Questions for those that aren't fans of Cohen.

[mstatefan88]

If he is able to get usa 7th or 8th place SEC finishand make it to Hoover and a regionalthis year, how will your opinion of him change? Considering our team of freshmen and sophomores would have done as well as our team full of seniors did last year during the regular season, does that affect how you view him at all? Do you even give him credit or is it more of a credit to Butch for how well the starting staff, especially Stratton, has done this year.

After our underwhelming start to SEC playand everyone talking about how Cohen better get it done next year, if he gets us to a regionalwith astarting lineup as inexperienced as ours, does that count as getting it done for this year? I'm just interested to see what those who have been pissed most of the season have to say if we make it to Hoover and a regional for a 2nd year in a row and what qualifies as a successful season for this year.

 

[mstatefan88]

If he is able to get usa 7th or 8th place SEC finishand make it to Hoover and a regionalthis year, how will your opinion of him change? Considering our team of freshmen and sophomores would have done as well as our team full of seniors did last year during the regular season, does that affect how you view him at all? Do you even give him credit or is it more of a credit to Butch for how well the starting staff, especially Stratton, has done this year.

After our underwhelming start to SEC playand everyone talking about how Cohen better get it done next year, if he gets us to a regionalwith astarting lineup as inexperienced as ours, does that count as getting it done for this year? I'm just interested to see what those who have been pissed most of the season have to say if we make it to Hoover and a regional for a 2nd year in a row and what qualifies as a successful season for this year.

 

[QuaoarsKing]

People will keep bitching, no matter what. Our seed won't be high enough. Or if it is, they'll say Cohen cost us the regional. Or Cohen cost us the Super Regional. Or Cohen cost us in Omaha.<div>
</div><div>If we barely host a regional next year, they'll say we should have been a national seed.</div>

 

[57stratdawg]

Who stays out of Bradford, Norris, Stratton, etc. To my knowledge we don't have any freshman that will be draft risk.

 

[DowntownDawg]

..Sure hope we can keep these freshman and sophs.

Where are they going again?

 

[Coach34]

You have guys on here trying to be the "Coach34 of baseball" and hope to be right for years about Cohen like I was on Stansbury. Problem is- Cohen can actually coach- and he is getting this program back off the bottom where Polk left it.

 

[RonnyAtmosphere]

"If he is able to get us a 7th or 8th place SEC finish and make it to Hoover and a regional this year, how will your opinion of him change?" Over the last 2 weeks, this has been asked & answered here a dozen times.


"Considering our team of freshmen and sophomores would have done as well as our team full of seniors did last year during the regular season, does that affect how you view him at all?" Over the last 2 weeks, this has been asked & answered here a dozen times.


"Do you even give him credit or is it more of a credit to Butch for how well the starting staff, especially Stratton, has done this year?" Over the last 2 weeks, this has been asked & answered here a dozen times.


"After our underwhelming start to SEC play and everyone talking about how Cohen better get it done next year, if he gets us to a regional with a starting lineup as inexperienced as ours, does that count as getting it done for this year?" Over the last 2 weeks, this has been asked & answered here a dozen times.



"I'm just interested to see what those who have been pissed most of the season have to say if we make it to Hoover and a regional for a 2nd year in a row and what qualifies as a successful season for this year." Over the last 2 weeks, this has been asked & answered here a dozen times.


One or two things are happening here:


1) For the last 2 weeks, you have not had access to a computer, therefore I apologize.


2) For the last 2 weeks, you have had access to a computer, therefore you are just trying to stir the **** by re-beating a dead horse.

 

[State82]

that are presently high school seniors. Not sure if any of them are projected that high in the draft. Todd could answer that question.

 

[57stratdawg]

[No message]

 

[Todd4State]

But I do think Daniel Garner will be drafted- possibly fairly high. Like 15th round. I think John Marc Shelly will be drafted as well.

I could see William DuPont being drafted late possibly.

Stratton is a projected first round pick- if that happens, he will be gone. The only way I see him possibly coming back is if he slips out of the top five rounds- and I don't think that will happen.

If Kendall Graveman keeps pitching well, I wouldn't be surprised if he is drafted too. His outing vs. Florida will be big for him from a pro standpoint.

