Auburn's Diamond Club banquet features laughs, stories from program legend Casey Mize
Auburn baseball hosted their largest Diamond Club Banquet crowd ever in Neville Arena on Saturday night to hear from head coach Butch Thompson as well as former Auburn great and current Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize. Thompson was effusive in his praise for the legacy that started with Mize, telling the capacity crowd that Auburn would "never have sniffed Omaha" in 2019 and 2021 if not for the work Mize did keeping the core of the team together during the coaching change that brought Thompson to the Plains.
Head coach Butch Thompson gives his "State of the Program" address
Photo courtesy of Auburn Athletics
"There's a coaching change (in October of 2015), all these things going on and there's a whole freshman class sitting there and they're saying 'I'm out of here. This is crazy.' [...] Casey Mize grabbed every one of those guys and said 'we ain't going nowhere. We came here for Auburn, we didn't come for a coach. We're going to see this thing through. We are going to be the foundation of his program and make it happen.' So thank you, Casey."
It was a wonderful night of stories, celebrating, and recognition of exactly how far the program (and University) has come in Thompson's tenure.
In his remarks, Thompson noted how Athletics has improved as a whole in his eight years on The Plains, remarking "this is the best leadership and alignment since I've been at Auburn" when recognizing and crediting President Chris Roberts and Athletic Director John Cohen. He discussed the mental resilience of last year's team, making note of how 22 of Auburn's 43 wins in 2023 were come-from-behind victories. This year's emphasis was on physical strength, with Thompson noting how this year's squad was the "physically strongest group" ever to take the field at Auburn.
Thompson also officially named the captains for 2023, referred to as the "Legacy Group": Catcher Nate LaRue, outfielder Bobby Pierce, and longtime centerfielder Kason Howell.
But the real star of the night was Casey Mize, the Auburn product who went #1 overall to the Detroit Tigers in the 2018 MLB Draft. In a question and answer session with Auburn's Jeff Shearer, he covered everything from his recruitment to his most memorable moments both as a collegiate Tiger and a professional Tiger.
Casey Mize discusses his time at Auburn and in professional baseball
Photo courtesy of Auburn Athletics
On his recruitment: "As a third generation Auburn fan [...] there wasn't a doubt where I wanted to go." He was in attendance during the 2013 season for football's comeback victory over Mississippi State, capped off by a CJ Uzomah touchdown catch from Nick Marshall in the corner of the endzone, and committed that evening to the program. "When Auburn offered the scholarship, I said yes immediately. [...] I found my home."
On his best performance as an Auburn Tiger (being asked to choose between his 15-strikeout performance against Vanderbilt or his no-hitter against Northeastern, both in 2018): "I think it was the Vanderbilt night. Struck out 15 and the no-hitter was 12 or 13. [...] Northeastern wasn't anything to scoff about - that was a good team and I'm really proud of what we were able to do that night with the no-hitter - but Vanderbilt is so much more of a tougher opponent. Vanderbilt's Vanderbilt, you know."
On what he learned from Butch Thompson about setting a culture and leading by example: "That's something that Coach Thompson preached a lot about. Like, when it came to clubhouse duties or on the field duties, a lot of times you'll see in a lot of programs or workplaces where the freshmen are assigned to duties and you kind of graduate out of that as you get older. Not in a typical Thompson program that says 'we're going to lead from the front, from the most experienced players'. And so we took on duties, picking up garbage, or other stuff - coach called it 'sweeping the sheds'. [...] I just knew things like that would be generational through the program, and I know that's what culture building is, and he definitely built that through us. [...] That's something that is still talking to me today; I really try to lead from the front."
The biggest laughs of the night came from an unexpected topic: Mize's offensive prowess in the major leagues. He has one career RBI in the major leagues, in his first plate appearance at the plate, coming in his 2nd season. (At the time, American League pitchers were not usually required to hit, owing to the DH, but when playing a National League team on the road, AL pitchers were required to bat. The Universal DH has since been adopted by Major League Baseball.)
"It had been six years (since he picked up a bat in a baseball game - college pitchers also do not bat). So I put on my gloves and elbow guard, because I do NOT want to get hit, and take some weak little practice swings. I finally get up there with the bases loaded and I'm looking at AJ (Hinch), my manager, asking 'do you want me to swing? What do you expect out of me right here?' and he's like 'no, Casey, do not swing, unless it gets to two strikes, and then you can, only if you want to.' So I go up there and ball one. Ball two. Ball three. I look over to the dugout and the boys are going crazy, they're like 'man, you're about to get on base!'. Ball four. (Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty) walks me on four straight. I chuck my bat to the dugout, just bat flip it, which is VERY unlike me. [...] We score three runs in the first, mine the third, and we win three to two, so I think I got the game winning RBI. Pretty proud of that."
The evening finished with Mize reflecting on the state of the program now: “I was very fortunate and pleased to lay a little bit of a foundation for what these guys keep building on. Coach calls it ‘knocking doors down.’ They keep doing it every single year. That has been cool to watch. They’ve accomplished things I never was able to accomplish. For that I’m a little envious. It’s just really awesome to see.”
Mize stuck around afterwards to sign autographs, take photos, and give time to everyone who came by to chat, exclaiming "This was a special time in my life."
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