#1 Ranking

#1
Volsbaseballfan

Volsbaseballfan

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#1
I want to say something about the #1 Ranking. This team didn’t get here by playing Perfect Baseball, errors and mistakes are part of this game…. They got here by Playing a brand of Baseball that has developed into a culture of UT baseball…. This team gets after their opponents, in every aspect of the game. Teamwork and Brotherhood is a big part of this team . Let’s not loose sight of that as fans…. If anyone has followed UT baseball as I have for the last decade knows this. This team is a contender for a National Title and I personally feel like they will break several records this year in a lot of different categories. But I will warn you, this team nor any other team will play perfect.
I love watching them play and I am pleasantly surprised by their level of play. The 2021 team was my all time favorite UT baseball team but this team has quickly changed that. They just play the game right by getting after it.. say what you want about them but you can’t say they don’t get after teams…. At the end of the day that’s something to be proud of.I hope they Never lose that Brand…. This game owes no one anything…. respect it and Play it in a way that’s its supposed to be played and personally UT does that for me….that’s what got them here so don’t change dancing partners now that we’ve come to the be the #1 team in all of D1 baseball…. What an accomplishment… but that’s not the goal and I think this team understands that.
There is now a #1 tag on our Backs and teams will turn it up a knotch , should be fun to watch from here on out. Go Vols!!!!
 
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#3
#3
This team has EARNED the #1 ranking. It isn't a fluke. Our team has a certain kind of 'badass savoir faire' that I find very entertaining. They take on the personality of their coach. I imagine they are going to strike fear in the hearts of competitors this season. It isn't just that we can score 10 or 12 runs a game on the pitching staff of the top ranked team in the country, it's also that we can hold that same team to 6 runs in the three games, all in THEIR beautiful ballpark. And that's all true even though we played pedestrian defense. And even though our best starter didn't pitch!! Ole Miss must just be shocked at how we not only beat them, but downright abused them. And here they were thinking they had become the undisputed King of the Hill (LOL). I almost feel sorry for them. Everyone will want to beat us, yes, but everyone who saw the Ole Miss skull dragging is going to fear us. I bet the Vandyboys are asking their mommies and daddies to share some of their their anxiety meds. This is indeed a national title contender. So much fun to have a team like this. Thanks Tony.
 
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#5
#5
If you had told me we would have the #1 team in baseball 5 years ago, I would not have believed it for one second. It wasn’t that long ago we were only winning 7 or 8 SEC games every season and hoping to get the 12th seed just to get into the SECT. We are about to surpass that within the first 3 or 4 series of conference play. It truly is astonishing what Vitello has done to this program, and in a short amount of time at that. We are blessed to have this man running our program.
 
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#7
#7
txbo said:
I’m not going to rank teams but 2021 will always hold a very special place in my heart.

Too many special moments.
Click to expand...

They’re the baseball version of the 1985 football team and the 05-06 basketball team. None of those teams won Nattys, but they came out of nowhere, overachieved, and won with heart. Those 3 will always be special to me.
 
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#11
#11
I will also remind you that when most of these players committed to UT baseball, they were not even thinking of being #1. Kirby wanted to go to Hoover one time in his four years and never dreamed of going to Omaha. UT baseball was the bottom of the SEC when most of these guys committed, at least the juniors and up which is the starters minus the freshmen. One of the best things about this team and TV has mentioned it many times is they have to compete every day in fall and practice to maintain their spot. They know there are 2-3 players waiting to take their spot if they do not perform. We can second guess everything by the few hours we see every week but remember they have seen these guys all fall and every day on the field, but also in the weight room and lockerroom and in the hotels and restaurants. Some times the difference between playing this guy or that guy is what they see off the field as much as on the field. TV is known for his tough recruiting which he does very well but he also is a great motivator. FA has an ability to get the best out of his pitchers and build them into strike throwing machines. Remember, the word on several of these guys who are carrying us pitching wise was that they did not have control. I don't fully know what FA does but he makes them into strike throwers. A few like Kirby and Redmond, maybe others but few of them, came in that way but most of these guys didn't. Elander is slighted in our discussions but we must remember that he is the hitting coach. He has done an incredible job of making these guys hitters. Drew only hit like 2 homeruns his whole high school career.
 
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#12
#12
youcancallmeAl said:
This team has EARNED the #1 ranking. It isn't a fluke. Our team has a certain kind of 'badass savoir faire' that I find very entertaining. They take on the personality of their coach. I imagine they are going to strike fear in the hearts of competitors this season. It isn't just that we can score 10 or 12 runs a game on the pitching staff of the top ranked team in the country, it's also that we can hold that same team to 6 runs in the three games, all in THEIR beautiful ballpark. And that's all true even though we played pedestrian defense. And even though our best starter didn't pitch!! Ole Miss must just be shocked at how we not only beat them, but downright abused them. And here they were thinking they had become the undisputed King of the Hill (LOL). I almost feel sorry for them. Everyone will want to beat us, yes, but everyone who saw the Ole Miss skull dragging is going to fear us. I bet the Vandyboys are asking their mommies and daddies to share some of their their anxiety meds. This is indeed a national title contender. So much fun to have a team like this. Thanks Tony.
Click to expand...

New Anarcho Punk band name "Badass Savior Faire" I call it.
 
