2008 Woodie Awards
Monarch Pitches without Distractions
Hearing-impaired Chris Zakosek was one of the best pitchers on the Monarchs' beleaguered staff.
Sam Hahn
Issue date: 5/26/04 Section: Sports
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"Chris, hey Chris, damn ...Chris!" yell teammates Phil Rivers and Ryan Goodman. After failing to get his attention, the two players walk away.
Shortstop Abel Pulido sneaks up next to him and yells "Hey Chris! How are you!"
Smiling, Zakosek turns to Pulido and playfully embraces him. "Hey bro..." exclaims Zakosek. "How are you?"
What his own team forgets is that Zakosek (who is transferring to CSUN next fall) is hard of hearing. Literally. "I've lost a lot of my hearing over the years," Zakosek explains.
"When I was three years old, I had a swimming accident," recalls Zakosek, who wears a hearing aid in both ears. "I was under the water for over a minute and was halfway between drowning and brain damage. After the accident, I started losing my hearing."
Zakosek's mother, Cori, explains how their family didn't see the loss of hearing as a handicap. "Our family raised him like a normal child," says Cori. "We didn't want Chris to be left out of anything."
Having played baseball since he was seven, Zakosek doesn't think his loss of hearing affects him on the field. "There's really no difference. I have no problem on the field with my teammates," he says. "I didn't even learn sign language till I was in high school."
Zakosek, an electrical engineering major, pitched the Monarchs to their only win this season, against first place Mission College, and finished the season with a 1-8 record in 12 starts and had a 5.66 conference ERA. While obviously not a great number, he was a full two runs below Valley's team ERA (7.96).
And he has only been pitching for two years.
"I was a catcher all throughout high school," says Zakosek, "and last year [at Pasadena] the coach moved me over to pitch because he couldn't deal with me behind the plate."
"Chris was a great catcher here," explain Granada Hills High School coach Jesse Carranza. "I had no problems working with him while he played here." Carranza adds that Zakosek is still one of the most underrated catchers in the city.
