Sonny Gray: Baseball America's 2010 Summer College Player of the Year
by KingJamesIV on Sep 2, 2010 3:17 PM EDT
in Vanderbilt Commodores Baseball
0 comments
Aaron Fitt of Baseball America just unleashed the worst-kept secret among Vandy fans: Sonny Gray is a freaking badass pitcher. Maybe you've heard of him?
No? The rising-Junior RHP led Team USA (USA Baseball's collegiate national team) past Japan and "Japanese sensation Yuki Saito ('The Handkerchief Prince')" to the gold-medal game of the V FISU World University Championship. That's right. How good is Sonny? He outclassed The Handkerchief Prince. That good.
Stats? Sonny went 3-0 with a 0.38 ERA. He had a 37 strikeout to 4 walk ratio spread across his 24 innings. Dominant.
The best part of the story is the profile of Sonny:
But Gray's signature outing of the summer came a week before the Japan game, in Team USA's FISU opener-a 15-0 blowout win against a severely overmatched Sri Lanka team. In a five-inning complete game, Gray needed just 69 pitches to strike out 14. He did not issue a walk and allowed just one hit.
"Forty pitches into his outing," USA pitching coach Dave Serrano said, "I turned to the dugout and said, 'Sonny Gray is taking a professional approach to this.' If he missed his spot, it may have been one pitch. It didn't matter who he was pitching against, how good or bad they were, he was pitching at a major league level. Then he started pitching in the stretch on his own just to get work pitching out of the stretch for his next outing.
"That told me everything I needed to know about Sonny Gray. It was quality work at the highest level. He was pitching like it was the gold-medal game, against a team that had no shot at all to beat him."
Sonny is the third Vanderbilt Commodore baseball player to be named the BA Summer College Player of the Year in the last 5 years (David Price, Mike Minor). Stout.
There's a lot more at the link, and I highly recommend you head over to read the full article. Video proof of the existence of The Handkerchief Prince after the break.
Vanderbilt vs. Northwestern: Five Answers To Sippin' On Purple's Five Questions
by KingJamesIV on Sep 2, 2010 12:17 PM EDT
in Vanderbilt Commodores Football
2 comments
Rodger Sherman of Sippin' on Purple recently asked if I'd mind to do a quick Q&A on the upcoming Vanderbilt-Northwestern slugfest. I obliged.
What's a good season for Vanderbilt? And is a victory over Northwestern necessary to achieve that?
Our schedule is pretty brutal this season: Northwestern, LSU, @Ole Miss, @UConn, Eastern Michigan (YAY!), @Georgia, South Carolina, @Arkansas, Florida, @Kentucky, Tennessee, Wake Forest (Phil Steele ranked it as the 12th toughest overall). Considering we were a pathetic 2-10 last season (0-8 in conference), I think a reasonable goal would be to try not to finish last in the SEC East. Certainly the more wins the better and I think a win over Northwestern would have to be considered a quality one for VU. Let me put it this way: I think winning vs. Northwestern does more to help us have a great season than losing would to ensure we have a terrible season.
More after the break.
Links: 09.01.2010 Edition
by KingJamesIV on Sep 1, 2010 11:45 AM EDT
in Vanderbilt Commodores Football
0 comments
Football
Name of the Week: Vanderbilt Edition - Sippin' On Purple
And Vanderbilt had a Secretary named Northwestern... - Sippin' On Purple
My lone contribution to Sippin' On Purple's exposé of the commonalities between the two schools? Hunter Hillenmeyer.
Vanderbilt Commodore Jamie Graham picks his spot | tennessean.com | The Tennessean
"He's right at home at cornerback on defense and he's really doing well," Coach Robbie Caldwell said. "But I've told him, if we're not getting it done on offense we're going to sling one down the field to him. We're going to use every weapon we've got."
Norman in pads, practicing Tuesday at Vanderbilt | Tennessean Blogs - Vanderbilt Insider
Vanderbilt running back Warren Norman was initially labeled "questionable" for Saturday's game with Northwestern. As of Tuesday, his status looks much closer to "probable."
Gambling degenerates with a soft spot for the Commies: Now's the time to put your money on Vanderbilt, seeing as the line shifted when news of Norman's surgery trickled out. As of the time mid-morning Wednesday, it's VU +5.5 (at bodog).
Vanderbilt Commodores expect 35,000 fans for home opener | tennessean.com | The Tennessean
Vanderbilt prepared to muscle out memories of 2009 season | Nashville City Paper
Scout.com: 8/31 Practice (Premium)
MORAL VICTORY!: Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald preparing to face a bowl team on Saturday
Baseball
Indians keep Lewis on move | The Columbus Dispatch
2011 MLB draft: Vanderbilt 3B Jason Esposito - ESPN
"My freshman year I didn't want to have anything to do with a slider," Esposito said. "I couldn't tell you how it happened," Esposito said. "I had my confidence built in with hitting that pitch early in the fall and it grew into the early part of the season." "Does he have tremendous speed? No, but he has very usable speed, he stole (31) bases (last season). And does he have tremendous power? No, but he has pretty good power. Can he hit? Yeah, he can hit. Can he throw? Yeah he can throw. And can he field? He can field. There just aren't a lot of players like him. He is kind of a ... I don't know, he's an anomaly really."
2011 MLB draft: Vanderbilt pitcher Jack Armstrong - ESPN
After coming across the Esposito article, I noticed the one on Jack from earlier in August.
