Tigers use the long ball to blow out Duquesne! Could this be the makings of a 1997 type year? The Tigers hit 188 homers that year on their way to the National Championship. Of course this was not SEC type pitching that we faced this weekend, but it sure was a nice change. It appears that we have several hitters that could hit 20+ homers this year. Clark hit five in the series and reminds me of a bigger Garry Hymel. He has the potential to have a big year. It sure will be fun watching this group swing the bats. If the pitching stays consistent, we could be looking at an extended post season. :geauxtige
no. lsu took advantage of duquesnes "not so great" pitching. lsu is not the first team to do so. in their previous three games, duquesne gave up a total of 44 runs. if lsu faces pitching like they did this weekend, they will take advantage of it. however, they will not to to "gorilla ball" at the expense of "small ball". when the tigers face better pitching, you are still gonna see well placed hits coupled with (hopefully) good baserunning to bring runs in. this weekend was not a sign of a change in philosophy, it was a sign of taking advantage of the weaknesses of the opponent.
Well, that's what good hitters do. Make you pay for mistakes. Clark will take you deep if you leave the ball up in the strike zone. Teams with good pitching will not give up many homers. Then we will have to manufactor runs. I really hate to use the term small ball. It sounds like you play in fear. By the way, I don't know if we will ever see another team like the '97 team in terms of HR production. The light weight bats are a thing of the past. Timely hitting is key whether there are homers or not.
true. but i do not believe that the in state teams and sec teams we are gonna face are that weak. duquesne also only had 3 runs in each of the previous three games before they faced lsu. this weekend was simply, as you said, making their pitchers pay for mistakes, and lsu was not the first team to do so with the dukes. the series is not a sign of going back to gorilla ball. oops, i have to continue this later. tornado sirens going off.
I agree with Okie. Now if we can continue with long ball against Mich State this week and Stetson next weekend, then I'll be eating more bananas.
Watched almost every pitch of this weekends series and agree with Okie....the pitching from DU this weekend was horrendous....they looked no better than the pitchers I face in my league. Anyway....this years team will no doubt have more power than last years team (not saying much) but I see them finishing below the middle in terms of power teams in the SEC. I just hope we dont take Stetson lightly next weekend....that aint a bad team. It should be a good series in terms of showing how the season will play out. I know that series was the turning point for last years team. edit....btw....DUs coach was a moron....he left his kid's out there to die. especially in game 2
i totally disagree...some of the best teams EVER played small ball. There aint nothing "fear" about it. As a matter of fact, the 1985 and 2007 Cardinals teams won the WS playing "small ball". Personally, I love small ball....its "true" baseball IMO. Reminds me of the pre beef roid era.
Small ball relies on walks, stolen bases, and sacrifice bunts, bunts for base hits, even suicide squeeze bunts. When pitching is dominating, bunts are traded for outs to advance runners, often drawing a bad throw, even bunting for base hits – also can knock a pitcher off of his rhythm instead of letting him bring it to a team, putting the ball in play and making good things happen. If a team can "place hits well," hell, just get hits, then there's no need for small ball. It's actually like Bengal said, and instead of sitting back and letting the pitcher fan batters (in "Fear"), it's taking matters into your hands, taking what they give, and making things happen.
