BB: Central Region Rankings

[upandin]

Pappa,  this is why we need you and others involved in promoting the central region to support the whole central region not just the CCIW.  Alec Lewis, or any other derserving players outside the CCIW deserve the same recognition.  Based on what I see from Lewis's numbers, if he played for Carthage with the same stats, he would be an all american for sure!  You cant say he wouldnt.  Sothe Carthage .536 SOS and the Coe .501 SOS is the diference of a kid being and all american?

[BigPoppa]

Pappa,  this is why we need you and others involved in promoting the central region to support the whole central region not just the CCIW.  Alec Lewis, or any other derserving players outside the CCIW deserve the same recognition.  Based on what I see from Lewis's numbers, if he played for Carthage with the same stats, he would be an all american for sure!  You cant say he wouldnt.  So the Carthage .536 SOS and the Coe .501 SOS is the diference of a kid being and all american?

Are you blaming me for Lewis NOT being an all-American? The fact that Central region guys did not get as much recognition has more to do with the fact that the region was unbelievably weak this year, not because I did not talk about players enough from the MWC, SLIAC and IIAC.

You are giving me WAY too much credit for the power you think I have. You saw that I voted for Lewis, right? What more ecould I do for him? Was I supposed to write a story on him each week? The fans of each program need to do that.

By the way... there were no CCIW guys on that list either. If I really had the power you think I do, I could have made that happen. The SLIAC and MWC each had one player make the list. The CCIW and IIAC had none. I voted for one SLIAC player, two MWC players, one IIAC Players and three CCIW players.  This is not little league... not everyone gets a trophy. You need to trust that the voters are well-informed of ALL regions, and I think they truly are.

Tha ABCA team is announced tomorrow night. I would not be surprised to see Lewis on that, nor would I be surprised if he were left off completely.

[upandin]

I am not trying to blame you one bit.  But you have to admit that you are the one representing the region with cover stories on D3 Baseball.com....I do think you have some influence, good and bad.  I'm not judging your voting....although you can be a homer, it seems you voted fair.    What I am trying to say is, if not you, other people need to do a better job of getting players and teams from this region recognition. 

This is not about Lewis,  that was just an example.  And why was the Central "unbelievably weak"?  Because the same old teams did not dominate.  I think that shows the region is getting better.  Hell the # 1 team in the country Johns Hopkins has 4 losses on the year.  1 of them was to Simpson.  I know that doesn't make a break a statement but the Central Region had a lot of good teams this year.

I don't trust that the voters are well informed. Judging by some of the people who made the team, there was some obvious bias.  I guess rightfully so.  It would be hard to vote for a player you don't know, unless you know the school.  Numbers are numbers but there is a school bias for sure. 

[BigPoppa]

Hey Pappa remember back when you and I were having a little head to head banter at the beginning of the season?  I remember how crazy people thought I was for having Webster, Buena Vista and Ill Wesleyan, in my top 6.  (ex. Captain Morgan)  I also had Carthage in there as well.   By my count 4 of my top 6 made the regional.  Now I will admit my other 2 picks, Coe and Beloit, ( both picked by the coaches to win or be at the top of their conference) Choked Big Time.  All though if you remember right I thought Beloit was way over rated, and I thought you were wrong in crowing Carthage the champs even with obvious holes to fill.  I think I even said Ill Wesleyan could be the team to knock Carthage off. ( I know they were 3-3 on the year but they won the two that counted and are sitting in a good spot to take the central)  BV was not even in your top 8 now they are the top seed and playing well. Webster was your 6.  My whole beef with you was that there are good teams outside the CCIW that should be recognized. 

I guess you are the best. I'll try to cover another region next year as you clearly have a handle on the Central and will do a great job informing voters of the best players.

By the way... how many Central Region teams from outside the CCIW are playing this weekend?

[CCIWFAN6]

Hey Pappa remember back when you and I were having a little head to head banter at the beginning of the season?  I remember how crazy people thought I was for having Webster, Buena Vista and Ill Wesleyan, in my top 6.  (ex. Captain Morgan)  I also had Carthage in there as well.   By my count 4 of my top 6 made the regional.  Now I will admit my other 2 picks, Coe and Beloit, ( both picked by the coaches to win or be at the top of their conference) Choked Big Time.  All though if you remember right I thought Beloit was way over rated, and I thought you were wrong in crowing Carthage the champs even with obvious holes to fill.  I think I even said Ill Wesleyan could be the team to knock Carthage off. ( I know they were 3-3 on the year but they won the two that counted and are sitting in a good spot to take the central)  BV was not even in your top 8 now they are the top seed and playing well. Webster was your 6.  My whole beef with you was that there are good teams outside the CCIW that should be recognized. 

I guess you are the best. I'll try to cover another region next year as you clearly have a handle on the Central and will do a great job informing voters of the best players.

By the way... how many Central Region teams from outside the CCIW are playing this weekend?

