M Baseball Deserves More Hype
Michigan baseball used to be pretty damn dominant in the B1G and we've produced some amazing MLB players through the years. My Jr & Sr years looked like this:
| 1980 | Bud Middaugh | 36–18–1 | Big Ten Champions, College World Series (5th Place) |
| 1981 | Bud Middaugh | 41–20 | Big Ten Champions, Big Ten Tournament Champions, College World Series (7th Place) |
I went to a bunch of games those years (Dylan is right - pretty fun experience) and these guys deserve our support. They've been quietly rising, IMO, as hockey has been falling. The last four years their record has improved each year and this year has been a break-out season indeed.
And, in the relm of things that mean absolutely nothing, while I dont own a football or hockey jersey I do own a Barry Larkin MIchigan baseball jersey.
Know what else we had way, way back in the day too?
1. A football team that either won or tied for the B1G championship just about every year, beat OSU half the time and beat MSU ALL the time (let's not talk Rose Bowls though)
2. 18 year old drinking age
3. $5.00 fine for possession of less than 2 ounces of pot
4. Ability to bring ANYTHING into Michigan stadium for gameday as long as it wasnt glass (meaning we could bring kegs to the game and did)
And the real crazy STDs hadnt been invented yet so if you were unfortunately to make friends with somebody you shouldnt your neighborhood doctor could fix you right up.
It wasn too terrible.......
You wouldnt even know what to do when you got there.
When I was 8 years old I went to UM summer baseball camp and stayed in South Quad. Yes, my parents let me do this. It was a different time. Well, the first morning I woke up and and puked all over the floor in the dorm. I called my mom who called Bud and he came over and picked me up from South Quad and took me BACK TO HIS HOUSE and I slept on his couch and when I woke up his wife made me pancakes. I then made the afternoon session and finished the rest of the week. So Wolverine Devotee, don't shit on Bud Middaugh. You are out of your element.
... but hopefully we'll just get more front page hockey.
Agree! They're a great follow on Twitter.
Coach matters. Baseball coach was a good hire. Time for Red to retire.
Two months ago, I tried to buy a Michigan baseball jersey, both in person at MDen (albeit in Livonia) and online without success. Today, I am able to get a solid blue pullover Nike-made "jersey" from various sources, but that's the only version. I wish there was more selection and perhaps the team's success will lead to that happening. (If anyone knows where I can find other versions, I'd love to hear about it.)
This program has a history of late season collapses...until they actually do something instead of just talikng about it we cant get to excited...sorry but its the truth
You mean like two years ago when they won the B1G baseball tourney at the end of the season and then scared Louisville (at home) in the NCAAs?
relatively decent season in how many years?
We just won the BTT two seasons ago. That's hardly a late season collapse.
Went to many M baseball games during the late 2000s/early 2010s. Beer would help immensely. The problem with college baseball is that it is just as long as MLB baseball. Tough to buy in to a 3-hr game unless the team is legit and the weather is good. However, both of those are check marks today, so hopefully there's a big crowd.
Before Bud Middaugh, Michigan's long-time coach was Moby Benedict. That segues into one of my cool Michigan stories. 'Twas the summer of '72, and I went to a Cub game at Wrigley by myself. Since I was alone, the bleachers were out -- didn't want to worry about my seat every time I left to get some food, etc. -- so I bought a reserved seat down the right field line by the right field bullpen. (Baseball has changed -- I just walked up the day of the game and plunked my money down.) Anyways, when I got to my seat, there were a bunch of kids calling out to St. Louis' Ted Sizemore and asking if he was going to play that day. I smiled and instead of asking that question, called out, "Hey, Ted, what do you think about Moby Benedict?" (Sizemore had been all Big Ten at Michigan in the mid-60s.) Sizemore looked towards me and pointed. I nodded, he came over and we talked for about 20 minutes about Michigan, about the Daily, about baseball, and about Benedict. It's still one of my favorite days at an MLB baseball park and I couldn't tell you who won that day if you paid me.
We just lost to the last place team in the league ..winless...AT HOME...you dont win BIG titles by losing to the last place team at home!...you just dont...now we are 3 games behind Minnesota and have virtually no chance to win a league title and its only April 9th....THIS is what I mean when I say this program has a history of this...so for everyone all giddy because we won a series against the last plae team I say you to you..SO WHAT? if you cant sweep them AT HOME you dont win a title...if you ask me same ole same ole regardless of the sparkling record..They just cant win the games they Should or need to to win a title
You're not going to win every single game you're "supposed" to. They just won 9 straight; today's loss doesn't prove anything.
Get your goddamn sensible opinion out of here!
April 10th, 2017 at 10:44 AM ^
Baseball is highly dependent on one player's performance. A bad team will win games when its pitcher is on his game; a good team will lose games when its pitcher is off his game. The losingest team in MLB history (the 1962 Mets) still won 25% of its games and beat the pennant winner a few times. I believe only one team in the last 60 years has won more than 108 games and even that team undoubtedly lost a game or two to the cellar dwellers.
As a further example, Illinois played last month at then #21 Coastal Carolina, the defending national champion, and won the opener of a three game set.
April 10th, 2017 at 10:47 AM ^
Baseball America, which had dropped Michigan out of its top 25 a couple of weeks ago after the Wolverines lost two of three at Maryland, has Michigan back in at 23. Maryland, by the way, dropped out.