Sports

Oh, brother!

• It's unique in itself to find two brothers as talented as former Lee County baseball standouts Buster and Jack Posey, but when you consider that both have individually become stars for the No. 1-ranked Florida State Seminoles, a rare situation truly has transformed one season into a dream come true.

Danny Aller

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Imagine for just a moment that you're a star on the No. 1-ranked college baseball team in America.

Then imagine what it would be like to share the experience with your closest pal every step of the way.

Now take imagination out of the equation all together, because, for the top-ranked Florida State Seminoles, this isn’t a dream.

Though for two of its brightest players, each day still is.

Welcome to the world of former Lee County High School standouts Buster and Jack Posey — brothers, best friends, and once again, reunited as teammates.

"It couldn't have worked out any better, and I'll tell you what: It's been a blast so far. It's just been fun since the day (Jack) got here," said the smiling, older brother Buster, a junior, on Thursday outside the FSU locker room during the Seminoles' only day off this week as they get set for a three-game series showdown today with the No. 2-ranked team in the country and bitter rival, the Miami Hurricanes.

"I anticipated him getting here every day since he signed because I knew we'd finally get a chance to play together again. I can't say it enough, it's just been like a dream come true."

As it has been for Jack, the Florida State baseball program, as well as the entire Posey family and Leesburg community which supported them.

"I mean, it's about as ideal as it gets," said Jack, a freshman who — although his numbers are nothing like Buster's team-leading offensive stats — has become a phenom in his first year for the Seminoles. He not only worked his way into the starting lineup, but did so in proving himself by coming off the bench as a DH and pinch hitter and delivering in clutch situations all year.

"We played together all our lives growing up, but we only got one year together in high school, and I think we both will always remember that season as being one of the best of our lives.

"It was just something we wanted to have again — and here we are."

The Posey brothers are the fifth sibling tandem in Florida State baseball history, but just the second to play on the team at the same time. It began with Brian and Scott Zech, then J.D. and Stephen Drew, followed by Matt and Zach Diaz and then Mark and Matt Sauls, who were the first to play together in Buster's freshman year.

But before one can even begin to understand what life has become like these days for the Posey duo as part of one of the highest-profile teams in the nation— and on the verge of arguably their biggest series of the year against UM— one must first understand where this dream all began.

"We probably became competitive as soon as we were old enough to get out there in the yard and run around," Buster said of his and Jack's undeniably close bond from an early age. "Being outside, being competitive, playing sports. That’s just us. It was how we were raised."

STARS SHINE BRIGHT IN LEESBURG

Both former college athletes, Demp and Traci Posey moved to Leeburg after meeting at college, eventually giving birth to four children: Buster, 21, Jack, 19, daughter Samantha, 17, and the youngest son, Jes, 14.

And what a cultivation of sports stars it's become.

With Buster and Jack firmly entrenched as stars for years to come at Florida State, Sam — The Herald's reigning Player of the Year for softball — is headed to Gulf Coast Community College next season, and word around Lee County is Jes, a budding baseball star in his own right, could be better than both his older brothers.

"(He) just might be the best," laughed Demp. "But (with his older brothers) and all that they've done, he's got a lot to prove."

As for Buster and Jack, they proved their worth -— especially to each other — long ago.

"While we were competitive growing up, sure, I think at about age 12 all that kind of stopped," Jack said. "We both got really serious about baseball and because we were so close, we just wanted to see each other get better, and it was never a situation where we were trying to outdo the other one. We were more supportive of each other than anything else."

And that lifestyle — always active, always competing, always trying to get better — is a direct result of how they were raised, according to Buster.

"My parents never pushed us. Never. They just worked hard in everything they did in life and (us kids) noticed it," he said. "And we just tried to do the same."

It was that strong work ethic the Poseys instilled in their children which caught the attention of FSU assistant coach Mike Martin Jr. immediately upon meeting Buster and Jack.

"Both their parents are professional, driven and they they don't pamper their kids," Martin said. "And that translates directly into what makes both Buster and Jack not just great players, but great people. They're extremely well liked among the entire team."

Playing well with others and developing those leaderships qualities were developed in all sports the Poseys grew up playing, but none more so than baseball.

