Larry Greene Jr. stands at six-foot-two, 235-pounds. He has a powerful build, is barrel chested and can run. Sounds like the prototypical SEC football player, doesn't it?

Nick Saban certainly thought so. The University of Alabama's head football coach wanted Greene to be the next star linebacker on his football team.

And Saban wasn't alone. Greene was recruited by Auburn, LSU, Georgia, Clemson and Virginia Tech - all looking for Greene to be a star on the gridiron.

Greene remembers the day he received the scholarship offer from Alabama, and the phone call that came an hour later. And Saban telling him over the phone, "we want you to come to 'Bama." He also remembers dropping the phone. Happy, nervous, surprised - all emotions going through Greene's head at the time; after all, he was just offered an opportunity to be part of one of the most prestigious college football programs in America.

So what turned a kid from south-central Georgia, the heart of SEC country, to baseball?

"My Mom just said 'go with your heart', so I went with baseball," Greene claims, "I just love the game. I just love coming out here every day and playing the game." And the Philadelphia Phillies organization saw that in Larry. That, along with his exceptional raw power was a big reason why they made him their top draft pick in the 2011 MLB draft.

"I haven't seen anybody at 19 who has the power that he has," says Crosscutters manager Andy Tracy.

And Greene is really starting to hit. On July 15th, he hit his first professional home run; a towering shot over Bowman Field's deep right-center field fence. He rounded the bases to a standing ovation and a thunderous roar from the home crowd in Williamsport.

It was a long time coming. Greene had hit .333 over his previous ten games, and was the team's best performer with two outs and runners in scoring position all season. What surprised many, however, is that it took Greene 27 games to finally hit his first homer. Tracy saw no concern, "He is a power hitter, but doesn't need to produce that power yet. He's hitting, and that power is going to come on its own."

A major plus this year has been Greene's ability to draw walks. He has been among the league leaders in base-on-balls all season long and leads the Crosscutters in free passes.

"We didn't know before if it was lack of aggressiveness or his batter's eye," the skipper admits, "But as we went on in extended spring training, we started to see he had a pretty good handle on the strike zone."

Vision, power, strength - Greene's top virtues still seem like the mantra of a star football player. So what makes baseball the right fit for him?

For one, he's very laid back. Greene is a quiet, confident guy who buys into the baseball atmosphere, "Football is intense, intense, intense all the time. Here it's relaxed." He enjoys the camaraderie of a baseball clubhouse, "I love it. Coaches are great. Team chemistry is great. Everybody helps each other out."

And that's another aspect that makes minor league baseball so unique. Greene is competing both against the opposition and his own teammates. But you'd never know it. For a player as talented as Greene, leadership is extremely important, and Andy Tracy has made sure he knows that, "If he's going to be as good as we think he's going to be, people are going to look to him."

It's easy to forget how young Greene is. He doesn't look his age. He's married. He's a big name within the Phillies organization. You don't often consider that he would be entering his sophomore season in college, had he chosen that route.

And sometimes he thinks about that, "Nick Saban told me I would get a ring if I played at Alabama. And then, they won a championship this year. So now looking at it, it was kind of a win-lose. But I know I made the right choice here."

Larry Greene is still very raw in his ability. No question. He's still learning to play the outfield. He's learning to hit curveballs from older, former college pitchers. He's still figuring out the basepaths. And most of all, still identifying when to jump on pitches that he can crush.

But there isn't a single person who questions his talent. And so far, his production has been solid.

Tracy says it's all pretty simple, "He just needs to get older," and jokes, "Don't we all just want to get older?"