Give credit where it's due
posted by David Cloninger, 5/17/2009 11:47:00 AM
While the rebels continue to storm the palace of freedom, yours truly leading the charge, some still feel compelled to strap themselves to the rack in the dungeon of marriage.
With that in mind, a lyric entry that has nothing whatsoever to do with today’s topic. This one’s for you, JT.
“Down on one knee on momma’s front steps,
Man, I'm gonna die if she really says yes.”
--------------------------------- KENNY CHESNEY
With that out of the way …
You know it had to be killing Ray Tanner inside. His South Carolina baseball team had just been swept at Florida and as he boarded the bus to come back home, it was as quiet as dawn breaking over the Badlands.
There are a few ways to approach the situation.
1. The Belle-Steinbrenner. Destroy water coolers, sunflower seed buckets and helmets while wielding a bat and bless out your team as it sullenly dresses. Threaten to revoke scholarships, pull at least one player aside and tell him you want to see him in your office the minute you get back to campus and finish with, “I better not hear a peep on that bus!”
2. The Martyr. Blame the umpires, the field, the sun, the rain, the crowd, anything but your team for its lousy performance. Never come right out and say it but at least plant some ideas in reporters’ heads to make them think that jerk in the other dugout was running his mouth and cheating all weekend.
3. The That’s OK, We’ll Get ’Em Next Game. A favorite of Atlanta skipper Bobby Cox, the eternal optimism angle takes the pressure off the minds of the players. What you hope is it does it enough to get some wins before the season’s over.
Tanner had his choice. He didn’t pick any of them.
He chose, “4. Nothing.”
What could he say? That the Gamecocks were awful that weekend? They knew that already. That their postseason hopes, forget about hosting a regional, were dangling on dental floss 1,000 feet above some very pointy rocks? They can look at the standings just like anybody else and figure that out.
So he did nothing. He told them they had some work to do, wished them luck on their exams and let them think about it. As the boos and online questioning flared again, demanding change and accountability, Tanner sat through the week off and waited on the next series.
He kept preaching “Marathon, not a sprint.” One game or series does not define a baseball team. When a football team loses a game, it’s big because there are only 12. A baseball team has 56 and isn’t going to win every one.
It’s how it reacts after losing a few in a row that labels it.
The Gamecocks welcomed Vanderbilt to Carolina Stadium and took the field knowing what they were up against. They didn’t need any extra motivation – the chilly atmosphere on the bus ride from Florida was enough of a reminder.
They won, 8-5. No one began turning cartwheels because there was so far to go.
But they kept winning. Home runs and two-out knocks were once again finding holes and the pitching staff, so maligned all season, found itself. A staff with a collective ERA over 5.00 pitched the final 11 games with a 4.78 tally, not great but good enough, and that number became a blistering 2.20 in the last five games.
When the smoke cleared, the Gamecocks had won 10 of their final 11, a 9-5 loss at Tennessee akin to the only mole on Kristen Bell. Otherwise, they were flawless.
Here’s where it gets interesting. USC, picked to finish fourth in the SEC East, placed second with a 17-13 mark. That tied the Gamecocks’ best conference record from the last five seasons. They also bested the 15-15 mark of last year’s team, a unit stocked with all-stars and draft picks, by two games.
Yes, it’s worth it to point out the three SEC teams they played weren’t the cream of the crop. Tennessee didn’t make it to the SEC tournament, Vanderbilt squeaked in as the eighth and final seed and Georgia has collapsed after once being ranked No. 1 in the country.
But USC, in the early season, was hardly the cream of the crop either. After years of being the bullies of the SEC, the Gamecocks at times looked downright ordinary.
Now, though, just look at them. They finished 10-1. USC’s last four season-ending finishes – 6-5, 7-4, 4-7, 4-7. You’ve got to go back to 2003 to find the last 10-1 finish, something the Gamecocks had also done in 2002, and if I recall, the ending of those two seasons was pretty sweet.
The Gamecocks are playing their best baseball exactly when they need to be, something they couldn’t do in recent years. That terrible series at Florida is only a memory, as hazy as the steam off Nick Ebert’s bat.
“Expectations don’t change, but the players do,” Tanner said after the first win over Georgia. “I think for a long time, we were searching a little bit for some identity. I didn’t have an answer.
“But we’ve hung in there, we’ve played hard. I don’t know why we’ve played better the last couple of weeks. We’ve just been able to win.”
Hoover beckons. A terrific performance there could put the Gamecocks back in the discussion to host an NCAA Regional, although that’s probably still a major longshot. But they’ll be going somewhere after the week is over – not a doubt in anyone’s mind.
I’m reminded of the old saying. “Great teams aren’t great all the time, only when they have to be.”
Strangely, the boos and calls for Tanner’s job have ceased.
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Just got back from one of my best friend’s wedding. I cried. Not out of happiness, but over the idea that yet another good soldier has fallen.
