Ben McDonald knows a thing or two about all the greats that have come through the LSU program over the years, especially considering he was one himself.
But he's still willing to make a proclamation about where current star Dylan Crews stands among them.
"That kid will go down as the greatest position player to ever wear a Tiger baseball uniform," McDonald told WWL's Bobby Hebert and Mike Detillier on SportsTalk this week.
Listen to the full interview with Ben McDonald in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
McDonald does leave room for discussion between the hitters and the pitchers. He's got a case to be that pitcher himself, considering his 202-strikeout season in 1989 held the SEC record until Paul Skenes broke it this year.
Still it's not difficult to find a basis for Crews, particularly after his rock-steady performance as his squad won LSU's 7th national title in dominating fashion over Florida on Monday. You could look at his incredible .426 average over the course of the season. You could look at hi 18 home runs or 70 RBIs.
But it's the stat 71-for-71 that stands out the most, accounting for the superstar centerfielder getting on base at least once in each of LSU's games this season. How he did that is simple and speaks to a pair of elite traits, McDonald said.
Related
One, he's unselfish. When Crews was asked throughout the season why he wasn't hitting as many home runs, he said it wasn't his job to hit home runs. With Tommy White batting behind him, it was Crews' job to get on base. That's what he did, drawing 71 walks compared to 41 the year before. White finished the season with 102 RBIs.
But it also showed an improvement in plate discipline, with just 46 strikeouts in 258 at-bats.
"Dylan Crews could’ve been more selfish and chased balls out of the zone, extended at-bats and done certain things to try to get pitches to hit out of the ballpark. He didn’t. He took his walks," McDonald said. "Of course, he hit over .420 this year. He did those kind of things. He realized what it was going to take to win. He was not a selfish player."
Related
It's a career that ended at the very top, the biggest star on a team of stars that could potentially feature the first teammates to ever go 1-2 in the MLB draft along with pitcher Paul Skenes. But whatever happens, Crews will be remembered as the greatest LSU has ever seen.
“When you’re the dude and you’re expected to be the No. 1 pick and you’ve got to live up to that and you don’t take a step back, you take a step forward and you look it right in the face and you say, you know what? I’m the dude and I’m gonna play like the dude this year," McDonald said. "Dylan Crews is the dude, man, that’s all I’m gonna tell you, and he deserves to be the No. 1 pick in the country this year."
Related
