If the phrase “speak softly and carry a big stick” applied to anyone on the LSU baseball team, it would be senior left fielder Raph Rhymes.
The soft-spoken 23-year-old is the self-dubbed grandpa of the team, a well-respected elder among his peers. At any hour of the day, Rhymes is being a role model.
On this Wednesday afternoon in early April, Rhymes parks his 2008 white Hummer SUT in front of Alex Box Stadium. The massive vehicle takes a bit of maneuvering. Pull in halfway, back out a bit. Pull the steering wheel hard to the left, and the car squeezes into the space. He has to do that every time he parks.
It’s midafternoon, and it’s practice time.
“He’s always on time,” said senior first baseman Mason Katz.
Rhymes, a sports administration major with a business minor, just got out of his only class, Finance 3715. The class is Monday and Wednesday from 1:30 to 3, so it doesn’t take up much of his time. He’s a study-the-night-before-the-test guy anyway.
He arrives at Alex Box wearing casual LSU sports apparel and changes into his No. 4 baseball uniform for practice. Out of the locker room and into the dugout, he arrives to a posse of media, some armed with massive television cameras and some with recorders, but all wanting quotes for their stories.
After playing ball at LSU-Eunice where he said he got maybe two interviews all season, the media attention was initially a shock for Rhymes.
“You get looked at so much, it’s unbelievable,” Rhymes said. “You feel like a celebrity.”
Rhymes answers questions about topics like upcoming games and his batting average, which currently ranks fourth on the team at .327, behind only Katz, freshman short stop Alex Bregman and junior third baseman Christian Ibarra.
In the midst of the interviews, the players do their early work. This consists of practicing skills without a coach overseeing necessarily. Rhymes runs — because walking isn’t allowed — to the batting cages and joins junior outfielder Sean McMullen and junior infielder Tyler Moore in a cage. They rotate taking whacks at baseballs on a T-ball stand.
Place a ball, whack, rotate.
After the batting cages, Rhymes and the other players begin practice. First order of business: stretch for about 15 minutes.
Each practice varies. Sometimes the players bunt, work on defensive fundamentals or hit on the field. No matter what they do, it’s accompanied by the blaring sounds of Rihanna and Eminem over the Alex Box loudspeakers.
The players take turns batting and fielding balls. Katz said Rhymes is always the first guy in the outfield because “he doesn’t want to miss a single ball.”
“It looks like he’s never played before ‘cause he’s out there diving into walls in practice,” Katz said.
After fielding balls in the outfield, Rhymes helps collect balls into white buckets. He gets in a little basketball practice by tossing balls to the bucket from a distance. It’s not his best athletic ability.
If it’s a non-game day, practice closes with LSU coach Paul Mainieri giving the team a message, sometimes about upcoming games or staying on top of schoolwork.
If it’s a game day, Rhymes heads to the dugout after LSU’s practice to let the opposing team take the field for warm-ups. Rhymes checks the locker rooms to make sure everyone is out so they don’t get yelled at.
On most days, a crowd of kids wielding Sharpies beckon him over with balls that need signing and pictures that need taking.
After the game, another autograph-hungry crowd waits for the team as they come out of the locker room. Rhymes asks the kids if they enjoyed the game and when they’ll return.
“No doubt we have the best fans in the country,” Rhymes said.
After games or practice, it’s time to feed. Rhymes usually joins his teammates and family members at restaurants like Walk-Ons, George’s or Rotolo’s after games. His go-to eating buddy is junior pitcher Nate Fury “because he likes to eat, too.”
Rhymes and a couple players climb into the Hummer to go to a late dinner. He backs out a bit, drives forward a little, backs out again and leaves Alex Box for the night. He’ll be back again tomorrow.
