He could not do that without taking him out. We had previously used our three allowed visits to the mound for the game. In college baseball, you only get three visits to the mound per game. You can second guess him for leaving Castillo in. Personally, I would have started the 9th with Shaw and if one man got on, I would have gone to Castillo. We'll never know what would have happened. But, a mound visit wasn't an option.
I'm done with Mitch Gaspard.
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I will disagree with you on leaving Shaw in. I'm not second guessing him putting Ray in, I would have done the same thing. Yet he still could have sent the catcher in to talk to him as well since he had no visits left. You have to try and break the momentum somehow someway.
Arkansas too.Yes he can be that bad and is!:wink: We have been suffering through this for awhile now with no end in sight. Like others have said these boys truly deserve better. Nobody can tell me that Dax shouldn't have went out and tried to settle Ray down. I probably would have won or lost on Ray's arm as well as CMG did, but you better believe I would have went out there or try and calm him and make sure nothing was wrong with how he felt today you can believe that. I've visited the mound for less and dang sure ain't no college coach! You just can't leave a nervous Freshman that is wild out there to swim with the fishes and you just sit there all wild eyed like "wow I have never seen this happen". I truly think CMG and CDN do get lost in games instead of trying to actually manage it.
Thing is baseball is not a money maker so they'll continue to be on the back burner until it is absolutely needed. It is a joke The Joe has went this long while LSU and USCe builds powerhouses while we sit back and say "well it looks good on the outside". Yea sure
THEN SEND THE CATCHER OUT THERE TO SETTLE HIM DOWN. Gesture to the infielders, to go to the mound, and help the kid regain his confidence. Do something, other than let Troy go "Yeah, we got 'em................get ready to stick the fork in."
Have someone ready, for when you do have to make a move.
Then make it, when he fills the bases with plunked batters and walks.
But, like you said, he could have left Shaw in. Either way, he blew it, and doesn't seem to care.
I could go either way. Admittedly, I do not have anywhere near enough knowledge of the abilities, or tendencies, of our pitchers. But, the real problem was................
No excuse for that one. None.
Hey, you have one out, bases loaded..............(or even just 2 runners).............gotta discuss how we are going to handle a ground ball. If it goes here, who does what, etc. Do we go for the DP, or just try to nail the lead runner? Buys time, and gathers the team, and there is no rule that prevents it.
All he would have needed to do is lift a finger.
I'll be honest, I am an avid softball fan(season ticket holder), but really haven't paid much attention to the baseball team at all.
I will tell you what I have been told as to why we have trouble competing in baseball. Baseball gets something like 13 or 15 scholarships total to distribute among about 25 players. There are a number of kids who only get books or meals since they usually split up the scholarships. All the lottery states in the SEC (Which is pretty much everyone in the SEC but Alabama) have their in state kids get full tuition plus they get to give full NCAA schollies to another 13 or so kids while Alabama and Auburn for that matter are making do with the NCAA mandated scholarship limit. I am sure our outdated facilities contribute to the problem as well, but I think this is the crux of the problem.
The NCAA would have to close the loophole to make the limits fair, and we all know the NCAA is all about fairness, right!
Sarcasm intended.
I will tell you what I have been told as to why we have trouble competing in baseball. Baseball gets something like 13 or 15 scholarships total to distribute among about 25 players. There are a number of kids who only get books or meals since they usually split up the scholarships. All the lottery states in the SEC (Which is pretty much everyone in the SEC but Alabama) have their in state kids get full tuition plus they get to give full NCAA schollies to another 13 or so kids while Alabama and Auburn for that matter are making do with the NCAA mandated scholarship limit. I am sure our outdated facilities contribute to the problem as well, but I think this is the crux of the problem.
The NCAA would have to close the loophole to make the limits fair, and we all know the NCAA is all about fairness, right!
Sarcasm intended.
This is all true, but it is also true for Troy as well. None of this kept them from kicking our tail this past weekend. Scholarship limitations are not the problem here. Its an abject failure of coaching and game management. There are probably 2000 kids playing varsity baseball within the state of Alabama - you mean tell me you cant find 25 good ones coach 'em up and field a competitive team? The guys we have now are scrappy and will play hard see all the close games we have lost this year. The kids are getting no development and are not being put into a position to win. You cant lose as many close games as we have and put that all on the players. Coaching will overcome facilities any day. I can guarantee we could play all of our games at Legion Field, we would still have kids lining up to play for us if they knew it would punch their ticket to the NFL. Facilities only become an issue when your winning is not what it should be. Dont get me wrong, even when you are winning you should re-invest and reward the program.
