One man's opinion

[msumudcat]

Renfroe is in a slump, we bunt way too much (hello Will), we make "stupid" bullpen calls; yet here we are, as a lock for a regional and possibly a national seed. What Cohen gets that most of us don't is not "how" but how many. We could be close to 50 wins this year. Bitches, step up. #buntapalossa

[Esmerelda Villalobos]

I dont get it. 42 wins so far, regional for first time in 10 years, all without our top 2 pitchers, kicking ass in recruiting, etc. Cohen is a miracle worker.

[Sandman14]

Cohen has molded this group into absolute grinders. We are grinding out there from the first pitch to the last. Can't believe he has us getting double digit hits pretty much every single game. Talk about impressive. And the best D in the nation. And goodness gracious, to have starting pitching this bad and still have one of the best team ERAs in the country, it's quite amazing.

All this with Renfroe slumping.

Cohen is doing the same thing here that he does everywhere he coaches. Immediately building something special. It's been a steady uphill progression since day 1.

[Coach34]

Cohen has molded this group into absolute grinders. We are grinding out there from the first pitch to the last. Can't believe he has us getting double digit hits pretty much every single game. Talk about impressive. And the best D in the nation. And goodness gracious, to have starting pitching this bad and still have one of the best team ERAs in the country, it's quite amazing.

All this with Renfroe slumping.

Cohen is doing the same thing here that he does everywhere he coaches. Immediately building something special. It's been a steady uphill progression since day 1.


I dont know if it will be special or not- but he has certainly rebuilt the program. Almost to a man we really didnt understand how far the program had fallen. He has come in and started completely over and built it like he wanted it. Now recruiting is getting better which will help us sustain and elevate even more.

[Bo Darville]

I think Cohen's overmanaging style wears on players over a long haul. But we aren't talking 162 regulars season games like MLB. We are only talking about 50 something regular season games. In a shorter season, his overmanaging can help keep you sharp and on task. A pitcher never knows when he might be summoned from the pen. A position player never knows when he might be told to pinch-hit or pinch-run. He gets everyone involved, he pressures the opposing teams by making them defend the whole field, he pressures the opposing teams with crap like suicide squeezes and bringing in a relief pitcher when a batter already has 2 strikes. I want to throw crap and cuss when he makes some of these decisions. However, his demeanor and decision-making makes us a very uncomfortable team to play against. Polk was a very comfortable coach to play against. He was predictable and followed the book and all unwritten rules. I would like to whip Cohen's tail sometimes, but results are what matters, and they have been good.

I enjoy reading Will James posts about stats and the sort. I admire his passion for baseball and agree with the vast majority of this opinions. The problem is that if you make all decisions according to probability and statistics, then the opposition knows exactly what decision you are going to make at all times. The opposing coach will know exactly when you are going to bunt or not bunt, steal or not steal, etc. because he can look at the stats, percentages, probabilities, also. That is why you have to go against the grain at times to keep the pressure on the opposition. Cohen is famous for going against the grain.

[tenureplan]

Cohen is famous for going against the grain.

So was Croom.

[Pollodawg]

I think Cohen's overmanaging style wears on players over a long haul. But we aren't talking 162 regulars season games like MLB. We are only talking about 50 something regular season games. In a shorter season, his overmanaging can help keep you sharp and on task. A pitcher never knows when he might be summoned from the pen. A position player never knows when he might be told to pinch-hit or pinch-run. He gets everyone involved, he pressures the opposing teams by making them defend the whole field, he pressures the opposing teams with crap like suicide squeezes and bringing in a relief pitcher when a batter already has 2 strikes. I want to throw crap and cuss when he makes some of these decisions. However, his demeanor and decision-making makes us a very uncomfortable team to play against. Polk was a very comfortable coach to play against. He was predictable and followed the book and all unwritten rules. I would like to whip Cohen's tail sometimes, but results are what matters, and they have been good.

I enjoy reading Will James posts about stats and the sort. I admire his passion for baseball and agree with the vast majority of this opinions. The problem is that if you make all decisions according to probability and statistics, then the opposition knows exactly what decision you are going to make at all times. The opposing coach will know exactly when you are going to bunt or not bunt, steal or not steal, etc. because he can look at the stats, percentages, probabilities, also. That is why you have to go against the grain at times to keep the pressure on the opposition. Cohen is famous for going against the grain.

So, in other words, Cohen s great at keeping the water muddy and keeping every one on our side on their toes and the other team on their heels.

[Pollodawg]

So was Croom.


Yep...............And Croom never came close to the success Cohen has had here. Bad comparison, IMO.

