by SID - The roller coaster 2009 baseball season is not done yet. Despite getting swept at home against in-state rival Tennessee, the Commodores still made the Southeastern Conference tournament as the eighth seed.Up next is LSU, who two seasons ago were swept out of Hawkins Field in the final weekend of the 2007 regular season. Since that time the Tigers have made it back to elite status with a College World Series appearance in 2008 and a share of the regular season conference championship with Ole Miss this year. They are a very good team in all phases and will certainly pose a tough challenge on Wednesday.
The old saying of once you get in, anything can happen is very true of the SEC tourney. In 2007, Vanderbilt was the No. 1 seed and lost to No. 8 seed Tennessee on Day 1. Last season No. 1 seed Georgia fell to No. 8 seed Ole Miss in the opening round. The Rebels advanced to the championship game, before falling to LSU.
With a bigger ballpark that limits power numbers, the Commodores have used it to some success in the Tim Corbin era. While some teams go in and treat the tournament as a tune up and seek rest for NCAA play, Corbin has always played to win the tourney in Hoover. The team made the finals in 2004 and 2006, won it in 2007 and only an 8-7 loss to Ole Miss in the semifinal round stopped a third straight championship game appearance in 2008.
Now many may say the season is already over and they are partly right, the regular season is. The post-season has begun and this young Commodore team has shown it can bounce back from adversity all year long. Let's hope this week the roller coaster is climbing up, instead of speeding down.
an ugly problem that is surfacing is this 'corked bat, rolled bat " issue...most of the SEC teams are just looking the other way as their "big boppers" use these illegal bats to create absurd HR numbers and are hitting HRs 500 ft or more...so naturally routine fly balls are leaving the yard as well..these bats totally ruin the balence between hitting, fielding and pitching and are going to get a pitcher killed...well tim corbin has very high moral principles and refuses to let his team use these illegal bats for many reasons ( one of the many reasons he was hired at vandy and is so respected ) and it has the effect of spotting the other teams 3--4 runs a game....they have lost several games the last month to these bats hitting late HRs....that is what the big discussion was all about in the last inning saturday and why the TENN bat was confiscated to be sent to the SEC.....it was corked......hope the SEC does the right thing quickly about this serious problem.....good luck to vandy in the tournment......VandyPitcher
ReplyDeleteHow do you cork a metal bat?
ReplyDeleteThe bat in question is not metal, it is composite-there is the real issue.
ReplyDeleteThe conference/NCAA needs to deal with the composite bat issue and this will then be resolved.
Tim Corbin is doing the right thing and when you do the right things good things will eventually happen. Go coach and go Vandy in the SEC tournament.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the first comment and with the third. I also agree with Corbin and what he had to say on 104.5 FM.
ReplyDeleteBut what's the solution for TODAY?
I understand and appreciate the ethical dilemma, but what about the pragmatic side of things. If the league and the NCAA are aware that a good number of teams are using these bats, then they should make it an all or nothing scenario for here on out.
What I mean by all or nothing scenario is to make it so that in the conference tournaments, regionals, super-regionals, and CWS in Omaha all teams playing either have to agree completely on the use of these bats or they cannot be used at all.
The above mentioned solution, I think, is the best option for the rest of the season.
I laud Coach Corbin for his principles, insight, and wisdom on this matter, but Vanderbilt needs to be able to compete in the hear and now!
Go dores
Everyone needs to play by the SAME RULES whatever they are!
ReplyDeleteyou cant "have rules " that could get a pitcher or charging 3rd baseman or 1st baseman killed....and you are just stupid if you allow college baseball to become "mens softball "...15 to 12 games are absurd...baseball was ment to be 5 to 4 , 4 to 3 most of the time with terrific pitching and terrific defence...and timely hitting or situational hitting or daring base running....why in yell change such a great game so much with wiffle bats that can hit a baseball 500 ft ?? VandyPitcher
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