In modern-day SWAC lore, no one has been more successful or more decorated than a Southern Jaguar baseball player who put together a stellar career in the big leagues: Rickie Weeks Jr.
Weeks, a native of Altamonte Springs, Florida, came to Southern in 2000 and set out to become the NCAA’s premier hitter.
As a second baseman, he was a huge part of the Jaguars’ run of three consecutive SWAC championships from 2001 to 2003. In 2002, he hit a scorching .495, winning the NCAA batting championship, along with hitting 20 home runs.
Somehow, he managed to nearly duplicate those numbers the next year with a .479 batting average, 16 home runs, and 66 runs batted in.
Weeks’ hot bat earned him two of amateur baseball’s top honors, the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Award as college baseball’s top player in 2003.
Though great, Weeks was ‘never bigger than the team’
Legendary Southern coach Roger Cador told the Lafayette (La.) Advertiser of a story that highlighted Weeks’ unselfishness.
“Rickie was hitting third in the order with two men on,” Cador said of a SWAC tournament game against Alabama State. “Being the team player he is, he tried to bunt them over. I never gave him the sign; he did it because he knew the situation.”
After fouling off two bunt attempts, Weeks smashed a three-run homer. He repeated the same feat two games later.
“This shows you what character he has,” Cador said. “He will never, ever be bigger than the team.”
Weeks’ hard work and selfless attitude were the talk of the 2003 Major League Baseball draft. The Tampa Bay Rays had the first pick, the Milwaukee Brewers the second.
The Rays chose Delmon Young, who went on to have a solid 10-year major league career.
The Brewers didn’t hesitate in choosing Weeks with the next pick, making him a rarity as a top-five MLB draft pick to come from an HBCU.
Weeks let his game speak for itself
The only HBCU player ever to be drafted higher than Weeks was another Southern Jaguar, Danny Goodwin, who was picked first overall by the California Angels in the 1975 draft.
“We are very pleased to get a player of Rickie Weeks’ ability,” Brewers scouting director Jack Zduriencik told the Associated Press at the time. “He is a pure hitter with tremendous speed and power, tools that will help him through our minor league system and to the major leagues.”
“You’re always going to have critics,” Weeks said about the pressure to perform. “You have to let the game speak for itself on the field.”
Weeks didn’t have to wait long, making his major league debut Sept. 15 that same year. His first Major League hit was a single off of Arizona Diamondbacks reliever John Patterson on Sept. 20, one of two hits he recorded in his short call-up.
After spending all of 2004 in the minors, Weeks was called up again by the Brewers early in the 2005 season and finished the season hitting .239 with 13 home runs and driving in 42 runs.
The numbers were good enough for Weeks to get National League Rookie of the Year consideration among players such as Ryan Howard and Jeff Francoeur.
Weeks finished tied with Colorado Rockies pitcher Jeff Francis for sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.
Weeks’ best season with the Brewers was 2011, when he was named to the National League All-Star team. In that year’s game at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, Weeks led off for the NL and scored a run in their 5-1 win over the American League.
For the 2011 season, Weeks hit .269 with 20 homers and 49 RBI as Milwaukee advanced to the National League Championship Series before losing to the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in six games.
Weeks’ career lasted through the 2017 season. After a decade with the Brewers, he spent his last three seasons splitting time between the Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Tampa Bay Rays.
His career totals include 161 home runs, 474 runs batted in, and 132 stolen bases.
Rickie Weeks leaves lasting HBCU baseball legacy
Since his retirement, Weeks has worked in the Brewers organization, first as a coach, then as an associate manager, and currently serves as special assistant for international scouting.
The awards have not stopped; he and Cador were both inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022. Weeks is also a member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the SWAC Hall of Fame.
Looking back on his playing days with MILB.com, Weeks told Brendon Samson that his time on The Bluff is what gave him the boost to have a long and successful major league career.
“They’re always talking about in professional sports that it’s hard to make the big leagues, but at the same time, it’s hard to stay,” he said. “And I think the reason why I stayed is because of my time at Southern University.”
