The Official Texas A&M @ #1 Tennessee National Championship Game 1 Thread (Sat. June 22 7:30 EST) (ESPN)

[VOLtaism]

There’s clearly an argument to be made against it, but we don’t know the dynamic there. There is no transitive property in baseball, and there is no guarantee that the result would be better with AJ starting instead of Stamos. Baseball coaches and players are superstitious and they are more prone to sticking with what worked versus trying new approaches late in a season. There was 0% they were going to switch it up in game one of the finals. I also think he gets more blame than he is probably due. Defense has had some major mistakes that lead to runs which, in turn, makes his outings look more subpar than they really are.

So it's like the movie Draft Day, "Stamos no matter what"! I thought you would mix and match in upper level play, they throw out their best start we do the same. I would hate to lose the series with Seacrest on the sofa. I can see sticking to your routine in the regular season but sometimes you need to be more unpredictable. They shot off a lot of their ammunition yesterday and we did not return fire. Hopefully this will work in our favor.

 

[volfannga]

Too little, too late. Send it all tomorrow or the season was a bust. There’s a reason they play three.

Surely you do not consider this season a bust if we lose today or tomorrow. If you can only rate success by winning on the highest stage you must be disappointed a lot. I think we all will be bummed if we do not win it but both these are great teams.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

Affected both teams equally.

They missed calls on both sides. The errors, lack of timely hitting, and poor pitching was the reason we lost . Not the Umps.

 

[chattaboogie]

I had to hear about lsu fans saying Tennessee isn’t even a good sec school saying we haven’t won a championship in years and they have won 53 national championships and then I had to hear a damn Texas fan of all teams say they are the real ut if I was Tennessee players I’d play pissed off and don’t let up cause this is ridiculous we have been close to a bunch of championships we just haven’t closed it off

Well. . . We haven’t ever actually won so I guess we gotta take that lump.

But The Real UT will always be The University of Tennessee.

 

[UT Challenger]

The infield errors have been the most infuriating to me. If they beat you straight up, so be it, but don’t beat yourselves.

Had a coach tell me once if you don't beat yourself the other team won't beat you. That held true yesterday. Really want this team to win it all. They are so close. GBO

 

[knoxvol52]

They missed calls on both sides. The errors, lack of timely hitting, and poor pitching was the reason we lost . Not the Umps.

Now you know better than that. Everyone already said TAMU got a Greg Maddux strike Zone .

 

[VOLINVONORE]

Now you know better than that. Everyone already said TAMU got a Greg Maddux strike Zone .

Too many fans just don't want to face the facts. Some times the phrase " we have met the enemy and they are us" is true. Last night was a clear example of that. We have a really good team, but so does AS&M. We will not win if we give them extra out with errors and our best hitters go 2 for 12. Blaming the umps is just trying to cover up poor hitting, fielding and pitching. We can win it all, but not if we play as we did last night.

 

[sami]

Man social media is already talking about us being choke jobs. Can we please win these next 2 and smash that narrative?

Not going on social media (aside from VolNation) has been scientifically proven to improve your mental health and lengthen your life.

Combined with not listening to or watching non-game bullschiit on TV or radio for the last 20+ years, I find that I'm happier and more well informed. Same goes for watching TV "news" networks. Try it and I promise you'll never look back.

 

[Aerie Vol]

Had a coach tell me once if you don't beat yourself the other team won't beat you. That held true yesterday. Really want this team to win it all. They are so close. GBO

Really nice sentiment, but total bunk unless you are way better than the other team. The major league hitters being made to look inept by a rookie pitcher (Skenes) aren't beating themselves.

Sometimes the other team is better. Sometimes luck sucks. I agree "beating ourselves" was a major factor tonight. But there were others.

I love what C-Mo said to the first baseman a couple games ago after he got a bloop hit he knew he didn't deserve. His previous ab was a 115 mph grounder right at the 2b for an out. He says to the 1b, "man, that's just baseball, look at that crap." I'm paraphrasing, of course.

He didn't "beat himself" but was out. He didn't not "beat himself" on the bloop but got a hit. It's just baseball. Let's button up the fielding and play it some more.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

Now you know better than that. Everyone already said TAMU got a Greg Maddux strike Zone .

I know. We hear that every time we get behind or lose a game. By the way, I am a big Braves fan and I do remember Maddux got a few outside pitches for called strikes.

 

[sami]

Not the outcome desired - one really bad inning and too many runners left on base.

Still extremely proud of this team and what they have accomplished. Today is a new day! Go Vols! Win this one and Monday is a 0 to 0 game!

Exactly. Think of it this way - UT really couldn't have played any worse than last night, got in a huge hole due to sloppy play in the field, bad early pitching, a crazy amount of guys LOB, bad outings from almost all our key hitters, and bad luck with those crazy bounces off the mound and AJ's foot, and yet we made their stud closer throw 50 pitches and were a batter from bringing the tying run to the plate in the 9th.

