My Takes on the Game

[EXBULL21]

One last thing about what turned out to be the biggest part of the game, the decision to bring in Otero.  First off, let me say that I was against this when it happened.  I was somewhat shocked to see him enter the game in the 8th, although he did a good job in that inning throwing only a limited number of pitches.  People saying they should have taken him out to start the 9th simply don't understand baseball.  You don't bring him in for one inning and then take him out.  It really makes no sense, so you're stuck with him pitching the ninth as well.  It could have worked out, but it didn't.  Its one of those if it works, you're a genius, if it doesn't work, you're an idiot.  I think Lelo just made the wrong call at the wrong time, and he stuck with him too long since he's the ace of the staff.  Bit him on the backside.

I was more concerned with the long term affect this will have on the team.  Hopefully it won't have any, but there was only a slight upside in bringing Otero in the game.  So he closes the game out and gets the save against the Gators.  Great, this is the only good that can come out of this maneuver.  Here are the downsides.

A)  Otero blows the game, in what is the biggest game of the year for USF.  Maybe it gets in his head and affect him later.  Strike #1.

 What does this tell you about Lelo not trusting his bullpen?  This was not the last game of a regional or a game 7 scenario.  There is a tomorrow and now our bullpen has to feel slighted.  This would never happen in another midweek matchup versus Stetson or UCF, and the game essentially means the same thing.  Strike #2.

C)  It throws our whole rotation off for this weekend.  We've had a steady Friday and Saturday starter all season.  Even Sunday, but now we bump everyone up.  This one might not be that big of a deal, but if it ain't broke, why fix it?  Strike #3.

So that is three negatives versus one positive.  I just don't like the odds in this scenario.  We could very well have lost with our bullpen.  Thats fine.  We'd left that stadium feeling uneasy about that bunch, but I'm pretty sure no one would have said, "We should have brought in Otero to close it out".  Why not?  Because he's not our closer and we're only 10 games into the season and this game essentially means the same as the one this upcoming Friday against the Chippewas of Central Michigan.

That being said, I'm over this loss already and look forward to cheering our Bulls on the rest of the year.  I suggest everyone else should do the same and keep supporting this team.  I see postseason being a real shot for this team.

Go Bulls!  

I've never been a big fan of using weekend starters in relief during weedweek games.  Starting pitchers have a totally different makeup than relievers and it's hard to ask a guy to chance his game time preparations from one game to the next.  That being said, Otero did a good job in the 8th.  There isn't any reason why he had to pitch the 9th.  He isn't the closer and he shouldn't be treated as one.  If our closer game in the 8th, than yes you pitch him the 9th...no questions.  This team hasn't yet found a closer but in my book it has to be someone like Higgins.  He has good stuff and needs games like that to build confidence.  If anyone could see him warm up last night, he wasn't at all happy about not getting the chance to close things out in the 9th.

Either way this team is much improved from last year and really should have won this game.  UF is a better team than their record shows and we might not be as good as our record shows (at this point in the season).  

[Economics_Nerd82]

My guess is there were a lot of casual fans of USF there and not necessarily baseball fans. And that's fine! I think that is why a lot of people didn't stand with 2 strikes and 2 outs.

And I would think chanting would go great with baseball considering it's speed. The game was more than 3 hours long! And where were the noodles and pom poms at? haha, even though they handed them out I never saw any in the actual air except when a few kids decided to beat up Rocky with them.

Go Bulls!

[mattegunz]

Were the uniform color schemes okay?

[JoeB]

Otero shouldn't pitch the 8th if he's not pitching the 9th.  He's not our closer, and he definetly isn't our setup guy.  The point is why bring him in at all.

[Mag Pie]

We were by the 1st base line.

SBC had a social and we had a ton of students there.

Did a few things too.  Like when we had a runner at first and their pitcher looked that way we'd all wave to try and brake his concentration.  We also did the "left, right, left" thing when a batter struck out, along with the basic "U-S-F" and "Let's go Bulls" chants.  Maybe you just can't hear it from where you guys were at, but we were definitely doing them.

Great game yesterday, plenty of SBC students having fun and that will probably come back for another game.

On a side note: That fog was creeping me out.  Never seen so much of it.

[hightechbull]

You can't play "The Bull" between for an entire innings changeover... trust us it just doesn't work.  At FSU, they don't play "The Chop" during a changeover for a reason.  This isn't football, or even hoops, baseball is a different atmosphere.  It's our national pastime remember.  Emphasis on pastime.  

Well if you are going to go down the history and traditions of the national past time, then remember this.  Back in the pre-boom box, pre-PA system blaring pop music, the teams would have live singers ala barber shop quartet style singers.  Hip hop, dance pop, and even classic rock was not a part of the "golden era" of baseball, although I am curious what Babe Ruth would have picked for his personal song.

[JoeB]

For those that weren't there, in the ninth inning a crazy thick patch of fog rolled in from the first base side of the field as Mag Pie pointed out.  It was really weird and it was moving fast.  By the time the Bulls got up in the ninth you could barely make out the three Gator outfielders.  

It reminded me of the Eagles/Bears Fog bowl from the early 90s.  If the Bulls would have come back to win, people would remember that fog just as much as the baseball game itself.  Thats how eery it was.  

[jg]

Was hoping they would call the game and go back to the 8th inning, Bulls win -- Bulls win.

[Reliabull]

It's difficult to hear other sections of fans at Red McEwen and I've sat/stood in all of them. If you're down a baseline, you can't hear the bleachers very much. If you're in the bleachers, you can't hear the USF dugout unless you go down very close to the field by the dugout. So I suspect it was really wasn't as quiet overall as you might think.

And, Collin, I loved Lollygaggers. I could stand Lollygaggers every game. And, come to think of it, you could add Candlesticks to the mix for mound conferences as well.