Angela: "Well, maybe that's because some people treat it like their own private Hooters strip club."

Michael Scott: "Whoa, Angela, hold on. Hooters is a restaurant with over 400 locations worldwide."

The first time I ever got buzzed I picked up my Gameboy and played a Castlevania game and there were people babbling in Japanese about Dracula. Then I fought a big snake and the game was over. First time I ever picked up the gsme...

And none of that was as confusing as what you said about Fresno just now....Just kidding !

Played that same game completely sober..never encountered the snake again.

Rocko: donors + strippers= lights! Go down to Fresno and learn something! Oh, I forgot. We need local strippers. . . .well, work on it. Maybe we need a Hooters in Davis? Could be our new Grad. Great for recruiting!

This thread took a plot twist. Are Fresno’s finest dancers really a recruitment tool? I guess some people are into meth mouth?

Mr. Bs / de Vere's (?) in downtown Davis is still empty.

I was in davis yesterday and de Veres looked open to me. Grad weekend special maybe. Anyway, on to BB. An interesting story in the NYT today about MLBB and the dominance of pitchers this season. Record low batting averages this year, 6 no hitters so-far, record strikeouts (8.98) per game. The cause: “sticky substances.” MLBB is about to make some big changes to try and avert a fan crisis in the game. Very boring games! Prepare for suspensions for pitchers throwing with illegal stuff. And, yes, even moving the pitching mound back a foot or more. Like lowering the mound in 1968. Good read.

De Veres opened last week on a limited basis as they ramp up operations. I plan to head there this week.

So not out of business? Great. Major reno going on next door.

From what I hear it was a close call for de Veres coming back. Glad it did. I think Raising Canes is going in next door. It’s a fast food chicken place that is popular in the south (and So cal too I believe). Kind of a strange place to put a fast food place but we’ll see how it works out.

There's a lot that's wrong with MLB today. Although I do like the 3 batter minimum rule for pitching changes I don't care for other rule changes, like the automatic runner on second in extra innings. That one's garbage. If they want to speed things up just end the game after 9 innings if it's not the playoffs. Ties are ok for soccer (hockey too I think) and little league, why not MLB ? If the game ends that way at least your team didn't lose. Tiebreakers can be used to determine the 1st place team if it comes down to ties figuring in the standings. A tie is a natural possible outcome of the game already: there's no meddling.

They should already be eliminating extra innings in college baseball to maximize the student-athletes' rest and study time. First and foremost their priority should be their studies; the competitions are just supposed to be a form of academic enrichment. After all, do fans really care about the outcome of a single college game in a week's time ? Not unless they're superfans or they're posting on a message board devoted to said sports team and happen to start a topic on it. Imagine how fewer the losses would be for UCD if there were no 10th inning. Like 3 at least per year.

Some Aggie trivia:

Vaughn has 1 tie in his coaching record. This is from a Sunday game in the 2015 opening series at Texas State. A tie was forced because the Aggies had to leave to catch their flight home. In a way, the Aggies swept that series because they captured all the wins that were awarded.

Beware, MLB has some partnerships with independent minor league baseball to test rule changes, and one thing they're testing in the Pioneer league (teams like the Boise Hawks, Billings Mustangs, etc) is the biggest bastardization of the game yet- a knockout round instead of extra innings ! After the completion of nine innings each team selects 1 player to participate in a homerun derby. Each player gets I think 10 swings, and whichever one has the most his team wins. This is an ok solution for independent leagues because they have a more limited player pool (no other teams to pull players from like in MLB) and often the games put a real strain on pitchers because quite frankly these teams are typically not as good as even your average double-A team. They're higher-scoring affairs with weaker pitching and defense. If that comes to MLB....

And these attempts to endear the players to fans orchestrated by MLB are just obnoxious. Player nickname day celebration is so stupid. Players wear jerseys with their nickname on them. Play the game-I don't give a whooping funt what they call them in the clubhouse. Most of ballplayer nicknames are stupid anyhow. They just add -y or -er to a player's first or last name. Other times they're inside jokes. Keep your jokes, folks. I pay to see the game not hear about behind the scenes crap.

