Now What?

[Shockerman]

The evolution of my shocker fandom.

Making yearly plans for vacation during the CWS. I have never attended but we always tried to be on vacation during that time so we could enjoy the games at leisure.

Living for the conference schedule and grinding my way through the Valley games hoping we were good enough to get a regional at home.

Hoping for a .500 record during non conference and getting a good seed and making a run at the Valley title.

Checking out the begining of the season and then tuning out/following them through kansas.com until Valley tourney. Catching games on the radio here and there but not planning my weekend around it.

I am 38, and for the first time since I was a kid, I am ready to tune out and follow my MLB teams a little closer and hell, I have been following shocker softball more than ever.

Butler deserves 5 years to get the ship righted as he inherited a mess. If I lived in town I would still buy tickets to support them, but his is getting tough for us out of towners. I say this as a guy who's damn near favorite in life is to tool around in the garage or go fishing on a Saturday afternoon while listening to Mike Kennedy call a game for the Shox on a beautiful spring day. I hope ADES gives Butler everything he needs to turn the corner. As a fan, I don't need 90's Shocker baseball to listen. I just need a solid fundamentally sound team that is enjoyable to listen to and has the talent to make a run in the post season every few years. I miss Shocker Baseball.

[Ta town]

Butler deserves 5 years to get the ship righted as he inherited a mess.

Why does he "deserve" 5 years?

The team was still winning 35+ games a year when he took over. He won 31 last year and I doubt they get to 25 this year. I'm not saying it's all on him or that I want him gone, it's only year 2 but using the term "deserves" and 5 years seems strong to me.

My view is he better be showing program improvement from year to year. Thats how he will "earn" 5 years and beyond.

[Ta town]

[QUOTE=Shockerman;552264]

double post, my bad

[Rosewood]

I agree with Ta. He doesn't deserve ****.

[1972Shocker]

I agree with Ta. He doesn't deserve ****.

What does deserve have to do with it at this point? The man has 5+ years remaining on his contract. Is their someone ready to step up and write that check?

[shockfan89_]

What does deserve have to do with it at this point? The man has 5+ years remaining on his contract. Is their someone ready to step up and write that check?

If things don't turn around I think someone will need to answer for exactly that. How do we give a 7 year contract (assuming there is no buyout) to an unproven coach?

On the other hand, I saw some glimmer of hope on Friday and Saturday. Time will tell if that was a sign this team is showing improvement or just getting lucky and playing better for a few games.

[tru2thaduce]

I'm 39.Ive always made sure my schedule is flexible enough at work to leave for those early season 3 pm starts.Ive made road trips to Oklahoma State,Oklahoma,KU,K State,Creighton,and Bradley.I was in school in 1996 when we last made it to Omaha but didn't have the $ to go.I made a promise to myself that if we did go Id be there.I have a big jug full,of change that I Have saved since 2007 in case we did go so Id have spending money.You remember in 07,08 we had some pretty good teams so I just knew we were going back sooner or later.I still go to every home game but I get there late a lot and leave early a lot now.Im cashing in my change so I can go see the 20th anniversary celebration of my MLB teams last World Series title.We are not sniffing Omaha or even a Valley title anytime soon.I feel your pain brothers.

[Cdizzle]

I have a big jug full,of change that I Have saved since 2007 in case we did go so Id have spending money.

Care to spend it on a buyout? I hear both Stephenson and Hooper are available.

[DUShock]

Care to spend it on a buyout? I hear both Stephenson and Hooper are available.

At this point of the recovery process, Stephenson is culpable in our present state. Not entirely or as much as HCTB but he still has some stink from the program's condition when he departed.

[KC Shox]

Now what is right. I used to convince myself that along with our great basketball program as the main selling point to get into a better conference, our once nationally relevant baseball program certainly brought some cache' to add to the luster of Wichita State. Unfortunately, we no longer have that recognition in our back pocket. While not having a good baseball program may not be a deal breaker, it certainly didn't hurt our chances when we had one.

[Shockerman]

I think all of us want competitive baseball back. As per usual, the guy that replaces a legend usually fails. A dream scenario at this point if Butler can't get it done is to hire Hoop or Stan, one of Genes guys anyways, who can circle the wagons and bring Gene and WSU back together. It would be great to see Gene in The All America club during games and occasionally attend practice. I can't believe how far we have fallen.

[zeptepi]

There was little question my entire life that we would have a great team on the field who played their hearts out and played with confidence. That was all I knew, and I'm sure some of you can say the same. Now, I have to force myself to turn on the radio to hear Shane and/or Mike having to call these games that, a lot of the time, seem to lack execution of simple baseball fundamentals.

