Gator Baseball

[ocalaman]

UF baseball had the 10th best total attendance in the country, averaging around 4200 per game, which includes the midweeks. LSU finished #1 for the 22nd straight year, averaging about 10,500 per game and somewhere I read they have 9200 season ticket holders. 8 of the Top 10 in baseball attendance are SEC teams. Arkansas is 2, Ole Miss 3, Miss. St. 4 & South Carolina 5. With the consistent success and overall size of the university, I agree that the students and community should support baseball better. Maybe with the $40 million in upcoming upgrades or even a new facility out by the softball complex, with a lot of canopy seating, maybe attendance will improve.

 

[bradleygator]

UF baseball had the 10th best total attendance in the country, averaging around 4200 per game, which includes the midweeks. LSU finished #1 for the 22nd straight year, averaging about 10,500 per game and somewhere I read they have 9200 season ticket holders. 8 of the Top 10 in baseball attendance are SEC teams. Arkansas is 2, Ole Miss 3, Miss. St. 4 & South Carolina 5. With the consistent success and overall size of the university, I agree that the students and community should support baseball better. Maybe with the $40 million in upcoming upgrades or even a new facility out by the softball complex, with a lot of canopy seating, maybe attendance will improve.

Probably all of the attendance figures are overstated, but there is no way there were 4,000 + fans at the home games. The weather was terrible for the Regionals and bad for the supers, but it looked like we had a few hundred in the stands for those games. School was out, weather was bad, but that was true everywhere across the southeast, and everybody else's stadiums were jammed.

Hopefully, the CWS win alerts people to the fact that we have the best baseball program in the country running in Gainesville.

 

[ocalaman]

Probably all of the attendance figures are overstated, but there is no way there were 4,000 + fans at the home games. The weather was terrible for the Regionals and bad for the supers, but it looked like we had a few hundred in the stands for those games. School was out, weather was bad, but that was true everywhere across the southeast, and everybody else's stadiums were jammed.

Hopefully, the CWS win alerts people to the fact that we have the best baseball program in the country running in Gainesville.

I really don't think the attendance figures are fudged. They count ticket sales, not how many people actually are in their seats. And with the Regionals and supers, a lot of people opted out of going or left during the long delays so that when they showed the bulk of the games on TV there weren't a lot of people actually in the stands. But I agree with you, brad, UF baseball community and student support is lacking compared to most of the rest of the SE.

 

[bradleygator]

When I was at UF, I'd read for my classes at the baseball games. You could just walk in and sit anywhere. This was in the run up to the CWS finals appearance in 2005. I thought it was the best deal in town. There were major leaguers on those teams, and you could watch them for free, two rows from first base. When we played Jacksonville or North Florida mid-week, they had more fans in the stands than the Gators. LSU absolutely packed the place.

It really makes no sense. I get that football is king, but that's true everywhere in the SEC. And Florida kids probably play more baseball than anywhere.

 

[zengator]

College baseball is rising in popularity, the problem at Florida may be what happened to the student body during the Machen era, hopefully that changes.

 

[MJWilliamson]

JJ Shwarz officially announced he's back next year.

 

[bradleygator]

JJ Shwartz officially announced he's back next year.

Awesome. I would love to see him get himself back up into the first few rounds of the draft. He had a pretty rough CWS, but 2 rbis and a huge defensive play play in the clincher. He was playing a pretty nice fist base by the end of the year. I would imagine he's coming back to catch though.

 

[MJWilliamson]

Awesome. I would love to see him get himself back up into the first few rounds of the draft. He had a pretty rough CWS, but 2 rbis and a huge defensive play play in the clincher. He was playing a pretty nice fist base by the end of the year.

Agreed.

I would imagine he's coming back to catch though.

Probably. That said, we have 3 HS catchers committed coming in. We had a fourth that signed with the Tigers. If any of those new guys are as good as some of the incoming freshman we have had coming in the past, including JJ and Mike Rivera, JJ may be sharing time again

 

[MJWilliamson]

O'Sullivan Named National Coach of the Year

 

[instaGATOR]

JJ Shwarz officially announced he's back next year.

Makes sense to me.
Being able to play both 1B and C is a nice plus for MLB.
All he needs to do to raise his draft status, is to get back to his freshman level with the bat. -- So, Welcome Back JJ!

And Grats to O'Sul, he certainly deserves it!

 

[bradleygator]

O'Sullivan Named National Coach of the Year

Even without the CWS title, his best coaching job this year. That's saying something, because his other years have been pretty outstanding.

 

[bradleygator]

Agreed.


Probably. That said, we have 3 HS catchers committed coming in. We had a fourth that signed with the Tigers. If any of those new guys are as good as some of the incoming freshman we have had coming in the past, including JJ and Mike Rivera, JJ may be sharing time again

We're going to need someone to catch once or twice a week regardless. He caught Fridays and Sundays his freshman year for most of the year until Rivera took the job. I think his defense at catcher is a little underrated. He just wasn't as good as Rivera. JJ's best path to the pros is obviously for his power to play from the catcher position. I really want to see him as our primary catcher and see if it impacts his offense. Maybe it's coincidence but he has hit the best while catching, both in his freshman year and this year when Rivera got hurt.

 

[ocalaman]

Awesome. I would love to see him get himself back up into the first few rounds of the draft. He had a pretty rough CWS, but 2 rbis and a huge defensive play play in the clincher. He was playing a pretty nice fist base by the end of the year. I would imagine he's coming back to catch though.

He seems like a great kid who is in it for all the right reasons. He & his sister are great representatives of the University. Sully had 4 high school catchers committed and it appears the highest rated 2 are going pro. And I haven't seen or heard whether or not Kolosavary will be back. Getting drafted in the 7th round I can seeing him going pro. But another year at UF with increased playing time might be a good thing. Some of these decisions have to do with family situations and how much the parents can help make up for the 11.7 scholarships split among the 26 or so kids. But I'm glad to hear JJ is coming back. He'll be a force at the plate and a solid contributor on and off the field.

 

[ocalaman]

Agreed.


Probably. That said, we have 3 HS catchers committed coming in. We had a fourth that signed with the Tigers. If any of those new guys are as good as some of the incoming freshman we have had coming in the past, including JJ and Mike Rivera, JJ may be sharing time again

We're down to 2 high school catchers coming in. Sam McMullen signed with the Tigers last week and Zach Jackson signed with the Cardinals yesterday. Here's the link on Jackson: http://www.bnd.com/sports/mlb/st-louis-cardinals/article158984649.html

Calvin Greenfield & Brady Smith are the ones still coming.

 

[MJWilliamson]

Sully had 4 high school catchers committed and it appears the highest rated 2 are going pro. .

One, Samuel McMillan was drafted in the 5th round by the Tigers has already signed with them. Another, Zach Jackson was drafted in the 6th round by the Cardinals. He has not signed with them, but drafted that high, I expect him to go pro. The other two were not drafted.

EDIT: Zach signed.

 

[ocalaman]

Even without the CWS title, his best coaching job this year. That's saying something, because his other years have been pretty outstanding.

Totally agree. The guy can recruit, he can develop players (especially pitchers) and the kids seem to really love the man.