Clark: Becker brings joy, respect to old FSU Club Baseball teammates
I know the deal, folks. I promise.
We're going to write and talk and tweet so much about Tim Becker over the next few days that even Florida State fans will be like, "Enough. We get it. It's a cool story. Quit beating us over the head with it!"
But you know what? We're not stopping just yet. This story is just too fun to write about, too fun to explore, to just give up now that the Athens Regional is over.
After his two-homer outburst on Friday, I wrote this about the former FSU Club Baseball team member and current Seminole walk-on. The next night he had another homer, a single and 3 RBIs off the presumed No.1 pick in the 2020 MLB Draft.
So, yeah, Tim Becker's place in the annals of FSU baseball history is pretty secure, no matter how he performs this weekend in Baton Rouge.
But what we at Warchant.com wanted to explore was the FSU Club Baseball team itself. How does it work? How many games does it play? How good are the players? Are there more Tim Beckers out there? If so, get them a uniform quick!
Clay Gilman played on the FSU club baseball team for five seasons.
Sam Nadel is the current president of the team. He took over the role when his predecessor tried out for the FSU varsity team, made it, then hit three homers in one NCAA Regional.
They both couldn't be happier for their former teammate.
"He does not necessarily enjoy being in the spotlight," Gilman said of Becker. "But it's pretty cool to see everyone around the country getting behind him. It couldn't have happened to a better guy."
Said Nadel: "We're all just so happy for Tim. I mean, he's so humble. I said to him, if ever there was a time to indulge, go into it and read some Twitter. Just look up 'Tim Becker' on Twitter. And he goes, 'No. I don't Twit.'"
Tim Becker does not Twit. He can hit, though. Pretty well it turns out.
Ask his former club teammates, and they'll tell you what we all saw in Athens wasn't a fluke.
"Last year, Tim was definitely our best hitter," Gilman said. "He hit .510 and had 10 home runs. So he was definitely our best hitter. Our whole lineup was actually very good. I hit .509. Just throwing that out there."
Talk about tough outs! The Becker-Gilman combo was apparently the Ruth-Gehrig of the 2018 club baseball scene. Out here hitting over. 500 like they're in little league.
But Gilman then added: "Tim was our best player for sure. He's just too humble to say it."
That's the truth. Because I asked Becker that very question after his two homers on Friday, and he said emphatically that he wasn't the best hitter on the Florida State club team.
His teammates disagree with that assessment.
"When I was a freshman I told my dad, 'This Tim Becker kid is one of the best hitters I've ever played with before,'" Nadel said.
For all we know, Drew Mendoza is telling his dad the very same thing.
Either way, what Becker did over the weekend was an enormous moment for club sports at Florida State. And for club baseball in particular.
It's not a glamorous endeavor. The players have to pay dues. They have to pay for hotel rooms when they travel. Most of the time they have to pay for gas. They practice at a local park in Tallahassee.
Some of them, as Becker has proven, are plenty good enough to play varsity college baseball. Many of them, in fact, had offers to do just that at smaller schools.
But both Gilman and Nadel said that they didn't want a small-college experience, they wanted to go to a major university and enjoy everything that entails. But they also wanted to keep playing baseball.
Which made the club team the perfect fit.
"We basically have to provide everything for ourselves," Nadel said. "Since we want to play so bad, we're willing to throw a little extra money out there to have that good experience playing baseball."
Gilman said the team typically plays between 21 and 27 regular-season games per year. Florida State is in a conference with club teams from Florida, Miami and Central Florida. Whichever team wins the conference goes to regionals, which consists of four teams. And if you win the regional, you go to the World Series, which consists of eight teams.
Gilman said FSU finished third in the nation last year and also made the World Series in 2016 and 2015 as well.
"Our team has been pretty good the past five or six years," Gilman said.
It obviously took a hit this year when its best player decided to try out for the varsity team. And then make it. And then become a folk hero.
But that turn of events was perfectly fine with Gilman and Nadel.
They couldn't be more excited for what Becker has done. Not just because they like the guy so much, but because it -- in a way -- validates just how talented some club players are.
Quite clearly, there are some serious players at schools like Florida State who never actually play for Florida State.
"We don't see quite the same pitching (as Division-I teams do)," Gilman said. "But the talent level is definitely there."
The pitchers from Georgia and Florida Atlantic likely agree.
And since Becker has turned a spotlight on the Florida State club team, the current president admitted he is always looking for financial contributions to help support the squad. (FSU Club Baseball on Twitter | On Instagram)
"Oh, we take donations from anyone," Nadel said. "The more donations we get, the more Tim Beckers will be produced. It's as simple as that."
Nadel was smiling when he said it.
Tim Becker's had everyone around here smiling lately.
Contact senior writer Corey Clark at corey@warchant.com and follow @corey_clark on twitter.
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