re: for the old-timers - the end of the Jim Smith era

I went into a game in the mid '70's so I'd have a nice quiet place to study. Maybe 25 people were there all sitting behind home plate. All you could hear was the pop of the ball in the mitt or an occasional bat on ball.

Cool stories...my dad was at LSU during the late 70's and he used to take my mom to baseball games for a "cheap date"...I think you could get in free with student ID...he said there were zero people in the stands...probably good for a "cheap feel" as well knowing my dad

just to be accurate...my pops was there in the early 70's as well...undergrad, MBA and PHD and he said the baseball stadium was dead the whole time.

True on most accounts. I was a walk-on in the mid-70's and there was always a spot for anyone who felt they were good enough and wanted to "try out." I respected that about the environment and coach back then. Unfortunately, recruiting was not nationally what it is today - but then again neither was football.
One moment I do recall from my freshman days was going 4-4 in scrimmage and trying to see if Coach Smith was "aware" of my accomplishments. He was sitting way up high in the stands at Alex Box.
I honestly think I would have made the team had I been smart enough to do the following:
#1 - Not try out for position w incumbent all-SEC performer in front of me (2nd base as I recall)
#2 - Not run trial time to 1st base from right side: should have went from left side and told coach I was switch-hitter
#3 - Not went out and partied (per usual) the Friday night before final practice (cut day)

Oh well, I can't complain. I was still playing baseball against the best players in the country every year through MSABL (Men's Senior Adult Baseball League) until recently. I guess you could say he was not a good judge of talent....

It was awesome because you could sit wherever you wanted. I'd take my boys and we'd sit by first base. Great view of the field. Stretch out and lean back on the seats behind us. Ah, the good old days.


Of course, the baseball itself sucked.

I was there the year Smith left and Jack Lamabe took over. I walked-on as a junior (after running track at McNeese) and made it to the last cut. Lamabe was definitely an improvement over Smith, but no one really gave a crap about baseball back then. I loved the chance to practice for a few days at Alex Box, but for most everyone else, it wasn't a big deal.

I went to some with my buddies because we loved baseball. Maybe 100 people there. Your student id got you in, no charge. I remember a very good hitting first baseman, anybody remember who that was? Went on to be a doctor I think.
It was baseball in its purest form. You could hear the manager talking to the pitcher out on the mound, every glove pop, the ball whizzing by. Quiet, green, bucolic.

Lamabe recruited a guy I coached with... Showed up at his house, gave him $10.00 and sent him to the store to get a six pack of Dixie so his Dad and Lamabe could talk, lol...my friend signed and played one year before transferring. Said Lamabe's jersey would be stained with tobacco juice from spitting on himself, lol . dude was like Buttermaker from Bad News Bears!!!
My friend has won a 5-A State
Championship as a Coach and is now at a smaller school as AD.

Mike Saab showed me a picture from his playing days and he is in the alex box outfield standing in front of a plain chain link fence

quote:

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Jimbo Smith was the football equipment manager. Being baseball coach was a part-time job if he had time to do it.
Baseball was definitely not a priority back in the time to Jimbo Smith was head coach.

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True that. Baseball was a non-revenue sport to the Athletic Dept. and was treated as such. But with the exception of a few programs (like USCw), few schools invested in their baseball programs in those days.

Then ESPN came along and that changed everything. Because 99% of the college football and basketball games were covered by the traditional networks at the time, baseball was the only opportunity for ESPN to get college sports on their schedule. And they struck gold... One word: Omaha. The rest is history.

One humorous incident about Lamabe. He was extremely laid back, even by baseball coach standards, and almost never came out of the dugout. Too much effort. But we were playing Navy one time and the Navy pitcher dropped the ball in the middle of his wind-up. Just dropped it right on top of the mound and it slowly rolled to the grass.

The umpire just waved it off and yelled "No pitch!" That woke up the crowd and Lamabe. ("What did he say? 'No pitch'...?") Lamabe strolls out to home plate to remind the ump that once the pitcher flinches into his wind-up, it's either a ball, strike or balk. The ump realized his mistake and started walking away from Lamabe, around and around and around the plate. He was too embarrassed to talk to him. (He was a very young ump.) Finally, the third base ump came up and stopped the circus. The ump then yelled "Ball". and the crowd (<100) gave him a standing ovation.

Shortly afterwards we got a new AD by the name of Broadhead and he knew all about TV revenue. He came from Miami where there was an assistant coach that was very frustrated by the lack of opportunity to move up....

The problem was that the best players were wearing football uniforms. Jay Blass was the player of the year in NO and he never played baseball. Kent Nicar was drafted by the Yankees, Bob Lane and John Ed Bradley were both all state and NONE of these even guys sniffed a baseball field. Coach Mac was adamant about his football players being football players. He made it known that hoops at the Fieldhouse during the off season was a no no...players didn't listen to that rule!