"I was a little green as a rookie," Albers said. He played behind Mike Giardi, another captain, that year. "Mike is an unbelievable athlete and a real classy guy. He's one of the best hitters I ever played with. He helped teach me that you need to be relaxed to play baseball."
That year, Albers faced his toughest pitcher: Yale's Dan Lock. Albers grounded back to Lock in that at-bat.
"I was glad that I didn't strike out," Albers said.
He hit .250 and stole a team-best 10 bases as a sophomore, but he calls that year a collection of tough moments.
"I had a terrible season," Albers said. "I fielded miserably and I didn't hit very well. The team was down as a group. It kept getting worse and worse. Nothing went right, and I was the poster child for that."
However, his attitude carried him through.
"He has such a positive attitude," Hogan said. "He didn't let it bother him. He was always bouncing back."
Last year, Joe Walsh took over as coach, and the team went 23-17.
"Coach Walsh was the foundation of what turned out program around," Albers said. "It was attitude more than anything. Coach Walsh has a love for the game and preaches an aggressive type of baseball. It became more fun for me to play."
Soccer is an equally important part of Albers' life. He has played soccer since age three; his father, Tony, says he learned to walk by kicking a soccer ball. This year, he finished 5-1 in the net, posting a 1.06 goals-against average. Albers made nine saves in the team's first-round win against Boston University in the NCAA tournament. At the half, BU led, 2-0.
"On the second goal, the ball rolled under him," said soccer captain Will Kohler. "The player was 35 yards out. At halftime, he apologized to us and said he was not going to let up another ball."
That promise held up, and Harvard eventually won, 3-2.
In 1994, his .19 GAA barely missed breaking the league record of .16. Albers allowed just one goal in Ivy action.
"The defenders and I were kicking ourselves after that goal," Albers said. With 50 seconds left, Harvard led Princeton, 4-1. "It was raining and the shot was a header. It squibbed past me on sort of a tricky hop. I had no complaints, though. We had beaten Princeton and we were supposed to have lost to them."
Albers is also a two-time winner of the World Junior Frisbee Championships. When he was 18, he set what was then the world record for distance, 193.55 meters, at a World Championships tournament.
"I knew it was a pretty good throw," Albers said. "I was pretty excited." Albers' accomplishments gained him a spot on a Frosted Flakes commercial. He has held six world records.
"Harvard almost chose me," said Albers, who originally did not plan to apply here. He was considering either Santa Clara or Notre Dame when he received a call from the Crimson baseball coach. Albers then called the soccer coach, who seemed interested.
An economics concentrator, Albers is taking Economics 1813, Science B-40 (his last Core class) and Baseball in American Society in his final semester. After graduation, he is interested in professional soccer or even baseball. He has also received a few job offers, and is considering volunteer grant work with the Christian Volunteer Corps.
Albers said he will miss his teammates the most.
"I've seen a wide spectrum of different kinds of personalities," he said. "On a varsity sport, you get to know the guys so well. You don't ever get that back."