Shealy made his Rays debut Wednesday at first base in the spring opener against the Orioles. A former Florida Gator with a .311 career batting average in the minors, he is trying to make an impression as a non-roster invitee to camp.
You set single-season school records for RBIs (80) and total bases (186) your senior season (2002) at Florida. What's your favorite memory as a Gator?
There's an awful lot of them. I'd say, baseball-related, I guess would be my senior year. We had probably the best team since I was there. We lost to Miami again in the regional, just like every other year, but we had a great team. A lot of fun.
Besides lettering in baseball, basketball and football at Cardinal Gibbons High in Fort Lauderdale, you also played volleyball. What was that about?
Yeah, I played volleyball my junior year to try and work on my jumping for basketball, and it didn't work at all. I had fun with it, though. Growing up in Fort Lauderdale, I played a lot of beach volleyball.
What's your favorite minor-league city and why?
Las Vegas. For obvious reasons. I played there a few times in the Pacific Coast League.
What's the most amazing thing you've ever seen an athlete do?
With my own eyes, I watched Joey Gathright (with the Royals in 2008) jump over a (Dodgers) pitcher covering first base. Everyone has seen him jump over cars, but this was something. The pitcher got in the line, and in mid-sprint Gathright hurdled him.
If you had to pick a coach outside of baseball to play for, who would it be?
Urban Meyer. I just read his book, too. That's not just me being a huge Gator fan, either.
Tony Fabrizio
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