I've heard rumblings about Norris and Bradford but I think odds are they will be drafted somewhere in the middle of the draft because of their injuries and it would probably behoove both of them to come back for their junior year. Let me put it this way- I would take Graveman over both of them right now in the draft. Last I heard it was 50/50 on both of them, but the thing is the draft will probably dictate a lot of their decision. With the new draft rules, the largest possible bonus after round 10 is 500K. And teams are capped at what they can spend. I don't think either CT or Norris will be drafted in the top 10 rounds this year.

 

[Tds &amp; Beer]

If he is able to get usa 7th or 8th place SEC finishand make it to Hoover and a regionalthis year, how will your opinion of him change? Considering our team of freshmen and sophomores would have done as well as our team full of seniors did last year during the regular season, does that affect how you view him at all? Do you even give him credit or is it more of a credit to Butch for how well the starting staff, especially Stratton, has done this year.

After our underwhelming start to SEC playand everyone talking about how Cohen better get it done next year, if he gets us to a regionalwith astarting lineup as inexperienced as ours, does that count as getting it done for this year? I'm just interested to see what those who have been pissed most of the season have to say if we make it to Hoover and a regional for a 2nd year in a row and what qualifies as a successful season for this year.

they don't know

 

[57stratdawg]

Norris, however...

 

[Phil Wenneck.sixpack]

That we've made mistakes that have cost us dearly and youth or inexperience isn't an excuse for some of the carelessness we've shown. Take not catching strike3 at South Carolina for instance.Although it is pretty overwhelming at the sheer number of freshmen we're counting on. And that part has to count for something, no matter what. We've had the perfect storm hit in more ways that has been talked about already. The injuries hit at the worst possible time. We were what, 6,7 games in? That's really when you're finally settling on a lineup card and guys are starting to get their timing at the plate down, etc. Then boom, you lose 3 starters right there amidst all of it. Then what was already a young team became a VERY young team all the sudden. I think there are other factors that have sorta plagued the perfect storm also that don't get mentioned. The bat rule came into place last year and that revamps recruiting efforts all the sudden. The type player you look for changes. And to a certain degree I think this hurts Cohen's best attributes. Florida and Kentucky both had really good hitting clubs in the days of the old bats. I think he's a top notch hitting coach from that perspective. That's not to say he's not doing a nice job in the small game department because we sacrifice really well for the most part when we have opportunities. I just feel like the new rule really neutralizes the hitting instructors' forte. But I'll get off my soapbox yet again of the awful new bats and get back to evaluating Cohen. Making a regional every year should always be a must, barring total catastrophic disaster (which we've almost seen this year). Now, how anyone can really throw hosting into the ring just yet is a little unfair cause let's face it, how many years passed since we've hosted period? It's not like we were hosting often in the years preceeding Cohen. Major credit goes to the pitching staff particularly from the recruiting standpoint. People forget 2 and 3 years ago just how pathetic we were on the mound. We had little choice but to throw almost all our efforts towards pitching. And yes, unfortunately that meant a little sacrifice on signing position players. Getting back to evaluating season goals, I'm not one to sit here and say MSU baseball is still a national program or say it even means anything nationally or not but I'm also not going to say that simply sneaking in at 9-10 in the league every year is acceptable either. I think this year, all things considered, making the SEC tourny and going to a regional should please everyone involved. Next year though, different story. I like Cohen and support him. I get pissed at some of our bonehead **** at times, sure, but I still support Cohen for now simply because I really feel like he cares and takes this thing personally when it comes to getting the program back to a certain level of prominance.

 

[was21]

don't matter..thx.

 

[patdog]

why do the last 2 years look exactly the same as Polk II looked? We've got good pitching, but offensively we're beyond bad. We still can't hit for **** and we certainly can't hit for any power. People blame the ballpark, but we put up real good power numbers for 30 years in this ballpark. I had much higher hopes for Cohen when he was hired by now and you did too. You're just not willing to admit that you may have been wrong about that. There's no excuse for MSU baseball not to be any better than it has been the last 12 years. I hope Cohen's the guy to take us back to that level, but I just don't see it.

 

[Todd4State]

The only thing I would say is that we're not really counting on freshmen all that much- but they're still inexperienced. Like Slauter and Porter are both JUCO guys. We have some sophomores like Frazier,Norris, and Renfroe who played some last year, but all three were benched at various times throughout the year. Frazier and Norris have taken big strides, and Renfroe has made some as well, but had a longer ways to go- but I think he'll get there. He's made some clutch hits. CT and Brownlee were regulars last year- both have had injuries. Rea is a RS freshman, but he was hurt all of last year and that put him behind a year.

