A Few Special Baseball Players
By Jim Joanos
As I write this, the 2013 Florida State University baseball season has just begun. As usual, fans are speculating as to who will be the team leaders. Will there be some guys that will not only excel in college but go on to major league stardom?
Having been a longtime fan, I have had the privilege of observing and following some very special FSU players through the years. I list five of my most favorite ones.
Dick Howser, Shortstop, 1955-58. FSU’s baseball stadium is named for Howser. He was Florida State’s first All-American baseball player and received that honor in both 1957 and 58. Howser was on FSU’s first three NCAA post season tournament teams, including the 1957 team that won the regional and became FSU’s first team to make it to the College World Series. After college, Howser played professionally in the major leagues for the Kansas City Athletics, the Cleveland Indians, and the New York Yankees. Later 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. As manager of the Royals, he won that franchise’s only World Series championship in 1985. His managerial career was cut short by cancer and he died in 1987.
Terry Kennedy, Catcher, 1975-77. Kennedy like Howser was a two-year first-team All-American at FSU as he was so designated in 1976 and 77. In 1977, The Sporting News named him the Most Valuable Player of the Year. While playing at FSU, he held school records in RBIs, home runs and slugging percentage. After college he made his way to the major leagues after being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round (8th overall pick). He spent 14 years in the major leagues including stints with the Cardinals, the San Diego Padres, the Baltimore Orioles and the San Francisco Giants. His major league career included being an All-Star four times and playing in two world series.
Deion Sanders, Outfielder, 1987. Although he was better known for his football prowess, Sanders was an outstanding track and field performer as well as a special baseball player at FSU. He is undoubtedly the fastest player to ever play baseball at FSU. When he got on base, it was most entertaining as he was a super base stealer. A good hitter, he also covered a lot of ground in the outfield. After FSU he played both major league baseball and NFL football for awhile, sometimes simultaneously. There were amazing stories about his going back and forth between the two sports, even on the same day. Once he practiced with the Atlanta Falcons earlier in the day, then took a helicopter ride and played in a major league baseball game with the Atlanta Braves that night. In all he played in nine seasons of major league baseball which included stints with the Atlanta Braves, the Cincinnati Reds, the New York Yankees, and the San Francisco Giants.
J.D. Drew, Outfielder, 1995-97. Drew 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 broke the school record. He gave us memories of gigantic base hits, daring base running, and fantastic catches. Drew was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies with the second overall pick in the 1997 draft but did not agree to signing with them and a year later was picked with the number 5th overall pick by the St. Louis Cardinals. He played in the major leagues from 1998 through 2011. The teams included the Cardinals (1998-2003), the Atlanta Braves (2004), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2005-06), and the Boston Red Sox (2007-11).
Buster Posey, Catcher 2006-08. Posey came to FSU out of Leesburg, Georgia, as a standout shortstop. Following his freshman season, he switched positions and became a catcher. 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 awards: Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy, Brooks Wallace Award. He was also named the player of the year by Baseball America, 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 2008. In 2010 he was the Rookie of the Year for the National League and his Giants team won the World Series. He missed most of the 2011 due to a serious injury but bounced back to lead the Giants to another World Series championship in 2012. In 2012 he won the NL batting title and also the league’s MVP Award.
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