A Closer Look at Mason Maners, Daniel Locke

aubiefifty · May 2

si.com

A Teammate on and off the Field:

A Teammate on and off the Field: A Closer Look at Auburn Outfielder Mason Maners

Daniel Locke

4–5 minutes

After losing a good amount of players to the MLB Draft after the conclusion of last season, Auburn baseball head coach Butch Thompson knew he would need to find some veteran players in the Transfer Portal to fill some spots in the starting lineup.

One of these players was Mason Maners, an outfielder from Vestavia Hills, Alabama who was a member of the Jacksonville State Gamecocks for three seasons.

“The number of at-bats at the college level and the fact that he had success each year,” Thompson said on what led him to pursue Maners in the Transfer Portal. “He loved Auburn, that was probably the final nail in the coffin and this is where he wanted to be.”

Maners discussed how playing for Auburn fulfills a lifelong dream of his.

“This has always been the place I’ve wanted to play,” Maners said. It means the world to me, it really is a dream come true.”

Family is one of the most important things to Maners. He mentioned how much it means to him for his family to be able to come see him play.

“It just means the world to me knowing my family can come out to a lot of games,” Maners said. “I had offers to go to other places, but it would have been places that were further away and that my family would not be able to make it out to. Playing for my dream school, the school my dad loves, and having them be able to come to so many games means everything to me.”

Maners has been playing baseball for as long as he can remember. Mason Maners’ father Martin Maners, talked about watching Mason play early in his childhood.

“Mason was a no-fear kind of player,” Martin said. “He was just a kid that would cover every aspect of the field. He (Mason) would play shortstop, second base, catcher, outfield and he learned a lot at an early age.”

Martin mentioned how special it is to have Mason playing close to home.

“That meant a lot to us and it meant a lot to him,” Martin said. “Even when he (Mason) was coming out of high school he had a lot of opportunities at the mid-major level that were good. Jacksonville State was both the closest and had the best facilities so it worked out great.”

A person who means a lot to Mason is his 16-year-old brother Joshua who was born with Down syndrome. Mason talked about what Joshua means to him and how much he enjoys having Joshua at the ballpark.

“So Joshua, he is the light of the world,” Mason said. “He is a remarkable person, he loves everybody and has never met a stranger before in his life. It just means the world when he comes to these games. He does not care if I’ve hit four home runs or struck out every time. He’s just excited to give me a hug and us hang out afterward.”

Martin talked about how much Joshua enjoys watching his brother play.

“He loves being at the games, he loves the college scene down here at Auburn,” Martin said. “Joshua is really interested in seeing Mason and he is really interested in seeing all the guys, giving them all high-fives.”

Mason is a talented baseball player but makes as much of an impact off the field as he does on it. Auburn second baseman Javon Hernandez, who was previously teammates with Mason at Jacksonville State, described how Mason is as a teammate.

“Mason is a great guy, he is a man of God,” Hernandez said. “He has always been a great teammate. He is always positive, just a guy who gets the team going. I’ve never seen him down really. Just a great person and I think anybody who has played with Mason would say the same.”

Character is an important trait to Thompson and is one of the main things he has built his program around. Bringing in Mason was an impactful way to uphold that standard.