 

[JackShephard]

Is just a taaaaaaaad over-inflated. I, and I'm sure many others, would rather be dead than be the "coach34" of anything. I mean after all, a freaking message board is the most important thing in your life. That's just sad. I can't imagine how many different antidepressants you must take in a day.

 

[dawgstudent]

Regionals are what matters.

 

[State82]

where freshmen would be going and I assumed you were referring to incoming freshmen in the fall, not freshmen presently on the team. I don't see Bradford going anywhere unless he really lights it up in the next 2 months. Norris either, but you never know. If he gets well, goes back in the field and goes on a tear, he could, too.

 

[CEO2044]

I don't foresee CT getting drafted incredibly high this year. I could see Norris having a great end to the season and possibly getting drafted high enough to consider. I think Stratton's gone.<div>
</div><div>You have to wonder if it matters to Norris about the class he came in with. He and CT and Stark I believe were all drafted their senior years and all chose to come to school. Kinda wonder if wanting to stay with those guys and work on building this team would be on his mind; I don't think that's out of the realm of possibilities, esp. if the money isn't so significant.</div>

 

[Coach34]

Polk II had one really successful season out of 7 years- and Polk let the 17'ing program die. Remember those scores we lost by his last season? 17-9, 18-8, 20-7???? And Cohen's 1st team was all that Polk left him- no pitching and more of those same scores. Polk didnt leave the 17'ing campus his last 2 seasons to recruit- not 1 time. and we paid dearly for it Cohen's 1st couple of seasons.

"People blame the ballpark, but we put up real good power numbers for 30 years in this ballpark."

We've had one player in the last 8 seasons hit as many as 15 HR's- is that what you call real good power numbers? The last 2 seasons has seen college baseball change the bats- there has been 2 HR's hit against us ALL SEASON in Dudy Noble I believe- and none in SEC play. Are all the other teams weak and powerless too?

"I had much higher hopes for Cohen when he was hired by now and you did too. You're just not willing to admit that you may have been wrong about that."

Somebody has my expectations for Cohen in their sig- it said Omaha by year 3, and appearances every other year after. We were 2 innings short of Omaha- so we landed just short- and we'll see what happens next season with my "every other year" expectation.

Now I agree with you it needs to be better overall than it has been the last 12 years- and I think we are headed that way

 

[Coach34]

Is just a taaaaaaaad over-inflated. I, and I'm sure many others, would rather be dead than be the "coach34" of anything. I mean after all, a freaking message board is the most important thing in your life. That's just sad. I can't imagine how many different antidepressants you must take in a day.

and you know it. Hell, just look at some of the names created on this board. Sad? Anti-depressants? WTF? **** dude- I cant wait for tomorrow- cause I get better and better every day

 

[Coach34]

the 80's and 90's are over. All SEC schools put money into baseball now. Kentucky's park looks better than ours now. Kids arent going to leave Miami, New Orleans, and Tallahassee for Starkville like they did 20 years ago.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

assuming they want to play D-1 Baseball that is..... Miami, Florida, FSU, LSU, Texas, A & M, South Carolina, UNC, Arizona, Arizona State, CS-Fullerton. et. al. all get 11.7 schollies to divvy up just like little ol' MSU in little ol' Starksville, Misipi.

Or maybe there just aren't more than 150 really good baseball players any more...what with basketball and soccer being the focus of so many young kids these days.

We aren't going to rebuild Bulldog Baseball on Mississippi kids though, simply because the so called very good players in Mississippi are playing against some really poor competition for most of their seasons until they get to playoffs. And the really really good Mississippi kids have multiple choices and there just ain't enough of them. There was a time when the really good Mississippi kids wanted to play baseball for Mississippi State, even if in many cases they grew up in a USM or U of M family. Not any more. They grow up in a USM or U of M family now during successful years for those programs and down years for ours. They only remember what we have focused on lately. The last decade to decade and a half.

