2019 NCAA Baseball Tournament - Atlanta Regional

[Lagrangejacket]

You also keep trying to turn it back to all one swing of the bat winning the tournament.

You say this, but the post you quote specifically comments on his performance outside of that swing. You realize he had half the RBIs for his team last night right?

 

[Lagrangejacket]

It really comes down to this: Does Auburn win this regional without Steven Williams? In my book, the answer is no. At the very least, we're playing again tonight.

If you can make the statement that "a team wouldn't have won a championship without [x]", you give the MVP to 'x'. Simple.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

It really comes down to this: Does Auburn win this regional without Steven Williams? In my book, the answer is no. At the very least, we're playing again tonight.

If you can make the statement that "a team wouldn't have won a championship without [x]", you give the MVP to 'x'. Simple.

I could list probably 5 guys on Auburn's team that without them the team wouldn't have won. Again, you've identified 1 of the most logical options.

 

[Madison Grant]

You say this, but the post you quote specifically comments on his performance outside of that swing. You realize he had half the RBIs for his team last night right?

2 rbis. That was all he needed because Horn flat out threw cold water on us. Does Auburn win game one if Fitts doesn't come in and throw a heroic performance in relief? Nope. 3 run homer in the 9th means nothing if Fitts pitches to his ability he's shown all season. Kid went above and beyond. Again, you are going for the one exciting or flashy play. Fitts did all the work. Williams hit a hanger. If English doesn't close the CC game, his team aint playing yesterday. Not to mention putting up the statistically best offensive performance of anybody on any team.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

2 rbis. That was all he needed because Horn flat out threw cold water on us. Does Auburn win game one if Fitts doesn't come in and throw a heroic performance in relief? Nope. 3 run homer in the 9th means nothing if Fitts pitches to his ability he's shown all season. Kid went above and beyond. Again, you are going for the one exciting or flashy play. Fitts did all the work. Williams hit a hanger.

You also have to keep in mind that Auburn doesn't have a single 0.300 hitter. They don't have a single player with a 0.400 on base percentage. Our TEAM average on both is higher, and we have 6-7 starters there. We go months averaging 10 runs a game. What their pitcher did to flat out shut us down was heroic work. As painful as it was to watch, if you're a fan of baseball you have to tip your hat to that.

 

[Buzz1126]

Why has no one brought up Radcliff? He should've been benched throughout the regional. The dude either struck out or hit a pop fly. Going back to the second game of the Duke series. Especially hitting after English, it killed every single rally.

Danny Hall believes in his players to a fault.

 

[Lagrangejacket]

I’m not sure whether it says more about his pitching or our batting (or our base running, for that matter).

Anyway, we’re going in circles. I think Williams was the obvious choice, and apparently whoever decides such things agrees. Peace out.

 

[Madison Grant]

I’m not sure whether it says more about his pitching or our batting (or our base running, for that matter).

Anyway, we’re going in circles. I think Williams was the obvious choice, and apparently whoever decides such things agrees. Peace out.

Our fans have to be the most undeserving, ungrateful group in the country. You've got a two-way standout who goes 11-14 and instead of getting appreciation, he gets digs about baserunning from our side. It makes me ashamed.

And just because the people in charge might have picked your guy, doesn't mean they thought he was the 'obvious choice'.

F Auburn.

 

[MWBATL]

The emotional response to this Regional should not be anger, or even frustration. It should be sadness.

A team with such promise and talent, winds up losing their two best pitchers a month before the tournament, and as a result we lose in the tournament. For those who have called for Danny Hall's job...well, if the Braves had lost Greg Maddux and John Smoltz 4 weeks prior to the NLCS, would you then call for Bobby Cox to be fired if the team lost in the playoffs? That is what happened to this team.

As for a pitcher getting hot and shutting down the other team, go look up the last 1o no-hitters in MLB and see how many of those names you recognize as great household names for pitchers. Mike Fiers is a 58-58 lifetime pitcher in MLB with an ERA just over 4. He has two no-hitters. Homer Bailey has a lifetime losing record with an ERA of over 4.5, and he also has two MLB no-hitters. It's baseball. It happens. The only way to truly combat it is to have strong enough pitching to overcome those occasional events. We didn't because we had lost two of our best starters.

