Topic: J.D. Drew

David Jonathan "J. D." Drew (born November 20, 1975, in Valdosta, Georgia) is an American professional baseball right fielder with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. He is a left-handed hitter, and began his major league career in 1998 with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Drew attended Florida State University, where he played under head coach Mike Martin. At Florida State, he was the winner of the 1997 Dick Howser Trophy and the 1997 Golden Spikes Award, was named the 1997 Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year, the 1997 Sporting News Player of the Year, and was a consensus All-American (1997). He also was named the 1997 ACC Player of the Year. He was a 1996 member of Team USA. Drew was First Team in 1996, Freshman All-American in 1995 and was named to the College World Series All Tournament Team in 1995. He was the first player in college baseball history to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season. He set a Florida State record by batting .455 in 1997 while managing to become one of only three players in college baseball history to have 100 hits, 100 runs and 100 RBIs. During his college career, Drew broke 17 school and conference records.

Drew was the second overall pick in the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. Drew and his agent Scott Boras chose not to sign with the Phillies, sticking to their guarantee that they would not sign for less than $10 million. The Phillies had no plan to pay an unproven player this amount of money, and despite Boras' warnings, drafted Drew nonetheless. Consequently, Drew ended up playing for the St. Paul Saints of the independent Northern League. Boras had Drew sign with the Northern League because of a loop hole in the rules of the MLB Amateur Draft.