Seth Beer Could Be the Best Athlete in Clemson History

No, his 2017 statistics are not quite as gaudy as they were last season, but Seth Beer is still, without a doubt, one of the best hitters in baseball. Recently earning his second nod to play for Team USA, Beer is in the midst of yet another magnificent season. Leading the Tigers with 12 home runs and 93 total bases, Beer,  a true sophomore, is on the fast track to becoming the best baseball player ever produced by Clemson. Better yet, he is on the fast track to becoming perhaps the best athlete to ever come out of Clemson.

At 6’3”, 200 pounds, Beer was once an amateur swimming phenom, and he has gone on to become a college baseball superstar. Last year, Beer produced one of the best seasons that a collegiate hitter has ever had, hitting .369 and totaling 70 RBI. As a result, Beer took home all of the major awards for freshman of the year and national player of the year.  Naturally, following up such a grandiose debut season posed to be a tall task for Beer, but he has lived up to the challenge.

Clemson has boasted its fair share of elite athletes, several of whom have experienced success at the next level, but arguably none have ever sported the level of talent of Beer. A freak athlete and an unbelievably gifted hitter, Beer is an all-around gem.

Despite the illustrious history of Clemson athletics, no Clemson athlete has ever become a certified top-tier player at the professional ranks of a major team sport. Beer poses the best opportunity for the foreseeable future of that happening. Arguably no college baseball player has ever burst onto the scene like Beer did last year, and with the remainder of this season plus an additional season at Clemson, Beer will have the opportunity to take his talents to Major League Baseball in 2018 as perhaps the most MLB-ready draft choice in quite some time.

Sure, the Clemson football team has had several spectacular talents suit up for it over the years, as has the men’s basketball team. In recent years, the men’s soccer team has sported several elite talents that have gone on to experience success in the MLS. As for the baseball team, however, professional talents have been slim lately.

Part of what resulted in the dismissal of head coach Jack Leggett a few years ago was the general lack of elite talent. Now that Beer is in the fold, the Clemson program has found itself back in the national headlines and in discussion of being one of the country’s best overall programs again. Beer has helped usher in the Monte Lee era with bells on, solidifying Clemson as one of the best and brightest teams in the ACC for the first time in a handful of years.

Yes, Kris Benson and Khalil Greene were great in college but not nearly as great in the pros. Expect Beer to be different, as he is so remarkably gifted and has such rare intangible talent that there is practically no chance that he will not experience success in the majors. And in so doing, Beer could prove to be the best athlete in the history of Clemson athletics.