Linfield doing the NWC proud by whomping Southern Maine today 10-1!  Go Cats!

Quote from: Teddy_Ballgame on May 21, 2013, 03:35:06 pm

Quote from: forheavendial4999 on May 21, 2013, 02:15:07 pm

Quote from: Whatagame on May 21, 2013, 01:02:23 pm

The three Chapman pitchers who were hurt this season were all Juniors in 2012 (thus Seniors this year) Would they all be attending school a 5th year to play?  That's somewhat of a rarity at the D3 level it seems?

I would think it's fairly unusual. I used to hear stories that suggested (at least) one coach would use injury waivers on freshmen that never pitched and they amounted to redshirt years. I don't want to go into much detail on that, and it doesn't really matter because the program is not really a national power and the coach is no longer at the school (and hasn't been for some time).

But considering there are no athletic scholarships, I would think that decision would be based on progress toward degree (is the player going to be doing a 5th year anyway?), cost to attend the school, and interest in a master's program the school offers.

I know a decent amount of kids who have done this in PP athletics, through joint programs with the Claremont Graduate University- usually as a simple "plus one" commitment. They get hurt for a year, but still have that year of eligibility so they pursue an advanced degree while getting to finish out their athletic careers. Most of the time it requires a lot of planning, but it might be smoother at a school like Chapman who has it's own graduate programs and thus may be able to transition from undergrad to graduate student a little easier.

The last PP baseball player to do this was Mike Silva. Turned out to be a great move for him- he had an awesome season on that 2009 team that went 37-7 and got a degree that turned into a great job right out of school. Brian Schumaker also did this at Redlands in 2008 and hit .414 with 6 home runs. I'm sure there are other examples...

Kids could also take a lighter load and extend their coursework over to a fifth year, but as you mention there are no athletic scholarships so this is an expensive route. With coaching uncertainty, if those Chapman pitchers hadn't already committed to a 5th year I doubt they will now. Anyone know for sure?

Assuming a successful rehab, the 2 seniors who were injured (McGee and Osaki) both plan to come back. Osaki changed his major just before injuring himself a year ago and was planning to come back a 5th year anyway. McGee still needs some credits to graduate. The 3rd injured pitcher, Richards, just finished his freshman year.  If the 12-month rehab schedule is accurate, Osaki will start throwing off a mound during the Fall and McGee/Richards will do so perhaps in December barring any setbacks.  You never how they are going to throw or if they will bounce back. Dr. Yocum said that both he and Andrews show a success rate of about 85% in which those who come back tend to throw as well as they did (and even harder in some cases - not because of the surgery but because of the incredible arm/core/strength rehab that they go through).  All 3 were clocked at 90+ before their respective injuries.

As a Tommy John surgery alum (patient? Frankenstien?  ), there is a lot that someone has to do for rehab.  A lot of shoulder, abs, forearm, and grip strength rehab to all take pressure of the elbow.  The throwing programs vary by who does your surgery and who they trust with the rehab program.  My program consisted of slowly working back into throwing at about 6 months, with only fastball grips.  From there duration and intensity picked up until curveballs and splits were allowed.  The biggest thing for me when I talk to other pitchers when they ask what to expect about  T.J. is to not always be afraid.  I'm sure at some point the players named above will be doing rehab and feel a pop or something that doesn't feel quite right and it will scare the he** out of them.  All normal.  Also, that 12 month throwing schedule is until they get back to 100%.  The procedure that I had was a new variation (probably not so new anymore) called Docking and its done by Dr. David Altchek.  Full recovery is 9 months.  Hope this info helps

I hope all goes well for these guys as being a D3 pitcher is hard enough without the surgery!