Even the smart guys for UCD can't spot a good nickname opportunity when they see it. Take former infielder Mason Novak for instance. The Office was not so far removed from its last episode when he played but I heard not one player call him "Ryan" or "Ryan the Temp". Now that would have been a smart nickname. For background on that, one of the show's writers and principal actors was B.J. Novak. What a waste of an opportunity.

I swear this to be true, but at one of the Cal Poly games there was a Mustang batter named Nick and his teammate was encouraging him with "go Nick-er!" Do not do that, lest ye be cancelled by leftist trolls, sir. Makes me wonder how the Cal Poly announcer handled Mitch Haniger at bats. Probably a longer pause between syllables. "Now batting...Mitch. Ha.....ni...............ger."

One of the reasons for the lower batting averages is the meddling of analytics nerds in the game. They compile reports and filter down information to coaches about how a player needs to alter their stance and swing in order to hit for more power, and the focus of most players is to swing for the fences every time because some nerd is whispering in their coaches' ears + they'll get benched if they don't listen. The all-or-nothing approach results in a lot more strikeouts. You know something's wrong when Austin Slater has seven homeruns before the All-Star break, when really before 2020 it was more likely to take him 3 years to hit that many.

Off course the pitchers' cheating has something to do with it. Kevin Gausman and Anthony Desclafani were mediocre at best before coming to SF and now they're putting up jaw-dropping numbers. No, I'm not buying the idea that a change of scenery alone made that possible.

Also, they deadened the baseball a bit this year to cut down on the homeruns but the players haven't adjusted their approach. Still playing homerun derby and making more outs when they don't quite get everything out of a pitch and swing.

Really MLB has deteriorated into each teams' back office nerds essentially engaging in robot battles.

Thanks GoAgs. I think BB is a slowly dying sport like Cricket- but will never go away! Who cares? A brunch of old guys playing incredible slow games. I guess UK, India, Fiji, and Pakistan really love cricket. Aussie-SA who knows or who cares? Slow and slower, and then shall we have tea?

Maybe Cricket & soccer will gain traction here. Soccer undoubtedly.

Wouldn't some common sense, simple changes help baseball more?

- limit the batter playing around in the batters box
- limit the pitchers dragging it out b/t pitches
- limit excessive or repetitive coaching meetings w pitcher
- potentially drop the mound 6"
- etc.

Yes, I think some changes would help. Bu there are many BB fans who would hate any changes because of what that “might” do to the purity of the sport. They love the lore of the sports uniqueness. I think any sport with no time limits to it is destined for failure in the long run. Kids will only watch something for so long, then they snooze out. My kids hated it when the Aggie announcer would state: “now we go into extra innings.” “Dad cant we go now!” I don’t think my kids have ever been to a MLBB game in their lives.

I think any sport with no time limits to it is destined for failure in the long run. — 69aggie

As evidenced by MLB spring training, where innings can end after 20 pitches regardless of outs, and the game can end several innings early if the home team is ahead. Never seen professional athletes in such a hurry to not play.

Since it sounds like you pulled an excerpt of an article there I don't know how much of the related details you already know, but I'll provide the context for the benefit of anyone else who's interested.

The alterations to the spring exhibition games were necesitated by COVID-19. Ordinarily they play full-length games (and sometimes extra innings just to get some players some work) a team can have everyone from its 40-man roster, invite an unlimited number of non-roster players (signed to minor-league contracts with the team and competing for major league jobs but not on the 40-man roster) and pull an unlimited number of players from its minor league camp (minor leaguers not initially invited to major league camp who play exhibitions of their own, usually not at the spring training stadium). The rules of the 40 man roster are another book in themselves, so for this post let's simplify it by saying you have to be added to the 40-man roster to be called up to the majors and on the regular-season 26-man roster to play in a major league game.

Due to COVID-19 these rules changed for 2021 and MLB put a hard pool limit of I think 75 total players that a team could have in major league camp during spring training. They wouldn't have 75 in the dugout at one time, especially considering injured players on the 40-man would kind of be there but not really.

As a result teams mainly used those spots for players they knew were definitely in the running for major league as well as Triple-A roles. Some players who were neither were part of it too because they were either hot prospects or on the 40-man. Players who were ticketed for minor league camp were instructed to stay home until after major league camp was finished and yhose players had dispersed. That's a reason why the minor league season started in May this year instead of April.

