I live in Texas, and I had a great conversation with one of the Texas Tech baseball players a couple of days ago. He was a starter for them, so he got to play a lot of innings against our boys in the Regional. He had nothing but praise for the Gators. He said they were a bunch of "great guys", which I thought was very complimentary. He said after Tech lost, they were the team he was pulling for the rest of the tourney. He even said after their final game, some of the Gator players went to a bar with some of the Tech players in Gainesville that night. Other things I thought were pretty cool: Langford - he said Wyatt was the best overall player he has ever seen in person - Everything about his game, his approach, his skillset. He said rarely does he "enjoy" watching an opposing player on another team, but he was fawning over Wyatt when they played. Fisher was the best pitcher he batted against when they played us. Also said Waldrep was amazing, but after 30+ pitches, seemed to lose some of his velocity/movement and was easier to hit. Cags - said to see his swing in person was incredible. I thought this was particularly interesting - that somehow his swing stood out versus other players. Also said he's a quiet guy who seems pretty humble. Finally, he told me the Florida dugout has air conditioned benches...and that the visitor dugout does not! I asked if he thought that was a bad deal and he said "not at all", it is okay to have a home field advantage in little ways like that. Overall, he was glowing about our team. He also thinks there is a chance that Langford could go overall #1 in the draft. Anyway, thought it was worth sharing.
It’s always been pretty neat to me anyway to hear stories from contacts on both sides after they have played each other. This brings me back to a memory of my playing days. After I played at Chipola and was playing at FSU I started one of the three games in our series vs Auburn. Some time after that I was visiting some of our Chipola friends that were going to school at Auburn. Our friend was at their student union and overheard two Auburn players talking about our just played series and happened to be discussing the game that I had pitched. She asked them if they were talking about me and they told her that they were. To say other players perspectives of players on your team is interesting is kinda cool in it’s own way.
I would pick Wyatt over Crews but that's me. I saw Langford much more than I did Crews. I suspect the pitcher will go 1.
Players on opposing teams usually like the opposing players. They have a lot in common. "Hating" is something that fans do.
Langford is in a better position with the Pirates picking first to go one/one IMHO. They are not known for spending like the NYY or LAD so we’ll see what happens. I expect it to take 10 or close to it to sign Skenes and Crews but it’s the draft, you never know how it’ll turn out.
Cags has incredible bat speed. I remember the grounder he hit that bounced off the firstbaseman and caromed to the secondbaseman that threw him out. I think that ground ball was hit at about 110 mph and groundballs are usually not squared up. He was off a little bit and still hit it at 110 mph.
That was the exact argument of the Texas Tech player. That Boras wouldn't let Crews go for less than 10 MM.
It is the business of baseball. I actually like Langford over Crews and Skenes. He is an everyday player and starting pitchers are not. And I think Landford has more "pop" in his bat versus Crews. And while I think they are both gifted defensive outfielders I like Langford a little more in that regard. His arm was kind of wasted in left field for most of the season.
As much of an honor as it would be to be the first pick in the draft, you'd have to think it would be a tad disappointing to go to such a perennial loser of a team. Do they get the first pick every year???
Funny bit from one of the "Road" movies that Hope and Crosby made went something like this: "Do they have pirates in America?" "Yes, but they are usually hiding in the cellar." Bing was a part owner of the Pirates back then BTW.
