When Dan Day was a child he wanted to be like Roberto Alomar.

Day, a native of Rochester, N.Y., idolized the then-Toronto Blue Jays second baseman, who was a perennial All-Star and Gold Glove winner and a key cog in a Jays' team that won two World Series during the 1990s.

Because of his ability to hit for .300, steal 30 bases, and hit 15 homers, Alomar has been the idol of many baseball fans for the past 16 seasons.

Day, who is now the starting third baseman for the Penn State baseball club, admired Alomar for more than his stats.

It was how Alomar played the game that caught the aspiring ballplayer's attention.

During the 1993 World Series, Philadelphia Phillies centerfielder Lenny Dykstra lofted a soft line drive over the head of then-Jays first baseman John Olerud.

What had appeared to be a certain hit was flagged down by a diving Alomar. Alomar was gliding on the Astro-Turf along the right-field foul line after he made the catch.

Most school children would have been amazed by the spectacular play, but Day knew why Alomar was able to make it.

He understood that Alomar read the ball off the bat and put himself in position to make the great play.

"He was just what I wanted to be," Day said of his childhood idol. "I tried to emulate players like that."

The way a player goes about his business is important to Day, who learned the fundamentals of the game at an early age.

From the time Day was a child, his father, David, stressed the fundamentals of the game. The elder Day taught his son the correct way to turn a double play, that different situations dictate where a hitter should hit the ball, and how to be a great cut-off man, among other things.

"When you're a cut-off man you have a lot of decisions to make," David Day said.

A good cut-off can end another team's rally before it can get on the board. Day has worked on his cut-offs and the other tools his father taught him.

Day said his father taught him more about playing baseball than anyone else has.

"He never pushed me, just showed me the right way to do things," Day said.

The coaching has paid off well for Day, who is one of the Lions' leading hitters.

He has nine runs batted in, six runs scored, a home run thus far this season. He also has just two strikeouts in 25 at-bats.

This comes after a 2002 season in which he led the team in triples, hits, at-bats, runs and batting average while slugging three homers and knocking in 22 runs.

Day's approach at the plate is to get on base.

He has a tendency to be a first-pitch hitter.

"I'm always swinging," he said. "[The first pitch] is my pitch to hit."

Day was a member of the varsity baseball team from 1999-2000. He said he was cut from the team. "That's the way baseball goes at that level," he said.

Day joined the club team last year.

Penn State baseball club coach Phil Pinkasavage said that while Day has been the best player on the team the past two years, the way he carries himself on the field is just as impressive.

Pinkasavage admits that the caliber of some of the team's competition is not up to the club team's level, but Day does not let up.

"You'd never know it with Dan," Pinkasavage said. "He comes to play everyday."

It turns out that as a man, Dan Day plays like Robbie Alomar.