Outfielder Studies History--and Makes More Than His Share for Loyola

Travis Tarchione can tell you all about wars and vendettas and revolutions.

He can talk at length about villainous kingmakers and medieval power plays and the excesses of the French regent Louis XIV. And he can describe the travels of Francis of Assisi and the early Catholic saints and martyrs.

And he can also get you a base hit every once in a while.

Tarchione, Loyola Marymount’s star senior outfielder, boasts a pair of impressive averages--batting (.363) and grade point (3.48).

At about the same time this spring that Tarchione was terrorizing the pitchers of the West Coast Athletic Assn. with his torrid hitting, the administrators at Loyola Marymount decided to name him the school’s male student athlete of the year.

“It was quite an honor,” said Tarchione, 21, who graduated Saturday with a bachelor’s degree in history. “I’ve never thought of myself in those kind of terms--as a someone-of-the-year. It was a real blessing.”

It was a well-earned honor. In December, just before the start of his senior season, Tarchione wrote a 25-page academic tour de force on Benedictine and Celtic monks for his medieval history seminar to wrap up the requirements for his history degree. He’s graduating in four years--a rarity in college for a star athlete.

“It took a lot of discipline to hit the books so much,” Tarchione said. “But you had to separate the two. When you’re in class, you’re taking care of business. And when you’re on the baseball field, that’s your release--now you’re having a good time.”

Tarchione has written some history of his own on Loyola’s baseball field. His 261 career hits are second in the school’s annals only to Billy Bean’s 290--and Tarchione had only 37 at-bats as a freshman in 1986 as a reserve behind Bean. Tarchione’s career batting average at Loyola is a brilliant .372.

This season, Tarchione batted third and anchored the heart of Loyola’s lineup, hitting ahead of third baseman Rick Allen (.332, 11 home runs) and catcher Miah Bradbury (.409). Tarchione hit eight home runs (tied for second on the team with Brian Turang) and drove in 50 runs (second to Allen’s 59).

Tarchione and his Loyola teammates will find out by May 22 whether they will continue with baseball this spring. That’s the date when the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee announces the 48 college teams advancing to the NCAA Regionals for a chance to compete in the College World Series.

The Lions (37-22) won 36 of their last 51 games to finish second behind Pepperdine for the WCAA championship. Loyola seems a likely bet for an at-large bid to the Regionals, but in the meantime, the team is practicing and waiting for the word.

“It’s kind of a nervous time,” Tarchione said. “I want one more shot at the Regionals, just to see how far we could go. I think we’re very deserving of a bid. I’d be crushed if we didn’t get one.”

Last year, the Lions were knocked out of the Midwest Regional by Oklahoma State. Loyola made it to the College World Series in 1986, but Tarchione was a freshman reserve.

“I was on the team in Omaha, but I wasn’t a regular starter,” Tarchione said. “I wasn’t an intimate piece of the puzzle.”

Tarchione, then a highly touted recruit from Los Alamitos High School, sat on the bench most of that year and watched in awe as Bean--now a minor leaguer in the Detroit Tigers organization--collected all the hits.

“I used to think I’d never get a chance to play because these guys were so much better than me,” Tarchione said. “But then as I got older I started putting up numbers like the other guys.”

In 1987, in his first year as a full-time player, Tarchione hit .377 and drove in 48 runs. He really blossomed last year, however, when he hit .385 with 66 RBIs and collected 102 hits--the second-highest total in school history.

Tarchione was skipped over by the professional scouts as a high school player. He’ll likely be a high pick in the coming June draft, however, despite the fact that some scouts give Tarchione low marks for defense.

Tarchione didn’t let the pressure of the scouts bother him. “It could really affect your game if you thought you had to get a hit every time to impress scout so-and-so,” he said. “If you just go out and play hard, the scouts have ample things to see.”

Tarchione isn’t putting all his eggs in one basket, though. He’ll have his degree in history, and if he’s ignored in the draft this time around he’ll go back to school to get his teaching credential. There’s a historian lurking somewhere behind Tarchione’s baseball uniform, and some day he would like to teach history in college or high school.

“Reading history has always been like reading fascinating stories for me,” Tarchione said. “All the people and politics. It would be neat to teach it.”

Tarchione specializes in medieval history and wants to shoot for a master’s degree in European history.

“There weren’t too many nice people in the power spots in those days,” he said. “They manipulated so many people for personal reasons. They made a lot of mistakes, but in some cases, any path they may have taken, something bad might have come of it. The fascinating thing about history is that those powerful people had the same problems as anyone else--it was just the way they dealt with them that was different.”