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Erstad Quote

huskerbaseball13

Nebraska Legend
Jul 30, 2003
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“I relish the fact we have kids who have to face the music and reset for the next game,” Erstad said. “We are above .500 and we have an opportunity to play in the postseason. Sounds like a pretty good thing to me.”

Maybe I'm taking this out of context. But someone ought to tell him his team is currently in 7th place in the Big Ten. And that this isn't MLB. Being over .500 should be a given. It's nice we have an "opportunity" to play in the postseason but I hope that's not the ultimate goal.
 
Whether you’re taking it out of context is irrelevant to me. What it does show me is a lack of understanding from an overall fan perception. Sure they’ve hit a tough stretch. Yes I understand he’s trying to calm the waters and focus on the positives. However, the .500 comment is just stupid, at least for college baseball, and postseason could be interpreted as the B1G tournament vs. regionals. Given our current standing it would have been a lot more refreshing to just hear him say we’ve done some good things so far this year, still have an opportunity to accomplish a lot our goals, but we need to improve or we won’t attain the standards we’ve set for the program.

That comment is akin to Bo saying he won 9 games every year.
 
He could also be focused on the season as a whole so standings are pretty pointless right now. Fans focus on that stuff which makes sense but it doesn't do any good for him to worry about it. Every year under Erstad I read about how upset people are around this time and then his team goes on a tear, last year we weren't making a regional to being a 2 seed in a regional and a Bummer error away from winning it and hosting a Super. This is a brand new year I know but I'll let him play it out and see what happens. His teams have gotten better every year just not as quickly as the Van Horn style we got used to the first turnaround.
 
I agree that its not time to panic, but I wont lie and say I'm not concerned either. This quote from Dan's article is concerning:

"The Huskers are tied for seventh in the Big Ten with a .274 batting average. They rank 11th in the conference in steals (32), tied for 11th in home runs (13) and are among the leaders in strikeouts. This is a unit that has proven it's capable of explosive performances, but it also has its share of clunkers."

Can't get much worse than that so there shouldnt be anyhing but upside. Certainly paints a picture of why we are currently a middle of the road B1G team.
 
He could also be focused on the season as a whole so standings are pretty pointless right now. Fans focus on that stuff which makes sense but it doesn't do any good for him to worry about it. Every year under Erstad I read about how upset people are around this time and then his team goes on a tear, last year we weren't making a regional to being a 2 seed in a regional and a Bummer error away from winning it and hosting a Super. This is a brand new year I know but I'll let him play it out and see what happens. His teams have gotten better every year just not as quickly as the Van Horn style we got used to the first turnaround.
Agreed there is plenty of baseball left to be played. A series win this weekend would help. But, I was taken back by that quote. Again, maybe I'm taking it out of context but I sure hope Erstad isn't thinking that being over .500 is some sort of win for this program.
 
He could also be focused on the season as a whole so standings are pretty pointless right now. Fans focus on that stuff which makes sense but it doesn't do any good for him to worry about it. Every year under Erstad I read about how upset people are around this time and then his team goes on a tear, last year we weren't making a regional to being a 2 seed in a regional and a Bummer error away from winning it and hosting a Super. This is a brand new year I know but I'll let him play it out and see what happens. His teams have gotten better every year just not as quickly as the Van Horn style we got used to the first turnaround.

That's a reach. Nebraska still would have had to beat Okie St. in Stillwater twice. Pokes weren't exactly Northwestern or Purdue.
 
I'm 100% confident DE isn't happy with simply being .500 or better. Hell, we're only .500 in conference play, and he's been plenty critical of our up-and-down performances.
I'm also not confident the LJS is capable of providing proper context. The body of the article concludes with that quote, but it doesn't say what question was asked or when it was made.

Based on everything we know about Erstad, I'd say this was an oversimplification and an attempt to tell everyone to CTFO. To the extent he's saying this, he's also right that winning the regular season B1G title doesn't mean much compared to regional play.
 
I'm 100% confident DE isn't happy with simply being .500 or better. Hell, we're only .500 in conference play, and he's been plenty critical of our up-and-down performances.
I'm also not confident the LJS is capable of providing proper context. The body of the article concludes with that quote, but it doesn't say what question was asked or when it was made.

Based on everything we know about Erstad, I'd say this was an oversimplification and an attempt to tell everyone to CTFO. To the extent he's saying this, he's also right that winning the regular season B1G title doesn't mean much compared to regional play.
That was my thought too-he has never before seemed like the the type that would be happy with being .500. He always talks about the CWS as being the goal for the team every year. It's one of the things I like about him-he doesn't seem to be satisfied with just being OK.
 
Agreed there is plenty of baseball left to be played. A series win this weekend would help. But, I was taken back by that quote. Again, maybe I'm taking it out of context but I sure hope Erstad isn't thinking that being over .500 is some sort of win for this program.

I've had the fortune to visit with Erstad a few times and he is very passionate about winning. He is also a guy that always knows where his team is at and directs recruiting and coaching in that manner. I agree with the above poster who said the offense is pretty average this year and they are dead on, the stats prove that, but when you have a decent pitching staff and a decent defense a coach will take that any day of the week.

I don't think the offense will be great this season at any point unfortunately. In fact I believe our best eventual hitters outside of Schlepp are underclassmen and it's a temporary issue in the long haul. We may not hit for power on the reg but I do believe Erstads strategy can work as long as we continue to bring in solid hitters and I feel he is doing so.

