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No baseball post-season for Stanford - Spiny_Norman - 05-27-2013

64 teams in the NCAA tournament announced today.

9 schools from the SEC (including Florida), 8 from the ACC, 4 from the Sun Belt, 4 from the Pac 12.  But no Stanford.

http://www.ncaa.com/news/baseball/article/2013-05-27/regional-fields-announced-countdown-begins-college-world-series

Re: No baseball post-season for Stanford - Farm93 - 05-27-2013

And with that CWS bracket announcement the NACDA Directors' cup is almost certainly in UF's hands.

Stanford needs a great Track weekend and Florida to not do well in men's golf on the weekend, the WCWS, and that NCAA track meet too.  Rather unlikely.  :(

Re: No baseball post-season for Stanford - StanFan88 - 05-27-2013

Is it time for Marquess to hang up the spikes?  I think he gets to make that decision but missing NCAAs in 4 of the last 7 season is not up to snuff for this program.

And yet Dawkins is 0 for 5 and gets to keep his job, so by that standard I shouldn't expect anything.

Re: No baseball post-season for Stanford - FarmBoy - 05-28-2013

I wonder how returning to The Farm will work out for Appel. It sounds like he's once again a "consensus top 2 pick" although we know how that worked out last time (he dropped to #8 last year, for those who don't.) It must have been a very frustrating season for him to not make the tournament in his final year.

This article certainly is cause for optimism: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2013/05/16/stanford-ace-mark-appel-has-moved-past-last-years-draft/2179943/

I personally don't think any coach earns the right to decide their own exit strategy. You certainly earn yourself a leeway in how and when it happens, but an AD needs to watch out for the long term health of the program as well as the student athletes in the program. Of course, you can't alienate your fan base either. That being said, I have no insight into whether Marquess is still the right man for the job and I wouldn't want to be in Muir's position of being the new guy in the big chair and have to deal with succession planning with a head coach with 36 years of service and 2 national championships.

Re: No baseball post-season for Stanford - sheriand - 05-28-2013

I don't envy Muir, but I think it's time to have a very serious discussion with Marquess and challenge whether he's still the right man for the job.  I have had season tickets for the last thirteen years and worked crazy schedules in order to attend as many home games as possible in years past.  Now I am retired, and can come to all the games easily, but don't always.  It's been a hugely frustrating season in the stands.  So much talent on the field and such wildly varying results.  It seemed like we saw more fundamental errors, as if the players were not always able to keep their heads in the game.  The pitching behind Appel was perhaps not as strong as in prior years, but many games we just didn't seem to be able to put together any offense.

Rusty Filter, the pitching coach, who came in three years ago, was rumored to be a possible successor to Marquess, but I don't think he's done much with the program. 

I strongly hope we see some changes!  I'd like to enjoy going to Sunken Diamond again.

Re: No baseball post-season for Stanford - Farm93 - 05-28-2013

I suspect Marquess will get a farewell tour and season.  If I am right then Marquess will get at least one more season.

Re: No baseball post-season for Stanford - 76lsjumb - 05-28-2013

(05-28-2013, 07:40 AM)wbbfan link Wrote:I don't envy Muir, but I think it's time to have a very serious discussion with Marquess and challenge whether he's still the right man for the job.  I have had season tickets for the last thirteen years and worked crazy schedules in order to attend as many home games as possible in years past.  Now I am retired, and can come to all the games easily, but don't always.  It's been a hugely frustrating season in the stands.  So much talent on the field and such wildly varying results.  It seemed like we saw more fundamental errors, as if the players were not always able to keep their heads in the game.  The pitching behind Appel was perhaps not as strong as in prior years, but many games we just didn't seem to be able to put together any offense.

Rusty Filter, the pitching coach, who came in three years ago, was rumored to be a possible successor to Marquess, but I don't think he's done much with the program. 

I strongly hope we see some changes!  I'd like to enjoy going to Sunken Diamond again.

wbbfan could not have said it any better.  Given that ASU made it to post-season and we did not, it's not unreasonable to assume that, had we swept UCLA, we might have switched places with ASU, our low RPI [which would have, presumably, been a little higher] notwithstanding.  Nevertheless, with arguably everything on the line, we lose 6-4 in a game where 3 of UCLA's runs came by way of walk, wild pitch, and [at least set up by] a horrendous throwing error from 3d base [along with two other errors].  And this wasn't the first game this season that was lost [or, in some cases, very nearly lost] by bonehead plays that, "in the good old days" would have been unthinkable.  It did, indeed, seem like various players [not including Appel] too often appeared to simply space out.  I don't think the "old" Marquess would have tolerated that.

It's been a LONG  time since 1987 and 1988.  In the interim we climbed the mountain a number of times, only to fall just short [sometimes in heartbreaking fashion].  Now, more recently, we more and more often aren't even getting on the trail, as it were.

And, just to voice some disquiet I've been feeling recently, I'm wondering whether, in watching the present of the baseball team, we are getting a glimpse of the future of the women's basketball program?  It seems to me that programs that are very successful but just don't quite get to the top [i.e., the National Championship] several times in a row get to the point where they do that for a while, but then begin slip back, as recruits go elsewhere [see, e.g., another current thread re wbb recruiting], and other teams [and coaches] become the hot items.  Pretty soon "doing really well" becomes okay for the program, and, at that point, a National Championship almost becomes a pipedream.  They don't turn into horrible programs [for the most part], but they are no longer legitimate National Champion candidates.  The programs who are able to maintain that status over decades are the ones that find a way to win the whole thing at least every few years.

