BATON ROUGE – Former LSU stars Brian Wilson and Mike Fontenot earned World Series rings Monday when the San Francisco Giants defeated the Texas Rangers, 3-1, in Game 5 at Arlington, Texas.
Wilson, a right-hander who pitched at LSU from 2001-03, recorded an MLB-leading 48 saves during the regular season. The 2008 and 2010 National League All-Star posted a 1.81 ERA in 74.2 innings (70 appearances) and collected 93 strikeouts.
Wilson, a native of Londonderry, N.H., was brilliant in the postseason, recording saves in the final game of the NLCS versus Philadelphia and in the final game of the World Series versus Texas.
Fontenot, LSU’s starting second baseman in 2000 and 2001, played as a reserve infielder for the Giants and hit .283 (68-for-240) in the 2010 regular season with 13 doubles, three triples, one homer, 25 RBI and 24 runs scored. The Slidell, La. native played in 75 games this season for the Chicago Cubs before he was traded to the Giants on August 11.
Seven other former LSU Tigers have played for World Series championship teams, beginning in 1954 when infielder Alvin Dark helped lead the New York Giants to the title. Twenty years later, Dark managed the Oakland Athletics to the ’74 World Series championship.
Following are LSU Tigers who played for World Series championship teams:
MLB World Series Champions from LSU
INF Alvin Dark, New York Giants – 1954 (player); Oakland Athletics – 1974 (manager)
1B Joe Bill Adcock, Milwaukee Braves – 1957
LHP Mark Guthrie, Minnesota Twins – 1991
LHP Eddie Yarnall, New York Yankees – 1999 and 2000
LHP Randy Keisler, New York Yankees – 2000
RHP Russ Springer, Arizona Diamondbacks – 2001
RHP Curtis Leskanic, Boston Red Sox – 2004
RHP Brian Wilson, San Francisco Giants – 2010
INF Mike Fontenot, San Francisco Giants – 2010