Action Needed

[Veritas]

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I personally appreciate all that Gene has done for WSU baseball and as far as I'm concerned he has my vote of confidence. Gene is faced with a personal paradox of a challenge.
A. He has shown his loyalty to WSU and seems to be extremely loyal to his players, former players, WSU, the program, his subordinates, and the fans.
B. His aforementioned loyalty is the very issue that is keeping him from making a move to discharge Jim Thomas. He simply is incapable from doing it.

This is where ADES absolutely needs to come in and make a strong recommendation that Gene fires Jim Thomas and replace him with the an Assistant Coach that will take over the Head Coaching job in 3-5 years. Gene won't do it. ADES must do it.

Jim Thomas was a wonderful player, but the fact is that WSU has not been a very good hitting team nor always a consistent fielding team under Jim's leadership. WSU has the facilities, indoor facilites, and fan support that demands better performance. Jim Thomas simply isn't getting it done. I thank him for his past contributions, but he needs to find a different line of work.

[ISASO]

I wonder if people would like JT more if he had a radio show like Brent does. Both seem pretty impressive when operating in a public forum.

[shocker22]

People like JT as an individual. He is a good guy. However, he is not an effective coach. Some of our players approach at the plate is awful! We are not good fundamental hitters.

[NCAABound]

Somebody asked in another thread - Why fire JT? They haven't seen one good reason given. Here's a few hitting rankings since '05. I feel these are the ones that show our ability to put the ball in play, hit for power (even gap power), and push runs across the plate.

Batting Average (starting with 2011):
126
193
258
49
90
66
143

Scoring
69
103
265
29
116
90
154

Slugging %
97
113
265
69
112
148
213

If they had on-base % I'd include that too. But my guess is it would be lower because of our strikeout numbers.

These stats are unacceptable. Especially playing in the weak MVC.

Could you imagine where we'd be if our pitching hadn't covered up our weak hitting all of these years?

We want to be at least a top 30 team most years...but only ONE of our hitting rankings cracked that barrier since 2005! 1 out of 21 (in my limited research/time) isn't going to cut it.

[DaShox]

I'm pretty sure JT began coaching at WSU in 1993. Not 2005. Perhaps looking at the entire record for the last 18 years would be more accurate. Picking and choosing facts to support an agenda is, well, it is what is.

By the way, the idea of replacing JT with a new assistant who would take over in 3-5 years is pie in the sky. So...you are not renewing Brent's contract in 3-5 years and you are firing/retiring him as well? Judging by the poll numbers in this thread, Kevin Hooper takes over for Gene, Brent will retain his current position after 30 years and will be going to work for Kevin Hooper. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. You gotta love this board.

Question: Does JT get any credit for helping Chris O'Brien hit over .400? Just curious.

[ShockerFever]

I'm pretty sure JT began coaching at WSU in 1993. Not 2005. Perhaps looking at the entire record for the last 18 years would be more accurate. Picking and choosing facts to support an agenda is, well, it is what is.

Ok so JT didn't fully have his clean slate of kids until roughly 1996, our last appearance in Omaha, but you dont have to be genius to realize the hitting statistics have trended down ever since. Blindly defending somebody without facts is just as bad as knocking someone down without facts. I must've missed your reasons for being for JT.

[ShockerFever]

Question: Does JT get any credit for helping Chris O'Brien hit over .400? Just curious.

So if I got 1 question right out of 15 on my math test, would I call that a success?

[DaShox]

Never said I was for JT. Never said I was for renewing Gene's contract (I'm not).

Answering a question with a question is not answering the question.

[Veritas]

I'm pretty sure JT began coaching at WSU in 1993. Not 2005. Perhaps looking at the entire record for the last 18 years would be more accurate. Picking and choosing facts to support an agenda is, well, it is what is.

By the way, the idea of replacing JT with a new assistant who would take over in 3-5 years is pie in the sky. So...you are not renewing Brent's contract in 3-5 years and you are firing/retiring him as well? Judging by the poll numbers in this thread, Kevin Hooper takes over for Gene, Brent will retain his current position after 30 years and will be going to work for Kevin Hooper. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. You gotta love this board.

