Buente's Talents Much Deeper Than Baseball

BY: JASON CANTONE

Jupiter Hammerheads reliever Jay Buente is looking to have a great 2008 season. The Evansville, Indiana native was selected by the Florida Marlins in the 14th round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft. Buente has many goals as a professional pitcher, but helping the team in anyway he can is his 1st priority. "I want to help the team win. I want to help the team make the Florida State League playoffs, whether it be in the 1st half or the 2nd half of the season," states Buente. As a personal goal, he wants to keep moving up the Florida Marlins organizational ladder and hopes his next stop on the road to "The Bigs" is the Carolina Mudcats (AA).

When Buente is not pitching, one of his other hobbies he enjoys is computers. He has a gift when it comes to computers, and in his spare time, he enjoys working on the machines. If he was not a professional baseball player, he could see himself working in IT Project Management as a career choice. In the off-season, the pitcher works for a software consultant company and serves as a middle man between the company and client. He communicates with the software company and the client to make sure the project is completed on schedule. Another interesting piece of information about Buente is that he is the official computer repairman of the Jupiter Hammerheads. If a player or a coach has a problem with their computer, he is their man to get the issue resolved. "What can I say? I guess I am kind of a nice guy. I even do it for free," explains Buente. He is also a co-founder and an "IT guy" of an athletic apparel company called GotEyewash. Buente wants fans to learn more about the company and the products they have to offer, and he hopes they will visit their website at www.goteyewash.com.

Buente is also an avid fisherman and prefers freshwater fishing to saltwater fishing. He loves fishing for largemouth bass, with a 9 pound bass being the largest he has caught. Lake George is one of his favorite Florida fishing holes, and he got into the sport by fishing at his family's place in Florida that backed up to a body of water that was connected to the St. Johns River.

To get mentally prepared before a game, the pitcher enjoys listening to music that makes him relax, with opera and classical being his primary music of choice. He is a big fan of opera singer Paul Potts, who won Britain's Got Talent, the British version of American Idol. Buente is intrigued by Potts because the singer was always considered an underdog, but defied the odds and achieved his dream of becoming an opera singer. His composers of choice are none other than Beethoven and Mozart. If he is not listening to opera or classical music, he is a big fan of the bands Three Days Grace, AC/DC, and Metallica.

As a young player and fan, Buente idolized New York Yankees 1st baseman Don Mattingly when he was growing up. Mattingly was a hometown hero from Evansville, Indiana, which made it easy for Buente to root for him. He once met "Donnie Baseball" at a professional baseball player banquet. A fun fact about Buente is that he played against Mattingly's oldest son Taylor, when he was in high school.

The biggest role model's in the pitcher's life were his parents. He says that if it was not for them, he would not be who or where he is today. He is a big fan of his mom's home cooking, with pasta being his favorite dish that she prepares. "My mom's spaghetti sauce is unbelievable," says Buente.

In his few years in the minors, Buente has seen many interesting promotions at Minor League Baseball ballparks. His favorite promotion is the Dizzy Bat Race, which he will see plenty of times this year at Roger Dean Stadium. "The funniest thing I ever saw with this promotion was a guy that almost fell into the dugout. The players had to get up to protect him from falling," states Buente. His least favorite promotion is Musical Chairs. "It is not as entertaining as some of the other promotions I have seen. It also seems like the smallest kid always seems to lose." A promotion that he would like to see at Roger Dean Stadium is a dodgeball challenge with water balloons. "I just think it would be fun to see fans compete in something like this."

Buente may have autographed the quirkiest item out of any baseball player. At a groundbreaking ceremony for Habitat For Humanity, he was asked to sign a saw blade! Not too many players can say that they have signed an item like that.

Fans need to make sure they come out to see the Jupiter Hammerheads play at Roger Dean Stadium this season. The team has a lot of great personalities, each unique in their own way. Whether it's to take in a game, get close to the players, or simply to have your computer fixed, Jay Buente and his teammates can help you out.