Coach Mainieri , please hire Stony Brooks hitting coach ...

I feel we over achieved this year, hitting coach be damned. All kids recruited to play at this level should be able to hit. Some of our kids have not adjusted well to a D-1 curve ball. Case in point: Jacoby Jones. He was a Mahtook type athlete out of high school. Could not hit the breaking ball. His average plumeted this year and was moved down in the line up. I felt we were fortunate to win the SEC with a team average below .290. Pitching and hitting in the clutch were key. However, the "chickens came home to roost" when our batting average played a big part in the super. Pitching against an outstanding hitting team was difficult to keep the score low enough for us to stay in the game

 

Ar-kansas in the CWS and LSU is not. WTF. I'm already catching shit for it, so I posted a highlight film from November 25, told them to stfu and eat a d*ck.

Lets see how many piggies unfriend me now.

 

Might want to remind them. If they win this year they only have 5 more to go

 

Yeah, it all sounds like virtual over analyzing, but I must admit, I was saying the same thing during the game. Part of the problem here is who we were playing and the announcer pointing out how we were swinging aggressively, and SB was being patient. I think those factors inadvertently affected all of us and have led to this discussion. By comparison to LSU, SB appeared so disciplined at the plate. Looking at the stats you pointed out above w/SB being #2 in batting avg, you wonder, if we were playing NC St. for example, and FLA played SB, what the outcomes would have been and whether people would be calling for the hitting coach to be replaced. In addition to FLA having a worse BA than us as a team (not by much, btw), So. Carolina, & FLA St. were worse, too.

Serious question, do people think it is strictly the coaching differences in play here, or does LSU recruit a different type of athlete/hitter than a team like SB? The reason I ask is that it looked to me like we had better athletes, but they had "ball players" who were coachable and clearly followed direction w/good execution. I wonder if some of this has to do w/us recruiting top players, whereas a team like SB recruiting the "right fit" type player, knowing they are not going to get the top recruit to go to SB.

Lastly, SB looks like a team of destiny to me. I kind of hope they win it all now. A group of rag tags that clearly love to play baseball, who have now turned into a team going to the CWS w/7 drafted players. Wow, really, is all you can say about them. Hats off to them, they clearly outplayed us, and deserve to be there. I wish them luck and will be rooting for them.

 

Also may want to remind them about what happened the last time we both went to Omaha. I bet they are happy; they wouldn't want to endure a repeat of that.

 

It's a hard thing to pin down, but I'd be interested to see some stats that give a clearer picture. Javi became hitting coach in '09. Has there been consistent improvement in team BA over that time period? Or are we trending down or just stuck in neutral? How many players have gotten better during the course of a season, or from one to the next, and how many have regressed?

If there isn't clear evidence of overall improvement, then I don't understand this mindset that we shouldn't try to do better than Javi Sanchez.

 

Coach Mainieri didn't get fired. Not that I know of he still has his job...

 

That is an interesting thought.

You take 3 star recruits and turn them into 5 star ball players on the field by coaching them up and instilling discipline. Versus going after all the 5 star athletes, and letting them use their natural abilities to make plays.

 

But are we actually getting 5-star recruits? Or are we losing them all to MLB?