-First, I sure didn't think a 3-1 game was in the cards when I showed up to the park today. I would have believed a two-run win, but would have thought something like 9-7. Definitely the best game that we have pitched this year. That's a very good lineup that we saw, and we held it to 4 hits.
-On that note, I really enjoy game like that so much more than the 9-7 types. That was a very intense, very well played game today. Just a lot of fun to watch, and it felt like it wasn't won because of mistakes. tech played well. But we played better.
-Charlie Condon really needs to be in the IF. I agree with the commentary that we don't win today without the plays that he made at 3rd. There were lots of things today that decided it, but his defense there was a huge part of it.
-I still think that Christian Mrcana is going to play a big role for us this year. But I really wonder if it's starting. He looks like a starter, in terms of build. Today was the first time I've gotten to see him. His 1st inning looked so strong... really good stuff, and you think, "here we go"... but it seems to fall off pretty quickly. I'm not just saying this because he grunts so loudly, but it seems like an awful lot of effort with every pitch. I do like his ability... he has good velocity, good movement. You can see that. But this is three starts now where pretty much the same thing has happened. Maybe it's different when he gets built up a bit. But I think that he and Kolton Smith should be in opposite roles right now.
-On that end, how good was Kolton Smith today? Especially after that collision that he had on the 1st base line. Right at first, I'm thinking that he'd broken a bone in his arm and was going to be done for the year. When he walked back on the mound... man, that fired me up... and I think, I don't know, but I have to think it fired up our dugout too. Kolton made some big pitches today. For a guy who didn't factor into the decision, he was extremely important in the outcome.
-We managed it differently today than we did last week - they had a short leash with Mracna, they were pretty quick with Smith, and didn't leave Roberge out there too long either. This felt like an SEC game in how we managed the staff. They weren't going to leave anyone out there to get beaten.
-Great to see that double late from Slate Alford. He'd been pretty cold to that point... maybe that gets him jumpstarted a bit. On that note, I don' know what inning it was, but I didn't like that sequence where Dillon Carter tried to bunt (and popped it up) given that Alford was on deck... Nothing against Alford, but didn't seem to be seeing the ball that great at that point in the game, and I didn't like giving away that out there. Really though, I don't want to see Carter bunting any, unless it's a very obvious situation. He's got a lot of power. He needs to swing it. I got so frustrated in the past with us using Tucker Maxwell that way. I don't care if you're hitting 9 or 1... if you've got that kind of power, swing the bat.
-Paul Toetz needs to play every day. I really didn't expect to see him in the OF, but however we can get him out there... he needs to play. Same for Trey Phelps. Ability alone dictates that, I think, but those just seem to be the type of guys that others feed off.
-I really thought that Josh Stinson laid down a great bunt. Their pitcher (who is also a position player) made a hell of a play to get the out at 3rd. Hated that for Josh. He had a job to do there, and probably 19/20 times that's a SAC bunt.
-Fernando Gonzalez is just a very good baseball player. I love that he's contributing more with his bat. Nobody wanted to see him get hurt last year, but I'm glad that we got him for one more season. I love watching that guy play, and will really miss him once he's gone. I can't imagine that anyone who follows this closely isn't really, really happy for him with that HR today.
-In the 9th, I liked that we didn't give in to Drew Burris when it was 2-0 or even 3-0. We were still very careful with him. But they showed a lot of confidence in Brian Zeldin with how we handled that AB, and I thought it was good getting it back to 3-2.
-Before that happened, Trey King made a really good play at 2b to get the out... the double clutch scared me... but that was solid. There's a guy who'd been in the dugout all game, got out there with a job to do, and did it.
-I saw Nelson Ward and Gordon Beckham today. Didn't talk to Beckham any, but was good to see him there. Was nice speaking with Nelson some... I didn't mention this to him, but I'll always remember that Sunday at South Carolina in 2013 when he got into the face of their 3b coach and the dugouts cleared. He had a strong career and it's unfortunate that we didn't win more games back then. I heard too that Heath Holder and his family were there today as well. I really think the world of that crowd. It's good to see former players coming back and supporting things. And it makes me feel old now that so much time has elapsed since they were here... I mean, Heath was the last of those three, and his last season was eight years ago... it's just hard to believe that.
