Can Baseball Do It?

[DFW HOYA]

Two games under .500 entering the last week of the season, Georgetown can earn its first winning season since 1986 defeating VMI and then taking two of three from Pitt (27-19).

Go Hoyas!

[CAHoya07]

Agreed. I've been keeping track of them through the season and they've been fighting hard. Also, if they take 2 of 3 from Pitt, I believe they'll surpass their Big East win total from last year. They were 8-17 last year, right now they are 7-15.

Not to put a negative spin on this, but can someone explain to me why we are generally pretty bad at baseball? Do we give any scholarships in baseball? I take it our resources suck for this sport, but I was kind of wondering why. The Big East is not a good baseball conference, only St. John's is in the top 25 this week, at the #25-spot.

That said, go Hoyas, finish strong.

[TigerHoya]

CAHoya07 said:

Agreed. I've been keeping track of them through the season and they've been fighting hard. Also, if they take 2 of 3 from Pitt, I believe they'll surpass their Big East win total from last year. They were 8-17 last year, right now they are 7-15.

Not to put a negative spin on this, but can someone explain to me why we are generally pretty bad at baseball? Do we give any scholarships in baseball? I take it our resources suck for this sport, but I was kind of wondering why. The Big East is not a good baseball conference, only St. John's is in the top 25 this week, at the #25-spot.

That said, go Hoyas, finish strong.

Don't know about GU but baseball traditionally gives half-scholarships to some players at even the top D-I schools. I think Clemson has 11.5 schollies per year for baseball, for example.

Are there any bubble projections for the team if they crack .500 or do they have to pretty much win the BE?

[JimmyHoya]

Simply put: I don't think anyone cares.

We don't have a true home field which can't be too helpful, we aren't exactly a prestiegious baseball isntitution, and from what little I've seen of them...they aren't exactly hte most heralded bunch.

At the CS-Fullerton McDonough game, their bus dropped them off in the back of the parking lot. They waded through the crowds and parked cars and had to slide through the ticket counters to get to the showers. Nobody was slapping them five or really paying them any attention 'cept for Brick who shook hands with who I assume is the manager of the team...didn't strike me that the team meant much to anyone....

[CAHoya07]

Update: VMI 16, Georgetown 7.

Let's beat Pitt.

[CAHoya07]

JimmyHoya said:

Simply put: I don't think anyone cares.

We don't have a true home field which can't be too helpful, we aren't exactly a prestiegious baseball isntitution, and from what little I've seen of them...they aren't exactly hte most heralded bunch.

At the CS-Fullerton McDonough game, their bus dropped them off in the back of the parking lot. They waded through the crowds and parked cars and had to slide through the ticket counters to get to the showers. Nobody was slapping them five or really paying them any attention 'cept for Brick who shook hands with who I assume is the manager of the team...didn't strike me that the team meant much to anyone....

Yeah, I get the same feeling too, and it's pretty sad. That's why I'm hoping Hoya Blue can organize some trips to home games (road trip to a home game, kinda ironic, huh) and get some people by care about this sport and others that the University as a whole is typically apathetic about.

[DFW HOYA]

Baseball was a scholarship sport at Georgetown until the mid-70's, when the scholarships were redistributed to women's sports. Still, into the early 1980's, baseball was a popular fan sport, in part to the natural bowl which surrounded the field, giving fans ample opportunity to relax and follow the game:

www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/i/page/airmed69.jpg

Funding notwithstanding, the two things that really hurt GU baseball were the move to the Big East and the Leavey center.

From 1980-85, the Big East did not sponsor baseball, leading GU to play a mostly winning schedule against what would today be known as Patriot and CAA teams, even w/o scholarships. When it joined the league, many teams featued up to 11.5 schoalrships and the caliber of opponent was significantly higher, such as Craig Biggio and Mo Vaughn at Seton Hall, or Charles Nagy at UConn.

The Leavey Center construction destroyed the bowl and with it, a place fans could watch the game. The subsequent intra-Univesity dealings to give the Business School the land further weakened the program, but the team hangs in there despite the odds.

The team averages 150 a game, mostly local residents in Montgomery County and road fans--not much more than what field hockey draws at Kehoe. The team would really appreciate a Hoya Blue event where a couple hundred fans could enjoy the game.

[NoCleverName]

As a baseball alum, I am somewhat aware of many of the challenges facing the program. Despite them, the current coach, Pete Wilk, has done a pretty good job. The team is certainly more competitive in the Big East than it has been in recent years. The shame is that with proper support the program could be competitive for an east coast team. I can tell you that during my time on at GU a number of players who we competed against would have loved to have played at GU but couldn't get into the school or were unable to afford the tuition.

