Baseball's Coming Back

[Potato11]

4 hours ago, Zipmeister said:

 

OK, I give up. You are correct Oakland has always sucked at baseball, and this year they appear to suck a little less because of their embarrassingly weak schedule which, as you mention, must certainly have been locked-in several years ago (after all, that's the way D1 football teams do it).

However, I still think that if the Zips are looking to dump non-D1 teams from their schedule YSU and Purdue Fort Wayne would be better bus ride candidates than Oakland.

No argument intended. The point was just that the Zips appear to be a real mess and teams with fewer resources, that were literally among the worst teams in the nation two years ago are now competitive.  To say Akron would win more with an easier schedule seems ludicrous as over the last two years they’ve lost to several non-d1’s. As a rule when d1’s schedule non-d1’s it’s a blowout. 
 

Im not sure who our Zips could possibly schedule and expect to beat at this current juncture. They need to get a lot better and that doesn’t seem to be happening right now. It’s very difficult to give up 20 runs in a game unless the wind is blowing out at 20 mph and even then it cannot be the norm. Akron just walks guys at an alarming rate and statistically plays very poor defense. 

 

Appreciate the banter

[Spin]

I see the Zips have added three games against Purdue Ft Wayne at home. Hmmmmmm.
 

The MAC Baseball Tournament should be played at Canal Park. Not on fake turf at Mercy Health Stadium. Avon is a more neutral site, and closer to MAC HQ. I just don’t like baseball on plastic. And there’s more for the fans to do before and after games in greater Akron.

Edited May 17, 2022 by Spin

[Spin]

The game didn't go nearly as bad as I was afraid it would, going up against a top 25 team (RPI) from the sun belt. Pretty decent crowd, with some marketing it could be a community event. The U could stand some positive pub. Next year bring  Youngstown State to Canal Park. Make it interesting and competitive. 

 

Friday I'll be at Skeeles Field, should be a competitive game. The temp could hit 90^, that'll be a shock after the last 6 or 7 months of weather hell. 

 

 

[LoyalZIP]

A fun time. Always nice to have a cold beer at a ball game no matter how ugly the game is. 

[Blue & Gold]

I had a nice time. Went with some friends. Nice crowd of nice people. I can't complain.

 

And our logo is better than GT's 😤

[Spin]

Chris Bassitt and Mets finally reach deal for 2022.

[Blue & Gold]

Whoa. The possibility had crossed my mind, but I'm still surprised. Guthrie's not messing around 😳

 

[72 Roo]

1 hour ago, Blue & Gold said:

Whoa. The possibility had crossed my mind, but I'm still surprised. Guthrie's not messing around 😳

 

Not a surprise. Guthrie was not happy with his leadership nor how he ran the program. It had nothing to do with wins and losses. 

[zippy5]

I never heard many good things about the guy 

[LoyalZIP]

Totally in over his head from the jump, as would just about anyone. The entire strategy of bringing back baseball and adding WLAX was a total cluster*** by Larry Williams & Co. Thank goodness for the Skeeles family for donating the funds to at least give us a D1 facility. But UA baseball is not currently setup to even be average in the MAC. UA half-assed the revival to this point. Big opportunity here for Guthrie to right the ship. 

[Blue & Gold]

@72 Roo, @zippy5, and @LoyalZIP, thanks for the info. I had never heard anything from anyone, one way or another, regarding Guthrie's thoughts on how the program was headed & run.

[GJGood]

Personally, I think having a known name as the head coach was probably a good move to get the program up and running again. Obviously things didn’t go exactly as planned with year one being shut down due to a pandemic. I do think the team has improved each year but I always wondered how long term of an investment Coach Sabo would be. I like him but he may not be the best college baseball coach at this point. His name, though, did put eyes on the program that might not have seen them otherwise. 
The next hire is a crucial one for the program. They need a solid recruiter and game manager with a successful college coaching background and positive attitude.

[zippy5]

1 hour ago, GJGood said:

The next hire is a crucial one for the program. They need a solid recruiter 

There's a lot of talent in the surrounding areas if we want to go for it

[Potato11]

Let’s just be honest. He was a complete joke. Zero relationship with the players. All the best ones left and won elsewhere. It was cool to have a household name, but you can’t go home to Florida for months at a time and kill it in college sports. Kids today don’t have a damn clue who players from the 80s and 90s are. 
 

Go hire a college baseball coach. Not some “name”. 

