Gator Baseball 2023 Gator Baseball Thread- CWS Bound

[Joegator96]

I doubt he will do this but I would start Cags in Game 1 since he is in the field for the games he doesn't pitch. He looked really good in a game 1 situation last weekend and it could be dominating having Sproat and Waldrep lined up to close out the series in either game 2 or 3.

 

[Jack o' Diamonds]

@Joegator96

Why is the 14 seed ISU playing at unseeded TCU? Can't figure that one out.

Because ISU has a convention of some sort in town that weekend and doesn't have the available hotel space within the NCAA's required distance to host teams and fans....

 

[FireFoley]

I doubt he will do this but I would start Cags in Game 1 since he is in the field for the games he doesn't pitch. He looked really good in a game 1 situation last weekend and it could be dominating having Sproat and Waldrep lined up to close out the series in either game 2 or 3.

This I am sure if not supremely positive is NOT happening. One thing to start Cags against an HBCU baseball team whose conference has 81 MPH flame throwers and who only sees a hint of real pitching in some mid week games. It is quite another to consider throwing your #3 against a team who swept you earlier in the year and sees 98+ MPH 3 days a week for 11 straight weeks.

 

[FireFoley]

The others:

Friday
Duke at Virginia 12PM ESPN2
Indiana St. at TCU 5PM ESPNU
Oral Roberts at Oregon PM ESPNU

Saturday
Alabama at Wake Forest 12PM ESPN
Kentucky at LSU 3PM ESPN
Tennessee at S. Miss 3PM ESPNU
Texas at Stanford 8PM ESPN2

Why is the 14 seed ISU playing at unseeded TCU? Can't figure that one out.

Have you been to Terre Haute? It is a shythole ala Gainesville without real sports facilities.

 

[Sec14Gator]

@Joegator96

Because ISU has a convention of some sort in town that weekend and doesn't have the available hotel space within the NCAA's required distance to host teams and fans....

How does everyone not foresee this all happening and plan around it? Come on, Indy St getting to supers was obvious in November. The hard part is holding off on all the convention business is Terre Haute. I mean look at this place:


Suburban high schools all over the country are jealous of the new floor to ceiling parking lot view windows. When the Boot City" store is a top ten thing to do in your city, good luck finding an open hotel weekend.

 

[oxrageous]

How does everyone not foresee this all happening and plan around it? Come on, Indy St getting to supers was obvious in November. The hard part is holding off on all the convention business is Terre Haute. I mean look at this place:
View attachment 58237

Suburban high schools all over the country are jealous of the new floor to ceiling parking lot view windows. When the Boot City" store is a top ten thing to do in your city, good luck finding an open hotel weekend.

That place has been pretty dead since Larry Bird left town in 1979.

 

[Gatorphan]

Have you been to Terre Haute? It is a shythole ala Gainesville without real sports facilities.

I get all that, but aren't the seedings created so that teams seeded would be hosting?.......they hosted the 4 team regional.

 

[Gatorphan]

Apparently ISU chose not to host....

Indiana State University will not host baseball super regional

In a statement on social media, the Athletic Department cited prior commitments, largely related to the Special Olympics Indiana Summer Games, as the reasons for not being able to host.

www.wthitv.com

 

[Joegator96]

This I am sure if not supremely positive is NOT happening. One thing to start Cags against an HBCU baseball team whose conference has 81 MPH flame throwers and who only sees a hint of real pitching in some mid week games. It is quite another to consider throwing your #3 against a team who swept you earlier in the year and sees 98+ MPH 3 days a week for 11 straight weeks.

You are probably correct. We may as well wear him out in the Friday night and Saturday afternoon games. Burn off a few of the four quality relievers those games as well and if we are in a win or your out Sunday give them a tired Jac followed by sausage biscuit and maybe toss in a little Finnvold to see if he has any magic left from last year.

 

[FireFoley]

You are probably correct. We may as well wear him out in the Friday night and Saturday afternoon games. Burn off a few of the four quality relievers those games as well and if we are in a win or your out Sunday give them a tired Jac followed by sausage biscuit and maybe toss in a little Finnvold to see if he has any magic left from last year.

Not saying your thought does not have some merit, but think of it this way. For years many of us have skewered Sully for the way his teams play with a lack of fundamentals, can't run the bases, have no understanding of proper bunt technique etc etc etc.. Yet the Sully A$$ Sniffers defend him to the end of another flame out year in year out. Now picture in the Supers you hosting a team who swept you in the regular season in best of 3 and you lose the first 2. And for some reason you chose not to start one of your two potential high draft choice starting pitchers, who is well rested and has been your #1A or #1B all season? Not even the end of the earth Sully A$$ Lickers would be able to summon up the courage to defend him if that occurred.

