A 5-foot-10, 185-pound second baseman, who has idolized Eckstein since reading his book as a child, Brodbeck just wrapped up his senior season at Flagler, a Division II school in St. Augustine, Fla. Eckstein attended a tryout at the college, but he did not make the team and wound up walking on at the University of Florida in 1994. Eckstein was drafted by the Red Sox in the 19th round of the 1997 Draft.
"I thought that was pretty ironic that our coach at Flagler overlooked him," Brodbeck said before rattling off a list of things he respects about Eckstein, who was the Cards' shortstop from 2005-07.