Though he had just received the Dick Howser Trophy as the nation’s top player in College Baseball, Seth Beer longed to be on the field at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska.
Instead, he had to watch from the press box as participating teams in the 70th-annual College World Series took batting practice on Friday.
“I just wish I could be out there,” Beer said in an exclusive phone interview with The Clemson Insider after receiving the Dick Howser Trophy. “It just makes me so hungry to go out there and compete.
“It is kind of bitter sweet. It is great to be here, but you want to be here playing. That is the ultimate goal and that is the ultimate experience … to be able to come to Omaha and take Clemson back.”
Regardless, there is nothing wrong with being named the National Player of the Year as a consolation prize. Beer became the first freshman to ever win the award, and the third Tiger overall. Kris Benson received the trophy in 1996 and Khalil Greene won it in 2002.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” Beer said. “Obviously, there are so many great players in the country, in the ACC and even on the Clemson baseball team. To be able to get acknowledge as one of the best is an incredible experience. There are so many great players out there in college baseball.”
And this year Beer was the best of them all.
Beer had an incredible season at Clemson under head coach Monte Lee in what should have been his senior year at Lambert (Suwanee, Ga.) High School. After enrolling at Clemson in January, he posted remarkable numbers that earned him ACC Player of the Year honors, also a first by a freshman.
“It has been an amazing experience to be here in Omaha and accept an award like that on TV,” Beer said. “It has been incredible for not only me, but for Clemson baseball. It is just an awesome feeling to accept this award on behalf of Clemson.”
In 2016, Beer batted .369 with 18 homers, 13 doubles, 70 RBIs, 57 runs, 62 walks, 15 hit-by-pitches, a .535 on-base percentage and six outfield assists in 62 games. He also had a .700 slugging percentage, the best mark by a Tiger since Greene had a .877 slugging percentage when he won the Dick Howser Trophy.
“It is all starting to set in, now that the season is over,” Beer said.
It is incredible Beer is the National Player of the Year considering he did not enroll at Clemson until January, meaning he did not participate in any off-season conditioning program or in fall ball. He won the National Player of the Year Award literally as a kid straight out of high school, which leads to this question. How can he possibly top that?
“You have to be able to go out there every day and not lose that hunger for it,” Beer said.
It helps to be in Omaha and watching teams like Miami and Oklahoma State—two teams the Tigers lost to this year—taking BP at TD Ameritrade Park.
“Every day of the year you have to try to get better, no matter what that is. It’s one of those things where we had a taste of what it is like,” Beer said. “We know what that feels like now and I think we will have a fire burning underneath us.
“We are a good ball club and we deserve to be there just like everybody else. I think there will be a chip on our shoulder this coming season.”
Beer led the Tigers to a 44-20 record in 2016, a top-eight national seed in the NCAA Tournament and Clemson’s first ACC championship in 10 years.
“I think with the upcoming year, not only has this sparked a fire under me, but one under Coach Lee, too. He is going to do everything he can and the coaching staff can, and I will do everything I can to help our team get back (to Omaha),” Beer said. “You better believe I’m coming back. When I get back to school I will talk to my teammates and I will tell them that I have seen it and we have to get here. Everything you get to experience when you get here, and all that stuff, we need to get back here soon.”
TCI’s Clemson preseason magazine is now available. Order your copy of Unfinished Business – An Insider Look at Clemson’s 2016 season today.
