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2024 Astros Foundation College Classic


HendersonHorns

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Countless examples in this thread of why you can’t draw conclusions, good or bad, from a series, let alone a single game… the only thing we need to do as a program is improve our NIL. 

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2 minutes ago, txduck87 said:


7b00e2c11a5c500bf944443b6f5f26fb.gif

Exactly. It’s so easy to directly improve the program that being hyper negative this early in a season really comes across as pathetic bitching from the poors. 

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17 minutes ago, BillyGoatHill said:

Houston is one of their biggest if not THE BIGGEST city out of state for their alumni. 

It's one of the main reasons they have always had (even before aggy's 100 yr decision to move SEC) a rivalry with A&M. They both claim Houston as one of, if not their main recruiting ground. 

I was surprised too last night by our turn out but it was pretty close to that two yrs ago when wife and I went to the same tourney with them in it. Their fan base travels extremely well, especially to there 

It is the biggest alumni city far and away for LSU. It’s not unreasonable to think there are an equal amount of Longhorn and Tiger alumni in Houston when you consider that Texas alumni are spread out over 3 major cities. Further, they are very proud of their baseball team. Honestly it didn’t surprise me at all to see that many LSU fans there, and had Texas won the national championship last year the stadium would have been mostly orange. 

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1 hour ago, BlackCat said:

We got dog walked. Wasn't great but it is what it is because Holman is lights out and that very well may be the best team in the country. 

What really bothered me is we were out numbered what felt like about 7 to 1. They outclassed us big time as a fan base and a program. This was in Houston Texas, and I could tell they reveled in having a home game atmosphere in our state. Pissed me off. 

This isn’t new. We were ranked #1 2 years ago and they still dwarfed us in Houston. Arkansas dwarfs us in Arlington. We’re always under-represented in Omaha. The majority of orange in Omaha is player parents. 

It’s okay to admit that there’s a handful of SEC programs with significantly larger and more loyal baseball fanbases than ours. Im excited for the SEC move to wake some people up and change that. 

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20 minutes ago, BillyGoatHill said:

Houston is one of their biggest if not THE BIGGEST city out of state for their alumni. 

I'm well aware. We have way more alumni here. Our program got alpha'd yesterday. They circled our game, showed up in droves, and stayed loud the whole time. Huge matchup against the defending champs in our backyard and we couldnt bother to show up. I dont feel like we should take a back seat to anybody. We've got the numbers, the resources, the history, everything. We clearly can't match the passion of a lot of the fan bases we are about to go against and I think it sucks. I bought season tickets for years when I lived in Austin, been to Omaha multiple times, throw in for baseball NIL. Baseball is the only sport of the Big 3 where we can claim very top tier status. I get LSU fans are nuts about baseball, thats great. Should've been 60/40 LSU to Texas. I really dont know what the splits was. 80/20 at best. Maybe I havent been paying attention. Are we just ceding the territory to them bc they have Marucci $$$? 

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9 minutes ago, BlackCat said:

I'm well aware. We have way more alumni here. Our program got alpha'd yesterday. They circled our game, showed up in droves, and stayed loud the whole time. Huge matchup against the defending champs in our backyard and we couldnt bother to show up. I dont feel like we should take a back seat to anybody. We've got the numbers, the resources, the history, everything. We clearly can't match the passion of a lot of the fan bases we are about to go against and I think it sucks. I bought season tickets for years when I lived in Austin, been to Omaha multiple times, throw in for baseball NIL. Baseball is the only sport of the Big 3 where we can claim very top tier status. I get LSU fans are nuts about baseball, thats great. Should've been 60/40 LSU to Texas. I really dont know what the splits was. 80/20 at best. Maybe I havent been paying attention. Are we just ceding the territory to them bc they have Marucci $$$? 

You're preaching to the choir brotha. 

Your last sentence is best. We got caught with our pants down prior to last year's courting of the mercenaries Skenes and White....and yes, we need to get some Marucci money involved or we will be ceding territory (Players) to the programs that back up a dump truck full of cash. 

Supposedly our NIL for baseball is doing better now ( and there are people here that know more about that than me) but that is another way we are going to have to compete.... have to get them here on campus first. 

Injuries and an unexplained drop (quit) right now could have affected yesterday, But probably not. Dude last night was dealing/PITCHING. It happens. LBJ did it last yr in Miami, as have countless other UT pitchers before him.

UT fans will show up at the Disch for big series and be loud. Gonna have to get used to Tiger and hillbillies from Arky showing up. Like others have hinted, I've already heard through grapevine about some expansion beyond the Yeti Yard in left (which we'll need) City is being a pain about that right now though.

Best thing about baseball? You get to play the next day and put the previous game behind you. 🤘

 

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1 hour ago, BillyGoatHill said:

Not quite 132, but 38 was still alarming.

