Should Gene retire at the end of the season?

[DaShox]

Interesting Fact

WSU Team Batting Avg: .303
San Diego State Batting Avg: .294


The head coach at San Diego State is former major league all-star, career .338 hitter, 3,000 hit club and MLB Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.

[ShockerFever]

Interesting Fact

WSU Team Batting Avg: .303
San Diego State Batting Avg: .294


The head coach at San Diego State is former major league all-star, career .338 hitter, 3,000 hit club and MLB Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.

Are you trying to be relevant at all or are you just posting meaningless facts up for no reason at all?

I don't get it. Because Gwynn is the coach of San Diego State automatically means SDSU is gonna be the best hitting baseball team?

Riiiight.. ??. .. :roll:

In regards to JT, I dunno what to say. We did have those big power-hitting teams of the mid-to-late 90's under his watch, so he can't be totally blamed alone. I also am one leaning towards the fence of something having to be done however.

[tripleshock]

I'd say we are maybe 50/50 to win 40 next year. Of course we can schedule wins, but next year's team will definitely have more questions surrounding it coming in than any team I can remember.

Much like the wins we 'scheduled' this year.

Unfortunately, the losses we 'scheduled' are all rolling in now, plus a few extra for good measure.

Good thing Emporia State, Tabor and NW Iowa were available to help save the 40 for this year.

Our best shot for 40 wins next year is to take the schedule down about one more notch.

[tripleshock]

Interesting Fact

WSU Team Batting Avg: .303
San Diego State Batting Avg: .294

WSU Strength of Schedule......90

SDSU Strength of Schedule.....29

WSU non D-1 opponents = 3

SDSU non D-1 opponents = 0


Tough to draw any conclusions from batting averages when the competition level is not equal.

[shockfan89]

I'd say we are maybe 50/50 to win 40 next year. Of course we can schedule wins, but next year's team will definitely have more questions surrounding it coming in than any team I can remember.

Much like the wins we 'scheduled' this year.

Unfortunately, the losses we 'scheduled' are all rolling in now, plus a few extra for good measure.

Good thing Emporia State, Tabor and NW Iowa were available to help save the 40 for this year.

Our best shot for 40 wins next year is to take the schedule down about one more notch.

You can't blame the coaches for the schedule this year. I think all of the non D1 games were makeup games from rainouts with quality opponents. I really liked the schedule when it came out, it just went to crap much like our play has down the stretch.

I have nothing against JT, but I think it would be a good idea to get some new blood and I think JT is so much like Gene that we really wouldn't miss that much without him. Plus Brent isn't going to be the head guy when Gene retires so you might as well be grooming a successor. Again, I don't think JT is bad, but I do think it would be a smart move for Gene to quiet some of his critics that won't stand for finishing 1st (or within a game of 1st) in the conference, making post season play, and being ranked in the top 20 year in and year out.

[7hottamales]

Interesting Fact

WSU Team Batting Avg: .303
San Diego State Batting Avg: .294


The head coach at San Diego State is former major league all-star, career .338 hitter, 3,000 hit club and MLB Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.

How good of a hitting coach was Ted Williams? How good of a basketball coach was Larry Bird?

I am not really even sure what point you are trying to make? That Tony Gwynn must be a great hitting coach because he was a great hitter? ...and that there is no correlation between a great hitting coach and actual performance of the players he is coaching since San Diego State is not that good of a hitting team?

[DaShox]

Just stop and think.


When Phil Stephenson was on staff everyone was thrilled. The greatest hitter in Shocker baseball history and voted to College Baseball's All-Century Team, Phil was hailed by fans as the cure for our hitting woes. If you recall, during Phil's coaching days at WSU our hitting was awful. We struggled to get one or two runs a game.


Jim Thomas began coaching at WSU in 1992. His first season (92-93) we played for the national championship. JT was also on staff when we went to the 1996 College World Series. Is it really JT's fault we suck at hitting? Is he teaching anything different now than he was in '93 and '96? I'm inclined to believe it is a recruiting problem. Not a teaching problem.