While the rebels continue to storm the palace of freedom, yours truly leading the charge, some still feel compelled to strap themselves to the rack in the dungeon of marriage.
With that in mind, a lyric entry that has nothing whatsoever to do with today’s topic. This one’s for you, JT.
“Down on one knee on momma’s front steps,
Man, I'm gonna die if she really says yes.”
--------------------------------- KENNY CHESNEY
With that out of the way …
You know it had to be killing Ray Tanner inside. His South Carolina baseball team had just been swept at Florida and as he boarded the bus to come back home, it was as quiet as dawn breaking over the Badlands.
There are a few ways to approach the situation.
1. The Belle-Steinbrenner. Destroy water coolers, sunflower seed buckets and helmets while wielding a bat and bless out your team as it sullenly dresses. Threaten to revoke scholarships, pull at least one player aside and tell him you want to see him in your office the minute you get back to campus and finish with, “I better not hear a peep on that bus!”
2. The Martyr. Blame the umpires, the field, the sun, the rain, the crowd, anything but your team for its lousy performance. Never come right out and say it but at least plant some ideas in reporters’ heads to make them think that jerk in the other dugout was running his mouth and cheating all weekend.
3. The That’s OK, We’ll Get ’Em Next Game. A favorite of Atlanta skipper Bobby Cox, the eternal optimism angle takes the pressure off the minds of the players. What you hope is it does it enough to get some wins before the season’s over.
Tanner had his choice. He didn’t pick any of them.
He chose, “4. Nothing.”
What could he say? That the Gamecocks were awful that weekend? They knew that already. That their postseason hopes, forget about hosting a regional, were dangling on dental floss 1,000 feet above some very pointy rocks? They can look at the standings just like anybody else and figure that out.
So he did nothing. He told them they had some work to do, wished them luck on their exams and let them think about it. As the boos and online questioning flared again, demanding change and accountability, Tanner sat through the week off and waited on the next series.
He kept preaching “Marathon, not a sprint.” One game or series does not define a baseball team. When a football team loses a game, it’s big because there are only 12. A baseball team has 56 and isn’t going to win every one.
It’s how it reacts after losing a few in a row that labels it.
The Gamecocks welcomed Vanderbilt to Carolina Stadium and took the field knowing what they were up against. They didn’t need any extra motivation – the chilly atmosphere on the bus ride from Florida was enough of a reminder.
They won, 8-5. No one began turning cartwheels because there was so far to go.
But they kept winning. Home runs and two-out knocks were once again finding holes and the pitching staff, so maligned all season, found itself. A staff with a collective ERA over 5.00 pitched the final 11 games with a 4.78 tally, not great but good enough, and that number became a blistering 2.20 in the last five games.
When the smoke cleared, the Gamecocks had won 10 of their final 11, a 9-5 loss at Tennessee akin to the only mole on Kristen Bell. Otherwise, they were flawless.
Here’s where it gets interesting. USC, picked to finish fourth in the SEC East, placed second with a 17-13 mark. That tied the Gamecocks’ best conference record from the last five seasons. They also bested the 15-15 mark of last year’s team, a unit stocked with all-stars and draft picks, by two games.
Yes, it’s worth it to point out the three SEC teams they played weren’t the cream of the crop. Tennessee didn’t make it to the SEC tournament, Vanderbilt squeaked in as the eighth and final seed and Georgia has collapsed after once being ranked No. 1 in the country.
But USC, in the early season, was hardly the cream of the crop either. After years of being the bullies of the SEC, the Gamecocks at times looked downright ordinary.
Now, though, just look at them. They finished 10-1. USC’s last four season-ending finishes – 6-5, 7-4, 4-7, 4-7. You’ve got to go back to 2003 to find the last 10-1 finish, something the Gamecocks had also done in 2002, and if I recall, the ending of those two seasons was pretty sweet.
The Gamecocks are playing their best baseball exactly when they need to be, something they couldn’t do in recent years. That terrible series at Florida is only a memory, as hazy as the steam off Nick Ebert’s bat.
“Expectations don’t change, but the players do,” Tanner said after the first win over Georgia. “I think for a long time, we were searching a little bit for some identity. I didn’t have an answer.
“But we’ve hung in there, we’ve played hard. I don’t know why we’ve played better the last couple of weeks. We’ve just been able to win.”
Hoover beckons. A terrific performance there could put the Gamecocks back in the discussion to host an NCAA Regional, although that’s probably still a major longshot. But they’ll be going somewhere after the week is over – not a doubt in anyone’s mind.
I’m reminded of the old saying. “Great teams aren’t great all the time, only when they have to be.”
Strangely, the boos and calls for Tanner’s job have ceased.
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David Cloninger. David is a full-time staff writer for GamecockCentral, and covers Gamecock football, men's basketball, baseball and recruiting. He may be reached by email at david(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.