Baseball 2011

[Spin]

Getting rid of Bangston may not help. The fact is the Zips have the worst facilities for baseball in the MAC. That in itself hurts in getting really good D1 players(not to pile on the current players).

The other thing is that Can't is well established as the best ream in the conference. If Can't were to have a men's soccer team, it would take them a number of years before they could even BEGIN TO COMPLETE.

Before I get all mad at Coach Bangston and everyone else, I have a couple questions maybe someone knows the answer to.

How many scholarships does the baseball program have to work with?

How did the team draw at Canal Park? Any more than at the soccer stadium retention basin? Maybe like some other schools (NDC, CSU), it's time to just play at a minor league park.

But that again winds back to the first question. How much money does the baseball team have to spend? If they only get a handful of scholies, and can't afford any better field than that, I really can't blame Coach B for not being able to recruit.

I look at the softball stadium, and have met players from, say, Seattle on a full ride, and I don't see that commitment to baseball. But I don't know anybody on the inside who can answer my questions.

If this is all baseball is ever going to be, I'll take it for what it is. A great way to soak up some sun between classes and watch some ball. And not get overly excited about the team's performance.

[infofan]

Just curious. Has UA ever made a run at former Zip and major leager Mike Birkbeck as head coach?? I believe hes the pitching coach and head recruiter at Can't. He certainly has knowledge of talent, and would be a natural choice for a new coach if interested. I just dont know if hes interviewed in past or declined. I do know hes been at Can't for many years.

[ZachTheZip]

No one else from Can't, please. That was the thinking behind hiring Bangston, that he could bring some of the winning ways from Can't and OSU, where he was an assistant.

As for how much the baseball team has to spend, the number of scholarships is only 11.78 to be distributed to players as either partial or full. It's not that much at all. It pales in comparison to the money they spend every year in early spring on their month-long road trip to start the season. One of the problems with starting the season in mid-february is that we can't really host a home game until half way through the season and we have to spend a huge amount of money on airfare and hotels as we play all across the south. There are no real payday games in baseball.

[RootforRoo44]

No one else from Can't, please. That was the thinking behind hiring Bangston, that he could bring some of the winning ways from Can't and OSU, where he was an assistant.

We'd be lucky as hell to get someone as high-level as Birkbeck...but that isn't going to happen.

I will agree that Bangston needs to go, he is a MAJOR reason why this program is taking steps in the wrong direction.

[Spin]

As for how much the baseball team has to spend, the number of scholarships is only 11.78 to be distributed to players as either partial or full. It's not that much at all. It pales in comparison to the money they spend every year in early spring on their month-long road trip to start the season. One of the problems with starting the season in mid-february is that we can't really host a home game until half way through the season and we have to spend a huge amount of money on airfare and hotels as we play all across the south. There are no real payday games in baseball.

Thank you. I hear the southern schools are pushing for an earlier start to the season, and possibly more games. Just killing the northern programs even further.

Does Canal Park rape them on rent? Could they save money by not maintaining LJF in their budget? Just tossing out ideas. I know there will never be a payday for baseball (I wonder if any sport has those, listening to some).

Sometimes I daydream about the Jake being built with a retractable roof instead of replacing the Richfield Mausoleum, which was one of the early plans for Gateway. And having weekend MAC play with all the teams there during March, six games a day. Or Detroit, heck I'd drive up there to see ball in March, stay for the weekend. Yeah I get caught up in "if only's" sometimes.

[ZachTheZip]

Pat Bangston resigns. Now Tom Wistrcill has a choice. If he wants to attract a good coach, he needs a stadium better than the ones dotting the city in the neighborhood parks. He can either draw up some plans to build something on top of the current field or work out a deal to play all our home games at Canal Park.

[MaxZIP]

Pat Bangston resigns. Now Tom Wistrcill has a choice. If he wants to attract a good coach, he needs a stadium better than the ones dotting the city in the neighborhood parks. He can either draw up some plans to build something on top of the current field or work out a deal to play all our home games at Canal Park.

