Cannizaro?????

[Todd4State]

I don't like essentially forfeiting a game with plenty of time to come back. I wish morehead state's coach would've gotten mad and pulled starters when we were up 5 headed to 9th.

We didn't forfeit the game. Cann put in the guys who he felt were going to give us the best effort and actually thus giving us the better chance to win the game. And yeah- I wish South Alabama's coach had put in a guy that needed Tommy John in the 9th inning too. Like we could have really counted on that. And hell, most of our guys still would have probably struck out swinging at pitches way out of the zone.

[basedog]

Unbelievable some of the stuff folks post.

Btw, I'm pretty sure players want to play and ain't worried about a damn pulled muscle running!

I understand what Cann did and I also understand what his thinking was last night. And yes I Coached for a living once and I've done things similar to what Cann did.

Motivation is a good thing!

[maroonmania]

Cann sees that this team can make some noise and is trying to keep them playing at their peak potential. Personally I love it going into a series we really need to sweep.

I think there was some spillover effect from Sunday also. I think our guys relaxed after taking the series on Saturday and looked like crap warmed over at the plate on Sunday and then crap leftovers warmed over at the plate last night and he had just had enough. You can question the moves he made in reaction to what he was seeing but I sure as heck understand why he was pissed. Based on our performance in our last 2 games I think just winning 2 against Bama might even be a challenge.

[Todd4State]

If it hasn't been a problem in practice, it was overkill. You're not going to play at peak mental focus all season. Losing focus in a midweek game against USA is not a reason to lose it and start replacing position players with pitchers. If it was the culmination of a trend that includes lack of focus in practice, then maybe it was time for them to get shaken up.

I trust that Cann had a very good reason for doing what he did since I'm not at practice and I'm guessing odds are you aren't as well.

I don't think he just put pitchers in the game just to be an ass. I don't think people realize how thin we are in the field as well.

We have two catchers.
We really only have six-seven guys that can play on the infield. Gordon is one of those and we have to pitch him because of our pitching depth issues. Bragg is another and his effort is among the worst on the team. Cody Brown can play the infield but that's about it.
We have five-six outfielders- Poole, MacNamee, and Vansau have all played similarly although MacNamee probably should start and two of those almost have to start every game. Blaylock has struggled a lot.

I think if he had more options as far as position players go he would have put them in but we don't so...

[Todd4State]

Got to send a message at times to teams that struggle to buy in at times.

He kicked Cyr and Marrero to the curb and we won 10 of 11 games after that. Some of these guys have to learn what it takes to be a D-1 baseball player

He suspended Mangum one game too. I think that got their attention as much or more than the other two.

[msstate7]

We didn't forfeit the game.

I can understand giving our team a kick in the butt even if I don't necessarily agree with it, but yeah, we quit. We ran our best 2 pitchers out there in the 9th to hit with 2 actual batters on the bench

[Dawgpatrol]

The players gave up last night before Cann did. Yeah a pitcher could have gotten hurt. But it didn't happen. One of our hitters could have gotten hurt too. You can't put these guys in bubble wrap. He's going to put players out there that play hard and had no other options besides the bullpen guys. I think he did the right thing and I have no problem with it. Other than the fact it was a loss. Our effort was terrible last night from the players and he's trying to fix it,

All due respect, there were other available options Lovelady and gordon, albeit Gordon is a pitcher now as well, can anyone on here honestly say if Pilkington or Spencer broke a couple fingers in an at bat, they would be ok with that today. I'm not insinuating to wrap players in bubble wrap but that was just plain bad decision that we thankfully avoided.

[Ari Gold]

Ok, I never post anything (normally just get on board to find info about our baseball team, scores etc) but after that debacle last night by our head baseball coach I could'nt just sit back and not question a whole lot of decisions on his part. First off, why in the world would you put 4 pitchers in a batters box to get potentially injured when the staff is already devastated with injury. Much less your Friday night starter and your closer, I wonder what our judgement of his coaching ability would be like this morning had Pilkington taken a pitch off his hand and broke a couple of fingers,. Bar none one of the dumbest coaching decisions I have ever witnessed by a head coach at such a high level of baseball. And please don't say probably won't happen, I was at the game and watched Spencer bust his rear end trying to round 1st, one mistep from pulling hammy etc.
Secondly, It was embarrassing watching our head coach give up on a game in the 7th inning down only 3-0, especially with this team, you know the one that has proven over the course of this year that they will play to the end and have many and multiple comeback wins under their belt. And don't say he didn't throw in the towel, when you pull the crap he did last night in the 7th inning with 3 more team at bats awaiting and putting in pitchers to hit with Gordon and lovelady not in the game. As a coach and player you are taught to never ever give up and play every out till the end, our coach sent a message tonight alright, he told his team I will give up on you and I will throw your butt under the bus on media as well. Great message to a team that is in second place in the best conference in baseball with only 22 players or so healthy.
Third: he may or may not be a great coach, only time will tell but he is getting way to much credit for what has been done so far, last time I checked players play and coaches mostly watch, I haven't seen any coach pitch or hit this year, the players have. In the words of legendary coach Bobby Cox when asked how many games a coach influences throughout a year, he said about 3, the other 159 are up to the players.
I attended the game last night and I can assure you there was no lack of hustle or effort on the players part as a whole, had one incident where player did not run after 3rd strike. Plus coach owes it to the fan base to put a competitive team and players in correct positions. Some people that live on the coast only get to see their team play once a year and they got cheated last night by their head coach conceeding a game. heck even the USA fans were pissed, some didn't feel like they got to see our real team and felt their victory was watered down. Embarrassment to the university, the team and to the fans.
I realize he is a 1st year head coach and all and I hope he can learn from his mistakes but was truly a sh$t show by a coach last night!!!!

