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When did the SEC baseball culture begin?
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:31 am
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:31 am
I had no idea you guys loved the game so much. While the following is not as large as football's, it seems just as passionate.
33
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:34 am to BuckI
Probably the mid-80s, won the first natty in 1990 w Georgia.
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:36 am to BuckI
I've cared about baseball for as long as I can remember. Used to listen to the games on the radio before TV was widely available. Honestly Bianco has built our program since 2000, so maybe then?
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:37 am to ukraine_rebel
I would say Polk at State got it rolling and went to the CWS in 1979 and created the monster program that they have. Then Bertman built LSU into a behemoth in the early to mid 80's and everyone has been trying to catch up.
This post was edited on 5/25/25 at 9:40 am
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:42 am to BuckI
Skip Bertman and Ron Polk won bigly and convinced their schools to invest in baseball. The rest of the league followed suit. As fanbases we all love to follow a winner. And most of the teams in the SEC are pretty consistent winners (except Missouri).
This post was edited on 5/25/25 at 9:42 am
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:42 am to BuckI
Skip showed that you could at least break even with a program. Back in the 80’s and early 90’s you didn’t have the gigantic Football TV revenue. AD’s wouldn’t put a nickel towards a program more than they had too.
I think Skip is one of the best ambassadors baseball has had in the last 50 years. He did an outstanding job promoting the game.
I think Skip is one of the best ambassadors baseball has had in the last 50 years. He did an outstanding job promoting the game.
This post was edited on 5/25/25 at 9:43 am
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:45 am to BuckI
It's the south, we grew up playing and loving the game. That's not meant to sound snarky. But, there's a lot of small towns in the south where you played back yard baseball in the summer and little league on the weekends. I grew up in one of them. It's what we did.
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:45 am to lsufan1971
Also there was a lot of high school baseball talent in the South, so that helped back when recruiting was more of a local or regional thing. And the population migration that started booming in the south with the spread of air-conditioning probably helped as well. That damn Willis Carrier! 
This post was edited on 5/25/25 at 9:48 am
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:45 am to lsufan1971
quote:
I think Skip is one of the best ambassadors baseball has had in the last 50 years. He did an outstanding job promoting the game.
He sure as hell built it in the state of Louisiana at the youth and high school levels. He and Beetle Bailey did a ton for coaches through the LBCA and it’s paid dividends generations later with the players produced in the state.
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:48 am to BuckI
It's competitive and Inexpensive unlike football and short of Texas, Ga, FL, and Missouri, not a lot of MLB.
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:49 am to BuckI
Agree with the others, Skip and Polk showed the SEC that baseball programs are worth the investment and after Skip built LSU into what it is in the 90’s, the rest of the country (especially the SEC) have been trying to catch up. Florida, State, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Vandy, and Tennessee have all done a great job of catching up. Texas is a heavy hitter too. Baseball is fun when there’s so much elite competition across the conference.
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:49 am to BuckI
quote:
When did the SEC baseball culture begin?
Ron Polk at Mississippi State started it in the late 70’s, early 80’s
Skip Bertman came to LSU from Miami in 1984. By the late 80’s he had built a juggernaut. Bertman and LSU won 5 National Championships in 10 years from 1991-2000.
When Dave Van Horn left Nebraska for Arkansas in the early 90’s, Arkansas baseball (which was actually good in the late 70’s and 80’s) really took off as a powerful program year in and year out.
Ray Tanner at So Carolina built an unreal program that won back to back national titles around 2010 & 2011.
Sully came to Florida around 2008. He built Florida into a national title contender every year since.
Tim Corbin built a great program at Vandy in the 2010’s.
So…. As a conference as a whole, I’d say mid 2000’s. But for State, LSU, & Arkansas earlier than that.
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:50 am to Tarpon08
Ron Fraser at Miami
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:53 am to lsufan1971
quote:
Skip showed that you could at least break even with a program. Back in the 80’s and early 90’s you didn’t have the gigantic Football TV revenue. AD’s wouldn’t put a nickel towards a program more than they had too. I think Skip is one of the best ambassadors baseball has had in the last 50 years. He did an outstanding job promoting the game.
What was the attendance and fan support like before skip arrived?
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:54 am to Tammany Tom
Delmonico, Todd Helton, and RA Dickey also kick started the 90s baseball in Tennessee. Ben Mcdonald and the UGA natty really feel like what kickstarted SEC. Pair that with Skip vs Polk rivalry and SEC baseball was born
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:55 am to BuckI
Ron Polk and Skip Bertman were the founders of SEC baseball. It gained popularity in the mid 80s. ADs started investing in it. Prior to that, there were no investments in it. Most SEC schools played in high school level stadiums. Not kidding.
Fast Forward to today: Facility upgrades
National Titles at the following schools
LSU
MSU
OM
Vandy
Tennessee
UGA
Florida
South Carolina
Fast Forward to today: Facility upgrades
National Titles at the following schools
LSU
MSU
OM
Vandy
Tennessee
UGA
Florida
South Carolina
Posted on 5/25/25 at 9:57 am to BuckI
It’s exploded since the SEC network started airing nearly every game.
Posted on 5/25/25 at 10:02 am to BuckI
SC’s been baseball crazy since 1970 or so with Bobby Richardson coming to town. I grew up in the 90s/2000s and Carolina baseball being ranked + in the running for the CWS was automatic. Not so these days
Posted on 5/25/25 at 10:03 am to bdavids09
quote:
What was the attendance and fan support like before skip arrived?
Non existent. I was a student at LSU from 1978-1982. No one went to LSU baseball games. lol
Posted on 5/25/25 at 10:08 am to BuckI
2019 when Vitello got things going.
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