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#13
#13
preacherman20 said:
I will also remind you that when most of these players committed to UT baseball, they were not even thinking of being #1. Kirby wanted to go to Hoover one time in his four years and never dreamed of going to Omaha. UT baseball was the bottom of the SEC when most of these guys committed, at least the juniors and up which is the starters minus the freshmen. One of the best things about this team and TV has mentioned it many times is they have to compete every day in fall and practice to maintain their spot. They know there are 2-3 players waiting to take their spot if they do not perform. We can second guess everything by the few hours we see every week but remember they have seen these guys all fall and every day on the field, but also in the weight room and lockerroom and in the hotels and restaurants. Some times the difference between playing this guy or that guy is what they see off the field as much as on the field. TV is known for his tough recruiting which he does very well but he also is a great motivator. FA has an ability to get the best out of his pitchers and build them into strike throwing machines. Remember, the word on several of these guys who are carrying us pitching wise was that they did not have control. I don't fully know what FA does but he makes them into strike throwers. A few like Kirby and Redmond, maybe others but few of them, came in that way but most of these guys didn't. Elander is slighted in our discussions but we must remember that he is the hitting coach. He has done an incredible job of making these guys hitters. Drew only hit like 2 homeruns his whole high school career.
Click to expand...

I appreciate the insights! Fair point regarding Elander. Everyone talks about pitching, and maybe it should be so. But golly dang, we aren’t winning by one run. We had 98 home runs last year and we are sitting at 64, two weekends into the SEC slate. That’s an easy one. The approach at the plate is harder to quantify but I don’t recall too many bad AB’s this year.

These guys, appear to have each other’s backs, and the coaches sure know how to manage all the personalities, get the most out of ‘em, while still keeping it fun. It’s been an absolute treat to watch so far.

GBO!!!
 
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#14
#14
I honestly think, that during Saturday and Sunday’s game , our hitters where more focused on hitting line drives and scoring runs by the base hit. Everyone seemed to have a more Right side approach, which I like. Not sure if that approach came from the coaches but sure seemed different. Just my observation. I think that type of ball will
Come into play at Omaha , if we go back . Maybe I am wrong in my observation, but the hitters looked locked in
 
#15
#15
vol66 said:
I appreciate the insights! Fair point regarding Elander. Everyone talks about pitching, and maybe it should be so. But golly dang, we aren’t winning by one run. We had 98 home runs last year and we are sitting at 64, two weekends into the SEC slate. That’s an easy one. The approach at the plate is harder to quantify but I don’t recall too many bad AB’s this year.

These guys, appear to have each other’s backs, and the coaches sure know how to manage all the personalities, get the most out of ‘em, while still keeping it fun. It’s been an absolute treat to watch so far.

GBO!!!
Click to expand...

To my terribly untrained eye I think the difference at the plate is he requires them to swing at GOOD pitches. They APPEAR to me to be taking way more pitches that are marginal and therefore getting more deep counts and better contact when they do swing. I see very few really bad swings and there will always be SOME bad reads. Kind of like the pitchers throw strikes and even most of the misses are close enough to be competitive pitches. Once again a few wild ones but not a pattern. Discipline coming and going as it relates to ball and plate.
 
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#16
#16
One thing I have noticed even in last years team but even more is how many pitches the opposing teams have to throw. I have seen as many as 160 in a game. That has to be even another reason that’s brings success , especially in a 3 game series. I could talk about this team , as well as last years all day. TV has built a machine in Knoxville! They are here to stay , it appears. Build the Ball park and Keep Him happy!!! It’s awesome to see!!!
 
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#17
#17
Volsbaseballfan said:
One thing I have noticed even in last years team but even more is how many pitches the opposing teams have to throw. I have seen as many as 160 in a game. That has to be even another reason that’s brings success , especially in a 3 game series. I could talk about this team , as well as last years all day. TV has built a machine in Knoxville! They are here to stay , it appears. Build the Ball park and Keep Him happy!!! It’s awesome to see!!!
Click to expand...

Yes. I recall last season’s discussion on locking Coach in and just last night I started thinking it again. The news today shows the commitment to baseball and to CTV. This is just fantastic.
 
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#18
#18
Volsbaseballfan said:
I honestly think, that during Saturday and Sunday’s game , our hitters where more focused on hitting line drives and scoring runs by the base hit. Everyone seemed to have a more Right side approach, which I like. Not sure if that approach came from the coaches but sure seemed different. Just my observation. I think that type of ball will
Come into play at Omaha , if we go back . Maybe I am wrong in my observation, but the hitters looked locked in
Click to expand...
I think they were trying for the HR too much in Omaha last year. Wrong approach in
that big park.
 
#19
#19
txbo said:
I’m not going to rank teams but 2021 will always hold a very special place in my heart.

Too many special moments.
Click to expand...
Indeed! This one isn't over yet! That said, something magical seemed to happen last year with UT baseball and perhaps Tennessee sports in general. I think Tennessee sports might just be back. I think Knoxville itself is gonna continue to boom too... Super excited about the enhancements to the sports venues and I hope they plan the rest of the growth out that way the right way. They need a Biltmore Park or a Birkdale Village between Sevierville and Knoxville and should multipurpose the track between Knoxville and and there all the way to Sevierville!
 
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