The point: WSU could hire one of the greatest hitters to ever grace the game of baseball, and it will not guarantee us a thing. People believe that if you just get rid of so and so and bring is some stellar star from the past that all will be cured. Didn't we do that with Phil? Great hitters are not necessarily great teachers. Gwynn, for all his accolades, apparently can't teach his boys to hit and I doubt he could teach the Shocks either.

[ShockerFever]

JT can take the credit for the '96 World Series, but not '93. All the players then were recruited and taught by the predecessor.

So through 15 years, JT has produced one team worthy of reaching the CWS. I'll admit the late 90's was also a nice time for Shocker offense, but ever since 2000, the numbers have gone by the wayside. Who's to blame from 2000-2008? The imaginary people?

[DaShox]

And there you have it. You want to blame someone. By no means am I defending, but it appears the easiest target is JT.

[BostonWu]

But is Gene too loyal to a fault?

[Denny Crane]

We seem to be recruiting two types. One is the polished ballplayer out of high school that may have a knock on him like size or a false assesment of his lack of defensive ability. People that fit into this category are Hooper, Blake Blasi, Pat Magness, Brian Burgamy and Conor Gillespie to name a few. As far as I'm concerned, we cannot get enough of these guys. I think Grimes fits into this category and possibly Hoover from Hutch Juco.

The second group of people we are recruiting are extraordinary high school athletes that really need polish as baseball players. People that come to mind in this category are John Adams, Randy Walter, Drew Moffitt, Kenny Waddell, Randy Young, and on this years team Coleman, Bascue and Lassley to name three. The problem seems to be is we spend four years trying to turn these guys into high quality college ballplayers. In Moffitts case, it finally worked out. Others may or may not pan out and if they do it is usually not until their senior year. It's kinda like the attitude "if they can run and throw, we'll teach em how to compete at the plate". Except the teaching, whatever it is, doesn't seem to be sinking in.

So the short answer is both of you guys may be right. A new recruiting philosophy focusing on recruiting from fundamentally sound summer, HS and JC programs looking for guys that have a mature makeup at the plate should be in order.
Throw in one or two projects a recruiting class, not seven or eight, and we may have something. Because whatever or whoever is teaching these guys how to hit is not working.

Then again, I've won exactly zero college baseball games as a coach, so what do I know?

[DaShox]

but ever since 2000, the numbers have gone by the wayside. Who's to blame from 2000-2008? The imaginary people?

Jim Thomas

2003: WSU sets school record with .974 fielding percentage.
1998: WSU hitters led nation in batting average (.369)
1998: WSU hitters led nation in scoring (12.06)
1998: WSU hitters led nation in slugging percentage (.644)
1998: WSU hitters led nation in doubles and doubles per game.
2008: Conor Gillaspie is 3rd in the nation in triples.
2008: WSU is tied for 7th in the nation in triples.
2008: WSU is 49th in the nation in doubles.
2008: WSU is 23rd in the nation in stolen bases per game
2008: WSU is 18th in the nation in stolen bases.
2008: WSU is 28th in the nation in walks per game

[BostonWu]

OK???

[DaShox]

Not one person mentioned JT's CWS trips in '93 and '96. They just lit the fuse and piled on. Can you say lynch mob? Is JT the problem? I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. But, trying to lay the blame at the feet of one person is short sighted.

[shockfan89]

1998: WSU hitters led nation in batting average (.369)
1998: WSU hitters led nation in scoring (12.06)
1998: WSU hitters led nation in slugging percentage (.644)
1998: WSU hitters led nation in doubles and doubles per game.

That year we did have a mighty offense. Does anyone remember how far into post season play we got. My point being offense alone does not equal success. Last year's team had much the same type of offense as this year's team and was two 1-run games from making it to Omaha.