March 3, 2016
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SPORTSCENTRAL
SportsCentral airs tonight, 5pm-6pm, on Radio Amour 91.9 FM, Central. Scheduled to join hosts Steve Johnson and Sid Edwards are Golf coach Mike Longmire and his golf team
Seth Babin, Patrick Johnson, Josh Bogan, Will Aaron… also assistant football coach Guy Blanchard.
BATON ROUGE AREA BROADCASTING SCHEDULE:
Thursday, March 3: 5pm—6pm: SportsCentral
Radio Amour 91.9 FM, Central
SportsRadio 1310 Radio, Lake Charles Programming of Interest (also heard on KEZMOnLine.com):
Saturday, March 5: 9AM—10AM: All Things Football with Scott Holtzman
Monday, March 7: 8AM—10AM: The Locker Room with John Goodman and Jim Gazzolo
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High School
Is it me or does it feel like the disappointments from the football and basketball season are causing LSU fans to freak out about LSU baseball?
Last August, some very well written articles pointed out that LSU has an unprecedented number of elite athletes in their sports on campus at one time. The three at the top of the list are Fournette, Simmons, and Lange. Fournette had a great season that was derailed by the Tigers three game losing streak and coaching drama. Most feel the football Tigers underachieved.
Simmons is having a fabulous season. The only people that can’t see that are frustrated Tiger fans, national media looking for clicks on their web sites, and those who are bitter at ESPN for over promoting Simmons. Meanwhile, the basketball Tigers, as a team, have been frustrating to watch. Everyone has their top frustration. Mine is that Craig Victor has been unable to find a way to stay on the court without fouling.
So here we are, two weeks into the baseball season, and I get the feeling that Tiger fans are feeling a little gun-shy. The pitching staff is supposed to be great and LSU gave up 12 runs in a loss at Lamar. Lange is supposed to be the best pitcher in LSU history and could not beat Sacramento State with run support. Could LSU baseball be headed for a disappointing season as well?
Honestly, yes, disappointment is always a possibility when you are ranked in the top 10 at the beginning of the year. That being said, I think the Tigers are on course for another good year.
The first month of the season is there for the coaches to discover who they can trust in SEC play, while players settle into roles. Who can deliver in a pinch hit role? Who can get a sac bunt down? Who should bat in the three hole? There are so many questions to be answered, and they are going to be answered in front our watchful eyes.
Looking at the big picture, the baseball coaches have talent to develop. For example, the pitchers that struggled against Lamar have ability but pitched very poorly. You may be asking, “Where is the good news in that?” If this was May, I would call it good news. But it is not May, and we have every reason to believe it is a matter of time until those pitchers round into form. I have the same thought process for Alex Lange as well. The fact is that LSU has quality arms and many of them have pitched effectively in their career.
The infield defense in another story. LSU is trying choose the right four out of seven players to play reliable defense and provide some offense. To top it off, not one of them has experience producing at this level over any period of time. Those facts are cause for concern. Once again, the good news is there does appear to be talent, which is a great place to start. On the infield, it all starts at shortstop though, and LSU has started three different players there in less than three weeks.
The infield defense may not be great, but good enough as long as the offense produces runs. Everyone knew this team would not hit anywhere near the average of last year’s team. Over the weekend against Sacramento State, though, we saw glimpses of how this team can score runs efficiently. Walks, infield hits, bunts, hit and run, taking extra bases, and getting runners home from third with less than two outs will be keys to success for this offensive lineup.
Admittedly, watching LSU football play offense in November and LSU basketball play defense took some of the air out of the Fournette train and Simmons rocket ship. It would be nice to be able to just enjoy the Lange express.
HEY REF
“THE BIG” news this week is that Peyton Manning and John Elway met this past weekend (or it was reported they did) and a decision as to the status of Manning’s retirement will be announced within the next 7 to 10 days. I hope Peyton does the right thing and rides off into retirement “on top” just as the way Elway ended his playing days. We all know the story and life very rarely gives us a chance for a story-book ending. Manning has nothing to prove or gain by coming back to play. He can write the final chapter of his Hall of Fame career on his terms like no other player will ever do. Like Det. Harry Callahan said “A man’s gotta know his limitations”. So, Peyton do the classy thing, sit in your luxury
Now getting back to what’s important in “Hey Ref’s” world this week. It won’t be long before my favorite time of the year starts. Yep, we just turned the page on February and are beginning the countdown to March Madness. I’ve always marked my calendar every year to that wonderful Monday night when a new NCAA Men’s Basketball Champion is crowned. And if you have read this column and are a fan of it then you’ll understand my reason and the “WHY” I love this time of year.
