Garrett Wittels

His parents are Lishka Wittels (a member of the Jewish-Cuban community, and a descendant of Turkish Jews) and Michael Wittels, an orthopedic surgeon, and he has three siblings.{{cite web |author=Morrissey |first=Siobhan |date=August 8, 2012 |title=Where have you gone, Garrett Wittels?; The shortstop's epic hitting streak once thrilled MLB, until his epic fall |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/7712963/garrett-wittels-epic-hitting-streak-epic-fall-espn-magazine |access-date=March 19, 2014 |website=ESPN}}{{cite web|url=http://www.jta.org/2010/07/06/life-religion/dimaggio-koufax-wittels-jewish-batsman-eyes-college-streak|title=DiMaggio. Koufax. Wittels — Jewish batsman eyes college streak|author=Jacob Berkman|date=July 6, 2010|work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}} He is from Bay Harbor Islands, Florida{{cite web|url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-garrett-wittels-cleared-to-play-pending-rape-charge-021611-story.html|author=Adam Beasley|title=Garrett Wittels: FIU baseball player cleared to play despite rape charge|date=February 16, 2011|work=Sun Sentinel}} and is Jewish.{{cite magazine|title=Sports Shorts|journal=Jewish Sports Review| date=September 2011| volume=8|issue=87|page=17}} When he was eight years old, his father put a batting cage in their home's backyard.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.si.com/more-sports/2010/06/03/wittels-streak|title=The hits keep coming for FIU's Wittles|author=Joe Lemire|date=June 3, 2010|magazine=Sports Illustrated}} He attended Jewish day school until middle school.

Wittels attended Dr. Michael Krop High School.{{cite web|url=http://tkt.xosn.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=11700&ATCLID=1627104|title=# 10 Garrett Wittels Bio|work=FIU Panthers|accessdate=November 8, 2014}} There, he was Miami Herald Third Team All-Miami Dade in 2006 and 2007, and Second Team All-Miami Dade in 2008. As a senior, he batted .420, with six home runs and 29 RBIs.

Wittels played college baseball for the Florida International University Golden Panthers in Miami, Florida. He was an infielder, playing mainly shortstop but also third base and second base, and a relief pitcher.

Wittels finished the 2010 season, his sophomore year, with a 56-game hitting streak; the same number of games as Joe DiMaggio had in his major-league-record 1941 streak.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/sports/baseball/03streak.html?_r=0|title=Hitting Streak Lifts Shadows Over a Campus| date=June 2, 2010 |author= Karen Crouse|work=The New York Times}}{{cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/college-sports/news/story?id=5255104|title=Florida International's Garrett Wittels pulls within 2 of longest hit streak in FIU loss| date=June 6, 2010 |work=ESPN}} He finished two hits shy of Robin Ventura's 58-game streak in 1987 (then, as a sophomore with Oklahoma State University), the Division I record. During the streak, he wore the same items of clothing for each game (though he washed them), and did not cut his hair. He chewed the same brand of Bubblicious Watermelon bubble gum every game. Before each game he got down on one knee in the outfield to say the shema, a Jewish prayer.{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704025304575284561924633970|title=Florida International's Wittels Chases Hit Record |author=Mike Sielski|date=June 4, 2010|work=Wall Street Journal}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/sports/baseball/13wittels.html|title=Hitting Streak on Hold as Hair Grows On| date=June 12, 2010 |work=The New York Times}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/sports/FIU-Infielder-Claims--94581964.html|title=FIU Infielder Bags Berth on NCAA's All-Time Hit List; Panther Garret Wittels will attempt to tie the NCAA's 2nd-place hitting streak tonight|author=Janie Campbell|date=May 21, 2010|work=NBC 6 South Florida}}

Wittels was nominated for the Best Male College Athlete ESPY Award for his 2010 performance, won Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year honors, was named to the All-Sun Belt Conference baseball tournament Team, and led FIU to a Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament championship. U.S. Congressman Lincoln Díaz-Balart of Florida honored him with laudatory mention in the United States House of Representatives.{{cite web|url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2010-06-09/html/CREC-2010-06-09-pt1-PgE1055.htm |author= Lincoln Díaz-Balart |author-link= Lincoln Díaz-Balart |title=Honoring Garrett Wittels of FIU for Extending his Hitting Streak to 56 Games|date= June 9, 2010|publisher=Congressional Record, Volume 156 Issue 86}} Sports Illustrated writer Joe Lemire called him: "Arguably the most famous player in Div. 1 baseball".

He batted a league-leading .412, setting the FIU season record with a league-leading 100 hits, and leading the team in doubles (21; third in the league) and RBIs (60).{{cite web|url=http://m.mlb.com/news/article/16681852/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108191100/http://m.mlb.com/news/article/16681852/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 8, 2014|title=College player's hitting streak halted at 56|author=Sunil Joshi|date= February 18, 2011|work=Major League Baseball}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?P=garrett-wittels&Page=Leaders |title=Major Leaguers |publisher=The Baseball Cube |accessdate=2020-02-07}} He wore number 10.

Prior to the 2011 season, Wittels was named a Louisville Slugger/TPX Preseason All-American (third base, first team), as well as an All-American by PING! Baseball (utility, first team), the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) (second base, second team), American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings (utility, second team), and Baseball America (second base, third team).

