[blacklistedbully]

Hey, GoDawgs, just an FYI: Stanford was 21-4 away from home this season. So don't expect a home field advantage (unless given by the umpiring crew). The better team will win period.

No guarantees in baseball, but if you think Stanford's away-game experience has prepared them for what they are about to step into, you are mistaken.  

Maybe Stanford will be rattled by the environment in Game 1, but they will acclimate to it if they are.  I would imagine the large crowd will fire up the Stanford players because they will be excited to play on such a big stage, knowing it only gets bigger if they win. If Stanford loses the series I'm not going to claim they would have won on their home field, and I don't think any MSU fans would want to hear such nonsense either.

You'd be surprised by how many might claim it.  Sometimes it's true, even if it is whining and comes across as being a sore-loser.  I love our home-field advantage, and think it can and often does make a difference, whether it's making the other team a little too excitable or boosting our kid's energy in a positive way.

But what makes me nervous as hell is the thought of Ethan Small getting the start, pitching a couple of innings, only to then get a weather delay long enough to lose him for the game.  Given he is one of the top pitchers in the nation, that would be a brobdingnagian hit for us, and a major advantage for you.

Personally, I have been occasionally guilty of, "complaining about losses due to bad breaks, etc", but it's almost always been as a response to an opposing school's fan instigating it.

For example, not long ago I got into an exchange with an Oregon State fan who was bitching about SEC schools getting too much favorable treatment in the rankings.  He referenced as proof Oregon State dispatching my school & Arkansas en-route to the CWS championship.  I replied to him he should consider last year they had to beat Miss. State twice to get into the CG vs Arky, including our stud pitcher, Ethan Small, and clearly enjoyed quite a bit of luck to go with their great play.

They buried us in the first game against our #3, largely due to 9 walks + 2 hit batters, but we knew they'd have to go against our ace in the winner-takes-all 2nd game.  But the day before the 2nd game, Small, in a freakish accident during batting practice got hit on the inside elbow of his pitching arm by a line drive.  He was down on the field for several minutes in serious pain.  He still pitched the next day, and while decent, was clearly not his usual self.  Gave up 5 runs in one inning, and we lost 5-2.

Is it not legit (even if whining) to speculate the outcome might have been different had Small been close to 100%?  We've seen what a dominating pitcher he is when healthy.

Then with Arky, they were literally a bungled foul pop-up from beating OSU in the CG.  Bizarre good fortune for OSU in both games.  So I brought this up to the OSU fan, not because I liked whining, rather to somewhat refute his original insinuation that OSU had, "kicked our asses" proving the Pac 12 was superior to the SEC.

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Any of you Stanford fans going to the games?  If so, make sure you get to the outfield (Left Field Lounge) to experience the best part of taking in a game at, "The Dude".  Go hungry if you can, and wear your Stanford gear proudly.  You'll get fed and offered drinks as long as you're not acting like jerks.

[blacklistedbully]

Hey, GoDawgs, just an FYI: Stanford was 21-4 away from home this season. So don't expect a home field advantage (unless given by the umpiring crew). The better team will win period.

No guarantees in baseball, but if you think Stanford's away-game experience has prepared them for what they are about to step into, you are mistaken.  

Maybe Stanford will be rattled by the environment in Game 1, but they will acclimate to it if they are.  I would imagine the large crowd will fire up the Stanford players because they will be excited to play on such a big stage, knowing it only gets bigger if they win. If Stanford loses the series I'm not going to claim they would have won on their home field, and I don't think any MSU fans would want to hear such nonsense either.

You'd be surprised by how many might claim it.  Sometimes it's true, even if it is whining and comes across as being a sore-loser.  I love our home-field advantage, and think it can and often does make a difference, whether it's making the other team a little too excitable or boosting our kid's energy in a positive way.

But what makes me nervous as hell is the thought of Ethan Small getting the start, pitching a couple of innings, only to then get a weather delay long enough to lose him for the game.  Given he is one of the top pitchers in the nation, that would be a brobdingnagian hit for us, and a major advantage for you.

Personally, I have been occasionally guilty of, "complaining about losses due to bad breaks, etc", but it's almost always been as a response to an opposing school's fan instigating it.

For example, not long ago I got into an exchange with an Oregon State fan who was bitching about SEC schools getting too much favorable treatment in the rankings.  He referenced as proof Oregon State dispatching my school & Arkansas en-route to the CWS championship.  I replied to him he should consider last year they had to beat Miss. State twice to get into the CG vs Arky, including our stud pitcher, Ethan Small, and clearly enjoyed quite a bit of luck to go with their great play.

They buried us in the first game against our #3, largely due to 9 walks + 2 hit batters, but we knew they'd have to go against our ace in the winner-takes-all 2nd game.  But the day before the 2nd game, Small, in a freakish accident during batting practice got hit on the inside elbow of his pitching arm by a line drive.  He was down on the field for several minutes in serious pain.  He still pitched the next day, and while decent, was clearly not his usual self.  Gave up 5 runs in one inning, and we lost 5-2.

Is it not legit (even if whining) to speculate the outcome might have been different had Small been close to 100%?  We've seen what a dominating pitcher he is when healthy.

Then with Arky, they were literally a bungled foul pop-up from beating OSU in the CG.  Bizarre good fortune for OSU in both games.  So I brought this up to the OSU fan, not because I liked whining, rather to somewhat refute his original insinuation that OSU had, "kicked our asses" proving the Pac 12 was superior to the SEC.

---

Any of you Stanford fans going to the games?  If so, make sure you get to the outfield (Left Field Lounge) to experience the best part of taking in a game at, "The Dude".  Go hungry if you can, and wear your Stanford gear proudly.  You'll get fed and offered drinks as long as you're not acting like jerks.