February 11, 2002
It was a wonderful weekend for baseball at storied
Dick Howser stadium, despite second ranked Florida
State dropping two of three to top ranked Stanford.
The grass was green, the sky was blue, the air was
crisp and Seminole baseball was back in full swing.
The stadium was packed, with 14,017 fans in attendance
over the three game series. Among those fans were some
notable Seminoles. Former players Chris Chavez and
John-Ford Griffin were there. FSU President Sandy
D'Alemberte was there. Seminole linebacker Michael
Boulware made an appearance. Baseball player Tim Drew,
brother of current Seminole Steven Drew and former FSU
star JD Drew caught Friday's game. JD was also there
to watch his team.
JD Drew was the best college baseball player I have
ever seen. That's saying a lot. I've watched an awful
lot of college baseball. Along the way, I've seen
Seminoles Jeff Ledbetter, Marshall McDougal, Chris
Roberts, Richie Lewis, John-Ford Griffin, Paul Wilson,
Edwin and Luis Alicea, Paul Sorrento, Barry Blackwell,
Kenny Felder, Doug Mientkiewicz, Matte Diaz, and Karl
Jernigan. I've also seen Hurricanes such as Pat
Burrell and Charles Johnson and Gators such as Herbert
Perry and Brad Wilkerson. I've seen Frank Thomas and
Nomar Garciaparra. JD Drew is the best I've ever seen.
Friday night, he got a little better. I was sitting in
Section D in the grandstands at Howser, behind home
plate. In the row ahead of me and just to my left sat
a gentleman from nearby Quincy. He regularly brings
disabled and disadvantaged kids to FSU baseball games.
The young man he brought to the game Friday was Logan.
Logan has muscular dystrophy and is confined to a
wheelchair. He was enjoying the game just fine, though
FSU was down several runs throughout the contest.
The gentleman borrowed a pen and went down to the
front row to seek an autograph from Drew. He pointed
out Logan for JD. JD had him bring Logan down to the
front row, where he chatted with the young man. Logan
offered his ticket for an autograph. JD signed that
ticket and two more for him. As JD signed, a younger
boy approached Logan to give him a foul ball he had
retrieved earlier in the game. JD signed the ball as
well.
What JD did for Logan was immeasurable. Seeing a
baseball game is a treat for him. Seeing an FSU game
is a special treat. Seeing the number one team meet
the number two team is a bonus. Having JD Drew's
autograph is more than he would have hoped. Having JD
sign a ball as they chatted about the game is, in the
words of MasterCard, priceless.
In an era when some athletes and sports celebrities
won't take the time to sign autographs while others do
so only for money, it is great to see a hero of FSU
baseball, early in his major league career, still take
the time to do what he did Friday. He could just as
easily have scribbled a quick autograph on a ticket or
just declined. What he did was make a disabled young
man very happy. He also made this Seminole fan very
proud. FSU lost the game, and JD, during the brief
period he has between the beginning of college
baseball and the beginning of spring training, will
not get to see his brother Steven play (Steven is out
with a broken bone in his left foot). He managed to
make the evening special.
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