"After a while, you just don't want to talk on the phone anymore," Lentz says.

Obviously it's hard to keep a low profile when many consider you the best catcher in New England. While Lentz appreciates the accolades, he knows that New England is just small beans.

"It's kind of irrelevant," Lentz says. "I would never want to be known as the best catcher in New England--I would like to be known one day as the best catcher in baseball."

He'll have to wait a while for that title and focus on the Crimson's impending season. While he's been in plenty of academic and disciplinary trouble in the past, Lentz feels that he has some of those more destructive impulses under control.

"I think more than anything it's a matter of maturity," he says. "I think a kid like me coming to college--well none of this [the off-field distractions] was new to me, it was stuff we did in high school. I don't mind making mistakes as long as I learn from them."

The Crimson and Walsh hope he has. Though Lentz might play next year's Opening Day in front of thousands of fans, the team needs him and his defense here and now to reclaim the Ivy League championship.