And the sadness and heartbreak is that our third starter lost such an excruciating game. In control, brilliant effort all night long, and one bad pitch. Poof. There went our season and our playoff chances.

You can pick out guys to criticize if you want, but this is college ball....not the pros. These guys aren't getting paid, we can't cut them if we don't like how they're doing or send them down to a minor league version of GT. It is extremely unusual to get a 100% clean game at this level, you expect a few mistakes....and a few guys who don't carry their weight at times.

Anybody who has watched my posts over the last 3 years knows I am no defender of Danny Hall....but the criticism I have read this morning is just plain wrong. Of any specific player, of the team as a whole, and the coaches. They played way above their heads all year, got rewarded for it, but lost some really key guys and couldn't overcome that as a result.

They played their guts out, and I am just sad for them that it was not rewarded. Baseball is not a game where the best team always wins. Heck, UGa lost its regional to a team that was one of the Last Four In. They did not have our injuries, and they did not lose a game on a fluke play (they got clobbered twice).

Celebrate a great season by a gutsy group of guys, and be sad it ended so abruptly and in such a way. But don't look for someone to blame.

 

[BonafideJacket]

The emotional response to this Regional should not be anger, or even frustration. It should be sadness.

A team with such promise and talent, winds up losing their two best pitchers a month before the tournament, and as a result we lose in the tournament. For those who have called for Danny Hall's job...well, if the Braves had lost Greg Maddux and John Smoltz 4 weeks prior to the NLCS, would you then call for Bobby Cox to be fired if the team lost in the playoffs? That is what happened to this team.

As for a pitcher getting hot and shutting down the other team, go look up the last 1o no-hitters in MLB and see how many of those names you recognize as great household names for pitchers. Mike Fiers is a 58-58 lifetime pitcher in MLB with an ERA just over 4. He has two no-hitters. Homer Bailey has a lifetime losing record with an ERA of over 4.5, and he also has two MLB no-hitters. It's baseball. It happens. The only way to truly combat it is to have strong enough pitching to overcome those occasional events. We didn't because we had lost two of our best starters.

And the sadness and heartbreak is that our third starter lost such an excruciating game. In control, brilliant effort all night long, and one bad pitch. Poof. There went our season and our playoff chances.

You can pick out guys to criticize if you want, but this is college ball....not the pros. These guys aren't getting paid, we can't cut them if we don't like how they're doing or send them down to a minor league version of GT. It is extremely unusual to get a 100% clean game at this level, you expect a few mistakes....and a few guys who don't carry their weight at times.

Anybody who has watched my posts over the last 3 years knows I am no defender of Danny Hall....but the criticism I have read this morning is just plain wrong. Of any specific player, of the team as a whole, and the coaches. They played way above their heads all year, got rewarded for it, but lost some really key guys and couldn't overcome that as a result.

They played their guts out, and I am just sad for them that it was not rewarded. Baseball is not a game where the best team always wins. Heck, UGa lost its regional to a team that was one of the Last Four In. They did not have our injuries, and they did not lose a game on a fluke play (they got clobbered twice).

Celebrate a great season by a gutsy group of guys, and be sad it ended so abruptly and in such a way. But don't look for someone to blame.

While I was angry and frustrated last night, this summarizes my feelings this morning. I think what makes me the saddest is that pitching is not what cost us the regional, despite the injuries. The rest of the staff really stepped up this weekend (particularly last night) and we really had a shot to go pretty far despite the injuries to X and Brant. Unfortunately, the bats went cold against Fitts and Horn, who had been sub-par pitchers for Auburn all year. That is what drove the anger and frustration for me last night, because I thought maybe this team was different from years past when we mashed our way to the postseason only for the offense to flame out. For whatever reason, the offense disappeared yet again this year and a great opportunity was squandered.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

The emotional response to this Regional should not be anger, or even frustration. It should be sadness.

A team with such promise and talent, winds up losing their two best pitchers a month before the tournament, and as a result we lose in the tournament. For those who have called for Danny Hall's job...well, if the Braves had lost Greg Maddux and John Smoltz 4 weeks prior to the NLCS, would you then call for Bobby Cox to be fired if the team lost in the playoffs? That is what happened to this team.

