This weekend marks the final home stand that LSU’s baseball team will play in famed Alex Box Stadium. Next year they move into a new facility just down the street which will be state of the art in college baseball. Everyone is hoping that the character, traditions and magic will transfer – but who knows? 

I grew up in Baton Rouge and unfortunately moved away in 1996. But, I was there in the early days of the Coach Bertman era of LSU baseball. My father was on the Coaches Committee then, so I was very fortunate to get to know the team and every little nook of Alex Box.

I have so many memories of that place and the people. It was a great place and time for a young teenager who loved baseball. Here are a few:

• The first regional trip in ‘85 to Austin, TX – that one started it all.
• Andy Galy’s sweatband that he wore all the time at practice with “OMAHA” on it.
• Riding back on the plane from a trip to play Central Florida when Robbie Smith wore a Goofy hat from Disneyworld all the way home. And, how nervous Eric Hetzel’s mom used to get when he pitched – she couldn’t watch at all and would go hide somewhere.
• I can’t tell you how many hundreds of buckets of balls I soft-tossed to Albert Belle in the batting cage – he was so nice to me.
• I went to every game in the ‘86 season – home and away – except for the final series against Kentucky when I got sick.
• The first trip to Omaha in ‘86 was incredible. I remember missing the bus from the hotel to the stadium and having to catch a ride with Jim Mashek, one of the Advocate reporters. Man my Dad was mad at me.
• Not to mention all of the Kid’s Clinics I attended as a kid there – that was great getting tips from pros from all over the major leagues.

The best thing that I can say about Alex Box is that, at least for me, being a kid in Baton Rouge infatuated with baseball – Alex Box was THE aspiration. It was the goal. I never made it, but I got a taste. That place made the years when I was between 12 and 14 some of the best of my life.