[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10376]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




HONORING GARRETT WITTELS OF FIU FOR EXTENDING HIS HITTING STREAK TO 56 
                                 GAMES

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 9, 2010

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor 
Garrett Wittels of Florida International University, FIU, who has 
extended his hitting streak to an astonishing 56 consecutive games.
  Garrett has been a standout student-athlete since his days at Dr. 
Michael Krop Senior High School in Miami, Florida. While there, he made 
the Miami Herald's All-Miami-Dade teams from 2006 to 2008, was selected 
as team MVP his sophomore and senior seasons and posted a .420 average 
with six home runs and 29 RBI's during his senior campaign. He was 
recruited by the University of Miami, North Carolina State, and 
Louisville, but he chose to attend FIU, Miami's first and only four-
year public research university. With a student body of nearly 40,000, 
FIU is one of the 25 largest universities in the nation.
  While he began his collegiate baseball career with moderate success, 
he is now headlining sports pages and captivating the nation with his 
amazing feat. As FIU battled to stay alive in the NCAA Regionals of the 
College World Series, Garrett extended his hitting streak to 56-
consecutive games; a streak which began on February 19, 2010. This 
matches the Major League Baseball record held by Yankee great and Hall 
of Famer, Joe DiMaggio, who hit in 56-straight games in 1941. The only 
other person with a longer streak in college than Garrett is the all-
time Division I record holder, Robin Ventura of Oklahoma State 
University, who hit safely in 58-consecutive games in 1987.
  Garrett helped lead FIU to the Sun Belt Conference Championship and a 
berth in the NCAA Regionals. Garrett had 100 hits in 2010, which set 
the single-season record for FIU; he was selected as the 2010 Sun Belt 
Conference Baseball Player of the Year; and was named to the Louisville 
Slugger All-American Baseball Team (first team).
  While he is showing the nation that he can excel on the diamond, less 
attention is being focused on his achievements off of it. He has made 
the Academic Honor roll as he works towards his degree in Sports 
Management. He shows us that he is as dedicated to hitting the books as 
to hitting line-drives. He is a true scholar-athlete and a fine example 
for other young athletes to emulate.
  Unfortunately, we'll have to wait till next season to see if Garrett 
can continue his streak. But I'd like to take the time to congratulate 
Garrett Wittels, his family, his teammates, and the entire FIU 
community, for being one step closer to baseball immortality. We all 
look forward to the start of FIU's 2011 baseball season and Garrett's 
pursuit of the record.

                          ____________________