Why Josh Pearson's nickname on LSU baseball is 'Buzz Lightyear,' College World Series 2023

OMAHA, Neb. — It's hard to deny the resemblance.

LSU baseball outfielder Josh Pearson looks like "Buzz Lightyear," the beloved animated character from the "Toy Story" movie franchise. Look at Pearson's face and the likeness is uncanny.

"We've always said he looks like Buzz Lightyear," Riley Cooper said.

Pearson's LSU teammates have noticed it too. It's why Pearson's nickname on the team is Buzz Lightyear and why he's worn a Buzz Lightyear baseball jersey at practice while the Tigers have been in Omaha for the 2023 College World Series.

"I'm kind of used to it now. It started last year, they came out with a new movie, and Brayden (Jobert) said I look like him, so everybody just kind of bought into that," Pearson said on Sunday ahead of LSU's matchup against Wake Forest in Omaha on Monday (6 p.m., ESPN).

Pearson's white practice jersey has the phrase "Space Rangers" in purple letters on the front and "Buzz Lightyear" with the No. 95, also in purple, on the back. The patented Buzz Lightyear Space Rangers logo is on the left sleeve and a red button with the warning label "LASER" — referring to the fake laser beams Lightyear shoots in the films — is just above it on the right sleeve. The jersey also has light green piping on the sleeves, at the neck area and around the letters and numbers.

"Tommy (White) saw this jersey and thought I would look good in it. So he bought it for me and it's good luck," Pearson said.

This isn't the first time LSU has worn fun player-inspired shirts this year. Paul Skenes wears a t-shirt with a picture of a random teammate before every start — Tre Morgan was on his shirt Saturday. And Hayden Travinski has gold shirts of him wearing his sunglasses (in purple) with his mustache and goatee that fans can also buy online.

Josh Pearson discusses the difficulties of tracking fly balls in the evening at Charles Schwab Field

Pearson played well in his first College World Series game on Saturday, recording a base hit and making six catches out in left field while battling a combination of the sun and shadows created by bleachers on the first base line.

Fans on social media noticed and poked fun at Pearson after a picture surfaced of him attempting to block out the sun with his hand despite his sunglasses being on his head. But, Pearson said, the reason why he didn't have his sunglasses on was because they made seeing whatever was happening on the infield too dark and difficult to see since the shadows were cast over the infield.

"The shadows make it harder. So (if) I have my sunglasses on, I won't able to see the ball," Pearson said. "So I have to cover it over my hand.

"When Paul was pitching the ball or something, I (wasn't) able to see it in the air. And then like they'll foul the ball off and I'm looking up and seeing if it's coming towards me. So after that obviously I've got to take (the sunglasses) off."

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Brady Neal update

LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson told reporters on Sunday that Brady Neal would not return for the rest of the season. However, he did say that Neal is "just about back to full strength" despite not being on the Tigers' active roster for this round of the playoffs.

Neal has been dealing with a back injury since April.

"Really happy with his progression," Johnson said. "You know that was a pretty significant injury. I think the point we just ran into now is not being able to get him any game reps and then throwing him into this deal (at the College World Series) would be unfair."

Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU baseball: Josh Pearson nickname is Buzz Lightyear, Omaha