The CWS final

[ABC]

That's why they play the game!

Not bad for the FSU Bulldogs or the Georgia Bulldogs.

I am rooting for FSU.


From Boyd Nation:

The columns are the probability of reaching and winning the championship round.

36 23 Miami, Florida
9 3 Georgia
27 15 Florida State
28 17 Stanford
33 16 North Carolina
20 7 Louisiana State
12 3 Fresno State
35 17 Rice

[vbird53]

I don't have a dog (pun intended) in this fight.

[ShockerFever]

No representatives from the best conference in the history of athletics, the ACC?

Awwwwwwww... :(

[WSUwatcher]

Interesting

Go, Wonderdogs. That would be (the other) FSU, of course.

By the way, at the beginning of the tournament, based on his ISRs, Boyd Nation gave Fresno a 6% chance of winning its regional, 1% of winning a super, and none in Omaha (compared to his probabilities of 18%, 6%, and 0 for WSU).

And yet there they are, which validates my pre-tournament point that nothing the Shocks did would surprise me, either: not going out quickly in Stillwater if their offense went back into the doldrums, not making it to Omaha and even making a deep run there -- I believe what Fresno has done would qualify as a deep run -- if they continued to hit and their starting pitching stood up. All of those, and anything in between, were entirely realistic possibilities because of the nature of baseball and the tournament formats that make it possible for teams who win to stick with their front-line pitching to such a great degree.

I don't have time to bother with other schools' fan boards, but I wonder if somewhere in central California FSU has a poster who's been saying lately that, hey, it's been fun while it lasted, but our poor mid-major Dogs don't really stand a chance against the big boys. They hit under .300 as a team, they score less than seven runs a game, they have a staff ERA of 4.60, they don't play in a power conference, they were a regional #4 seed who probably wouldn't have been able even to get in at large, and their best pitcher is hurt, so let's keep it real, okay? A poster like our KC, that is.

And yet there they are. They lost a game 15-1 in their regional, and they lost their super regional opener 12-4, and yet there they are playing for the championship in Omaha. Which is why a sourpuss like KC with his delusion that negativity = realism is so tiresome and so full of it -- because the Shocks could just as easily be there as Fresno, giving all of the pundits a total Cinderella surprise matchup to marvel at in the finals.

The reason the Shocks aren't is simply because, unlike Fresno's pitchers, WSU's guys who had to step up and get just one more win in Tallahassee didn't do it. They had the ability -- Shafer beyond question, Capra if he managed to unscrew himself -- notwithstanding William the Dunce's** notion that a bad pitching performance in a given game makes you a bad pitcher -- but they simply didn't get it done. Fresno's guys certainly hadn't shown themselves to be any better (look at their numbers other than the injured Scheppers), but, by contrast, they did get it done, which is something that short-series or tournament baseball makes possible.

So whether they win or lose against Georgia, this FSU's performance can serve as an inspiration to talented but flawed teams everywhere -- next year's Shocks, with all of their inexperience, perhaps. To win a tournament, you don't necessarily have to be the best team, you just have to be good enough to get in and have a chance, play well when it matters, and maybe have a break here or there. And if you do those things, and it's your time, you can beat the odds and win regardless of what the "realists" say.

**Long-lost illegitimate descendant of William the Conqueror

[CharlieHog]

I guess I was wrong about the SEC. I really didn't think a SEC team would be playing for the National Championship.

I really don't care who wins. I have nothing against Georgia and an SEC team winning would be great. I also love the underdog.

[kcshocker11]

Gotta go with Fresno

[rrshock]

How could you not love a 4 seed from the regionals making it to the final series of the year? Gotta cheer on Fresno St. in this one.

[William]

Re: Interesting

Go, Wonderdogs. That would be (the other) FSU, of course.

By the way, at the beginning of the tournament, based on his ISRs, Boyd Nation gave Fresno a 6% chance of winning its regional, 1% of winning a super, and none in Omaha (compared to his probabilities of 18%, 6%, and 0 for WSU).

And yet there they are, which validates my pre-tournament point that nothing the Shocks did would surprise me, either: not going out quickly in Stillwater if their offense went back into the doldrums, not making it to Omaha and even making a deep run there -- I believe what Fresno has done would qualify as a deep run -- if they continued to hit and their starting pitching stood up. All of those, and anything in between, were entirely realistic possibilities because of the nature of baseball and the tournament formats that make it possible for teams who win to stick with their front-line pitching to such a great degree.

