Bat Bubba has put the hammer down

It’s a sledgehammer about 10 feet tall, and the handle is more than 30 feet long.

But then, former Demon football player, student equipment manager and all-around gentle giant Matt Padgett has always been most comfortable with biggie-sized items.

His latest endeavor earned Matt a front-page story in Wednesday’s Natchitoches Times, complete with a photo of his graduate art project, “And God Said.” The story, by journalism student Willie Valrie, explains that Padgett’s work was the result of NSU sculptor Matt DeFord encouraging his students to “think outside the box.”

Matt’s display is made of steel products and a telephone pole. It sits in the common area between Magale Hall (the Fine Arts Building) and the University Police station.

Padgett, 6-3 and 350, needed about 10 days to finish the project. He hopes to work as a sculptor, possibly doing large commercial pieces like ones outside large buildings in metropolitan areas.

Matt became a rather big hit in 2000 and 2005 while he was handling the equipment manager’s job for the Demon baseball team. His trademark garb, which he first OK’d with coach Mitch Gaspard, were blue jean suspenders and a T-shirt. He enjoyed his work, and was hard to miss when he scurried out to pick up loose bats around the on-deck circle, thereby earning the nickname “Bat Bubba.”

When the Southland Conference champion Demons reached the 2005 NCAA Regional in Baton Rouge at LSU’s Alex Box Stadium, in his hometown, Matt became a media celebrity due to his appearance and his enthusiasm. After heavy rains struck during the NSU-LSU game, as the storm began to subside, a couple of LSU managers decided to do the old slip ‘n slide routine on the tarp covering the infield, to entertain the crowd and the teams.

They sent up spray. Bat Bubba nearly created a tsunami.

The CST TV cameras and the Baton Rouge Advocate loved the show, and so did everybody at the Box.