This is actually the second starter from the 2000 National Championship team to pass away unexpectedly.
Former Tiger Johnnie Thibodeaux Dies in Car Accident Baseball (06/17/2005) "All of us in the LSU family express our heartfelt condolences to the Thibodeaux family," said LSU athletics director Skip Bertman, who coached Thibodeaux during his collegiate playing career. "Johnnie was a first-class young man, and everyone at LSU has been touched by this tragedy." BATON ROUGE -- Former LSU baseball player Johnnie Thibodeaux died early Friday morning in Lake Charles from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. He was 28. Thibodeaux, a Lake Charles native, was a four-year letterman for the Tigers from 1997-2001, and he played on LSU's 1997 and 2000 national championship squads. "All of us in the LSU family express our heartfelt condolences to the Thibodeaux family," said LSU athletics director Skip Bertman, who coached Thibodeaux during his collegiate playing career. "Johnnie was a first-class young man, and everyone at LSU has been touched by this tragedy." Thibodeaux played in 135 games (65 starts) for the Tigers as a third baseman and outfielder, recording a .267 career batting average (67-for-251) with 15 doubles, eight homers and 49 RBI. Thibodeaux's best season came in 2000, when he batted .312 with 10 doubles and 14 RBI. He was named to the 2000 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional All-Tournament Team, batting .667 (4-for-6) in three games with three doubles and five RBI. Thibodeaux, a product of Barbe High School in Lake Charles, was an all-state third baseman, and he earned all-district honors as a wide receiver for the football team. Funeral arrangements will be released when available to local media outlets and posted at www.LSUsports.net.
horrible news indeed....he was a great guy.....please pray for Johnnie and his family and remember #8 also....my prayers are w/ Johnnie T and the family!
I grew up with Johnnie in Lake Charles and I must say that I am totally shocked. He was such great person, good family, gave up going to the majors to play at LSU. We played legion ball together and I still have good memories of play in the state tournment with him. too bad we lost to Gonzales. I am going to miss J.T.
This really is terrible. My girlfriend and I always joke about how long he was at LSU forever. She is fond of saying wasn't he on all five NC teams. Wasn't he married to Skip's daughter? Thoughts and prayers.
I had the news on the other night while I was doing other things and I heard them say two buses were hired to take LSU fans to the funeral. They said the buses were paid for by former players. I didn't hear them say which players paid for it. I was just curious if anyone else heard this and knows who it was.
