BATON ROUGE - Before the first pitch of the LSU and Mississippi State regional game, thousands of die-hard baseball fans filled the lots surrounding Alex Box Stadium.

Some of those fans, like 76-year-old Joe Civello, have a deep history with LSU’s sports.This is especially true when it comes to baseball.

“I worked as crowd control marshal for 32 years at the old box, in 1985 and came over here in '09 when they built the new stadium” Civello said.

He was a supervisor over all game marshals for over four decades and said what got him up and out the door every morning was his love for the game, players and, of course, the fans.

Civello began his career in the early 80s. However, now at 76 years of age, he's retired.

But that doesn't mean the infamous marshal is absent from a single game day. Now he spends those days outside the box, tailgating with the best of them.

“I met these people through my years of working, and they always took care of us, fed us, and made sure we had everything we needed,” Civello said of the tailgate hosts he spent the day with.

Although Civello is enjoying his retirement with all the friends he made throughout the years, he said he remains nostalgic of the “good days” in the box.

“When I retired from here last year, I miss this a little bit,” Civello said.

Adding that he especially misses it when it comes to the fanbase LSU has.

“LSU fans are as loyal as fan can be. And I’ve been all over the SEC and other places too, but to me, LSU fans are as loyal as it gets," Civello said.

The loyal employee of LSU and Alex Box Stadium reminisces on the good days he had, adding his most memorable moment he experienced during the hundreds of games he attended.

“My favorite memory inside the box? Whew... When we first won the first regional to go to Omaha," Civello said.

Civello turns 77 next month, and says if he had one birthday wish, it would be for another trip to the World Series.