While each ground their teeth on traveling baseball teams and local leagues early on, it was Buster who took the first step toward paving the future for himself during his junior season for the Trojans.

"I played basketball my freshman and sophomore years, as well as baseball, but because I had started traveling so much for baseball, I had to make a choice," said Buster, whose father played a year of scholarship hoops in college. "It just became all I did."

As a result, Buster became a star for Lee County, leading them from the plate, on the mound and in the clubhouse. Jack, meanwhile, was two years behind big brother and played JV his 9th-grade year, making Jack's sophomore season and Buster's senior year the only time the duo played together on a highly competitive level until this year at FSU.

But it would be a season neither will ever forget.

"We made it all the way to the state title game that year .... but we lost," Buster began, followed by a slight sigh as if the memory still pained him a little. "I think that's still the season we'll always remember together because of everything that happened, how far we made it and how close we got."

But apparently, that season was more than just one to remember for Jack, who admits that he began dreaming of playing again one day with his big brother once Buster signed with FSU.

"I wouldn't say my mind was made up before I ever got the offer, but after we got so close (to winning a state title), I think we both wanted to try it again at the next level," Jack said. "So after going to his games for two years while I was still in high school and hearing him talk about how great FSU and its coaches were, it was hard not to even think about going somewhere else."

Luckily for FSU, it got two stars for the price of one.

POSEY POWER

With Buster joining the Noles in 2005 and Jack following suit in 2007, the stage was set for something special.

Even a season of destiny, perhaps, for a baseball program with a sordid history of coming up short in the big games.

"I think 'special' is the right way to describe the way the entire clubhouse is feeling about this year," said Buster, who leads FSU with a .428 batting average in 137 at bats with 48 runs scored and 66 hits, including a staggering 10 home runs. And while he was moved to catcher his freshman season — a position he'd never played before coming to Florida State — Posey has gotten back to his pitching roots he honed as a Trojan, returning to the mound as a reliever and tossing two scoreless innings in both appearances so far in 2008.

"Last year, we had all the experience and we were supposed to go far. And now this year, we're like 65 percent new guys and I don't think anyone expected us to be doing as well as we have," he continued. "But this team just finds ways to win, game after game. Put us in the 9th inning, down two runs and you don't see anyone in the dugout worried. We know we'll find a way to win because we've done it all year."

But while winning in the regular season has never been an issue for FSU, winning in the postseason has — especially as of late. Florida State, which has been to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., a mind-blowing 18 times — reaching it nearly every season in the 90s — the program has been in a serious postseason drought as of late.

Seven years, to be exact.

Even scarier? Not a single CWS Championship came out of those 18 previous trips.

Yet maybe, just maybe, the Poseys and Co. will be the ones to change all that.

"Curses are meant to be broken, right?" Demp said. "Buster and Jack never looked at it like that. They knew FSU was a winning program with a strong tradition and great coaches, and I'd love to think that they could play a big role in getting the team back to Omaha."

And both Buster and coach Martin are the first to admit that Jack — the freshman who wasn't even sure if he would play in his first season or have an impact at all— will have a lot to do with that.

"No one knew what kind of time he would see," Buster said. "But he had a good fall and strong spring and I think he just impressed the coaches and they found a way to get him in there. And Jack's done a great job at filling whatever role they have for him. Whether it be at first base, third base, pinch-hitting or (designated hitter). He's a selfless player and he's here to contribute in any way he can."

And contribute he has.

Jack, who launched his second home run of the year against North Florida on Wednesday night, is hitting .255 coming off the bench in 47 at bats with 12 hits and 13 runs scored.

In fact, Martin says Jack's doing things with his bat in his first season older brother did not.

"Well, we knew he could swing the bat for sure, but you never want to rely on a freshman to contribute a whole lot. Yet, he's doing things even Buster didn't in his first season and it’s something to watch," said Martin, who added that Jack's recruitment to FSU was "no personal favor" to Buster, nor was he chosen on anything other than his own merit and skill, and the fact he could flat-out hit the ball. "We believed from the beginning that he could be a middle-of-the-order hitter for us, and so far, he's done nothing to change our minds."

As for how Jack's handling all this attention so early in his career?