I don't have time to bother with other schools' fan boards, but I wonder if somewhere in central California FSU has a poster who's been saying lately that, hey, it's been fun while it lasted, but our poor mid-major Dogs don't really stand a chance against the big boys. They hit under .300 as a team, they score less than seven runs a game, they have a staff ERA of 4.60, they don't play in a power conference, they were a regional #4 seed who probably wouldn't have been able even to get in at large, and their best pitcher is hurt, so let's keep it real, okay? A poster like our KC, that is.

And yet there they are. They lost a game 15-1 in their regional, and they lost their super regional opener 12-4, and yet there they are playing for the championship in Omaha. Which is why a sourpuss like KC with his delusion that negativity = realism is so tiresome and so full of it -- because the Shocks could just as easily be there as Fresno, giving all of the pundits a total Cinderella surprise matchup to marvel at in the finals.

The reason the Shocks aren't is simply because, unlike Fresno's pitchers, WSU's guys who had to step up and get just one more win in Tallahassee didn't do it. They had the ability -- Shafer beyond question, Capra if he managed to unscrew himself -- notwithstanding William the Dunce's** notion that a bad pitching performance in a given game makes you a bad pitcher -- but they simply didn't get it done. Fresno's guys certainly hadn't shown themselves to be any better (look at their numbers other than the injured Scheppers), but, by contrast, they did get it done, which is something that short-series or tournament baseball makes possible.

So whether they win or lose against Georgia, this FSU's performance can serve as an inspiration to talented but flawed teams everywhere -- next year's Shocks, with all of their inexperience, perhaps. To win a tournament, you don't necessarily have to be the best team, you just have to be good enough to get in and have a chance, play well when it matters, and maybe have a break here or there. And if you do those things, and it's your time, you can beat the odds and win regardless of what the "realists" say.

**Long-lost illegitimate descendant of William the Conqueror

The reason, O' wise one, that fresno doesn't have a fan like KC is that they don't have a throng of fans with delusional expectations, they can sit back and enjoy their success knowing that it is the perfect storm and have fun with it. You on the other hand expect the perfect storm with no real reason to. Guys like KC are merely objective, he sees things for what they are, not just what he wants them to be. KC's objectivity is refreshing and your blinders are tiresome.

[ABC]

Re: Interesting

The reason, O' wise one, that fresno doesn't have a fan like KC is that they don't have a throng of fans with delusional expectations, they can sit back and enjoy their success knowing that it is the perfect storm and have fun with it. You on the other hand expect the perfect storm with no real reason to. Guys like KC are merely objective, he sees things for what they are, not just what he wants them to be. KC's objectivity is refreshing and your blinders are tiresome.

Are you related to KC?

Give it a rest.

I enjoy reading a lot of your posts, but really, what is the point here? Did you have a bad experience as a player or student at WSU?

[shockandawe08]

WSUwatcher,

I love reading your posts. They make sense. I'm pulling for Fresno State too, not just because they're the underdog but because their program has never won it before, or even been to the championship as far as I know. Which means they're already winners in my book, no matter what happens. I hope their fans feel that way also.

[KC Shox]

Ahhh, so much love for me. Anyway, FSU is in the CWS because they are playing the best ball and got hot at exactly the right time. They got lucky (I guess if you want to call it luck) to win their conference tourney to get them in the door. Had they not, they would not have gotten an at-large bid. I believe they were 33-27 at the time.

FSU is playing well in all aspects of the game. They are getting great and timely hitting, great defense and good pitching each and every game. Unfortunately for us, especially at the other FSU, our team failed to play well in each area - therefore we lost.

Even AS and AC did not show up in the Super Regional, I'll give them a pass. We would have never have got there if it hadn't been for them in the regular season. After watching the CWS, it just sickens me that the hitting being displayed there is far superior to what our Shox have displayed the past years.

We need more power, we also need more power and lastly, more power in the line-up should be an area of focus. Damned with the small ball mentality and pitching and defense. Just recruit a muscle-bound first baseman, right fielder and catcher with power dammit!

[vbird53]

If you would have told me prior to this tournament that Fresno and Georgia would be the last two, I'm sure I would have laughed.

It's almost as ridiculous as WSU going down to Stillwater, and beating them at their own game, and then sending a message to the Seminoles in game 1 of the super.

This, most assuredly, is the most difficult NCAA championship to win (and we've been to the sweet sixteen in both of the last two years).

[WSUwatcher]

KC

Hey, KC, you know I love you, man.

I do find your attitude tiresome; no surprise there -- attitude is one respect in which we're simply different and probably always will be. But as I've also said a number of times recently, I believe your view of why the Shocks weren't in Omaha, maybe even as Fresno's opponent right now, is dead on.

