Louisiana Baseball Retires Jersey of Former Catcher Jonathan Lucroy
For just the third time in Louisiana baseball’s 124-year history, a jersey number has been retired and put up on the centerfield wall at M.L. ‘Tigue’ Moore Field (Russo Park). A pregame ceremony was held earlier today by Louisiana Athletics prior to the start of their series against Georgia State to commemorate Jonathan Lucroy, former catcher who had a tremendous and record-breaking career for the Cajuns.
Lucroy spent all three seasons (2005-2007) of his collegiate career playing for the Cajuns. In his freshman year, he was one of three catchers, the other two being seniors. However, his talent eventually helped promote him to the designated hitter position late in the season. He started for the Cajuns his 2006 and 2007 seasons as catcher before being drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the third round of the 2007 MLB Draft.
While Lucroy in his speech today didn’t believe he belonged on the centerfield wall, his stats for the Cajuns say otherwise. Lucroy set a school records in career runs batted in (RBI) with 182, total bases with 414, and doubles with 54. He also finished his career with a .356 batting average, as well as top 5 in hits, home runs, and slugging percentage. Lucroy also earned Freshman All-American honors in 2005, twice earned All-Sun Belt honors, and was inducted into the UL Hall of Fame in 2017. He will also be inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame later this year.
It is not often that players get their jersey numbers retired, but Jonathan Lucroy deserved it, and will now forever have his name visible in front of every fan who visits The ‘Tigue,’ along with former pitcher Ron Guidry and former head coach Tony Robichaux. Following the ceremony, UL defeated Georgia State 14-1 in 7 innings in the first doubleheader game, then 5-1 in the second game to cap off the celebratory day. A full video of the ceremony can be found on Cajun Sports Talk's TikTok page.
Abdul Abusada is a founding member of Cajun Sports Talk, covering the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Kneaux. Follow Cajun Sports Talk at @CajunSportsTalk on TikTok.
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