As for a pitcher getting hot and shutting down the other team, go look up the last 1o no-hitters in MLB and see how many of those names you recognize as great household names for pitchers. Mike Fiers is a 58-58 lifetime pitcher in MLB with an ERA just over 4. He has two no-hitters. Homer Bailey has a lifetime losing record with an ERA of over 4.5, and he also has two MLB no-hitters. It's baseball. It happens. The only way to truly combat it is to have strong enough pitching to overcome those occasional events. We didn't because we had lost two of our best starters.

And the sadness and heartbreak is that our third starter lost such an excruciating game. In control, brilliant effort all night long, and one bad pitch. Poof. There went our season and our playoff chances.

You can pick out guys to criticize if you want, but this is college ball....not the pros. These guys aren't getting paid, we can't cut them if we don't like how they're doing or send them down to a minor league version of GT. It is extremely unusual to get a 100% clean game at this level, you expect a few mistakes....and a few guys who don't carry their weight at times.

Anybody who has watched my posts over the last 3 years knows I am no defender of Danny Hall....but the criticism I have read this morning is just plain wrong. Of any specific player, of the team as a whole, and the coaches. They played way above their heads all year, got rewarded for it, but lost some really key guys and couldn't overcome that as a result.

They played their guts out, and I am just sad for them that it was not rewarded. Baseball is not a game where the best team always wins. Heck, UGa lost its regional to a team that was one of the Last Four In. They did not have our injuries, and they did not lose a game on a fluke play (they got clobbered twice).

Celebrate a great season by a gutsy group of guys, and be sad it ended so abruptly and in such a way. But don't look for someone to blame.

Mods, please sign him up for a lifetime membership in the beer of the month club. Brilliant post.

 

[Vespidie]

It's interesting to hear the fan's take on things after a loss/season is complete, especially purported GT fans. MWBATL hit the nail on the head with his analysis, and i'd like to add one more thing. The idea that our guys were gifted the #3 seed overall seed appeared to be a stretch from the beginning. What the committee based that on was nothing more than our potential to score runs in bunches, and the hope that our guys would continue to keep hitting the baseball and scoring runs. It was actually a fools play to believe that minus two healthy starting pitchers, that our guys would be successful in a tournament format. Good pitching and good defense beats good hitting more times than not, and Auburn had our number. They had guys that were able to rise to the occasion when they needed to, and our guys were fighting an uphill battle. Kudos to our guys for not laying down when they could have, and kudos to the Auburn players for doing what they had to do to advance.

 

[Lagrangejacket]

Let's assume all of you are correct. We're unlucky in the postseason. We get tough draws. We have untimely injuries. Opposing pitchers have their best stuff against us. How long do you let this go on? When is it acceptable to call for a coaching change?

Is no super regionals in 13 years enough? None in 15 years? 20 years? 0 for 9 of our past regionals? 0 for 10? 0 for 100?

Has Danny earned the right to retire whenever he wants, even if he hangs on until 90, never making a regional again?

 

[Deleted member 2897]

Let's assume all of you are correct. We're unlucky in the postseason. We get tough draws. We have untimely injuries. Opposing pitchers have their best stuff against us. How long do you let this go on? When is it acceptable to call for a coaching change?

Is no super regionals in 13 years enough? None in 15 years? 20 years? 0 for 9 of our past regionals? 0 for 10? 0 for 100?

Has Danny earned the right to retire whenever he wants, even if he hangs on until 90, never making a regional again?

Those are all good questions.

Another good question is who would you replace him with? And how do you know that you could reasonably guarantee yourself that you could get another 1 seed and actually make it through next time?

 

[Lagrangejacket]

Those are all good questions.

Another good question is who would you replace him with? And how do you know that you could reasonably guarantee yourself that you could get another 1 seed and actually make it through next time?

They're good questions, but no one wants to answer them. Everyone wants to pile on me if I suggest has coaching has something to do with our woes, but no one wants to state how long we have to get 'unlucky' before coaching may actually reveal itself as the issue. Care to take a stab at it? Is someone like me who's calling for CDH to retire (or be retired) being unreasonable?

