Blame

Let me begin by letting everyone on this board know that I'm an LSU fan who happens to live in Baton Rouge as well. I created an account here prior to the first LSU/OSU CWS game b/c I appreciated and respected the passion that OSU fans have for their baseball program. We as LSU fans have that same passion for our baseball program which has it's own tradition and great support while taking a back seat to a football program that drives all LSU Athletics. I chose this thread b/c it's subject is a common discussion the day following any teams early post season exit. I'm a big team fan of the Houston Astros and LSU baseball but I'm just a huge fan of the sport of baseball at all levels and I was even blessed to play at the DIV 1 level. I wanted to provide my thoughts on this subject and OSU's play over the last few games. I'll be very objective and impartial but I'm sure there will still be a few here who dispute that. I apologize in advance for such a long post.

Umpires that official these games enforce the rule book while relying on personal judgement to make calls. They often make bad calls and games are effected as a result one way or another. We hope that the games outcome isn't directly decided by that one bad call. As fans we are emotionally involved and we are quick to "blame" (especially officiating) when some bad calls are made and our teams lose.

Friday's OSU/LSU Game: Lange was dialed in through 7.1 innings and his only mistakes were in the 3rd where a mechanics issue caused him to struggle with command. We all know this is when Kwon sent the ball into the LF corner hitting the yellow foul line under the foul pole with runners on 1st & 2nd with 1 out. Pat Casey & his Asst Coach thought the ball was indeed foul and declined to ask the officials for a review. If this ball is called fair then a couple runs come across for OSU and it's potentially a different ball game. Timely hitting with RISP is vital in games like this and leaving bases full of Beavers in the 3rd really hurt OSU.

Conclusion: Pat Casey's decision to decline review ended up being a big mistake since 2 runs possibly score in a game that was decided by 2 runs. OSU's lack of offensive production through the line up did nothing to off-set the foul call. Lange had a lot to do with that and finished with 8 SO's & 1 Run on 2 Hits.  

Saturday's OSU/LSU Game: (Just hear me out) 
Gilbert was great considering he's spent all season in LSU's bull pen. He went 7.1 innings allowing 1 Run on 2 Hits & just 1 Walk. Gilbert was dialed in as well and took full advantage of home plate umpires very generous zone. He's stayed down & on the black hitting Pap's mitt wherever he was calling for it which was usually down on the outside edge. Look, I totally understand why so many of you are upset about the strike zone. There were some balls that were clearly 6 inches off the plate that Gilbert would benefit from. Now, it's hard for OSU fans to accept but the umpire was calling it both ways but the wide strike zone had a larger negative impact on OSU hitters. The reason OSU hitters were getting more of these strikes off the plate called early on is b/c they left the bat on their shoulders as Gilbert took advantage of the new strike zone. OSU's patience and plate approach that they were used to wasn't going to get it done with this type of strike zone. LSU's aggressive approach at the plate was exactly what needed to be done with this new strike zone. LSU hitters were even toeing the chalk in the box throughout the game but OSU hitters stayed where they were comfortable. This is the adjustments that people are talking about OSU needing to make. Of course you can't hit a ball in the other batters box but Gilbert threw around 105 pitches and 70 were strikes. All 70 strikes were not in the other batters box where they couldn't be hit. Every pitcher wants to work ahead in the count and Gilbert is no exception, especially against a good hitting OSU team. They didn't take advantage of the early count fastball's or they were late getting around on it. LSU took advantage of early count fastballs and when they were left up in the zone they did what good hitters do and they left the yard. I agree with everyone that starting Fehmel and not Ras was the wrong decision. LSU already had a good look at Fehmel and his stuff isn't electric enough to stall a tough LSU lineup for a 2nd time.

Conclusion: The umpire behind the plate was terrible without a doubt and made OSU hitters uncomfortable but he isn't the reason OSU lost the game. In a match up between 2 teams like this it's sad that the headlines are about bad umpires. Gilbert and Hess took full advantage of this umpire's terrible strike zone and OSU pitchers did not. LSU's production from the bottom half of it's lineup has been a game changer. OSU ran into 2 really good pitchers and couldn't get any production. In 18 innings against LSU the OSU offense scored 2 runs on 5 hits.  

Congrats on the best regular season that most of us has ever witnessed. I enjoyed watching the Beavers play and I'm now a fan of OSU.    

Very rationale post jrock, with just a couple items from me, for what they're worth.

You said, "Conclusion: Pat Casey's decision to decline review ended up being a big mistake since 2 runs possibly score......" I contend he didn't "decline" to review the play, he just wasn't emphatic enough to ASK for a review. Seems he went out and was told in no uncertain terms by the umps that the ball was foul and he accepted that answer. He shouldn't have in real time, but he did. I've been asking how our third base coach missed the fair/foul ball, where was he and why didn't he see it. It also seems to me that in a reviewable call where the head coach goes out to question it, somebody should have requested a review be it umps, or coaches.

I agree with this as well, you said: "Gilbert threw around 105 pitches and 70 were strikes. All 70 strikes were not in the other batters box where they couldn't be hit." I agree that the 30-foot wide strike zone we saw took our normally patient at-bats out of rhythm, but there were an awful lot of other strikes we didn't hit. Is it just possible we faced two very good pitchers and went into a hitting slump all at the same time as having the worst plate ump I've ever seen? Perhaps.

I agree again, you said; "The umpire behind the plate was terrible without a doubt and made OSU hitters uncomfortable but he isn't the reason OSU lost the game." But if you read this I'd love to know if you have any comment on WHY the NCAA and/or the CWS would put a SEC ump behind the plate in any of these games. I certainly wouldn't have wanted a PAC12 ump back there for a multitude of reasons. But I have to say, as bad as PAC12 umps (and referees) are --- this guy made our League's ump look all-world!

From what I saw, the strike zone didn't change based on what color jersey was in the box...it changed based on what box the batter was in. He wasn't giving the off-the-plate strike vs. any right handed batters. Yes, it affected us more, because they had a strikeout starter and we didn't. Gilbert rung up 43 in 44.2 IP this year. Fehmel rung up 49 in 81.1. Of the 14 batters who struck out on Saturday (for both sides), only two of those (Grenier and Slaughter) were batting right handed. Deichmann struck out twice. I think the umps strike zone was consistently awful, and LSU did a better job of hitting his "sweet spot" than we did. Once Fehmel came out, they got two runs on four hits in 5.2 innings and struck out four times. Over our final 5.2 innings at the plate, we got one run on three hits and struck out four times. Biggest difference in the game was the starting pitching - they hit the spot, and we didn't. No bias, nothing unfair about it.