@Clemson Baseball

[Killerbees]

a. We're ether recruiting well and underdeveloping our talent or not recruiting as good as we think as the rating are overinflated maybe due to injuries, maybe due to how our recruits get exposure.

I say this pretty confidently, I think we are recruiting very talented players given the high schools and travel circuits they played with. I will also say this pretty confidently, I do not think “development” is happening, maybe with the exception of a few starters. CJR was on podcast last year saying the only way to get better is being on the field. Being on the bench makes you a better teammate, speaking about team support, but playing is the key. He was referencing his career at FL St where he did not play much his freshman year. As many of us have mentioned earlier, the transfer portal has diminished the need for a development program. My meaningless 2 cents to our young recruits, make the best of your opportunities as the majority of you won’t see real playing time the first 2 years.

 

[57jacket]

Georgia Tech weekly baseball report

At the start of each week throughout the regular season, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will take a closer look at the Georgia Tech baseball team. Here’s a breakdown going into the week:

www.ajc.com

 

[stinger78]

The Pony League field I played on was 320 down the lines. Granted it was symmetrical and also 320 in the alleys and in CF. A good shot would get out as a 14 year old against guys throwing 80 mph fastballs.

 

[78pike]

We won't match up well with teams with 3 good pitchers in a 3 game series. If a team only has 1 or 2 good pitchers, I like our chances.

I would think most teams wouldn't match up well with anyone who has three good starters in a 3 game series. Just sayin'.

 

[leatherneckjacket]

The Pony League field I played on was 320 down the lines. Granted it was symmetrical and also 320 in the alleys and in CF. A good shot would get out as a 14 year old against guys throwing 80 mph fastballs.

The Pony League field I played in was also my HS JV field and had a spacious left field larger than the old (pre 1973) Yankee Stadium with the fence over 400 feet from home plate. I was playing LF one game when I misjudged a line drive that went over my head and rolled to the fence for an easy inside the park home run. I took two steps in on contact, yelled an expletive, then watched the ball sail over my head before racing to the fence, but was too late. When I got back to the dugout, my coach was more upset about the language he heard all the way in the 1st base dugout, then the home run I allowed, but that is what happens when you play for a Catholic HS.

 

[stinger78]

I played C and corner OF. I also charged, for two steps, a line drive HR that went over the fence and the parking lot and into the drainage ditch. Easily 400’. I’m sure I said a few choice words but none so loud that anyone but me and God heard them. Ha!

ETA: The batter’s name? Ted Williams. No joke, though (obviously) not THAT Ted Williams.

 

[senoiajacket]

b. Secondly, we're a favorable destination for recruits but I think our fanbase across the sports (football, basketball, baseball) have unreasonably elevated expectations. We do not win big games a lot, that's our heritage. We can be very good, but darre I say it a cut below elite.

I disagree with this opinion. I base my opinion on the GT fans and alumni that I am personal friends with (which could be flawed as people tend to “hang with” people that think like themselves) and what I read on the forums on this site. Yes, there are some who think we should compete for the national title every year, but those people appear to be a small minority to me. The majority of fans seems to have reasonable expectations, i.e., in football we should go bowling most if not every year and occasionally compete for a conference championship, in baseball make a regional most every year, host often to occasionally, make a super every 4 to five years, basketball, make the tourney regularly. I think we have been beat down enough that the above “reasonable”’expectations are true for the majority. Now, if those expectations start to be met, then I would agree that expectations would continue to rise, probably to an unreasonable point for some, but many of the long time Tech fans who have lived through the low points would be content just to enjoy the ride.

 

[leatherneckjacket]

There a couple of themes here:

a. We're ether recruiting well and underdeveloping our talent or not recruiting as good as we think as the rating are overinflated maybe due to injuries, maybe due to how our recruits get exposure. I think it's more the latter, the rare exception being Burress, however we do have a stable of pitchers in MLB that seem to be doing well so I see the other point of view.

b. Secondly, we're a favorable destination for recruits but I think our fanbase across the sports (football, basketball, baseball) have unreasonably elevated expectations. We do not win big games a lot, that's our heritage. We can be very good, but darre I say it a cut below elite.

Maybe it's coaching, maybe it' because GT gives them a back up plan and they don't necessarily need to make the NFL or NBA or MLB. Other teams going pro is the only legitimate option these kids have. King's going to Med school, we have a PhD on the football team. Lastly, our fans are not engaged. 1k fans at our games 3-4k at away games. Makes a difference.

If you think that fans expecting to win at least one single Regional in 17 years is an unreasonable elevated expectation then I would suggest your expectations are way too low.

 

[LargeFO]

If you think that fans expecting to win at least one single Regional in 17 years is an unreasonable elevated expectation then I would suggest your expectations are way too low.

I've been screaming this for years and gotten so much resistance. We have some really odd fans.

 

[GT33]

If you think that fans expecting to win at least one single Regional in 17 years is an unreasonable elevated expectation then I would suggest your expectations are way too low.

I wish we had a different history, but for some reason our players have not gotten it done.

We're going to find out pretty soon, maybe hopefully as early as next season. If we've got a stacked roster as could be the case & we get new coaches we will all get the day we've been hoping for. It will be hard not to draw other conclusions should the results on the field not change.

 

[stinger78]

I wish we had a different history, but for some reason our players have not gotten it done.