Unfortunately, in a few more years it will be a LONG time since 1990 and 1992, as well. 

Several weeks back I posted a question asking whether people thought Tara or Shaw had a better chance of winning a National Championship first.  As I recall, most people went with Tara.  I'm inclined to lean toward Shaw.


Re: No baseball post-season for Stanford - yvonne - 05-28-2013

I see you haven't watched much football over the past few years.

Re: No baseball post-season for Stanford - FarmBoy - 05-28-2013

Quote:He is almost certainly the last coach we will ever have of whom it truly can be said, he bleeds Stanford red.

Have you given up on Shaw's potential to be a Stanford-lifer already? He's stated that he wants to be Stanford Joe Paterno (in term's of program longevity.) Because he went out and learned the coaching craft outside the Ivory Tower, does he not bleed Stanford red?

Is college baseball getting more competitive? Could that be one reason why the team's performance isn't as consistently elite as in the past?

Re: No baseball post-season for Stanford - 76lsjumb - 05-28-2013

(05-28-2013, 10:36 AM)FarmBoy link Wrote:Is college baseball getting more competitive? Could that be one reason why the team's performance isn't as consistently elite as in the past?

There's no question that college baseball is competitive, but I'm not sure it is "more competitive."  This year Oregon is a national seed; five years ago they didn't even have a team.  Then again, U.SC used to be very good; lately, not so much.  Still, it wasn't the overall competitiveness of college baseball that seemed to cause our problems this year, from the games I saw.  It was bad baseball on our part.

I have no problem with Marquess coaching as long as he wants.  I was fine with Howie Dallmar coaching as long as he did and would have been fine with him staying on much longer, too.  Nevertheless, I do believe that there is a price for taking that approach, and that price should be acknowledged.  In any sport.  Not everyone can be a Dick Gould...

Re: No baseball post-season for Stanford - FarmBoy - 05-28-2013

I think you're comparing apples to oranges a bit. "Back in the day", before college sports became big business, it seems like it was a lot more common for a player to leave the nest for a handful of years and then be received with open arms and a HC position available at the alma mater. It just doesn't work that way any more. Coaches have to work their way up through the ranks and learn their craft. I think most AD's like to see success attained at a variety of stopping points. But I don't think that means Shaw is any less "true-red" than Marquess. He just had to work up through the system he entered. All we have is his word that coaching Stanford has been his dream job from the get go and the fact that he's achieved that end.

Of course, the modern counter example to that is Tavita Prichard who has not left The Farm yet and has risen in seniority progressively. But I would be surprised if he doesn't leave the nest soon to learn under other coaches and new schemes. But maybe he'll stay on campus for another 20 years, waiting for Shaw to give up the reins so he can prove how much redder he bleeds.

So, how long until Sunken Diamond is renamed - Redrum - 05-28-2013

"Marquess Stadium" ?

Or they'll do the infinite splitting exercise:  Mark Marquess Field at Sunken Diamond.

Re: No baseball post-season for Stanford - Kathy - 05-28-2013

The field at Sunken Diamond already has a name: Klein Field.
Stanford named the field about six years ago after Bud D. Klein, a Stockton businessman perhaps best known for inventing the "California Cooler" wine cooler. Klein played baseball, volleyball and football at University of the Pacific and Stanford. The clubhouse and press box are also named after him. Klein died in 2011.


Re: No baseball post-season for Stanford - jacketree - 05-28-2013

I believe one of Mr. Klein's grandsons will be playing on Klein Field next year, for Stanford.

Re: No baseball post-season for Stanford - yvonne - 05-28-2013

It's a little hard to believe that someone who played on the practice fields while his father coached linebackers and defensive backs, played on the Stanford team, and even proposed to his wife outside Mem Chu would not be considered to "bleed Stanford red," especially since not all players are given the opportunity to coach straight out of school. Nevertheless, I think Shaw's elevating former Stanford players to grad assistantships and assistant coaching positions demonstrates his commitment to Stanford.

Other than Shaw, there's women's tennis coach Lele Forood. She did spend time on the pro circuit before coaching here 25 years ago, and she did drop out early rather than continue to play on her own dime -- no women's tennis scholarships back in the 1970s, so I suppose that would disqualify her under the narrow definition of bleeding Stanford red, which apparently means playing at Stanford and never having a job outside Stanford.

Re: No baseball post-season for Stanford - FarmBoy - 05-28-2013

Quote:Well, yes, that's my point.

But you still haven't explained how does the nature of the industry impact Shaw's "Stanford-ness?" Everything I've read about Shaw was that he wanted to attend Stanford from the time he was a kid and that his dream was to fulfill his dad's missed opportunity to be head coach.

Maybe he he'll leave voluntarily before reaching 40 years at the helm, at which point we'll say "Marques was most dedicated to Stanford than Shaw." But even then, I would argue that the stress and strain of a football head coaching position means it's inherently more difficult to stay in a position a long time. But that won't mean Shaw is any less Stanford than Marques.

Re: No baseball post-season for Stanford - 76lsjumb - 05-28-2013

(05-28-2013, 07:10 PM)FarmBoy link Wrote:But that won't mean Shaw is any less Stanford than Marques.

Why are we so interested in this guy all of a sudden?

http://www.usmarshals.gov/district/nh/fugitives/fow/fowposters/2010/stanford.htm