-I like this team. And I like Wes Johnson. I thought that his was far and away the best game that he managed, to this point. And I thought that he out-managed Danny Hall (we made the right moves in our bullpen ... tech allowed runs in the 7th and 8th with theirs). I think it's fair to say that Wes Johnson is still getting comfortable here. I can understand that. But I really like the guy... I like his message, I like how we play... and I like how we didn't, publicly, make a real big deal out of last night. We just went out today and took care of business. That shows a lot of maturity.
-Someone down the row today said a few times to Danny Hall "30 years of nothing!!" He was right about that. It's pretty incredible that kinds of players who have come through tech, with no real hardware to show for it. Last night really got under my skin. Because it's just feels so typical of tech under that guy... I know that "the game is in the hands of umps" etc... but I'm sure that he was working on them from the dugout when the game got lopsided to try to delay it. Then their not covering the field once the delay started.... that's just lawyer-ball as far as I'm concerned. But that's Danny Hall and that's tech. You can handle yourself with honor and dignity, or you can do it that way. Honor and dignity won today.
I agree absolutely with @Gfunk20 that last night is a great reminder (if one is necessary) of why tech is our biggest rival, always will be, and always should be. Sure they aren't close to us in football right now. The best stretch in our football history coinciding with the worst in theirs doesn't invalidate tech as a rival, any moreso that the 1990s invalidated Florida as rival of ours. tech will always be our top rival. College sports can't change to the point that is no longer true.
Like I say, I like this team a lot. Whatever our ceiling is, I believe we'll hit close to it, I really do. We can all see the holes... but I really like this group. We have 30 SEC games on deck. But after last night, today felt like it was going to be most important games of the season. It sure felt that way going in... like, if you'd told me at lunch time today that we'd go 20-10 in the league and lose today, or 10-20 and win today, in a weird way, that dilemma would have given me some pause. If that makes sense. It really seemed like today was necessary to validate things. And we played the best game we've played so far this year, and we got the W. I don't know how it's all going to shake out this year. But this is a group that has some balls, and it's a group to get behind.
-On that note, I really enjoy game like that so much more than the 9-7 types. That was a very intense, very well played game today. Just a lot of fun to watch, and it felt like it wasn't won because of mistakes. tech played well. But we played better.
-Charlie Condon really needs to be in the IF. I agree with the commentary that we don't win today without the plays that he made at 3rd. There were lots of things today that decided it, but his defense there was a huge part of it.
-I still think that Christian Mrcana is going to play a big role for us this year. But I really wonder if it's starting. He looks like a starter, in terms of build. Today was the first time I've gotten to see him. His 1st inning looked so strong... really good stuff, and you think, "here we go"... but it seems to fall off pretty quickly. I'm not just saying this because he grunts so loudly, but it seems like an awful lot of effort with every pitch. I do like his ability... he has good velocity, good movement. You can see that. But this is three starts now where pretty much the same thing has happened. Maybe it's different when he gets built up a bit. But I think that he and Kolton Smith should be in opposite roles right now.
-On that end, how good was Kolton Smith today? Especially after that collision that he had on the 1st base line. Right at first, I'm thinking that he'd broken a bone in his arm and was going to be done for the year. When he walked back on the mound... man, that fired me up... and I think, I don't know, but I have to think it fired up our dugout too. Kolton made some big pitches today. For a guy who didn't factor into the decision, he was extremely important in the outcome.
-We managed it differently today than we did last week - they had a short leash with Mracna, they were pretty quick with Smith, and didn't leave Roberge out there too long either. This felt like an SEC game in how we managed the staff. They weren't going to leave anyone out there to get beaten.
-Great to see that double late from Slate Alford. He'd been pretty cold to that point... maybe that gets him jumpstarted a bit. On that note, I don' know what inning it was, but I didn't like that sequence where Dillon Carter tried to bunt (and popped it up) given that Alford was on deck... Nothing against Alford, but didn't seem to be seeing the ball that great at that point in the game, and I didn't like giving away that out there. Really though, I don't want to see Carter bunting any, unless it's a very obvious situation. He's got a lot of power. He needs to swing it. I got so frustrated in the past with us using Tucker Maxwell that way. I don't care if you're hitting 9 or 1... if you've got that kind of power, swing the bat.
