Google Hangout: CBD Meeting on the Mound (March 6th)

Brian Foley

– March 6, 2013Posted in: 2013 Season Coverage, CBD Column, CBD Hangout, General CBB News

This week host Ghizal Hazan is joined by CBD editor Brian Foley, CBD West Coast Reporter Shotgun Spratling, and CBD contributor Mark Rafferty as they discuss the latest news in College Baseball for this week.

Tags: CBD Column, CBD Hangout

About Brian Foley

Brian Foley is the founder and Lead Editor of College Baseball Daily since its inception in 2005. He has covered two CWS, multiple NCAA Baseball Regionals, and other special events across the country. In addition to his duties with College Baseball Daily, he has covered games for Inside Lacrosse and been featured in USA Today, Wall Street Journal among other publications. He can be contacted by email at editor at collegebaseballdaily.com and followed on Twitter @BFoley82.

West Coast Honk

Brian Foley…WOW! Tell us how you really feel about George
Horton…you laugh him off like he’s a joke?
You criticize his style of play like he’s a crazy person wasting his
time on something that will never work?
Your smug remarks came off highly unprofessional and seemingly ignorant
to anything happening west of the Mississippi.
Maybe you should read his resume, he’s done pretty well for
himself. Shotgun, thank you for
mentioning the run scoring efficiency component to what is referred to as
“Small Ball”, or the “West Coast Offense”, scoring efficiency is the essence of
the west coast style. 1st
and 3rd one out I would rather safety squeeze and get that one run
in and get that other runner into scoring position with 2 outs almost every time,
than to have even my best hitter swing away and hope we get that big
inning. Most of the time they will hit
into a double play, strike out, hit a short pop up or if they do hit a deep
enough fly ball to score the runner from third you still have the runner at
first with two outs. They don’t play 162
games, they only play a third of that, you can’t afford to wait around for big
innings. Augie Garrido has used that
style to win 5 NCAA titles and more games than anyone, Horton got a ring and
has turned Oregon into a national contender virtually overnight. Not to mention all the conference
championships and trips to Omaha by Fullerton, Texas, even Serrano/Bergeron
took Irvine and Fullerton to Omaha with the same style.
- http://collegebaseballdaily.com/ Brian Foley
  
  Ha really, that style works to win games, doesn’t mean I have to like watching it. More college teams have gone to it which has honestly made it less interesting.
  Sports that rely on mistakes to win bother me and that is what that system is based on.
  Brian Foley
  Editor of College Baseball Daily
  - WCH
    
    I wouldn’t call putting pressure on the defense to actually demonstrate
    they can play defense is relying on mistakes, and to think that the whole style is based on that is short sided. At some point they mix in some hits to capitalize on the runners that were moved into scoring position. If I can take a team on the field and get you to throw the ball around because you can do a simplething like get an out on a bunt when the team is giving you an out that you are just a poorly coached team. Small Ball is designed to win tournament style baseball, that’s funny that is what the playoffs and the world series is, a tournament. In Omaha you face the best of the best pitching, you better know how to manufacture runs or you will be on a quick fight home, kind of like Florida Sate every year because good pitching usually shuts down good hitting. Oh, last time I forgot to mention UCLA using small ball to get to Omaha, sorry John.
    - http://collegebaseballdaily.com/ Brian Foley
      
      When was the last time UCLA won a title? South Carolina and LSU didn’t rely on small ball for their wins…I didn’t travel to the CWS last year due to my schooling and real job
      Brian Foley
      Editor of College Baseball Daily
      - WCH
        
        Weak sauce my friend.
- Shotgun Spratling
  
  Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. The West Coast style of Horton/Garrido can be highly effective, but has its detriments too. When a team like Oregon can’t get runners on (when facing stud pitchers like is often the case in the first two games of Regionals or the CWS), they can’t apply that pressure on the defense and when you run into a team that pitches well and is fundamentally sound, the team can quickly drop a series as was the case over the weekend against Cal State Fullerton.
  
  Ideally, you can mix the ability to do the fundamentals (lay down the bunt, put runners in motion, etc.) with a couple of big bats in the middle of the lineup. Ryon Healy is hitting the cover off the ball for Oregon right now, but he needs some more help. That’s what UCLA has done during it’s couple of recent CWS runs. And that’s why I like Fullerton more than Oregon right now…both are solid fundamentally and have some solid pitching (so far, we’ll see if Garza & Eshelman hold up over the longer collegiate season), but Fullerton has enough solid bats in that lineup that future first rounder Michael Lorenzen has typically batted sixth this season.