I am clearly bias, as evidence by my domain name, however, I am not sure how you make an agrument over the success of the CCIW and the lack of success from the other conferences in the region. 

2010- IWU Central Region Champs
2009- Carthage Central Region Champs (Whitewater and Millsaps rounded out top 3 in the regional)
2008- Linfield Central Region Champs
2007- Carthage Central Region Champs (beat Augustana in  Regional championship)
2006- Aurora Central Region Champs (beat Millsaps in Regional championship)

[#1PantherFan]

I was just wondering BigPoppa why Neece's stats on the All-American list are not up-to-date?

[BigPoppa]

I was just wondering BigPoppa why Neece's stats on the All-American list are not up-to-date?

I am pretty sure those stats were what was given to us by the schools/ NCAA statistics.

[augie_superfan]

I think Lewis had an outside shot at an honorbale mention AA spot but to be put up there on the 1st team is a stretch in my opinion...too bad my opinion doesn't count.  Sure, 11-0 looks great but the 3.42 ERA is much higher than most of the other AAs.

Looking at his stats versus his own teammate, Cody Raisch, is interesting.  They have about the same ERA and Opponents AVG.  In their starts, Coe scored an average of 8.9 runs/start for Lewis and only 4.2 runs/start for Raisch.  Plus, if you look at the percentage of runs that were unearned for both players, it is obvious that the defense happened to play worse behind Raisch (although this may have something to do with pitcher; less strikeouts, slower play, etc.).  This is just the game of baseball.  If you swapped the games started for Lewis and Raisch, it'd be safe to say that Lewis would not be 11-0 and Raisch would not be 4-7.  Looking at that, there is no way I would make Lewis an AA

[upandin]

Numbers are numbers.  I am a IIAC follower/ supporter and I actually saw Coe play one weekend and in the tournament.  In my opinion Raisch and Lewis are no comparison.  Lewis is a much better pitcher, from what I saw Lewis had more Velo, a breaking ball, ( 91 K's ) and did a much better job of throwing strikes.  I looked at those stats once I read this post and, I also saw that Raisch led that staff in BB and HBP.  Maybe his control had a lot to do with the lack of defense and run support.  I remember way back when I played baseball, if we had a bad pitcher on the mound it was hard to play behind.  When I saw Lewis he looked tuff, I would have to put him in the conversation as one of the better pitchers I have personally ever seen in the IIAC, I would not be surprised to see him get drafted.   Just my opinion that is not worth much.

[augie_superfan]

I agree with you that Lewis is probably the better pitcher.  I live in Cedar Rapids and have seen both of them pitch on multiple occassions.  My main point was to show how decieving a win-loss record can be.  I know numbers are just numebrs, but numbers get you AA status.  Sure, there will always be that pitcher that doesn't have great stats but has great potential and gets drafted but that doesn't mean jsut because you get drafted, that you should be an AA. 

[BigPoppa]

I agree with you that Lewis is probably the better pitcher.  I live in Cedar Rapids and have seen both of them pitch on multiple occassions.  My main point was to show how decieving a win-loss record can be.  I know numbers are just numebrs, but numbers get you AA status.  Sure, there will always be that pitcher that doesn't have great stats but has great potential and gets drafted but that doesn't mean jsut because you get drafted, that you should be an AA. 

Macalester's James Murrey is a great example of this. He was 9-4 on a terrible team and did nothing but shut down opponents all season and his own hitters could not score runs for him. He may have actually been better than d3 pitcher of the year, Matt Schuld.

[upandin]

I agree that a W-L record is not the best way to judge a pitcher.  In the Lewis case, he was 11-0 on an average team that only won 25 games.  Maybe I'm crazy but I thought Lewis's numbers were pretty good. It's not only about the 11 wins.  I would guess his 91 k's are up there nationally.  Plus he only had 17 BB and 20 extra base hits on the year.  8 complete games, 4 shutouts, and 9 of 12 appearances under 3 runs.  Not a bad year.  He may not be an AA but to say he is just a product of run production is crazy.  If there are any players in the IIAC worthy of being an AA its Lewis and Pietrzyk.

[augie_superfan]

We will just have to agree to disagree on Lewis...I know he is a good pitcher and definitely did not say he was only a product of run production.  His ERA, K, BB, all that, have nothing to do with Coe's run production.  His win-loss record does so that is all I was pointing out.

[upandin]

Moot point. Lewis was named 2nd team AA.  Congrats to him! Would have like to see Pietrzyk on there as well, he was one of the top players not only the IIAC but the region.  As a fan and follower of the IIAC it is nice to see players and teams get national recognition. 

[BigPoppa]

Moot point. Lewis was named 2nd team AA.  Congrats to him! Would have like to see Pietrzyk on there as well, he was one of the top players not only the IIAC but the region.  As a fan and follower of the IIAC it is nice to see players and teams get national recognition. 

Well deserved for Lewis. Pietrzyk had a solid season, but fell short when compared with the others at his position.