-Paul Toetz needs to play every day. I really didn't expect to see him in the OF, but however we can get him out there... he needs to play. Same for Trey Phelps. Ability alone dictates that, I think, but those just seem to be the type of guys that others feed off.
-I really thought that Josh Stinson laid down a great bunt. Their pitcher (who is also a position player) made a hell of a play to get the out at 3rd. Hated that for Josh. He had a job to do there, and probably 19/20 times that's a SAC bunt.
-Fernando Gonzalez is just a very good baseball player. I love that he's contributing more with his bat. Nobody wanted to see him get hurt last year, but I'm glad that we got him for one more season. I love watching that guy play, and will really miss him once he's gone. I can't imagine that anyone who follows this closely isn't really, really happy for him with that HR today.
-In the 9th, I liked that we didn't give in to Drew Burris when it was 2-0 or even 3-0. We were still very careful with him. But they showed a lot of confidence in Brian Zeldin with how we handled that AB, and I thought it was good getting it back to 3-2.
-Before that happened, Trey King made a really good play at 2b to get the out... the double clutch scared me... but that was solid. There's a guy who'd been in the dugout all game, got out there with a job to do, and did it.
-I saw Nelson Ward and Gordon Beckham today. Didn't talk to Beckham any, but was good to see him there. Was nice speaking with Nelson some... I didn't mention this to him, but I'll always remember that Sunday at South Carolina in 2013 when he got into the face of their 3b coach and the dugouts cleared. He had a strong career and it's unfortunate that we didn't win more games back then. I heard too that Heath Holder and his family were there today as well. I really think the world of that crowd. It's good to see former players coming back and supporting things. And it makes me feel old now that so much time has elapsed since they were here... I mean, Heath was the last of those three, and his last season was eight years ago... it's just hard to believe that.
-I like this team. And I like Wes Johnson. I thought that his was far and away the best game that he managed, to this point. And I thought that he out-managed Danny Hall (we made the right moves in our bullpen ... tech allowed runs in the 7th and 8th with theirs). I think it's fair to say that Wes Johnson is still getting comfortable here. I can understand that. But I really like the guy... I like his message, I like how we play... and I like how we didn't, publicly, make a real big deal out of last night. We just went out today and took care of business. That shows a lot of maturity.
-Someone down the row today said a few times to Danny Hall "30 years of nothing!!" He was right about that. It's pretty incredible that kinds of players who have come through tech, with no real hardware to show for it. Last night really got under my skin. Because it's just feels so typical of tech under that guy... I know that "the game is in the hands of umps" etc... but I'm sure that he was working on them from the dugout when the game got lopsided to try to delay it. Then their not covering the field once the delay started.... that's just lawyer-ball as far as I'm concerned. But that's Danny Hall and that's tech. You can handle yourself with honor and dignity, or you can do it that way. Honor and dignity won today.
I agree absolutely with @Gfunk20 that last night is a great reminder (if one is necessary) of why tech is our biggest rival, always will be, and always should be. Sure they aren't close to us in football right now. The best stretch in our football history coinciding with the worst in theirs doesn't invalidate tech as a rival, any moreso that the 1990s invalidated Florida as rival of ours. tech will always be our top rival. College sports can't change to the point that is no longer true.
Like I say, I like this team a lot. Whatever our ceiling is, I believe we'll hit close to it, I really do. We can all see the holes... but I really like this group. We have 30 SEC games on deck. But after last night, today felt like it was going to be most important games of the season. It sure felt that way going in... like, if you'd told me at lunch time today that we'd go 20-10 in the league and lose today, or 10-20 and win today, in a weird way, that dilemma would have given me some pause. If that makes sense. It really seemed like today was necessary to validate things. And we played the best game we've played so far this year, and we got the W. I don't know how it's all going to shake out this year. But this is a group that has some balls, and it's a group to get behind.