While We're Young...

It's been a while since my last post, so I thought I would share a few thoughts while I'm watching the Cubs vs. Astros on WGN.

Speaking of baseball on TV, the length of the games on ESPN was one of the hottest topics to come out of the College World Series. The average CWS game time was 3 hours and 40 minutes. That is a bit long, but more commercials are a fact of life when it comes to postseason sports on television. Networks are paying big money for the rights to the games, and packing each break is a necessary evil if they're going to make money.

An average big league ball game is just under three hours, while a commercial break typically lasts between 90 seconds and two minutes. Compare that to the aforementioned 3:40 game time that is due in part to the three and a half minute breaks ESPN takes every half inning.

Here are some ideas to speed things up next year (and beyond) on ESPN in Omaha:

1. Do away with the mid-game interview with each team's head coach. I watch Major League Baseball all the time, and it's never done in the regular season, and yet I still enjoy the game. The mid-game interview is the single most useless interview in TV sports, and ESPN isn't the only guilty party. Fox does it too during the MLB postseason. They don't do it during a football game, they wait until halftime (and it's still mostly useless). It's not like the interviews are sponsored, so put us all out of our misery and get back to the game quicker rather than make us sit through an extra 30 seconds of dugout banter. However, if ESPN wants to keep the interviews how about a compromise...

2. Inset the interview in a small picture-in-picture type box at the bottom of the screen. This way viewers and ESPN all get to eat their cake and eat it too. The interview goes on at the bottom of the screen while we watch the start of play begin that inning. ESPN holds-up play to get the interviews in, but they could be easily recorded (which I know FOX has done in the past and may still do). I'm sure it won't kill Orel Hershiser and Mike Patrick if they get 30 seconds less air time. Speaking of which...

3. Do away from the in-game instructional demonstrations in the press box. Bob Brenly's doing a pretty good job of analyzing the game I'm watching right now, and he hasn't done one on-camera bit between innings to show me how Kevin Hart grips the ball when he throws his off-speed pitch. I know it's college baseball, but it's still baseball. We don't need the game explained to us like we're ten years old just because we're watching college players instead of big leaguers. However, if ESPN really thinks it needs the demonstrations see suggestion #2. Do them at the bottom corner of the screen in a small box while the game is going on. Better yet, ESPN could promote its web site by posting the demonstrations there. IE- Mike Patrick: "To see Orel show you how to throw a curveball go to espn.com, to hear him mispronounce another college player's name keep it tuned here."

4. Start the games when they're supposed to start. If the ticket says game time is 1pm start the game at 1pm and not 1:08pm. This is another network TV commercial related thing, but come on would it really be so hard to at least shoot for an :04 start time? All the chatter before the game is just lettuce on a steak sandwhich.

CWS- Before And After

We took a little time off after the end of the College World Series, but Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires is back with a few final thoughts on the 2009 event.

To start with, we have complete statistics from both the College World Series as well as the NCAA Tournament. Kudos to our resident stat guru, Pete LaFleur, who compiled this information since the start of the conference tournaments. This is data that can only be found at collegebaseball360.com...seriously.

Even the NCAA did not distribute an all-encompassing statistical data base for every NCAA Tournament game. They did update the national stat leaders, but those statistics cover the entire season, our stats tell you what teams did during the tournament itself, including the CWS.

We also have an exclusive podcast interview with LSU head coach Paul Mainieri. The Word Association segment alone is worth listening to. You don't have to be an LSU fan to appreciate the things he talked about.

Alright, enough plugging ourselves. On to some thoughts on what we saw from teams and players before and during their time in Omaha.

• Fullerton Flop...What happened to Cal State Fullerton? The Titans hit .447 (to lead all NCAA teams) and averaged nearly 13 runs a game in their five Regional and Super Regional games (all wins) prior to the CWS. Their pitching staff also turned-in a stellar 1.80 ERA in those games (9 earned runs allowed). The wheels came off in Omaha though, where Fullerton was two and out. The staff ERA was 9.00 (17 ER allowed), while the offense scored a total of 11 runs in losses to Arkansas and Virginia.

• Wither Wood...Texas closer Austin Wood received a lot of well deserved national attention for his 13 inning effort in the Longhorn's 25-inning win over Boston College in the Austin Regional. However, Wood was not the same after that outing that saw him throw nearly 140 pitches. In his two combined Regional outings Wood totaled 15.0 IP with 2 hits, 4 BB, 17 strikeouts and no runs allowed. However, in his six appearances after the famed 13-inning outing here are the lefty's numbers: 11 IP, 16 hits, 10 R, 8 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, with a 6.54 ERA. Wood made his nation-leading 41st appearance of the season when he toed the rubber for the last time in the final game of the CWS vs. LSU.
  

