No need to avoid looking back now, and I'm still pissed off.

When I look back on this 2017 Oregon State baseball squad, I will remember it with pride, amazement, and wonder.  But also with a significant tinge of anger, betrayal, and resentment.

When you commit an error in a baseball game, it's very difficult to shake it off and not play the "what if" game, and track all the badness that happens if you weren't working to get that 4th out.  It can kill you mentally, so a big part of the game is not looking back, and simply moving ahead and taking what comes.

That was the spirit that all of us tried like hell to maintain after Kwan's non-double on Friday. The players said all the right things, and our coaches said all the right things and took some responsibility, and I tried to put it behind me too.  We all did.

But now that it's over for us, that's no longer necessary, so let's talk about that and all the other mountains of adversity this team had to overcome until they finally had nothing left in the tank.

While some blame lies with Casey for not asking for a replay on Kwan's hit, I don't think overturning it on replay would have had as big of an effect as if the umps had gotten it right to begin with.  To me, the blame ultimately lies with them (and let's not forget...just a few years ago, replay review wouldn't have even been an option anyway).  For one thing, that ball bounced around a ton and I think both runners on 1st and 2nd would have scored, whereas overturning it after the fact would probably just score 1 run and one of the runners would probably have had to stay at 3rd.  And while the situation of 2nd and 3rd with 1 out is WAY better than 1st and 2nd and 2 outs, I think that having the players calmly take those positions at the umps direction wouldn't have had the same impact on Lange than if everything fell apart live and Kwan was sitting there on 2nd base with a base-clearing double that tied the game (or even standing on 3rd with 1 out if there was a throw to the plate).  I have no doubt his performance would have been WAY different than what it was after getting out of that jam with only 1 run scoring.

And for those who claim that you can't win a game getting only 2 hits, I have two responses:  1) Maybe not, but I think we could definitely have won if we were awarded a 3rd hit like we should have been.  And 2) you sure as hell CAN win a game on 2 hits.  Hell, anybody remember Game 1 of the Super Regional against Michigan in 2007?  Barney finally broke up the no-no in the 9th inning to break a 0-0 tie and get the W with 1 hit.  It's called a pitcher's duel, and with the way Jake settled in for the rest of the game, I think we could have had a dandy on Friday after answering their initial scoring in that 3rd inning.

And that gets us to the pitcher's duel that should have happened on Friday:  Ace against Ace, Lange vs Heimlich (I have no doubt Heimlich would have started Friday after starting the prior Saturday against Fullerton, and we'd have Jake or Fehmel, whoever didn't start Wednesday, ready to play on Saturday if need be).  With the way things went down with the Oregonian, I'm not saying that Heimlich should have been there.  The way they handled that story, he basically had no choice but to stay in Corvallis.  But that is where my beef is: the way they handled that story as a complete hit-job.  The way they got all the court records and then burned the midnight oil to make sure they could go to press within 2 days, 24 hours before the super regionals started.  And then follow it up with 7 straight hit-job editorials that make Luke out to be the devil, and paint any fan who dares questions any aspects of the story to be OK with child molestation.

There are enough inconsistencies in the story regarding how Moran found out about this, and his supposed interaction with the Benton County police and DA, that makes me believe he did NOT find out by accident, but rather was tipped off.  And while I won't go into any of the rumors and suppositions that are flying around about this situation (see angrybeavers.com if you want to delve into those), all indications look to me like Danny was pulled into and contributed to a nasty, nasty family dispute that may have involved Luke's potential draft money.  I am fairly certain that we are going to learn way more than we'd wish about this family in the coming months as Luke begins a PR campaign to justify his future baseball career, and I will not be surprised in the least to learn that in the end it was a horrible injustice to this team that they had to go to college baseball's biggest stage without their ace.  All because the "O" had to practice tabloid journalism and break the shock-and-awe story at the most opportune time, facts and backstories be damned.

So yeah, over 24 hours later and I'm still pissed off that these kids got not one, but several hose jobs.  I think I will be for some time.  And I haven't even talked about Saturday's pathetic umpire!  What a complete and utter joke.  I mentioned it in another thread, but check out this guy's public portion of his facebook page to see a bunch of screen shots that will make your blood boil:

www.facebook.com/scott.amerman

But like I said, it never should have come down to Saturday's game if Friday's 3rd base umpire didn't screw the pooch and do his damn job.

When I think about how this team and these kids came so close even with all this crap going against them, it fills me with immeasurable pride.  But their magical season ended with them getting railroaded, and it pisses me off.

GO BEAVS!