May 23, 2011
Mark Lamm is so old he began college before the advent of the Internet. He has been here so long that his letter of intent was delivered by the Pony Express. You can imagine the jabs teammates throw at redshirt senior Mark Lamm, the team’s eldest statesman.
Lamm is certain that he has heard them all.
Teammates call him grandpa, dad, super senior, so on and so forth. As Vanderbilt’s lone redshirt senior, the 23-year-old Lamm now not only holds the distinction of being the team’s most veteran player, but also as the team’s only two-time SEC Champion.
With Vanderbilt’s 17-7 win over Georgia on Saturday, the Commodores grabbed a share of the SEC Championship with South Carolina and Florida. The title was Vanderbilt’s second in five seasons.
Due to tiebreakers, Vanderbilt (44-9, 22-8 SEC) is the No. 4 seed in the SEC Tournament (Hoover, Ala.) and will play Georgia for the fourth straight time on Wednesday following the conclusion of the 4:30 p.m. game between 8th-seeded Auburn and top-seeded South Carolina.
Lamm redshirted his first season on campus as the Commodores cruised to a 54-13 record and the 2007 SEC regular season and tournament championship. His redshirt season was not due to a lack of ability, but instead because of the team’s plethora of talented pitchers, including headliners David Price, Casey Weathers and Mike Minor.
As a wide-eyed freshman, Lamm thought another SEC title would come his way before graduation — he just didn’t expect it to come four seasons later. Or that he would still be in school four years later.
“I absolutely (took it for granted) as a freshman,” Lamm said. “You come in here and go 54-13 and believe we are the best program in the country. Just knowing the feeling from being a freshman in 2007, it kind of set the standard for what we could do as I got older and finally after four more years to get another one, it makes you realize how difficult it is.”
Lamm knows how difficult a journey to two SEC titles can be, and it is not just because it has taken four more years. For the Laretto, Tenn., native the time in between titles has seemed closer to a decade than half a decade.
In 2008, Lamm appeared in 16 games, making two starts, and finished with a 3.98 ERA. His performance in the bullpen seemed to have him in position for a breakout season in 2009. However what began as a promising year quickly went from bad to worse.
He made only four appearances during the season and allowed three earned runs. Looking to get back on track during the summer, his future plans were suddenly derailed after blowing out his elbow while playing for Danville (Ill.) in the Prospect League. The injury required Tommy John surgery.
“The timing was horrible,” Lamm said. “I was going into my senior season and finally got my arm back to the point it needed to be and then within a week, my arm was done. It got to the point of (contemplating not returning). I had to really figure out what I would do in school. Did I want to pick up another minor or come back and go to graduate school?
“For about a month of my life, I was just trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I talked to my parents, Coach Corbin and others and was told that I’d come back better than ever after Tommy John and thank goodness that’s kind of the way it has worked out.”
After having surgery in August 2009, he missed the entire 2010 season while rehabbing. He earned his undergraduate degree in human and organizational development last spring and he is currently working toward his master’s in organizational leadership.
Just like in 2007 when Lamm redshirted, he again had to sit on the sidelines in 2010 as the Commodores advanced to Super Regionals. Only this time, he couldn’t even throw a ball at practice.
“Rehab wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but being unable to play was probably the hardest part,” Lamm said.
Lamm returned last summer and pitched in 11 games for Waynesboro (Va.) in the Valley League, posting a 0.53 ERA. The success from the summer has translated to his senior season. Lamm is having the best year of his career. He is 5-0 and sports a 2.25 ERA in 24 innings pitched. Although last season proved to be the most difficult time of his playing career, he credits it for making him a better player.
“It was a hard time, but it was probably the most I’ve learned from a baseball standpoint in my career,” Lamm said. “Being away from the game, you get to look at things from a different perspective and that is what I did.”
Lamm has also seen an increase in his velocity and has touched 95 on the radar gun.
“I’ve got a couple of ticks more on my fastball,” Lamm said. “It could be from surgery, but I personally believe it is just me figuring things out on the mound more than anything.”
Finally being able to contribute again has made the 2011 SEC Championship more rewarding than in 2007.
“In 2007 I was just along for the ride and was going to play if they needed me,” Lamm said. “Now being able to contribute on the field, it makes you feel like more a part of the championship than just being a leader in the locker room and in the bullpen.”
Lamm’s journey to two SEC titles has been far from ideal, and as the veteran on the team, he makes a point to ensure the freshmen do not take the moment for granted.
“I try to make sure they know that this just doesn’t come to every team that walks through Vanderbilt’s doors,” Lamm said. “It is something you should enjoy and not take for granted. They can’t expect this to come to them every year, because it is not.”
After the Commodores claimed the title on Saturday, Lamm received multiple congratulatory messages from members of his freshmen class. All have moved on from Vanderbilt to pursue careers in and out of baseball except for Lamm.
Lamm knows his Vanderbilt career will inevitably come to an end in the next two months. But in the mean time, he plans on enjoying the moment to its fullest, while happily taking the ribbing from his teammates about his age. After all, with two SEC titles to his credit, it is Lamm who gets the last laugh.