[Blue & Gold]

9 hours ago, Potato11 said:

Let’s just be honest. He was a complete joke. Zero relationship with the players. All the best ones left and won elsewhere. It was cool to have a household name, but you can’t go home to Florida for months at a time and kill it in college sports. Kids today don’t have a damn clue who players from the 80s and 90s are. 
 

Go hire a college baseball coach. Not some “name”. 

[Blue & Gold]

9 hours ago, Potato11 said:

Let’s just be honest. He was a complete joke. Zero relationship with the players. All the best ones left and won elsewhere. It was cool to have a household name, but you can’t go home to Florida for months at a time and kill it in college sports. Kids today don’t have a damn clue who players from the 80s and 90s are. 
 

Go hire a college baseball coach. Not some “name”. 

Thanks.  I wasn't aware of any of this.  Would you say Sabo was eccentric and aloof?

[Spin]

On 6/3/2022 at 8:00 PM, Potato11 said:

Let’s just be honest. He was a complete joke. Zero relationship with the players. All the best ones left and won elsewhere.

 

That crossed my mind more than once, but I was hoping it wasn't the case. Then not seeing any progress as time went on, in a weak MAC conference made me worry. 

 

The previous coach, Rick Rembielak, brought a moribund program into the conference tournament and put two players into the majors (and several others who got a good look in the minors. Some still banging around the indy leagues). The team was set to break .500 when the axe fell. 

 

I was a Zips baseball fan long before I attended Akron as a non-traditional student. A classmate at Doylestown high school, Ken Berenyi was an all conference pitcher for the Zips and later head coach. 

 

Anyway, if they're as successful at bringing in a new baseball coach as they were football and basketball, we're going to have some fun. Fingers crossed.

[ZippyRulz]

On 6/3/2022 at 11:04 AM, zippy5 said:

There's a lot of talent in the surrounding areas if we want to go for it

 

Mike Birkbeck

[72 Roo]

Coach Rem had this program on an upward trajectory that was pointing to a MAC championship. I really liked him and took an interest in baseball. Then the axe came. It was not deserved and strictly political. Incompetent people do stupid things. We have been suffering for it ever since. I hope Guthrie gets a better coach in, one who wants to leave a legacy of excellence.

[Spin]

On 6/3/2022 at 8:00 PM, Potato11 said:

Let’s just be honest. He was a complete joke. Zero relationship with the players. All the best ones left and won elsewhere. It was cool to have a household name, but you can’t go home to Florida for months at a time and kill it in college sports. Kids today don’t have a damn clue who players from the 80s and 90s are. 
 

Go hire a college baseball coach. Not some “name”. 

 

If nobody has yet, I'd like to welcome you to the forum, and hope you become a regular. 

[zippy5]

On 6/6/2022 at 10:49 PM, ZippyRulz said:

 

Mike Birkbeck

I think his eligibility is gone

[Captain Kangaroo]

Does the Zips baseball team have the full allotted scholarship number? I recall that we were below the rest of the MAC when the program was resurrected. I think we had 5 total (partials allowed), and the max was 11.7. Did we ever fully catch up?

[zippy5]

5 was the initial announcement. I think that was a PR stunt due to the budget issues in the press at the time. While I'm not sure if we're at 11.7 I don't think it was ever actually as low as 5

[Potato11]

On 6/6/2022 at 3:51 PM, Spin said:

 

That crossed my mind more than once, but I was hoping it wasn't the case. Then not seeing any progress as time went on, in a weak MAC conference made me worry. 

 

The previous coach, Rick Rembielak, brought a moribund program into the conference tournament and put two players into the majors (and several others who got a good look in the minors. Some still banging around the indy leagues). The team was set to break .500 when the axe fell. 

 

I was a Zips baseball fan long before I attended Akron as a non-traditional student. A classmate at Doylestown high school, Ken Berenyi was an all conference pitcher for the Zips and later head coach. 

 

Anyway, if they're as successful at bringing in a new baseball coach as they were football and basketball, we're going to have some fun. Fingers crossed.

I appreciate it. Follow the program pretty closely and all of Midwest baseball. Hoping they go hire a real college coach to get things going. Whoever it is will literally be starting from scratch which is unfortunate after this guy had four years to get something started. 

[Potato11]

On 6/6/2022 at 10:49 PM, ZippyRulz said:

 

Mike Birkbeck

Go look up his salary. More than every MAC head coach except two.