Ram Report

Handke drafted by Dodgers

Senior Chris Handke wasn’t the most likely Cornellian to play professional baseball. Until he was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers, that is.

Selected in the 41st round of Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft, Handke had only pitched in a handful of games, and is best known on campus for helping lead the men’s basketball team to the IIAC tournament title as a second-team all-IIAC center.

Still, his height—Handke is 6’11″—and his velocity, which tops out around 93 mph, attracted scouts who saw raw potential in the right-handed pitcher.

Handke spent the summer pitching for the Dodgers’ Rookie League team in Arizona, where he gave up two earned runs in 1.1 innings of work. He returned to Cornell this year to graduate and finish out his last season of basketball.

Steinberg wins gold at Transplant Games

Nearly six years ago a kidney from Ryan Justis ’99 saved the life of his friend and Cornell teammate Jim Steinberg ’99. Now fully recovered from his ordeal, Steinberg can list another feat: gold medalist and world record holder.

Steinberg was one of 83 athletes representing the United States at the World Transplant Games this past summer in Queensland, Australia, an Olympic-style event featuring athletes from all over the world who have had their lives saved by an organ donation.

The games feature Olympic-level talent in many events and divide competitors by age groups. Steinberg competed in the 100m dash, 400m run, long jump, discus, shot put, and 4×400 relay for the 30–39 year-old division. Bettering his performance at the United States Transplant Games the previous summer, Steinberg took gold in the discus and the shot put. Along the way to the medal stand he beat the 2007 shot put gold medal winner from Greece by 18 inches and won the discus by 30 feet, setting a new record.