BATON ROUGE — The Houston Astros 2008 Winter Caravan stopped at Alex Box Stadium on Thursday afternoon to sign autographs for fans and meet with the LSU baseball team.
Making the trip for the Astros were former first baseman and potential Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell and 15-year major league catcher Brad Ausmus.
Donning purple-and-gold LSU dugout jackets, Bagwell and Ausmus signed autographs for over 250 fans who were willing to stand outside in 40-degree weather.
“This is my second time visiting Baton Rouge with the Astros, but we haven’t been here in 10 years,” said Ausmus, who has also played for the San Diego Padres and Detroit Tigers. “It’s been great, and there was a nice turnout today.”
After the autograph session with the fans, the players met with coach Paul Mainieri and the LSU baseball team.
“I just think it’s great whenever you have established major leaguers come around our team and our environment,” Mainieri said. “Maybe one day, our players will be on a caravan going around to different towns. We just hope there is some residual effect on our team from being around them.”
“It’s been awesome to meet these guys,” said LSU senior infielder Michael Hollander. “Just to see them and talk to them makes us realize that they are living what most of our players dream about.”
After talking to the team, Bagwell and Ausmus posed for pictures with the LSU players and signed autographs. Bagwell, a career .297 hitter who smashed 449 home runs, shared a few laughs with junior first baseman Matt Clark. Clark’s father, Terry, was a teammate of Bagwell’s with the Astros in 1995.
The visit to LSU’s campus was a change of pace for the Astros Caravan, which also featured stops at a New Orleans elementary school and a Baton Rouge sporting goods store.
“LSU has built a great tradition,” Bagwell said. “It’s been fun to watch. I was telling Brad on the way over here how cool it would have been to play for a school like LSU.”