SB Nation User Blog: 40AS

Putting 2009 Texas Baseball In Perspective

40AS — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:34:55 -0000

AO is on his honeymoon so to sum up the '09 season I (JA) will be writing in the first person singular. I know, it's revolutionary. We all know how the season ended (6-7, 5-1, 11-4), so I figured I'd go big picture with this one.

As a New Orleanian, the fall of 2005 was a tough time for me. My senior year at UT started and I was facing Hurricane Katrina and the toughest tragedy of my life when Texas traveled to Columbus, Ohio to play Ohio State. It was at that point that I made a decision that I had never made before as a sports fan. As a sports obsessed southerner (like many of you), I lived and died every time my team played, rejoicing with the victories and despairing with the losses. Before that game, though, I decided that I would rejoice and celebrate if Texas won, but there was too much crap going on in the world to get depressed if Texas lost. So if they lost, I decided, I would simply ignore it. It may seem stupid, but it was revolutionary for me at the time to simply choose not let sport get me down. Since then, with rare exception, that has been my reaction to every loss, big or small, by all of my favorites teams. Why put myself through misery if there isn't a positive emotional jolt to be gained by following the game?

It won't be for at least a year that we can truly put the 2009 baseball team into perspective, just as the 2004 baseball team is defined as much by the team that followed it as it is by anything that squad accomplished during the year. Despite that it is through an optimist's optic that I choose to perceive this magically flawed baseball team that dropped 2 of 3 to LSU.

We can question Augie's decisions that failed against LSU: to pinch hit certain players, bring in defensive substitutions, pull pitchers at certain times, moves that have been made successfully throughout the season. But what does that accomplish other than to prove the power of hindsight and the human frailty of even the most immortal of managers?

We can despair the poor results of Austin Wood, Austin Dicharry and the rest of the bullpen's efforts during games one and three. But why detract from previous phenomenal efforts by some of the team's most talented veterans and youngsters without whom this season would have ended in May?

We can say LSU got lucky, that Texas wins a title if Preston Clark's long foul ball in game one goes fair, or one of three HBP's aren't quite as close, or any other break that went LSU's way had gone for Texas. But good fortune is an essential part of winning in every sport. Good fortune is the reason Texas beat ASU and USM, good fortune is why a 2-loss LSU team won a national title in football, and it is good fortune when a Heisman Winner decides to try the hook 'n ladder without notifying the ladder. Titles are won on good fortune and it's never made sense to me why a champion should apologize for it.

We can say that tournaments do not always reveal the best team. But the goal every year is not to be the best team, it is to win a championship. A champion should not have to deal with questions over whether it was the better team. LSU won 2 of 3. That's enough.

Instead, I choose to percieve the 2009 baseball team only in a positive light. This is a team that returned Texas to Omaha for the first time since 2005. This is a team that won the Big XII taking 5 of 6 from Aggy and OU. This is a team that won a 25-inning game, had two walk off homers, a walk off walk, a complete game shutdown, and a miraculous comeback against the best pitcher in all the land. This is a team that added a month of excitement to the worst part of football season (the offseason).

Finally, and most importantly, this is a team that returns all of its starters and a large part of its bullpen in 2010. Key players like Travis Tucker, Brandon Belt, Michael Torres and Austin Wood will have to be replaced, but a talented group of reserves and incoming freshman should fill the gaps nicely. And Brandon Loy, Kevin Keyes, Connor Rowe and Cameron Rupp will all be back, with another year of growth under their belts.

The Kiddie Corps from 2008 were runners up in 2009 and could be very well favored to win it all in 2010. We won't be truly able to put the 2009 effort into perspective until the 2010 season sees its end.

To close the 2009 baseball season and truly begin the gruling offseason I'd like to use the words of Douglass Southall Freeman in his biography of Robert E Lee. Freeman writes:

When the story of a soldier is completed, and the biographer is about to leave the last camp-fire of a man he has learned to respect and to love, he is tempted to a last word of admiring estimate. May he not, by doing some fine phrase, fan into enduring flame the spark of greatness he thinks he has discovered in the leader whose councils he has in spirit shared? May he not claim for him a place in the company of the mighty captains of the past? Yet who that reverences historical verities can presume to say of any soldier who rises above the low shoulders of mediocrity, "In this he outshone or in that he rivaled another who fought under dissimilar conditions for a different cause in another age?" Circumstance is incommensurable: let none essay to measure men who are its creatures. Lee’s record is written in positive terms; why invoke comparitives? The reader who can appraise the conditions under which he fought can appraise the man.

