Omaha, Neb. -- It is with a tremendous amount of sadness that Creighton Athletics shares the news that Chris Gradoville, an alumnus who served as Creighton's director of baseball operations, was killed in a shooting on the morning of Wednesday, September 30th.
On Thursday afternoon, Father Hendrickson gathered with head coach Ed Servais and athletic director Marcus Blossom to share this difficult news with the baseball team and staff.
"Having Chris as a member of our staff over the last 18 months was tremendous because he was a such a great man and a great teammate," said Servais. "Whether you were a player, teammate or fellow staff member that needed a hand, Chris was one of the first guys to step forward."
A standout catcher for Creighton from 2004-07, Gradoville joined the Creighton staff in the fall of 2020. He graduated in 2007 with degrees in marketing and business.
"One quality of his that I admired was the loyalty Chris held for Creighton University and the Bluejay Baseball program," added Servais. "There were other opportunities for Chris to become a coach, but he only wanted to be a Bluejay."
An Omaha native, Gradoville played 183 games for the Bluejays, starting 153 contests. He closed his career with a .327 batting average, 54 extra-base hits (29 doubles, 3 triples and 22 home runs) as well as 136 RBI.
Part of Servais' first team in 2004, Gradoville helped guide the Bluejays to NCAA Regional appearances in 2005 and 2007. Those seasons remain atop Servais' win column with 48 and 45 wins respectively. Individually Gradoville's sophomore season average (.403) remains seventh in Creighton single-season history. He also ranks third on the Bluejay career list with 14 sac flys.
During his junior season Chris was named the NCBWA National Player-of-the-Week, Louisville Slugger National Player-of-the-Week and earned the MVC Honors as well. That week featured three consecutive games with a pair of home runs, hitting .500 and slugging 1.380 with 18 RBI to lead the Bluejays to five wins. Gradoville was also a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench award in 2007, collected All-MVC Second Team honors and received All-MVC Honorable Mention following the 2006 season.
Chris was taken in the 24th round of the MLB Draft of 2007 by the Texas Rangers. He spent four seasons in the Rangers organization, reaching AAA (Oklahoma City) during the 2010 season. Gradoville appeared in a pair of MLB exhibition games in Arlington Stadium, smashing a double and catching three innings against the Royals in 2009.
After his run in professional baseball, Gradoville spent time in Omaha and Spokane working in sports performance, specializing in treating sports injuries.
Creighton Athletics runs deep in the Gradoville bloodlines, Chris' grandfather Bob Gradoville played baseball, basketball, and football (the last season it was here) for Creighton. His cousin, Pam Gradoville (Simon), played women's basketball for Creighton and married former Creighton Men's soccer coach Brett Simon. Another cousin, Tim Gradoville, played for the Bluejays Baseball squad for four years (1999-2002) and made it to the big leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies.
