I'm not saying this to you, but to all the other readers that might be out there: RANAUDO IS INSANE!!! One of the most highly-touted recruits in LSU history in any sport... and he's been living up to the hype. HE IS FOR REAL. Friday nights are a treat getting to watch this guy pitch!!!
Yeah, for like the first 1/3 of last season, the "nega-Tigers" were out in full force bashing LSU on every forum that I read. It was infuriating. It's like LSU has this huge section of 'fans' that love trashing LSU. To add to that, you had all the ULL fans (who are actually true fans of their crappy program) showing up all over the place to egg on the LSU 'fans' that get a thrill out of trashing LSU. And the year before that, it was thread after thread about how we should fire our coach.
yeah. he really is at the level where most pitchers were at when LSU used to play teams like rice or stanford within the last decade or so; whenever you would hear about a team with a pitching staff that is solid, that is where LSU is at this season. i think it will be strange (though in a good way) because LSU has always relied on its bat in the past.
My father is a blue-collar, oil-field guy and he is very familiar with Morgan City. As for Dozar he hit .265 in 27 games for us last year, but Nola only hit .240 in 50 games and Senior Helenihi only hit .255 (and he beat Hanover back out once we got to the CWS, didn't he?). As for Morgan City, I remember reading and seeing pictures of this gorgeous girl that was Miss Morgan City in the last year or two.
Weren't both Mahtook and Hanover freshmen last year? Yeah, both were so great they ended up starting a bunch and being huge for us in our Championship season. But Ott was a freshman last season and was one of the greatest in LSU history...Insane what the future holds for this kid! But yeah, I was big-time impressed with Mahtook and Hanover. Hanover was one of the most highly-touted recruits in LSU history, so it was awesome seeing him live up to the hype in the 65 games (49 starts) he played last season (#2 of the returning starters in batting average, amazing on defense). And Mahtook... it was awesome seeing him go toe-to-toe with Hanover in the 63 games he played (49 starts) as the other potential best position player we got from that class (#3 of the returning starters in batting avg, amazing on defense).
Speaking of how insane Ranaudo is, I just read this: Collegiate Baseball named him the preseason National Player of the Year Ranaudo Named Preseason Player of the Year - LSUsports.net - The Official Web Site of LSU Tigers Athletics
I think I may like this team more than any LSU baseball team since Skip took us to our first CWS Title. I can't wait to see them in Oxford this year. ldskule:
