Ransom's talent outside the box

His high-level workouts have made Yankees third baseman Cody Ransom perhaps the best athlete in baseball, though he's hardly the best player. (Al Messerschmidt/ Getty Images)

FORT MYERS, Fla. - The name of the video on YouTube is "Cody Ransom 60in approach box jump." The clip bends the mind, as the title suggests. The whole thing takes seven seconds. It is jarring; it's impossible not to click "Play" again, and then once more, to see if you can determine the answer to the obvious question.

"Yeah," Ethan Banning said. "It's real."

Banning would know; he's the man who gave the Internet Cody Ransom. The baseball world discovered Ransom this week, when Alex Rodriguez underwent hip surgery and Ransom became his presumptive replacement at third base for the Yankees. The Red Sox got a look last night in a Grapefruit League game at City of Palms Park, where Ransom went 1 for 3, with a triple, and scored a run. YouTube discovered him first.

Banning owns Triple Threat Performance, the training facility in Tempe, Ariz., where Ransom works out and became one of the finest, most explosive athletes in Major League Baseball. Johnny Damon called Ransom "probably the best athlete on our team," and that may have been an understatement.

Seven years ago, when he played with the Giants, Ransom met a trainer named Greg Oliver who worked for the team, specializing in speed training. Oliver - who goes by his nickname, "Sweets" - grew close to Ransom and Barry Bonds. When Oliver left the Giants for Triple Threat Performance, Ransom and Bonds continued working with him.

Ransom's workouts center around plyometrics, exercises designed to strengthen core muscles and increase fast, explosive movements. His drills are similar to an NFL player's, and they helped him add power at the plate and range and balance in the field.

Ransom can leap on top of a 62-inch box, Banning said, but the 60-inch jump looked smoother and, therefore, became the YouTube choice. Ransom's athleticism compares well with almost any professional athlete's, which sounds absurd; he is a 33-year-old infielder with 166 major league games under his belt. But there is proof.

Banning also trains Simeon Rice, a freakish NFL defensive end who has more quarterback sacks than any other active player. "His athleticism, if you talk to anybody in the NFL, is unparalleled," Banning said. The highest box jump Rice has ever done is 57 inches.

Banning and Oliver measure quickness with a drill called "5-10-5." The athlete runs 5 yards in one direction, 10 in the other, and then 5 in the first direction. Ransom did it once in four seconds flat, "and it doesn't even look like he's running hard," Banning said. At this year's NFL Combine, no one ran a faster time. "If you put him in the NFL draft and he played safety, his numbers would put him at the top of the draft class," Banning said. "He is definitely in the elite group of NFL guys."

On Feb. 12, three days before the Yankees reported for spring training, Banning's crew filmed Ransom's box jump for a promotional DVD. Roughly two weeks ago, they figured, why not upload it to their website (triplethreatperformance.net) and YouTube? As of last night, the number of views stood at 70,899.

The clip begins in what looks like a warehouse. To keep it stable, two men are holding the top of a large black box that comes up to their shoulders. A few others stand to the side. Someone wearing a gray T-shirt, navy blue shorts, and a black wristwatch emerges from the right side of the screen. That's Ransom.

He takes one step, bends slightly at the knees, and explodes upward. The next second of the video looks doctored. Ransom lands on top of the box, which, again, comes up to the shoulders of two large men. He balances on his toes, casually walks across the top, then hops to the floor, crouching as he lands. A few of the men watching pump their fists.

The trick now is translating that to the diamond.

For most likely the first three weeks of the season, Ransom will be replacing the consensus best player in the American League. Rodriguez has won three MVP awards; Ransom has a .251 average in 183 at-bats. Rodriguez will make $32 million, 71.1 times Ransom's $455,000.

"I'm going about it the same way I was going about it," Ransom said. "I'm trying to get ready for Opening Day. In my mind, I still have to try and make this team. Until I get to that point, I'm not the third baseman. I'm not even on the team. It hasn't changed how I'm going about my business. It hasn't changed my preparation."

Ransom was called up with the Yankees last season, but he occupies one of the most Sisyphean positions in sports: behind a player who makes $275 million.

He has survived in baseball because of his work ethic.

"I won't ever change that," Ransom said. "I don't want to do something that I hate for a living. I've got a great job."