We HAVE to get those kids from Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Pace, Pensacola, Fla. and Lawrenceville, Ga., Acworth, Ga., Covington, La., Daphne, Al., Oxford, Al. to come to MSU and then we have to find that guy from New Jersey and Ohio and Virginia and Missouri and Texas and Kansas to come in to Starkville too. So....we have to win with the talent level we are getting now, to get our name back up there with the Elites. I know you guys hate the term, but we have to have coaches who can take decent talent and "coach em up".

I witnessed every inning of every game this Tennessee series in person....and either Tennessee's hitters are as bad as ours...or Tennessee's pitchers are as good as ours. We got a couple of key hits, got some hbps, and got some walks and a big passed ball offensively and won all 3 games, while only batting .193 for the series. Great! We found a way to win all three.We needed it because of how badly they team played the first 15 games. Of course UT got some of all of that too, but not quite as much and lost all 3 games. I prefer to believe that neither team has much hitting, and we have a little more pitching. They couldn't hit the ball out of the infield at all....and when our guys hit it out of the infield, "most" were up the shoot "short" pop ups or just plain weak fly balls. Now all the experts on here should know that the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">same players consistently hitting weak pop ups</span> is probably a mechanical flaw more so that just great pitching, Whereas all the "excuse me" grounders back to the pitcher are usually a sign of being fooled on the pitch. Question is, do Mingione and Burroughs know how to "fix" that? Just wonderin'....We'll see....4 BIG games coming up this week. Do they build on this.....or do the same thing they did after taking the Vandy series?

 

[Coach34]

because of scholarship programs in their states. We have to be more creative in what we offer.

I agree we cant live off Mississippi recruits alone- and our recruiting is actually getting better. Stratton will be our 1st pitcher drafted in the first round in almost 10 years. It's just a little slower than many of us hoped for. But progress is being made.

 

[Goat Still Grindin]

nm

 

[Todd4State]

is that we don't have to dominate the SEC to go to Omaha and have a chance to win the NC- and that goes for every other SEC team as well. See our 2007 team.

The SEC is that much better than the other conferences. You look at the last three National Champions- all from the SEC. And since 2008 we've had a team playing for the National Championship at the very least. And I would say the odds of that happening again are pretty good. And that was from three different teams in four years- UGA in 08, LSU in 09, and then South Carolina in 10 and 11. We also had the runner-up last year in Florida as well. And oh yeah - that Florida team was who our JUCO all-stars almost took out on the road in the SR last year.

People talk about how we'll never dominate the SEC again- well, the thing is, LSU won't either. It's going to be like this for the foreseeable future where you have maybe 2-3 top teams that are really, really good, and then about 10 teams that are pretty good, and then maybe 2-3 that aren't very good by SEC standards, but are good teams relative to the rest of the country.

Right now, we've progressed to the middle of the pack of the SEC. If we continue to make progress to where we are hosting regionals, Super Regionals, and get to Omaha fairly consistently, we will have a chance to win championships even if we don't win the SEC. And I definatly prefer regional, SR, and CWS championships to SEC championships. Although, if we win the SEC that would be nice too.

 

[Todd4State]

that we can't live off of Mississippi players alone. Too many schools and not enough to spread it around.

At the same time, we shouldn't ignore it.

We can still get 4-5 of the top eight players in the state. We have done a much better job of keeping the MSU guys from going to other schools and beating us- see Stratton, Woodruff, Renfroe, and etc.

Then we should get 3-4 guys from the surrounding areas in each class- like Memphis, New Orleans (a very untapped area), and Alabama. We're doing OK with that- I'd like to see us recruit Alabama a little less and Memphis and NOLA more personally.

And then get 2-3 guys from the big population states- Florida, Georgia, Texas, and California (I'd like to see us recruit there more). I'd like these players to be the Perfect Game players. We need to improve on this- although CT and Frazier qualify here, they were MSU family players- not complaining though.

Maybe get 1-2 JUCO guys to plug holes. We've done better with this lately- Parks, Vickerson, Pollorena, Trey Porter...

That's a realistic and doable recruiting plan for us that would give us a top 15 class every year in general and give us a chance to compete and win in the SEC and beyond as long as we keep developing players.

 

[Sutterkane]

Nobody will ever go to the lengths and dedicate themselves to over-posting their hatred for a particular coach as you have. You were harder on Stans than you were Croom. It takes a special kind of talent and hatred to go to the lengths that you did to try and see to it that everybody saw Stansbury in the same light as you.