The 2009 Longhorns were a brilliant, fun, gutsy, magical team who fell one win shy of the pinnacle of college baseball. Their record should be written (and spoken and blogged) in positive terms. That should be enough.

Congratulations are in order for LSU, they are the 2009 champions. As for the 2009 Longhorns, we should appreciate all they accomplished and look forward to just one more win in 2010.

Horns v. Cajuns Game Three Open Thread

40AS — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:33:34 -0000

One way or another college baseball is going to end tonight. Hopefully it's with a victory and national title, but a loss sould do little to dampen the memory of this incredible run. For Texas fans it should be a familiar story. The opponent has its best on the mound versus a very good Longhorns pitcher.

Ranaudo's numbers the last 6 starts:

MSU 7.1 6 H 4 ER
Bama 7.1 4 H 4 ER
Baylor 9 3 H 2 ER
Rice 7.2 5 H 5 ER
UVA 3.1 5 H 2 ER (left with bases loaded, 1 out)
Ark 6 IP 4 H 0 ER

What should this tell us? He's a guy that's going to eat up innings, he's not going to give up a ton of hits, he may give up some runs but he's probably not going to get shelled. At 6'7" Ranaudo is probably the most physically imposing pitcher the Horns have seen this postseason. His numbers on the year (2.87 ERA, 14 homers given up, opponents hitting .202, 155 Ks in 119 innings, 45 BBs) tell us he strikes out a lot and can give up the walk and homer.

The first two or three innings are going to tell us a lot. Can Texas grab an early lead and put the full pressure on LSU's hitters? Cole Green running into early trouble has been usually indicative of a rough start, but he has been a different pitcher the last month of the season.

You know the storylines, you know the announcers will be wearing their purple and gold. Hopefully tonight ends with a burnt orange dogpile.

Horns Force Game Three For National Title

40AS — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:00:55 -0000

Taylor Jungmann. Here's a mental exercise for ya: name a Longhorn in any sport who has had as gutsy a performance when his team desperately needed a superhuman effort in an absolutely must win game. Who'd you come up with? Us too.

Remember what you're wearing and where you were tonight. Same place, same attire tomorrow night. 9 innings from those 4 little words from Craig Way.

Horns v. Cajuns Game Two Open Thread

40AS — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:26:59 -0000

They say that it is always darkest just before the dawn. Let's hope they're right. There's nothing to tell you that you don't already know about last night, but c'mon...if this team was going to win a title they were going to do it the hard way. If tonight is the last night of the season, it has been a magical ride that has restored Texas baseball to Omaha. If not, momentum will swing quickly in our direction.

Game starts at 6 PM on ESPN

Horns Drop Game One 7-6

40AS — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:20:08 -0000

Horns Drop Game One 7-6

Texas looked like the better team for much of the night, taking a 6-4 lead into the top of the 9th. LSU fought back though singling in a run in the 11th to take Game One 7-6. But as Pat Murphy so aptly put it, the Horns are in the same position they were to begin the night, still needing just 2 wins for the national title. The Horns are by no means done, with Taylor Jungmann and Cole Green left to go. Game Two will start tomorrow at 6 PM.

Texas vs. LSU Take Two

40AS — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:50:58 -0000

It was 1-0. Then it wasn't. 6-6, Bot 10.

Texas vs. LSU Game One Open Thread

40AS — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 18:40:44 -0000

via a.espncdn.com

If you listen to some LSU fans, it's a matchup of talent versus magic, a matchup usually won by talent. Of course that ignores recent CWS history of 4-seed Fresno State winning last year, unseeded Oregon State beating more talented North Carolina teams in 2006 and 2007, and a supremely talented Texas team losing to unseeded CSF in 2004 only to win the title the next year with an unseeded squad (over #7 seed Florida).

No, what we've got here is a matchup of college baseball's two best teams. It's the team of the 90s (5 titles including the title in 2000 belonging to Skip Bertman) versus the team of the 2000s (6 CWS appearances, 4 title game apperances, 2 titles and counting). Texas will have to beat LSU's aces Louis Coleman and Anthony Ranaudo. LSU will have to beat Texas aces Chance Ruffin and Cole Green. It's as simple as that.

LSU fans can talk about blasting their way through Omaha and playing great ball (because it's true), but how are the Tigers going to respond if Texas takes an early lead and they have to play from behind? LSU is just 11-10 on the season when the opposition scores first. Will the Tigers wilt under pressure down a run in the 8th or 9th with Austin Wood on the mound? We've seen how Texas has responded in the CWS to these situations, hopefully we'll get to see LSU in these tough spots.

