MVC Pre-Season Poll

[SB Shock]

1. WSU (6)
2. MSU (2)
3. ISUR
4. DBU
5. SIU
6. EU
7. ISUB
8. BU

[SB Shock]

All Conference Team
1B - Casey Gillaspie
C - Tyler Baker
OF - Garrett Bayliff
RP - Aaron LaBrie

[Shocker85]

All Conference Team
1B - Casey Gillaspie
C - Tyler Baker
OF - Garrett Bayliff
RP - Aaron LaBrie

This should motivate some players, especially the pitchers and even the pitching coach.

[1972Shocker]

The Shocks are not an overwhelming favorite to say the least garnering 56 votes to 55 votes for MSU.

http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticl...CLID=209387814.

Hopefully, the guys selected pre-season All-Conference with deliver the goods and be there at the end of the year.

[WuDrWu]

This surprises me....especially with the lack of (perceived or otherwise) pitching. I wonder if this reflects more on the new leader, or the absence of the previous one, than anything else?

Thoughts?

[Cdizzle]

I do not know how one could look at last years results and returning talent and not feel that the Shockers should win the league and have a resume worthy of an at-large bid.

I am curious to see what happens with suspensions.

[SB Shock]

The Shocks are not an overwhelming favorite to say the least garnering 56 votes to 55 votes for MSU.

If you look at the votes, WSU got 6 - 1st place and 2? By my calculation the other two possibly could be 2nd and 8th (3rd and 7th, or 4th and 6th). So do you think Butler sandbag?

[1972Shocker]

If you look at the votes, WSU got 6 - 1st place and 2? By my calculation the other two possibly could be 2nd and 8th (3rd and 7th, or 4th and 6th). So do you think Butler sandbag?

Maybe. Who knows?

[SB Shock]

Maybe. Who knows?

Butler...maybe. Doug Elgin for sure!

[Shocker85]

If you look at the votes, WSU got 6 - 1st place and 2? By my calculation the other two possibly could be 2nd and 8th (3rd and 7th, or 4th and 6th). So do you think Butler sandbag?

This poll is a real crap shoot. I think it is impossible for anyone outside the program to speculate on "The 10 Effect" over the last 2 season. There are a bunch of combinations of lesser talent, worse coaching, player attitude, coach attitude, apathy, etc. that dragged the program down. It would be a total guess what's real and the carryover to the new regime.

I really like some of the position players, but power is going to be a big problem, IMO. And the Shox have spent the last 30 years enjoying having elite pitching talent on the staff, but performance by the returning pitchers has not indicated they are elite talent. Same pitching coach, same recruiter, etc. so maybe "The 10 Effect" bogged them down.

Who know? I can't wait to find out.

--'85.

[WSUwatcher]

I do not know how one could look at last years results and returning talent and not feel that the Shockers should win the league and have a resume worthy of an at-large bid.

Well, this may speak well of the Shocks or poorly of the Valley; we'll see.

But we've also seen in the past a coach show up in Wichita and take the good but underachieving talent of his predecessor to considerable success. Remember when Eddie Fogler replaced Gene Smithson and took over the other Gene's final .500 team? No one could possibly doubt Smithson's ability as a coach or the toughness of his teams, but by the end he was burned out and had lost his own MTXE. We may be about to see a repeat performance in Butler's first year. Many have complained of Stephenson's teams having lost their edge in recent years, and often such downturns start at the top. If Butler's energy and firmness restore the toughness and swagger that characterized WSU baseball for so long, this season could be well worth watching, even with the anticipated suspensions.

[pogo]

I certainly hope HCTB makes strides in restoring our baseball program to what it used to be in not only wins but a little swagger as well. I hope HCTB does a MUCH better job in recruiting than Eddie Fogler ever did anywhere he coached. If I'm not mistaken EF had high water wins within a couple of years of taking over a program and then declined each year after. Sorry just not a fan of "Fast Eddie".

[WSUwatcher]

Understandably not, pogo. But no one can deny what he was able to do with Smithson's holdover talent. I wouldn't compare him to Butler otherwise; TB seems to be a high energy guy, which never struck me all that strongly about Fogler, and Butler is also recruiting his tail off already, which as you say wasn't exactly Fogler's strength.

I'm just hoping Butler has the same knack for translating underachieving talent into results. After that, I'd be delighted if Butler spent the next 15 or so years following the path of a different previous WSU coach -- the young version of Gene Stephenson.