Quote from: playball on May 13, 2013, 08:56:54 pm

What type of playing surface will be in play for the regional?  If it is anything like the McMurray field of a couple years ago, I don't think Linfield will fair very well.  Their pitching really induces a lot of ground balls and choppers which is very beneficial on the soft turf at Linfield (Ball really dies when chopped vs. launching 30 ft in the air for an infield hit).  I'm not trying to say that the field determines who wins, but a soft ground/turf field would greatly benefit this year's Linfield chances

Two of Linfield's three starters are fly ball pitchers, so I am not sure where you are getting that information from. And their infield is definitely the strong point of their defense. Of course, turf helps any team defensively...

I also don't think they will overlook anyone in this tournament. Getting smashes by LC State a week ago was definitely an eye-opener. Anyone can beat them on any given day, but that team will have to play its best ball.

Three teams ranked in the top 10... It is a bummer I will miss most of these games due to work.

Seeing your post made me go back and recheck the stats provided by the Linfield site.  Zach Brandon has more groundouts than fly outs, but only by 6 so its pretty much a wash.  Thomassen has a 1.3 flyout to groundout ratio, while Haddeland has a .4 (50 flyouts to 138 groundouts!!)  And overall as a staff the team has more groundouts than flyouts which means that they are overall a team that pitches lower in the strikezone or mixing off speed pitches effectively which both induce groundballs, both are signs of good pitching!  The quality of infielders was not being questioned.  The hops at McMurray were so large that the ball would be A)would reach a height that when it would come down it would be too late to make a play or B) be chopped over infielders heads because the ground was so hard.

You may want to find your own stats to back up your critique.

I'm still not saying that the playing surface is the make or break point of Linfield's chances.  Just that when it comes to tournament time, any small advantage/disadvantage can make a big difference.

I think you are sleeping on the quality of the Linfield outfield as well.  Those kids can fly and have a lot of experience.

LC State, oh well.

Go Cats!

A lot of good/great players in D3 go undrafted.  A big reason for this is age.  Most players at a D3 play all four years and are 22/23 when they are drafted and are already somewhat behind in development.   I'm not saying it can't be done, but the odds are already against them as age is a big factor.

Quote from: (509)Rat on April 17, 2013, 10:39:06 pm

The Linfield football contract is weak too. They did what EVERY other NWC school has done (and for the record they were very late to the party as WC11 would probably tell you) which is get rid of non-d3 teams on the schedule. Ask the guys on the 2007 Whitworth team what losing to an NAIA team can do to your playoff hopes....even when you are the champ of one of the better conferences in the country. You HAVE to do whatever you can to schedule non-conference d-3 games which isn't easy in the NWC. So the $10k investment led to a playoff run and 80+ incoming freshman who may not have come to your school otherwise. 80 x $35k...I'm no mathematician but that's a butt load of money for the UNIVERSITY.

Amen. That 10K WOU buyout wound up being a fantastic move by Linfield.

When money seems to be tight in an athletic department, that 10k is a bit of change to change hands.  Rat, you say 80 student athletes wouldn't come to Linfield IF we were to lose to Western?  Fat chance, kids are flocking to the school for football for thee "streak" alone.  Also, what does fulfilling a contract have to do with playoffs when you are winning the conference on a regular basis?  But this is a basketball board.  And the basketball team at Linfield missed out on a good coach for whatever reasons which is too bad since I believe that Bridgeland could have turned it around for the team.

Quote from: Whatagame on April 13, 2013, 02:06:08 pm

The "Bevacqua" tirade makes me yearn for the old Jim Healy Show, the greatest sports radio show ever. 

For years I was a regular contributor to the Jim Healy Show. I first met Healy at Santa Anita. He was a big horse racing fan. Great handicapper. Much better than I was, for sure.

OxyBob

OxyBob, you never cease to amaze!

I wonder how popular this Newman kid is with his former teammates?   Baseball is a colorful sport, not saying swearing should be as prevalent as it may be but good grief. 

Its been a good rivalry with Linfield receiving the wrong end of a couple buzzer beaters.  Will be fun to see how this turns out!  And I meant how does that team view a coach who just tried to skip out on them if he doesn't get the job.  I have no question that Bridgeland would not care much