 

[Joegator96]

Not saying your thought does not have some merit, but think of it this way. For years many of us have skewered Sully for the way his teams play with a lack of fundamentals, can't run the bases, have no understanding of proper bunt technique etc etc etc.. Yet the Sully A$$ Sniffers defend him to the end of another flame out year in year out. Now picture in the Supers you hosting a team who swept you in the regular season in best of 3 and you lose the first 2. And for some reason you chose not to start one of your two potential high draft choice starting pitchers, who is well rested and has been your #1A or #1B all season? Not even the end of the earth Sully A$$ Lickers would be able to summon up the courage to defend him if that occurred.

All true! It worked great to go with Sproat and Waldrep first and firstA in Columbia so he may as well just follow the same script again and hope for a different result.

Edit: I looked at the box scores and both Sproat and Waldrep did OK against SC, over 100 pitches and both gave up some runs 4/5 but the pen was terrible in support. That was one of Cags worst starts only lasting three innings and walking a boatload. Hopefully, the stands are full of loud Gators.

 

[Towels 'N Sporks]

Not saying your thought does not have some merit, but think of it this way. For years many of us have skewered Sully for the way his teams play with a lack of fundamentals, can't run the bases, have no understanding of proper bunt technique etc etc etc.. Yet the Sully A$$ Sniffers defend him to the end of another flame out year in year out. Now picture in the Supers you hosting a team who swept you in the regular season in best of 3 and you lose the first 2. And for some reason you chose not to start one of your two potential high draft choice starting pitchers, who is well rested and has been your #1A or #1B all season? Not even the end of the earth Sully A$$ Lickers would be able to summon up the courage to defend him if that occurred.

I think you are confusing somebody who sniffs sullys ass to one who just doesn't sniff their own all the time.

I'm somebody who is convinced with facts and data. Can you send me some actual data that proves sully sucks when compared to other programs. It would have to convince me that it outweighs these stats:


-Sully has more college world series appearances at Florida than 19 schools have had in the ENTIRE HISTORY OF THEIR PRGORAM.


-Sully gets us to the cws about 1 out of every 2-2.5 years since he's been here. Can you provide a current coach who is hireable who has at or near those stats?

-Same question as above but 1 out of 3 years SEC championships. He has 6 which I think is as much or more than all but 5 other SEC schools do IN THEIR ENTIRE HISTORY


-3rd among active coaches in winning percentage... and we play in the hardest league every year.

-The dude has absolutely owned and blown away our two in-state rivals. Both were more successful, had better programs, and were considered baseball powerhouses when he arrived, and we have been better than both of them almost every single year since he showed up. I don't even need to look up specific stats for that because everybody knows it's true.

I honestly agree that sully sucks as a game manager. I think Kirby smart does as well. That does not change the fact that the overall program he built is elite

Stop using your feelings on a play-by-play basis to decide whether our coach sucks and please provide some actual statistical evidence for the first time in this thread.

in fact... I challenge you to show us 5 programs that have had more success than we have since Sully got here. If you do (which you won't), then sure, I'll entertain the fact that a top 10 program who was never considered a top 10 program before this coach arrived should fire their coach.

 

[gator1946]

I haven't watched enough of the games to know that Sully sucks as a game manager. One thing I do know is that baseball is much less predictable than other sports. Getting to the CWS every 2.5 years is a feat by itself. Whether you win once you get there is because of the nature of the game to some extent a crap shoot.

 

[MJMGator]

I think you are confusing somebody who sniffs sullys ass to one who just doesn't sniff their own all the time.

I'm somebody who is convinced with facts and data. Can you send me some actual data that proves sully sucks when compared to other programs. It would have to convince me that it outweighs these stats:


-Sully has more college world series appearances at Florida than 19 schools have had in the ENTIRE HISTORY OF THEIR PRGORAM.


-Sully gets us to the cws about 1 out of every 2-2.5 years since he's been here. Can you provide a current coach who is hireable who has at or near those stats?

-Same question as above but 1 out of 3 years SEC championships. He has 6 which I think is as much or more than all but 5 other SEC schools do IN THEIR ENTIRE HISTORY


-3rd among active coaches in winning percentage... and we play in the hardest league every year.

-The dude has absolutely owned and blown away our two in-state rivals. Both were more successful, had better programs, and were considered baseball powerhouses when he arrived, and we have been better than both of them almost every single year since he showed up. I don't even need to look up specific stats for that because everybody knows it's true.

I honestly agree that sully sucks as a game manager. I think Kirby smart does as well. That does not change the fact that the overall program he built is elite

Stop using your feelings on a play-by-play basis to decide whether our coach sucks and please provide some actual statistical evidence for the first time in this thread.

in fact... I challenge you to show us 5 programs that have had more success than we have since Sully got here. If you do (which you won't), then sure, I'll entertain the fact that a top 10 program who was never considered a top 10 program before this coach arrived should fire their coach.