We're going to find out pretty soon, maybe hopefully as early as next season. If we've got a stacked roster as could be the case & we get new coaches we will all get the day we've been hoping for. It will be hard not to draw other conclusions should the results on the field not change.

I think many of us are lured by the “legacy” of our football program to think that GA Tech is a powerhouse.

Well… we’ve never won a national championship in basketball or baseball. Almost, but not quite. The last national championship we won in football was now 34 years ago, and the one before that was 72 years ago. The other two are 95 and 117 years ago respectively.

Our 4 football national championships have caused us to lose sight of the truth about our AA, it seems to me.

 

[GT33]

I think many of us are lured by the “legacy” of our football program to think that GA Tech is a powerhouse.

Well… we’ve never won a national championship in basketball or baseball. Almost, but not quite. The last national championship we won in football was now 34 years ago, and the one before that was 72 years ago. The other two are 95 and 117 years ago respectively.

Our 4 football national championships have caused us to lose sight of the truth about our AA, it seems to me.

We're at the point where the parents of the players weren't even babies when we won our last championship in a major sport.

 

[CINCYMETJACKET]

I say this pretty confidently, I think we are recruiting very talented players given the high schools and travel circuits they played with. I will also say this pretty confidently, I do not think “development” is happening, maybe with the exception of a few starters. CJR was on podcast last year saying the only way to get better is being on the field. Being on the bench makes you a better teammate, speaking about team support, but playing is the key. He was referencing his career at FL St where he did not play much his freshman year. As many of us have mentioned earlier, the transfer portal has diminished the need for a development program. My meaningless 2 cents to our young recruits, make the best of your opportunities as the majority of you won’t see real playing time the first 2 years.

I agree with this. I saw it when I was a grad student at Tech. It was the 1999 season when we had freshmen Victor Menocal, Mark Teixeira, Richard Lewis, Wes Rynders, Steve Kelly, Rhett Parrott, and Kevin Cameron, among others.

That was the first year we were not selected to the NCAA tournament in 20+ years, I believe. We had a very young team, but I still thought we deserved to go to the tournament at the time.

Menocal, Teixeira, and Lewis played most games that year, with Rynders getting a good number of games and AB's. Menocal hit less than 0.200 that year, but he WAS our starting shortstop, and was given the playing time. We also had a really good SO class that year.

Parrott, Kelly, and Cameron also got significant innings that year, none of whom had what even we, as GT fans, would consider a decent ERA. Although we had SO, JR, and SR pitchers getting the most innings.

My point being, after a longer than expected history rambling, that in 1999 we let the kids we recruited play. It didn't work out the way we wanted that year, i.e. NCAA tournament appearance. But it payed off in future seasons. An NCAA Super Regional in 2000, followed by a #1 ranking to start the following year. We didn't win it all for various reasons, but we let the kids play and they became the foundation for a team that could have won it all. I also believe that this set the foundation for the teams that were awarded national seeds, and those that made the college world series, later in the 2000's.

Not sure that the current environment with transfer rules, NIL, etc. will ever allow that to happen again for us. But I keep hoping.

 

[78pike]

I agree with this. I saw it when I was a grad student at Tech. It was the 1999 season when we had freshmen Victor Menocal, Mark Teixeira, Richard Lewis, Wes Rynders, Steve Kelly, Rhett Parrott, and Kevin Cameron, among others.

That was the first year we were not selected to the NCAA tournament in 20+ years, I believe. We had a very young team, but I still thought we deserved to go to the tournament at the time.

Menocal, Teixeira, and Lewis played most games that year, with Rynders getting a good number of games and AB's. Menocal hit less than 0.200 that year, but he WAS our starting shortstop, and was given the playing time. We also had a really good SO class that year.

Parrott, Kelly, and Cameron also got significant innings that year, none of whom had what even we, as GT fans, would consider a decent ERA. Although we had SO, JR, and SR pitchers getting the most innings.

My point being, after a longer than expected history rambling, that in 1999 we let the kids we recruited play. It didn't work out the way we wanted that year, i.e. NCAA tournament appearance. But it payed off in future seasons. An NCAA Super Regional in 2000, followed by a #1 ranking to start the following year. We didn't win it all for various reasons, but we let the kids play and they became the foundation for a team that could have won it all. I also believe that this set the foundation for the teams that were awarded national seeds, and those that made the college world series, later in the 2000's.

Not sure that the current environment with transfer rules, NIL, etc. will ever allow that to happen again for us. But I keep hoping.

I can't say that I totally agree with your assertion. We have given several freshmen opportunities this year. I believe we have often started more freshmen than most of the teams we play in the ACC. Beyond the obvious of Burress in centerfield you have Lackey behind the plate. Kerce had a good opportunity to prove himself at third while Giesler was out (and may have another opportunity if Giesler doesn't get out of the slump he has been in recently). Jaros has also gotten some time. On the mound you have Stanford, McKee and Kovala to go along with Barfield and Ballard who might as well be freshmen given how little they played last year.

To me that's a lot of recruits that have gotten their shot. Not all freshmen are ready to play that first year. You have to remember not only is there a huge step up in competition from high school, but these young guys are competing against "men" who are three and four years older than they are and have physical advantages that come with that age difference. You take some of these kids and put them on the field before they are ready and you could screw up their confidence and ruin them for the rest of their careers. Personally, I think we have done a pretty good job of mixing in the young with the veterans. At times we have started as many as 4 freshmen this year. I don't think there are many other power 5 teams that can say that.