I hate to use UK analogies but the best comparative I can think of is UKs 38-1 season. Anything short of Omaha is a disappointment. Dan the Million Dollar Man needs to reevaluate his postseason approach. The same themes reared their head - hitters were tight, mind boggling base running, bullpen woes.
Baseball Cards
- Thread starter Knucklehank1
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I don't think the analogy with UK is applicable. We have only emerged on the baseball scene since 2007. I do agree this was our most talented team and there will or should be a lot of soul searching in regards to how and why we play tight in postseason including the ACC tournament.
This team wasn't as good as many thought it was. Great depth, balance, and consistency. As bad as many feel now, we lost those two games by three runs combined.
But we lost to a team playing better today. And we were swept up in an ACC and southern baseball bias this year that is proving to be unfounded.
I didn't have a great deal of optimism even had we made it through this weekend...
But we lost to a team playing better today. And we were swept up in an ACC and southern baseball bias this year that is proving to be unfounded.
I didn't have a great deal of optimism even had we made it through this weekend...
I think the analogy is that it is damn near impossible to amass this amount of talent. Heck, we had a first round pick come back which is almost unheard of in baseball. This was an amazingly talented team who deservedly so had huge expectations.
Based on the draft results this team was immensely talented. Heck, Vegas pegged the Cards as CWS favorites. So if the talent was there, what is missing?
Luck and peaking at the right time. Baseball is a cruel game compared to Basketball or Football. The best team usually wins in Football and most of the time wins in Basketball. In Baseball the best team usually has the best record. But in Postseason Baseball anything can happen. You may hit the ball hard but right at people. Your pitcher may lose his command all of a sudden. You may make Base running mistakes or errors in the field at the most inopportune times. You may load the Bases with 1 out but fail to score. Your opponent may hit a blooper in just the right spot with men in scoring position. Those things tend to even out over the course of 60 games to where the record is a true reflection of how good your team is. But in a 2 of 3 do or die situation the best team doesn't always win.
Vegas said there was an 80% probability that we would NOT win the CWS. That's what 4-1 means. And they were right.
We had really good individual players who, over time, will earn their paychecks. That doesn't mean they were all clicking on all cylinders this weekend. They obviously were not.
And it appears that most of the experts got it wrong about southern vs. west coast baseball this year. The results speak for themselves.
We were far from juggernauts against decent teams away from Patterson this year. That was the biggest reason I had low expectations about a championship. I did think we'd make it to next weekend, but it appears I was even too optimistic about that...
You don't seem too upset and now want to take credit for calling the loss. Yeah you did jinx Dan didn't you? I call BS on you and you need to own it!!!
We will have to wait and see how Florida does. They have the same number as draft picks in the top 100 as we do. They are one game from being eliminated by a team with 1 top 100 pick.
I guess the second part of this is that the result from last year so closely mirroring this year only adds to the disappointment.
UCSB was 100/1.
But regardless of that, the question remains - why weren't these highly drafted players clicking on all cylinders?
Pretty much the way I feel about it. Compared to other team sports baseball is, far and away, most prone to "streaks". And that can be bad a streak by your team or a good streak by your opponent. Either way it usually results in a loss. Just the way it goes in this game.
Peace
UCSB hasn't won it either.
Were our guys all ever clicking on all cylinders?
A more interesting question is how/why UCSB guys were. There probably is little debate that they are playing their best ball this year. As Coach says, you just have to "tip your cap".
And it appears so far that the SEC and ACC were significantly overrated this year. We were in that equation...
You also have to consider who you play and where you play them. At this point in the season--not two months ago--you can take better stock of that...
I'm not taking credit for anything. But are you, like, twelve years old? Serious question...
Baseball is an incredibly random sport. Over the course of a long season, the best teams will generally have the best records, but many times within a given season, an inferior team wins 2/3 against a superior one. A best of 3 series is no better at deciding who the better team is than a one game showdown in basketball is IMO. I realizing playing best of 5 or 7 series isn't really possible in college baseball. I think I read somewhere that Louisville had won something like 186 straight games at home when taking a lead into the 9th? Crazy outcome today. Baseball is so awesome because you can't run out of time. You guys had a tremendous season. Sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way is all.
As far as streaks go, we were on the favorable side
Baseball can be random, but there are some common threads between the last few head scratching losses - poor base running, very conservative at the plate, poor showing by all American reliever.
I'm admittedly not familiar with the Cards' history in these spots because college baseball generally isn't on my radar. This one is being shoved down our throats on Twitter, ESPN, SI.com, etc. Tough way to go home for sure. Great season though guys.
