It’s been a little of everything…portal, NIL, inexperience, injuries, and the realization that pitching is 80% of the game. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
This was unexpected, and the Buckeyes’ 6-15 start has raised eyebrows and questions over what’s wrong, and why the sudden dip in Ohio State baseball. And, it’s not as simple as you think.
After covering Ohio State baseball for the past eleven seasons I won’t duck their current struggles…or reader questions following their six straight losses to open conference play – a record four run-rule outcomes in those six games dropped to Indiana and Iowa.
And after Sunday’s 18-2 drubbing at Iowa the email box, and social media, were being populated by sundown on Sunday night.
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sports and the Buckeyes for Press Pros Magazine.
VPP proudly sponsors Ohio State baseball on Press Pros Magazine.com.
Unknown to most who believe that Ohio State only exists between opening day for football in September and the national championship game, I will share that a lot of people actually do care about Buckeye baseball…people who have followed the program for years. They’re interested, they want to read, and they want good things to happen with the program because they’re Ohio State fans… and their allegiance doesn’t wane because they’re not wearing helmets and shoulder pads.
So let’s address some of their (your) issues….
“You said this team was good enough to win 25 games. When will those wins show up?” … Don Motz
When I wrote that in February there was one very important caveat with the statement. I also wrote…but they have to pitch, and they haven’t. They also need to be healthy, and they ain’t.
“It’s time to look at the record book and see how many games they’ve lost in the past on a given year?” … Steve Partington (via FB)
I don’t need a record book. In the modern era (since 1950), the team was 11-25 in 1972 (we played 20 fewer games then) and I know this because I was on that team. We didn’t pitch well then, either.
“I’ve been following this program for 26 years. Never seen anything like this. Unbelievable!” … Andrew Grigsby. (via FB)
That’s true, Andy, but those twenty six years represented a time and a culture of pride in playing at Ohio State and in the Big Ten that’s evolving in the day of NIL, the portal, and the decline of developmental baseball at the college level. They come to campus with an eye on money and the MLB draft nowadays.
“I wonder if there’s any seller’s remorse for firing Greg Beals now?” … Tom Killilea
How would you ever know, Tom? It’s not the kind of question you can ask and expect someone to say, ”If I had it to do over…..”.
This is not Justin Haire’s fault…just his responsibility to deal with it.
“For all you write about them, is it time to ask some more obvious questions to Justin Haire?” … Tim Burnett
Like, what? There’s no reason for asking leading questions when the answers are already obvious.
This is not Justin Haire’s fault, it’s just his responsibility to deal with it. And at the present, I know, he knows, and you know that there are some limitations. It’s really hard to win when you’re down 9 runs in the fourth inning.
But after eleven years writing about Big Ten baseball I have some opinions about what we’re seeing that aren’t necessarily the result of who you hire as coach. After all, Justin Haire had one of the best pedigrees in all of NCAA Division I baseball for his ten years at Campbell.
Someone mentioned Greg Beals, and Beals is one of the best baseball people, and program promoters, that I’ve ever known. But Beals is currently 2-6 over his last eight games at Marshall and dealing with many of the same issues that come with building a baseball program at a football school.
Bill Mosiello went back to TCU after two seasons because he questioned the commitment to baseball, long-term, by the Big Ten Conference.
Justin Haire can, and does, say all the right things about hard work and pride in wearing the Ohio State uniform – the things he can control.
But what he can’t control is the reality of playing last Sunday’s game with Iowa in a chill factor of 24 degrees, and rain. Everyone in the country knows the realities of playing baseball in the North, and they know that recruits would rather play in warm weather.
And of course, a little bad luck….Player makes a play on ball, ball knocks glove off his hand…home run!
And yet, we kick that can down the road every year because administration in the Big Ten, the Big East, the MAC, and Big XII conferences refuse to challenge the status quo by starting the NCAA season later and playing baseball in mid-April through the end of June. And why? Because schools in the South won’t hear of it, and why should they if there’s no mandate for change.
But that’s politics, and in the here and now it doesn’t help with balls and strikes and the gloom of being 6-15.
I agree that NIL and the portal have changed the landscape of baseball, and currently so at OSU. But I’m also realistic about NIL support in Ohio, and expectations for college baseball. They go hand in hand. And they simply don’t exist in comparison to college football.
But I also agree with Haire when he tells me that there’s only one way to turn this around, and that’s through time and some personal responsibility. And that’s a broad brush,. But ultimately, if you want to play college baseball you deal with the here and now. There’s another game, and another chance to be better, tomorrow, and you still have to pitch!
And for those who still can’t understand, remember what I wrote recently. This is the first real competition that many players in college baseball have ever seen.
A little bit like some of the teams that play Ohio State…in football!
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