Kent's HR was the one that really stung because it put the game pretty much out of reach realistically - without that it's a tight game late, and who knows? We have Beam going against a bullpen game for them, and then come back with Zander tomorrow. Tighten up the defense and make them get more than 10 freaking outs in the field, and we're playing for all the marbles on Monday night. Go Vols!!!!

 

[Sudden Impact]

You think a sport that, on the whole LOSES money, is rigged to make money?

Do you think it goes 3 games or not? I do. You would think that the ump behind the plate would have some consistency. He did not and was all over the board. Really strange that they would use these guys. Burke caught looking at least two times says a lot.
It always about the money for somebody.

 

[VAVol85]

I had to hear about lsu fans saying Tennessee isn’t even a good sec school saying we haven’t won a championship in years and they have won 53 national championships and then I had to hear a damn Texas fan of all teams say they are the real ut if I was Tennessee players I’d play pissed off and don’t let up cause this is ridiculous we have been close to a bunch of championships we just haven’t closed it off

Ask the LSU fan if you can borrow a broom. Tell him you left yours at the ballpark.

 

[orangemadam]

It is almost imperative that we get 5-6 innings out of Beam. Our bullpen is strong,
but we will need some bullpen gas for tomorrow's game also.

 

[orangemadam]

Do you think it goes 3 games or not? I do. You would think that the ump behind the plate would have some consistency. He did not and was all over the board. Really strange that they would use these guys. Burke caught looking at least two times says a lot.
It always about the money for somebody.

Burke (and others) let several borderline pitches go by with two strikes without swinging (that's why we had 17 K's).

The #1 team in America should know how to expand the strike zone after 2 strikes, especially seeing
that the ump has expanded his. We have no one to blame but ourselves if we can't adjust.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

I will forever be baffled at starting Stamos in any game from May forward. The games we’ve won have been in spite of that choice, not because of it. He’s spotted every team a lead about as quickly as humanly possible. The first FSU game almost created an impossible path to get to the finish line. Last night we paid. I’m very encouraged by Beam’s last game and Seth’s consistency and accuracy. A&M had great pitching last night in all three phases. They hit well enough and fielded well enough. The inconsistent strike zone favored their patience hitting and put us back in the count too often. There are so many little things you can point to— errors, C-MO going 0fer, etc. but I really don’t like rolling the Stamos bonus out again and again. A&M, FSU, and our team are the three best teams. The pendulum swings to a pitching advantage for us today, but the increased pressure is always big in a best of three. I hope we get a fair zone, and Beam can throw a solid five innings. We’re going to have to use our best in late relief to get to game three. If we’ve learned anything, this team doesn’t panic. They given us a great season. Let’s hope they can finish it strong.

 

[87&91ALUM]

Just win. Three games is just an extra game to love on our Vols after a spectacular year of Vols Baseball. Never believe your adversaries. We might lose but, we don’t choke. It is sport man. If you expect a win every game, you need to find a new hobby. I hope they got the errors out of their system and adjust better to swinging at these pitches today and tomorrow. Living on the sunny Big Orange side of life much better than head in the sand or mind in the ditch,

 

[Smokefatty]

Causey is 8-2 with this plan, clearly it's worked.

There’s lies, damn lies and then there’s statistics. We’re 50-10 in games in we don’t use that plan.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

I will forever be baffled at starting Stamos in any game from May forward. The games we’ve won have been in spite of that choice, not because of it. He’s spotted every team a lead about as quickly as humanly possible. The first FSU game almost created an impossible path to get to the finish line. Last night we paid. I’m very encouraged by Beam’s last game and Seth’s consistency and accuracy. A&M had great pitching last night in all three phases. They hit well enough and fielded well enough. The inconsistent strike zone favored their patience hitting and put us back in the count too often. There are so many little things you can point to— errors, C-MO going 0fer, etc. but I really don’t like rolling the Stamos bonus out again and again. A&M, FSU, and our team are the three best teams. The pendulum swings to a pitching advantage for us today, but the increased pressure is always big in a best of three. I hope we get a fair zone, and Beam can throw a solid five innings. We’re going to have to use our best in late relief to get to game three. If we’ve learned anything, this team doesn’t panic. They given us a great season. Let’s hope they can finish it strong.

I don’t disagree. I think the Stamos experiment hasn’t worked in the post-season. I mean, even Northern Kentucky and Evansville jumped out to early leads off him. However, I understand the why behind Tony’s decision. I believe he has said in the past that he changed things up in Omaha/post-season that backfired on him rather than staying with what worked. In his mind, he probably thinks if he starts Causey, it causes him to pitch differently or change his approach. Tony is staying consistent with the “dance with who brought ya” approach. But it’s clearly been putting us behind the eight ball in every post-season game so far.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

I don’t disagree. I think the Stamos experiment hasn’t worked in the post-season. I mean, even Northern Kentucky and Evansville jumped out to early leads off him. However, I understand the why behind Tony’s decision. I believe he has said in the past that he changed things up in Omaha/post-season that backfired on him rather than staying with what worked. In his mind, he probably thinks if he starts Causey, it causes him to pitch differently or change his approach. Tony is staying consistent with the “dance with who brought ya” approach. But it’s clearly been putting us behind the eight ball in every post-season game so far.

