July 24, 2015
By Jerome Boettcher | Subscribe to Commodore Nation
Every time Carson Fulmer glanced over his right shoulder this season, Vanderbilt’s hard-throwing righty saw a reassuring presence.
With Dansby Swanson at shortstop, Fulmer knew his best friend had his back.
“There is a security with him back there,” Fulmer said.
Over the last three years, the past two as roommates, an unbreakable bond formed between the two. In fact, even before Fulmer stepped foot on campus Swanson was dishing out assists. They first met at the East Coast Pro baseball showcase in Florida during the summer of 2011.
Swanson had committed to Vanderbilt. Fulmer was still weighing his options. So Swanson proceeded to deliver his best sales pitch.
“That is when I really started to look into it, and realize this is definitely going to be the place I wanted to go and develop,” Fulmer said. “Since the first day… he is definitely someone that I want to be around. There is a warm feeling when you’re around him and you know he is always going to be there regardless of what is going on.”
So it was fitting on June 8, just moments after Vanderbilt defeated Illinois in a Super Regional to punch a return trip to the College World Series, Swanson was picked No. 1 overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks and within an hour Fulmer was the second Commodore taken at eighth overall by the Chicago White Sox. (Walker Buehler, who arrived on campus three years ago as well, was taken 24th by the Los Angeles Dodgers for three first-round picks.)
“It couldn’t have been scripted any better,” Swanson said. “You can’t give Nicholas Sparks a pen and have him write it down any better than that.”
When Fulmer was drafted, Swanson had already been moved to a press conference room to meet with reporters and conduct a live interview with MLB Network. Fulmer was sent that way as well. When Fulmer walked through the door, Swanson temporarily abandoned his media duties to celebrate with his best friend.
“I saw him, completely ignored everything and we just ran and gave each other this huge hug,” Swanson said. “That was pretty awesome.”
“We just hugged it out,” Fulmer said. “It was awesome. Something I’ll remember for the rest of my life for sure.”
In three years, the pair certainly has cemented its legacy in Vanderbilt sports history.
Together they helped the Commodores win their first national championship in a men’s sport with the 2014 crown. Swanson, bouncing back after he missed most of his freshman season with an injury, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the College World Series. Fulmer started Vanderbilt’s championship clinching win in the CWS and continued his dominance this season. He won the league’s pitching “Triple Crown,” leading the conference in wins, ERA and strikeouts to take SEC Pitcher of the Year honors.
As good of a tag team as they have been on the field, they’re just as complimentary off. Swanson’s vocal; Fulmer more reserved. Swanson likes to plan; Fulmer takes a more laid-back, wait-and-see approach. But both are leaders to their teammates. Both possess a competitive drive that flirts with obsession to be great.
“We’re really different but we’re the same – that’s probably why we get along so well,” Fulmer said. “Obviously, he is a great person. Hard working. We push each other because we’re so competitive. All you can ask for out of a best friend. He’ll definitely be my best friend for a long time. When you need him the most he comes through.”
Another testament to the uniqueness and diversity of the baseball program under Tim Corbin’s watch, both come from different backgrounds.
Fulmer hails from Lakeland, Fla., the same hometown as current White Sox pitcher Chris Sale. Swanson grew up outside Atlanta in Marietta, Ga.
Fulmer is the youngest of five. Kelly, his oldest sibling, is 50 years old, and Carson is six years younger than his next oldest sibling. The most athletic in his family, he visited Vanderbilt and made his college decision by himself. Corbin calls Fulmer an old soul. Art Fulmer Sr., the former assistant attorney general of Florida, remembers watching Carson playing tee-ball and noticing “how serious he took it.”
“Other little kids would be sitting around in the field and looking around,” Art said. “To Carson, it was a commitment.”
Swanson grew up in an athletic family, and despite being the No. 1 pick in the MLB Draft, he insists his mother is the best athlete in the family. Nancy Swanson, formerly Nancy Dansby (thus how her youngest son got his name), played tennis and basketball at Troy University in Alabama and is in the Marietta High School athletic hall of fame.
Swanson was a standout basketball player who ranks third at Marietta with 171 career 3-pointers. Fulmer earned his black belt in taekwondo before he turned 10.
But as different as their childhoods were, baseball serves as the common denominator. Both have already accomplished childhood dreams together – winning a national championship, playing on Team USA last summer and being drafted on the same day.
The night before they were drafted and led the Commodores back to Omaha, they sat in their hotel room, talking for hours. In a unique situation, on the brink of returning to the CWS and hours away from a draft that would determine their future, the best friends opened up. They were in uncharted territory and what better way to vent to their best friend, someone who was also going through the same thing.
“Special guy,” Swanson said. “A lot of people know how incredible a pitcher he is, a competitor. But off the field, he is the most laid back, relaxed guy. Always have fun being around Carson. He is my best friend and we’ll be best friends when we’re in rocking chairs together.”