• Slightly Saved... Wood had 15 saves during the season, and CWS teams combined for 131 saves going into Omaha. However, Arkansas' Mike Bolsinger had the only save at the College World Series. It's the lowest save total at the CWS since 1993 when no saves were recorded. Part of the lack of saves is partially due to the fact that just six of the 15 games at the CWS were decided by three or fewer runs. Because of the best of three championship format games are also now more spaced out so that teams play only every other day, which gives coaches the chance to use starting pitchers out of the bullpen more often. Speaking of which...
  

• Nice Arm Young Mann...Texas freshman Taylor Jungmann was 3-0 on the mound in Omaha, with three relief appearances and one start to his credit. Jungmann made 12 relief appearances during the season, but the right hander had also made six straight starts going into the CWS. Jungmann totaled 15.1 IP with a 0.59 ERA, allowing just two runs on 8 hits with 15 Ks and 5 BB in Omaha. After making three relief appearances (including his third in game one of the championship series), Jungmann tossed the only complete game of the CWS in the Longhorn's 5-1 win over LSU in game two of the championship series. It was also his only CG in 2009. (North Carolina's Alex White did pitch 9 innings in the Tar Heel's 10-inning loss to Arizona State in game 3.)
  
  

• Molden-Power...How about another Longhorn who waited for the right time to get hot: Russell Moldenhauer. The Longhorn DH was batting just .250 with 4 doubles as the only extra base hits to his credit in 2009 entering the CWS. However, in six games in Omaha Moldenhauer hit .350 with four solo home runs and a double for a slugging percentage of 1.000. Moldenhauer's injury-riddled junior season saw him total just 15 hits prior to the CWS, but he had seven knocks in Omaha, and tied Arizona State's Kole Calhoun for the CWS lead with 20 total bases.

• Longhorn Longball...Texas hit 14 home runs (12 solo) in six games at the CWS for an average of 2.3 per game. That after hitting just 39 in 61 games prior to Omaha for a .63 a game average. All told, Texas scored 17 of its 36 runs at the CWS courtesy of home runs. The Longhorns had just a .413 slg% going into Omaha, but slugged at a .537 clip during the CWS.

• No Small Ball...Texas averaged 1.5 sac bunts a game (96 in 61 games) prior to the College World Series, but ended-up with just 8 in their six CWS contests. The Longhorns had just a .373 success rate advancing runners (8th of the 8 teams in Omaha), while flying-out a series high 57 times.

• Clutch When It Counts...LSU collected 23 2-out RBIs en-route to winning its championship. The Tigers plated 26 of their 51 CWS runs in 2-out situations. While LSU outfielder Mikie Mahtook struggled at times (8 strikeouts in 6 games) the freshman also had four 2-out RBIs in Omaha, including the game-winner in the 11th inning in game one of the Championship Series.

• Theft Control...LSU stole 111 bases (on 151 attempts) in 67 games prior to the CWS, but the Tigers stole just two bags on four tries in six games in Omaha. D.J. LeMahieu had both of the thefts (he was also caught once).

It's been a great first season for us at Collegebaseball360.com. We've enjoyed being involved with you, and we hope to bring you even more unique coverage in 2010 and beyond!

Texas Forces Deciding Game 3 At CWS

The Texas Longhorns beat LSU 5-1 Tuesday night to force a third and deciding game in the College World Series Championship Series. Collegebaseball360.com's Sean Stires has some notes from Omaha...

• The last two teams to force game three in a CWS Championship Series have gone on to win the National Title. Fresno State did it last year, while Oregon State pulled it off in 2006.

• The winner of bracket two at the CWS has won every championship since 2000. Texas is the bracket two representative this year.

• Wednesday's probable starting pitchers are Anthony Ranaudo for LSU and Cole Green for Texas.

• Russell Moldenhauer hit his fourth CWS home run Tuesday to tie the College World Series record.

• Nine of the last 15 runs Texas has scored have come via solo home runs.
  

• Coming into the College World Series, the Longhorns had 39 home runs and 96 sac bunts this season. In their five Omaha games they have 11 long balls and just eight sac bunts.

• Texas has commited more errors than any other team at the CWS with eleven in five games (3 Tuesday). LSU committed its first two errors in Omaha Tuesday night.

• Texas position players and pitchers have a ritual before they take the field each inning. The eight players gather in foul territory by either first or third base (depending on which dugout they're in) and then they wait for their catcher, Cameron Rupp, to get to home plate to scatter out to their positions on the diamond.

