By Mark Bowman
www.MLB.com
ATLANTA — Trey Hodges has won an NCAA baseball championship and spent an entire season in the Majors. Still, while watching his beloved LSU Tigers play in Sunday night’s BCS football championship game, the Braves’ right-handed reliever was overcome with emotions he had never felt on any playing field.
“I’d have to say I was more nervous during that game than I have ever been before in my life,” a still-elated Hodges said on Monday morning, less than 12 hours after LSUhad claimed a share of the national championship with a 21-14 win over the Oklahoma Sooners.
As Hodges watched the Tigers survive a late Sooner rally, it was impossible for him not to reminisce about the 2000 College World Series, in which he had helped LSU’s storied baseball program claim a national championship.
“Every play last night, I was looking at those guys and the coaches and just felt like I knew what they were thinking and feeling,” he said. “I guess that’s from being in a college national championship game. There were moments last night that I felt like I was part of the team.”
Hodges, who was named the MVP of the 2000 College World Series after throwing four scoreless innings in the Series’ decisive game, told a group of friends at his Atlanta residence on Sunday night that he might just have to get out his national championship ring if LSU got in serious trouble.
“I thought I was going to have to spark some of that LSU magic,” said Hodges, whose Tigers won the College World Series in 1996 and 2000 with last-at-bat victories.
Shortly after Sunday’s game had concluded, Hodges picked up his cell phone to listen to a message that Russ Ortiz, an avid OU fan, had left a few hours before kickoff. Ortiz registered three saves while helping the Sooners win the 1994 College World Series.
“He was just talking trash, saying how I was going to be wearing an OU National Championship T-shirt,” said Hodges of Ortiz’s message. “Now I’ll definitely have him wearing an LSU one during Spring Training.”
In fact, if possible, Hodges wouldn’t mind seeing everyone in the Braves clubhouse wearing an LSU National Champions T-shirt. Fellow reliever Kevin Gryboski has already called Hodges to request one.
“I’ll gather up as many as I can and just pass them around,” said Hodges. “But I know Russ is definitely going to get one.”
Of course, none of these T-shirts will say anything about LSU sharing the national championship with USC, and if Hodges had his way, he’d see to it that there isn’t any reason to debate the matter. He is among the many who would love to see LSU and USC get the opportunity to play against each other to determine one true champion. “I’d rather be second place than be co-national champs,” he said. “At least if you finish second, you can say, ‘We played and we lost, but at least we got to play.'”
Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com.