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Post by Werebeaver on Apr 24, 2017 7:01:22 GMT -8
..fallen empires?
When I first started following PAC-10 baseball these 3 teams perennially dominated not only the conference but were regular CWS/championship contenders. Now they've fallen on hard times despite their supposed advantages in recruiting, facilities, weather and tradition.
Long term trend or short term anomaly?
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Post by mauibeav on Apr 24, 2017 7:31:35 GMT -8
I can see Stanford being really good next year, heck they played us tough. USC I can't figure out, all the resources are there. I think ASU will be back in it soon. They are young, again the resources are there. We need these teams to be good. It only helps us when we beat them :-)
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Post by ricke71 on Apr 24, 2017 7:42:16 GMT -8
USC, amongst those 3, seems to have established a long term mediocre status. They haven't won a conference championship for 15 years. Though they had a tick up in 2015 and made the Field of 64, that is the only season in the past 10 that they reached 30 or more wins. As far as 2017, it looks like their 3 primary starting pitchers are each sporting an ERA above 5, and a batting average against above .300. Ouch.
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Post by ochobeavo on Apr 24, 2017 8:31:45 GMT -8
I think of the 3, Stanford will be fine - and they could still finish as high as 2nd this season. They recruit nationally and I think they always seem to fare real well in the "go to Stanford vs go pro" decision with the kids they sign (as I'd expect). I think they'll continue to be strong and they'll have plenty of solid candidates to replace MM.
USC - they gave Hubbs an extension after 2015 after they made it to the regional, so I'm curious how much longer they go with him. Funny that they can't seem to get pitching dialed in, Hubbs was pitching coach at Cal for about 10 years and had some nice staffs while he was there. Overall though, he's under .500 in conference after year 5.
ASU - I think they give Smith another year. But they are trending the wrong way, 18-12 in conf in 2015, 16-14 last year, 5-10 this year and it's pretty ugly / honeymoon period is now officially over. Not to mention expectations are significantly higher than USC for example.
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Post by mbabeav on Apr 24, 2017 8:45:50 GMT -8
Just want to see if my impression is accurate that there are more frosh playing this year in the Pac-12 than I have ever seen before. That is making a difference for a lot of teams. I know that furd and the devils are relying on a lot of them, heck our bullpen and catcher are anchored by frosh. Don't know enough about USC to say, but of all the squads, they are the most mediocre of the power schools in conference since we clocked them in the SR in 2005.
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Post by sagebrush on Apr 24, 2017 8:47:11 GMT -8
I don't understand ASU. Weather, facilities, MLB exposure. Don't understand how a recruit could say no if ASU came knocking on the door. I think Smith is toast.
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Post by ricke71 on Apr 24, 2017 9:20:20 GMT -8
I don't understand ASU. Weather, facilities, MLB exposure. Don't understand how a recruit could say no if ASU came knocking on the door. I think Smith is toast. "Toast" is indeed the likely outcome. More than a few fans who post on Devil's Dugout actively 'root' for ASU to lose games in order to speed up that process. Their fan base, at least on that very active site, seems similar to Boston / New York fanbases. |
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Post by justdamwin on Apr 24, 2017 9:24:24 GMT -8
I don't understand ASU. Weather, facilities, MLB exposure. Don't understand how a recruit could say no if ASU came knocking on the door. I think Smith is toast. Hot, drought and brown landscape. Practice outside at 4:30 AM or 10:30 PM. Quality artificial turf and inside practice facilities have changed or at least made even the historic weather advantages of some locations. Stanford is a quality program USC- Sleeping Giant. |
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Post by beaverbeliever on Apr 24, 2017 12:31:13 GMT -8
ASU's facilities have actually fallen behind. Their on-campus stadium became very dated, and they weren't able to raise the funds to replace it so they've instead moved to a former minor league park. Their message board attributes a lot of their decline to a lack of investment in the program.
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Post by wilkyisdashiznit on Apr 24, 2017 13:27:57 GMT -8
I don't understand ASU. Weather, facilities, MLB exposure. Don't understand how a recruit could say no if ASU came knocking on the door. I think Smith is toast. Hot, drought and brown landscape. Practice outside at 4:30 AM or 10:30 PM. Quality artificial turf and inside practice facilities have changed or at least made even the historic weather advantages of some locations. Stanford is a quality program USC- Sleeping Giant. Average weather in Phoenix: February: High 70. Low 41. Average of 0.7" of rain. Sunny 80% of the time. March: High 75. Low 49. Average of 0.9" of rain. Sunny 84% of the time. April: High 84. Low 55. Average of 0.2" of rain. Sunny 89% of the time. May: High 94. Low 64. Average of 0.1" of rain. Sunny 93% of the time. May is a terrible time to play baseball outside in Phoenix, but there are few places that are nicer February through April. |
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Post by wilkyisdashiznit on Apr 24, 2017 13:33:41 GMT -8
ASU's facilities have actually fallen behind. Their on-campus stadium became very dated, and they weren't able to raise the funds to replace it so they've instead moved to a former minor league park. Their message board attributes a lot of their decline to a lack of investment in the program. What an awesome fall back, though. Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The light poles are the 1940 light poles from the Polo Grounds. |
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