2017 CWS Observations
Success is simply making it here. It serves college baseball fans well to first remember that each club in the College World Series has already won a great deal. In many cases, multiple championships have been secured en route to Omaha. With the passion and pride inherent in college athletics, it is easy to let the disappointment of an unfavorable outcome in Omaha reign if anything less than the National Championship Trophy is attained. Whatever happens across the next two weeks, only one team will walk away with that trophy. Seven clubs will load the buses just short of this particular goal. Time will ease the pain, however, with the realization that each of these clubs will go down in history among the very few who were able to live the college game’s biggest dream, simply by surviving to play on this, its biggest stage.
Power Matchups. If Cinderellas are your thing, hopefully you enjoyed the Regionals and the 2016 edition of the tournament. None remain this time around. Five of the eight national seeds and seven clubs from power conferences (SEC-3, ACC-2, Big12-1, Pac12-1) punched tickets to the 2017 College World Series. A total of 12 national titles belong to the combo of LSU (6), Cal State Fullerton (4), and Oregon State (2), while the full field owns a combined 90 College World Series appearances. Matchups like LSU vs FSU, Florida vs TCU, Louisville vs Texas A&M and a battle of former champs Cal State Fullerton and Oregon St are the type marquee battles generally reserved for later in the bracket, yet all of these will occur across the opening weekend. Baseball fans are assured of a power packed Championship Series no matter who remains when the dust settles.
Power Surge. More home runs have been hit in this season’s NCAA Tournament than at any time during the “new bat era.” Credit may very well go to the “flat seamed” baseball, which has provided an uptick in home runs, as well as, strikeouts across the last couple of seasons. For this reason, power surge could easily refer to both pitching and hitting. The major question, will it translate to TD Ameritrade Park ? In its seven years of existence, Omaha’s new downtown yard has trended as a pitcher’s paradise. The park has produced 16 shutouts and 31 one-run contests in that small sample size. With the 2017 tournament field boasting the lowest combined team E.R.A. (2.42) in CWS history, the emerging offensive numbers will be put to the test. Just think back to the 2016 edition’s record setting seventeen total games and how low scoring each of them were. Power hitting meets power arms once teams make it this deep into the tournament. What gives?
The Elusive Title. Mike Martin is an Omaha legend, though he—like the Seminoles he has once again led here—is still in search of a first College World Series title. Florida state now owns the longest active streak of tournament appearances, making the NCAA field 40 consecutive seasons. The Seminoles twenty-two trips to the midwest are also more than anyone else in Division 1 baseball without a title. The skipper first brought a team here in 1980 and is making trip number sixteen of his own. The ‘Noles bitter rival is on the other side of the bracket and in the midst of a run which includes 6 appearances in the last ten seasons, yet Florida has experienced as much disappointment as anyone in recent CWS memory. While the Gators have more than once been considered the favorite to win the crown, heartbreak has reigned to the tune of five consecutive one-run losses in Omaha. TCU may be a newer arrival on the national scene, but the Horned Frogs are the only club in the field with four straight championship tournament appearances. Jim Scholossnagle’s senior class is facing one final shot at that elusive title.
A Season for the Ages. That is what Oregon State is chasing. If the Beavers turn this year’s trip into a third College World Series title, they will go down in history with the top single season winning percentage in College Baseball’s modern era (eclipsing the .934 mark set by the Texas Longhorns in 1982). Pat Casey’s club has lost just four times all season and is perfect in NCAA tourney action (entering play Saturday with a winning pct of .931). Easily the favorite to win in this year’s tournament, Oregon State has been a consensus number one the majority of the season and is riding a twenty-one game winning streak coming into the 2017 College World Series.
Those Pesky Distractions. Blocking them out is the key to success in Omaha according to the eight coaches which led teams to baseball’s promised land this year. Distractions were a major topic of conversation in both pre-series press conferences. By now fans are familiar with the plight of both Oregon State’s program and Louisville’s athletic department heading into this weekend’s games. Unfortunately, off the field issues such as these can end up hanging like a bit of a dark cloud over the on-field accomplishments of these championship caliber teams. The challenge comes with blocking out the noise and focusing on the fundamentals of winning baseball. It’s not just items with the potential for scandal, however, that scream for attention. Signing autographs, buying souvenirs, securing tickets for family and friends, even making sure to hit the proper Omaha restaurants and midwestern sight seeing spots while in town can become focal points which take attention away from the main task to be handled at TD Ameritrade Park. There may not be many things on which each coach who has ever brought a team to this city would unanimously agree, but at least one is the absolute necessity of blocking out all these distractions. The team most capable of doing so consistently across the next two weeks will likely hoist the trophy.
Enjoy The Moment. Yes, there will be other tournaments. Of course, there will be other champions, yet the 2017 edition of the College World Series happens just this once. It is a once in a lifetime experience for these players and coaches. It can be a once in a lifetime experience for many of the fans. Most importantly, as baseball often does, it will likely provide a moment or two like no other…perhaps one which will stand for all of time.
Play Ball. At the end of the day, despite all its pageantry, in all its simplicity, it’s still just baseball. The stage may be bigger, the lights may be brighter, the stakes may be higher; but it remains the game of our childhood. It remains the game we love. Reduced to the basics, it’s still about seeing the ball, hitting the ball and catching the ball. It’s still just baseball. That’s what makes it great. In fact, here in Omaha, it’s known as the “Greatest Show On Dirt.”