LSU legend Skip Bertman honored with statue outside Alex Box Stadium
"Hey Bertram."
That's what Skip Bertman was known as by select fans his first few years in Baton Rouge.
"Hey Bertram, we're one point down."
Skip would address the fans one at a time, making sure he could get his point across to each and every one of them.
"They're called runs, not points and we'll get some more," Bertman would snap back.
"Hey Bertram," Skip would hear a little later on. "The referees stink."
Once again, Bertman would turn around, one at a time.
"They're not referees they're called umpires," Bertman would snap. "And yeah, they're pretty bad."
Those were the humble beginnings for one Stanley "Skip" Bertman in the early years of his career with the LSU baseball team. Bertman was hired in 1984 from the University of Miami, where he was an assistant coach.
In his illustrious 17-year career at LSU, Bertman would build one of college baseball's great dynasties, five national championships in the span of a decade. Now, 35 years after he first stepped foot in Baton Rouge, he is honored with a statue outside of Alex Box Stadium.
Friday evening, hundreds of former and current LSU players, coaches, friends, family and fans gathered around "Legacy Plaza," located right outside of Alex Box Stadium to honor the man that put LSU baseball on the map, becoming one of the pinnacles of college baseball.
Athletic director Scott Woodward said a few remarks, followed by president F. King Alexander and current head coach Paul Mainieri, before Bertman would finally give his wide spread thanks.
"This statue is a monument not only to Skip but the incredible, unwavering support of the best fans in America," Woodward said. "I want to emphasize not the championships, but Skip's impact on people. Ask yourself how many young people Skip has mentored over his career. I wasn't a math major, but it's got to be in the thousands."
Mainieri told the story of when he first received the phone call from Bertman to become the next head coach at LSU.
"When that invitation was made to me and I shared that invitation with some people up at Notre Dame, they all told me I'd be crazy to follow in the footsteps of Skip Bertman. I told those people I want to go there because of Skip, to be mentored by Skip. I told Skip when I first took the job, 'I'm not trying to be the best head coach in LSU baseball history because that'll never happen. I just want to be the second best.'"
When Mainieri was a young high school player, he played against a Skip Bertman led Miami Beach High School. Over the years he got to know Bertman and his family through his dad, Demie, who was one of the most successful junior college baseball coaches in history.
Lastly was the man himself. The man who led the Tigers to baseball's greatest achievement five times over and later become a successful athletic director and left with these parting words.
"I learned very quickly that I could get what I wanted if I helped other people get what they wanted," Bertman said. "That if you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon it every day, it will come to pass."
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