Determan held his own against a very capable Rice team on Monday, but Smoke should have pulled him before the 7-8-9 of the Owl lineup came around in the 6th inning. Those guys beat the hell out of Determan all day. I know percentages say that those guys shouldn't have done what they did, but Determan was unable to stop them. It was like watching the same replay over and over. I like coach Laval, but he misses some opportunities. Early in the season, the Tigers should have been sacrificing and putting runners in scoring position, and just maybe Hebert would have known how to lay down a bunt by this time is the season. Overall the SEC season was a tough one and the Tigers did pull out some wins at the end of the conference season. Good luck next season guys, and best wishes to all who are not returning for 2006 in whatever they do.
All hindsight. Who knew an .068 hitter was going to have a career day? When would you have taken Detes out? Dirks performance certainly doesn't lead one to believe that he would have put out the fire. Granted, our bunting was horrible, but there's no guarantee that the next hitter would have done what we hadn't done the entire series, i.e., hit with runners in scoring position.
Why do these things always seem to happen to LSU? I swear, you could have a kid for Florida who's shooting 32% from the free throw line, but against the Tigers, he'll go 15 for 15. You could have an injury-plagued RB for Bama averaging 1.6 yds/carry against everybody else, who'll suddenly regain his health and his form and run for 270 yds and 5 tds on 11 carries...against LSU. Then the next week, he's back to 1.6 yds/carry. I'm exaggerating, of course, but you know what I mean.
Not hindsight, but good coaching to know when your guy has had enough! I would have pulled him to start the 6th with a fresh arm. Determan had already thrown more pitches due to first pitch balls and falling behind in the count. The next batters he was to face in the upcoming inning were the ones that had done all the damage, and it is not because the .060 hitter was having a career day. That guy is on the team; it is not like they pulled some bozo out of the stands to play. He is on the team because he can play. Look all I am saying is that it doesn't take a genius to know when enough is enough.
I know it's a pipe dream but I wish Determan would come back to LSU. I like Determan because he throws strikes and doesn't fiddle fart around up on the mound! Guys who are around the plate are going to give up hits. Jason will have a big decision to make soon enough...either go pro in baseball or go to medical school. Having worked in pro baseball I've seen enough lefties who I didn't think had the stuff to make it to the Big Leagues that eventually did make it, mostly because they were southpaws and could throw strikes. Now there will be teams that back off of him a bit because of his Tommy John surgery but lefties who throw strikes are coveted, valued property in pro ball.
no, my friend pointed this statement out last football season... he's a penn fan... when we were watching the Oregon state and georgia game... and finally the iowa game, he commented on how teams really like to step up their game and lay into the tigers it seemed... I thought it was funny hearing another fan from another conference mention that...
