People have called in and asked on my radio show what my favorite sport is, both as a fan and as a broadcaster. And, while I love them all, there's no doubt that baseball is my favorite. It comes from my New England upbringing, when we played sandlot ball as soon as the snow melted and continued throughout the spring, summer and into the fall when the snow pushed us to another sport. During the summer, we'd get rosters of the major league teams and play general manager and trade players amongst ourselves.
Yep, we did fantasy baseball back in the '60s.
I really like games that are 5-3, or 6-4. 11-9 has never intrigued me. The lower scoring games rely so much more excecution and fundamental play.
And, I really like baseball teams that have a never-say-die attitude. Teams that have a different hero every night. Teams that can win a high scoring game, and also beat you in a tight, lower scoring game as well.
And, that's why this LSU baseball team has earned my admiration.
I've been criticized by many over the years by publicly admitting I am not an LSU fan. I'm also not a Nebraska fan, a Texas fan, or a fan of anyone else except the Ragin' Cajuns.
Actually, being an un-fan of everyone makes my job easier. It's easier for me to be critical. I can even be critical of the Cajuns (sometimes.) By not having glasses that are tinted blue and orange, or purple and gold or green and whatever, I can appreciate the good and recognize the not-so-good. Because I'm not a fan, I'm regularly accused of being a hater.
You can't be a hater and appreciate the really really good when you see it.
And I appreciate this LSU baseball team.
They don't quit. They have no easy outs in the lineup. They can pitch, especially in the late innings. They play great defense. That means they make the routine play as well as the occasional spectacular ones. They have enough of a bench to give them options.
Their comeback win over Rice (don't call it miraculous....they've done it too often lately) showed why they're easy to like. They took advantage of opportunities (hit batsman and an error) and made Rice pay for the mistakes. Really good teams do that.
They can bide their time and wait for opportunities without getting down on themselves or each other. Really good teams do that.
They can go out and pitch and give up runs without giving up big innings. Really good teams do that.
They can bring in guys out of the bullpen that make you say "Oh %()#a." Really good teams do that.
And, they have Blake Dean.
Really good teams have "the guy." The guy who you want with a bat in his hands with a game on the line. For LSU, Blake Dean is that guy. He's a guy who can strike out and look bad doing it, and then come up the next time in a pressure situation and deliver.
Yesterday in the eighth inning against Rice, he struck out on an outside fastball from Cole St. Clair. He came up in the ninth inning with the bases loaded and got the same pitch.
He hit it off the left field wall.
LSU has guys that can hit throughout the lineup. But most of the other players can be pitched to. Matt Clark leads the NCAA in home runs. But you can pitch to Clark. North Carolina proved that in the eighth inning of Sunday's game. Clark will hit your mistakes. But he won't hit your best pitch.
Dean will.
At the College World Series, you have to compete for more than two innings offensively. LSU didn't win game one. They won game two. If they are going to go farther, it would behoove them to actually jump out to a lead here and there. But this LSU team isn't afraid to get dirty. And their confidence level has made believers out of LSU fans, the same ones who wouldn't go to the ballpark for the first three months of the season.
This LSU team continues to play and continues to fight. They may win against North Carolina tomorrow. They may not. LSU's program was built on championships in the '90s. And for many LSU fans, it won't be a great season unless they win it all. Which is one reason why I'm glad I'm not a fan.
But as a fan of the GAME, I can't wait for the next chapter. Whether they win or not is immaterial.