• Speaking of Rupp, he's put together. The Plano, TX native is 6'2-235 lbs and chiseled. Think "Bull" from the '80s sitcom "Night Court".

LSU Takes Game One Of CWS Championship Series

Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires notes LSU's 7-6 comeback win over Texas to start the CWS Championship Series...

• Mikie Mahtook drove-in DJ LeMahieu with two outs and two strikes in the top of the 11th inning to give LSU the win. Mahtook started the game 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and a 4-6-3 doubleplay.

• Texas hit five solo home runs in the game, all of them came off LSU starter Louis Coleman.
  

• The Longhorns have scored ten runs in their last two games (LSU & ASU), and eight of the runs have scored via solo homers.

• Russell Moldenhauer has three home runs this season, and all of them have come in the Longhorn's four CWS games. He hit just one home run last year after belting six as a freshman.

• Three of the Texas home runs came in the 4th inning. It's the first 3-homer inning at the CWS since LSU did it vs. Mississippi State on June 1, 1998.

• Texas hit 39 home runs with 96 sacrifice bunts in 61 games coming into the CWS, but the Longhorns now have ten home runs in their four games in Omaha.

• Coming into the CWS Texas scored roughly 18% of its runs due to home runs, but they've scored about 48% of their runs in Omaha courtesy of the long ball.

• Texas starter Chance Ruffin had 10 strikeouts tonight, and he's rung-up 114 this season. He writes a "K" for each one on the bottom of the bill of his cap.

• Since the College World Series switched to a best 2 of 3 format for the National Championship the game one winner has won four of six titles. Georgia won game one last year, but Fresno State went on to win the last two games to claim the crown.

• How did Mike Patrick, Orel Hersheiser and Robin Ventura all end-up wearing some form of purple during tonight's telecast? Will the ESPN crew all wear orange tomorrow night?

• Mainieri's dad, Demi "Doc" Mainieri was in the press box tonight. He's a juco baseball Hall of Fame coach who won a national championship in 1964.

• It was Africa hot in Omaha tonight. It was sunny and 94 degrees at game time with a heat index of 107. Fans exiting the stadium after the game looked like they had either just stepped out of a sauna or just finished swimming in the Missouri River. It's supposed to be hotter Tuesday.

• My drive to Omaha from Indiana today took a bit over eight hours. When I called home after my arrival my daughter didn't even realize I was gone.

• Speaking of my trip across Illinois and Iowa...the Bob Feller Museum is in Van Meter Iowa (exit 113 on I-80).
  

• "Radar's home town rocks! Ottumwa, IA, the home of the ficticious "MASH" character has a booming classic rock station, 101.5 FM, that booms up to Des Moines.

• For the most part, Iowa drivers get out of the left hand lane to let you pass them on the interstate (unlike most drivers in Indiana and Illinois).

• The John Wayne birthplace and the covered bridges of Madison County are at exit 110 on I-80.

• Ever feel like you could be about to jump into a Bruce Willis explosion scene when you pull into a gas station behind a guy who's hanging a cigarette out the window?

More from Omaha coming-up tomorrow!

Another Day, Another CWS Blog!

Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires with some thoughts on Friday's LSU-Arkansas and Texas-Arizona State games...

• So much for Cinderella this year. LSU beats Arkansas 14-5 while Texas edges Arizona State 4-3 to each advance to this year's CWS Chamionship Series. That means teams with five and six national championships, respectively, will play for the title.

• LSU's thumping of the Razorbacks not only keeps it as the only team not to lose during the NCAA Tournament (8-0), but the Tigers have also outscored opponents 72-31 in those games. They've won their three CWS games by a combined 32-11 margin.
  

• Back to the jungle...the days of "Gorilla Ball" aren't done for LSU. Seven different Tigers have hit nine home runs in their three College World Series games in the last week.

• The Road to Omaha less traveled...Arkansas pitcher T.J. Forrest actually started his college career at LSU, but transferred to Bossier Parish Community College. He's now a junior and pitched for the Razorbacks against LSU Friday. There's no mention of his time at LSU in his bio on the Arkanas web site.

• Good career choice...LSU pitching coach Dave "Red" Grewe left his head coaching position at Michigan State after last season to rejoin Paul Mainieri's staff. Grewe led the Spartans for three seasons after working for Mainieri for three years at Notre Dame from 2003-2005.

• LSU pitchers did not allow a run in their first 15 innings vs. Arkansas in two College World Series games prior to Brett Eibner's seventh inning home run Friday.

