Todd4State
06-30-2021, 11:34 PM
WOW! We FINALLY did it! We added the final piece to the crown of our baseball accomplishments. We have SEC Titles, SEC Tournament Titles, Regional titles, Super Regional Titles, and now my friends...WE ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!
So to the players and coaches I say THANK YOU! You will ALWAYS be champions no matter what and it's never going to be taken away from you. It wasn't always easy but in baseball it never is. You always have Mizzou weekends and losses to Kent State's from time to time but that's the nature of the game and it's not about one weekend but putting it all together at the right time.
I know this goes unsaid here because we understand what we have- but we should really appreciate the program that we have and just how special and unique it really is. If you think about it two of the "Big Three" fan bases in the SEC are in what amounts to AA size baseball towns. Baton Rouge and Fayetteville where there is a AA team in Springdale less than 30 miles away. And then yes, Ole Miss but part of the reason why they draw well is in response to what we do and have at MSU. What makes MSU different is the people involved with it. I remember going to MSU games in college and I would end up sitting next to some older gentleman who was a farmer from somewhere like Kilmichael or Houston who attended every game since Ron Polk became coach. Or you would see a person who is a local person who helped take care of the players in Starkville as a mentor. All these people- and then you have some like me who live out of town and can go a few times a year. It's ALL a big family. It really is. We're all in it together. Some of us have rigs in the LFL and are a part of that culture. Some of us are just fans like myself. But it doesn't matter- we're all in it together as a program. All of us together yell just as loud and go just as crazy when something big happens. We all help rattle those pitchers from Notre Dame to help us get to Omaha.
But the players and the coaches of course they are the ones that take center stage. And there have been so many special players through the year. Willie Mitchell was the first Mississippian to make it to MLB from Mississippi A&M. Buddy Myer played in the 1920's and should probably be in the baseball HOF. Dudy Noble made us a regional power and then RP Patty won our first SEC Title with the Bragan's and Alex Grammas. And then Paul Gregory continued to win SEC Titles regularly in the 50's and 60's with players like Del Unser, Bobby Myrick, Phil Still, Brantley Jones, Frank Montgomery, and Sammy Ellis. And then Ron Polk took us from a regional power to the beginning of a national power as well as becoming the most influential person in Mississippi baseball history and the SEC. He started to take us to Omaha. He brought in Jack Lazorko and Buck Showalter and then it happened.....1985 put us on the map nationally with Thunder and Lightning, Brantley and Thigpen. Then the 1989 and 1990 teams showed we could sustain it with guys like Bobby Reed, Jon Harden, Pete Young, Barry Winford, Tommy Raffo, Jon Shave, Jody Hurst, BJ Wallace, John Cohen, Jay Powell, and Brad Hildreth. Obviously Polk had to leave at some point and he left out on a high note with the 97 team with Eric Dubose, Adam Piatt, Jeremy Jackson, Richard Lee, Jon Knott, and Brooks Bryan. Pat McMahon kind of held the status quo and then Polk came back and that was tough for us even we still got some good baseball players and moments like the 2005 SEC Tournament and the 2007 CWS World Series and guys like Paul Maholm , Mitch Moreland, Ed Easley, Jonathan Papelbon, and Craig Tatum. Going to Cohen was a tough time for our family but it was the right decision even though it was painful for many to not see Polk win a CWS or him get what he wanted. And after three tough years we began to return to what MSU baseball is. We saw more great players come through like Adam Frazier, Hunter Renfroe, Chris Stratton, Jarrod Parks, Jonathan Holder, Jacob Lindgren, and then we saw Jake Mangum, Brent Rooker, Dakota Hudson, Nate Lowe, Jack Kruger take us to a SEC title in 2016 after an dead last finish in 2015. Andy Cannizaro turned out to be an embarrassing moment for the program but he took us to a SR, and then Gary Henderson did a great job getting us to Omaha with Mangum, Elijah MacNamee, Ethan Small and then finally Chris Lemonis took us the final step with players like Landon Sims, Logan Tanner, Tanner Allen, and Rowdey Jordan, and Will Bednar. And hopefully we will have many more titles and special players come through.
It's just so amazing. I reflected tonight on some of those tough days back in the late 2000's during Cohen's first two years and as a fan I just remember having this vision of what MSU baseball could be. And for me tonight to see it all kind of come full circle is incredible. Even though I had 0.0000001% participation in the big picture of it. We have the best fans in the country. We have the best stadium. We have the best coaches. We put players in the Big Leagues- see Brandon Woodruff and probably JT Ginn soon. And now we have the best team in the country. It's just so special. I'll admit there were times where I doubted that we would ever win one. Especially when you have a team like Vanderbilt using every loophole that we can't use- same with LSU in the 1990's really too. But tonight none of that mattered. They have two first round pick pitchers who are actually probably top 10 picks. They had twice as many guys on full scholarship who had been part of #1 recruiting classes. They have a coach who is a sleazeball who basically orchestrated to take out a team based on COVID protocols AND the NCAA allowed it. But again- NONE of that mattered. And isn't that so Mississippi State? We play by the rules and we just outwork and out hustle you and there was NOTHING their elite stuck up ass or their slimeball attention whore nasty looking "whistler" could do about it. We won this our way and doing things the Mississippi State way. We played hard and we played good fundamental baseball and like Ron Polk knows it ALWAYS hard to beat that any day of the week. And we did it with our family behind our players and that overcame their advantages just like we did to them in the SEC Tournament in 2012 and just like we did to them in the SR at their house in 2018.
This is the pinnacle of MSU baseball for me. I hope we become a dynasty who knows? But if we don't we at least have tonight. We can say we have done it. And I am so thankful I was alive to see it and experience and share it with my Dad over the phone after the series was over. Very lucky I've seen the Cardinals win the World Series twice too and now this for me kind of completes the circle.
