OT: CWS- Opening Day Open Thread
The College World Series kicks off in about 30 minutes with two games on today's schedule:
1 p.m. (Central), TCU vs. Florida State
6 p.m. (Central), Florida vs. UCLA
While no game is a bad game, the first one definitely has my attention. TCU is starting a true freshman, but don't let that fool you. The kid was drafted as a first rounder out of high school but passed up the money to play for the Horned Frogs. Purke is the real deal. Just be prepared to hear way too many times about his cockeyed hat and fist pumping. Florida State is as hot as they come. They feel as if they were sleighted by the NCAA committee for not getting to host a regional as a #1 seed. They instead were shipped to UCONN. The Seminoles are one of the strongest overall teams in the bracket.
Game two is also really good. I think I favor Florida who has the best pitching and defense in the tournament. UCLA is still somewhat young, but they did come out of the toughest bracket, beating LSU, UC Irvine, and a super regional against Cal State Fullerton.
Should be good games in what is the last CWS Opening day in Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium.
Get Nomar out of the box. Too dry of a PBP guy. Give me Morgan Ensberg! Hell, put Kyle Peterson in the booth instead of the sidelines.
FUCK! That's an unusual error from Witte. Pushing too hard. Definitely some first game jitters. Even Purke is a little off base.
Took two batters, but Purke is now in pure filth mode. Just K's the 3, 4, and 5 hole batters. The change up has them flailing at nothing. I wouldn't be surprised to see Purke get 12-14 Ks. Question becomes if FSU will be relaxed enough after getting the early run, or if they'll have their own jitters on defense/mound.
Jitters apparent. Couldn't hit a strike. Can't throw inside. TCU is teeing off. 2-1 TCU, T1, 0 outs. FSU head coach already been out once.
In an unrelated note, I think FSU has a farm somewhere that produces left handed pitchers in the dozens. They're like Ohio State with kickers. They have an endless stream of them. I remember when I was in high school, we had a special education guy as our manager. Old Johnny Ballgame. He was a lefty and would go on long rants on how FSU had given him a scholarship as a pitcher. He renegged on this LOI though, as he decided to go to Oklahoma State with our ace.
I occasionally still see Ballgame around town. Still only baths once a month, but he's still a great kid. He'll still talk my ear off about that time we let him take batting practice with us in uniform.
And TCU with the big inning. 5-1 Horned Frogs lead. Batted the entire order. Awesome. Somehow, FSU didn't even get anyone up in the bullpen. TCU has Gilmartin's number
Holy cow what a fucking play. You'll see that on sportscenter tonight. Wow, off Witte's shoulder at third, barehanded by shortstop Featherson, cannon to first for the out. Wow, that's better than any Web Gem Baseball Tonight has had in the last week!
but I couldn't stand to see you being the only one in this thread any longer.
Eh, that doesn't bother me. As a semi-TCU fan when it comes to baseball, I wouldn't expect any Michigan fans to be watching this, especially when the WC is on.
FSU fail! Pop up on infield on a hit and run. Runner from 2nd touches 3rd, rounds bag, goes right back to 2nd without touching third. Gets doubled off to end an inning. YIKES.
You never see that happen. As an umpire, that's so awesome.
I enjoyed reading this.
Not to mention it's the last year "the Blatt". The new stadium is coming along nicely, just drove by it not too long ago and should be an awesome place.
I also recently drove by, and it looks pretty nice. It's still a little sad that the CWS is leaving Rosenblatt. I have a friend who played college ball and he is more than a little bummed out about it, that place has a lot of tradition.
Yeah it does. I was glad to hear there is going to be a tibute area where home plate is when the zoo builds there. On the other hand I can't wait to see this new stadium either.
TCU wins 8-1. First CWS victory in their 1st CWS appearance. Even saved their closer. FSU to losers' bracket. Purke to 15-0.
That Purke guy is the real deal. And man you weren't kidding about all the talk about his hat and the fist-pumping...
I don't usually get to catch much college baseball during the regular season outside of Big Ten play, but it's awesome seeing some of these programs go at it. I know TCU's pretty darn good, but I'm still somewhat shocked at how they handled Texas (had UT pegged as the eventual winner myself).
Game 2 getting started. Erin Andrews on the sideline. Kyle Peterson is much better at the job. No sugarcoat.
Florida's centerfielder may have just had the Web Gem of the Year. Wow. Sliding straight toward the centerfield fence after a dead sprint. Catches it over the head. Wow.
This game is going so slow that it's bad for college baseball's fan base building. Two hours in, we're just wrapping up the 5th. The announcers have lost all focus as they discuss their Zesto's orders instead of the game. So so bad.