10 18to MissST, 15 to Arky, 13 to Ol Miss

Yet we somehow go 50-17 sweeping a home regional and Super for the yr, and one run away (bottom of 9th) from the Championship series in Omaha.

Sometimes, that's the way baseball go.

 

 

th-609128066.jpg

But yeah...alarming for sure

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Posted (edited)
16 minutes ago, troph said:

I think it’s fair to conclude DP is kinda like a Mac Brown. A really good leader here but Texas baseball is a super regional / Omaha level program right now, we are not a routine championship caliber program. NIL maybe changes that but for now I think it’s solidifying what we’ve been and that we are a notch below the top tier.

There a lot of factors at play. I think all of the below can be true at some level:

1. Pierce is a proven winner. He’s won everywhere from Sam Houston State to Tulane to Texas. He’s a made a regional in 12 of his 13 full seasons as a head coach. His style is old school and different, which rubs some the wrong way. He is tough to work for and demands a lot from players and coaches.

2. NIL has 100% changed the game. With that said, we are not as far behind as some want to believe. We will be top 5 in the SEC in baseball NIL if we maintain what has been built, probably top 3 if we are being honest. I’ve said it before, but I know for a fact we have missed on guys in the portal because they only wanted to play in the SEC. It’s why I’m interested in seeing if we get a bump this upcoming offseason.

3. Pierce knows we are stepping into a different type of game in the SEC and that is why there has been a recruiting shift over the last few years. We are recruiting a different type of athlete than what we’ve historically had.

4. On the subject of being a “Omaha team” vs a “championship contender”, sometimes in baseball you have to get a lucky bounce or two to get over the jump. We were a light pole away from 3 straight trips to Omaha which is extremely rare for any program. 2004 Texas is the last #1 overall seed to even make the championship series. From 2019-2022, all 3 #1 overall seeds didn’t even make it out the Supers.

5. The standard is the standard, and we should rightfully expect a lot. But baseball probably more than any other sport requires a lot of things to line up perfectly to be a “championship contender” year after year.

6. This dude has also had some shit luck that has probably prevented even more success than we’ve had. David Hamilton falling off a scooter, covid season when we had maybe the best pitching staff in the country, 3 seasons in a row of a key pitcher going down preseason with Tommy John, one of his key portal guys just quitting baseball. 

Edited by Hookem2147
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13 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

There a lot of factors at play. I think all of the below can be true at some level:

1. Pierce is a proven winner. He’s won everywhere from Sam Houston State to Tulane to Texas. He’s a made a regional in 12 of his 13 full seasons as a head coach. His style is old school and different, which rubs some the wrong way. He is tough to work for and demands a lot from players and coaches.

2. NIL has 100% changed the game. With that said, we are not as far behind as some want to believe. We will be top 5 in the SEC in baseball NIL if we maintain what has been built, probably top 3 if we are being honest. I’ve said it before, but I know for a fact we have missed on guys in the portal because they only wanted to play in the SEC. It’s why I’m interested in seeing if we get a bump this upcoming offseason.

3. Pierce knows we are stepping into a different type of game in the SEC and that is why there has been a recruiting shift over the last few years. We are recruiting a different type of athlete than what we’ve historically had.

4. On the subject of being a “Omaha team” vs a “championship contender”, sometimes in baseball you have to get a lucky bounce or two to get over the jump. We were a light pole away from 3 straight trips to Omaha which is extremely rare for any program. 2004 Texas is the last #1 overall seed to even make the championship series. From 2019-2022, all 3 #1 overall seeds didn’t even make it out the Supers.

5. The standard is the standard, and we should rightfully expect a lot. But baseball probably more than any other sport requires a lot of things to line up perfectly to be a “championship contender” year after year.

6. This dude has also had some shit luck that has probably prevented even more success than we’ve had. David Hamilton falling off a scooter, covid season when we had maybe the best pitching staff in the country, 3 seasons in a row of a key pitcher going down preseason with Tommy John, one of his key portal guys just quitting baseball. 

How is the game going to be different in the SEC?

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16 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

There a lot of factors at play. I think all of the below can be true at some level:

1. Pierce is a proven winner. He’s won everywhere from Sam Houston State to Tulane to Texas. He’s a made a regional in 12 of his 13 full seasons as a head coach. His style is old school and different, which rubs some the wrong way. He is tough to work for and demands a lot from players and coaches.

2. NIL has 100% changed the game. With that said, we are not as far behind as some want to believe. We will be top 5 in the SEC in baseball NIL if we maintain what has been built, probably top 3 if we are being honest. I’ve said it before, but I know for a fact we have missed on guys in the portal because they only wanted to play in the SEC. It’s why I’m interested in seeing if we get a bump this upcoming offseason.

3. Pierce knows we are stepping into a different type of game in the SEC and that is why there has been a recruiting shift over the last few years. We are recruiting a different type of athlete than what we’ve historically had.

