GAINESVILLE, Fla. — I didn’t know what to make of Scott Lanier at first. Several years ago, he started making regular visits to our home as a pest control technician.

Every few months, my wife would remind me that Scott would be dropping by and to ensure I was presentable when he entered the master bedroom, of which a corner serves as my home office. No rolling out of bed and straight to the computer to work on a story in my boxers on those mornings.

 

After meeting Scott, it was evident he could have cared less if I had. He was a man’s man, a no-nonsense country boy who made friends as soon as he opened his mouth. At our first encounter, we exchanged pleasantries, and he noticed I was looking at the UF baseball team’s roster online.

For the next half hour, neither of us accomplished much work.

Scott Lanier was a passionate and knowledgeable Florida fan. He especially rooted for Gators baseball. When he discovered what I did for a living, the stories started to flow from the past.

Scott told me he once was a decent baseball player, even had a stint with the Gators and then Santa Fe College. But he hurt his left shoulder, the realities of life started to hit him, and he put away his ball and glove for good while still a young man.

After one of our first meetings, I told my wife I wondered if Scott was for real. So, I did what reporters do: I researched my latest subject. Sure enough, Scott Lanier was a fine pitcher in his day.

One of the first stories I found was written by a young Gainesville Sun scribe named Mike Bianchi, who wrote about a promising young baseball player named Scott Lanier.

“I’ve watched him a few games in the outfield, and when the going gets tough, you can see him looking at his coach, saying, ‘Give me the mail and I’ll carry it.’ You don’t find too many players like that anymore,” said then-Santa Fe College head coach Harry Tholen.

Bianchi’s story, published on May 22, 1983, described Lanier as a “husky 5-foot-9 left-hander” for Santa Fe High School who came on in relief after one inning and struck out 18 Gainesville Eastside batters in the district playoffs. He earned the Sun’s Player of the Year award as a senior and signed a letter-of-intent with the Gators later that summer.

More than three decades later, when I first met Scott, he was anything but husky. He had battled health issues over the years and moved more slowly than many men his age. But he could talk to a tree and became a friendly visitor for our kids and dogs anytime he showed up at the house.

In that same story by Bianchi, Scott shared what drove him to succeed on the diamond.

“I know I’m kind of short for a pitcher, but that’s another thing that keeps me going,” he said. “I want to prove I can go out there and do it.”

Scott struck out 117 batters in 65 2/3 innings in his final season at Santa Fe High and had an ERA of 0.85. He also led the Raiders with a .420 batting average. The newspaper clippings of Scott’s baseball heroics dried up not long after he finished high school. Bianchi noted in a Where Are They Now column a couple of years later that Scott was no longer playing after an injury.

Instead, Scott soon started a long career at Arrow Exterminators, and in between our conversations about Anthony Richardson or Wyatt Langford or Jac Caglianone or what ailed Florida’s bullpen, Scott and I even chatted a few times about ghost spiders and the best way to get rid of Carpenter ants.

Needless to say, when my wife yelled across the house on Thursday that a different technician had called to schedule an appointment to check on the house, she asked where Scott was. She was told that he passed away unexpectedly on Oct. 24. A memorial service was held on Saturday in Gainesville.

Scott James Tillman Lanier was only 60 years old, and his 15 minutes of fame on the field had long passed. But his love for the game, for the Gators, and for his customers remained until his final breath.

RIP, my friend. I never saw you pitch, but you made a strong impression and won’t be forgotten.