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re: Why didn't LSU greats like Brandon Larson, Eddy Furniss, etc. make more noise in MLB?
Posted on 3/17/23 at 9:21 am to Bert Macklin FBI
Posted on 3/17/23 at 9:21 am to Bert Macklin FBI
quote:
even as far back as DJ Lamehieu
LOL this comment (obviously innocent) made me laugh. Wasn't that long ago...five of LSU's 6 NC's came before him.
1
Posted on 3/17/23 at 9:51 am to shutterspeed
Like others have said the wood bats are a huge difference, especially back when Furniss and Lason played. Also, the pitching talent was pretty watered down in college back then. You would have some stud college pitchers but not nearly the number solid arms on college rosters today. Kids with good arm talent were going pro out of HS then. Now we’re seeing more talented kids opt for college ball to work on their game versus heading to the minors.
Posted on 3/17/23 at 10:04 am to geauxtigers33
quote:
K. Name them.
A lot of guys that had success during the gorilla ball era also lasted in the majors for a decent career. Just from the 1997 College Baseball All-America Team with Berkman & Larson...
Troy Glaus
JD Drew
Pat Burrell
Adam Kennedy - 14 years in majors
Brad Wilkerson - 8 years in the majors
Posted on 3/17/23 at 10:09 am to Broski
quote:
Eddy never projected well for the majors
This is very true. I'll never forget, I was staying at the team hotel in Omaha when I happened to see Eddy standing around when he was told that Casey countz had been drafted, but Eddy still had not. You could see the utter confusion on his face.
**Somehow it won't allow me to spell countz correctly!
This post was edited on 3/17/23 at 10:15 am
Posted on 3/17/23 at 10:11 am to shutterspeed
Larson also had the shittiest injury luck I ever saw.
I mean dude got hit in arm by a foul ball while in the freaking dugout.
I mean dude got hit in arm by a foul ball while in the freaking dugout.
Posted on 3/17/23 at 10:18 am to TheBaker
quote:
LOL this comment (obviously innocent) made me laugh. Wasn't that long ago...five of LSU's 6 NC's came before him.
Thats kind of the point though. We won 5 NCs and it seems like only 3 guys from that era had prolonged MLB careers. (Walker, McDonald, and Bell). I am sure I am missing some others but as a 31 year old, those are the only 3 that are common knowledge.
Its kind of been answered that college baseball valued a different skillset to the MLB because of the bats but its strange to me that a college program could dominate a sport the way they did in the 90s without producing many pros.
The other side of this argument is that we have not been that dominant in the 2000s (1NC and 1 runner up) yet we have produced plenty of major leaguers or at least guys that stuck around in the minors for a prolonged period.
Posted on 3/17/23 at 10:22 am to Bert Macklin FBI
quote:
We won 5 NCs and it seems like only 3 guys from that era had prolonged MLB careers. (Walker, McDonald, and Bell). I am sure I am missing some others but as a 31 year old, those are the only 3 that are common knowledge.
Brad Hawpe played for 10 years
Ryan Theriot hung around a while
Fontenot played a good while too.
before them
Russ Johnson, Russ Springer, Paul Byrd, Chad Ogea
Posted on 3/17/23 at 10:23 am to Nutriaitch
Do we also count Jason Vargas and Brian Wilson?
Posted on 3/17/23 at 10:24 am to Broski
quote:
Brian Wilson
shite, I was thinking of him while typing and still left him off
Posted on 3/17/23 at 10:26 am to Nutriaitch
quote:
Brad Hawpe played for 10 years
Ryan Theriot hung around a while
Fontenot played a good while too.
before them
Russ Johnson, Russ Springer, Paul Byrd, Chad Ogea
Ok I stand corrected. my opinion was probably clouded by recency bias and the lack of pro success of the 2 mentioned in this thread.
Posted on 3/17/23 at 10:32 am to shutterspeed
(no message)
Posted on 3/17/23 at 10:44 am to Hot Carl
quote:
Wooden bats and MUCH better pitching.
Except that's the exact same for EVERY prospect that comes out of HS and college. That doesn't really answer why these specific guys who excelled above peers at one level never did anything at a higher level.
Posted on 3/17/23 at 10:47 am to shutterspeed
The answer is because it’s just really hard to make the MLB and good and great players burn out in the minors all the time.
Everyone played with the same bats, but most college kids aren’t good enough to play MLB so the development after that is critical.
Everyone played with the same bats, but most college kids aren’t good enough to play MLB so the development after that is critical.
Posted on 3/17/23 at 10:51 am to Bert Macklin FBI
quote:
Its kind of been answered that college baseball valued a different skillset to the MLB because of the bats
It’s a little semantics, but college baseball didn’t “value” a different skill set then as much as that skill set just led to much more exaggerated numbers at the college level with the bats and pitching than it does now.
This post was edited on 3/17/23 at 10:54 am
Posted on 3/17/23 at 11:11 am to Tigerfan1274
Last year at Hoover I was talking to a scout for the Cubs and said I had heard that the talent level on the field was AA level - his response was if it was that level each player on the field was major league material. He said it was very good for the college level but at best its rookie league.
Posted on 3/17/23 at 11:24 am to FredSez
Great college hitters can hit a collegiate pitcher who has one great pitch and two good pitches. MLB pitchers have two-three great pitches and 1-2 good pitches.
Posted on 3/17/23 at 11:29 am to WillyL
quote:
MLB pitchers have two-three great pitches and 1-2 good pitches.
Some
Some have 2 great pitches and a decent third one.
Posted on 3/17/23 at 12:22 pm to Nutriaitch
quote:
Larson also had the shittiest injury luck I ever saw.
I mean dude got hit in arm by a foul ball while in the freaking dugout.
His biggest injuries very well could have been related to his PED usage. He had season ending surgery to fix a torn labrum and rotator cuff the first year he started the season on the 25 man roster. And he had recurring inquires to his knees and ankles while in the minors.
His bad luck injuries didn't start until his last season of baseball. He had an eye infection and turf toe during spring training and then was hit on the wrist during a rehab assignment.
That aside, he was just one of a long list of examples of guys who just weren't quite good enough to last in the majors. He hit just fine in the minors, hvaing a career BA of .280 with 153 HRs in 772 minor league games. To put that into context, that would come to an average of 32 HRs over a 162 game season.
Regardless, just making it to the major leagues is really really difficult. Players every bit as touted as him coming out of college never made it as far as he did. Scouting baseball players is very difficult, probably more difficult than any other sport.
This post was edited on 3/17/23 at 12:23 pm
Posted on 3/17/23 at 12:42 pm to shutterspeed
quote:Oh, I agree but you hear a lot of folks making the ridiculous comparison...or at least I have.
Of course you would. AA is where all of the elite college, future MLB prospects are competing.
Posted on 3/17/23 at 12:45 pm to shutterspeed
Those bats in 1997 were crazy hot.
For example:
I remember watching Wes Davis hit balls so far out of Alex Box you would have thought it was Lyle Mouton hitting.
For example:
I remember watching Wes Davis hit balls so far out of Alex Box you would have thought it was Lyle Mouton hitting.
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