[duch2izback]

Card #249:<br />
I made this one myself. It's a picture of Wally Pontiff. I made it the size of a regular card. Yeah, I know it's not football, and I know it's not a real card, but he was an inspiration to LSU fans everywhere!<br />
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal">Wallace VictorSebastian Pontiff Junior was born November 18, 1980 and grew up inMetarie, LA, a suburb of New Orleans.&nbsp; Wally’s parents, Wally PontiffSr. and Terry Pontiff, still reside in Metarie.&nbsp; Wally’s siblingsinclude a younger sister, Haley, and a younger brother Nicholas.&nbsp;Nicholas is a senior at LSU, where he plays outfield for the Tigers.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal">Wally was afour-year letterman at Jesuit High in New Orleans, where he earnedClass Five-A all-state honors in 1999.&nbsp; Wally batted .471 his seniorseason and finished his career at Jesuit with 39 doubles, four triples,15 home runs, 64 RBI, and 103 runs scored.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal">Wally said he chose LSU because “it was the best combination of academics and athletics”.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal">As a freshman on the2000 National Championship team, Wally started 51 games, batting .347with 20 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 45 RBI, and scored 41runs.&nbsp; He was selected MVP of the SEC Tournament, batting .615 with adouble, seven RBI, and a grand slam in the championship game againstFlorida.&nbsp; Wally was named to the NCAA Baton Rouge RegionalAll-Tournament Team.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal">Wally’s sophomoreseason was just as successful.&nbsp; He started all 67 games for the Tigers,batting .347, and led the Tigers in hitting in the NCAA Super Regionalagainst Tulane.&nbsp; Pontiff was again named to the NCAA Baton RougeRegional All-Tournament Team.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal">In his final seasonat LSU, Wally started 65 or 66 games for the Tigers, batting .339 andleading the Tigers in walks and on-base percentage.&nbsp; In 307 plateappearances, Wally struck out only 20 times.&nbsp; He was selected to theNCAA Regional All-Tournament Team for a third consecutive year.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal">Wall Pontiff Jr.passed away on Wednesday, July 24, 2002 at his parents’ home inMetarie.&nbsp; It was later found that Wally died of a genetic heart diseasewhich caused a thickening of the heart muscle.&nbsp; Currently, there is nocure for this disease.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal">The LSU Tigers playan annual baseball game in Metarie at Zephyr Stadium (New Orleans’minor league team) in Wally’s honor.&nbsp; Although Wally is no longer onthe field, Wally’s spirit will live forever and …No. 31…Always!</p><br />