The issues facing the baseball team include:

*Playing in the Big East, which is usually the best college baseball league in the Northeast (north of Virginia), with a much smaller budget and very limited scholarships. There might be 2 scholarships available for the team. The NCAA permits 11.5. Most, if not all, the other Big East teams have the full or close to a full allotment of scholarships. Few players receive full scholarships and most coaches split them up amongst their players such that most players on the team receive some aid. The existence of scholarships is key, particularly for recruiting pitchers, who are the difference makers in college baseball.

* Administration indifference (either real or perceived) is also a factor. Many of the alumni from the mid 80's to recent years don't have particular warm and fuzzies about their baseball experience for several reasons, including the funding of the program, the hiring of coaches with questionable qualifications and more recently, the loss of the field. In sum, it is difficult for alumni to rally behind the program when there is no clear signal from the university that the program is considered viable. Nobody wants to put up significant money and then have the administration pull the plug on the program. Basically, in order for people to get more involved it will likely take the administration showing the alumni that there is a committment. Given GU's finances and its mentality that its the alumni's responsiblility to support the athletic programs I don't think anything will be happening soon.

* The move off campus is a big factor. Although the facility the team plays at is supposedly great, no one (alumni or students) ever makes it up there. This has added to the perception that if the program is eliminated no one will really notice. When the team played on campus the field's location was highly regarded by the team and its opponents. Everyone loved playing in the center of campus where the university community could stop and catch a few innings or a game in the middle of the day. Its sort of depressing that current students will never see their classmates compete during their entire careers.

Interestingly enough, GW, as discussed below, plays at a lesser quality field than GU (GW's field is located in Arlington) but is still able to get decent support and strong alumni support.

It is possible to field a successful team, as evidenced by the GW baseball team down the road. They are on the verge of consecutive 40 win seasons. Their coach for the last 5 years is a GU Baseball alum, Tom Walter, who left after last season to coach at the University of New Orleans. GW is a fully funded program with strong administration support. I know for a fact that Coach Walter would have loved to coach at GU but without the support of the administration and scholarships there was no way he could ever leave GW for GU. Another example is St. John's (no DI football) which annually fields a strong program and is ranked in the top 25 this year. BC has also upgraded its program in recent years in anticipation of its moe to the ACC.

Enough rambling, I'm done.

[CAHoya07]

Guest-DFW said:

Funding notwithstanding, the two things that really hurt GU baseball were the move to the Big East and the Leavey center.

Well, the Leavey Center cut out that bowl completely, but taking in a game from the Esplanade would have been amazing. Too bad. I see baseball as another missed opportunity by the University to breed school spirit. We should work on this, especially considering that our team has been doing better these past couple years.

[FormerHoya]

CAHoya07 said:

Well, the Leavey Center cut out that bowl completely, but taking in a game from the Esplanade would have been amazing. Too bad. I see baseball as another missed opportunity by the University to breed school spirit. We should work on this, especially considering that our team has been doing better these past couple years.

Whenever my parents visited in the spring we would always eat breakfast in the Leavey center by the windows so that my Dad could watch the team either practice or play. It was pretty cool.

On a different note, a friend of mine played at ND, they loved the trip to Georgetown. Called it stat weekend.

[lichoya68]

hey give em a break.. these last two or three years weve had competivie teams.. i remember when they were lucky to win a few games.. and id take my kids on a beautiful day and sit on the hillside with like maybe twenty other fans... i havent been to cabin john field... but i hear they get some local fans too ...so despite all.. lets support those hoyas.. near five hundred woulda been a hallucination a number of years ago ... go hoyas ps and next year softball

[DFW HOYA]

Georgetown ended the season on a down note, losing its last four games in the final week. The season ends at 25-31, 7-18 in the Big East.

The 25 wins does match 2004's total, which is the best since 1985.

www.bigeast.org/reference/records/baseball/

[aleutianhoya]

Kudos to the team and program. Even though I'm sure they're disappointed they didn't improve on last year, the last two years, combined with looking at the scores of the contests, prove that they're headed in the right direction.

The field and facility really are beautiful. From just a field and facility standpoint, it's actually nicer than what was on campus (lights, concessions, a real press box, minor-league quality grandstand, restrooms, beautiful tailgate/picnic pavillion). Obviously, not being on-campus makes up for those advantages.

The money for additional improvements really is a chicken or egg problem. The administration simply has no additional money to support athletics and the athletics department has no spare revenue to pour into any single program, without taking it from an existing one. Ironically, the loss of the field could be viewed as evidence of support from the Athletics Department of the continued viability of the program. When the on-campus field was taken by the University admin. for other university goals, the Department could have folded the program then and there. Instead, they invested time (and, I'm sure, a fair amount of money) in arranging to rent the Cabin John field and bus team members out there every day. Given the above money problems, such an investment, I'm sure, was not made lightly.