A Couple of Classy Guys

Harvard's Mike Stenhouse and Columbia's Mike Wilhite currently reign as the sultans of swat in the Ivy League and in a few years both might lord over an outfield satrapy in a big league ballpark.

In yesterday's 3-1 Crimson win over the Lions both Wilhite and Stenhouse bashed rbi triples, with Stenhouse's blast proving the game winner.

Stenhouse, who is only a sophomore, batted a hefty .475 last year while manning second base and was selected as a second team baseball All-American. This year he became hegemon over the left field of the Soldiers Field diamond.

When you dial Columbia student information and ask for Mike Wilhite's number, the operator responds, "Sure, I'll give you Mike's number." After his four years of eclipsing practically every slugging record on the Columbia books, the operators know "Hite's" number by heart.

The credentials of Stenhouse and Wilhite are remarkably similar. In addition to their high falutin averages, both sluggers spend the winters as playmaking guards on their basketball quintets. Stenhouse was delighted just to earn a berth on Frank McLaughlin's squad, but by the season's end he was a vital cog in the team. Wilhite came off the bench to galvanize the Lions' offense the past two years and scored a career high 27 points against Brown this season.

As for the transition from basketball to the outfield, both miss early spring practices but Wilhite says, "I think it's mostly a mental thing. You have to take your games out of the gym and put it out on the field." Stenhouse adds that Crimson coach Loyal Park "likes two-sport athletes" because "I'm already in shape when I come out for baseball."

For both Wilhite and Stenhouse baseball is a consuming passion and basketball is an enjoyable hobby. Wilhite was tantalizingly close to going to USC to hone his baseball skills, but Columbia offered him the chance to play both sports.

No one logs more hours in the batting cage than Stenhouse. His low key demeanor belies his flamboyant brinksmanship at the plate. Harvard pitcher Steve Baloff calls him "sudden Sten" because "I'll be quiet and then I'll rip one."

Wilhite batted .448 last season, has a .361 career batting average, and corrals just about everything in sight in his Morningside Heights bailiwick. "He's got all the tools," Stenhouse says of his eminence grise at Baker field.

Wilhite currently holds four Columbia career records. When he poled his eighth homer of the season in a 9-0 rout of St. John's he shattered the season record of seven set 65 years ago by a sophomore named Lou Gehrig. Sixty years from now Wilhite's glove may usurp the place presently occupied by Gehrig's dog-eared mitt, which is enshrined in Columbia's Butter Library.

"Hite" also acquired a second sobriquet at Columbia. His teammates now all call him "Sugar."

"Last year we were playing Fairfield," Wilhite recounts. "After the game I was taking extra batting practice in the cage and my girlfriend walked over and said really loud, 'How are you hitting, sugar?' The guys on the team picked it up."

Both Stenhouse and Wilhite hope to play in the big leagues one day. Wilhite is a bluechip pro prospect this year and is looking forward to being drafted.

Stenhouse's father, David Stenhouse, pitched for the Washinton Senators from 1962 to 1965. As a rookie he pitched in one of the two All-Star games held in 1962. The elder Stenhouse still keeps tuned into the big league scouting grapevine. "He loved it when he was up there," says the younger Stenhouse, "so it's always been one of my dreams to play in the majors."

Meanwhile, Mike Stenhouse and Mike Wilhite will continue to perform Ruthian feats in the Ivy League and dream of the days of wine and roses in the dugout.