And why do I have to guarantee someone who could take a #1 seed through? We haven't done that in 13 years. We haven't even made the tournament at a 50% clip the past 5 years. GT is an excellent job - we should be able to find someone who at least does as well as CDH.

 

[THWG]

Those are all good questions.

Another good question is who would you replace him with? And how do you know that you could reasonably guarantee yourself that you could get another 1 seed and actually make it through next time?

I would replace him with Ramsey, but I think CDH will retire once his sons are out of the program. Even if he doesn't, I think that we have our coach in waiting.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

They're good questions, but no one wants to answer them. Everyone wants to pile on me if I suggest has coaching has something to do with our woes, but no one wants to state how long we have to get 'unlucky' before coaching may actually reveal itself as the issue. Care to take a stab at it? Is someone like me who's calling for CDH to retire (or be retired) being unreasonable?

And why do I have to guarantee someone who could take a #1 seed through? We haven't done that in 13 years. We haven't even made the tournament at a 50% clip the past 5 years. GT is an excellent job - we should be able to find someone who at least does as well as CDH.

I agree with THWG about Ramsey. I think CDH hangs around with his sons, and in the mean time we get more data points about Ramsey.

I apologize it feels like you're being piled on.

My own personal answer to the question I posed to you (which was somewhat rhetorical, which is an oxymoron I guess) is that you can't guarantee that you can fix a problem like being snake-bit or whatever. But sometimes you just have to make a change and make the best decision you can with the information at hand. Kind of like the dwags dumping Mark Richt for Kirby Smart. After the first 3 years, they have the identical record and both won the SEC in their 3rd year. We'll see if it ends up going anywhere. But Kirby's plan was different, and they were willing to take the risk of getting rid of a guy with so many "knowns" for the chance to move the needle.

 

[Vespidie]

They're good questions, but no one wants to answer them. Everyone wants to pile on me if I suggest has coaching has something to do with our woes, but no one wants to state how long we have to get 'unlucky' before coaching may actually reveal itself as the issue. Care to take a stab at it? Is someone like me who's calling for CDH to retire (or be retired) being unreasonable?

And why do I have to guarantee someone who could take a #1 seed through? We haven't done that in 13 years. We haven't even made the tournament at a 50% clip the past 5 years. GT is an excellent job - we should be able to find someone who at least does as well as CDH.

No piling on from me as you've brought up some very good points and posed some good questions, but it's difficult for me to accept that all of the perceived problems experienced in post season play would be remedied with a coaching change. For those calling for a coaching change, what are the criteria that the new coach must possess? Is it the offensive philosophy that has to change? Do we need to recruit pitchers that aren't susceptible to injury? Do we recruit a different pool of 5-tool guys in hopes that MLB won't scoop them up with signing bonuses that most of us would have gladly jumped at when we were their age. If we can find a guy that can guarantee success while working within the constraints provided, then I'm all in. Lets pull the trigger, and lets look forward to next year.

At some point though, the players have to play the game, and do what needs to be done to win the last game in tournament play.

 

[slugboy]

I watched games later in the year. Decisions seem easier in hindsight, but one thing I wonder about with major league teams and with our play in the tournaments is why teams don't try to manufacture more runs. It's possible I missed some hit and run calls, and I did see the play where English (?) slid home and had his hand come off the plate.
When we have a lead and we're looking for another run or two, why don't we see more bunting a player over or other small ball tactics? Is it that you don't have time to get good at small ball baseball and long ball baseball?

 

[Southpawmac]

I watched games later in the year. Decisions seem easier in hindsight, but one thing I wonder about with major league teams and with our play in the tournaments is why teams don't try to manufacture more runs. It's possible I missed some hit and run calls, and I did see the play where English (?) slid home and had his hand come off the plate.
When we have a lead and we're looking for another run or two, why don't we see more bunting a player over or other small ball tactics? Is it that you don't have time to get good at small ball baseball and long ball baseball?

Don’t mention bunting in here, you’ll get slaughtered. That’s the devil’s work.