Can Tulane return to the pinnacle of College Baseball? Can we again be a regular post-season participant and at least occasionally go to the College World Series?
Of course, the answer is “Yes!” I keep hearing tuition cost is the problem, but three high-priced universities (Miami, TCU, and Vandy) were all in the College World Series. Rice, Notre Dame, Dallas Baptist, USC, and Bradley joined Tulane as “private” schools that were “at large” choices for regionals, although none of them made the “Super Regionals.” Nonetheless, being expensive is not an “excuse” for failure to rank among the top baseball schools in the NCAA.
Naturally, however, the real question to be asked is, “will we return to the top tier of college baseball teams?” That’s much tougher to answer. Commitment and the willingness to expend necessary resources is obviously the key. I think we’ve begun that process with the hiring of Coach Pierce. I’ve watched a lot of college baseball the last few weeks. Frankly, the pitching looks a lot better than ours. Fastballs in the 90’s are commonplace and for those guys throwing 86-88 mph, their control is excellent. Our pitching is clearly our strength but we don’t have the talent that the best teams have. And our hitting isn’t close to “first rate;” it’s “third rate” at best. That Tulane did as well as it did this year I credit almost entirely to Coach Pierce and his staff, though the courage and “never say die” spirit of the players can’t be shortchanged either.
Can we keep Pierce? It’s hard to guess. He’s from Texas. When Texas, Houston, Rice, TCU, or Texas A&M come calling with “better baseball histories” and more resources, will he “go home?” And, if he leaves, can we get a comparable coach to replace him? This is not an issue for today (I don’t think) but it’s something that Rick Dickson needs to start considering now, not when the issue is imminent.
The other big issue is recruiting. How does Vanderbilt have three of the first 24 guys selected in the first round of the Major League draft? And they had three more in the first six rounds. Five of these six draftees were juniors. Yes, they have a recent history. Yes, they are widely recognized as a top tier academic university (better than Tulane
). Yes, they are located in Nashville, a really good city in many people’s view. But, they are just as expensive as any of the other private schools who don’t do as well. How do they do it? I don’t know.
But Tulane used to recruit guys like Bogasevic, Aubrey, and Jurries. Even our best recent players like Segedin and Alamais are not in that class. Most don’t compare to Emaus, Hamilton, Manzella, and Gomes, who all made it to the major leagues. I think Everett, Dini, Madden, Southard, Riser, Holland, Crowell, Morgan, Mohl, and Latham (all on one team) would be “stars” on today’s team. How do we get back to that level of player, that depth of talent?
One big difference I note today is the lack of Legislative Scholarships on the team. Back in the day, we had 7 or 8 most years. Many were some of our best players. Now, we have none and it’s been a couple years since we had any (Napoli) who was a real contributor. Many of our legislative supporters have passed on, but that was a very important part of our success. Can Coach Pierce work that angle harder? Can the university support “non-scholarship” athletes better? That seems to be a big difference between us and the more successful private schools.
“Success breeds success” isn’t just a trite saying; it’s a proven formula and we've got a lot of positives. We’ve been to 20 regionals in baseball. To most schools, that’s a lot. We’ve just come off a “regional season.” We have a nice stadium and solid baseball facilities. We have a terrific coach and staff. If we can continue this year’s success, we’ll get the fans back. Success, quality opponents, and a good “game day” atmosphere will lead to better recruits and even more success. It can be done!!
Roll Wave!!!
Of course, the answer is “Yes!” I keep hearing tuition cost is the problem, but three high-priced universities (Miami, TCU, and Vandy) were all in the College World Series. Rice, Notre Dame, Dallas Baptist, USC, and Bradley joined Tulane as “private” schools that were “at large” choices for regionals, although none of them made the “Super Regionals.” Nonetheless, being expensive is not an “excuse” for failure to rank among the top baseball schools in the NCAA.
Naturally, however, the real question to be asked is, “will we return to the top tier of college baseball teams?” That’s much tougher to answer. Commitment and the willingness to expend necessary resources is obviously the key. I think we’ve begun that process with the hiring of Coach Pierce. I’ve watched a lot of college baseball the last few weeks. Frankly, the pitching looks a lot better than ours. Fastballs in the 90’s are commonplace and for those guys throwing 86-88 mph, their control is excellent. Our pitching is clearly our strength but we don’t have the talent that the best teams have. And our hitting isn’t close to “first rate;” it’s “third rate” at best. That Tulane did as well as it did this year I credit almost entirely to Coach Pierce and his staff, though the courage and “never say die” spirit of the players can’t be shortchanged either.
Can we keep Pierce? It’s hard to guess. He’s from Texas. When Texas, Houston, Rice, TCU, or Texas A&M come calling with “better baseball histories” and more resources, will he “go home?” And, if he leaves, can we get a comparable coach to replace him? This is not an issue for today (I don’t think) but it’s something that Rick Dickson needs to start considering now, not when the issue is imminent.
The other big issue is recruiting. How does Vanderbilt have three of the first 24 guys selected in the first round of the Major League draft? And they had three more in the first six rounds. Five of these six draftees were juniors. Yes, they have a recent history. Yes, they are widely recognized as a top tier academic university (better than Tulane
). Yes, they are located in Nashville, a really good city in many people’s view. But, they are just as expensive as any of the other private schools who don’t do as well. How do they do it? I don’t know.But Tulane used to recruit guys like Bogasevic, Aubrey, and Jurries. Even our best recent players like Segedin and Alamais are not in that class. Most don’t compare to Emaus, Hamilton, Manzella, and Gomes, who all made it to the major leagues. I think Everett, Dini, Madden, Southard, Riser, Holland, Crowell, Morgan, Mohl, and Latham (all on one team) would be “stars” on today’s team. How do we get back to that level of player, that depth of talent?
One big difference I note today is the lack of Legislative Scholarships on the team. Back in the day, we had 7 or 8 most years. Many were some of our best players. Now, we have none and it’s been a couple years since we had any (Napoli) who was a real contributor. Many of our legislative supporters have passed on, but that was a very important part of our success. Can Coach Pierce work that angle harder? Can the university support “non-scholarship” athletes better? That seems to be a big difference between us and the more successful private schools.
“Success breeds success” isn’t just a trite saying; it’s a proven formula and we've got a lot of positives. We’ve been to 20 regionals in baseball. To most schools, that’s a lot. We’ve just come off a “regional season.” We have a nice stadium and solid baseball facilities. We have a terrific coach and staff. If we can continue this year’s success, we’ll get the fans back. Success, quality opponents, and a good “game day” atmosphere will lead to better recruits and even more success. It can be done!!
Roll Wave!!!