A week ago Saturday the crowd stood and roared at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge.

What was taking place on the field between the second and third innings would draw national attention, the kind that at least for a moment overshadowed the trials and tribulations of a country divided.

The volume of the ovation reached crescendo after crescendo. More than 11,000 fans weren’t cheering a home run. The cheers weren’t for a spectacular defensive play. 

The crowd was yelling for America, chanting “U-S-A” as the LSU baseball players moved in a single file line shaking hands with the opponents lined up in front of their dugout that day, Army. LSU, ranked second in the country at the time, was showing its respect for the Army players who eventually would serve in the military.

The Washington Post told about what happened that afternoon in a powerful feature story Feb. 22.

“I wanted them to look each of those members in the eye. Shake their hands firmly and tell them ‘Thank you: Thank you for their service, thank you for their commitment, thank you for theirs sacrifice, thank you for allowing us to have the life that we have,’ ” LSU head coach Paul Mainieri told the Post.

Army’s first-year head coach choked up.

“I got chills. I was thinking of where I’m (coaching) now. And just what these guys have chosen to do. … But when the crowd got involved, it let us take a step back and get outside yourself for a moment. And just think how appreciative you are,” Jim Foster said.

Army’s catcher called it “surreal.”

“Each and every one of them was just saying ‘Thank you, thank you for what you’re doing.’ We’re out there trying to beat them in a competition. But at the same time, there’s something bigger than what’s being done on the field,” Capt. Baggio Saldivar, the team’s man behind the plate, said .

The story pointed out that LSU has a tradition of honoring a military veteran after the bottom of the second inning. Mainieri altered the routine last weekend, a weekend in which his Tigers were playing host to two service academies, Army and Air Force.

Mainieri said he wanted something special for the moment, so he asked his players to go across the field, in the middle of the game, to express their thanks.

LSU coaches stayed out of the limelight intentionally. It wasn’t about the adults, it was about the kids, they said.

Hundreds of people let their feeling be known, too, after the weekend.

“Many of them told me that they weren’t afraid to say they were crying while our players were shaking hands with the other team,” Mainieri said in the story. “And I think it shows that we can have competition with another team without having hatred, and do it with good sportsmanship but also great appreciation… When I watched all this stuff transpire, it made me feel good as an American.”

More moments like these — salutes to our military and veterans  — are needed across this land. Those men and women are why we are free.

DON SHOOPMAN

SENIOR NEWS EDITOR