LSU has shown all season it can mash the ball, Texas has shown in Omaha that it can mash the ball when it needs to. LSU is 21-4 since April 28th, Texas is 19-3 during that span. In other words, both teams are very hot and playing great baseball.

Game one starts at 6 PM on ESPN. If you're in the DC area, come to our BON watch party.

Both teams should feel right at home

ESPN.com gets it right; we'll see about ESPN TV

40AS — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:32:47 -0000

ESPN.com gets it right; we'll see about ESPN TV

As 54B eloquently anticipates below, the ESPN broadcasts of the CWS championship series may be frustratiing at times. Thankfully, David Albright hits the nail on the head with this excellent preview on ESPN.com.

Hook 'em!

Championship Q&A With And The Valley Shook

40AS — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:42:38 -0000

In anticipation of the big National Championship matchup between Texas and LSU, we exchanged questions with Richard Pittman of the Tigers' SBN blog And The Valley Shook. His answers to our four questions are below, and our answers to his questions for us are appearing over at ATVS. Richard gave us some great thoughts about LSU and how they match up with Texas. Enjoy!

AO: LSU's Achilles heel all season has been left-handed pitching. Aside from a couple of bullpen guys, Texas' top hurlers are righties. On the other hand, Texas has excellent righties. Who are the best right-handed pitchers the Tigers have faced this year, and how have they fared?

RP: LSU's problems with left-handed pitching are well-documented. We are only a little above .500 when facing a left-handed starter. And keep in mind that towards the end of the season and in the postseason, teams have gone out of their way to start lefties against us. As it turns out, we've gotten better against lefties along the way, but if we're just over .500 against lefties, and we're 54-16 overall, imagine what we've done to righties. We've only lost 3 games against a right-handed starter all year.

To answer your question though, the best right-handed pitchers we faced this year were probably Austin Hyatt for Bama, and the tandem of Mike Ojala and Ryan Berry of Rice, who we faced in the Supers. Back on April 10, Austin Hyatt did pretty well against us. He went 7.2 innings against us and allowed 4 runs, 3 earned. He left the game with the lead, but we ended up beating the bullpen. Ojala and Berry of Rice both sported ERAs below 3.0. Ojala's was below 2.0. We roughed up both of them. Ojala gave up 5 runs in 5 innings and Berry gave up 4 runs in 4 innings. This is a very different team than the one Austin Hyatt had success against. We were struggling (comparatively) at the time and we were in a bit of a funk. Since then, and especially since the last week of the regular season, we have hit our stride.

It's not a coincidence that we do so well against righties. Four of our 5 best power hitters are left-handed, and another of our good hitters is a switch hitter. Our best right handed hitters are Mikie Mahtook and DJ Lemahieu. Mahtook's a freshman and Lemahieu is a good contact hitter but does not hit for much power.

Blake Dean and Ryan Schimpf are lefties who hit righties really well, but the real key is Jared Mitchell. Mitchell plays every day, and there probably isn't a hitter in the CWS who is better against right handed pitching than Mitchell is. He hits the ball hard and is a tremendous home run threat against right-handed pitching. The contrast with how he performs against lefties is striking. Against a left-handed pitcher, Mitchell strikes out a lot, has a difficult time pulling the trigger on a swing, has a hard time finding the ball, and when he manages to hit the ball he has almost no extra-base power. Whan a lefty is on the mound, Mitchell is the worst hitter in our lineup. When a righthander is on the mound, he is our best.

Catch the rest of the LSU preview after the jump.

JA: It's Wednesday night. Texas has just beaten LSU in 3 games. How did it happen? In other words, what do you think is the key to LSU losing this series? Vice versa, LSU has just beaten Texas in 3 games. How did that happen?

RP: If Texas wins, they probably got one of their wins in the Tuesday game, when we will probably have to go with a pitcher other than Louis Coleman or Anthony Ranaudo. We are a very different team when those guys don't pitch. As for how they beat Coleman or Ranaudo, it probably starts with defensive struggles on LSU's part. When Paul Mainieri made the well-publicized midseason roster change that brought Austin Nola into the lineup sent Leon Landry to the bench, he greatly improved the up-the-middle infield defense, but he actually hurt the outfield defense. Landry is an outstanding defensive outfielder, but he wanted Nola at short and Lemahieu at second. That meant he had to move Ryan Schimpf, who could not be removed from the lineup entirely because of his bat. He's spent some time at first base (when we wanted to use Landry against right-handers) but has mostly been in the outfield, where he is dreadfully inexperienced.