So that's the end of the player pool explanation. Now we have to address the reason for the exhibition length changes. Spring Training is just about players getting in game-ready shape. Major league teams do not want to risk their star players getting hurt in exhibitions and at the same time they want to get a look at the players competing for jobs so they pull the starters early, probably similar to how they do it in Aggie football exhibitions (except players can't be brought back in after they've been removed).

Typically at the beginning of spring training starting pitchers will have a low fixed pitch count, as they aren't stretched out enough to pitch deeper into the game. It's kind of like starting a weightlifting program ftom scratch. Maybe you start with 10 reps per set at a low weight that's not a challenge for you until you're comfortable increasing your workload. Pitchers who are locks to make the team are only focused on making sure that their arms feel good and they're able to execute their pitches effectively; they ramp up toward throwing more pitches as camp progresses.

Now these 1-2 inning starts at the beginning of major league camp are typically not a problem since the teams have so many players at their disposal; they can give a bunch of pitchers an inning or so . With the hard limit on the player pool this year they made adjustments to the length of the exhibition games to accomodate those situations. The relief pitchers are on a schedule too; at the beginning of camp they aren't stretched out to pitch consecutive games. As a result teams may run out of available pitchers if they play 9.

Depending on what the COVID-19 rules are next year major league camps may return to full capacity and these altered game lengths disappear.

good background. My understanding is that inning pitch limit was new for COVID, but not automatic. Had to be invoked and some teams manipulated it in ways that disappointed fans (like bases loaded no outs). Which the outcome doesn’t matter, so let the fans see the runs. But ending games early is not new, at least in Grapefruit League. If I remember right I think it just ended at the 7th inning stretch if home team was up by 3. Wasn’t uncommon for visiting team to throw the game if traffic was getting bad.

My minor tweaks were suggested over the larger changes which change the game, and alter generational comparisons & records... who was better, May's, Mantle, Dimaggio, Aaron, Ruth?

I personally say forget the Roid Brothers, allegedly Canseco, McGuire, etc. (Asterix by their numbers.) I preferred the natural strength... imagine Willie Stargel hit a pill out of Dodger Stadium, only player to ever do that, or Willie McCovey.

I recall when Willie Mac hit one out of Candlestick back in the day. We were in the right filed bleachers and the ball was still rising as went over us. It would have to have been a 550+ home run. Right fielder never even took a step. Just looked up at it. I think they put a star or something to commemorate that incredible hit at the right field fence later. Willie Mac: one of a kind! Loved the guy more than Mays.

I really don't think Spring Training has ever been about the fans. They're just practicing, really more working out and the fans are big enough suckers to pay to watch it. So much so that cities in AZ and FL are willing to foot the bill to give them better and better facilities. The city of Scottsdale has spent millions just to upgrade the Giants' minor league camp facilities at Native-American School Park (its PC name). Minor league-camp, which generates zero direct revenue for the city. These cities do anything to keep a club just for the tourist dollars, which hinge on a fairly silly premise in the first place. Chandler, Phoenix Cass Grande, Tucson..they've all been lured for ST and then dumped by MLB. Tucson even built two parks ! Lucky for them the Arizona Wildcats took over HI Corbett Field and Kino Stadium is still providing some use.

The SJ Mercury News just published their Fab 40 baseball list. Several kids are committed to Big 5 conferences, and a couple WCC. There 5 BWC commits. 3 to UCSB, one each to LBSU and UCSD. None to Davis. Can’t seem to make inroads in SoCal and now nothing in the Bay Area. Better get all the good players in the Sac and Northern region

It goes back to winning, which this program hasn't really done. UCD is only a destination for student-athletes whose primary goal is to get a top-notch education. However, those same student-athletes could go anywhere and get an excellent education and have a great time, even Sac State. It's all about what you put into it.

So why do the football and basketball teams succeed at recruiting facing the same recruiting obstacles ? They win. Women's basketball speaks for itself. Football and men's basketball win enough to still draw top recruits, even if they don't finish first. Not to mention that football has fewer competitors for recruits. There are more schools in the western part of the country that have baseball and not football (most of of the WCC and Big West) than the other way around (more than half the Big Sky). I believe in CA there is no football playing D-I school that doesn't also have baseball.

