By Bill Martin
LSU Sports Information
Chris Jackson had just made his fourth career baseball start, posting an impressive 3-for-5 performance at the plate with four brilliant infield assists at third base in LSU’s 7-6 win over Ole Miss on April 16. Two hours before first pitch, while the rest of his teammates were taking batting practice and gearing up for the Game 2 set, Jackson had other business to take care of — in Tiger Stadium.
Role Reversal
Jackson, who has served as a place kicker and punter on the football team for the past two seasons, was wrapping up spring practice under first-year Tiger coach Les Miles.
Following the completion of the scrimmage, nearly 40 minutes before the first pitch of the baseball game, assistant equipment manager Mike “Bones” Boniol received word at the football equipment room that Jackson was penciled into the starting lineup. Boniol phoned baseball team manager George Branigan to pick him up. Jackson changed uniforms and spikes, took a couple of swings in the batting cages and fielded a few groundballs before the start.
After going through a three-hour football scrimmage, Jackson was tested right away on a groundball by Rebel leadoff hitter Cooper Osteen. Up to the task, Jackson fielded, fired and threw out the speedy hitter — the first of four plays head coach Smoke Laval agreed were “tremendous.”
Jackson’s day, which began in the football locker room before 10 a.m., finally ended at 5:13 p.m. when second baseman Clay Harris belted a ninth-inning walk-off homer to send the Tigers to a 7-6 triumph over Ole Miss.
Instant Success
Jackson is attempting to pursue what few people have been able to pull off — successfully juggling the life of a two-sport student-athlete. Judging by his first 17 games, achieving success might be an understatement for what the River Ridge native has accomplished.
At 5-11, 165 pounds, Jackson has sparked LSU offensively at the top of the order, proving to be an energetic leadoff hitter Laval and the Tigers have been searching for.
In 51 at-bats, Jackson is hitting .392 with six runs, a homer and 10 RBI. In the squad’s series sweep over No. 11 Arkansas, the third baseman hit safely in all three games, stretching his hitting streak to a team-high 12 games.
While a prototypical leadoff hitter is counted upon to steal bases and get on base, Jackson has taken a different, aggressive approach one would usually see from the middle of the order.
“I have just gone up there and taken my hacks,” said Jackson. “I am not going to go up there and look for different pitches. If I see a pitch I like, I am going to swing at it and not take it. That is the kind of offensive approach you want, to be aggressive but not overly aggressive.”
Jackson is the first to wear the purple and gold on the diamond and the football field since Jeremy Witten lettered from 1997-2000. Witten, who drilled a game-tying homer en route to the Tigers’ fifth national title in the 2000 College World Series Championship Game, also served as a pooch punter for Gerry Dinardo’s football squad.
Before Witten, the commodity was far and few between. Both Ben McDonald and Lyle Mouton were two-sport athletes in the late 1980s and early ’90s. McDonald and Mouton served as role players under Dale Brown on the basketball court, before ultimately concentrating on baseball, which carried them to professional careers.
Making The Most Of An Opportunity
An opportunity to play might not have presented itself had the Tigers not struggled offensively through the first half of the Southeastern Conference season. LSU had just dropped two straight games to South Carolina and Laval elected to start Jackson in the series finale on April 10.
Jackson had only seen action in a few games before that and most notably produced three hits in the team’s annual alumni game on Feb 3. In his first at-bat against South Carolina, he hustled out an infield single, the first of two hits on the day in his first collegiate start.
Before that Jackson was on the bench and comfortable with the role he was playing as a reserve, encouraging his teammates. He is always one of the first players out of the dugout congratulating a teammate of executing a play well.
Even though his role has changed, his attitude and commitment have remained the same.
“It really is not any different. You just keep positive. Even when I am playing, you still have to cheer your team on and help the team whether it is on the field or off of it.”
Much of his baseball success can be contributed to his two years of collegiate experience on the football field. The ability to overcome a pressure kick on Saturday nights in Tiger Stadium has carried over to the batter’s box at Alex Box. Despite striking out 10 times this season, Jackson has shown he can quickly put the past behind him and focus on the next at-bat.
“A lot of people ask me that,” said Jackson. “It is a tremendous help. During the Tulane game, it was a record crowd at Zephyr Field, not even a third of what is in Tiger Stadium on a Saturday night. Field goal kicking may be a little more pressure in that those 92,000-plus people are going to know about it. They will be focused squarely on you and won’t let you forget it. They will let you know about it.”
Winning Tradition
Jackson’s winning past has also been beneficial to his success both on the football field and baseball diamond.
He has been a member of championship teams since his early days of youth baseball. He prepped at John Curtis High School in River Ridge and in four years won a combined three state championships at the 4A powerhouse.
He excelled as the Patriots’ starting quarterback his junior and senior seasons, spearheading the team to back-to-back state championship titles in 2001 and 2002.
In the spring, Jackson would quarterback the baseball team — at shortstop. In his junior season, John Curtis captured the 4A state championship over DeRidder. Despite falling short of another baseball title as a senior, Jackson batted over .500 before heading to the LSU campus in the summer of 2003 in preparation for fall football camp.
Five months later, Jackson would savor another championship on the same Louisiana Superdome floor he played on as a high school prep star.
He and the rest of the Tiger faithful celebrated their first football national championship since 1958. As a true freshman, Jackson handled kickoff duties and also saw action as a place kicker with teammate Ryan Gaudet.
The following spring, Jackson earned a redshirt year on the baseball team, but his love for the national pastime continued despite his football success.
“I have been playing baseball all of my life, while football I just started probably in seventh or eighth grade. I played soccer a lot more than I did football.”
With two years left of eligibility on the football field and three years left on the baseball diamond, Jackson is optimistic that a future in one could be waiting in the wings. If not, the two-sport athlete understands the value of a quality education.
“Baseball and football — I love them both. Whichever one has a future for me is where I will go. I’m not really Bo Jackson. I don’t think I will be able to play professionally in both sports. If that is the case then that would be awesome. If none of them do, I’ll just get my degree and go from there.”