[Goat Holder]

My only problem with Cohen so far is that I don't feel like he's gotten the best production out of our most highly recruited players. I can live with the situational blunders....I've seen all coaches make them. Plus he's just trying to "attack the game"....his words. Whatever, but this is not what I like to see:

2010:
- Luke Bole (AL Mr. Baseball, never does a thing, gone after a year)
- C.C. Watson (drafted, all everything, never saw the field)
- Ethan Bright (didn't make it a year)

2011:
- Daryl Norris (AL Mr. Baseball, can't seem to do anything right after showing flashes of greatness)
- Taylor Stark (drafted, never does anything, gone)

2012:
- Brandon Woodruff (5th round draft pick, still hasn't done it yet)

2013:
- Nick Flair (drafted, supposedly a huge steal, never does a thing, or never gets a chance, now likely transferring)

2014:
- Garner/Robson were the big gets, we'll see how they shake out

Back in the day, when we're obsessing over the recruiting classes, these guys above are who we are talking about. And for whatever reason (injuries, bad evaluation, attitude), they aren't producing.

And these are the guys who actually made it to campus. Had the guy last year from Missouri who signed with MLB in the 15th round, Corey Dickerson and Runey Davis who signed but didn't show. I think our recruiting, while good, hasn't been as good as we think after they get here. Which says good things about Cohen's coaching.

[Bo Darville]

So was Croom.

Agreed. Croom made dumb decisions to match his dumb personality. Cohen makes overly aggressive decisions to match his overly aggressive personality. Maybe sacrifice bunting isn't considered aggressive, but it is making them defend the whole field. I don't agree with everything Cohen does, but it seems to translate to wins. I wouldn't have a problem with Croom punting from the opposing team's 30 yard line if it resulted in wins.

When Croom did stupid stuff, I think the players said "that was stupid". When Cohen does stuff that we think is stupid, the players are saying "that was gutsy". They believe in his style.

[tenureplan]

Yep...............And Croom never came close to the success Cohen has had here. Bad comparison, IMO.

I wasn't comparing results. I was just pointing out that it isn't always the best idea to go with "your gut" and do what they don't expect. Like punting on 4th and 1 on their 40 only to go for it on 4th and 13 a few drives later on your own 40.

[Pollodawg]

I wasn't comparing results. I was just pointing out that it isn't always the best idea to go with "your gut" and do what they don't expect. Like punting on 4th and 1 on their 40 only to go for it on 4th and 13 a few drives later on your own 40.

Ok. Good point.

[Coach34]

2010:
- Luke Bole (AL Mr. Baseball, never does a thing, gone after a year)
- C.C. Watson (drafted, all everything, never saw the field)- was damaged goods when he arrived. Constant arm problems
- Ethan Bright (didn't make it a year)- got arrested twice within his first two months for drinking

2011:
- Daryl Norris (AL Mr. Baseball, can't seem to do anything right after showing flashes of greatness)- I've never seen anything great out of Norris- hell, even good.
- Taylor Stark (drafted, never does anything, gone)-he can't even hardly see the field for Delta State

2012:
- Brandon Woodruff (5th round draft pick, still hasn't done it yet)-showed some flashes his Freshman year- injured this year

2013:
- Nick Flair (drafted, supposedly a huge steal, never does a thing, or never gets a chance, now likely transferring)- no idea what happened here

2014:
- Garner/Robson were the big gets, we'll see how they shake out-
.

bb

[engie]

I still don't understand how you can make the comparison. Baseball to football is apples to oranges. You are comparing a coach that has taken us to our greatest heights in a decade to a coach that took us to our deepest depths in a decade. Going with your gut and not doing what they expect is a TREMENDOUS idea when it works. In baseball, it has worked. In football with Croom, it NEVER worked.

[Goat Holder]

I know all that already. That's my point. For whatever reason, they aren't panning out. I don't care about the reasons, and I don't blame Cohen for his handling of these guys. But a guy like Norris should realistically be one of the better players on our team. We aren't getting our Wahl's/Beede's/Zunino's to produce, and it's holding us back.

If Woodruff, at his potential, was our Friday night guy, we'd be a national seed no doubt right now.

[Coach34]

To me Crooms was as by the book as you could get. Simple offense, never trying anything innovative to help yourself. Stay with the old tried and true- conservative offense- good defense.

Sylvester Crooms went with the grain about as much as a coach could

[slickdawg]

I like the fact that with the exception of Renfroe, we can bunt whenever we want to. Remember back to Polk's teams, and even McMahon's - we could not bunt to save our souls. Now we can drop one whenever we want to.

[Sandman14]

in my opinion, pointing to certain recruits is irrelevant. The relevant question is how does the team look. Even with bad luck to our SP situation, we look fantastic. Ultimate grinders. We know Butch is awesome. So the SP situation is just beyond anyone's control.