• Mainieri has a handful of former players and assistants who are now head coaches, including UCF skipper, Terry Rooney, who was his pitching coach last year in Omaha. Don't be surprised if LSU assistant Javi Sanchez leads a team to Omaha himself one day. Sanchez is a natural leader who takes leadership seriously, but at the same time he has an easy way about him that draws players to him. He also knows the game and teaches it well.

• Ever heard the saying "he's talking about how the sausage is made"? Orel Hersheiser did a bit of that during the LSU-Arkansas game when he bored viewers with the "difficulty" of his job, because of all the producers and directors talking into his earpiece during a game. Some of it was tongue and cheek, but Orel should stick to the game, because when he talks it he shows he talks it well.

• A tip of the hat to the Hogs...Arkansas had 17 comeback wins this season, including Wednesday's dramtice elimination game victory over Virgininia. The Razorback's magic ran out though with Friday's loss to LSU. You gotta give it though for a team that brought a .272 team batting average and 4.50 ERA to Omaha. Like Virginia, Arkansas had to first win a Regional on the road against a top eight national seed and then go on the road again to win a Super Regional just to get to Omaha.

• Murph's Milestone...I forgot to mention this in yesterday's blog. Arizona State head coach Pat Murphy picked-up his 1,000th career win when the Sun Devils beat North Carolina in Thursday's elimination game. North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams was there to see it.

• Great to hear Sean McDonough has his voice back. The ESPN play-by-play man labored earlier this week when his normally dulcet tones were strained by what he said were allergies, but he had the cords back for Friday's ASU-Texas game. McDonough kind of gets lost in the shuffle in the myriad of TV sportscasters these days, but I've heard he's one of the nicest guys in the business. I'll always remember him for his "Bream to the plate" call as Sid Bream chugged home when Altanta beat Pittsburgh in game seven of the 1992 NLCS. My college roomate, Randy Rosetta, and I were watching that game together in a Lawrence, KS sports bar. Last week Randy and I sat together covering the College World Series (he covers LSU for the Baton Rouge Advocate) while McDonough sat about 60 feet away in the Rosenblatt press box calling the action for viewers on ESPN.

• Arizona State pitcher Mike Leake gave-up two home runs in 132 IP during the regular season, but the Pac 10 Pitcher of the Year surrendered two long balls in two starts vs. Texas this week in Omaha.

• Rudy, really...Have you heard!?! Arizona State freshman Johnny Ruettiger is the nephew of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger. Oh, of course you have, because ESPN only mentioned the connection every time he stepped to the plate in Omaha. So, here are a few things they could have mentioned, but didn't so they could mention "Rudy" one more time, during any of his 17 trips to the plate during his first CWS: Johnny was Joliet Catholic Acadamey's starting quarterback on the team's 2007 Illinois State Championship team, he was the captain of both his baseball and football teams during his junior and senior seasons, as a senior in high school Johnny hit .450 and went 11-2 on the mound, he was picked by the Texas Rangers in the 35th round of last year's MLB draft and his father, John, was a pretty good athlete himself-he wrestled at Nebraska in 1977-'78.
  

• I've got a feeling those Jaguars are going to beat Visigoth State sometime soon!
  

Friday CWS Thoughts And Notes

Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires shares some thoughts from another day at the College World Series...

• Does Arizona State's Kole Calhoun remind anyone else of the character 'Ham" Porter from the movie Sandlot? Calhoun (pictured right) and his teammate, Carlos Ramirez, are built more like beer league softball players than college baseball players, but they play the part well. Neither strikes out a lot for power guys, and they both know how to work a count. Calhoun's OPS is .981, while Ramirez's is 1.126. After Thursday's win over North Carolina, Calhoun now has 3 home runs and 10 RBIs in Omaha, including a grand slam vs. the Tar Heels. Meanwhile, Ramirez has caught all 64 of the Sun Devils' games this season. Like Oakland's Billy Beane has said "We're not selling blue jeans".
  

• Speaking of movie characters...ASU's Pat Murphy reminds me of Mickey Rourke's "Marv" in Sin City. Murph was born in New York, and he brings that east coast toughness to the desert & the Pac 10. The confidence his players exhude often borders on, if not crosses into, cockiness, but given the results (3 CWS in the last five years) that's not a bad thing.

• The ebb and the flow...Arizona State jumped-out to a 6-0 lead in Tuesday's game vs. Texas, only to see the Longhorns score the last ten runs of the game. North Carolina opened Thursday's game with the first four runs of the game, to bring ASU's total to 14 straight combined unanswered runs. The Sun Devils then used an 8-run seventh inning en-route to 12 unanswered runs of their own before UNC finally got a run in the 9th in ASU's 12-5 win.

