BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Signs went up across Baton Rouge Friday marking the loss of one of LSU baseball’s most celebrated coaches.
Anita Haywood, known to many as the “K lady” for her ritual of hanging strikeout signs inside Alex Box Stadium, was among those paying tribute.
“It’s a sad day for Louisiana,” Haywood said. “It’s a sad day for baseball.”
A stadium transformed
Haywood described watching Alex Box Stadium grow from a quiet venue into a packed house under the coach’s leadership.
“The stadium was just a stadium in the beginning, and then it started filling up,” Haywood said. “Then, we started having assigned seats, and then it got real crowded.”
LSU earned five College World Series titles in 10 years under his direction.
A father figure on and off the field
Ronnie Rantz played for the coach and won two national titles with the Tigers — in 1991 and 1993. Rantz said the coach became more than a mentor.
“He became more than just my former coach; he really became like a father figure to me,” Rantz said.
Rantz said the coach’s influence extended well beyond Baton Rouge.
“Not only would LSU baseball not be what it is today but college baseball wouldn’t be what it is today,” Rantz said. “He showed the blueprint on how to do this, how to bring crowds, make money, and make it a spectacle. He trained and taught other coaches; there used to be a pilgrimage to his office in the offseason to learn the secrets of how to be a successful college coach.”
A legacy in the stands
Haywood said she plans to continue her tradition of hanging K’s at Alex Box Stadium in his honor.
“His dedication to the sport is engrained in me,” Haywood said. “I will go to every baseball game, I will cheer, I will hang the K’s, because a young coach came in and said, ‘We’re going to make this program worth it,’ and he did.”
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