CWS Finals - Day 3 Pregame Snowflake Thread - LFG!
Kauffamnn likely to get the start with Criswell throwing in long-relief, if necessary. Rocker was dealing yesterday, but the bats came to life as the game wore on, particularly with runners on base. I am very encouraged by the fact that we hit Vandy's reliever well over the course of three innings. Just need to bring runners home.
I'm giving the nod to Michigan's pitching to stifle Vandy's bats for the most part and our offense and aggressive base running to bring this one home, comfortably. UM 12, Vandy 4.
Go Blue!
A National Championship will be decided tonight. Should be a great game! Go Blue!
Mason Hickman for Vandy tonight, I don't know anything about him, but I did watch the game where they came back and beat Louisville in the 9th.
Sounds like he's due to get roughed up!
The winning formula is likely scratching out a couple early runs, Kauffmann pitching into the 7th, with Criswell going the last 2-3, and something like a 4-2 win, as I set personal records for systolic readings.
Alternate winning formula: aluminum bats + crunchable kneecaps and fingers = successful World Series outing
Long relief or short, it'll be Jeff Criswell. And since there's no tomorrow to the season, I would expect Tommy Henry to be fully armed and ready should he be needed.
Odds are out. Michigan +175 odds to win, Vandy -210. Over/Under is 8.
Bold score prediction - I love it. I will enjoy every minute of this thing and can't wait to get rolling. Championship is very much within reach with this hungry team. Let's do it boys and GO BLUE!!
let’s go Blue! Win the game!
We handed them 3 runs last night, if we avoid the errors we should win this one. The majority of our loses over the last 6-8 weeks going back to the IU series have not been us being out played, it’s been beating ourselves with walks and errors.
Yeah, but that's baseball at this level. There aren't pro's at every position, and errors are gonna happen. If you are a baseball fan, that's what makes MLB ball so interesting. You can watch 50 games and never see a run score on a passed ball. In college, it feels like every time there is a runner on 3rd, there will be a passed ball.
So true. Gives you an incredible appreciation for how good a player has to be to make it up to MLB level.
Yup. Think way, way back to about 10 days ago. Game 2 against the #1 team in the country UCLA and we commit FIVE fucking errors to hand them the game.
No way can Michigan recover from that (they said). Michigan is toast (they said).
Well we won that fucking game three and we're going to win tonight's fucking game three as well. You know why they're gonna win?
Cause this team's got guts. And sometimes guts is enough.
+1 for the reference. You don't look like a steer so that kind of narrows it down.
I'm sitting in a different section (102) tonight than I did in Game 2 (112), so hopefully that helps keep errors and wild pitches down. Only stupid if it doesn't work? Or something.
Well, I proved last night that my choice of t-shirt has no effect on baseball being played 700 miles away. So apparently it's all up to you.
Yep, I came in late to game 1, and we won. So I came in late to game 2...
Team luck doesn’t depend on when I turn on the game, so it’s all on Charlie!
Don't be so sure. Did you cut off the sleeves and wear one as a headband with HAIL written on it in sharpie?
He couldn't find the elusive HAIL headband. Anyone know where to find one? I want to wear it when I go to the Michigan bar in Dubai.
I wondered last week if it's possible to have passive control of something (like wearing a lucky t-shirt). The overall consensus was no.
I'll be interested to see who we've got at DH and how our lineup is arranged (assuming Nwogu can't go). Clementi has proven to be a hitter, but he looked rough against Rocker. Maybe that's the matchup. Maybe it's just too much rust. Riley Bertram has seemed to provide a spark in the brief time I've been following. Always looks comfortable and confident. That would be my hunch from the cheap seats.
Either way, not sure if they just plug the new DH in at the leadoff spot to maintain consistency or juggle him down the order. Pleased that I don't have to make that decision.
It's gonna be tough for either team to come from behind tonight with Hickman and Kauffman on the mound. I believe both Vandy and UM are ~ 40-4 when scoring first this season so hopefully we pounce on 'em early.
Also hope that the CWS committee finds a way to quiet that Vandy Whistler in-between every pitch because it's quite annoying on the broadcast. Can't imagine actually sitting next to that guy...
All the TD Ameritrade Park officials have to do is enforce their own rules. Apparently, they did so at one game after an "onslaught of complaints."