Can't wait to buy my t-shirt and Hail State! NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2021! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So to the players and coaches I say THANK YOU! You will ALWAYS be champions no matter what and it's never going to be taken away from you. It wasn't always easy but in baseball it never is. You always have Mizzou weekends and losses to Kent State's from time to time but that's the nature of the game and it's not about one weekend but putting it all together at the right time.
I know this goes unsaid here because we understand what we have- but we should really appreciate the program that we have and just how special and unique it really is. If you think about it two of the "Big Three" fan bases in the SEC are in what amounts to AA size baseball towns. Baton Rouge and Fayetteville where there is a AA team in Springdale less than 30 miles away. And then yes, Ole Miss but part of the reason why they draw well is in response to what we do and have at MSU. What makes MSU different is the people involved with it. I remember going to MSU games in college and I would end up sitting next to some older gentleman who was a farmer from somewhere like Kilmichael or Houston who attended every game since Ron Polk became coach. Or you would see a person who is a local person who helped take care of the players in Starkville as a mentor. All these people- and then you have some like me who live out of town and can go a few times a year. It's ALL a big family. It really is. We're all in it together. Some of us have rigs in the LFL and are a part of that culture. Some of us are just fans like myself. But it doesn't matter- we're all in it together as a program. All of us together yell just as loud and go just as crazy when something big happens. We all help rattle those pitchers from Notre Dame to help us get to Omaha.
But the players and the coaches of course they are the ones that take center stage. And there have been so many special players through the year. Willie Mitchell was the first Mississippian to make it to MLB from Mississippi A&M. Buddy Myer played in the 1920's and should probably be in the baseball HOF. Dudy Noble made us a regional power and then RP Patty won our first SEC Title with the Bragan's and Alex Grammas. And then Paul Gregory continued to win SEC Titles regularly in the 50's and 60's with players like Del Unser, Bobby Myrick, Phil Still, Brantley Jones, Frank Montgomery, and Sammy Ellis. And then Ron Polk took us from a regional power to the beginning of a national power as well as becoming the most influential person in Mississippi baseball history and the SEC. He started to take us to Omaha. He brought in Jack Lazorko and Buck Showalter and then it happened.....1985 put us on the map nationally with Thunder and Lightning, Brantley and Thigpen. Then the 1989 and 1990 teams showed we could sustain it with guys like Bobby Reed, Jon Harden, Pete Young, Barry Winford, Tommy Raffo, Jon Shave, Jody Hurst, BJ Wallace, John Cohen, Jay Powell, and Brad Hildreth. Obviously Polk had to leave at some point and he left out on a high note with the 97 team with Eric Dubose, Adam Piatt, Jeremy Jackson, Richard Lee, Jon Knott, and Brooks Bryan. Pat McMahon kind of held the status quo and then Polk came back and that was tough for us even we still got some good baseball players and moments like the 2005 SEC Tournament and the 2007 CWS World Series and guys like Paul Maholm , Mitch Moreland, Ed Easley, Jonathan Papelbon, and Craig Tatum. Going to Cohen was a tough time for our family but it was the right decision even though it was painful for many to not see Polk win a CWS or him get what he wanted. And after three tough years we began to return to what MSU baseball is. We saw more great players come through like Adam Frazier, Hunter Renfroe, Chris Stratton, Jarrod Parks, Jonathan Holder, Jacob Lindgren, and then we saw Jake Mangum, Brent Rooker, Dakota Hudson, Nate Lowe, Jack Kruger take us to a SEC title in 2016 after an dead last finish in 2015. Andy Cannizaro turned out to be an embarrassing moment for the program but he took us to a SR, and then Gary Henderson did a great job getting us to Omaha with Mangum, Elijah MacNamee, Ethan Small and then finally Chris Lemonis took us the final step with players like Landon Sims, Logan Tanner, Tanner Allen, and Rowdey Jordan, and Will Bednar. And hopefully we will have many more titles and special players come through.
It's just so amazing. I reflected tonight on some of those tough days back in the late 2000's during Cohen's first two years and as a fan I just remember having this vision of what MSU baseball could be. And for me tonight to see it all kind of come full circle is incredible. Even though I had 0.0000001% participation in the big picture of it. We have the best fans in the country. We have the best stadium. We have the best coaches. We put players in the Big Leagues- see Brandon Woodruff and probably JT Ginn soon. And now we have the best team in the country. It's just so special. I'll admit there were times where I doubted that we would ever win one. Especially when you have a team like Vanderbilt using every loophole that we can't use- same with LSU in the 1990's really too. But tonight none of that mattered. They have two first round pick pitchers who are actually probably top 10 picks. They had twice as many guys on full scholarship who had been part of #1 recruiting classes. They have a coach who is a sleazeball who basically orchestrated to take out a team based on COVID protocols AND the NCAA allowed it. But again- NONE of that mattered. And isn't that so Mississippi State? We play by the rules and we just outwork and out hustle you and there was NOTHING their elite stuck up ass or their slimeball attention whore nasty looking "whistler" could do about it. We won this our way and doing things the Mississippi State way. We played hard and we played good fundamental baseball and like Ron Polk knows it ALWAYS hard to beat that any day of the week. And we did it with our family behind our players and that overcame their advantages just like we did to them in the SEC Tournament in 2012 and just like we did to them in the SR at their house in 2018.
This is the pinnacle of MSU baseball for me. I hope we become a dynasty who knows? But if we don't we at least have tonight. We can say we have done it. And I am so thankful I was alive to see it and experience and share it with my Dad over the phone after the series was over. Very lucky I've seen the Cardinals win the World Series twice too and now this for me kind of completes the circle.
Can't wait to buy my t-shirt and Hail State! NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2021! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!