Or find a young coach and give him a chance. Hope the team gets better and save the money for a basketball or soccer. There is too much competition in Akron and Cleveland for baseball to draw. Are there any teams in the NCAA that draw significant fans?

[ZachTheZip]

Are there any teams in the NCAA that draw significant fans?

College baseball is huge in the south. Crowds of 1000+ are fairly common.

Check out the top 50 for average attendance last year.

[MaxZIP]

Are there any teams in the NCAA that draw significant fans?

College baseball is huge in the south. Crowds of 1000+ are fairly common.

Check out the top 50 for average attendance last year.

How many in the top 20 have a MLB team and a AA affiliate in town or within 35 miles? Most of the teams on that's list are the only baseball outlet in town. Also, Can't has a lock on mediocre MAC baseball talent and fans in the area. Best case Akron becomes as good as Can't . Worst case money is wasted. Do you have Mac attendance records?

[Spin]

Cold weather programs are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to baseball. Can't being the one outlier. We'll never need to book a trip to Omaha in June. We're never going to need 10,000 seats and worry about competing with the Aeros for fans. I don't even know if they sell tickets to non-students down at Canal Park.

But we should have a program that's competitive with other northern schools our size. Play .500 or better, and 2nd or 3rd in the MAC East.

A new stadium or Canal Park would be good for recruiting, and give people a comfortable place to sit and watch a game. Something even half as nice as the softball stadium.

That's all we need. With snow covering the ground over half of the season, we're not going to compete with the NC's and the Florida's. For players or for wins or fan bases. But having a team that has better than a 1 in 4 shot of winning against other northern schools our size is not too much to ask for.

[RootforRoo44]

Are there any teams in the NCAA that draw significant fans?

College baseball is huge in the south. Crowds of 1000+ are fairly common.

Check out the top 50 for average attendance last year.

Baseball is very popular around here and if you put a good product on the field, people will come...no doubt about it.

It's cold during much of the season, sure, but baseball could definitely out draw women's basketball and anything else other than Football/Basketball/Men'sSoccer here.

Hell, i know i'm not the only one who makes it to most of the baseball games...there were some decent crowds this year for a terrible team that had a terrible coach playing in a terrible facility. If we just get someone competent to skipper this program and throw in some decent facilities, we could do some damage in our region. I mean come on, Can't is the only program even knocking on the door of the Top 25 this year in the entire midwest.

[dougmcnulty33]

As alumni of this program the firing of Pat Bangtson was uncalled for. I have a unique relationship with the program because I played for Tim Berenyi and Pat. Pat's goal was to leave the program better than it was when he inherited it, he did that. He grew the amount of donations through the golf outing, he solely raised funds for the radio broadcasts...etc.

Bringing Pat in was the right choice, no matter what some people think. Pat's ties to the area helped grow the program, growth of the program was stopped by the administration...not Pat.

We were always treated as a fringe sport...granted winning brings more attention to the program, but how do you expect to compete with other MAC Schools with a terrible field. Look at the history of Akron coaches, the last three haven't ever showed winning traits, because they have been handcuffed by funding.

Let's look at the fields in the MAC a little closer.

Bowling Green- Bleachers, new dugouts, baseball atmosphere.

Miami of Ohio- Amazing stadium, baseball atmosphere is great.

Can't State- Brand new all turf field (enabling them to get more games in) stadium atmosphere on the way.

Western Michigan- Renovations being completed on one of the oldest fields in college baseball, chairback seats.

Eastern Michigan- Nostalgic Stadium eerily similar to Tiger Stadium, alumni tents...etc.

Central Michigan- Brand Spanking new Stadium...atmosphere

Ohio- Chairback seats, great field

Northern Illinois- cold weather school, bad field, at least they have bleachers.

Buffalo- Awful field, no atmosphere.

Ball State- lackluster field....great atmosphere due to seating

Toledo- less than stellar field, seating provided.