Question: Does JT get any credit for helping Chris O'Brien hit over .400? Just curious.

Are you kidding me? Do you really think JT had any postive input with Chris hitting over 400? Perhaps to listen to his father and continue to learn how to hit during summer league. If he did, then perhaps we'd see others on the team with better averages (unless of course to validate your point, he must have spent ALL his time with Chris).

Be honest with yourself.... JT's numbers aren't nearly where they need to be. Believing otherwise is simply being delusional.

[ShockerFever]

Never said I was for JT. Never said I was for renewing Gene's contract (I'm not).

Answering a question with a question is not answering the question.

Ok, I'll answer it:

It doesn't matter when the other 95% of the team isn't hitting or approaching the plate the same way. Veritas summarizes it pretty well.

Now, are you gonna answer my question?

[DaShox]

It should be noted however, that the poll on this page, not one single person voted for Brent to go. Am I to interpret that as everyone wants Brent to take over the program? Or you think that Brent will stay and work for Kevin Hooper (or whoever)?

I think Chris O'Brien worked his butt off and understands how the game is played. 85% of his success belongs to him and Charlie.

Would I be upset if JT got the pink slip? No. I agree with All-American/Team USA Chris Wimmer. It's a player problem.

[SubGod22]

It should be noted however, that the poll on this page, not one single person voted for Brent to go. Am I to interpret that as everyone wants Brent to take over the program? Or you think that Brent will stay and work for Kevin Hooper (or whoever)?

I would guess that it means that given the options, only able to pick one or all, that Brent isn't the FIRST one people would like to see let go. But a number of voters have also chosen all three to go. Considering that many believe that pitching has by far been the strength of the Shox and covered for a lack of offensive production it shouldn't be surprising that JT and Gene have more individual votes than Brent.

[NCAABound]

I'm pretty sure JT began coaching at WSU in 1993. Not 2005. Perhaps looking at the entire record for the last 18 years would be more accurate. Picking and choosing facts to support an agenda is, well, it is what is.

By the way, the idea of replacing JT with a new assistant who would take over in 3-5 years is pie in the sky. So...you are not renewing Brent's contract in 3-5 years and you are firing/retiring him as well? Judging by the poll numbers in this thread, Kevin Hooper takes over for Gene, Brent will retain his current position after 30 years and will be going to work for Kevin Hooper. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. You gotta love this board.

Question: Does JT get any credit for helping Chris O'Brien hit over .400? Just curious.

OK genius...who recruits the players? If he is poor recruiter and coach...then I guess that's how we get to where we are today.

[NCAABound]

It should be noted however, that the poll on this page, not one single person voted for Brent to go. Am I to interpret that as everyone wants Brent to take over the program? Or you think that Brent will stay and work for Kevin Hooper (or whoever)?

I think Chris O'Brien worked his butt off and understands how the game is played. 85% of his success belongs to him and Charlie.

Would I be upset if JT got the pink slip? No. I agree with All-American/Team USA Chris Wimmer. It's a player problem.

Do you seriously think Chris Wimmer would go on the record and bash one of the coaches? And one of the all-time great Shocker players?

[DaShox]

I'm pretty sure JT began coaching at WSU in 1993. Not 2005. Perhaps looking at the entire record for the last 18 years would be more accurate. Picking and choosing facts to support an agenda is, well, it is what is.

By the way, the idea of replacing JT with a new assistant who would take over in 3-5 years is pie in the sky. So...you are not renewing Brent's contract in 3-5 years and you are firing/retiring him as well? Judging by the poll numbers in this thread, Kevin Hooper takes over for Gene, Brent will retain his current position after 30 years and will be going to work for Kevin Hooper. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. You gotta love this board.

Question: Does JT get any credit for helping Chris O'Brien hit over .400? Just curious.

OK genius...who recruits the players? If he is poor recruiter and coach...then I guess that's how we get to where we are today.

For Kemnitz, who also coordinates the recruiting efforts on Gene Stephenson's staff and handles the task of scheduling games, honors, accomplishments and awards for pitchers under his tutelage have been commonplace.