Stars of Yesterday: Five Baseball Greats
By Jim Joanos
As I write this, the excitement is quite high. Florida State's baseball team has just won a dramatic Super Regional tournament and is headed to Omaha for the twentieth time to participate in the College World Series ("CWS"). By the time that you read it this year's FSU baseball season will be history. Whatever happens to the team in Omaha, history will regard it as a good season. Only eight teams each year make it to the CWS. To be among that group is a high honor. But this article is not about the CWS as I cannot write much about something that has not yet happened.
This article is about five of the many great baseball players that have played at FSU during the years. I have been privileged to be a longtime FSU baseball fan. These are a few of my favorite players.
Dick Howser, Shortstop, 1955-58. My all time favorite FSU baseball player is Dick Howser. Dick loved baseball, life, and FSU, probably, but not necessarily, in that order. He was Florida State's first All-American baseball player. He was on FSU's first three NCAA post season tournament teams, including the 1957 team that won the regional and made FSU's first trip to the College World Series. He had a lifetime career in baseball. After college, he made it to the major leagues and played for the Kansas City Athletics, the Cleveland Indians, and the New York Yankees. He was third base coach for the Yankees, spent a year (1979) as FSU's head coach, and served as Manager for the Yankees and the Kansas City Royals. His Kansas City team won the World Series in 1985. It is no wonder that FSU's baseball stadium is named for him.
Mac Scarce, Pitcher, 1970-71. Mac Scarce is my favorite closer of all time. His 18 saves in the 1971 season is still the school record. But what I remember most is his appearance in the championship game of the College World Series in Omaha on Thursday, June 18, 1970. Scarce entered the game in relief in the seventh inning. The score was tied, 1-1, and there were two outs. He got the first batter he faced and the next fourteen in a row after that. The lanky left handed pitcher held Southern California scoreless for seven and one-third innings. Scarce had not pitched for more than about three innings at a time before that. Unfortunately, FSU could not score over that span. In the fifteenth inning, Scarce developed a blister on a finger of his left hand so that he could no longer grip the ball and had to come out of the game. Shortly afterwards, USC scored a run and won the game 2 to 1 and the national championship. I doubt there has ever been a more heroic job of pitching than what Scarce did that night. Scarce later spent five years pitching in the major leagues.
Richie Lewis, Pitcher, 1985-87. Richie Lewis was probably the most versatile pitcher ever to don an FSU uniform. He was a great reliever. He could pitch middle relief and he could close. He was also a great starter. He was the Most Outstanding Player of the 1985 Metro Conference Tournament and in both 1986 and 87, helped pitch FSU all the way to the College World Series. He and Mike Loynd, in 1986, formed FSU's most famous pitching duo of all time. They led FSU to the championship game of the 1986 World Series.
Lewis was certainly the most entertaining pitcher I have seen at FSU. He would walk the bases loaded and then strike out the next three batters with the bases loaded. Believe it or not, one pitcher, Lewis holds both of the FSU career records for walks (232), and strikeouts (520). A two year All-American, he went on to pitch in the major leagues. A battler all of the way, when he could no longer pitch well enough to pitch in the majors, he continued to pitch in the minors.
J.D. Drew, Outfielder, 1995-97. What can you say about a guy who won the Golden Spikes, The Sporting News' Player of the Year, and Baseball American Player of the Year awards? He is the only player in Division I history to have hit 30 home runs and stolen 30 bases in the same season. His batting average of .455 in 1997 is and probably will be the school record for a long time to come. He gave us memories of gigantic base hits, daring base running, and fantastic catches.
Drew was drafted by the Philadelphia Phllies with the 2nd overall pick in the 1997 draft but did not agree to sign with them and a year later was picked with the 5th overall pick by St. Louis Cardinals. He made his major league debut with the St. Louis Cardinals in September of 1998 and played with them through the 2003 season. In 2004, he played for Atlanta and in 2005 and 06 played for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Since 2007 he has been the regular right fielder for the Boston Red Sox.
Buster Posey, Catcher 2006-08. Buster Posey came to FSU out of Leesburg, Georgia, as a standout short stop. He played that position exceptionally well as a Freshman. Following that season, FSU was in desperate need of a catcher. For some mysterious reason Posey was tried at the position. He was super at his new position and by the end of the next two seasons he had become the most decorated baseball player to ever have played at FSU. At the end of the 2008 season, he had become virtually every authority's college baseball player of the year. He won all of the big national player of the year designations: Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy, Brooks Wallace Award. He was also named the player of the year by Baseball Ameica, Collegiate Baseball, and Rivals.com. and received the Johnny Bench Award as the nation's best collegiate catcher. He was drafted as the number five pick overall by the San Francisco Giants in the 2008 draft and later the very following season made his major league debut with that team on September 11, 2009. He is currently with the major league Giants and it appears that barring injury or other unforeseen circumstances will be there for a long time to come.
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