Akron- lowest amount of seating.... no admission fees, no promotions, no atmosphere...a field that can't hold water...an eyesore of a facility on campus...surrounded by new facilities...get the picture.

Softball, Soccer, and football have all gotten new facilities, one of those programs have showed a past of winning.

Pat was making those contacts to get the funding for large renovations, but now those are lost. Look at other younger coaches in the MAC, they are using their schools as stepping stones. Pat wanted to be here until the end, something that is rare in this business.

First fix the dugouts. Add two indoor cages down the right field line with a clubhouse that attracts the players. Next, get rid of the current backstop (by digging it up, moving it closer to home plate). Add a state of the art grandstand that reaches all the way down to the visitor bullpen, and is back to back with the soccer bleachers (on the first base side). Make the field turf, and take down the current outfield wall, replacing it with fence (with padding, or without).

I understand thats alot of money....but its been to long. I was a freshman in 2003 and we were told before I left, that we would have a new stadium...yea that didn't happen.

No coach has a chance to win at Akron, with a field that is horrible. Indoor facilities aren't the problem, its our field.

The idea of playing at Canal is ok but, you don't create an on campus atmosphere when you have to drive down town to play your games.

The stadium doesn't bring attendance, more people will come if it's on campus. I once hit three homeruns in the Diamond Classic at Canal, in front of a whopping 2000 people...you can get that with an on campus stadium.

Jake Boss, Greg Beals, Tracy Smith, have all left great MAC baseball schools for Big Ten jobs, why? The MAC is a stepping stone, why does Can't always win? Every coach that gets inserted into that program already has a head start in recruiting ahead of the MAC Schools because of their history. We have no history...so why not do something different than other MAC Schools?

You are one of the few campuses in the MAC that has a decent sized city as the backdrop of the campus. Make a state of the art on campus facility, and great players will choose Akron out of other MAC Schools.

When a player gets recruited by OHIO STATE, they come for their visit and they stand on the sideline for a football game, and then they say "Where do I sign." We can't ever have that, and won't...our recruits come to Akron and see the baseball field and say..."This place is a dump, I'll take less money from a school with better facilities."

Ill support whoever our administration hires, but this job is very similar to the Pirates in Major League Baseball, no one wants it. The administration doesn't back the baseball program because they don't spend money. We should get a new field (even if it came after the track team got a stadium type outdoor track) I would be happy.

My redshirt-freshman year,(the last year we made the MAC Tournament) we played Miami of Ohio at one point in the tournament. Miami's volunteer assistant coach at that time, was offered a coaching position at Akron and when asked about the prospect of taking the job he said "I would never take a job with Akron, you don't have a chance in hell of winning." That was 7 years ago...not much has changed.

[g-mann17]

Akron- lowest amount of seating.... no admission fees, no promotions, no atmosphere...a field that can't hold water...an eyesore of a facility on campus...surrounded by new facilities...get the picture.

I completely disagree. That field holds water perfectly. I caught a carp on it just last week.

Welcome, and I agree with you about investment. But Football won a championship to get those donations rolling on something long over due. I asked a long time ago what the baseball team needs to be successful. To me the goal should be to beat Can't at everything. It is nice to get fresh ideas.

[Spin]

Thank you for your input Doug, I was hoping to get some real data on how the whole program is run. CSU dumping their baseball program made me think it might not be Pat's fault, that there were a lot of other things that go into a program's record besides the coach's ability.

And it's not the (well deserved) football and soccer stadium projects that I look at with jealousy. The football stadium was needed, and from what I heard cost less than renovating the crumbling Rubber Blow. The soccer stadium I was behind 100% after going to games at the old one, the ones that weren't moved to the opponent's site because of drainage. And saw the demographics of the people who attend, sitting in frozen mud.