The Shocks faltered in every respect in those last two games. Starting pitching was the worst and in my view most costly failure, but I, too, am willing to give Shafer and Capra a pass for their bad days in Florida -- although Shafer more so, inasmuch as Capra had been bad for a while -- because Shafer had a great career as a Shocker and Capra wasn't far behind, and they were indeed key guys (again, Shafer more so) in why WSU got as far as they did.

And I absolutely agree with you that more offense and more power should be priorities. From what I heard Gene say on his radio show one night, he seems to think that they've actually recruited better than it looks and that bad luck with the draft has cost them some significant punch in recent seasons. He knows the guys they've signed who have gone pro instead much better than I do, so I guess I should defer to him; and I'm hoping this year's signing class will stay intact and pack a little power, along with improvement from guys like Coleman, McKeever, and maybe Engrav or Bascue or Caster or someone I'm not naming. But I can't deny that at this point I'll believe it when I see it as far as firepower is concerned. The late hitting surge notwithstanding, I still wish the Shocks could somehow trade Jim Thomas for Travis Wyckoff straight up.

I'm fairly certain that our outlook on next year differs dramatically, because pending injuries and draft outcomes, I expect actually to go into next season hopeful, remembering that after 1990 the Shocks lost some pretty established guys, replaced them with talented newcomers, and actually got a lot better -- as three straight trips to Omaha and two championship game appearances showed. It's tougher now, but maybe 2009 will be 1991 revisited, and Fresno has showed that talent and timing together can do marvelous things. On the other hand, you'll probably be looking around for the plague of locusts to arrive, and William the Dunce will make you look positively giddy.

But we're all God's children, so I love you anyway. Kumbaya.

[t7017s]

Re: KC

Hey, KC, you know I love you, man.

I do find your attitude tiresome; no surprise there -- attitude is one respect in which we're simply different and probably always will be. But as I've also said a number of times recently, I believe your view of why the Shocks weren't in Omaha, maybe even as Fresno's opponent right now, is dead on.

The Shocks faltered in every respect in those last two games. Starting pitching was the worst and in my view most costly failure, but I, too, am willing to give Shafer and Capra a pass for their bad days in Florida -- although Shafer more so, inasmuch as Capra had been bad for a while -- because Shafer had a great career as a Shocker and Capra wasn't far behind, and they were indeed key guys (again, Shafer more so) in why WSU got as far as they did.

And I absolutely agree with you that more offense and more power should be priorities. From what I heard Gene say on his radio show one night, he seems to think that they've actually recruited better than it looks and that bad luck with the draft has cost them some significant punch in recent seasons. He knows the guys they've signed who have gone pro instead much better than I do, so I guess I should defer to him; and I'm hoping this year's signing class will stay intact and pack a little power, along with improvement from guys like Coleman, McKeever, and maybe Engrav or Bascue or Caster or someone I'm not naming. But I can't deny that at this point I'll believe it when I see it as far as firepower is concerned. The late hitting surge notwithstanding, I still wish the Shocks could somehow trade Jim Thomas for Travis Wyckoff straight up.

I'm fairly certain that our outlook on next year differs dramatically, because pending injuries and draft outcomes, I expect actually to go into next season hopeful, remembering that after 1990 the Shocks lost some pretty established guys, replaced them with talented newcomers, and actually got a lot better -- as three straight trips to Omaha and two championship game appearances showed. It's tougher now, but maybe 2009 will be 1991 revisited, and Fresno has showed that talent and timing together can do marvelous things. On the other hand, you'll probably be looking around for the plague of locusts to arrive, and William the Dunce will make you look positively giddy.

But we're all God's children, so I love you anyway. Kumbaya.

You do realize that Wyckoff is a pitching coach dont you. I think we got a pretty good pitching coach already. Seems like a waste to get rid of a good hitting coach to bring in another pitching coach to me. But what do I know...

[WSUwatcher]

Wyckoff

Yes, I know Wyckoff's background. He has worked as a pitching coach and as an assistant head coach, and he's currently the assistant head coach at Dallas Baptist, a very strong independent program.

He also was an everyday player at least part of his career at WSU, and he was an outstanding hitter on the 1996 CWS team. There's no doubt in my mind he can teach hitting.

But he's also an example -- the larger point is that I'd like to see WSU bring in a fresh perspective on recruiting and offensive approach. Undoubtedly there are a number of people who could do that; I just believe Wyckoff is one of them and that he'd be a great fit for the Shocks.