As we have seen with Auburn basketball, you can stink up a new facility with sorry coaching...
I cant for the life of me figure out how CMG survived as an assistant. This ought to tell you how good of a coach Wells was.
The one sport that Coach Moore was short sighted on was Baseball. Jim Wells retirement/wishy washiness kind of quite all of us by surprise and then "on paper" it looked like a good hire to bring CMG back.
To me, we need Battle/the Univ. to be thinking 20-30 yrs down the road here with the facility- That land where the Joe sits now is going to be needed for more football office space/admin offices one of these days. A simple renovation will just be putting a band aid on the problem AND being short sighted.
I like the post about a new ballpark by the river and you'll see us get at the very least CLOSER to the level of USC/Vandy/LSU/ARK in Baseball. The sport in 8-10 years will be a lot bigger than it is now.
To me, we need Battle/the Univ. to be thinking 20-30 yrs down the road here with the facility- That land where the Joe sits now is going to be needed for more football office space/admin offices one of these days. A simple renovation will just be putting a band aid on the problem AND being short sighted.
I like the post about a new ballpark by the river and you'll see us get at the very least CLOSER to the level of USC/Vandy/LSU/ARK in Baseball. The sport in 8-10 years will be a lot bigger than it is now.
Well said, JDC. Didn't stop Troy from kicking out butt. Twice.
OK, maybe all of that is true, and we are never going to be LSU. But, are we going to be content to fight it out with Troy and Samford?
Tell the truth, not sure I have been this "worked up" since we erased that 39-year butt-hurt against Nutter Dumber. Not that it is good, to be agitated over this. But, it is helping me to............uh...........uh, well, let's just say I am trying to get over (yet another) bout of bronchitis, and this helps in a way that y'all don't want to hear about.
Yes, I have a sick sense of humor. Kinda sorta goes with always being sick!
(And if you think I am "sick", my first bidnis partner was a pathologist. Now, that boy really was sick! The stories I could tell..............)
OK, maybe all of that is true, and we are never going to be LSU. But, are we going to be content to fight it out with Troy and Samford?
Tell the truth, not sure I have been this "worked up" since we erased that 39-year butt-hurt against Nutter Dumber. Not that it is good, to be agitated over this. But, it is helping me to............uh...........uh, well, let's just say I am trying to get over (yet another) bout of bronchitis, and this helps in a way that y'all don't want to hear about.
Yes, I have a sick sense of humor. Kinda sorta goes with always being sick!
(And if you think I am "sick", my first bidnis partner was a pathologist. Now, that boy really was sick! The stories I could tell..............)
As our friends already explained Troy is within our great state as well and put it to us twice. We also had a TON more talent than Savannah State yet we barely squeaked by them as well. Talent is not a problem, even Wells prospered with Alabama/Louisiana talent while teams like LSU and the like were stocking up with lottery scholarships. Coaching really does wonders when said coach actually knows what he is doing.
Problems with UA baseball (in no particular order)
1) Jim Wells. Wells was a horrible relationship builder and a below average baseball coach. He won just enough to keep his job and had a nice run of success when he assembled a very talented few teams in the mid-90s. He severely handicapped the program during the retire/don't retire deal. He retired then magically decided he didn't want to when he caught wind that Bobby Pierce (his sworn enemy) would replace him. That's what led to his mid-year retirement. With that timing, he forced Mal to hire Gaspard. There was no other option. DON'T EVER LET ANYONE TELL YOU WELLS WAS A GOOD COACH. He was a disaster. Talk to anyone inside the program and they'll tell you that. I had a former player once tell me there were only two ex-Wells player that liked him: Andy Phillips and Dax Norris. I am not exaggerating. He ruined players mentally and physically, made poor in-game decisions, and recruited B-level Louisiana talent while born-and-raised Bama players fled the state.
2) Mitch Gaspard. He sucks. Bad recruiter, bad game-manager. The roster is NOT a who's who of baseball talent in the South. The best players from Alabama have gotten away. He's continued to use the Louisiana-pipeline to pull in guys LSU doesn't want. That should put us on par with La Tech, ULM, ULL, etc. and I think that is the case. Would you rather have the leftovers form Louisiana or Florida, the way Troy does? In fairness to Gaspard and others, college baseball recruiting is the hardest. You have less money to work with and you have to be good at gauging what players will be drafted too high to ever come to campus. This has been one of Auburn's problems. In summation, though, Gaspard is average at best. If we keep him, we'll keep being average.