But I do look with jealousy at the softball stadium, another non-revenue producing sport, and not exactly setting the softball world on fire like the soccer program is. And I think a large part of it is the "demographics" of the softball fans, to put it mildly. But who knows who might show up for baseball games if they didn't have to carry their own folding chair across campus, or sit in bleachers fit for junior high schoolers. Baseball also had to give up home field this year because of field conditions, something they probably didn't mind considering the home swamp.

I see what you're saying about being on-campus, I catch quite a few games between or after classes. A "stadium" (and I use that term loosely) upgrade would be best. And IMHO scheduling a game or a double header during Springfest with some ads in the commons would help. Kind of late in the season, but can't hurt the program overall...

I went to high school with Kenny Berenyi. Heck of a pitcher.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Mike Birkbeck has been K.e.n.t.'s pitching coach for quite a while. He's the only Akron player I know of to play in the majors. I think he has to the the #1 candidate for the HC position.

John Massarelli had a decent minor league catching career, and coached in the minors. He's another logical candidate.

[g-mann17]

Mike Birkbeck has been K.e.n.t.'s pitching coach for quite a while. He's the only Akron player I know of to play in the majors. I think he has to the the #1 candidate for the HC position.

John Massarelli had a decent minor league catching career, and coached in the minors. He's another logical candidate.

So then what you're saying is we will get a baseball coach from Wisconsin or Minnesota?

[RootforRoo44]

Mike Birkbeck has been K.e.n.t.'s pitching coach for quite a while. He's the only Akron player I know of to play in the majors. I think he has to the the #1 candidate for the HC position.

John Massarelli had a decent minor league catching career, and coached in the minors. He's another logical candidate.

Massarelli surely is a good possibility.

That is the kind of coach that this program needs.

[Hilltopper]

Mike Birkbeck has been K.e.n.t.'s pitching coach for quite a while. He's the only Akron player I know of to play in the majors. I think he has to the the #1 candidate for the HC position.

John Massarelli had a decent minor league catching career, and coached in the minors. He's another logical candidate.

Massarelli surely is a good possibility.

That is the kind of coach that this program needs.

Maz is currently the manager of the Lake Erie Crushers. My son is a student at his baseball school. He and I talk about Zips sports and Central Catholics sports every time I see him. He would be a great choice, but who knows if he is interested.

[Blue & Gold]

YesterdayI talked with two players on this year's team and they both think letting Bangston go was the right move.

[dougmcnulty33]

YesterdayI talked with two players on this year's team and they both think letting Bangston go was the right move.

Quote sources...they could have been two players that never played. This past years roster is depressing, because if kids didn't play their parents called Tom and voiced playing time complaints about Pat.

I thought only high school sports coaches had to deal with playing time questions... Pat never cut dead weight from his program because he thought it wasn't the right message to send to student-athletes...in the end...it might have cost him his job...so all those kids that complained about playing time would have been cut from other D-1 Teams...Pat had the heart to keep them around.

When I was a freshman and I red-shirted, mommy and daddy didn't call the coach and complain...if they would have an upper class men would put me through a locker...that's why their was no playing time questions asked when I was an upper class men...players policed themselves...

The reaction I have gotten from players that started were that Banger didn't need to go...a few kids parents forced his firing...great job...D1 coaches don't play favorites...the best kids are on the field scholarship or not...if you got money...you get a chance..but if you don't perform ..someone else gets in...

[MaxZIP]

YesterdayI talked with two players on this year's team and they both think letting Bangston go was the right move.

Of course they are not the problem. The coach is.

[Spin]

YesterdayI talked with two players on this year's team and they both think letting Bangston go was the right move.

Of course they are not the problem. The coach is.

Can't fire the players

[ZachTheZip]

YesterdayI talked with two players on this year's team and they both think letting Bangston go was the right move.

Of course they are not the problem. The coach is.

You're being cynical, but it's the truth. Bangston made bizarre personnel and lineup decisions that limited the teams effectiveness.

[johnnyzip84]

And the Zips were reasonably competetive against these guys.

[Captain Kangaroo]

And the Zips were reasonably competetive against these guys.

Get Mike Birkbeck, TW.