The mindset was so awful when he got here it seemed he was even shocked with how long it took to change that. The mindset is changed but we need a a few more hitters is all.

I always remember what my grandpa told me about the great game of baseball, one inning you're reminded why you hate the game, but the next inning will remind you why you love it. Lots of ups and downs.
 
That's a reach. Nebraska still would have had to beat Okie St. in Stillwater twice. Pokes weren't exactly Northwestern or Purdue.

Baseball is always a reach but the point remains that we were an error away from playing for a potential super regional and had our best pitcher going. Earlier in the year everyone didn't think we'd make a regional in general.
 
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I'm 100% confident DE isn't happy with simply being .500 or better. Hell, we're only .500 in conference play, and he's been plenty critical of our up-and-down performances.
I'm also not confident the LJS is capable of providing proper context. The body of the article concludes with that quote, but it doesn't say what question was asked or when it was made.

Based on everything we know about Erstad, I'd say this was an oversimplification and an attempt to tell everyone to CTFO. To the extent he's saying this, he's also right that winning the regular season B1G title doesn't mean much compared to regional play.

+1
 
They're going to have to do more than just bring in good hitters to "right" the offense....they need to change their philosophy on the swing plane and start to let his hitters look more like what got Erstad to enjoy such a long career.

As the greatest hitter in the world said to Don Mattingly "I don't think what you're telling me is right. My impression is that, even with all your great success, you don't really realize what you're doing." (this was in regards to his mechanics in his swing) I get the feeling that Erstad falls in the Mattingly mindset here.

One of the greatest reads on hitting out there: http://www.si.com/vault/1986/04/14/633776/a-real-rap-session
 
Baseball is always a reach but the point remains that we were an error away from playing for a potential super regional and had our best pitcher going. Earlier in the year everyone didn't think we'd make a regional in general.

Sinclair and Bummer had already pitched, so I guess you're saying Kubat was our best pitcher. Fact is we would've had to beat OSU twice in their park. Bottom line is we went 1-2 and were fortunate to even get 1 win.
 
Sinclair and Bummer had already pitched, so I guess you're saying Kubat was our best pitcher. Fact is we would've had to beat OSU twice in their park. Bottom line is we went 1-2 and were fortunate to even get 1 win.
I beleive DeLeon (coming off a long lay-off) was set to start the next game had we won.
 
I beleive DeLeon (coming off a long lay-off) was set to start the next game had we won.
Yep, you're right. Tough to know what exactly to expect from him. Good catch though, I forgot about him. Who started against Monmouth?
 
Sinclair and Bummer had already pitched, so I guess you're saying Kubat was our best pitcher. Fact is we would've had to beat OSU twice in their park. Bottom line is we went 1-2 and were fortunate to even get 1 win.

DeLeon and then Kubat would have pitched. I think you are missing my point though in fan perception. I'm not saying we would have won, I'm saying the chance to win when many said we wouldn't even make a regional at this point last season.

Besides, to assume an easy loss isn't fair, I watched a Nebraska team get beat by SW Missouri State at home in 2003, it's baseball. Oklahoma State lost to an average UC Irvine team (3 seed in the OSU regional) in the Supers so they weren't unstoppable by any means. Either way we won't ever know because we gave up 4 unearned runs to lose 4-3 to CSF.
 
DeLeon and then Kubat would have pitched. I think you are missing my point though in fan perception. I'm not saying we would have won, I'm saying the chance to win when many said we wouldn't even make a regional at this point last season.

Besides, to assume an easy loss isn't fair, I watched a Nebraska team get beat by SW Missouri State at home in 2003, it's baseball. Oklahoma State lost to an average UC Irvine team (3 seed in the OSU regional) in the Supers so they weren't unstoppable by any means. Either way we won't ever know because we gave up 4 unearned runs to lose 4-3 to CSF.

I guess I don't value fan perception as much because I don't think there are that many fans (obviously the ones on here) that have the slightest clue what they are talking about. I do understand the randomness of baseball, I just wasn't as devastated about losing last year in Stillwater because I thought we were a decent team, but nothing special. Unlike 2003, '05, etc when I was devastated when those teams seasons ended. I was also at the '03 regional and we lost that one when we lost the winner's bracket game against SMS and then they were able to save Bob Zimmerman and we had to go with Phil Shirek in the winner take all game. I would love to see Nebraska get back to that level of play of the early to mid 2000's.
 
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I guess I don't value fan perception as much because I don't think there are that many fans (obviously the ones on here) that have the slightest clue what they are talking about. I do understand the randomness of baseball, I just wasn't as devastated about losing last year in Stillwater because I thought we were a decent team, but nothing special. Unlike 2003, '05, etc when I was devastated when those teams seasons ended. I was also at the '03 regional and we lost that one when we lost the winner's bracket game against SMS and then they were able to save Bob Zimmerman and we had to go with Phil Shirek in the winner take all game. I would love to see Nebraska get back to that level of play of the early to mid 2000's.

Good point, I think I've become numb to fan perception but always feel the need to settle the masses from time to time. I agree with you about last years team. In my honest opinion I thought they overperformed most of the year last year which is why I don't worry when so much baseball is left to be played. If Nebraska gets back to the level from the early 2000's I'll go running naked through the streets.
 
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