Vanderbilt Baseball, All-Time Commodore Favorites

There's no doubt that the last seventeen years have been some of the best in the history of Vanderbilt baseball, with some of the best coming in the Tim Corbin era of Commodores baseball.

On Monday, Vanderbilt Baseball, through their social media Twitter account, posted a question for anyone on social media, and we thought it would be fun to accept their challenge of selecting our favorite Commodores baseball player at each position.

While the post called for only eleven positions, we are taking liberties to expand that roster as we see fit to put together our all-time favorite Commodores baseball roster.

CATCHER

Scotti Madison- This one goes back a few years and pre-Corbin, but Madison is the all-time Commodores catcher with many of his numbers still standing today.

Madison's 49 career home runs have never been topped. As a senior in 1980, the catcher led the team in batting (.399), hits (81), RBI's (56), and home runs (15). Madison earned First Team All-SEC, First Team All-American and All-South Region honors.

FIRST BASE

Julian Infante- Corbin called him the "ultimate teammate," which might be the best comment a player in a team sport can receive. During the Commodores run through the NCAA Tournament to the College World Series title, Infante posted some solid stats including, being named the NCAA Nashville Regional MVP where he batted .500 (6-for-12) with five RBIs and four runs and posted a .994 fielding percentage, making three errors in 480 chances on the season.

SECOND BASE

Tony Kemp- The diminutive Kemp was a fan favorite and has gone on to build a stable career in the majors since departing Vanderbilt. Kemp was named the 2013 SEC Player of the Year and a Baseball America first-team All-American.

Corbin on Kemp: "Tony is a special talent. It takes a rare athlete to make a move from the outfield to second base in the middle of the season and play it proficiently.

Note: Quote courtesy Vanderbilt Athletics

SHORTSTOP

Dansby Swanson- The easiest and biggest no-brainer of any position, Swanson helped led the Commodores to the 2014 National Championship while being named Most Outstanding Player of the College World Series and the All-Tournament team. During the run, he batted .323 with five runs scored and three doubles with four stolen bases, including two singles and a stolen base in the national championship-clinching win over Virginia.

The following season Swanson would become the number one overall selection in the MLB Draft.

THIRD BASE

Pedro Alvarez- A five-tool player, Alvarez spent just two seasons at Vanderbilt but was one of the first big-time prospects under Corbin to head to the majors. IHis numbers in 2007 were impressive, as he posted a .386 batting average to go with 18 homers and 68 RBI. His 40 career homers remain tied for sixth-best in school history.

OUTFIELD

JJ Bleday- Another no-brainer here as Bleday finished his final season as a Commodore by leading the nation in homers with 27 while ending his career with a 51-game on-base streak.

Bleday finished second in single-season runs (82) and walks (61); third in RBIs (72) for his career while also leading the nation in total bases (192), fourth in runs (82), fifth in hits (95) and sixth in walks (61) in 2019 along with powering the Commodores to their second tile under Corbin.

Brian Reynolds- A Nashville area product, Reynolds was a freshman All-American as part of the 2014 National Championship team.

In his three seasons as a Commodore, Reynolds amassed a career .334 batting average along with 108 runs scored, 160 career hits, 37 doubles, 16 home runs, 103 RBI, and 72 walks for a career on-base percentage of .433.

Jeren Kendall- While not necessarily the most prominent name Commodore, Kendall's career was more than worthy of inclusion on this team.

A career .319 batting average along with a .562 slugging percentage that produced 163 hits, 122 runs scored, 26 doubles, 287 total bases, 24 home runs, 112 RBI, and 49 bases on balls. He also stole 48 bases, being caught 12 times.

UTILITY

Austin Martin- While his career was cut short because of the COVID-10 coronavirus pandemic, Martin will be remembered as one of the best Commodores of the Corbin era. He could do it all and played both infield and outfield equally as well.

Some of the honors Martin received include being named D1Baseball.com All-America first team, Baseball America All-America first team, All-SEC first team, SEC All-Defensive Team, Golden Spikes semifinalist and a Dick Howser Trophy semifinalist.

STARTING PITCHERS

David Price- The Murfreesboro native is the one who kick-started it all for Corbin at Vanderbilt as the first genuinely big-time recruit to ink with the Commodores.

Price's resume is an all-timer, not just for the Commodores. Still, college baseball as the left-hander walked away from the college game, having won the Dick Howser Trophy, Golden Spike Award, Collegiate Baseball's CO-National Player of the Year. Brooks Wallace Award, SEC Male Athlete of the Year, SEC Pitcher of the Year, and First Team All-SEC. He was taken with the number one overall selection in the MLB Draft by Tampa Bay.

Kumar Rocker- While his Vanderbilt career is not over and he won't have the numbers of others because of the cancelation of the 2020 season, Rocker gets a spot because this is about favorites. There has been a no better or more significant performance by a Commodores pitcher than his perfect game thrown against Duke in the NCAA Tournament in 2019.

Rocker finished it off with an incredible run through the College World Series that earned him D1Baseball.com Freshman of the Year, Baseball America Freshman of the Year, College World Series Most Outstanding Player, The Tennessean 2019 Sportsperson of the Year, and SEC All-Freshman Team.

Roker went 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA at the College World Series, striking out a Vanderbilt World Series record 11 batters versus Michigan in the championship series along with being the first, and to this point, the only pitcher to throw a no-hitter in a super regional.

RELIEF PITCHER

Adam Ravenelle- Again this is about favorites, and Ravenelle was that during his time for the Commodores. It was his two-inning save that finished off Virginia and age Vanderbilt their 2014 title.

In his career, he posted a 3-2 record, but his 1.51 era in 2014, including his work down the stretch, was nothing short of lights out.

For his career, Ravenelle tossed 57.2 innings, allowing 32 hits, 18 runs, 13 earned runs, one home run, 27 bases on balls, and 57 strikeouts.

CONCLUSION

There could be other players from the Corbin era, like Sonny Gray, Mike Minor, Walker Buehler, Aaron Westlake, or Curt Casali, who could find their name on this team, but I would put this bunch up against the best of any college in the nation.

Follow Greg on Twitter @GregAriasSports and @SIVanderbilt or Facebook at Vanderbilt Commodores-Maven.