I just don?t think you win a national title in baseball by accident. I realize he inherited a strong roster, but the 2021 team had some flaws that we absolutely had to work around. Bednar and Sims were great, but we didn?t have any other starters that could get us 5 innings by the time the Super Regional rolled around. Even Harding, as clutch as he was, was really more of a 3-4 inning guy. TA and Rowdey were stars, but the rest of that lineup was frankly just OK. LoTan was a good hitter and other guys had their moment?s but let?s not act like we had some murderer?s row. We started Brayland Skinner, Scotty Dubrule, and Lane Forsythe in our championship clinching game. I like those guys but no one would mistake any one of them for a great hitter.

Lemonis WAS a very good coach for us. I will always believe that. He was aided by his team?s talent, sure, but the guy made some really strong moves as a manager his first few years. It makes this cataclysmic fall from grace all the more surprising to me. I thought we may take a step back for a year or two after 2021. No one could have foreseen this kind of collapse. And I feel like it is revisionist?s history to suggest that he was never any good to begin with. That is simply not an accurate depiction of his first three years at all.