Mikie Mahtook – People to Watch 2016

Major League Baseball player
Hometown: Lafayette
Age: 26

This former LSU star baseball player and current Tampa Bay Rays rookie is using his popularity in the sports world in the best way possible—to help other people.

Last year, he founded the Mikie Mahtook Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness about heart disease. He founded the organization in honor of his father, Michael Mahtook, who died from heart disease when Mikie was 4 years old.  In just one year, that organization has gone a long way toward educating people in Baton Rouge and beyond on heart disease prevention.

• Mahtook won the World Series as a freshman at LSU as a key part of that championship team. He was named the Southeastern Conference Tournament MVP after the 2009 College World Series.

• He scored a homerun at his first bat as a Major League player for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2015. Since the start of his Major League career, Mikie has hit nine homeruns and 19 runs batted in, with an average of .295 at bat.

• He raised an unexpected $50,000 and garnered overwhelming support at the first Mikie Mahtook Foundation event in January 2015. The foundation raised a total of about $170,000 in its first year.

His plans for 2016:
“My goal is to obviously have a productive year in baseball—play well enough to be in consideration for rookie of the year—but really my biggest goal is to use my success in baseball to reach more people and hopefully bring the [Mikie Mahtook] foundation to Tampa. I want to use my career to enhance the foundation.”

“Mikie is not only one of the best baseball players I’ve ever coached, but all around one of the best guys I’ve ever associated with. Mikie cares about all the right things. I’m not surprised he’s using his popularity in baseball to help others through a nonprofit. Knowing Mikie is a true pleasure.”
—LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri