Tallahassee resident also wore jersey No. 11 at FSU

Stan Kmet is part of Florida State's baseball history.

He's also the answer to a trivia question.

The Tallahassee resident was an assistant coach for two seasons (1973-74) under Jack Stallings.

Kmet also was the last coach or player at FSU to wear jersey No. 11 before Mike Martin.

"Really? I had no idea," Kmet said.

Martin - universally known as 11 among fans, colleagues and even family members - has worn jersey No. 11 since he returned to FSU as an assistant in 1975. (He wore jersey No. 15 as a player at FSU in 1965-66 after he transferred from Wingate, a junior college at the time).

Martin was named the Seminoles' head coach in 1980 and, in his 39th season, is on the verge of becoming college baseball's all-time winningest coach. He shares the record (1,975 victories ) with the late Augie Garrido.

FSU is at Clemson this weekend for a three-game series starting Saturday. State rival Miami ruined Martin's bid at history with an 11-5 win last Sunday at Howser Stadium after the Hurricanes dropped the first two games in the series.

Kmet, 69, has lived in Tallahassee for 32 years and continues to follow the Seminoles. He last attended an FSU baseball game a few years ago with friends, cheering on FSU from the grandstand.

"I am pulling for Mike," Kmet said.

"FSU has always had a good tradition of baseball; it has held that all through the years. You have had some great coaches and players, and Mike has done a great job and has that tradition to build on."

Kmet has enjoyed a well-versed career.

Kmet initially landed in Tallahassee in 1973 as he was winding down his five-year minor-league career in the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis organizations. Kmet, a right-handed pitcher, went 22-17 with a 1.94 ERA. Teammates included Steve Evans and Ken Griffey Sr. Evans became a successful IBM executive in Tallahassee, with Kmet and Evans remaining friends to this day. Griffey routinely brought his son Ken Griffey Jr. - a future big leaguer and 2016 Hall of Fame inductee - to games.

Kmet coached FSU pitchers for two seasons under Stallings. He worked closely with Larry Rothschild, who has pitched, coached and managed in the major leagues. Rothschild currently is the pitching coach for the New York Yankees.

Following FSU's 1974 season, however, Stallings resigned, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. And Kmet returned to the Tampa Bay area, where he was a history teacher and head baseball coach at Leto High in 1976.

Martin, meanwhile, began coaching junior high baseball and basketball, before taking over as the head basketball coach at Tallahassee Community College. Martin spent three seasons coaching basketball at Godby High before Woody Woodward was hired as FSU’s baseball coach in 1975. Martin was Woodward’s top assistant for four years, then added one more under Dick Howser.

Martin remembers Kmet when he coached at FSU. And there are two very good reasons why Martin ended with jersey No. 11 when he was hired.

First, it was available.

Second?

“It fit,” Martin said and laughed.

There also are no deep, detailed stories on when FSU players started to call Martin “11.”

It was only a few weeks later when Martin, who worked with the outfielders and catchers, was directing drills with the outfielders. Center fielder Jim Busby asked the FSU assistant coach, ‘Hey one-one, when are we going to hit?” Later in practice, another player, following Busby’s lead, asked, “Hey, 11, are we doing the same drills tomorrow?”

The moniker stuck.

Kmet’s connection with FSU began in high school. He was a star athlete at St. Petersburg Bishop Barry High - now known as St. Petersburg Catholic - and was recruited by FSU to play football. But the quarterback opted for baseball, pitching at Northwestern and enjoying a career that also included time as a professional scout.

Education was important to Kmet, too.

He was an Economics major who also earned a Master's and Ph.D from FSU. Kmet returned to Tallahassee 1986 when offered a job by Betty Castor, Education Commissioner of Florida from 1987-94. In the area of business partnerships in Education and Film Education, Kmet worked with film schools, Disney World, Universal and others. He also remarried, got involved in ministry and television work, in addition to writing and producing screen plays.

At one time, Kmet thought about returning to coaching but choose another path.

Still, he is grateful for his time at FSU. And the opportunity to wear jersey No. 11.

"It was a great run," Kmet said.

"I really loved my time at Florida State."