By Max Kornstein ’14, Athletic Communications Intern
Playing any sport can at times feel a bit overwhelming. Now imagine playing two sports, at the collegiate level, for four consecutive years. This is exactly what Dan Zipkin did.
Zipkin was a dual-sport student athlete during his undergraduate tenure at the State University of New York at New Paltz from 1963-67. He was a member of both the men’s soccer and baseball teams. On the pitch,
Zipkin was a starter, moving from forward, halfback and fullback throughout his career. On the diamond, Zipkin was a standout pitcher for the Hawks.
Zipkin was a member of the 1965 men’s soccer team that captured the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championship and he also competed in two NCAA Championships. In 1965, the men’s soccer team also won the Atlantic Coast Regional Championship.
“I remember practicing for the championships back in 1965 on a field with no lights,” recalls Zipkin. “The field was covered with snow, and we had cars’ headlights pointed on the field so we could see.”
Aside from one SUNYAC Championship and two runs in the NCAA Tournament, Zipkin has a fond memory of one particular game.
“The most memorable game I ever played in was on November 26, 1963,” states Zipkin. The Hawks were in Medford, Massachusetts that day playing in a tournament at Tufts University. The game was stopped abruptly at halftime due to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. “I will remember this game for the rest of my life,” says Zipkin.
On the mound, Zipkin was an excellent pitcher. He was named All-SUNYAC in 1965 and 1967. Zipkin also led the SUNYAC in strikeouts in both his junior and senior seasons (1966 and 1967). In his sophomore season, Zipkin established the New Paltz record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game with 18, a record that stood for four decades before being broken by Chris Chismar in 2010.
“It was a lot of fun to be able to strike out that many batters,” says Zipkin. “My catcher, Rich Marazzi, didn’t know the strikeout rule and dropped the third strike against one of the batters - he threw to third, but the guy was safe at first base.”
Since this counted as strikeout, but did not technically count as an out on the stat sheet, Zipkin still had to get three outs to end the inning. Zipkin struck out three more batters that inning and was credited with a four-strikeout frame, which enabled him to break the record at the time.
In fact, Zipkin still holds many New Paltz single-season baseball records. He set program records in strikeouts (90), earned run average (1.76) and opponents’ batting average (.153) in 1965, all of which still hold today.
After graduating in 1967, Zipkin went on to receive two master’s degrees. First, he earned a master’s in psychology from Springfield College and then a master’s in hospital administration from Columbia University. After earning his latter degree, Zipkin worked in New York for 18 years in hospital administration.
Zipkin next moved to California to join another former New Paltz alum, Ed Savarese, to start a computer company. He stayed there until the 1990s, when he finally moved to Florida so that his son could grow up with his grandparents. Florida is where Zipkin currently resides and although retired, works as a health care consultant.
Due to both Zipkin’s individual and team successes as a Hawk, he has been inducted into the New Paltz Athletics Hall of Fame twice. In 1993, he was inducted for his individual accomplishments as both a baseball and soccer player. Then, in 2008, as a member of the 1965 men’s soccer team inducted as a whole for its accomplishments.
“It was a great honor to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as an individual to join several of my former teammates and my coach who had preceded me, and then as a member of my entire team,” states Zipkin.
Zipkin is very grateful for all of his accomplishments at New Paltz. He believes that he still uses everything he learned as a student-athlete in his current life.
“In all the management positions I’ve had, I use what I learned as a pitcher,” Zipkin explains. “You need to be very analytical of everything going on and be especially honest with yourself. You need to know what your opponents, your teammates and especially what you can and can’t do.”
