Three Former Gators Baseball Stars Crack The Athletic's All-Century Team

Three former members of the Florida Gators baseball team have cracked The Athletic’s SEC baseball All-Century Team. Catcher Mike Zunino, two-way star Jac Caglianone and outfielder Wyatt Langford all got the nod to acknowledge the SEC’s success in baseball during the first quarter of the 21st Century. 

Florida has the second most players named to the list behind rival LSU (four). 

Matt LaPorta received an honorable mention but ultimately lost out to fellow Gator, Caglianone at first base. 

Zunino played three seasons for the Gators from 2010 to 2012. He was the first Gator catcher to be voted as a first-team All-American twice and was drafted third overall by the Seattle Mariners in 2012 - the highest by a Gators player in program history. Zunino played in MLB for 11 seasons and played in a World Series with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2020 and made his lone All-Star appearance in 2021. 

Fun Fact: His former teammate Kevin Kiermaier used to do a Gator chomp when Zunino hit a home run. 

Caglianone and Langford were teammates for a run to the College World Series in 2023 and were a win away from the program’s second national championship. 

Langford was drafted fourth overall by the Texas Rangers shortly after and cracked the big league roster out of Spring Training the following season. Langford was a two-time First Team All-American and is top 10 in Gators history in multiple categories. 

Caglianone holds the record for home runs by a Florida Gator with 75 - beating out LaPorta for the record and the All-Century spot. He was named a unanimous First Team All-American in back-to-back seasons and took home the 2024 John Olerud 2-Way Player of the Year Award. He was drafted sixth overall by the Kansas City Royals in last year’s draft and is now their top prospect. He was recently called up to Triple-A. 

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