Also, while Nola and Lemahieu make a good middle infield combination, we have defensive problems at first base and our pitchers are not great fielders either. Coleman's good, but the others are young and need work at it. As much as the denizens of ATVS loathe bunting, it's actually not a bad strategy to use against us because we have problems fielding them cleanly and/or getting first base covered properly.

The other area we've probably failed in the event of a Texas win is in baserunning. we were terrible about getting thrown out on the bases until very recently. It seems Mainieri has taken the approach in the NCAA Tournament to just let our hitters hit rather than try to "put pressure on the defense" by being aggressive on the bases. Being aggressive on the bases has just gotten us a ton of outs this year.
If we revert back to that kind of strategy, it wouldn't surprise me if we've given you 4 or 5 outs over the course of 3 games by trying to steal or take extra bases.

Also, while Ranaudo and Coleman have been outstanding, neither has been immune to a subpar outing. Both should be rested when they go, as Coleman only went about 80 o 90 pitches on Monday and Ranaudo went 77 on Friday. Coleman will be on full rest and Ranaudo (if he goes Wednesday) will have 4 days rest.

AO: I'll tell you whom I am most scared of: Ryan Schimpf. The conventional wisdom is to be scared of Blake Dean, but since Dean protects Schimpf in the order and Schimpf has been knocking to cover off the ball, he is currently the focus of my fear. So there are 2 questions: am I crazy, or is Schimpf the guy you want up with the game on the line? And, who scares you the most in the Texas lineup?

RP: It's a good and fair question, and I can really go either way about whether Schimpf or Dean is the better hitter. Schimpf's numbers are significantly better, as Dean started the season in a terrible slump in which he only had 2 home runs and was hitting .225 in the first 20-or-so games of the season. Since then, he's been outstanding, but Schimpf has been good all year. Personally, I don't have an answer to your question about who you should fear more. Having them back to back against right handed pitching is a tremendous boon for us

I suppose if you wanted to pinpoint one difference between them, you can point out that Blake Dean is not a base stealing threat. Schimpf is. Schimpf is the better overall player and is close to Dean's equal at the plate. As for who I want up with the game on the line, I'll take either one.

As for your roster, I am most concerned about any left-handed power hitter. As such, I am most concerned about Brandon Belt. He's your best hitter, and really your only left-handed power hitter. Louis Coleman is nasty to right handed hitters because of his 3/4 arm delivery. But the cost is that he has a commensurately tougher time with left handers. And while both Coleman and Ranaudo are very tough, both have given up the long ball. Opponents have hit 16 home runs off of Coleman and 14 off of Ranaudo in about 240 innings between them. That averages out to a home run every 8 innings.

JA: Do you think it's problematic that, with the exception of the SEC tournament, LSU has really only faced any adversity once in this postseason (the 10 inning win against Baylor in the sub-regional)?

RP: I'm not sure I understand your question. Does it bother me that we've blown out a lot of our opponents? No. Why should it? It means we've been playing much better than our competition. I don't really buy into the school of thought that says that a team that plays a lot of close games is more prepared than a team that wins games going away. The key is playing good competition. We've played good competition. UVA was supposed to beat us in the first round with an ace lefty on the mound. Rice supposedly had better pitchers than anyone we've faced this year. Plus, every team here is good. Or at least, they're hot. People play up Arkansas as a Cinderella team, but other than a late-season slump Arkansas was as good of a team as any in the SEC this year. They got past whatever they were struggling
with in time for the regional and they took their place among the best in the country, even though they were a two-seed.

To answer your question a little more seriously, I'm not sure I agree that we have not faced adversity. In the very first game of the NCAA Tournament, we were losing to Southern University going into the bottom of the 7th. In the first game of the CWS, Anthony Ranaudo didn't make it through 4 innings and we were losing in the bottom of the 5th with our middle relief in the game. It remained very close until the bottom of the 8th when we scored 3 runs and got some
distance. It's not like this team hasn't faced a challenge.

Plus, you bring up the SEC Tournament. We lost the opening game and came back to win 5 games in 6 days, getting wins from little-used starters Daniel Bradshaw, Nolan Cain, and Ryan Byrd along the way. I don't believe anyone thought we could win 3 straight games without Coleman or Ranaudo pitching.

Entire bottom of the 9th, courtesy of VideoLonghorn

40AS — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:35:41 -0000

Entire bottom of the 9th, courtesy of VideoLonghorn