Beyond the White and Gold:

While many sports fans are familiar with the All-Star player, two-time Golden-Glove and American League Silver Slugger winner Mark Teixeira, some may not remember that he originally debuted at Tech.

"It's just great to be back in Atlanta...driving by Georgia Tech everyday, going to some of the places I used to go in college is really a lot of fun. There are a few places where I had a lot of lunches," Teixeira said.

Scouts encouraged him to enter the MLB amateur draft in 1998, but Mark wanted to enroll in college to further develop his athletic abilities and to receive a thorough education at college.

"When I went on a visit [to Tech], it had everything I wanted: it had great baseball and it had great academics. I love the city of Atlanta, so it had everything I wanted," Teixeira said.

Teixeira played for the Jackets as third basemen for three outstanding seasons, from 1999 through 2001. In his first year, he picked up several awards, including the ACC Rookie of the Year Award, first-team conference honors, National Rookie of the Year, and second-team All-America. He also became the first Tech freshman since Tommy Thompson to lead the Jackets in all major batting records.

In 2000, Teixeira led the conference in several offense records, received the National Player of the Year Award, ACC Player of the Year Award, Dick Howser Trophy (another national player of the year award) and earned first-team All-America accolades.

"The highlight of my baseball career [at Tech] was in 2000 when we won the ACC championship; we had a great season and one that I'll never forget," Teixeira said.

Teixeira delivered the game-winning hit in the ACC Tournament against Clemson to give Tech the 2000 ACC Championship title. In addition, Teixeira played for the USA Baseball National Team.

"Georgia Tech was great for me and [helped] me to learn a lot of life lessons on and off the field. It really prepared me for professional baseball," Teixeira said.

In 2001, despite a nagging ankle injury, Teixeira had a stellar season on and off the field. In that same year, Teixeira earned Dean's List honors again, was awarded the ACC Academic Honor Roll Award, and was nominated for the WSJ Student Achievement Award.

"It's a tough school, so for you to balance your academics and your baseball is definitely a challenge," Teixeira said.

He was drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2001 and is one of the few Jackets to have been selected in the first round of the MLB draft. Teixeira's overall batting average of .409 still ranks third among Tech baseball players all time.

"Coach Hall and I are still really good friends and all the guys on the team are all new to me, but I try to keep up with the team and see how they're doing every year," Teixeira said.

Teixeira is married to Georgia Leigh Williams, also a Tech alumnus. He is now the starting first basemen for the Atlanta Braves currently batting .307, with 29 homers and 103 RBI's. He is a leading player in the Braves' push to the playoffs.

"In the off-season, I like to hunt, fish, golf and mostly spend a lot of time with my family and catch up...My wife's family is from Habersham County, and it's great to be back here because they get to see me play a lot and I get to see them when I have a chance...I come back [to Tech] all the time. I come to football games, I come to basketball games and I visit friends and family all the time," said Teixeira.