4. On the subject of being a “Omaha team” vs a “championship contender”, sometimes in baseball you have to get a lucky bounce or two to get over the jump. We were a light pole away from 3 straight trips to Omaha which is extremely rare for any program. 2004 Texas is the last #1 overall seed to even make the championship series. From 2019-2022, all 3 #1 overall seeds didn’t even make it out the Supers.

5. The standard is the standard, and we should rightfully expect a lot. But baseball probably more than any other sport requires a lot of things to line up perfectly to be a “championship contender” year after year.

6. This dude has also had some shit luck that has probably prevented even more success than we’ve had. David Hamilton falling off a scooter, covid season when we had maybe the best pitching staff in the country, 3 seasons in a row of a key pitcher going down preseason with Tommy John, one of his key portal guys just quitting baseball. 

Great post. I’ve said before, I was a huge DP doubter when he was hired and even early in his tenure. At some point the results matter and his results have been pretty stellar.

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1 minute ago, hobbes2702 said:

Great post. I’ve said before, I was a huge DP doubter when he was hired and even early in his tenure. At some point the results matter and his results have been pretty stellar.

The results have been good and I have an appreciation for some of the patchwork he’s done on teams I thought were buried. He’s shown the ability to adapt and win a variety of ways.

What I don’t get is when people start discussing replacements and toss around names that haven’t accomplished half of what Pierce has. Like I’m sure someone will pop in here at some point this season and say “bring Skip Johnson home!”

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38 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

David Hamilton falling off a scooter, covid season when we had maybe the best pitching staff in the country, 3 seasons in a row of a key pitcher going down preseason with Tommy John, one of his key portal guys just quitting baseball. 

- Mitchell Daly forgetting how to play baseball

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26 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

The results have been good and I have an appreciation for some of the patchwork he’s done on teams I thought were buried. He’s shown the ability to adapt and win a variety of ways.

What I don’t get is when people start discussing replacements and toss around names that haven’t accomplished half of what Pierce has. Like I’m sure someone will pop in here at some point this season and say “bring Skip Johnson home!”

People last year said we should hire Vitello lol. It’s crazy stuff. 

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2 years ago to the weekend was Witt’s scratched start vs UCLA in Houston where he was shut down before surgery. 

I’ve been as pessimistic as can be about his return, but it was great to see him in a high leverage situation last night. He is the single biggest ceiling raiser for this team if he can keep progressing. 

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3 hours ago, B00M said:

Countless examples in this thread of why you can’t draw conclusions, good or bad, from a series, let alone a single game… the only thing we need to do as a program is improve our NIL. 


here’s conclusions ….

with the portal + nil Texas should never be without a stud #1 pitcher (like what we saw lsu throw last night) and two big time college bats in the line up, with support around them 

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13 hours ago, Hondo said:

Okay, since you asked.

I played multiple sports at a very high level in high school.  Focused solely on baseball in college.  Was successful (lead the team in hitting) until I was limited by a pretty serious medical issue.  That ended any hopes of a career past college.  Hard to say how that might have gone...who knows.

Probably understood the finer points of the game even better than I could physically execute them.  It's been awhile, so a few things may have changed, but I still know what I'm seeing when I'm watching a game.  

My career was in another field that was extremely demanding (far moreso than sports), both physically and mentally, and I reached the very pinnacle of that one.  Reached the pinnacle of a couple other disciplines as well.  I know the difference between good and great in general, and what it takes to get there.  When I wasn't busy "doing", I taught people how to make the leap, so I get the coaching angle as well.

That's about all I'm going to reveal on an internet message board.

(I don't really care about message board cred.  I just like to comment on/discuss baseball while I'm watching the game.  People can think what they want and say what they want, even the stuff they'd never have the balls to say in person.  I get a kick out of it, actually.)

 

What a douchebag

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1 hour ago, UnhappilyMarried said:

2 years ago to the weekend was Witt’s scratched start vs UCLA in Houston where he was shut down before surgery. 

I’ve been as pessimistic as can be about his return, but it was great to see him in a high leverage situation last night. He is the single biggest ceiling raiser for this team if he can keep progressing. 

He looked good last night.

Even caught a smile on his face when Kimble came out to the mound. Could tell he was feeling it.

Hope he continues to improve.

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Posted (edited)

Yeah Witt’s 2 innings was a def bright spot. He was 2-3 pitches from being dominant for 6 outs. He painted a few corners and had several 12-6 breaking pitches that looked filthy. 
 

 

Edited by troph
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Posted (edited)
4 minutes ago, jeevsie said:

Gonna be on time?


3:05

11 minutes ago, troph said:

Yeah Witt’s 2 innings was a def bright spot. He was 2-3 pitches from being dominant for 6 outs. He painted a few corners and had several 12-6 breaking pitches that looked filthy. 
 

 


LBJ showed up but he was all over throwing or something. All over the place 

he’s not a top tier #1

Edited by tx 3 putt
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