"It's great. I just do what they tell me to do and when I'm able to help, it's the best feeling," Jack said. "I was surprised to be playing as much as I am, but until they tell me they don't need me, I'll do anything I'm asked to do as long as it gets us the win."

Posey, a starter since his freshman season, couldn't agree more.

After all, between two seasons filled with personal accolades — despite never having played catcher before FSU, Posey was twice named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List given to the nation's top catcher including this year, and was a finalist last year — he is ready for FSU to get over that hump.

And that begins today with Miami.

"I wouldn't say (the series against Miami) will define our season, but it's one we really want to win and it would go a long way to us getting back to Omaha. It's been awhile," Buster said. "Plus, when you play Miami, you always just want to beat Miami."

The Hurricanes are not only the No. 2 team in the nation (No. 1, in fact, in one major poll), but they've posted a 31-3 record overall, and are tied in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings with the Seminoles (17-1), as UM has a 15-1 record.

While there's no doubt Buster will start in today's game, Martin cleared the air on Jack's role Thursday afternoon.

"(The coaches and I) were just talking about Jack a minute ago," Martin said. "Miami's going to bring in a couple of lefty's and we need someone in that lineup that we think can hit them, and Jack's name kept coming up.

"With him and Buster in there, it's like a 1-2 punch."

And it's a punch both brothers hope is only the beginning of things still to come.

SEE YOU IN ATLANTA?

On the field and off it at FSU, Buster and Jack may be the best of friends, but each admits they strive to let the other be their own individual as the duo tries hard not to become too attached.

The brothers do not live together in Tallahassee, instead staying separately with different teammates. And while Buster says Seminole players, coaches and staff have come up to him at times and told them how "cool" they thought it was to have his younger brother playing alongside him, to Buster, Jack is becoming his own man without much guidance.

"I think that it's good in a way that we don't live together because a big part of college is kind of finding yourself and having independence, and he doesn't need his older brother always looking over his shoulder," said Buster, who may be older, but has a smaller frame at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, compared to his 6-2, 220-pound older brother. "He gets some of that freshman treatment, but like I tell

people all the time, 'He's not my little brother, he's my younger brother.’ "I mean, look at him --- I wouldn't want to mess with him."

Jack, however, knows that being a freshman means that a certain amount of "paying the dues" is necessary — and even big bro can't save him.

"There are times when I get teased or the (older players) tell me, 'Stay on the bus until we get off,' or ‘You freshmen eat last' — jokes like that. But that's what happens to every freshman," said Jack, who added that Buster never tries to come to his defense. "Because he had to go through the same thing, when it happens, I don't expect him to help. Usually, he's just laughing at me."

Speaking of laughing, that's something Buster could be doing all the way to the bank at the end of this season — making it once again a one-shot deal for he and Jack.

Major League Baseball insiders are already declaring Buster to be a top draft pick, should he decide to leave a year early. And while indications are that he wants to finish school first, Martin thinks that any MLB team would be crazy not to want Posey — now, or a year from now — after the kind of year he's having.

"Did I expect him to get better this season? Absolutely. I knew he would because he works as hard as anyone we have," Martin said. "And I'm not afraid to say it: I think he's the best college baseball player in the country."

If Buster does enter the draft, it would leave Jack to carry on the Posey name for a few more years at Florida State.

But whether the dream of two brothers one day playing together in high school — and then in college — ends after one season again, neither is shy to admit they've looked to the future of possibly meeting up again down the road ... in Major League Baseball.

Of course, like every superstitious baseball player wanting to avoid a no-hit jinx or batting slump, neither wants to think or talk about plans that far ahead quite yet.

"It's been mentioned," Jack said coyly. "Who knows? We both grew up loving the Braves."

Buster, meanwhile, says he may not talk about it, but it's definitely in the back of his mind.

"What a thrill that would be," he said with a wide smile. "It'd be just another dream come true."

But for now, Martin and the Seminoles are happy with the Posey dream team they've got.

And with all the talk about the talents of young Jes Posey, they're not counting out another one joining the garnet and gold down the line.

"We heard good things about Jes, so sure, we've already got out eye on him," Martin said with a heavy laugh. "Heck, I even told Demp and Traci, if Jes is that good — and because we're so pleased with the first two Poseys — I would encourage them to go ahead and have another one."

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