⚾ 🥎 A little softball trivia for a Monday morning. Since Murph was promoted to head coach in '99, only three teams have made it to the WCWS...

[TerryP]

...as many times, or more, than Alabama. Who are they?

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I think two of these will come easily. The third ... may take some thinking.

 

[BamaFan334]

...as many times, or more, than Alabama. Who are they?

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I think two of these will come easily. The third ... may take some thinking.

Oklahoma, Florida State, and UCLA?

 

[TerryP]

Oklahoma, Florida State, and UCLA?

 

[50+yeartidefan]

And so much....anti murphy sentiment on here
Some equating him to X-UGA football coach...

No doubt the Bama offense is ...ummm..sluggish....
But he always seems to have great pitchers...

 

[Rsedge72]

Arizona
UCLA
Oklahoma
I’m pretty sure.
Washington has to be pretty close.

 

[TerryP]

Arizona
UCLA
Oklahoma
I’m pretty sure.
Washington has to be pretty close.

 

[BamaFan334]

I assumed Arizona was the "too easy" answer. The old guard.

 

[mando]

Can you imagine our reaction if this were football and we were 4th? I know the point being made. Murphy has established a very good program. How does he take it to another level so Bama softball is the measuring stick?

 

[UAgrad93]

Can you imagine our reaction if this were football and we were 4th? I know the point being made. Murphy has established a very good program. How does he take it to another level so Bama softball is the measuring stick?

Put his ego on the shelf and hire a damn hitting coach and let them do their damn job! Murphy is the softball version of Gus Malzahn!!!!

 

[TerryP]

Murphy is the softball version of Gus Malzahn!!!!

Bro.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Put his ego on the shelf and hire a damn hitting coach and let them do their damn job! Murphy is the softball version of Gus Malzahn!!!!

Dang....
So far he is likened to ....
...the Gus Bus
...Mark...nice guy...Reitch

For Sure ...the Bama support at the RH....is awesome...
Maybe have to up with some more NIL $....to compete

 

[bama alum]

Put his ego on the shelf and hire a damn hitting coach and let them do their damn job! Murphy is the softball version of Gus Malzahn!!!!

I get your point. He is stubborn. He's going to need to be a different version, a version of either Saban or Kiffin and hit that portal hard.

 

[UAgrad93]

Bro.

Calling a Spade a Spade I guess. You know where I was going though. Gus refused to turnover play calling duties much like Murphy refuses to turnover hitting to someone else.

 

[UAgrad93]

I get your point. He is stubborn. He's going to need to be a different version, a version of either Saban or Kiffin and hit that portal hard.

Portal won’t help much if we hold our offense back. We likely won’t win another Natty in softball if we continue this path of riding one pitcher and hoping that 1-3 runs will be enough offense to win.

 

[TerryP]

Calling a Spade a Spade I guess. You know where I was going though. Gus refused to turnover play calling duties much like Murphy refuses to turnover hitting to someone else.

We're looking at the same thing although differently. UT's up next, so I'll go there.

The Vols have played 57 games this season, 424 hits, 405 runs (76 HR's.)
Bama has played 65, 460 hits, 302 runs, (55 HR's.)

I don't see a problem with getting hits; it's plating the runners. It's passing the bat.

I think '23 ended with UGA having the best BA—may have been Florida, they were pretty close. Both were converting 75-80% of their hits to runs; both sitting at home today.

I'll see if I can find LOB for the SEC ... be an interesting look.

 

[64Tide]

Plating runs is a mental thing for the batter. It's being disciplined enough to swing at YOUR pitch only until 2 strikes. It's about being a competitor and having confidence as well. The special ones can rise to the occasion. Putting the team before yourself is an asset, focus should be on what can I do for the team instead of what I can do for myself.

 

[UAgrad93]

We're looking at the same thing although differently. UT's up next, so I'll go there.

The Vols have played 57 games this season, 424 hits, 405 runs (76 HR's.)
Bama has played 65, 460 hits, 302 runs, (55 HR's.)

I don't see a problem with getting hits; it's plating the runners. It's passing the bat.

I think '23 ended with UGA having the best BA—may have been Florida, they were pretty close. Both were converting 75-80% of their hits to runs; both sitting at home today.

I'll see if I can find LOB for the SEC ... be an interesting look.

I think the frustrating part is LOB and the numbers. Situational hitting!! When I coached, I would drill my guys with situations both defense and offense. Runner at 2nd no outs, get him over and get him in. Something I used was a paper that my former coach had found and passed on to me. He talked about what pitches to look for in each kind of count. Though the pitches are somewhat different, I would think it could be translated.

http://www.ballcharts.com/teams/files/T/temeculabaseball/photos/KEYSTOHITTINGDIFFERENTTYPESOFPITCHES.pdf

 

[TerryP]

Plating runs is a mental thing for the batter. It's being disciplined enough to swing at YOUR pitch only until 2 strikes. It's about being a competitor and having confidence as well. The special ones can rise to the occasion. Putting the team before yourself is an asset, focus should be on what can I do for the team instead of what I can do for myself.

You're touching on a portion of what I suspect has been part of the problem with "plating runs:"

The special ones can rise to the occasion.

I think you'll agree with me that the roster isn't "whole." I see gaps in production which have left runners on base.

So I ask, "why?" It's my belief a lot of this goes back to 2020 and the C-19 classes. We've seen the repercussions in several sports. Coaches were handicapped evaluating not only talent but also being able to identify those "special ones." (And, quite frankly, he recruited and signed some "special ones." Hell, Jenna Lord is in the portal, again, because she's not satisfied with her role at UArk.)

On the other hand (while sticking with "Jenna") look at what we've got with Jenna Johnson. Her sister will be in Tuscaloosa soon. She's an outfielder, like Jenna, but "cut from the same cloth" as her sister.

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Early Monday morning I received a text from a friend of mine that was a screen shot from TI. She was pointing to the title of one response which really encapsulates this team:

"An imperfect team with a perfect heart." I'm good with riding that bus with #Team27.