Listening to Emporia State baseball fans talk about last year’s team is like listening to my Grandpa tell stories of what it was like when he was growing up.
The legend goes that they were some of the biggest boppers to ever come through Emporia. They could hit home runs on command. They could win games before they even stepped on the field on intimidation alone. Keith Hernandez was just as good as the former Met he shares his name with.
But before I give the eye-roll reflex, I look at the results and they pretty much back the legend. The Hornets hit 97 home runs. They averaged 10.57 runs per game. They won 35 games in a row. Thirty-five. That’s not supposed to happen in baseball. The best Major League baseball teams ever lose more than 40 games in a season.
Thirty-five straight wins. That’s something to tell the grandkids about.
This year’s Hornets may not have the same talent. They go into today’s game against Wayne State at 22-5 and as the top team in the MIAA. But they have not come close to wining 35 straight and they are not going to.
They cannot leap tall buildings in a single bound. They cannot hit home runs on command — they’ve hit only 23 in 27 games. They cannot match the EA Sports run totals of last year’s team —- they’re averaging 8.8 runs per game.
But the 2009 Hornets can and will have a better postseason run.
Even with the historic winning streak and the star players and all the home runs last season, the Hornets could not make it out of their Regional. They still could not beat Central Missouri, the team that Emporia State had never won a series against since joining the MIAA in 1992.
“The last few years they’ve had us,” ESU centerfielder Conner Crumbliss said last weekend. “We might have been a better team, but they played better when it mattered.”
This past weekend, that all changed. The 2009 mere mortals won three out of four against Central Missouri, and they didn’t do it by overwhelming the Mules with star power.
“We’re not overly talented enough to walk on the field and expect to win,” Fornelli said.
Fornelli’s opinion is not surprising. I don’t know if I’ve ever been around a coach that is disappointed as often as he is after losses — or at least one who expresses his disappointment to the media.
I’m sure Fornelli was the same last season. I’m sure his constant pursuit of perfection from his players was the reason they won 35 straight games. But eventually, once you win 35 in a row, it’s tough for even your coach to make you believe you’re not worthy of becoming a legend.
This year Fornelli shouldn’t have any problem convincing his players they haven’t accomplished anything yet. He can show them the numbers. He can point to the losses. Emporia State lost to Newman. Newman is 16-12.
Fornelli and his team can also go through the rest of the season knowing that there is not one team out there that they cannot beat.
The 2009 Hornets might not wow the masses, but they might just have that special something that teams built to win in the postseason have.
StephenK1957 (anonymous) says...
The pitching staff has really improved over last year. Since the rough start to the season, the staff has pitched well in all but a couple games, giving the Hornets a chance to win every game. Pitching and timely hitting will carry them this year.
March 26, 2009 at 12:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )