FSU Baseball 2009

By Jim Joanos

It has been another good season for the Florida State University baseball team.

As I write this, the team has completed its 2009 schedule of regular season games and is preparing for post season play. By the time that you read it, the Seminoles will likely have finished for the year. It will have been a successful year no matter what happens in the post season. The team had the best record in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the regular season. Five Seminoles were selected to the All Conference All Star Team. Pitcher Sean Gilmartin and outfielder Tyler Holt were first teamers while shortstop Stephen Cardullo, pitcher-outfileder Mike McGee, and second baseman Jason Stidham were chosen for the second team. For the sixth time in the eighteen years that FSU has been a member of the ACC, head coach Mike Martin was selected as the conference coach of the year.

Mike Martin talks to his pitcher

Following the 2008 season in which the team made it all the way to the College World Series, this team started with a lot of questions. They had lost a lot of star power from the previous year which included the nation's best college player (Buster Posey) and others which left some big holes that had to be filled with new players who had never played college ball. The start of the 2009 season was not a good one. It included some losses to some rather mediocre teams. However, as the season continued and some adjustments were made, the team got better. There was even a fourteen game winning streak. A regular season record of 40 wins and only 14 losses is good. The team again made it to NCAA championship play and maintained its streak of winning seasons.

The FSU team in every one of its sixty-one seasons has won more games than it lost. Over its history, the FSU baseball team has won more than seven out of every ten games. This is the forty-seventh time that FSU has competed in post season NCAA championship play. The last thirty-two appearances have been consecutive.

The Animals of Section B

GREAT FANS. If you went to any of the home games this season, you probably had a lot of fun. Watching the freshman pitchers mature and the hitting pick up as the season went on was very satisfying. For those of you who did not get there, baseball at FSU is more spirited than at most colleges. For one, the number of fans is amazing. Each year fan attendance is among the top five or so programs in the country. This year was no exception. At FSU, the fans are involved in the game. Led by a group of energetic supporters called "the Animals", FSU fans are encouraged to cheer and yell and even sing during the games. Sometimes the Animals wear costumes and baseball jerseys. A number of unique songs and cheers permeate the air throughout the games. Lots of little kids, boys and girls, come to the games and on occasion are allowed on the field to run the bases and stand next to their "heroes" as the national anthem is played. The public address system is constantly blaring fun music that adds to the spirit of the occasions. One of my favorite moments is when at the beginning of the eighth inning of each game the P.A. plays and the fans sing Neil Diamond's, "Sweet Caroline". Even after the music has been turned off, the fans continue singing the song as play resumes on the field. Another unusual tradition occurs each game before the FSU team bats in the bottom of fifth inning, when the fans, led by the Animals, sing the Canadian National Anthem. Apparently this feature began many seasons ago when a Canadian was playing on one of the teams and an FSU scoring rally developed shortly after the Animals sang the song to that player. Superstition, which baseball is full of, has caused the Animals to repeat the gesture every home game since. Sometimes, it works.

GOOD COACHING. FSU Baseball has had good coaching throughout its history. Charlie Armstrong began the program in 1948. Ralph Mattherly, Danny Litwhiler, Fred Hatfield, Jack Stallings, Woody Woodward, and Dick Howser did great jobs thereafter. Current head coach Mike Martin has been at the helm since 1980 and has continued the tradition of great coaching. His accomplishment of turning this team around in the midst of the 2009 season ranks among his best performances ever.

PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL. It will be interesting to see if any of this season's players make it to the major leagues. Several appear to have potential. Through the years, a large number of FSU players have gone on to play professional baseball. Two hundred or so have been drafted by professional teams. Some have been very successful and played in the majors for a long time. Current major league rosters list a number of former FSU players including the Drew brothers, J.D. and Stephen, and Matt Diaz. We will just have to wait and see what the future holds for the present players. I would not be surprised to see the names of Stuart Tapley, Jason Stidham, Tyler Holt, Mike McGee, Brian Busch, Sean Gilmartin, Stephen Cardullo, and others from this team on the lists of some professional baseball teams in the future.

Florida State University baseball is alive and well. Just wait until next year!