3) Facilities. Our facilities have fallen woefully behind as many of you have mentioned. I think its gotten to the point that a brand new stadium has to be built. If Saban wants that land, I say let him have it and find another place to build a park. If not, build a new one on the same property. The stadium by the river thing could work. What about that open parking lot across from the Amphitheater. Perfect spot in my opinion. That would probably have to be a joint venture with the city, maybe even with an eye on a professional team (as a sidebar, if you sell beer cheap enough you could draw more students to a AA game than Jackson, TN or Huntsville draws people right now. If you want to compete with LSU and SC in baseball you better willing to build a park similar to theirs.
4) Lottery. This is legit. The lottery states have a huge advantage in baseball. I'm not sure how we can fix this, but it isn't a deal breaker. You can compete even with this disadvantage.
Plan to fix it all: Fire Gaspard, hire someone good (Bobby Pierce) and build a new stadium
1) Jim Wells. Wells was a horrible relationship builder and a below average baseball coach. He won just enough to keep his job and had a nice run of success when he assembled a very talented few teams in the mid-90s. He severely handicapped the program during the retire/don't retire deal. He retired then magically decided he didn't want to when he caught wind that Bobby Pierce (his sworn enemy) would replace him. That's what led to his mid-year retirement. With that timing, he forced Mal to hire Gaspard. There was no other option. DON'T EVER LET ANYONE TELL YOU WELLS WAS A GOOD COACH. He was a disaster. Talk to anyone inside the program and they'll tell you that. I had a former player once tell me there were only two ex-Wells player that liked him: Andy Phillips and Dax Norris. I am not exaggerating. He ruined players mentally and physically, made poor in-game decisions, and recruited B-level Louisiana talent while born-and-raised Bama players fled the state.
2) Mitch Gaspard. He sucks. Bad recruiter, bad game-manager. The roster is NOT a who's who of baseball talent in the South. The best players from Alabama have gotten away. He's continued to use the Louisiana-pipeline to pull in guys LSU doesn't want. That should put us on par with La Tech, ULM, ULL, etc. and I think that is the case. Would you rather have the leftovers form Louisiana or Florida, the way Troy does? In fairness to Gaspard and others, college baseball recruiting is the hardest. You have less money to work with and you have to be good at gauging what players will be drafted too high to ever come to campus. This has been one of Auburn's problems. In summation, though, Gaspard is average at best. If we keep him, we'll keep being average.
3) Facilities. Our facilities have fallen woefully behind as many of you have mentioned. I think its gotten to the point that a brand new stadium has to be built. If Saban wants that land, I say let him have it and find another place to build a park. If not, build a new one on the same property. The stadium by the river thing could work. What about that open parking lot across from the Amphitheater. Perfect spot in my opinion. That would probably have to be a joint venture with the city, maybe even with an eye on a professional team (as a sidebar, if you sell beer cheap enough you could draw more students to a AA game than Jackson, TN or Huntsville draws people right now. If you want to compete with LSU and SC in baseball you better willing to build a park similar to theirs.
4) Lottery. This is legit. The lottery states have a huge advantage in baseball. I'm not sure how we can fix this, but it isn't a deal breaker. You can compete even with this disadvantage.
Plan to fix it all: Fire Gaspard, hire someone good (Bobby Pierce) and build a new stadium
Pt 1.) Don't know enough about all of that, but your explanation helps put that whole mess in perspective.
Pts 2-4.) Yes!
Add Pt 5.) Nothing will change, anytime soon.
Pt 6.) When does football start back up?
Pts 2-4.) Yes!
Add Pt 5.) Nothing will change, anytime soon.
Pt 6.) When does football start back up?
Unless the NCAA starts letting you use lottery scholarships and not count them towards the 85 football limit, we will never have a lottery in Alabama.
It was actually Tuscaloosa native John Cohen, then at Kentucky and now at Mississippi State, whose imminent hire prompted Wells to "un-retire".
Cohen is pretty much despised by the rest of the SEC coaching community. When State announced his hiring, Ron Polk - Cohen's own former coach - went ballistic and asked to have his name removed from the stadium.
Great post, though.