• North Carolina's Garrett Gore played in the 21st and final College World Series game of his career Thursday night. He's played in more CWS games than anyone in the history of the event.

• Gore's teammate, Dustin Ackley, collected a ninth inning double Thursday to extend his record NCAA Tournament hitting streak to 21 games. It was his 28th career CWS base hit, a CWS record.

• Robin Ventura is just a dude who knows baseball. When he talks baseball during a game as an ESPN analyst he makes me listen intently to what he has to say. Ventura speaks and explains the mechanics of the game, both pitching and hitting, in a manner that's easily understood. His breakdown of Ackley's swing during Thursday night was eye opening.

• Is it just a coincidence? Since 2000 the winner of bracket 2 has gone on to win the College World Series. Texas and Arizona State are the remaining teams from bracket 2 this year, while LSU and Arkansas reside in bracket 1.
  

Thursday Thoughts & Notes On The CWS

Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires with his thoughts from Wednesday's CWS action...

• Arkansas' Mr. Clutch is at it again...Andrew Darr's 12th inning RBI double ended-up being the game-winner in the Razorbacks' 4-3 win over Virginia in Wednesday's CWS elimination game. Darr entered the game in the 9th inning as a defensive replacement after Virginia loaded the bases. Darr's walk-off double vs. Florida State ended the Super Regional nearly two weeks ago & sent Arkansas to the College World Series. (Podcast with Darr is available by clicking HERE.)
  

• Brett Eibner more than atoned for his short start on the mound vs. LSU Monday when his 2-out 9th inning home run tied the game 3-3 to send it to extra innings.

• ESPN's Mike Patrick was half correct when he talked about the importance of Zach Cox's 2-out, 2-strike single that came just before Eibner's HR. However, Patrick said it was important, because if Cox hadn't singled Eibner's HR would have just been a solo shot. It was more important than that though, because if Cox hadn't reached base the game would have been over, and Eibner wouldn't have even come to the plate again until 2010.

• Speaking of TV...wouldn't it be nice to make as much money as ESPN analyst Orel Hersheiser makes to butcher players' names? In his time in Omaha he has incorrectly pronounced: Arkansas pitchers Dallas Keuchel and Brett Eibner, Virginia pitcher/DH Danny Hultzen, Arizona State SS Drew Maggi, and MLB's #1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg. His analysis is usually spot-on, but c'mon Orel is it too hard to just write the names pho-net-i-cal-ly? Is it a wonder Howard Cosell used to opine about the "jockocrasy" in TV sports?
  

• Speaking of TV II...it was pretty touching to see and hear business owners from the Rosenblatt area getting choked-up while trying to talk about the CWS moving to downtown Omaha after next year.

• Speaking of TV III...Pretty cool North Carolina's Garrett Gore got to man one of ESPN's TV cameras for a spell during the game. Gore said afterward "That was it, took control, my show". I'm sure Cosell would have been appalled though!

• Good job by the umpires in the Arkansas-UVA game to make sure they got John Hicks' fifth inning home run call correct. They conferred after it was originally not called a home run, but Hicks got credit for the round-tripper after they correctly decided the ball hit a fan's hat and then another fan's glove and not Arkansas left fielder Chase Leavitt's glove before it caromed back onto the field.

• Great piece of bunting by Virginia's Keith Werman. The pinch-hitter entered the game in a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the 9th with runners at first and second and no outs. Werman bunted the first two pitches of the at-bat foul and then took two balls from fellow lefty Dallas Keuchel before he finally dropped down a two-strike bunt to move the runners to second and third.

• How about Keuchel's relief appearance just two days after starting against Cal State Fullerton? The southpaw tossed four shutout innings, while fanning five and giving-up just three hits to improve to 9-3 this season. It was the junior's first relief outing this season.

• Speaking of pitching...a tip of the hat to starters Drew Smyly of Arkanas and fellow freshman left Danny Hultzen of Virginia. The two combined to pitch 11.0 innings with 14 strikeouts and no walks on 13 hits. Smyly's string of 19 straight shutout innings in the NCAA Tournament ended on the previously mentioned fifth inning HR by Hicks. He was starting for the first time since losing a no-hitter in the ninth inning of the Razorbacks' Regional Championship game vs. Oklahoma. (Podast with Smyly is available by clicking HERE.)
  

• It's been great having Green Day's musice playing into breaks during Super Regional and now College World Series games on ESPN>