The home dugout will feature a familiar face when the 2013 LSU baseball team takes the field for the first time.
Former LSU slugger Blake Dean retired from professional baseball this spring and will join LSU coach Paul Mainieri’s staff as an undergraduate assistant coach this fall.
Dean, who the Dodgers drafted in the eighth round of the 2010 MLB draft, informed his club this spring that he was not planning on continuing his career.
“I’m retired,” Dean said. “I went back to spring training and I just didn’t enjoy it. I did three years of [professional baseball] and I didn’t enjoy it at all. I went back to spring training and told the farm director about three days before spring training was over that I was done.”
Though he was a four-year letterman at LSU, Dean didn’t finish his degree requirement before leaving Baton Rouge to start his professional career.
With 18 hours to finish before he graduates, Dean is eligible to join Mainieri’s staff next fall as a student assistant, the same role former Tiger Buzzy Haydel filled last season.
In Dean, the Tigers get a decorated member of their 2009 College World Series squad back on their bench. Dean finished No. 2 in school history in hits (332), RBIs (260), total bases (575) and No. 4 in home runs (56).
“I think [the players are] really excited about it. Blake has a great reputation around our program,” Mainieri said. “He’ll come back and finish next year, and having him around the program will be a big help.”
Dean returned to Baton Rouge five days ago.
“He’s not going to take over as hitting coach or pitching coach or anything like that,” Mainieri said. “But just having him around the team talking to the players will be a real positive.”
 
____ Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]