Under NCAA rules, his streak would have continued had he kept it going into the 2011 season.{{cite web|url=http://www.silive.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/05/garrett_wittels_ncaa_baseball.html|title=Garrett Wittels NCAA baseball hit streak reaches 50 games on Thursday|date=May 27, 2010|work=SILive.com}} The streak ended when Wittels went 0 for 4 in the 2011 season opener. Of all major league and NCAA Division 1 hitters, only Ventura and DiMaggio have ever had as long a hitting streak.{{cite web|url=http://miamiherald.typepad.com/fiusports/2010/05/jkdhfdkjfhdj.html|title=Why GW is Sun Belt Player of the Year|date= May 2010 |publisher=FIU Panthers Prowl}} In 2011, Wittels batted .345.{{cite web|url=http://news.fiu.edu/2011/07/garrett-wittels-signs-with-the-st-louis-cardinals/28677|title=Garrett Wittels signs with the St. Louis Cardinals|date= July 5, 2011| author= Sissi Aguila | work=FIU News}}

He finished his FIU career hitting .352 with 7 home runs and 116 RBIs over the course of three seasons.Jacob Berkman (July 13, 2010). [http://www.jpost.com/Sports/Article.aspx?id=181264 "Jews in Sports: From DiMaggio to Wittels"], The Jerusalem Post

On December 27, 2010, Wittels and two friends were falsely accused of raping a 17-year-old girl at the Nassau, Bahamas' Atlantis Resort and Casino.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-sports/news/story?id=5960140 |title=Garrett Wittels of FIU arrested, charged with rape in Bahamas |publisher=ESPN |date=December 27, 2010 |access-date=April 12, 2013}}{{cite news|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/college/baseball/2011-06-20-garrett-wittels-rape-charges-dropped_n.htm |title=Bahamas drops rape charges against FIU's Garrett Wittels |work=USA Today|date=June 20, 2011 |accessdate=November 5, 2013}} Florida International University said in February 2011 that it would not suspend him on the basis of the pending rape charge.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/16/AR2011021605945.html|title=Florida International's Garrett Wittels will pursue NCAA baseball record under cloud of suspicion|author=Amy Shipley|newspaper=Washington Post|date=February 19, 2011}}

The charges were dropped by the Bahamian attorney general on June 20, 2011, after evidence pointed to an elaborate plot by the father of one of the girls to extort money from the Atlantis.{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/20/garrett-wittels-rape-charges-dropped_n_880764.html |title=Garrett Wittels Rape Charges Dropped: FIU Baseball Star Cleared (Video) |work=Huffington Post|date= June 20, 2011|accessdate=November 5, 2013 |first=Michael |last=Klopman}}{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-sports/news/story?id=6680616 |title=Bahamas drops rape charges against FIU's Garrett Wittels |publisher=ESPN |date=June 20, 2011 |access-date=April 12, 2013}} The Huffington Post reported that security camera footage did not support the women's version of events. Wittels' attorney said the accusations stemmed from an apparent attempt to extort money from the Atlantis resort.

After his junior year of college, he signed with the Cardinals on July 2, 2011, and began playing for the Batavia Muckdogs of the New York–Penn League. With them, Wittels finished the 2011 season hitting .262 with 8 doubles, a triple, and 13 RBIs, and had a 14-game hitting streak (tied for 6th-longest in the league).{{cite web|url=http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=SS&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=607113 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111123531/http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=SS&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=607113 |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 11, 2011 |title=Garrett Wittels Stats, Bio, Photos, Highlights |publisher=Minor League Baseball |access-date=April 12, 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=6345270 |title=Garrett Wittels; 2012 Memphis Roster|publisher=Scout.com |accessdate=November 9, 2013}}

In 2012, Wittels played for the Batavia Muckdogs (NYPL; A-), Quad Cities River Bandits (Midwest League; A), Springfield Cardinals (Texas League; AA), and Memphis Redbirds (Pacific Coast League; AAA), batting a combined .243.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=wittel000gar |title=Garrett Wittels Minor League Statistics & History |website=Baseball-Reference.com |accessdate=March 19, 2014}} The Cardinals released him on October 9, 2012,{{cite web|url=http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?P=garrett-wittels&Page=Tranx |title=Major Leaguers |publisher=The Baseball Cube |accessdate=2020-02-07}} re-signed him the following February.[http://stlcardinals.scout.com/a.z?s=321&p=2&c=1277768&ssf=1&RequestedURL=http%3a%2f%2fstlcardinals.scout.com%2f2%2f1277768.html Another five Cards minor leaguers released] Scout.com

{{Reflist|2}}

{{Baseballstats|brm=wittel000gar|fangraphs=sa601249&}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101230234931/http://www.fiusports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=11700&ATCLID=1627104 Bio at FIUSports.com]
• [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/31/sports/baseball/31sportsbriefs-wittels.html AP article about hitting streak]

{{Sun Belt Conference Baseball Player of the Year navbox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittels, Garrett}}

Category:1990 births

Category:Living people

Category:American people of Cuban-Jewish descent

Category:American people of Turkish-Jewish descent

Category:Baseball infielders

Category:Baseball players from Miami-Dade County, Florida

Category:Batavia Muckdogs players

Category:Jewish American baseball players

Category:FIU Panthers baseball players

Category:Memphis Redbirds players

Category:People from Bay Harbor Islands, Florida

Category:Quad Cities River Bandits players

Category:Springfield Cardinals players

Category:21st-century American Jews