Florida State baseball coach Mike Martin is one of the game’s all-time best coaches, a legend in the coaching ranks. He is one of only three coaches in Division I history to win 1,600 games. In 31 years, he’s led the Seminoles to 31 straight NCAA Tournaments and this will be his 14th College World Series, 10 of those coming since 1990.
But while he’s seen his teams celebrate countless times, after Regionals and Super Regionals, they’ve never dogpiled on the mound at historic Rosenblatt Stadium. With all his success, he hasn’t been able to secure a CWS title. He’ll have one last shot at the Diamond on the Hill, as the ‘Noles open up CWS play against TCU on Saturday at 1 p.m.
For those of you who’ve never heard of Mike Martin (shame on you!), let alone know anything about this year’s FSU squad, we were able to e-mail a few questions to Ira Schoffel, who covers the Florida State baseball team for the Tallahassee Democrat. He’s covered the Seminoles full time since 2002 and also covered them in the ’90s. Go here and learn more about the Seminoles so you don’t look like a fool this weekend.
Phil Sears/Tallahassee Democrat
White & Blue Review: What has the season been like to this point? I know the Seminoles are perennial contenders to make it to Omaha, but a month ago, would you have predicted this team would be in the CWS?
Ira Schoffel: Florida State will be making its 20th appearance in the CWS this year, and this certainly will go down as one of the school’s most surprising trips. The Seminoles entered this season with very high expectations. They returned nearly every key player from a team that hosted a super regional last season. But early in this season, the pitching staff seemed to come unglued, causing head coach Mike Martin to juggle his weekend rotation time and time again. Then two of the team’s top power hitters — shortstop Stephen Cardullo and DH Stuart Tapley — went through monumental slumps. As a result, the Seminoles were up and down all year, and they appeared to be plunging into a tailspin in late May when they were swept at Clemson. But they seemed to find themselves at the ACC Tournament, reeling off three straight victories to win a conference title, and they played very well in winning NCAA regionals and super regionals.
WBR: If you were a rabid FSU fan, and I came up to you and asked, “So, what is this Florida State team about, what defines it?” what would your answer be?
Ira: Resiliency. This team has been through the ringer all year, but they keep on winning. Their Friday night ace, Sean Gilmartin, has had a very disappointing sophomore season. But they keep winning. Cardullo, who was a first-team All-America shortstop last season, went weeks and weeks without producing at the plate. But they keep winning. This team has flaws — several of them. But they seem to overcome those deficiencies with heart and determination.
WBR: Who is the player we will hear the most about during the Seminoles’ time in Omaha?
Ira: Junior center fielder Tyler Holt. He’s the leadoff batter, the offensive catalyst, and the emotional leader of the team. He has a fiery personality, and he usually is the player that other teams love to hate. He has exceptional speed, and he plays without fear. He turns singles into doubles and doubles into triples, and he’s a threat to steal any base at any time.
WBR: Can you break this team down, both offensively and on the mound?
Ira: They’re pretty well balanced. They can put pressure on defenses with their base-stealing — primarily Holt and Cardullo — and they also have plenty of pop with six players that boast at least eight home runs. Junior left fielder Mike McGee has 15 round-trippers, Holt has 12 and Cardullo has 10. Sophomore third baseman Sherman Johnson and freshman first baseman Jayce Boyd were sensational in the regional and super regional rounds, and the Seminoles also have been getting very good production from the bottom of the order in freshman second baseman Devon Travis and catcher Rafael Lopez. In recent weeks, there haven’t been many easy outs in this lineup.
The starting pitching was abysmal during the regular season, but Gilmartin and sophomore Brian Busch seem to have regained their form from a year ago. Neither left-hander is overpowering, but they can be tough when their off-speed pitches are working. FSU has only two real hard-throwers — junior righty Geoff Parker and junior lefty John Gast — but both have been inconsistent. If those two come through, FSU can be a very dangerous team. But if they struggle, it could be a tough few days in Omaha. McGee has been very solid as a closer; he has 12 saves.
WBR: Every year ESPN finds a story or two about each team that it pretty much beats to death. What will that story be for Florida State?
Ira: Probably the fact that Mike Martin hasn’t been able to win the big one. In his 31st season, Martin has had the Seminoles high in the national rankings every year and he makes it to NCAA regionals and super regionals routinely. But he has failed to get it done in Omaha. For that reason, FSU might be the sentimental pick for some, considering this is the last year for Rosenblatt Stadium. The other possible storyline is the fact that FSU has two players — Tapley and Travis — who starred in the Little League World Series as youths and are now playing in the College World Series. Tapley got a lot of air time for that reason when FSU made it to the 2008 CWS, but now the Seminoles have two players with that distinction. So it could mean twice the time spent on that topic.
WBR: Is there any simple reason as to why Mike Martin hasn’t been able to break through with that first championship win? Does that topic get old?
Ira: Yes the topic gets old, but there’s nothing you can do about that. There are some popular theories about Martin’s struggles in Omaha. Some people believe his teams are better-suited for the regular season because he preaches pitching and defense; FSU often doesn’t seem to have enough offensive pop to compete in Rosenblatt. Others will say that Martin manages different in the postseason, and thus his players get “tight” because of those changes. I don’t know if I believe either one. I think the reality is it’s very, very hard to win in Omaha. And just because you go several times, that doesn’t mean you’re going to be more “due” than anyone else. And the honest truth is FSU wasn’t the best team during many of those trips. Some of those years, they were fortunate to make it there at all. And this is probably one of those years. Having said that, the fans and media will never let go of this storyline until he finally gets the job done.
WBR: What is something that everyone NEEDS to know about this team, whether it be about a specific person or a story that sums up the season to this point very nicely?
Ira: This team started playing well when it started playing with a chip on its shoulder after the Clemson sweep. It was at that point that they realized that people were giving up on them. Since then, they have turned every slight into motivation. Like when the NCAA sent them on the road to Connecticut for the regionals; FSU was the only No. 1 seed to have to play away from home. And when several players were snubbed in All-ACC balloting. And again when virtually every draft-eligible player on the team went lower in the MLB draft than they expected. It has been one slight after another in recent weeks, and that has kept this team motivated. If they carry that emotion into Omaha, they can be fun to watch.
WBR: Does this trip mean anything extra for the team knowing that it will be Rosenblatt’s last Series?
Ira: I think that means more to the coaches than the players. The players have said that it means a lot to them, but I imagine that their generation doesn’t get quite as sentimental about something like that.
WBR: This is Florida State’s 20th trip to Omaha. Every team is different, so what makes this trip different for FSU compared to, say, 2008, or any before it?
Ira: In years past, FSU usually has gone to Omaha with a target on its back. The Seminoles often have been one of the top national seeds, and the pressure has been on them to live up to the hype. This year is completely different. These Seminoles have no pressure on them, because they weren’t supposed to get here in the first place. That could provide the mindset they need to perform better than they did two years ago, when they were done after two games.
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Also: The TCU Horned Frogs Aren’t Just Happy to Be in Omaha … WBR’s complete CWS coverage
Front page photo: Phil Sears/Tallahassee Democrat