No, I’m definitely not a basketball fan by any stretch of the imagination and can care less with anything to do with roundball. For nearly 25 years I marked that special Monday because it was the time of the year that I’d break out my FOOTBALL rulebook and start getting ready for those scrimmages and spring games. But I’ve not made a decision if I’m returning to the sidelines. So much has changed and for the most part those changes are a long way from being for the best. For the fourth time this winter I’ve met a local football coach and for some odd reason they always bring up “Just WTF is wrong with the football officials”?
I promised every coach I’d keep their names and comments between us and will never name names. This week’s column will not go into what was said and the things they’d like to see happen. I want to start off the coming baseball season with a “Best Of” that I’ve published before and it always brings many different comments; both good and bad. So, to welcome back my favorite sport here it is and another big “Thank You” to my good friend Roy Lang… … …
This past week a good friend of mine “riddled” this question to me: Is it possible for a MLB pitcher to record FOUR strikeouts in a single inning, giving him credit for 28 outs during a nine inning game? Roy Lang, lll probably the premier ring announcer of the MMA world in Louisiana and a diehard baseball fan had me stumped. I gave it some very heavy thought for nearly five minutes then gave him my answer: NO!
I figured after a fifteen year career calling all levels of baseball in this state from little league, high school and semi-pro that I couldn’t be wrong. Well, wrong I was, am, is. I checked with the MLB record book and found out that at least 61 times this has happened. But how, I was still confused on this really being in all the record books.
I mean my entire career I was under the impression you got three strikes before you’re out. Also only three outs per inning making it impossible for anything more than 27 outs to be recorded in an official game. Well, there is your KEY word: RECORDED! The pitcher IS credited with the fourth out of the inning ONLY in the statistics but not as part of the OFFICIAL game… …
He’s right because in today’s world of multi-million dollar contracts the only thing that agents can rely on when negotiating any new deal for their client is his stats. So the pitchers wanting credit for every out got this written into the record books. His next question was even more confusing; does a batter get credit for all runs scored after the game ends?
This is the example: home team down by one run, bases loaded, bottom of the ninth and the ball is hit out of the park. And yes we as umpires end the game when at least one more run is scored by the home team BUT the batter is credited with four RBI’s not just the two that won them the game. I answered that since the game (officially) ended with the two runs being scored that no he didn’t get the two extra RBI’s. And again, I was wrong but educated that according to the keeper of the books that the batter gets all four runs!
With all that I figured I’d try and riddle him one better so I asked “Does a TIE go to the runner”? I was just waiting for his answer because it’s one of those things you hear all the time at just about every game. Of course the answer is NO!! There are ONLY two things a runner can be: out or safe. No debate, no thinking about it that’s the only thing in the rule book.
But here’s why I’m bringing this up, another baseball umpire chimed in that if it were the home team’s runner then he gives a safe call. I’m just siting a little numb when he explains that he doesn’t want the home crowd being upset with him. WHAT, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? If there are any umpires out there that call their games this way do everybody a favor and QUIT immediately!!!
You are doing a huge disservice not only to the teams but to the game itself. I was and am truly horrified that someone calling balls and strikes would admit to giving any credit to either team just to keep the crowd from booing him. Umpiring is an extremely tough job and if you’re considering whose at bat and then alter your calls accordingly then it’s just 1,000% WRONG!!
Anyone considering getting behind the plate or on the field can only call the game one way and that is straight down the middle. NEVER give a player or team any benefit of the doubt. Either you saw the play this way or the other but to say that you give the home team an advantage is something that never should be allowed. As an umpire I can tell you I’ve made numerous mistakes in some games. I’ve missed calls that weren’t close but I’ve never thought to myself; well that’s a home runner so he’s safe.
You can only call ‘em like you see ‘em. Not the way you want it to be but how you saw it. Be a man and suck it up when you “blow” one. It’s going to happen; you can never call a perfect game. The best advice I ever got from an old timer was “if you think you’ve called a perfect game; RETIRE! Cause you’ll never call two perfect games”. We strive to be perfect but we aren’t so admit when you’ve flat out missed the call.
The coaches from both dugouts will respect you more if you admit you’re wrong. It’s part of life, it’s part of the game. Work harder to reduce your mistakes but don’t add to the pressure of the job by giving an advantage when it wasn’t earned. And that’s the key word in administering a game, EARNED! If a team earns a strikeout, an extra base or an extra run then give it to ‘em. But in no way give anything away to anybody.
Just think how much better off our country and our lives would be if when we’ve earned something it was given to us! When you’re walking off the diamond ask yourself this one question “what did I learn in today’s game”? If you answer; nothing, it’s time to walk away from the game. If any umpire and/or referee ever answers “nothing” you’ll be doing the game a service by hanging it up and buying a ticket to sit in the stands because that’s exactly where you belong!!
Till next week…
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