Word of advice. That 1 that's by ur post count. Let's keep it at 1. Just read and enjoy..

[I seen it dawg]

Maybe he should. If pilk took a ball off the wrist or pulled a hammy running a ball out, our season was over.

Over just like when we lost 7 pitchers to Tommy John...

[basedog]

I trust that Cann had a very good reason for doing what he did since I'm not at practice and I'm guessing odds are you aren't as well.

I don't think he just put pitchers in the game just to be an ass. I don't think people realize how thin we are in the field as well.

We have two catchers.
We really only have six-seven guys that can play on the infield. Gordon is one of those and we have to pitch him because of our pitching depth issues. Bragg is another and his effort is among the worst on the team. Cody Brown can play the infield but that's about it.
We have five-six outfielders- Poole, MacNamee, and Vansau have all played similarly although MacNamee probably should start and two of those almost have to start every game. Blaylock has struggled a lot.

I think if he had more options as far as position players go he would have put them in but we don't so...

Totally agree. Obviously some posters never played for a coach like Cann and some never played sports.

Baseball has streaks, we've been able to overachieve all year with effort, last night was no effort for the most part. I expect to see a different attitude Thursday, folks forget Cann and Henderson didn't recruit any of the players.

I also expect to see a few players transferring next year as well.

[msstate7]

Over just like when we lost 7 pitchers to Tommy John...

So, you think we could survive losing pilk? Interesting

[I seen it dawg]

Posting isn't for everyone...and that's ok

[I seen it dawg]

So, you think we could survive losing pilk? Interesting

Would it be brutal? Yes. Would we survive? Don't know. Nor do you. But I have a feeling we would figure something out and fight.

[basedog]

So, you think we could survive losing pilk? Interesting

I will answer, hell no, no one got hurt so quit the nonsense of "what if". Btw, one of the pitchers got a damn hit!

Hell I'd like to bat, baseball is a game that is fun and I bet those guys loved batting.

[Coldsleeve Jr.]

All due respect, there were other available options Lovelady and gordon, albeit Gordon is a pitcher now as well, can anyone on here honestly say if Pilkington or Spencer broke a couple fingers in an at bat, they would be ok with that today. I'm not insinuating to wrap players in bubble wrap but that was just plain bad decision that we thankfully avoided.

With all due respect, your suggestion is to either put in another pitcher (Gordon), or a player that has actually torn his ACL during an at bat? What are our other options at catcher by the way?

[basedog]

Posting isn't for everyone...and that's ok

Rep given!

[msstate7]

I will answer, hell no, no one got hurt so quit the nonsense of "what if". Btw, one of the pitchers got a damn hit!

Hell I'd like to bat, baseball is a game that is fun and I bet those guys loved batting.

Football is fun too and Chris jones wants to play qb, so Andy Reid should make it happen

[Activated Alpha]

I was perplexed to see our pitchers get ABs, but for the most part they had better approaches then some of our regular batters. I'm glad we have a coach who cares about winning and getting maximum effort all season long. I can understand losing focus for a midweek game, but going out on the field and performing like you don't really care is unacceptable. If Cann isn't afraid to get these guys who he hasn't recruited to perform with all their intensity, it's going to be really exciting to see how he handles his own guys.

[msstate7]

With all due respect, your suggestion is to either put in another pitcher (Gordon), or a player that has actually torn his ACL during an at bat? Who is our backup catcher by the way?

Skelton, then Stovall

[Tbonewannabe]

Maybe he should. If pilk took a ball off the wrist or pulled a hammy running a ball out, our season was over.

Every starter in the National League bats. It isn't like it is a normal thing for a pitcher to bat and get injured. Does everyone think we should pull Pilk in the 3rd if we are up 10 runs so he doesn't get injured?