It appears that several of you are complaining about the decisions being made. As I said, our own decisions are costing us games. Not pitching, not hitting, it is the decisions we make. And why the heck do you not swing at dead heat right down the middle? We seem to soldier a good bit more than usual this year. I cannot believe this team, the one we thought was a lock to host and then go to Omaha, is now 2-5 in SEC. 2 and freakin 5. Ole miss raped us in football, at least we split them in basketball, and now they are loads better than us in baseball. Our guys better nutt up and become men reaaaaaal quick. Things can only get better right? Does anyone know why we went with Gentry instead of Bracewell in the 7th?
You all bashed me when I posted about Coaching Decisions. Now look at you
- Thread starter MSUFORLIFE
- Start date
Don't use common sense about what you observe..
I've been pointing out Bonehead Cohens decisions for 3 seasons now, but continually got bashed. Don't bring logic or baseball knowledge this board or you will be ridiculed by those who played it in little league and think they are descendants of Doubleday himself.
I've been pointing out Bonehead Cohens decisions for 3 seasons now, but continually got bashed. Don't bring logic or baseball knowledge this board or you will be ridiculed by those who played it in little league and think they are descendants of Doubleday himself.
Yeah I've noticed that. There is very little "actual" knowledge on this board about the game of baseball. I have no problem saying that I know more about baseball in my fingernails than most of these people do in their whole body. It's ridiculous. I get bashed for pointing out stupid stuff but then I get back on an hour later, and the same people that bashed me post the exact same thing I did and no one says anything. It's stupid and pointless. Anyway, since you actually have some knowledge, why would we bring in Gentry instead of Bracewell, and why wouldn't we have tried a squeeze with Henderson on 3rd and no outs? I have no idea why. The decisions being made are blowing my mind
Wasn't listening then.. Was at dinner but I can guess that.
Once again Johnny Boy over thought it because Aekansas has a .083 batting average against pitchers with last names that start with the letter G.
instead of having a feel for his players and the flow of the game. He's the worst coach I've ever seen, as far as reading his players (from BP and pregame through game) and the flow of the game. He has no sense of the game and continues to make decisions based on what "he thinks".
Perfect example is when Cohen pinch hit for Norris (2-3, 2B, RBI etc.) late in the game because there was a RHP in the game and we popped out. No runs scored and we lost to Cent. Ark.
Once again Johnny Boy over thought it because Aekansas has a .083 batting average against pitchers with last names that start with the letter G.
instead of having a feel for his players and the flow of the game. He's the worst coach I've ever seen, as far as reading his players (from BP and pregame through game) and the flow of the game. He has no sense of the game and continues to make decisions based on what "he thinks".
Perfect example is when Cohen pinch hit for Norris (2-3, 2B, RBI etc.) late in the game because there was a RHP in the game and we popped out. No runs scored and we lost to Cent. Ark.
The decisions are easy to criticize and question when we lose. Naturally, when you are losing games the fanbase expects/believes you should win, every questionable decision is magnified.
Arky fans were crucifying DVH tonight for going with the middle reliever in the 9th instead of the closer(until Bradford got up anyway) for instance...
Everyone has crucified Cohen about ****ing all year -- and when he doesn't in a couple of situations, he's killed for that too. However, I didn't see where anyone posted in advance that he should **** Frasier or Detz... thus why hindsight is 20/20.
Coach was the only one that called sticking with Pollo in the 7th a bad decision in advance -- everyone else just piled on after the fact...
Now, EVERYONE thought Gentry was a bad decision, so I certainly give you that one...and that one bad decision could have easily been enough to cost us the game. But I'm also pretty sure that Butch handles the pitching change decisions, at least most of the time, so is this his fault as well? Got to be...
Still, it's not on Cohen when Renfroe gets picked off early in the game -- where he would have later scored in the inning. Also not Cohen's fault that we had 3 infield popups in key situations with less than 2 outs where ground balls could have won the game for us. Not really his fault that we issued something like 8-9 walks tonight. Not his fault that Detz lets the ball get by him to eventually cost us the first run. Sure, it all comes back on him -- but it's not his fault in the immediate sense.
I guess my overall point is that there is PLENTY of blame to go around for losing this game -- just like all the rest of the ones we've lost. We've got to be just a little better in all phases than we are right now...
Arky fans were crucifying DVH tonight for going with the middle reliever in the 9th instead of the closer(until Bradford got up anyway) for instance...
Everyone has crucified Cohen about ****ing all year -- and when he doesn't in a couple of situations, he's killed for that too. However, I didn't see where anyone posted in advance that he should **** Frasier or Detz... thus why hindsight is 20/20.
Coach was the only one that called sticking with Pollo in the 7th a bad decision in advance -- everyone else just piled on after the fact...
Now, EVERYONE thought Gentry was a bad decision, so I certainly give you that one...and that one bad decision could have easily been enough to cost us the game. But I'm also pretty sure that Butch handles the pitching change decisions, at least most of the time, so is this his fault as well? Got to be...
Still, it's not on Cohen when Renfroe gets picked off early in the game -- where he would have later scored in the inning. Also not Cohen's fault that we had 3 infield popups in key situations with less than 2 outs where ground balls could have won the game for us. Not really his fault that we issued something like 8-9 walks tonight. Not his fault that Detz lets the ball get by him to eventually cost us the first run. Sure, it all comes back on him -- but it's not his fault in the immediate sense.
I guess my overall point is that there is PLENTY of blame to go around for losing this game -- just like all the rest of the ones we've lost. We've got to be just a little better in all phases than we are right now...
Engie, you make some good points and baseball is a game of inches..
But theres a Better chance that those popups could be greatly reduced if we were coached differently.
