Loved LSU baseball coach leaves a legacy
I love coaching. I especially love coaching the game of baseball, which as I’ve written many times before, is my rst true love.
I love being able to teach young players the proper ways to play the game. It’s so rewarding when those players can take what I’ve taught them and put it into action. My goal has always been that the players I’ve coached will take something away from their time with me and be able to use it in whatever paths they choose in life.
My love of coaching has brought about an admiration of great coaches. Two Fridays ago, I was lucky enough to be in Baton Rouge for Game 2 of the LSU vs. Ole Miss series. I was with the travel team I occasionally help coach. We drove from Bossier City to Alex Box Stadium, arriving just ahead of the pregame festivities.
LSU was honoring its 1993 National Championship team on the 20th anniversary of the Tigers’ second title. Two former Airline High School stars, Todd Walker and Dustin Brandon, were on that championship team. Walker, who was an All-American at LSU and is currently the Calvary Baptist Academy head coach, was handed the microphone and asked to address the over ow crowd. After giving a nice shout out to the Tigers’ closer and Shreveport native Chris Cotton, Walker talked about how he really became a great player under the tutelage of coach Skip Bertman.
Just minutes later, LSU Athletics Director Joe Alleva would of cially declare LSU’s baseball eld, Alex Box Stadium, as Skip Bertman Field. It was an honor that was long overdue for Bertman.
In 18 seasons at LSU, the legendary coach led LSU to ve national championships and seven Southeastern Conference titles. Bertman took the Tigers to 11 College World Series, 16 NCAA Tournament appearances and nished his career with a record of 870-333-3.
His list of accomplishments go on and on; however, I’ve always believed that Bertman made college baseball relevant across the country. Athletic programs nationwide but particularly in the South, began to realize baseball could be a revenue-generating sport. Thus, many schools began pouring money into their baseball programs, including the construction of new stadiums.
For example, the University of Indiana Hoosiers just captured the Big 10 regular season title in baseball. (That’s right, baseball.)
The Hoosiers nished the regular season with a 40-13 record and ranked in the Top 15. This is a remarkable feat for Indiana because the only two programs in the Big 10 that have been relevant in baseball since the 1980s have been Michigan and Minnesota.
For me, it’s no coincidence IU just opened beautiful new Bart Kaufman Field in time for the 2013 season. The new $19.8 million complex replaces Sembower Field, which had been the home of Hoosier baseball since 1951.
Sure, there were great college baseball coaches before Bertman, such as the late Rod Dedeaux at USC, Ron Fraser at Miami, Mark Marquess at Stanford, Mike Martin at Florida State and Ron Polk at Mississippi State.
However, it’s my belief that none of these coaches had business acumen and showmanship sense that Bertman displayed during his time at LSU. When he arrived at LSU in 1983, the program was averaging 500 fans a game in a stadium that was built by the WPA during the Great Depression. But he took that venerable old stadium and transformed it into a mecca of college baseball that averaged more than 10,000 fans, and led to the building of the new Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
When I was at LSU working in sports information, I often heard Bertman talk of “baseball fortune.” And wouldn’t you know it, the Tigers had some great fortune that night as Raph Rhymes blasted a tworun home run in the bottom of the eighth to give LSU a 5-4 victory over the Ole Miss Rebels.
Former Byrd Yellow Jacket star Chris Cotton closed out the Rebs in the ninth and set off a spectacular reworks show. None of this would have ever taken place had it not been for one Stanley “Skip” Bertman.
Charlie Cavell may be reached at ccavell12@hotmail.com.