He’s a great coach. He makes good instinctive choices and I wouldn’t want any other coach. That said, I think he was overly traumatized by the 22 season and believes switching the pitching lineup is the reason we lost. I think that’s created a blind spot. We’re all human, and he isn’t immune to confirmation bias. I just that single superstitious choice has a price. I also think we’re good enough to punch back. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it is a truism, but it isn’t a magic wand. The good news is, we’ll never pitch that combo again. The bad news is we’re 0-1. I still think going 2-0 is very possible, and I think we have the best team and coach to do it. In TV’s defense he owns all his choices and knows the other side of the coin. I like the fact that this won’t make him flinch. He won’t lose faith in C-MO or start shifting lineups after a bad game. He’s going to walk out the same guys and expect a win. That’s part of what makes him a great leader.

 

[Sudden Impact]

Burke (and others) let several borderline pitches go by with two strikes without swinging (that's why we had 17 K's).

The #1 team in America should know how to expand the strike zone after 2 strikes, especially seeing
that the ump has expanded his. We have no one to blame but ourselves if we can't adjust.

I hear what you are saying and I agree. The UMP was not consistent in his calls between teams and from batter to batter for both teams. Our pitchers also threw some softballs on 0-2 counts which did not help. The loss can be a wake-up call or it can been a wait and see call. Just respond I think they will. Regardless, last night was a bad night for us, wake up with the chip and move forward. They have expanded the strike zone well this season don't you think?

 

[TheMookieMonster]

He’s a great coach. He makes good instinctive choices and I wouldn’t want any other coach. That said, I think he was overly traumatized by the 22 season and believes switching the pitching lineup is the reason we lost. I think that’s created a blind spot. We’re all human, and he isn’t immune to confirmation bias. I just that single superstitious choice has a price. I also think we’re good enough to punch back. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it is a truism, but it isn’t a magic wand. The good news is, we’ll never pitch that combo again. The bad news is we’re 0-1. I still think going 2-0 is very possible, and I think we have the best team and coach to do it. In TV’s defense he owns all his choices and knows the other side of the coin. I like the fact that this won’t make him flinch. He won’t lose faith in C-MO or start shifting lineups after a bad game. He’s going to walk out the same guys and expect a win. That’s part of what makes him a great leader.

Completely agree, SF. He is an elite coach, and I wouldn’t trade him for anyway. I think you are right that 2022 has given him some misplaced trauma. He’s evolved his coaching every year he’s been here, so I suspect he’ll learn some lessons from this. Good news is, he’s young. Bad news is, you’re never guaranteed a 2nd chance in sports.

For that reason, I hope we can go 2-0. We’ve come this far. Let’s finish it. I’m cautiously optimistic, but obviously nervous. We didn’t have to use Snead or Combs yesterday, and we had some back of the bullpen arms chew up some innings. I think we have the talent to win this in 3, but we just have to play clean baseball and make some of our own breaks. Margin for error is now zero.

 

[Zues1]

You wonder, on defense if there is an adjustment going from a season on plastic grass and plastic dirt to tournament season on real dirt and the real grass, with bad hops, unpredictable bounces and a slower arrival to the fielder given the slower surfaces than the plastic stuff planted in lots of the SEC baseball venues.

Seemed more like lucky bounces and hitting the ball right up 2nd base. Tough hits to handle

 

[BigALWiLson]

Errors, at this stage will get you beat. That goes for fielding and pitching. Can not throw a meatball on 0-2 from a pitching standpoint. If you miss it has to be down or off the plate. CMO had to have his head in the game at the plate today. He has been great all season. He just needs to stay within himself. As far as fielding errors Amick bro, Curley they scare me for obvious reasons. We have to be clean and I believe we will play well today.

 

[vol94]

He’s a great coach. He makes good instinctive choices and I wouldn’t want any other coach. That said, I think he was overly traumatized by the 22 season and believes switching the pitching lineup is the reason we lost. I think that’s created a blind spot. We’re all human, and he isn’t immune to confirmation bias. I just that single superstitious choice has a price. I also think we’re good enough to punch back. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it is a truism, but it isn’t a magic wand. The good news is, we’ll never pitch that combo again. The bad news is we’re 0-1. I still think going 2-0 is very possible, and I think we have the best team and coach to do it. In TV’s defense he owns all his choices and knows the other side of the coin. I like the fact that this won’t make him flinch. He won’t lose faith in C-MO or start shifting lineups after a bad game. He’s going to walk out the same guys and expect a win. That’s part of what makes him a great leader.

Great post!