To umderstand the kind of player and person the Yankees are getting in Jacoby Ellsbury, listen to the heartfelt words of his college coach Pat Casey.
“Both on the field and off the field I got the highest respect for him and his passion for the game,’’ the longtime Oregon State baseball coach told The Post Wednesday. “He’s a game-changer. I’m looking forward to seeing him wear another World Series ring. He’s got 10 fingers so I think he can put a few more on.’’
The Yankees have the same hope.
“He can really do stuff instinctively but the thing about him is that I’ve never seen him lose his passion for the game and his tremendous work ethic, that’s why I have so much respect for him,’’ said Casey, who often calls Ellsbury “Jack.’’
“He’s got those two World Series rings, yet he plays every game like it’s the last game. They’re going to love him in New York. He’s a special guy.’’
Bobby Valentine, who managed Ellsbury through an injury-plagued 2012 season with the Red Sox, echoed those sentiments.
“Potentially, he could be the best player in uniform, the best player on the field, the best player in the league,” Valentine told The Post. “A few years ago he was arguably the best player ever.’’
In 2011, Ellsbury batted .321 with 32 home runs, 46 doubles, 105 RBIs, 119 runs scored, a .928 OPS and 39 stolen bases.
Yes, injuries have hampered Ellsbury’s career, but Valentine made it clear no one worked harder to recover than Ellsbury did in 2012.
“He probably came back too early a couple times, and he probably went out there when he shouldn’t have a few times,’’ Valentine said. “I never saw him take the easy way out. He is made of the right stuff.’’
When Casey got word of Ellsbury signing with the Yankees for seven years and $153 million, he immediately sent his former star a text, saying, “Jack, you deserve it.’’
When Ellsbury showed up at Oregon State, he was a skinny kid out of Madras High School who ran the 60-yard dash in 6.63. By the time he left, he was running the 60 in 6.34.
“He took us to our first College World Series in 2005,’’ Casey recalled. “He could just do things by reaction that most guys couldn’t do. He had the ability to make adjustments, go from home to second and put it in gear that other people didn’t have.
“At times when you have a high-profile player, sometimes there are things that go along with that.”
That would be excess baggage.
“Never with him,’’ Casey said. “He was a good student, a good person, a great team guy.’’
Oregon State was named the No. 2 college baseball program of the decade and Ellsbury was there in 2003, ’04 and ’05.
“He was our cornerstone,’’ Casey said. “He first came down with his dad on a rainy day, I knew the minute I saw him run on the field that he was something special. His dad went to college here. His brother Spencer goes to college here now. It’s a great family, down-to-earth people.’’
Some have categorized Ellsbury as aloof, but that is not the case, according to Casey and Valentine.
“He has a smile that lights up the room,’’ Valentine said. “But he does have a shy side to him. He likes his own space, but it’s not abrasive anyway. He has a polite way of requesting privacy, but he never ran away and hid. He was part of the group. It all revolves around him being able to perform the way he is capable of performing and that revolves around his health.’’
The 30-year-old Ellsbury is a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes and is the first Native American of Navajo descent to reach the majors. His mother, Margie, is Navajo.
“I didn’t know [of being the first Navajo] until I found out in the paper,” Ellsbury said in 2007, when he first made the majors. “I think it’s pretty neat. I’m surprised there hasn’t been one before.”
Ellsbury was married in 2012 to Kelsey Hawkins, whom he first met at Oregon State. Casey attended the wedding.
“He is the epitome of the kind of kid you want to coach, hard worker, good student, good person. I got a special place in my heart for Jack,’’ Casey said. “Not only because of the kind of player he was but because of how hard he worked to become the player he was. If you talked about explosion, he’d be jumping on boxes until he could jump over the top of them. When you talked about hitting drills, he’s doing them until the lights went out. He just would not be beat.
“He’s one of those guys who inspires people.’’