I think back to the 2007 & 2008 teams a lot. I think about how Travis Banwart had a rough first game in the regional at home, but came back in the last game to throw a gem and help us win it. I think about really solid players like Noah Booth and Derek Schermerhorn running those flags around the outfield as soon as we won, and the excitement in that packed stadium. The energy in Eck Stadium was incredible. We were all in it together, players and fans alike. The guys were tough and dealt with adversity head-on. I think about the next year - watching McKeever's grand slam in front of my eyes at the regional and being one win away from the College World Series. I think about hearing Mike & Terry call those games, and the excitement in their voices.

I moved out of Wichita after that, and was baffled by what I heard and saw when I would listen online or check the box scores. I moved back to Wichita in time to see the entire 2013 season. From the first few innings of the first game I saw, I immediately noticed how different things were. The fire wasn't there like it had been the last time I saw the Shockers play in front of me (the regional win in 2008). It was like watching a different program. It didn't feel like watching a cohesive team and it didn't feel like watching a coaching staff and team that were on the same page. The fire wasn't in the dugout or on the field, and because of that, it wasn't in the stands either. As much as I respect what Gene did with the program, I was in the camp that thought it was time for change We needed that fire back.

Last year, it was easier to chalk up the poor performance on the field to all the factors involved in the coaching changes, player suspensions, etc. We did have a very solid weekend rotation, but I think the season would've looked a lot more like the current one if we hadn't had Casey Gillaspie. I also understand that the circumstances of this year are strange. Most of the players are new to D1 baseball and we've now lost our entire weekend rotation (which was just coming together) to injuries. I think Todd Butler is probably a good recruiter, and I would imagine this is the one chance he gets at getting the keys to a program with such rich history & tradition. However, the fan in me who remembers a lifetime of great moments like the ones I stated above is heartbroken to see what has become of the program. I think Butler will get at least one more year, and I can see why. He should get a chance with his first non Juco-heavy recruiting class (although, I don't think he was expecting this current Juco-heavy class to be here for 2 years, and I'd imagine a good number of them will be now). What I don't think he gets is more than 1 more season unless Marshall leaves next spring. My guess would be that AD Sexton wouldn't want to deal with 2 big time coaching changes at the same time since the failure of one or both could be his job on the line, but that situation would open up a completely different can of worms that isn't worth thinking about yet.

I really want Butler to succeed in bringing the fire back, but I'm just not seeing it so far. I see guys hanging their heads when they're only a couple runs behind and a complete lack of baseball fundamentals some of the time. The atmosphere at Eck Stadium, both on the field and in the stands (which is a reflection of what is on the field), is dormant. I've heard Butler say during various coach's shows and pre-game interviews that he's trying to get it through to the players that Shocker baseball is rife with tradition and success. If he'd only had to say that at the beginning of the season, I'd understand; some of these guys are new around here. To hear he's still trying to get it through to them at the end of March, though, is a pretty off-putting. Is that mostly a reflection of the players, the coaching staff, the athletic department, a combination? I wish we had more answers, but such is the nature of being a sports fan…

It will be interesting to see how people respond to the state of the program once the focus is off the will-he-won't-he situation with Marshall. If Butler can't pull off a markedly improved season next year, I think he's most likely gone. The question now is whether AD Sexton puts pressure on him to shake things up in the coaching staff, play a weaker schedule for a year or two, or something like that. Sexton may feel added pressure because this is his big hire and reflects on him in a big way. This weekend was a major test for Butler. How does the team build on their first winning streak and respond to the adversity of losing the weekend rotation? Do they build on it by playing with solid baseball fundamentals? So far, they're not passing that test too well, though they did compete better today despite throwing the ball away a couple of times. I have to wonder why that's still happening this deep into the season.

I can't remember ever being this far into a season without having seen the Shox win in front of my eyes (I can't make the 3PM weekday games), and that is an incredibly hard thing to accept. I have hope we will return to prominence again, but it remains to be seen whether that's with Todd Butler, someone who has experienced the tradition and success of Wichita State firsthand such as Kevin Hooper, or someone else. If Butler doesn't work out, I would expect the pressure on Sexton to be unenviable. We will see brighter days, but right now, it's a really hard time to be a Shocker baseball fan.

[tru2thaduce]

Having to pass the test of losing your entire weekend rotation is impossible.I will not judge the staff on this season.Its just not fair especially with the schedule they are playing.

[shockfan89_]

It is no doubt a rough hand to be dealt, but we also need to look at the facts. We were 5-9 in games those three pitched in and 6-7 now without them. Obviously it is a huge hit to our pitching depth (which we saw today) but it looks like Isaac Anderson is back and pitching well. Let's hope he can move into the Friday night spot soon.

[shocka khan]

I don't post here much, but I think 4 years is reasonable. However if eoy3 is a dumpster fire, I'd say can him.

I wish BB would get back to where it used to be. Used to be fun watching them occasionally.