MLB draft 2011: Christian Montgomery, Joe Ross shine at Tournament of Stars - ESPN
Two Vanderbilt commits were on display in RHP Tyler Beede and LHP Philip Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer has an insane, herky-jerk, rush-to-the-plate delivery and worked at 86-89 with good downhill plane and a mid-70s curveball, attacking hitters while he appears to be coming to tackle them. Beede is the more advanced prospect, touching 92 with a two-seamer at 90 that had bat-breaking tail and a short slider with good tilt. He commanded his fastball to both sides and showed a pretty good approach for setting hitters up. Neither will be an easy sign next spring, but I could see Beede rising enough to the point where someone buys him out.
Links: 08.31.2010 Edition
by KingJamesIV on Aug 31, 2010 12:23 PM EDT
in General
1 comment
Before we get started, Mr. C is a participant in the Capital One Video Challenge. Enjoy this video of the 16 mascots and make sure to vote for Mr. C. He's currently trailing Oregon's "The Duck." Damn state school and their "numbers."
Football
Next on the Chopping Block: Vanderbilt - Sippin' On Purple
Gettin' Familiar With Vanderbilt - Sippin' On Purple
Rodger Sherman at Sippin' On Purple has a phenomenally detailed account of the illustrious Vanderbilt-Northwestern football rivalry: a 3-0 Vanderbilt victory and a 20-20 tie. He has proposed a suicide pact in the event the game ends 3-0 in either direction. I have obviously accepted and have nominated seppuku. Here is a practical guide.
SEC 2010 // Your Turn: Vanderbilt's Road Back Is Long, But Maybe Not Too Long - Team Speed Kills
Vanderbilt Commodores welcome back a bye week | tennessean.com | The Tennessean
Caldwell pointed to the last time Vanderbilt had an extended break between games prior to the 2008 Music City Bowl win over Boston College. "Everybody is like, 'Wow!' Well, it wasn't a big secret," he said. "We got some people healed up. We got better."
VU's Caldwell calm, confident as season's first week commences | Nashville City Paper
Basketball
More late-game situational statistics - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN
So, to put it simply, two teams are tied at the end of the game. If the offense calls a timeout, it has less of a chance of scoring than if it simply took the ball out of the hoop and went down the court as quickly as possible. This seems like something coaches should probably know.
Ezekowitz also looked at whether teams on average scored more points by not calling a timeout, and they did. Teams that called timeout scored an average of 0.773 points per possession whereas teams that did not call timeout scored an average of 1.06 PPP. [...] Thus teams that do not call timeout not only score more often, but also score more points on their possessions than teams that do.
It would be interesting to see if the numbers hold true with Vanderbilt. Coach Stallings is widely considered by his fellow coaches to be an excellent tactician [see Calipari's post game comments from UK@VU last season]. I would imagine that the coaches who are excellent tacticians most likely benefit more from the timeout than mediocre tacticians. It would also be interesting to see if those numbers held true for all the NCAA Tourney teams last season. I suspect they would not.
Vanderbilt vs. Northwestern: A Smörgåsbord of Selections from Northwestern's Press Conference
by KingJamesIV on Aug 31, 2010 12:08 PM EDT
in Vanderbilt Commodores Football
4 comments
It appears that despite their impressive USN&WR #12 ranking, Northwestern still has a lot to learn from the Commodores when it comes to the adoption of "the new media." Though, I suppose I shouldn't have expected so much from the team that turned down the opportunity to move the game from Saturday "regional" (read: limited) coverage to nationwide ESPN Sunday night primetime.
Here are a few quotes from Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald's Monday press conference:
I want to win every game, and you can't win every one of 'em unless you win the first one. I wanna win -- I don't care if it's horseshoes or whatever: I wanna win. That's just who I am.
Commodore Call-In Show: Tonight (08/30) at 6pm CT
Coach Caldwell's first Commodore Call-In Show will air tonight at 6pm CT on Nashville's 97.1 WRQQ. Listen live at the link or follow along on your radio.
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Commodores Football Schedule
Northwestern
|
Sat 09/04 | 7:30 PM EDT |
|
LSU
|
Sat 09/11 | 7:00 PM EDT |
|
@
Mississippi
|
Sat 09/18 | 12:21 PM EDT |
|
@
Connecticut
|
Sat 10/02 | TBA |
| Eastern Michigan | Sat 10/09 | TBA |
|
@
Georgia
|
Sat 10/16 | TBA |
|
South Carolina
|
Sat 10/23 | TBA |
|
@
Arkansas
|
Sat 10/30 | TBA |
|
Florida
|
Sat 11/06 | TBA |
|
@
Kentucky
|
Sat 11/13 | TBA |
|
Tennessee
|
Sat 11/20 | TBA |
|
Wake Forest
|
Sat 11/27 | TBA |
Southeastern Conference Standings
(updated 1.8.2010 at 2:57 AM EST)
| East | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
|
Florida Gators
|
8 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
|
Georgia Bulldogs
|
4 | 4 | 8 | 5 |
|
Tennessee Volunteers
|
4 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
|
Kentucky Wildcats
|
3 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
|
South Carolina Gamecocks
|
3 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
|
Vanderbilt Commodores
|
0 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| West | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
|
Alabama Crimson Tide
|
8 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
|
LSU Tigers
|
5 | 3 | 9 | 4 |
|
Mississippi Rebels
|
4 | 4 | 9 | 4 |
|
Arkansas Razorbacks
|
3 | 5 | 8 | 5 |
|
Auburn Tigers
|
3 | 5 | 8 | 5 |
|
Mississippi St. Bulldogs
|
3 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
