In middle school Daniel Dickinson describes himself as a short, slow, fat kid. A few years later, he’s emerging as a star at LSU and one of the best second basemen in all of college baseball.
Very impressive for someone that did not receive one scholarship offer to a major four-year school coming out of Kennewick High School in Richland, Washington.
Dickinson said it wasn’t until his junior year at high school that he finally started to show that he could have a future in baseball. He hit .409 that year and committed to a junior college in Spokane, Washington.
Dickinson kept improving during the summer, heading into his senior season and he was no longer that short, slow, fat kid. He was 5-11 and 180 pounds, and he was growing into his body.
In his senior season at Kennewick High School, Dickinson hit .529 with seven home runs. He was the Mid-Columbia Conference Player of the Year, and his team finished runner-up in the state tournament.
Eddie Smith the head coach at Utah Valley at the time saw Dickinson play in the state tournament. Smith, who was LSU’s hitting coach in 2020 and 2021, gave Dickinson a chance to play Division I college baseball by offering him a chance to be a preferred walk-on.
Dickinson accepted the opportunity and made the most of it. He was named a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American after hitting .376 and setting school records for most hits, runs scored, doubles and total bases for a freshman.
The next season Dickinson was a first-team All-conference player in the Western Athletic Conference, hitting .367 with 18 home runs and 53 RBIs.
After dominating the WAC, Dickinson entered the transfer portal and ten minutes after his name officially popped up in the portal, LSU coach Jay Johnson called him. Johnson said the conversation lasted for 45 minutes and he ended up getting mosquito bites all over his legs because he walked into a wooded area while watching a Cape Cod League game to talk with Dickinson.
Dickinson also had offers from other big-time programs, but came for an official visit to LSU and committed to the Tigers when Johnson dropped him off at Louis Armstrong International Airport.
“I always had a dream of playing in the big leagues, and being a baseball player and being a star at some place like LSU, it was just a matter of keeping my head down, working ha,rd and trusting the process,” Dickinson said. “I knew it was going to happen, it was just a matter of time.”
Dickinson’s time has certainly come and he’s taking full advantage of it. During the Tigers trip in Texas he’s made a couple of spectacular plays defensively, including a diving stop on a one hopper to his left to throw out a runner at first to send Friday’s 8-5 win in ten innings against Kansas State to extra innings.
He’s also one of LSU’s best hitters. Hitting .375 with 3 home runs and 21 RBIs after ten games. Dickinson is benefitting from hitting behind Daniel Curiel and Jared Jones. Jones was intentionally walked twice in Friday’s win over K-State and Dickinson took advantage of that opportunity to drive in six runs.
And he’s driving in runs in a variety of ways. On Friday, he picked up an RBI on a sacrifice bunt, he hit a three-run homer, and he also had a two run single, hitting against the shift the opposite way in the tenth inning.
Dickinson also has a very good tattoo game. With tattoos up and down his right leg and left arm. He has earrings in both ears, because he says that’s how people his age look in his hometown.
His mom is not too happy about the earrings, but no one can be displeased with his play on the field.
“It’s a dream come true, I’m super blessed to be in this opportunity it’s literally a dream,” Dickinson said.