BB: LL: Liberty League

[shoeless]

CLARKSON -  how about the 5-3 start.  Now that is a pleasant turnaround from last year and a surprise.  Congrats keep it up.  Looks like all florida swings went well (except for skidmore).

RPI -7-1 and Rochester 7-3.   Impressive start for liberty league down south.

[BaseB13]

Wouldn't go as far as saying Skidmore's florida trp did not go "well"... They are 5 - 5 and they completely routed the teams they played besides Rochester.  As much as it sucks to lose 4 conference games, let's remember they lost three of those by 1 run.  If Rochester is one of the top teams in the league this year then it looks like Skidmore will be right up there with them and RPI. 

It seems every team comes back with overly inflated batting averages and era's because pitching is thin all week.  Teams get to mash beat up pitching.  I don't think it's very indicative of how the season will turn out.  (The conference games don't apply here because clearly both teams throw their best).  However, the rest of them I don't pay too much attention to. 

[shoeless]

I agree pitching is thin.  But i'm sure your starters pitched in the other games that week as well, as did rochesters i'm sure.

I did notice rochester only beat em by 1 run in 3 games.

How did Reilly do?

[BoomerIL]

shoeless....

Not to be sarcastic, but one run is one run....a win is a win.

Reilly pitched 7 innings and gave up 6 hits, 3  runs, 2 earned, 1 BB, 3 K's.

[BaseB13]

I am sure all teams in Florida  use their starters.  What I was saying is that just about every team comes back north with inflated batting averages and high era's.  This is because when you play ten games in 7 days you get to beat up on pitchers who normally would not be throwing throughout the rest of the season.  Think about it, teams play 25% of their schedule in one week and then play the other 75% of their schedule over 5 weeks.  Clearly teams will be throwing and facing pitchers who have no business playing.  If you play a team at the beginning of your trip who is at the end of their trip there is obviously going to be an advantage for the team starting their trip.  Obviously the 4 conference games are different because I am sure both teams threw their 4 best (well atleast who they think are their 4 best, I am sure changes could be made in the rotations for both teams considering the conference games were so early). 

Obviously if a team is winning more games than losing then that's clearly a positive.  However, I would not use this one week of games to determine who's going to win the conference because RPI went 7 - 1 or because Union beat William Patterson etc.

Boomer, I understand as a parent you are obviously going to be biased towards your son's team.  However, let's try to remain a little objective.  Posting that UR "gave away" games to teams like Emory etc. and then posting that "a win is a win" regardless of how many runs it's by is pretty contradictory don't you think? You can't have it both ways.  So either "a win is a win" and Emory and those other UAA teams deserved to beat Rochester OR those teams did not deserve to beat Rochester and Rochester did not deserve to win the two games Skidmore gave away.  (I personally do not care either way, lets just remain consistent).   

[BoomerIL]

BaseB13....

Thanks for the reprimand.  I didn't say that Skidmore "gave" anything away, did I?  They may have in your own mind, like I said about UR and Emory.  Players make mistakes/errors, some foolish, some from trying to hard, which I don't fault.  The difference, in my own opinion, and it is my opinion, is that the scoring differential was much greater in the UR/Emory game than any of the Skidmore games.  That is why I made my own personal observation the way I did.  You were not there, or were you?  I was!  Again, my opinion, biased or otherwise.  I knew what the various situations were during those games.  Do you?  Again, it is my opinion, biased or otherwise.

I was being objective, and I don't just blantantly throw out statements that would make UR seem like "the team to beat."  UR has a long way to go and is on the right track.  To have beaten Emory would have been a big win for UR, and maybe have given a little more respect to the Liberty League teams.  JMHO   

[BaseB13]

First off, I am not biased toward any one team in the LL.  I have adamantly defended RPI numerous times and of all the teams in the LL, I'd say they can act the most classless of any team.  I don't have to be at any game to know what happened.  You can tell from the boxscore/play-by-play.  You guys lost by 4 against Emory in one game but you're saying that you "gave" that game away more than Skidmore "gave" away two games when  Skid was up 5 half way through the game or up 1 with 2 outs and 2 strikes on the batter.  I personally do not care which way  you characterize it.  You can't have it both ways though.  Baseball is a game where often times the winner is the team that makes the least mistakes.  So take your pick you either deserved to beat Skidmore those two games and didn't deserve to beat Emory and the other UAA team or vice versa.  I don't really care which way you go just be consistent. 

