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Gamecock Baseball 2001 B Y Kevin Turner The Gamecock As a player, being able to compete in the SEC is a challenge, but excelling in it is quite a triumph. Freshman phenom Drew Meyer obvi ously has the secret formula for suc cess. Batting .320 his first season with 11 home runs, 49 RBIs, 13 stolen bases and an on-base percentage of .424, Meyer is a complete and versatile player who is a force that pitchers all over the nation will have to reckon with. “He’s one of the best shortstops in the country in any age category, he’s a good player and he has great speed,” Gamecock coach Ray Tanner said. “He’s a big-game player and he’s very good at what he does.” Meyer’s talent and success didn ’ t go unnoticed and unappreciated for long. He was a second-round draft choice by the L. A. Dodgers out of high school and re ceived an All-America selection last year • Is South Carolina’s third consecu tive All-American shortstop, following in the footsteps of Olympic baseball gold medalist Adam Everett and USC all-time stolen base champion Brian Roberts. • Listed as the SEC’s best defensive shortstop by Baseball America, also as the fastest runner and with the best arm • Listed as Baseball America's top prospect for the 2002 Major League Baseball draft • 2001 Baseball America preseason All Conference • 2001 Baseball America preseason All America »2000 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America «2000 Baseball WeeklyFmlmm All America ♦2000Baseball America Freshman All America * urartea in me second round (84th overall) by the LA. Dozers in 1999 * 1999 S.C. Player of the Year * 1999 USA Today S.C. Player of the Year * 1999 Gatorade Player of the Year * 1999 ABCA first-team All-America * Gold medalist with U.S. Junior Na tional Team, Summer 2000 as well as a preseason third team All-America nomination this year. You would think that starting at shortstop as a freshman in ^ the most competitive V league in college sports ™ would intimidate a player, but Meyer has obviously come to terms with • I_. pres sure. “ H e doesn’t play to the media, he doesn’t play for the head lines, he just plays the game,” Tanner said. “There’s one way to play it, and that’s wide open - and he likes the competition, he likes the game. He isn’t going to be affect ed by anything he reads.” Meyer reinforces Tanner’s words and comes off like a player who doesn’t al low too many outside influences to af fect his game. “Last year, a lot of people tried to put pressure on me, telling me how I was drafted out of high school. I had a bad start, but I know it was just a coincidence,” Meyer said. “I’m not going to put any pressure on myself just because some writers wanted to name me a preseason ' All-American.” * After finishing high school at Bishop England, the Dodgers offered Meyer what most people would call an unrefusable offer to play professional baseball. But Meyer chose to wear a Gamecock uniform over Dodger blue. “T 1:1—i «i_i i mmsmm i imvu mV wuvwto cuiu uic ai~ mosphere here. It’s close to home and just seemed too perfect to turn down,” Meyer said. “It’s a dream come true to come to school here.” Meyer’s arrivai on the team has been a dream come true both for himself and the Gamecocks. The Gamecocks finished last year with an astonishing 56-10 record and are predicted to win the SEC East for the third consecutive year. Meyer was a big contributor to that success, but he isn’t I ready to hang ■ up his cleats until a tt c ham pi If onship is brought home. “We can definitely win 56 games again, it’s a tough task, and people don’t realize how hard that is. Realistically, I think we have a great chance of going to Omaha and getting a national cham pionship,” Meyer said. “We want to win the SEC and the SEC Tournament. We had a taste of it last year but we want it all this year.” Although Meyer has been accustomed to success in base batting average and .424 on base percentage. “The SEC is the best conference in the nation. I like getting on base be cause it helps the team ^ win,” Meyer said, i “Home runs are good to have, but they’re not f necessarily the best.” t “I don’t ^ really think he has any weak points but if you ■ had to say what I are the weakest 1 * parts of his game 1 | you’d have to say his 1 ! maturity,” Tanner i ■ commented. “Last 1 I year, he didn’t have 1 / the patience that he a / needed sometime as a h I hitter, he was a fresh- v I man. That’s the only 2 ' thing he needs to do. He b gets better every game.” ai Meyer can field, al so. In his first season at in shortstop, he had a.921 to fielding percentage, but bi ' says hitting is one of his * better talents. Although ba ■ he is skilled in all aspects so | of the game, Meyer is “I proud of his running ability. He credits his collegiate success as a freshman to Ray Tanner and com pany. “Coach Tanner helped me out with hitting and fielding. When I came out of high school, I was pret ty raw,” Meyer said. “I had some talents but they weren’t polished, he helped me develop those skills even more and now I’m more comfortable at shortstop.” V. Tanner noticed that Meyer experi enced an ex treme growth H since the H first prac- I ticeoflast ■ season. V says ^k Meyer has learned V to be a little ^ m more pauern ana to stay ott of the bad )itches. He said Meyer is more “even ted” as a player and is very well pre >ared. He is also as durable as they get, •laying 65 out of 66 games. If he con inues to polish his talents, Meyer is go ’s to make an even bigger splash in the aseball world. baseball America has continued to show ppreciation for the shortstop before is second season has begun. Meyer as chosen as the top prospect for the X)2 draft and was nominated as the SEC’s ist defensive shortstop, fastest runner id best arm of the 2001 season. Meyer pulled his hamstring last week practice, but he said he is just going take it slow the next couple of weeks t is not expected to miss any games. I probably won’t be stealing too many >es the first couple of weeks of the sea n, but it won’t be bad,” Meyer said. II be ready for the first game.”