BATON ROUGE — The Houston Astros 2009 Winter Caravan stopped at the original Alex Box Stadium on Monday afternoon to sign autographs for fans and meet with the LSU baseball team.
Pitchers Brandon Backe and Geoff Geary, former Astros great Craig Reynolds and broadcaster Brett Dolan met with the Tigers in the team clubhouse before participating in an autograph session at the front of the stadium.
“We really appreciate the Astros players taking the time to talk to our players,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “They gave our players a lot of insight into what it takes to be successful at the professional level. It obviously takes a tremendous amount of dedication to reach the big leagues. I think our players learned a lot from the advice that Brandon, Geoff and Craig offered.”
Monday’s event marked the second straight year LSU received a visit from the Astros. Catcher Brad Ausmus and former first baseman Jeff Bagwell met with the Tigers during the 2008 Caravan.
The Astros Caravan is a three-week community outreach tour held each January. Astros players, alumni, coaches and front office staff take part in the tour. The Caravan features visits to schools, hospitals, senior centers, youth complexes, meet-and-greets, luncheons, baseball seminars and free autograph sessions throughout Texas, and parts of Louisiana and Mexico.
The Astros’ stop in Baton Rouge Monday concluded with a public autograph signing at Academy Sports and Outdoors on Industriplex Boulevard.