BillTheCat

Yep. Hope the fielding gets cleaned up everywhere… the biggest opportunity the team has IMHO… aside from the facilities they have to deal with. A ton of returners that: -Led the A10 in hits -#2 in ERA -But #8 in Fielding %. Nauseating to watch mis-spent funds continue to flow into the embarrassing basketball program. Iowa, Kansas State and ‘Northeastern’ all are preseason Top 25 on D1 Baseball, and none should have a better baseball program than SLU… one of the best baseball cities in the US. Hendrickson can’t get help to install lights that have already been donated… well known on the team that he and May don’t exchange Christmas cards.

I wasn't going to mention it, but

Lindenwood received new turf over the offseason... looking pretty sharp. They would be roughly 5 run underdogs to SLU right now.

Speaking of the AD... Baseball season starts in 16 days, and there is literally no grass in the outfield. No turf, no grass. Sand. Calls have apparently been made to surrounding area parks to host the first scheduled home weekends, but availability is scarce.

Is there a link to watch this postgame press conference?

Is it going to happen? That actually sounds like a positive.

100% agree...

Endowments definitely don't correlate with commitment or results unfortunately... SLU reported endowment: $1.4 Billion (and change). 2023 College World Series Program Oral Roberts reported endowment: $46 Million. Their basketball program went 30-5 last year and was knocked out of the NCAAs by Duke. Oral Roberts Baseball facility: BTW - that field has a turf infield and a natural grass outfield... there are bigger fish to fry at SLU than the composition of the field. Get a winning coach the resources he's asking for.

It now sounds like new baseball lighting will not be installed until Fall 2024 at earliest. Improved LED lights were donated, but there are apparently no funds available to install them. All Friday home games are currently slated for 3pm starts, and no Saturday night home games.

This is a map of the closest D1 college baseball team to each county. Reddit has a poster whose plan is to do an imperialism map about once a week during the season, if you don't know what an imperialism map is - it's where if you beat a team you take their land. If you squint you can see a tiny Billiken around STL. Looking forward to the boys adding a lot of eastern seaboard territory this spring.

Spring sports season... all non-basketball / soccer athletes still have to pay to eat in Champions Center.

But really... this is humorous. People back in Kentucky willing to converse with Ford know full well Kentucky fans have loudly called for Calipari's head and other various body parts... even after half-hearted wins. This is absolutely milk toast in comparison... the SLU fanbase is exceedingly patient and pleasant when looking through the lens of programs where results determine coaching tenure. Like Kentucky basketball. Highest pay in conference. Multiple years of tenure. Lack of NCAA success. Current team is a bottom-dweller in a 1/2 bid conference. Take away any one of those facts listed above, and people trying to rationalize Ford's status as SLU basketball coach might been seen as rational.

Seems like dad needs to have a conversation with his son...

Next Friday - SLU Baseball 1st Pitch Dinner w/ STL Cardinals Manager Oli Marmol as guest speaker.

Oh, I know... I was just curious and tried to find an even more poignant example outside the conference. FAU was a Final Four team last year who's entire basketball budget was less than Ford's salary.

Total Budget for FAU's Final Four basketball program this past cycle - $2,005,331. Finances aren't the issue, it's culture and leadership.

The George Mason HC is making well less than half of Ford's salary, and has quickly put together a team that will contend for the A10 title. He's young and 'unproven'... but knows what it takes and what it feels like to be a winner. He has identified under-valued players in the portal, has brought them in and quickly convinced them to play as an alpha team instead of alpha individuals. This could be easily turned around in one cycle if decision makers have the desire and vision.

Clohisy slated to play in the Cape Cod League this coming summer... further reinforcing the notion he's firmly on multiple draft radars.

SIUE has all turf with covered stands and a press box. Lindenwood has all turf with a press box. The preference would likely be all turf in the STL area due to better playability in weather, and maintenance. SLU team-wise is loaded compared to both of the above programs… due to Hendrickson.

They're LEDs.

I don’t know the details of what went into the decision… but have heard lack of a suitable locker room for away team may have been a factor. Hendrickson was able to secure improved lights, but was looking for funding to get them installed. New outfield grass is being put down currently. Going into Fall SLU was designated as the host… now it’s back to VCU.

A few notes about this upcoming baseball season: Hendrickson has built a team that could/should be the pre-season pick to win the A-10 this year. A solid mix of SLU veterans, portal additions and freshmen who will factor in early. Hitting: Last year's team led the league in multiple hitting metrics: Runs Scored, Hits, RBIs, and had a .296 team batting average good for 3rd best in the league. All of that offensive output returns with the exception of graduates Swanger and Redding, who were 6th and 7th in Batting Avg and Hits (Redding was injured early season). None of the contributors were lost to the Portal, which is pretty amazing considering. Four returners were in the Top 20 in the A-10 for average last season... Smith and Clohisy were 3rd and 9th in the A-10 in total hits last year as sophmores... both should be easy draft candidates this year. Only two position losses to graduation, and none to the Portal. In Fall scrimmages the offense was a juggernaut... in the game against SIUE the score was 19-0 after the 6th inning against SIUE's projected starters... the other two scrimmages were similarly non-competitive, with the biggest tests being the inter-squad matchups (where the team with a lot of the under-classmen came away with the overall win). Pitching: Last year's squad finished up 2nd in the A-10 for ERA, and multiple new faces will be on the mound this spring including key portal additions including Ray (Louisiana) and Weber (Wofford) who will likely get looks as starters. Last year's top 4 ERA leaders all return in Litman, Chaffin, Jack Weber and Jackson Holmes. Evan Gray (Arkansas transfer) is healthy and was up to 96 this fall... he may be used as an effective hope-killer out of the bullpen. Three strong freshmen looked good this fall and will be expected to contribute in Yarberry, Kelly and Cunningham. A few other notes: SLU was set to host the A-10 tournament this coming post-season, but ultimately had to forfeit the opportunity to host due to insufficient facilities... VCU will host. I've read a question on here about whether some teams have to pay to eat in the Champions center... that's absolutely true and a pathetic move by the AD. Some girls from soccer end up giving baseball players their Champions Center credits. This is 100% bush-league. Coach Hendrickson is one of the Top 25 winningest active D1 baseball coaches... and his youngest kid is now out of HS. If there were ever a time for SLU to show Hendrickson it's committed to helping him build a regular NCAA tournament participant it would be now. Many of his players are there to play for him, and it showed with the lack of outbound portal activity this past cycle. He's tough and expects results, and has done an amazing job recruiting despite the program's inherent obstacles to doing so.