A collegiate baseball legend brings his team to Baton Rouge this weekend when coach Ron Polk and the Diamond Dogs of Mississippi State play LSU in a three-game series beginning 6:30 p.m. today in Alex Box Stadium.
“I’ve been there many times,” said Polk, 60, who is in his 25th year of coaching Mississippi State baseball. “So many games we’ve come down there and stepped off the bus and walked into a full house.”
Polk has compiled a 1211-584-2 record since becoming a head coach at Georgia Southern in 1972. He took GSU to the College World Series in 1973 and stayed until 1976, when he accepted the head coaching position at Mississippi State.
Polk stayed at Mississippi State until after the 1997 season and took the Bulldogs to five college world series before accepting the position of assistant athletics director at MSU.
Polk returned to college coaching in 2000, when he accepted the head coaching position at the University of Georgia, where in 2001 he took UGA to the College World Series — Polk’s seventh appearance in Omaha.
After the 2001 season, then-MSU head coach Pat McMahon left for the University of Florida leaving the position in Starkville, Miss., vacant with only one possible person to fill it. And Polk returned to Starkville in 2002. Last season, the Bulldogs went 42-20-1.
“I could have easily stayed at Georgia because there was a high comfort level there,” Polk said. “But the people [in Starkville] wanted me to come back home.
This did not surprise legendary baseball coach Skip Bertman, who left the diamond for the office buildings as LSU athletics director after the 2001 season.
“When that job reopened, it was only natural for him to accept it back,” Bertman said. The former LSU coach added that when Polk left the Mississippi State coaching position in 1997, he thought Polk had left baseball too soon.
Bertman said Polk is one of the pioneers in making college baseball what it is today.
“He did a lot for SEC baseball and all of college baseball in general,” Bertman said.
Polk is an old school head coach who is in the prime of his career.
According to Bertman, Polk does all of his own recruiting and works harder than most baseball coaches today.
Bertman joked that Polk still uses a typewriter to type up official documents instead of a computer.
Bertman also said Polk has an unconditional loyalty from his players.
“More than any baseball coach I’ve met, Ron is loved and respected by his players,” Bertman said. “He does all his own recruiting and his kids stay five years. His kids are happy and they love him. Ron Polk is a grower of young men.”
Polk is also proud of all the players he has coached in his tenure. Some of these players include current Texas Rangers manager Buck Showalter, former baseball all-stars Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro, Bobby Thigpen and Jeff Brantley.
“We’re proud of all them,” Polk said. “And LSU has certainly had their share.”
The Tigers and Bulldogs have shared a great rivalry over the years and Polk said this weekend should be no different.
“I think this weekend will be a great SEC venue and it’s what college baseball is all about,” Polk said. “I think Mississippi State and LSU is one of the greatest rivalries in college baseball.”
The Bulldogs (13-6) are limping, coming into this matchup with the No. 1 Tigers (19-3), missing four key contributors.
“We’re really banged up,” Polk said. “I’ve heard this LSU team may be one of their better ballclubs. This will be a tough weekend for us, but we’ll compete.”