Miami gets worked by Florida… twice over

The Beast and Canes305 chime in on the Canes postseason debacle in Gainesville:

THE BEAST: Two and freaking BBQ. Not what we expected. Maybe Jim Morris was right the other day when he said that the expectations we have for the Canes are akin to a Yankees’ fan’s expectations for their team.

Is that a bad thing? Not at all. However, we have to realize that we aren’t going to be in Omaha every year. Look, the defense was horrible, not just tonight, but the entire post-season. This one hurts more because it’s the Gators that beat us … wait check … this one hurts more because we beat ourselves allowing the Gators to be credited with the victories.

I give credit to Chris Hernandez for coming out tonight and giving Miami a chance. He had a solid 8 1/3 innings, giving up only three hits, an earned run, three walks and he struck out four. You wish that Hernandez would come back and try to improve his sevent round draft status, but the chances of that happening are the same as the chances that disco make a comeback. I’m guessing Eric Whaley is your go-to guy next year.

Now, after browsing the message boards for a moment, I see some people taking some shots at Jim Morris. I find this completely asanine. You’re taking about one of the premier coaches in college baseball. Morris has taken the Canes to Omaha 11-of-17 seasons he’s been at Miami. That’s almost twice as many times as the Gators have been to Omaha in their history. No, this program is not just on auto pilot. With the limited time he’s allowed to spend with the players, the limited scholarships, the limited staff, and every other obstacle, Jim Morris probably the most underated head coach in South Florida. It’s not his fault that this team couldn’t put a glove on the baseball, so please end the crazy talk.

I’m bummed out, you’re bummed out, all of Hurricanes Nation is bummed out. Let’s take a step back for a second. We have the best baseball program in the state, and it’s not close. We have one of the best baseball programs in the country. You can not argue about that. The Gators will choke in Omaha. See, it’s not so bad.

Sorry for the short late blog, but I was broadcasting a roller derby bout. Oh yeah, chicks hitting the crap out of other chicks as they skate around a track wearing fishnets. Ok, so some of them look like Brett Romberg, but that’s neither here nor there. I think tomorrow at some point I’ll try to get my thoughts together and blog about how this conference expansion mania could effect Miami.

Meanwhile, keep Hurricanes’ third baseman Harold Martinez in your thoughts after he had to have emergency surgery in Gainesville to treat an infection on his shin. Don’t worry Canes fans, the sun will rise tomorrow. Our baseball Canes will be back to Omaha soon and, as I said earlier, the Gators will choke.

CANES305: First off, thanks to my main man The Beast. His Regional and Super Regional coverage has been top notch.

I can easily cover Miami football from the left coast, but baseball is bigger challenge. Games aren’t televised and listening to play-by-play on WVUM seems rather archaic in this day and age. I do it, but I’m not connected with this team. It’s impossible from three time zones away and it kills me.

I spent the majority of my life in Miami. I went to Ron Fraser’s baseball camp years on end. (Frank Dominguez and Mike Fiore were two of my coaches.) I followed this team religiously for years, but simply don’t have the bandwidth to do from Southern California.

Harsh as this may sound, I somewhat wrote off Miami baseball in the ninth inning against Georgia in the opening round of the College World Series a few years back. I still love this team, but I can’t let it get it to me the way I let football keep me up at night. It literally shaves years off my life.

Regarding the Super Regional, I’m flat out disgusted. I can live with losing, but half-ass effort and mental errors with so much on the line – that’s unforgivable.

Maybe it’s something you learn later in life; how to react in do or die moments with everything on the line. I don’t know. I’m 36 years old – twice the age of most of the kids on this team. I know that certain moments only come along once and after seeing Miami lose in such miserable fashion to Florida last year – I expected this team to show their huevos with Omaha on the line.

In my heart of hearts, I didn’t expect the Canes to make the College World Series this year. I didn’t feel the pitching was where it needed to be. It’s seems like it’s been forever since Miami dominated on the mound. Where is the next great closer? Where is that dominant start – outside of Chris Hernandez? Where is the middle reliever that is the glue to hold things together?

Beast talked a lot about pitching needing to carry you in the postseason, which I agree with – but I don’t get the bats going ice cold. Not with all the money on the line. Not at this point of the season – in Gainesville with a shot at Omaha.

Errors are mental mistakes and that’s unacceptable for a team of this caliber. Beast talked so much about Miami’s postseason dominance and coach Jim Morris’ legacy – which I absolutely agree with. Morris is one of the best in the game and he’s more than proven his mettle. (Though I’ll openly admit that Miami hasn’t been “Miami” since Turtle Thomas and Lazer Collazo left the program.)

Coaches can only do so much. At some point the players need to do what they’ve been coached up to so. Routine mistakes at pivotal times – inexcusable. The Canes were one routine grounder from forcing a game three and they shat the bed. Sadly, with the amount of errors leading up to that, you almost felt the collapse before it happened.

Florida had the mojo and it seemed Miami was hanging on by a thread the entire series – disaster waiting around every corner and inevitable.

After two straight post-season losses to the Gators, I pray the returning Canes use this as a rallying cry. If you truly bleed orange and green, you know how monumental it is when your arch rival reaches the post season two years in a row at your expense.

I graduated UF after spending my previous 2.5 decades in Miami and I want to vomit after watching those pukes celebrating mid-field as our Canes soaked in the scene. All I can say; learn from the expereince. Revel in it. Soak in the pain and let it fuel your fire.

Sports is all about motivation and the last two post seasons better fuel these Canes’ fire. Let it be a rallying cry; something that gnaws at you all off-season.

Florida wanted it more than Miami, cliche as that may sound. Go back and watch the tape.

Yasmani Grandal warned Florida pitchers, be wary of Miami’s bats. Alex Panteliodis heard the warning and stepped up his game, holding the Canes to three hits on Friday night. To Grandal’s credit, he got his with a two-run shot in the fourth – but it’s about putting your balls on the line with everything on the table and Miami didn’t do that this weekend, going out like the lesser program.

Personally, I didn’t put much into the 2010 Canes, so the early exit hasn’t crushed my spirits. That said, I know deep down that this team was better than they showed and that’s the real problem here – untapped potential. All we heard after the Texas A&M win is that this was that this team was ready for Gainesville.

They welcomed the challenge and said all the same things about playing their state rival, but the result was the same. Florida took the series in Coral Gables but supposed this was a different team headed to Gainesville. Young talent has blossomed and was up for a dogfight at the Super Regional.

No so much.

The two losses sting, but if this team can learn something, bring it on. Miami 2010 wasn’t going to win a National Championship so take your lumps and use this as fuel for next year’s fire.

For Hurricane Nation, pray for a Gator collapse and gear up for football season, baby…

Comments

comments