Hall of Fame Series: Baseball’s Darwin Hernandez, BS ’98, MSCJ ’02

Hall of Fame Series: Baseball’s Darwin Hernandez, BS ’98, MSCJ ’02
Posted: Sep 22, 2022

BOSTON – Over the next few weeks, GoSuffolkRams.com will take a look at the student-athletes, special honoree and team to be inducted into the Suffolk University Athletics Hall of Fame this October. The next installment features one of the greatest performers at the plate for Suffolk baseball, Darwin Hernandez, BS ’98, MSCJ ’02.

Suffolk’s baseball culture shifted in the late 80s and 90s and Hernandez was a main point of conversation in the turn. 

From the get-go he was a threat in the field and at the plate. The Dorchester, Massachusetts, product, provided 25 hits, including seven doubles and one jack, on a .304 hitting clip as a freshman in 1993.  

There was no sophomore slump a year later; Hernandez number’s improved in every category, but it was the 1995 campaign when he truly cemented himself as an all-time Suffolk great.  

Many say without Hernandez, the ’95 squad, which was the most successful team in the Rams’ record books to date, would be lost. The heavy-hitting junior was a crucial cog to the Rams 26-11 record that eclipsed the program-record 21 triumphs set three years prior. The left fielder hit .421 and barreled 10 balls out of the park en route to Division III All-New England First-Team nod. 

On top of his all-region accolade, he was named a Third-Team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association, just the fourth Suffolk student-athlete at the time to be recognized with the highest athletic honor. That year, Hernandez helped the Rams to their second Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) appearance and was one game shy of making the program’s first-ever trip the NCAAs. 

The three-hole hitter wrapped up his career in 1996 and when he hung up his cleats, his named was scattered throughout Suffolk’s all-time annals. He topped the list for slugging percentage (.632) and on-base percentage (.511), where he still ranks among the top five today.  

Following his playing days at Suffolk, Hernandez has stayed active in the playing circuit throughout various Boston leagues. This season, 2022, at the age of 47, he continues to rake at the plate. In the 38+ Masters Division of the Boston Metro Baseball League, Hernandez assembled a .400/.412/.420 slash line with 20 hits, 16 RBI and 12 runs scored for the Los Gigantes.  

A double Ram, Hernandez earned his Bachelors of Science in sociology in 1998 and his master’s degree in criminal justice/safety studies in 2002. Today, he works as a Boston Police Officer, where he has been for the past 16 years. His career in law enforcement began at his alma mater as part of the Suffolk University Police force. 

Hernandez is the 12th baseball player to be inducted into the Suffolk University Athletics Hall of Fame, including multi-sport athletes. He is one of two to be enshrined as part of the Class of 2022 alongside Ellis "Sonny Lane, BA '68, a two-sport athlete, who lettered in baseball and competed in intramural basketball.

The 2022 Hall of Fame Class features three men, two women and one team representing four different athletic programs. On October 14, the Suffolk University Athletics Hall of Fame, which held its first induction ceremony in 2007, will increase in size to 71 members broken down by 53 student-athletes, four head coaches, 10 teams and four special honorees.   

The 2022 Suffolk University Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held on Friday, Oct. 14 at Suffolk University’s Sargent Hall's Keches Room, 120 Tremont Street, Boston, at 6:00 p.m. Tickets to the event can be purchased here.  

THE SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME
The Suffolk University Athletics Hall of Fame will recognize the outstanding achievements of former athletes, coaches and others who have played a most significant role in the history of athletics at our University.  

For a more insider’s look at the 2022 Suffolk University Athletics Hall of Fame Class be on the lookout for the Hall of Fame series, which will be published on GoSuffolkRams.com leading up to the event. Specific publication dates on the inductees can be found below: