2018 College World Series

[FondrenRoad 4378]

On 7/10/2018 at 1:33 PM, TrashMaster G said:

No, not really.  I thought it was glorious.

Yeah. Fuck the pigs.  We should play them every year in every sport though. Need a 2nd rivalry again. 

[torre 1298]

Very surprised about Casey.   59 is very young to retire.     One of the greats, won back to back CWS championships in '06 and '07.   Augie once mentioned that was a goal he did not attain.

Excerpts:

 

Pat Casey retired on Thursday. I think. But he sounded so conflicted, let's call it a sabbatical, for now.

After 24 seasons as the head baseball coach at Oregon State, and 900 victories, Casey sounded as if he's had enough. He pointed out how weary he is. He talked about how unsure he is that he can still give the kind of effort he demands of his players. The guy with three national championships at a place that had no history and obvious challenges joked about handing notes through the fence to interim coach and long-time assistant Pat Bailey next season. 

"If it isn't right," Casey, just 59 years old, said of retirement, "I'm sure I can get back in the game... I'm not smart enough to tell you if the decision is the absolutely right decision."

Two immediate takeaways:

A) Casey LOVES coaching. You can hear it in his voice. The profession has become a year-round grind. Between recruiting, fundraising, the media, navigating university politics, the regular season and playing a long postseason, it's pretty much a 12-month endeavor. I recently read a book titled, "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a (bleep)." I'm thinking Casey might pick it up and make a quick retirement realization.

The author, Mark Manson, writes, "No matter where you go, there's a five-hundred-pound load of (manure) waiting for you. And that's perfectly fine. The point isn't to get away from the (manure). The point is to find the (manure) you enjoy dealing with."

So I'm thinking that Casey is going to be called upon to shake hands and help raise funds and attend banquet dinners. But as Casey pointed out, "they can dress me up however they like, but I'm still a coach." In that, at some point Casey will realize that his pile of (manure) was a more enjoyable pile than the one he gets to deal with while wearing a dress shirt and tie in some other university capacity. 

B) Casey is drained. He's weary. That's how he arrives at the end of every baseball season. It's who he is and what he does. This isn't the first time Casey has arrived at the end of a baseball season and thought about hanging it up. In fact, prior athletic directors mostly waved him off and told him to come back a few weeks later. But this is the first time Casey has gone public with it.

It's always advisable to not make a decision when you're tired, and in the sports world, never at the end of the season. I think Casey needed a few weeks of more distance from what was a long, draining, successful baseball season. Maybe what he really needs is a year off without the pressures. It's why I found the appointment of Bailey as his "interim" successor as an interesting choice. Oregon State may be leaving the door open there. The plan, I'm told is one year with Bailey as the interim coach and then a national search. Wonder if search results in Casey being re-hired?

But what we have here is a conflicted human being. He contradicted himself, at times, on Thursday. He sounded like he was alternately finished, and then, candidly and beautifully unsure about it all. Maybe he's making a terrible mistake. Maybe he'll make a comeback after a season off. Maybe he won't. But what was clear on Thursday was how draining coaching can be, even on the soul of a guy who won a pile of games. 

"I have no oceans to sail. I have no mountains to climb. I have no hobbies. I don't know what in the hell I'm going to do," Casey said. 

 

https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2018/09/canzano_pat_caseys_legacy.html

    

[petscii 1195]

Casey has toyed with retiring multiple times, to the point of the school  not being sure if he was going to coach the next season or not.   He marches to his own drum.

 

[shnsajax 3607]

2 hours ago, Austin Orange said:

It’s crazy to think we were interviewing him to replace Augie. I take it he just wants to go out on top rather than still coach for another 6-7 years.  

I nothing about him in terms of kids, grandkids, etc, but you look at Augie and his life after baseball and he never really got to have it. Reading about him I don't think he has ever lived outside of Oregon his entire life.

Edited September 7, 2018 by shnsajax

[Dewey 3330]

Aside from a guy quoting a self help book, what's the deal? Surprised like many, but I dont know OSU. Is he getting heat at home from keeping that pitcher on the team?

I'll be disappointed if he ends up as a HC in the SEC.

[Beau Vine 55859]

Ha, there is zero chance that Casey takes an SEC job.  If he coaches again, it will be at OSU starting in 2020.  Or at some place like Western Oregon University.

[petscii 1195]

50 minutes ago, shnsajax said:

I nothing about him in terms of kids, grandkids, etc, but you look at Augie and his life after baseball and he never really got to have it. Reading about him I don't think he has ever lived outside of Oregon his entire life.

Augie made it clear while coaching that he had no life outside of baseball.   

[petscii 1195]

3 hours ago, Austin Orange said:

It’s crazy to think we were interviewing him to replace Augie. I take it he just wants to go out on top rather than still coach for another 6-7 years.  

Casey has pulled some form of this multiple times at Oregon.   During the summer he would drop off the radar and not communicate with the school.  I doubt Casey was ever seriously considered for the Texas job because of this trait. 

https://www.buildingthedam.com/2011/7/24/2290515/six-potential-candidates-to-be-head-baseball-coach-at-oregon-state

[torre 1298]

5 hours ago, petscii said:

Casey has pulled some form of this multiple times at Oregon.   During the summer he would drop off the radar and not communicate with the school.  I doubt Casey was ever seriously considered for the Texas job because of this trait. 

https://www.buildingthedam.com/2011/7/24/2290515/six-potential-candidates-to-be-head-baseball-coach-at-oregon-state

petscii,   iirc don't you live in the Northwest  ?        Any idea of why other than as you state above he marches to the beat of his own drum ?    Regardless,  a helluva' baseball coach -  college baseball will miss him.

Nate Yeskie,  the pitching coach,  is one of the most respected in the NCAA.    He will receive multiple offers as he has in the past,  some to be head coach. 

 

Lot of money to leave on the table.

 

The OSU baseball coach now has a deal that runs through the 2022 season, according to the contact obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive. Casey, who won two College World Series titles at OSU in 2006 and 2007, is set to make at least $5.5 million over the next six years.

The 57-year-old has been given a $50,000 raise for each of the remaining four years on the deal, earning $800,000 for the coming year, $850,000 in 2018, $900,000 in 2019 and $950,000 in 2020. His annual salary will increase by another $50,000 over each of the next two years of the extension, concluding at $1.05 million in the final year

The extension, which Casey signed in July, came after the University of Texas pursued him for its vacant head coaching position in June. Casey interviewed and said he was offered the job but did not accept. In a June interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive, he declined to discuss a potential contract extension or raise but said anything he and Stansbury may do "doesn't have anything to do with the University of Texas."

https://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2016/10/oregon_state_baseball_coach_pa_3.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

[petscii 1195]

3 hours ago, torre said:

petscii,   iirc don't you live in the Northwest  ?        Any idea of why other than as you state above he marches to the beat of his own drum ?    Regardless,  a helluva' baseball coach -  college baseball will miss him.

Nate Yeskie,  the pitching coach,  is one of the most respected in the NCAA.    He will receive multiple offers as he has in the past,  some to be head coach. 

Lot of money to leave on the table

Oregon is a lot different than Texas.  People in Oregon are not that hung up on money.  When you look at the culture there it's really surprising that  Nike is  an Oregon company. Every year since his first two titles there has been talk of him quitting.  I have no idea how it was before that.  I would not be shocked if he came back.  I was more surprised with Lopez leaving Arizona than any other coach retiring in the past 20 years.

Pat Casey is responsible in my eyes for elevating college baseball.   His back to back titles led to the resumption of baseball at  Oregon, Seattle, and Boise State.  I also believe, along with UW Softball winning a national championship, that his success was responsible for Ken Knutson getting ousted at Washington.  Knutson put UW on the map in the 90's.

I live in  Seattle and it was a sad state when I got here in 95,   Washington was basically king of the pac-10 north.   With Portland and Gonzaga in that division as well.   What would typically happen is Washington would win the north crown then play the south champion.  Usually the south champion was a regional host and really wouldn't be motivated to win the Pac-10 automatic bid having secured a bid by hosting.  Washington was very opportunistic during that era.   Washington State has the best record of schools in the Pac 10 north so that should say something about level of play. 

I went through the "Next UT Baseball Coach?" thread at shaggy, to find out what I said at the time about Casey being a flight risk job wise.   I also noted a few comments that said that Casey was washed up after his fluke two national championships. 

Good times.

Don't get me wrong, I loved going to Washington games under Knutson.   They were great and really helped me get over missing Texas Baseball after I left Austin.

Edited September 8, 2018 by petscii