I certainly do not know enough about the baseball team to have any kind of intelligent opinion so I will stay out of that discussion completely. I do know that there have been plans to build a new stadium for years and they may be waiting until the University finally acquire the Bryce property.(Due to happen in October) Mal spoke about the plan in Tuscaloosa a couple of months before his passing. Mal was great at a lot of things, but he was sometimes so focused on football that other sports suffered. I suspect Coach Battle will put the new baseball stadium on the front burner with the board pretty soon. I believe that with all the new revenue streams created by the new SEC network and the renegotiated TV deals that there is no reason we can not have the best facilities (or at least very competitive) in the country in every sport. As we have seen in the last 2 years, Bama can compete at the highest level of almost any sport it chooses to participate when it has the facilities to do so. Baseball is no exception.
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I understand all the frustration, but is Pierce the best there is out there? UGA looks like they just got a little more serious with baseball. Baseball is turning into an arms race and right now we are losing it badly.
Some valid points in this thread. Some ... not so valid. The lottery scholarships do put us behind schools (LSU, etc.) that can use them. However, it seems that Troy and South Alabama did just fine this year without them. Anyone ever heard of Mississippi State? You know, the team headed to a super regional? Mississippi doesn't have a lottery scholarship either. These three teams seem to have figured it out.
It's not a question of finding the money to build a new stadium. The money is there. According to Forbes, the UA athletic department had a $19 million profit in 2011. That number is going up every year. We don't have to rely on donations from the 100 or so donors to build the stadium, we just have to use some of the profits and build it.
Give up on the idea of a stadium on the river as part of a city-University partnership. The "parking lot" property referred to is privately owned and the owners have just recently gotten approval for a $42 million multi-use development there (retail and residential). There is no other piece of property along the river that is big enough for a baseball stadium. If a new stadium is built, it will either be on the Bryce property or at the site of the current stadium.
Mal Moore did make a statement shortly before he became seriously ill that a new stadium or significant upgrades to the existing stadium were in the beginning discussion phase. He made this statement in response to direct questioning by the reporter who was writing the story. He also said that there was no timeline for the project to begin. Bill Battle made similar statements, also under direct questioning from a reporter. When businessmen like Mal and Bill say that something is in the beginning discussion phase and that there is no timeline, that means they are simply telling you what you want to hear and that they are not serious about doing anything.
Quite frankly, the powers that be do not go to baseball games and really don't care about baseball. Until baseball gets a voice on the Board of Trustees, nothing will happen. Unless, of course, Nick Saban decides that he needs the Joe for parking and a recruiting center and starts making noise about it. That just may be our best hope.
It's not a question of finding the money to build a new stadium. The money is there. According to Forbes, the UA athletic department had a $19 million profit in 2011. That number is going up every year. We don't have to rely on donations from the 100 or so donors to build the stadium, we just have to use some of the profits and build it.
Give up on the idea of a stadium on the river as part of a city-University partnership. The "parking lot" property referred to is privately owned and the owners have just recently gotten approval for a $42 million multi-use development there (retail and residential). There is no other piece of property along the river that is big enough for a baseball stadium. If a new stadium is built, it will either be on the Bryce property or at the site of the current stadium.
Mal Moore did make a statement shortly before he became seriously ill that a new stadium or significant upgrades to the existing stadium were in the beginning discussion phase. He made this statement in response to direct questioning by the reporter who was writing the story. He also said that there was no timeline for the project to begin. Bill Battle made similar statements, also under direct questioning from a reporter. When businessmen like Mal and Bill say that something is in the beginning discussion phase and that there is no timeline, that means they are simply telling you what you want to hear and that they are not serious about doing anything.
Quite frankly, the powers that be do not go to baseball games and really don't care about baseball. Until baseball gets a voice on the Board of Trustees, nothing will happen. Unless, of course, Nick Saban decides that he needs the Joe for parking and a recruiting center and starts making noise about it. That just may be our best hope.
I coached high school baseball at a school where the AD never attended a single game, and I can tell you it's a bad feeling. You feel that nothing you do matters when the support from your administration isn't there for you. I know that it's everyone's job to do their best regardless, especially if you are being paid, but still, it's an indication of something seriously lacking.
rtr
rtr
Whoooooaaaaa. I said I don't follow baseball that closely, but I do follow. He has done a good job and just because his very young team came up short in the regional doesn't mean he needs to go. After a bad year they rebounded very well. I can see this team making a lot of noise next season though I did expect a bit more in the regional.
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