After LSU: life int he pros for former Tigers
There were five national titles and 11 College World Series appearances in the last 18 years. Under the Skip Bertman administration, LSU baseball has seen some good times and some even better times. Tiger fans remember their heroes from these purple and golden years, but do they know where they are now? How many of our beloved Tiger heroes go on to play in professional baseball?
Where is Warren Morris, Todd Walker or Armando Rios? Whatever happened to Eddy Furniss, Chad Ogea and Blair Barbier?
Who remembers Kurt Ainsworth? The Tiger pitcher was an All-American in 1999 and was drafted in the first round by the San Francisco Giants. After three stellar seasons in the minors, Ainsworth was called up to the Giants for the end of last season and will start this year in the Giants’ major league camp.
How can any Tiger fan forget Brett Laxton’s sensational freshman year in Tigertown? The right- handed pitcher struck out 16 Wichita State batters on the Tigers’ way to winning their second CWS Championship in 1993. Laxton is now with the Kansas City Royals’ Triple-A ball club in Omaha.
Chad Ogea was one of the most productive pitchers in LSU history. After becoming an All American in 1991, Ogea spent six years in the majors before a career-ending injury.
Mike Sirotka was a pitcher for the Tigers from 1990 to 1993. Sirotka played for the Chicago White Sox for seven seasons before being traded to Toronto last season.
Blair Barbier was a freshman All-American and a member of two national championship teams (1997, 2000) while playing third base for the Tigers. He is currently with the Chicago Cubs’ Single-A team Lansing. Last season he finished with a .314 batting average and blasted 16 home runs on his way to earn All-Midwest League honors.
Brad Cresse’s last hit as a Tiger drove in the winning run of the 2000 CWS Championship game. The two-time All-American will go to the Arizona Diamondbacks major league camp and should start the season in Triple-A ball.
Eddy Furniss, member of two CWS Championship teams (1996, 1997), holds five batting titles at LSU — career home runs, runs batted in, base hits, total bases and walks — and was twice named All American. In 1998, Furniss won the Dick Howser Award for Most Outstanding Player in college baseball. Furniss is currently with the Oakland Athletics’ Double-A team.
Russ Johnson helped lead the Tigers to a national championship in 1993 playing short stop. The All-American was drafted in the first round by the Houston Astros and played four years off and on for the Astros before being traded to Tampa Bay in 2000, his first full season in the majors.
Warren Morris will be forever remembered for his two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth in the 1996 CWS Championship game against Miami. Morris finished third in voting for the National League Rookie of the Year in 1999 as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ second baseman.
Todd Walker was one of the most decorated players in LSU history. He was the first Tiger ever to bat .400 when he was only a freshman. Walker was a freshman All-American and a first team All-American his sophomore and junior seasons before being drafted in the first round by the Minnesota Twins. He played for the Twins for five years until he was traded to the Colorado Rockies. He has also seen time with the Colorado Rockies and is currently part of the Cincinnati Reds major league team.
Armando Rios was a leader for two of the Tigers’ national championships. In 1991, he hit a two-run homer which propelled the Tigers to their first ever CWS Championship. In the 1993 semi-final game, Rios drove in the winning run against Long Beach State and the Tigers beat Wichita State a game later for their second national title. Rios signed with the Giants and after three years in the minors, he worked his way to the major league. After sharing the same outfield with Barry Bonds for four years, Rios was traded to Pittsburgh in 2001.
Many more former Tigers are a part of professional baseball all over the country. Each year, an entire class of LSU baseball players become former Tigers, and only a handful of those former Tigers get the opportunity to become professional ball players. But all of them can claim that they were once apart of something so special that it cannot simply be described in words, only in memories.