FSU's Posey Dancing Around The Diamond
Published: May 12, 2008
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TALLAHASSEE - To showcase and reward an especially talented player, once every few years Florida State veteran baseball coach Mike Martin will allow a player to line up at every position in a game.
Junior catcher Buster Posey is that type of player.
Posey will start today's home game against Savannah State at catcher, and then dance around the diamond until the final inning, when he'll take his 95-mph fastball to the mound.
"It's not really a challenge for him, that's what is scary," said Mike Martin Jr., the Seminoles' hitting coach. "He is going to be the best player on the field at every spot he goes to."
Posey's natural gifts on a baseball field are what earned him a scholarship to FSU out of Lee County (Ga.) High three years ago, but a move to catcher after his freshman season is what has Posey in the mix to be the Tampa Bay Rays' first pick in next month's draft. Posey, a shortstop/pitcher in high school, moved behind the plate as a sophomore because the Noles needed help at the position.
He made the transition as easily as he makes opposing pitchers look bad on a regular basis.
"I completely gave myself to the position," Posey said. "It took a lot of work. Learning a new position is something I've enjoyed about the [change]. It's something I continue to enjoy, because I feel like I still have room for improvement."
Prior to his junior season, Posey was projected as a high-round pick mainly because of his arm (he has thrown out 42 percent of runners attempting to steal) and the dearth of high-quality catching prospects. However, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Posey's bat has elevated him into a strong candidate to be the first overall pick of the draft.
After Sunday's 3-for-3 performance against Savannah State, Posey (15 HRs, 62 RBIs) leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in hitting (.471), slugging percentage (.843) and on-base percentage (.570). Former Rays starter Paul Wilson is the only other FSU player ever taken No. 1 overall (Mets, 1994) in the MLB draft, but the elder Martin is not surprised Posey could join him at the top.
"Why wouldn't you take a guy who is the epitome of a leader, who is a student of the game, who can solidify your team, your pitching staff? He is a Jason Varitek who can run, plain and simple," said Martin, who faced Varitek regularly when the Red Sox catcher starred at Georgia Tech.
Posey, 21, grew up in a close-knit family in Leesburg, Ga., a small town located about two hours north of FSU. The family of six - Buster and his parents, father Demp and mother Tracy, brothers Jack and Jess, and sister Sam - spent most of their time at the Dixie Youth Baseball fields in the heart of town.
"Even when we didn't have games, we'd go down there and watch," said Jack, an FSU freshman. "Without baseball, I don't know what we would have done."
As the draft approaches and Posey garners more and more attention, Jack says he can't see "a single thing that has changed in his mannerisms." A calm and thoughtful presence in the clubhouse and in class, Posey just completed another semester toward a finance degree with a 3.9 grade point average, adding to an impressive academic career. Posey is scheduled to meet with Rays scouting director R.J. Harrison this week, and the Royals were scouting him over the weekend. The thought of joining the Rays intrigues Posey the way moving to catcher did.
"It seems like this year, more than any other, I've seen them play on TV more," he said. "That would be a great to have a chance to play for that club. They seem to be a team with a lot of young talent, and I feel like I'd be a player that could impact that team for a number of years."
After working closely with Posey the last three years, Martin Jr. considers Posey a future star in the majors, a player deserving of being considered as the No. 1 overall pick.
"I've never been so sure of something in my life," Martin Jr. said. "He is a classic inside-out hitter, a Derek Jeter type, who really gets inside the ball and makes a lot of solid contact. That's what I tell people, he's Jason Varitek behind the plate and he's Derek Jeter as a hitter, and I really believe that."
"He makes people around him better, and that's hard to find these days."
