Keeping it Crimson: Alabama OF Tommy Seidl Brings Experience to Tuscaloosa

Senior outfielder Tommy Seidl might be a new name on Alabama baseball's roster this season, but this isn't his first time in Tuscaloosa.

No, it isn't even his first time in Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Nor is it his first time playing for a team that has the word 'Crimson' as a part of its nickname.

So how does a young man like Seidl, who hails from Wellesley, Massachusetts — a suburb of roughly 28,000 people just west of Boston — have experience with the Crimson Tide? In short, it's because he was once a member of the team playing from the opposite dugout.

In 2020 for his junior year playing outfielder for the Harvard Crimson, Seidl played a total of three games at The Joe against Alabama. In the second game of the series, Seidl was just a triple short of hitting the cycle, driving in three runs and hitting 3-for-3 on the day — his three hits and RBIs were both career highs in a single game.

Seidl certainly left an impression in Tuscaloosa and finished the Crimson's six-game COVID-shortened season batting .318 and recording a .400 on-base percentage. However, while he left an impact on The Joe, Alabama also left an impact on Seidl.

COVID didn't just put a premature end to Seidl's junior season, but it also ended his senior season before it even began when the Ivy League announced that the 2021 season would also be cancelled.

In an unfortunate set of circumstances, Seidl was slated to graduate with his bachelor's degree in Economics from Harvard while having only played two seasons in a Crimson jersey. However, Seidl didn't give up hope to finish out his college baseball career.

"I knew I'd be graduating with two years of eligibility left," Seidl said. "And I knew I'd want to use those two years to keep playing, so that's when I started looking at the transfer opportunities."

Seidl entered the transfer portal, seeking out a new team that would hopefully provide him with a fresh start. When meeting with his Harvard coaches to decide where he wanted to go, Seidl's mind kept straying back to the three-game series that he had played in Tuscaloosa two seasons prior.

"Just having been [there] before made me familiar with the program," Seidl said when recalling Alabama while still at Harvard. "I remember when we played [at Alabama], we came and hit in the indoor facility on Sunday and I remember walking through the facility just thinking how cool and what a blessing it would be to be a baseball player at the University of Alabama.

"Never would I have imagined that I'd end up playing here. But having had that experience, it's made me appreciate being here so much more."

Seidl officially departed Harvard after graduating with his degree, then packed up and headed to Tuscaloosa to join Alabama. Working towards his master's degree in Business Administration, Seidl was now a member of the team that he had been so impressed with in 2020.

Seidl wasn't the only person impressed, though. Over the course of fall practices and scrimmages, Seidl turned heads by hitting six home runs. His performance on the field caught the attention of Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon, who noted not only Seidl's baseball skills, but also his leadership.

"Tommy is a really impressive young man," Bohannon said after the Crimson Tide's first official spring practice. "Harvard grad and Division I athlete and he's a good athlete and has some good baseball skill but he's got really strong intangibles. It's really rare that you see a new kid come in and kind of be a leader and that just really happened organically.

"He's really got a magnetic personality, tremendous work ethic, very competitive, plays with really good energy and the kids love him."

Seidl still has two years of eligibility left with the NCAA before he will ultimately have to hang up his cleats for good. Despite already being 24 years old, Seidl still has plenty of time to prove himself on the baseball field. Despite having to take two seasons away from playing the game that he has played since "as early as [he] could remember," Seidl has finally found himself a home in Tuscaloosa.

He might not be wearing the same Crimson jersey, but it's still crimson nonetheless. And to him, it's not the color of the jersey that matters. Rather, it's the opportunity that the Alabama jersey represents.

"Looking back and being at Alabama now, Alabama was always the right choice," Seidl said. "My favorite part about this program is our team and our culture. Everybody's bought in to what we're doing here and we have great chemistry on the team and everybody just enjoys being around the guys, which is unique for such a large program.

"So it's really the culture that's drawn me here and everything else is a bonus."

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— Alabama Baseball (@AlabamaBSB) January 26, 2022