BATON ROUGE, La. – Infielder DJ LeMahieu of the New York Yankees and catcher Hunter Feduccia of the Los Angeles Dodgers have the opportunity to enhance LSU’s World Series legacy as Game 1 of the Fall Classic opens at 7 p.m. CT Friday in Dodger Stadium.
LeMahieu and Feduccia are each seeking to become the 17th former Tiger to earn a World Series ring. All of the World Series games will be televised by FOX.
Though LeMahieu and Feduccia may not be assigned to their respective teams’ 26-man World Series rosters, they would still qualify for a championship ring since each played in MLB games this season.
Sixteen former LSU Tigers have played for, or managed, World Series championship teams on 21 occasions, beginning with infielder Alvin Dark of the New York Giants in 1954. Infielder Josh Smith of the Texas Rangers became LSU’s most recent World Series champion last season.
Since 1990, a total of 43 former Tigers have been a part of MLB playoff squads, and 14 LSU players have been members of World Series Championship teams in that span (1990-2023).
LeMahieu, who is in his 14th Major League season and sixth with the Yankees, batted .204 in the 2024 regular season with five doubles, two homers, 26 RBI and 19 runs scored. A three-time All-Star, a four-time Gold Glove Award recipient and a two-time winner of the Silver Slugger Award, LeMahieu captured the MLB and American League batting titles in 2020.
LeMahieu became the first player in modern Major League history to win a batting title in each league, as he also claimed the 2016 MLB and National League batting titles while playing for the Colorado Rockies. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., native played at LSU for two seasons (2008-09), and he was the second-round selection of the Chicago Cubs in the 2009 MLB Draft after helping lead the Tigers to the ’09 College World Series title.
Feduccia, the Dodgers’ 12th-round draft choice in 2018, made his MLB debut in July and appeared in five games for the Dodgers during the regular season. He had four hits in 12 at-bats with one RBI and two runs.
The native of Lake Charles, La., hit .295 this season at Triple-A Oklahoma City with a .420 on-base percentage and .451 slugging percentage in 64 games.
Feduccia in 2018 started 48 games at catcher for LSU after competing in the first two seasons of his collegiate career at LSU-Eunice, where he batted .394 in 2017.
Following is the list of the former LSU players who became World Series champions:
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 and 2012
• INF Mike Fontenot, San Francisco Giants – 2010
• LHP Brian Tallet, St. Louis Cardinals – 2011
• INF Ryan Theriot, St. Louis Cardinals – 2011; San Francisco Giants – 2012
• RHP Louis Coleman, Kansas City Royals – 2015
• 3B Alex Bregman, Houston Astros – 2017 and 2022
• RHP Will Harris, Houston Astros – 2017
• OF Andrew Stevenson, Washington Nationals – 2019
• INF Josh Smith, Texas Rangers – 2023