This is what's missing

[nursegirl25]

I've followed, like a lot of you, this baseball program for a long time. I've seen Brian Williams to Brian Buscher. Been through the Cromer brothers and watched Wingo morph into a legend. I've seen a lot of Carolina baseball. Today hurts like no other.

We, and I mean we as fans, players, and University body needed to claim some sort of victory over our in state rivals and for 2 straight days we've thrown it away in the final inning.

So forgetting the many game management decisions I disagree with, my biggest take away from these last 2 days or this:

In Tanner's glory run of 2010-2012, those teams had IT. And by IT I mean they EXPECTED to win every game. When the ball was handed to Price ---it was over!!! Fans knew it, opposing teams knew it, and I think most importantly the guys wearing CAROLINA on their jerseys knew it. And it was more than talent. Matt Price blew some saves. Not many, but he did. But he exuded confidence. We all knew we could count on Christian Walker or Morales to get a clutch hit at some point and we knew if somebody needed an ass chewing SOMEBODY would step up and do it.

I see hardly ANY player leadership over the past 2-3 seasons with hardly any emotion from anybody. I realize baseball isn't a "ra ra" go crazy sport but this years team seems so complacent and almost scared at times. I have to think that ties back to Chad.
Maybe behind closed doors there is gnashing of teeth and upper classmen leading a players only meeting but it feels like they will just go eat pizza and say "oh well"
One last thing . I get the bunting strategy with first and second no outs. I get Destino hasn't lit it up over the first 10 games. I also get this team seems Horrible at simple fundamentals like bunting and SAC Flys. What in the world kind of message do you send arguably your best RBI man, best power guy, and preseason all American
" you're our big offensive juggernaut Alex but in this key crucial offensive situation I need you to sit down I'm putting in a first year guy to bunt"...

Posting this isn't gonna change anything. It just makes a lifelong fan feel a little better to vent in this disappointing baseball weekend

 

[Rod Dangerfield]

This is what's missing:

 

[USC75Grad]

This is what's missing:

Yep!!

 

[psycock]

Nurse you make some good points. However, in comparing to the drop in success(still early but it looks that way) to what happened in football, I think it is more related to the drop in overall talent. I don`t like to single players out, but other than maybe the pitching being equal, or close to it, I don`t think the players, position after position, are as good as they were. Don`t know if it boils down to recruiting, like is obvious in football, or what, but to me that seems to be the main difference. If it is that we aren`t recruiting as well as we were, I don`t know why. But I agree - these last two games, collectively, are about as painful as it gets. It`s still early, but it`s hard to be very confident at this point. And, again, I encourage our fans not to single out individual players. They are trying as hard as they can.

 

[55vett]

Totally agree with the OP. Our teams since Tanner have lacked swagger and confidence. They just seem to go through the motions. Where's the passion? Where's the fire? Hate to say it, but Clemson played this weekend with the tenacity, scrappines and will-to-win that we used to have. The body language of our guys after the 9th inning homer reflected defeat, and I didn't see anyone rallying the troops. This might -- and I say might because in baseball things can turn around -- be a very long season.

 

[CockTail73]

Teams take on the personality of a coach...holbrook is soft as a marshmallow...he likes to coddle(saw this in one of his 1st interviews as HC)

 

[MorganEFan]

Teams take on the personality of a coach...holbrook is soft as a marshmallow...he likes to coddle(saw this in one of his 1st interviews as HC)

Morales was tough as nails and would have been all over this team's backside. It is depressing to see how this program has changed and it all starts at the top.

 

[67gamecock]

Morales was tough as nails and would have been all over this team's backside. It is depressing to see how this program has changed and it all starts at the top.

Morales . . . the Swearinger of baseball.

 

[USCBatgirl21]

Morales . . . the Swearinger of baseball.

When he got into Will Lamb's face in 2011 up at Fluor ("shenanigans") and waved his finger while shaking his head "no"...I would have LOVED to have heard that conversation.

 

[bucketdad]

Absolutely agree we have a lack of confidence. It's like as if we don't know we can win. It leads to a kinda desperation mode we see half way through too many games. It pains me greatly to see a program such as ours look desperate at any time, much less half the time. We are better than that. It's time to hold the coaches accountable for this... because they are the ones that should be held accountable.

 

[jimnasium]

I'm not yet on board with the fire the coach chat but when the game is on the line don't challenge the nations #1 pro baseball prospect you walk him. That was a curious decision.