[scuba16]

What does it matter? UR has to come up north and win the LL or have a great overall record to get into the NY regional. That is usually the goal of all the teams and thats probably what the UR coach is thinking.

At this level of baseball, you either play well and win or you play bad and lose. Very rarely do 2 teams play great and unfortunately 1 of the teams has to lose. It usually comes down to the winning team executing and the losing team that doesn't!

[StarvinMarvin]

BaseB13, God you are annoying.  Just because you disagree with Boomer doesn't mean that he's wrong or being inconsistent.  He's calling it the way he sees it, who cares?  You argue with everyone on here who doesn't see things your way or has an opinion that differs from yours.  Have some respect for the opinion of other people.  Boomer was at those games and you're criticizing him based on numbers that you're getting from boxscores.  Watching a game in person gives you a far better idea of whether or not a game was given away based on things that transpire over the course of a game that cannot be picked up from reading box scores or looking at the final score.  The positioning of an infield defense in a certain situation or a questionable decision made by a coach (i.e., a pitching change or a pinch hitter) that leads to an undesireable outcome for example are aspects of a game that can contribute to a spectator believeing that a team "gave away the game" because the coach didn't put his team in the best position to win the game in their opinion.  A team that is know for its' defensive play may make five or six errors in one game that ultimately led to their defeat.  In my mind that team gave away the game because they did something that isn't the norm and the team that won didn't necessarily earn it.  In Boomer's mind he is being consistent and if you read his posts he's always very objective and respectful of all programs.  Go ahead with your arrogant response because we're all aware that you know all there is to know about DIII baseball and/or baseball in general.

[BoomerIL]

scuba16....StarvinMarvin.....

Thanks.  Finally....someone understands what I was trying to say!!!

[BaseB13]

Perhaps my understanding of a forum is different than yours.  A forum is a place where individuals can discuss and debate their opinions.  If you'd rather not have someone who's going to point outsome discrepencies then we don't even need to bother having this forum.  Instead we can just read the box scores.  Maybe you find the posts of "Union won 7 to 5 vs Bill's College" to be interesting to read.  I'd rather just check conference websites if I needed score updates.  If you guys don't like reading people's  opinions then don't bother reading the board.  I'm not going to just sit here and watch someone say UofR lost their UAA games because it was their own fault without giving credit to the other team but then post that they won their Liberty League games because they did everything right and the other team may not have made mistakes to help UR win (which did happen).  The way Boomer talks UR should have won every single game they've played in so far.  Some how I doubt even the players at UR feel this way.  It sounds like one of those parents who insists their kid is the best on the team and can do no wrong but everyone else knows the parent needs a dose of reality.  But if all you guys want to read about is Rochester updates from Boomer then that's fine too, we won't use the forum for what it's intended for, discussion and lively debate. 
'

[StarvinMarvin]

You are a hypocrite then because I'm doing exactly what you proclaim to be doing when you defend teams on this board.  I am simply defending Boomer because you are misconstruing what he is trying to say and turning it into what you want to hear.  I see nothing wrong with him believeing that UR should have won every game so far and I hope the players feel that way too.  It's called having confidence and not willing to accept mediocrity or defeat.  You're obviously entitled to your opinion but I don't think Boomer portrays himself as the type of parent you describe whatsoever.  He supports is son and his sons' program but the funny thing is that you would be the same guy on here ripping him for being negative about UR.  The board is used for discussion and lively debate but you sometimes use it to personally attack the intelligence or character of those who disagree with you.  I don't know if you have kids but if you do someday then maybe you will better understand why Boomer may be a bit biased but in a respectful way.  I think you are the one who needs to re-evaluate why we use this forum.

[BoomerIL]

BaseB13.....

I have been on the D3 website boards for a short time as you can see.  Previously I spent all of my time on the HSBaseballweb site for over 5 years.  I don't debate your opinions nor will I.  You are defintely entitled to them with my respect.  But please, don't insult my intelligence by saying that I'm a homer, or even that I feel my son is the saving-grace to baseball!!!!!  I never mentioned my son the way you feel I have.  If I want to feel "warm and fuzzy" about Rochester's team, I can!  Remember when I said that these were, and are my opinions?  I just said in previous posts that I can't believe he is playing baseball in college.  I am proud of that fact and if you can't understand that then you don't know how I feel, or don't have any experience with being a parent.

I understand that any team can beat any other team on any given day, in any sport.  I watched our team split two games last year at the UAA's with Emory.  They faced Glushon who is in AA minor league baseball.  Zongol beat us last year 3-0.  But we did hit many soild shots against him, and I have given him my "props."  We clobbered Driemiller.  Will that happen this year?  Who knows, but I'm an optimist in thinking that we will win the series against RPI!!!  I believe this because of how our team is playing.  Yes, they made errors, and they will make errors in the future.  Emory made errors against us this time, and our kids made mistakes that allowed them back in.  Coor, their top freshman pitcher was 3-0 going into our game and we knocked him out early.  Go to our website and read!!!That's baseball!!!  Could Skidmore have beat us?  Yes, by all means!!!  Did Emory beat UR, absolutely.  But please......don't infer that I'm minimizing Skidmore's performance, or Emory's.  They are both very good teams!

Now, what else do you want to debate, or question when I post something that is my opinion, or something that I experienced, that I have repeated many times before.  If you want me to agree with your way of thinking, I won't, nor do I expect you to do the same with me.  I will agree and respect however that you do have an opinion.  Thats all!!!!!! 

[BaseB13]

Starvin, I disagree on thinking a team should have won every single game.  That's just sour grapes.  Every good team knows when they got outplayed or were beaten.  Thinking you "should have" won every single game is just being delusional.    Yes there's always those games that you wish you had won or let it slip away.  My only point to boomer was it seemed as if the UAA games slipped away from UR but the LL games did not slip away from Skidmore.   I also pointed out that if I was UR and Boomer that i'd take the LL wins any day and I believe Boomer agreed with me on that.  I don't have kids but of course I can understand any parent being supportive of their child's team.  At the same time I would not think my child's team should have won every single game (Im sure boomer doesnt think this but it appears Starvin does).  I would not "rip on" anyone as you call it.  However, I would point out when someone was voicing extreme opinions, either extremely positive or extremely negative would make sense for the examples you're talking about.  (Just like I did when someone wanted to crown Ithaca as the golden boy of ny baseball or when someone wanted to bash RPI for not playing a hard enough schedule when after further research they play a pretty difficult in region schedule). 

Boomer I respect your opinions and I enjoy trying to have adult like debate about many of the topics.  Starvin's chiming in seemed to make things turn hostile and I apologize for that.  However, just as you have your opinions, I have mine and my opinion would tend to veer toward the general rule that the team that won the game deserved to win unless there are some extreme circumstances.  If any teams in the LL give away games early on, then I'm sure by the end of the season we'll find out who those teams are because they'll have worked the kinks out and will be the ones winning come conference tournament time.

[shoeless]

Great Pitching is greatly assisted great defense.  Confidence is when these two are mutually reinforcing and the pitchers thrive on a great play to get em out of an inning, and the defense thrives to make the plays for  a pitcher.

When these don't exist ... you lose lots of leads and wonder why.  Once it starts happening it is hard to restablish the confidence (pitchers in the defense, and defense in the ptichers). 

They go hand in hand.  This is why RPI has best pitchers every year.  Their defense is solid and getting an out vs extending an inning allows the pitchers to shine and have confidence.