In another thread, Andrew wondered what I would say about the Tigers' loss to Centenary. Well, I say I'm disappointed because I hate for the Tigers to lose, especially to a supposedly inferior team, but I also have to say "that's baseball". It happens. A pitcher brings his "A" game against a team that's struggling at the plate and that's what you get. I'm not jumping off any buildings though. LSU goes through hitting droughts every year at some point or another but always seem to peak at the right time. Is it embarrassing? Not to me. I wasn't playing.
Smoke said prior to the game that Nall and Ramirez would likely struggle with their control because of the lack of mound time and they did! Plus the pitcher from Centenary kept the hitters off balance, but they didn't look like they really wanted to be there. Played with no enthusiasm, poor pitch selection - it wasn't that they lost that was embarrassing, it was the lack of mental concentration that bothered me, things that they were doing fundamentally wrong. Then on top of it all I feel they really owe an apology to the folks up in Shreveport who paid good money ($10 for a GA seat) to see a half-hearted effort. It's like they came up here took the $25,000 guarantee, went through the motions and went home. That's where they should be embarrassed or ashamed.
Well, last night Gill didn't even make the trip and Smoke went with a less than stellar defenisve lineup in order to give some guys an opportunity to contribute. I just hope some of these guys like Hebert and Bryan Harris understand that games like the Centenary game is their chance to shine and show Smoke that they should be included in the 11 or 12 everyday position players that could see game action once the SEC starts. I don't take much from early season losses if the effort is 100%, but last night it was far below that. Once the weather gets warmer and the SEC slate begins the Tigers have notoriously stepped their play up a notch.
I thought the regionals were in MAY and the CWS in JUNE. One frozen night in Shreveport during March doesn't mean squat. When Skip was BUILDING this monster, drawing 2,500 on a good weekend night, LSU was losing games to the in-state bottom-feeders all the time. Tulane use to demand LSU play on Tuesday so they could throw their best pitcher, knowing LSU was still resting from conference play. Loses to directional Hammond, Lafayette, Lakefront were not uncommon. Smoke is setting the weekend rotation for conference play. It actually is possible to win in Omaha with 20 regular season losses. Let Texas and Tulane fly through the spring with 3 or 4 losses. LSU will have one up on them, our last game will not end in defeat.
First, to say these guys should be ashamed is really pretty funny to me. I bet everyone of them was trying that hardest, especially the ones who are battling for a position and/or playing time. Like SabanFan says, they lost. It happens all the time in baseball, it's the one sport where any team get beat another often. LSU had 2 pitchers on the mound that Smoke is hoping to be able to get something out of down the road. Both had problems. Smoke left them in to get the work, a good idea.
AGAIN, it wasn't the loss that was bothersome, losses in baseball happen, but it was the total lack of effort that was troublesome. Losses in March don't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, but watching the lackluster effort did bother me a bit. Everything that was said or printed prior to this game from Smoke to the players was that they really didn't want to make the four hour bus trip to Shreveport, especially after being on the road at Houston this past weekend. But there's a huge LSU fan base in northwest Louisiana who showed up to see their beloved Tigers, and I believe they deserved a better effort than what was given last night.
I agree that it is bothersome if some players were playing halfa$$. I don't know if that was the case or not, but I remember last year when Holt and Zeringue were holding player meetings to get these guys a$$es into gear. It seems that so far the team is trying to win on talent alone which never works. Just wait and see what happens this weekend. If the trend continues, then we should be worried. I also remember when we got swept by Kansas at home and I think we lost the series to Houston in the beginning of the season and people were in arms. We have the pitching so we should be in top form by the SEC.
