Vanderbilt baseball third baseman Jason Esposito is No. 54 on our countdown of 100 greatest athletes we've covered. Follow our countdown to No. 1 here.
Honors and awards: 2009 All-Louisville Regional
2010 All-Louisville Regional
2011 first-team All-American (ACBA; second-team by Baseball America)
2011 second-team All-Southeastern Conference
2011 All-SEC Tournament
2011 Nashville Regional MVP
In the VU record book: Single-game walks: tied-first (five vs. Mississippi St., 2011)
Consecutive times on base (15 in 2019; eight hits, seven walks)
Single-season doubles: fourth (25 in 2010)
Career doubles: fourth (60)
Career steals: eighth (66)
Before VU: Starred at Connecticut's Amity High, where Perfect Game ranked him the No. 95 player in the Class of 2008, and the No. 69 draft prospect. Kansas City took him in Round 7 of the 2008 MLB Draft, but Esposito did not sign. Was the state's Gatorade Player of the Year in 2008, its Offensive Player of the Year in 2007, and also a Gold Glove and Louisville Slugger All-American. Four-year letter-winner who was captain in his final two seasons. Drove in six runs in the SEC Tournament.
Freshman (2009): Started all 64 games at third base for a 37-27 (12-17 SEC) team that finished second in the Louisville Regional. Fielded .911 and participated in 10 double plays. Hit .262/.352/.350 in SEC regular-season play. Made Louisville All-Regional team after going 6-for-21 and playing stellar defense in that event. Was 4-for-5 with an RBI on March 27 vs. Auburn. Was 3-for-5 with two doubles, two runs and two RBIs vs. Illinois-Chicago. Was 5-for-10 with three RBIs and two runs in the Vermont series.
Sophomore (2010): Again started all 66 games, leading the team in home runs (12), RBIs (64), total bases (157), on-base percentage (.455), slugging (.599) and steals (31-of-35). The team went 46-20 (16-12) and ended its season in the Tallahassee Super Regional. Fielded .935 at third. Hit .364 (4-for-11) with five RBI, two home runs and four runs scored in three games in the super regional. Hit .476 (10-for-21) with five RBI, two doubles, a home run and four runs scored in five games in the Louisville Regional. Torched Mississippi St. in a regular-season series, going 8-for-11 with four doubles, six runs, three stolen bases and seven walks. Was 5-for-14 with four RBI, two walks and two runs scored in the LSU series. Clubbed two homers and scored three times in a game vs. Florida. Went 3-for-6 with three RBI and two stolen bases, including a home run, double, and three runs scored at Western Kentucky. Was 7-of-14 with seven RBI, three doubles and six runs scored in season-opening series vs. Niagara.
Junior (2011): Started all 66 games for a 54-12 (22-8) team that shared the SEC regular-season title and finished third at the College World Series. Fielded .918 at third. Hit .369/.420/.577 with four homers, 26 RBIs and 28 runs in SEC regular-season play. Reached base in 38 straight games, a streak that ended against Georgia. Had a sixth-inning home run and three RBIs in Game 1 of VU's win over Oregon State in the Nashville Super Regional. Was 3-for-4 with a double, homer and two RBIs in the Nashville Regional title game vs. Belmont. Homered in VU's SEC Tournament-opening win vs. Georgia. Homered and drove in four in a win over Purdue. Drove in three runs in a win over LSU.
Post-VU: Picked by Baltimore in Round 3 of the 2011 MLB Draft, Esposito played four years in the Minors, reaching AA before retiring after the 2015 season.
Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: Esposito had more raw tools and athleticism than most who've played at Vanderbilt. He was regarded as a good defensive third baseman, even though he had his fair share of errors (36 for his career). He started every game at VU and was one of the most valuable players on its first College World Series team.
Most notably, he played well in big situations, earning all-regional honors in three NCAA Tournaments while winning MVP in his final regional. He had a huge showing in the Tallahassee Super Regional, in which VU came a run shy of advancing to another College World Series. For good measure, he made All-SEC Tournament in 2011, when VU lost to Florida in the finals.
Esposito's first two seasons came in the two highest run-scoring college baseball seasons in our selection time period for the VandySports 100 (that's 2003 to present). But even adjusting for that, it's hard to justify leaving him out of our top 60, especially considering his athleticism and his postseason play.