 

[Bullag8r]

I think you are confusing somebody who sniffs sullys ass to one who just doesn't sniff their own all the time.

I'm somebody who is convinced with facts and data. Can you send me some actual data that proves sully sucks when compared to other programs. It would have to convince me that it outweighs these stats:


-Sully has more college world series appearances at Florida than 19 schools have had in the ENTIRE HISTORY OF THEIR PRGORAM.


-Sully gets us to the cws about 1 out of every 2-2.5 years since he's been here. Can you provide a current coach who is hireable who has at or near those stats?

-Same question as above but 1 out of 3 years SEC championships. He has 6 which I think is as much or more than all but 5 other SEC schools do IN THEIR ENTIRE HISTORY


-3rd among active coaches in winning percentage... and we play in the hardest league every year.

-The dude has absolutely owned and blown away our two in-state rivals. Both were more successful, had better programs, and were considered baseball powerhouses when he arrived, and we have been better than both of them almost every single year since he showed up. I don't even need to look up specific stats for that because everybody knows it's true.

I honestly agree that sully sucks as a game manager. I think Kirby smart does as well. That does not change the fact that the overall program he built is elite

Stop using your feelings on a play-by-play basis to decide whether our coach sucks and please provide some actual statistical evidence for the first time in this thread.

in fact... I challenge you to show us 5 programs that have had more success than we have since Sully got here. If you do (which you won't), then sure, I'll entertain the fact that a top 10 program who was never considered a top 10 program before this coach arrived should fire their coach.

There are several key criteria regarding baseball fundamentals that are apparent on Sully's teams since he arrived which have not improved or even addressed. These shortcomings have been discussed on this board at great length for the past 10+ years and you still refuse to acknowledge the problems so there is no point in belabouring the issue. Listing all the stats does not make these problems magically disappear. You are entitled to your opinion and I will continue to state my concerns. Enjoy the games!!

 

[g8r.tom]

So no data To back up the 10 years of gripping?

Sully seems pretty successful to me. What MGR would you rather have?

 

[Bullag8r]

So no data To back up the 10 years of gripping?

Sully seems pretty successful to me. What MGR would you rather have?

The points have been listed and discussed ad nauseum. If you haven't understood by now you are not likely to. Just enjoy. Maybe this is the year.

 

[Detroitgator]

Not saying your thought does not have some merit, but think of it this way. For years many of us have skewered Sully for the way his teams play with a lack of fundamentals, can't run the bases, have no understanding of proper bunt technique etc etc etc.. Yet the Sully A$$ Sniffers defend him to the end of another flame out year in year out. Now picture in the Supers you hosting a team who swept you in the regular season in best of 3 and you lose the first 2. And for some reason you chose not to start one of your two potential high draft choice starting pitchers, who is well rested and has been your #1A or #1B all season? Not even the end of the earth Sully A$$ Lickers would be able to summon up the courage to defend him if that occurred.

Not a Sully a$$ licker, but I’ll go all in just ta spite ya!!!!

 

[NVGator]

Sully is terrible. All you Sully will go away when he loses again.

 

[Durty South Swamp]

I'll list a few gripes about his teams over the years.

1. Most years our offense is meh. Poor batting philosophy and approach at the plate. We always try to go for the long ball instead of just putting it in play and forcing the defense to play baseball to beat us. So it's feast or famine during most seasons similar to a basketball team that just jacks 3s all the time instead of moving the ball and looking for high percentage shots. Can win big or lose badly. Our batting approach over the years has been exasperating to me as we routinely take pitches right down the middle early in the count in an attempt to drive up pitch counts early, but often all we do is see strike outs as the kids intentionally take good pitches, get down 0 or 1-2 in the count, then are forced to swing at some borderline garbage or fall for a breaking ball in the dirt. Good offensive teams employ aggressive plate philosophies, through the years sully has done the opposite.

2. Along with #1 is the inability to play small ball when we need to. Laying a bunt down is a hold your breath and pray event for sully teams throughout the years. We don't practice any of that stuff, rarely employ it when it would be advantageous and usually f it up royally when we do. It should be coached and used whenever advantageous.

I've been much happier this year with the offense but let's be honest, it's not bat on a ball and put pressure on the defense. It's still long ball, we just lucked into at least 3 kids at any point in time hitting them over. If we have a game with no HRs, we probably lose bc we don't get on base and bat guys around with base hits very well. We're either hitting them over or flying out.

On the flip side, our defense has been consistent and very good throughout his tenure. Defense and pitching won us our only natty. Offense was very unremarkable that year. This year is interesting bc the offense is good but the pitching is inconsistent and defense can be a bit shaky at times.

Is sully garbage? No, he's a very good coach, but there are better ones. He's a great recruiter and that's why we compete at a high level. If he could coach and develop as well as he croots we'd have numerous titles.