Here is the contact information -- make sure they know how disruptive his actions are to the game.
http://www.tdameritradeparkomaha.com/Contact.aspx
402.341.1500
And here is a link to the stadium rules.
http://www.tdameritradeparkomaha.com/Information/ProhibitedItems.aspx
"Disruptive noisemaking of any kind" is prohibited. Additionally, a guest may be removed from the stadium if the guest's behavior "disrupts guests or others involved in the event[.]"
Whatever happens tonight, it's been a fun and amazing run for these young men. That said, Vanderbilt shouldn't be the national champion of anything - LET'S FUCKING GO BLUE!!!! Pitch your asses off, manufacture runs, and do enough to get the W, like you've done all post-season.
Getting an early lead will be the key to winning.
Aggressive base running when they get on will help a lot. Their catcher isn’t going to throw anyone out, so put a LOT of pressure on the pitcher to hold ‘em close to the base. And don’t look at nearly as many 3-0 and 3-1 pitches, please...
How about a World Series dream ending for Michigan for a player from a Michigan hometown? Jordan Nwogu hobbles off the bench to pinch hit in the top of the ninth with a runner on first and Michigan trailing by a run. He then launches a 3-2 pitch over the fence for a two-run homer and Michigan relievers shut down Vanderbilt in the bottom of the ninth for the win!
The Louisville folks said that the Vanderbilt team was doing a lot of "talking" during the game which is why the Louisville pitcher mouthed off.
For people who attended Game 1 and 2, has the Vanderbilt team been trash talking? Or is that pretty much the norm?
I think those two teams have beef from previous playoff matchups which contributed to it. I haven't noticed anything on the broadcasts that looked like anything other than celebrating when doing well.
No matter what, hard to not be proud of the team for what its accomplished. First Big Ten team to play for a title in decades. But you really have to hope that this team gets over the hump tonight. Not just for its own sake and for how hard each of those guys has worked to get to this point, but for the University of Michigan as a whole.
Over the last 10-20 years, Michigan has had a lot of great teams in its "biggest" sports. Football, basketball, and hockey especially. Each of them, at one point or another, have gotten so damn close to the mountaintop, only to fall just short or (in football's case) plummet back to earth hard and fast. 0-2 in title games for basketball, 0-1 in Frozen Four title games, lost in the Frozen Four semis last year, and then whenever Michigan smells title contention in football, OSU has been there to either snatch it away in the most heartbreaking fashion, or chokeslam Michigan's hopes and dreams into oblivion. Michigan seems to have an athletic reputation, in many cases, of "close but no cigar."
I don't mean to take away from the many titles that, say, the men's gymnastics team has won. Suppose what I'm saying is I want Michigan to win so badly tonight not just because the team has earned it, but because I feel like Michigan, as a whole, is due for a big moment like this. Our teams have been on the losing end of these types of games for so damn long. The kind of games that garner national attention.
Its about time that just one title game went Michigan's way.
I'll completely lose my shit if Kerr goes yard at a key moment in the game. He's destined for greatness tonight.
Need to get back to the basics. The number of passed balls is a little ridiculous for this level of baseball.
I keep telling myself that I’m not going to go crazy tonight. It’s baseball, I’ve never watched it before, it’s a Cinderella run, so win or lose we should be happy right? But I know as soon as the game starts and something less than ideal happens, I will lose all semblance of civility.
That being said, LFG!!!!!!!!!!!
Go Blue!
Super fun to be in a winner take all game. Here's to the good guys coming out on top! Sucks they couldn't close it out last night but I'm happy we have a mostly rested Kauffmann and Criswell ready to go. Hickman had a decent outing against Louisville but he was their midweek starter for most of the year. Hopefully our good plate discipline can drive up his pitch count early and we can attack their bullpen.
So freaking nervous. Haven't felt this way about baseball in a while. Get it done fellas, GO BLUE!
being an M baseball fan these last couple weeks is probably like being a Catholic Wolverine when the team went to the Vatican
ok yeah, I can see how y'all might think that but ACKSHALLY
Anchor Down!
...
I mean, Go Blue!
Score First, Catch The Ball, Score Last.
NATIONAL CHAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO BLUE!