance on that.
The Pride took a chance on a Division III hit machine out of New Jersey
in 1998 named Frank Beckhorn, who got some much-needed publicity in
Sports Illustrated for his college exploits. He had a serviceable career
with the Pride, and can always say he played professional baseball.
Could the same thing happen for Shanahan?
“I’ve always thought about it,” the Tyngsborough, Mass., resident said.
“My body’s a little bit older. I’m sure it (deters scouts). . . . But
I’d played anywhere, really. I want to do it until my body can’t do it
anymore.”
The Eagles senior is currently hitting .538, certainly among the
conference and Division III national leaders. By the time the season
ends, Shanahan should be the school’s all-time leader in just about
every offensive category. He’s probably the most celebrated Eagles
player since the speedy Steve Cox, who was one of the nation’s leaders
in Shanahan should be the school’s all-time leader in just about every
offensive category.
“He’s always been a good hitter,” DWC head coach Jim Cardello said. “But
he’s never been this spectacular. I don’t care what level it is, you’ve
got to take notice when you see a guy hit the way he’s hit. . . . It’s
the best swing I’ve ever coached.”
“Unless the numbers are phenomenal, people aren’t going to pay
attention,” DWC athletic director John Griffith said. “That’s the
difficult thing. Our baseball program is no different than Plymouth
State. They get great players, but no one pays attention to them. It’s
New Hampshire, it’s Division III.
“The other battle is, the baseball season has shrunk. Games get squeezed
in, and a lot of scouts, before they take notice, the season’s over.”
“Even if that’s the case,” Cardello said, “You go to any league and
there’s not even a handful of kids hitting over. 500. He definitely
deserves a shot to play at another level. I sent out letters to scouts
last year to have them come look at a pitcher who graduated, Sean
Lennon, and Chris. Sean is building houses now.
“I don’t blame scouts for not wanting to put time into our program, but
. . .”
Perhaps the fact that he’s about four years older than the average Great
Northeast Athletic Conference pitcher trying to get him out is another
of the reasons the 5-foot-9, 185-pound Shanahan has excelled this year.
After he graduated from Tyngsborough High School, he attended Northern
Essex Community College in Haverhill, Mass., but played only during the
fall season, then left after a year at the school.
“I went to work for a couple of years, trying to figure out what I
wanted to do,” said Shanahan, a sports management major. “One of my
friends went here, told me to check it out, and that’s what I did. A
little unorthodox, but I had to do it the way I got it done.”
“I don’t think it’s the age that makes him dominate,” Cardello said,
“It’s the fact that he works hard at it. I think he’s a natural hitter,
he studies the game, he knows how to hit. That’s the bottom line. You
can do that if you’re 16, you can do that if you’re 26.
“I mean, there’s some sense of maturity. It doesn’t necessarily make you
a better hitter by being older; you can understand being more
disciplined at the plate a little bit more, which goes hand-in-hand with
the average.”
If he doesn’t make an independent pro team, he’d likely end up playing
for an older amateur team like the Chelmsford (Mass.) Merchants. But
he’s always had bigger aspirations. In his senior year in high school he
hit .604.
“I always think about it,” Shanahan said. “There was a time when a
Braves scout came out to see a kid when I was a junior, then he came
back (to see Shanahan). But it was always the same thing, ‘He’s too
small.’ I was a good hitter, but I didn’t have all the tools they were
looking for.”
But the independent circuit might be perfect for him, where he could
continue playing in front of bigger crowds and perhaps more scouts.
“I think something like the (Canadian-American Association of
Professional Baseball) is perfect for him,” Cardello said. “He hits the
ball. I think this kid definitely deserves an opportunity to show he can
hit at the next level. He’s doing it versus Suffolk, Western New
England, some of the better teams in our conference.”
If he doesn’t garner interest from the Pride, Shanahan says he might try
out for the Brockton Rox. But there’s no denying the success he’s had
his senior year. Shortchanged power-wise, he has taken advantage of the
gap-friendly confines of the Eagles field, which is 420 to dead center,
330 down each line and 375-380 feet in the gaps. There’s no question the
ball has flown off his bat.
If baseball doesn’t work out, Shanahan says he’ll pursue a career in
college athletics as a coach or an administrator.
But Cardello holds out hope that Shanahan will be paid to play by
someone this summer. When he worked for the Pride, he remembers talking
with former Red Sox minor leaguer and Pride outfielder David Hulse, who
played for Schreiner College, a small school in Kerrville, Texas.
“I asked him how scouts found him, and he said, ‘It doesn’t matter
whether you play for a big school or a small school,’ ” Cardello said. “
‘If you can hit, they’re going to notice you.’ ”
Chris Shanahan hopes that’s true.
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