Tino Malave stretches to make a catch during a game this season. (Photo by Nancy McManimon.)
The date was July 14, the site was Gilder Field and the game was one of the most important regular-season contests played by Broad Street Park Post 313 in over two decades.
Broad Street needed to defeat host Bordentown in order to force a playoff game with Hamilton the next night to determine the Mercer County American Legion League champion. Due to various reasons, BSP showed up with nine players and had full-time pitchers playing second base and right field.
It didn’t look promising, until Tino Malave did what he does best. Malave led off the game by blasting a double, and, one out later, scored on an RBI single to ignite a two-run first that sparked the squad. BSP went on to take a 3-1 victory. The following night BSP became co-champions, when its game against Hamilton Post 31 was rained out.
The game was typical of Malave’s remarkable summer 2015. A second baseman by trade, he also played shortstop in that game and handled four chances flawlessly.
“I was lucky to get him back this year,” manager Mike Petrowski said. “We weren’t sure if he was going to play this summer. Thank God he did. He’s hands-down the best second baseman in the league and maybe the MVP. I don’t know if he has any errors this year. He’s batting close to .400. He doesn’t say a word. I’ve never had any problems with him. He comes to every single game. He’s an aggressive leadoff hitter. He’s not a loud, rah rah guy. He leads by example. He’s always been one of my favorite players.”
What made Malave’s Legion season so impressive is that he had not played any competitive baseball since the end of last Legion season. Malave graduated from Hamilton in 2014 and attended Mercer, but decided not to play baseball for the Vikings’ nationally ranked team in order to concentrate on the classroom.
“I wanted to focus on my grades,” he said. “My grades aren’t good sometimes and that’s what I needed to focus on. I might play this year, but I’m not sure yet.”
Sitting on the sidelines was not easy for Malave, as former high school and Babe Ruth teammates like Brandon Kirk, Dave Osnato and Eddie Ashley took the field for Mercer.
“I missed it a lot,” he said. “As soon as the first pitches come around and you hear about your friends playing, you feel like you miss it. Those are the people you played with all your life. I went to a couple of games, and it was tough to watch. That’s why I wanted to come back this summer. As soon as Legion came around, I was ready to go.”
The question that loomed was how effective he could be after not hitting against live pitching for 10 months. Malave went to batting cages and hit off the tee, but there is no substitute for going against a pitcher who is actually trying to get you out. Turns out there was no need for concern.
“I didn’t think I would do this good,” Malave said. “I thought it would take a while. With any sport, you’ve always gotta get in the rhythm. You’ve got to see the pitchers, get your stride down. All that stuff.”
Petrowski had similar doubts at first.
“As soon as he came out to practice for batting practice, he didn’t miss a beat,” he said. “He came out smoking balls. He is one of those kids who can roll out of bed and play. He’s hands-down the best second baseman I’ve seen in a few years. To do what he’s done without playing baseball for almost a year is impressive.”
As it turned out, there was a positive side to Malave sitting out the spring season. The burnout that sometimes hits American Legion players, who have been playing since March, wasn’t a factor.
“It had more of a different feel,” Malave said. “Usually playing in the spring and then in the summer, I get worn out. I felt coming in this summer I was very fresh, it was more exciting for me because I didn’t play for a while. I was rejuvenated. And I did some power lifting too, so my power has been up a little.”
Hitting is only part of the Malave equation. He is a magician with the glove, as he has great range at second base, is able to turn the double play, makes all the routine plays and, on numerous occasions, makes some dazzlers.
One of the biggest came when Cole McManimon pitched a five-inning no-hitter at Princeton. It appeared the gem would be ruined in the fifth on a fierce line drive, but Malave scaled the skies to grab it in his webbing.
“That felt so great,” Malave said. “Cole is having a heck of a season. In that game, it’s one of those things where you’re antsy to get that final out. As soon as I saw that ball was hit, I knew I had to get the ball for Cole.”
It was another Malave Masterpiece.
“No one else comes close to making that play,” Petrowski said. “He made a snow cone catch. He does that countless times in big situations, where he makes plays like that. I’ve seen him since his sophomore year, and I can’t remember him ever missing a routine ground ball. Our team ERA is amazing and a lot of it has to do with him.”
Malave takes great pride in his fielding, as he takes more ground balls than swings in his backyard.
But there is no doubt that the most exciting part of his game is his baserunning—because nobody ever knows what they might see from Malave.
“He’s aggressive on the base paths and when guys are aggressive, I’ll take the good over the bad,” Petrowski said. “There are some games he’ll be out by 15 feet, but there are games where you think it’s a single and he’ll make it a double. There was a game against Trenton when he jumped over the catcher and landed flat on his face. I’ll never take away from a guy’s aggressiveness. I don’t want them being afraid to make mistakes.”
Malave enjoys bringing energy to the team with his baserunning, noting “sometimes you just need to be a little daring. I like to test kids’ arms. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t.”
And sometimes, it’s just plain funny. Early in theLegion season, Malave stole second base easily. Then, to the amazement of all in attendance, he got up and started trotting back to first and was tagged out.
Malave can laugh about it now, but wanted to hide in the dugout for the rest of the game at the time.
“I’m halfway down to second, and I could have sworn I heard a foul tip,” he said. “I was pretty sure it was a foul, so I just started running back to first and they tagged me out. I was so bone-headed. That was terrible.”
But it’s all part of the package that Petrowski loves so much, as the good far outweighs the bad. In fact, over the final two weeks of the season with the league title hanging in the balance and BSP short of players, the manager said, “Tino just put us on his back and carried us through the hardest part of our schedule.
“He can flat out play somewhere in college if he ever decides what he wants to do.”
Malave has not ruled out trying to play at Mercer in the fall.
“Baseball is my passion,” he said. “It’s the one thing I have the most fun in, going out on the field with my friends and playing. This spring, it just wasn’t feeling right, not playing.”
But he more than made up for it.
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