Skip Bertman Legacy

College baseball’s unprecedented popularity nationwide is attributed in large part to Skip Bertman’s unrelenting commitment to greatness. LSU has led the nation in attendance in every season since 1996, averaging nearly 11,000 tickets sold per game. Bertman also served as Director of Athletics at LSU from 2001-08, leading one of the greatest periods of facility growth and athletic accomplishment in the institution’s history. He supervised a highly successful 20-sport program during a period that included football national championships in 2003 and 2007. Upon his retirement as baseball coach in 2001, his No. 15 jersey was retired at LSU, and the street in front of the original Alex Box Stadium was renamed Skip Bertman Drive. The playing surface at the new Alex Box Stadium, which opened in 2009, was named Skip Bertman Field in 2013. He became a pillar of the Baton Rouge community, serving on numerous philanthropic organizations such as United Way, Cancer Services, and the Alzheimer’s Association, and he was honored by organizations including the Arthritis Foundation of America and the Anti-Defamation League. Throughout his career, Bertman benefited from the support of his wife, Sandy, and their daughters Jan, Jodi, Lisa, and Lori. His achievements included being a six-time National Coach of the Year, a seven-time SEC Coach of the Year, holding the highest winning percentage in SEC history (.724), serving as a 1988 U.S. Olympic assistant coach for a gold medal team and as the 1996 U.S. Olympic head coach for a bronze medal team, producing 41 Major League Baseball players, and being inducted into the American Coaches Hall of Fame in 2003, the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006, and the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana · United States