Behind the Plate

By Jim Joanos

Ronald Nettles

Ever since I did such a poor job of trying to be a catcher in junior high school, I have admired those who could play the baseball position well. A catcher, Ronald Nettles, from my high school, Leon High in Tallahassee, played on FSU’s first team in 1948 following FSU’s returning to co-educational status. That made it easy for me to become a fan of FSU catchers. That admiration has continued through the years. Except for pitching, possibly, catching requires the most skill of all the positions. On defense, the catcher is involved in every single play.

Through the years, I have enjoyed watching many great catchers. Among them were twelve who attained All-American honors: Buddy Teagle (1962), Ken Suarez (1964), Tom Cook (1968), Terry Kennedy (1976 & 77), Blaine McDonald (1978), Ed Fulton (1987), Pedro Grifol (1991), Mike Martin, Jr. (1994), Jeremy Salazar (1998), Tony Ritchie (2002-03), Buster Posey (2007-08), and Matheu Nelson (2021).

Florida State's All-American Catchers
Buddy Teagle	Ken Suarez	Tom Cook	Terry Kennedy
Blaine McDonald	Ed Fulton	Pedro Grifol	Mike Martin, Jr.
Jeremy Salazar	Tony Ritchie	Buster Posey	Matheu Nelson

Eight of them were first team All-Americans: Teagle, Suarez, Kennedy, Grifol, Salazar, Ritchie, Posey and Nelson.

Three were selected as a national player of the year in their last season at FSU.

Terry Kennedy

1. TERRY KENNEDY, who played when Woody Woodward was the head coach, was a first team All-American in both 1976 and 1977, and became the first FSU baseball player ever to be named the national player of the year when in 1977, Sporting News so honored him. He set school records in RBI’S, home runs and slugging percentage. After FSU, he played fourteen years in the major leagues for four different teams: St. Louis Cardinals (1978-80), San Diego Padres (1981-86), Baltimore Orioles (1987-88), and San Francisco Giants (1989-91). He was an All-Star four years and played on two National League Championship teams. Following his playing days, Kennedy managed, coached and instructed in the minor leagues. Currently, he is a scout for the Chicago Cubs. In 1982 Kennedy was selected to the FSU Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2021, he was inducted into the national College Baseball Hall of Fame. I remember him as an outstanding team leader.

Buster Posey

2. BUSTER POSEY, was not only FSU’s most decorated baseball player ever but probably the most versatile. He not only caught but served as a shortstop as well as a pitcher closing out a number of games during his time at FSU. In one game, he played all nine positions. As a freshman in 2006, playing shortstop, he was selected to the ACC All-Tournament team as well as Collegiate Baseball’s (CB) First Team Freshman All-American team. In his sophomore year, he changed positions and became a catcher. It was a great move. As a sophomore, the first year that he played catcher, he was chosen by Collegiate Baseball as a first team All-American, on Baseball America’s (BA) and Ping’s second team and American Baseball Coach’s Association (ABCA) third team. In his third year at FSU he was a consensus first team All-American, being so recognized by all of the selection groups. He was also awarded virtually all the player of the year awards including the Golden Spikes Award, the Dick Howser Award, the Brooks Wallace Award, BA’s Player of the year, CB’s Player of the Year, Rivals.com Player of the Year Award, ABCA Player of the Year, and the Rawlings Glove Award. After college Posey continued into an award filled professional baseball career. He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants and played twelve seasons of major league ball with them. His awards included National League Rookie of the year (2010), seven times an All-Star, National League Batting Champ and MVP (2012), and five Silver Slugger Awards, to mention some. In addition, he caught three World Series Championships with the Giants (2010, 2012 & 2014). After the 2021 season, he retired as a player and moved back to Leesburg, Georgia, his home town. He was inducted into the FSU Hall of Fame in 2008. In March, FSU will further honor him by retiring his jersey.

Matheu Nelson

3. MATHEU NELSON. From Largo, Florida, following his high school career where he was named Pinellas County Player of the Year, Nelson was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies, but passed it up and came to FSU. He had a good freshman year with the Seminoles (2019) and followed that by playing collegiate summer ball in the Cape Cod League. His sophomore season (2020) was cut short by the coronavirus epidemic. In 2021, he had a stellar season, batting .330 and hitting 23 home runs and became the third of FSU catchers to be named a National Player of the Year by Perfect Game. A consensus first team All-American, he also won the Buster Posey award as the nation’s best collegiate catcher. He was also named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year. Following the 2021 season, he was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds and is currently playing in their farm system.

I look forward to seeing who the next great catcher at FSU will be.

About the author:

Jim Joanos

Memories of Garnet and Gold

Jim Joanos and his wife Betty Lou have deep roots at Florida State University. Avid sports fans, they have literally seen, and done, it all. Fortunately for us, Jim loves telling first-hand accounts dating back to FSU’s first football game, a 1947 clash with the Stetson Hatters on Centennial Field, where Cascades Park is today.

The Osceola will run a series of these colorful stories written by the former Tallahassee lawyer and judge, which we feel our readers will find enlightening and/or nostalgic.

Jim and Betty Lou, who was Associate Director of the FSU Alumni Association (1991-2003), have been married 65 years and are each listed as one of FSU’s 100 Distinguished Graduates. The couple were enshrined in the FSU Hall of Fame in 2015 as Moore-Stone Award Recipients. Ironically, both Deans Moore and Stone were instrumental in the Joanoses career development.

“Both Jim and Betty Lou Joanos have been exemplary fans and supporters of Florida State University, both academically and athletically,” said Andy Miller, retired President and CEO of Seminole Boosters, Inc. “You can’t go to an athletic event of any kind that you don’t see both Jim and Betty Lou Joanos together. They love their university as much as they love each other.”