This has been one if the things that pisses me off the most about Cohen's and Polks's teams too. In those situations where all you need is a fly ball I ground ball behind the runner, our hitters never change their approach at the plate. They just stand up there and use their normal approach.
What should happen in almost every one of those situations (if coaches were doing what they're paid to do), out hitters would widen out their stances(no stride and no head movement during pitch to increase probability of contact) and just throw their hands in the direction they want the ball to go. This is not very difficult, IF, If, you have been coached to do it and have practiced it. And if you're in a dire situation and have two strikes, you use the same widened stance approach and choke up on the bat. And you can still have power choked up, but definitely more bat speed and control of where you want the bat to be at contact.
How many times have you ever seen any of our hitters use these types of approaches?
But theres a Better chance that those popups could be greatly reduced if we were coached differently.
This has been one if the things that pisses me off the most about Cohen's and Polks's teams too. In those situations where all you need is a fly ball I ground ball behind the runner, our hitters never change their approach at the plate. They just stand up there and use their normal approach.
What should happen in almost every one of those situations (if coaches were doing what they're paid to do), out hitters would widen out their stances(no stride and no head movement during pitch to increase probability of contact) and just throw their hands in the direction they want the ball to go. This is not very difficult, IF, If, you have been coached to do it and have practiced it. And if you're in a dire situation and have two strikes, you use the same widened stance approach and choke up on the bat. And you can still have power choked up, but definitely more bat speed and control of where you want the bat to be at contact.
How many times have you ever seen any of our hitters use these types of approaches?
No, people complain when we b*nt 1 runner over in the 3rd inning. Tonight we had the tying runs on 1st and 2nd with 0 outs in the 7th or 8th inning and we didn't b*nt.
That's not apples to apples.
That's BS. He bnuted Henderson and he's the worst ****er I've ever seen. Even his tonight was rolling foul for strike 2 when the retard 1B picked it up
I agree with that 100%. We make no situational adjustments as hitters -- no two strike adjustment either. This is probably the single biggest WTF shortcoming for me overall honestly. That's one of the reasons we continue to strike out so much more than we should for the quality of hitters that we have(and another reason we either fail or come through in spectacular fashion in situational hitting) vs just accomplishing a simple goal like getting those 2 runs home. I did start to see this progress earlier in the season, with hitters going the other way, etc... but it's like they reverted to old habits as soon as the pitching quality increased. The lack of adjustment in game 2 vs UK was absolutely terrible to watch. The guy was destroying us with a circle change through the lineup 3 or 4 times that he threw CONSTANTLY and we never adjusted to(other than Renfroe). Beating a guy like that is simple -- scoot up in the box and sit dead red on that changup, stay behind it, and destroy it oppo. Dude couldn't beat us with his fastball and all we had to do was layoff the slider that almost never stayed in the strike zone(we certainly kept chasing though).
A couple guys hit that change hard, he loses confidence in throwing that mf behind in the count(when he was really killing us with it), and you've essentially taken his entire gameplan away. "Crafty" guys with no dominant/overpowering pitches are easy -- you just pick their best pitch and take it away from them -- particularly if it is of the straight variety.
Crazy thing is -- at this point, Ammirati is the best "adjustment" hitter we've got other than Renfroe. He's been great situationally the past few games...
I don't mind discussing shortcomings at all -- it's the jumping through hoops in attempt to apply to the "big picture" that I have the problem with...
And the good news is that these problems are fixable(even in a given season)...They simply require the recognition of a problem and the growth of the coach. For all of Cohen's faults, recognition of problems is not one of them -- at least it's not when he is off the record...
A couple guys hit that change hard, he loses confidence in throwing that mf behind in the count(when he was really killing us with it), and you've essentially taken his entire gameplan away. "Crafty" guys with no dominant/overpowering pitches are easy -- you just pick their best pitch and take it away from them -- particularly if it is of the straight variety.
Crazy thing is -- at this point, Ammirati is the best "adjustment" hitter we've got other than Renfroe. He's been great situationally the past few games...
I don't mind discussing shortcomings at all -- it's the jumping through hoops in attempt to apply to the "big picture" that I have the problem with...
And the good news is that these problems are fixable(even in a given season)...They simply require the recognition of a problem and the growth of the coach. For all of Cohen's faults, recognition of problems is not one of them -- at least it's not when he is off the record...
I agree with that in hindsight. But what if Detz hits a double there?
Pinch hitting for the 4-hole guy almost certainly alerts Arky that a **** is coming -- warning them in advance to run the wheel play to get the out at 3rd -- thus requiring a PERFECT **** to get the runners over... So, after Arky shows it, do you pullslash and try to take the 3rd baseman's head off with a cold hitter? Or do you try to lay it down still with a 3rd baseman right in your face? Or do you push**** at the 4-hole which will be wide open with the 3b and 1b crashing, 2b covering first and SS covering third? See how complex it gets when you are actually looking at it as "what would I do?" vs "he just made a stupid decision!"
Point is -- there are alot of logical decisions to potentially make there...and hindsight is 20/20. Given that he popped it up on the infield and didn't get the runners over, everyone certainly wishes we would have tried something...
I agree, that was bad all around. Bradford is a JR though that generally plays smart. Basically, he should know better. You ALWAYS take a strike in that situation unless you've got potential to give us the lead(Renfroe, Rea, or Porter)...and Cohen shouldn't have to call that in to him either. Was it stupid? Absolutely. Is it the fault of both? Sure -- and it ultimately falls at Cohen's feet either way.
If we would have pitch hit for detz in the 8th it would have been with frost.
Then everybody would have gone nuts in the 9th when we had frost hitting with the game on the line.
Then everybody would have gone nuts in the 9th when we had frost hitting with the game on the line.