As for guys like Norris, etc. We have a cultuture of competition that some guys don't thrive in. Those guys will be marginalized, regardless of their recruit status out of high school. The question is whether we have players rising to the occassion, and the resounding answer is "Yes."

[Political Hack]

but Cohen uses bad words...

[CadaverDawg]

If Woodruff, at his potential, was our Friday night guy, we'd be a national seed no doubt right now.

If our jerseys had Florida written across them, we'd be a national seed right now. I know this is off the subject of this thread and Goat's post, but I feel like we are getting screwed by the college baseball media. We have 42 wins, a top 10 RPI AND top 10 SOS and aren't really in the National Seed discussion. Meanwhile Florida was like 4 games above .500 2 or 3 weeks ago, and were in the hosting discussion because "they have a Great SOS, and a really good RPI". Shit pisses me off.

[msumudcat]

Cadaver makes more sense here than anyone else.

[Todd4State]

If our jerseys had Florida written across them, we'd be a national seed right now. I know this is off the subject of this thread and Goat's post, but I feel like we are getting screwed by the college baseball media. We have 42 wins, a top 10 RPI AND top 10 SOS and aren't really in the National Seed discussion. Meanwhile Florida was like 4 games above .500 2 or 3 weeks ago, and were in the hosting discussion because "they have a Great SOS, and a really good RPI". Shit pisses me off.

Here's the deal. Our baseball program outside of Starkville was dormant for SEVEN years. Outside of one trip to Omaha and maybe a fluky SEC Tournament title in 2005. LT and Polk ran our program almost totally into the ground while others were building up.

On top of that, Cohen took over and had two losing seasons while he rebuilt and was trying to change the culture of our program. That brings to NINE years of not being relevant.

By hiring Polk, we lost a complete DECADE. Most college baseball experts saw us as a program with a good history that was essentially "dead". Please feel free to kick LT and or Polk in the nut(s) next time you see them.

We are just now starting to earn respect back. You only do that with consistent winning- which is what we have done the last three years.

Also- remember that the committee and the baseball media are two very separate entities and what the media says has very little if any impact on their decision. In other words, the bias isn't there. And on top of that, from what I have heard, we have a very good ally in our corner on the committee which is where it really counts.

As long as we at the very least host, you will not see me complain about the committee. With a RPI of 10, I'm not going to bitch about not getting a National Seed should be not get one.

[Todd4State]

To me Crooms was as by the book as you could get. Simple offense, never trying anything innovative to help yourself. Stay with the old tried and true- conservative offense- good defense.

Sylvester Crooms went with the grain about as much as a coach could

Exactly. Did we ever run a trick play? Maybe that reverse to Burks in the Liberty Bowl counts? (And that is stretching it)

The thing is, no offense to anyone here, not enough of our fans in general know or understand what is going on the baseball field to know the rationale behind a lot of Cohen's decisions. Cohen has made plenty of aggressive calls that have worked and have won us games this year. But it is very seldom that our message board fans seem to notice that. When things go right, it's "supposed to work that way" or "we got lucky" and very rarely do the good calls get even a thread on any MSU message board. When something goes wrong, we get a two page thread about what a horrible call it was and then Will James says he hates bunting and talks about BABIP whether the play actually involved any bunting or not.

Not every coach is going to call something and have it work to a T every single time. If you look around the SEC Tournament- you see everyone else making a lot of the same mistakes we make.

[RBritt]

Dickerson going pro is why we got Renfroe. Dick would have slugged us to Omaha the year Fla got us in the Supers. Look at his stats, Dickerson is a stud. He'd have hit 20 bombs in his first year with us but if and ands are too little too late. He'll be with the Rockies soon.

[Todd4State]

Dickerson going pro is why we got Renfroe. Dick would have slugged us to Omaha the year Fla got us in the Supers. Look at his stats, Dickerson is a stud. He'd have hit 20 bombs in his first year with us but if and ands are too little too late. He'll be with the Rockies soon.

I believe Corey Dickerson was in the class before Hunter, and I doubt he had any bearing on Renfroe's decision. We saw Renfroe at the State Games in Meridian and were the first team to follow him. He exploded his senior year and had offers from MSU, Ole Miss, and LSU and was committed to Meridian CC at the time before committing and signing with us in the spring.

[RBritt]

Same class in 2010. Dick signed with the Rockies after being picked in the 8th round. Renfroe had signed with Meridian, saw the daily leader article a couple weeks ago. After Corey signed with the Rockies and bypassed State, we signed Hunter.

[Todd4State]

They may have been in the same class, but we would have taken them both. You find room for a guy that was drafted by the Red Sox and has offers from Ole Miss and LSU. Again, I know for a fact we were the first team on him in August before his senior year.

More than likely what happened was we were able to offer more scholarship money when Dickerson left but us signing him wasn't dependent on what Corey Dickerson did.