I think you also have more feeder high schools for football, whereas baseball is almost a forgotten sport in some locations. You hear about Grant football but baseball ? The HS programs sometimes suffer from a lack of students who even want to play baseball at all or facilities. I remember reading somewhere that when Aggie alum Ryan Royster played his HS field (want to say it was McClatchy, but that may not be right) didn't even have outfield fences.

I believe the Aggies are recruiting better and better players, but that might be more because the pool of players they would normally recruit from has raised its game, not that UCD necessarily is recruiting better. With all the extra training resources out there for kids whose families have the money it's very possible. Meanwhile the more athletic players whom they can't recruit have improved by a greater amount.

@Goags20172 There was an opinion article in the Washington Post today about baseball rules. Basic assertion was that MLB games are getting longer with more time between plays, more strikeouts, and scoring becoming reliant on home runs due to back office stat coaching and pitches getting faster. The author suggests a correlation with dropping MLB attendance and that moving the mound, defining where infielders can stand, or a play clock between pitches might make the game more exciting to casual fans by bolstering offense activity. I'm curious your thoughts on those type of changes. And not that all pro rules filter down to collegiate and youth levels, but if something like a play clock did, how would that affect the game? I know there is a lot of attention at the youth levels of injuries to pitcher's shoulders. Would a play clock make those injuries worse or cause a seismic shift to some (safer?) winning strategy other than throwing at the speed of sound?

After reviewing all of your above comments, I am beginning to think that all this NorCal/SoCal stuff is only a small part of the MBB issue. SLO and SB a pretty far out of the urban core of SoCal and they are doing better than us. Academic fairly equal. But the real hard cold fact is Sac is outdoing us big time and they would presumably have as much trouble as we do on recruiting top players and they do not have that problem. And I now think that lights are only another relatively small part of the problem. I hate to say this, but it is hard to not come to the conclusion that we need new and energized coaching to pull us out of this downward spiral. I do not think Rocko has had to fire a coach yet. This just might be the time to do it.

2021 - 14-43
2020 - 9-7
2019 - 19-31
2018 - 18-35
2017 - 21-30
2016 - 17-36
2015 - 30-26-1 **
2014 - 24-30
2013 - 19-37
2012 - 27-30 * Coach Vaughns 1st yr as HC?
#### 198 - 305 = .394?

2011 - 18-36
2010 - 26-29 *
2009 - 13-42
2008 - 35-24 **
2007 - 24-32
2006 - 18-34
2005 - 28-29 *

Head Coaching Records - UC Davis

B. Biggs - 144 - 85 = .629 (1993 - 2012)
J Gross - 186 - 113 = .622 (2011+)
D Hawkins - 23 - 18 = .561 (2017+)
D. Shaffer - 96 - 76 = .558 (2010+)
B. Maze - 126 - 123 = .506 (2010+)
Jim Les - 144 - 161 = .472 ? (2011+)
Bob Biggs - 30 - 37 = .448 (FCS, 2007 - 2012)
Vaughn - 198 - 305 = .394 ? (2012+)
GStewart - 88 - 148 - .373 (2003 - 2011)
Ron Gould - 12 - 33 = .267 (2013 - 2016)
RG last 3 yrs - 7 - 26 = .212

Edited, revised Coach Biggs numbers for clarity.

They have already instituted a pitch clock for MLB and it has trickled down to the college level. There's even a clock behind the plate at Dobbins. That has seemed to speed things up a bit . They also need to institute a limit on how many times a batter can stay out of the box.

The only things they can effectively speed things up are eliminating the deliberate time-wasters by managers and players. The other things, like moving the mound...are only minimally effective, and only for a short time because players adjust. It's like if you were trying to lose weight but all you did was cut out your daily bowl of ice cream. You might lose a lb.

Are you looking at Biggs' FCS record only? I think his lifetime was closer to 0.62, but heavily influenced by the run in the 90s. But here's another one for the list - Coach Gary Stewart (just the mention turns stomachs on the Hamilton Court thread) - 0.373. If there is any pattern, it seems the threshold of acceptability to past ADs has been a 0.4 minimum, with a sustained record below that resulting in staff changes. 2020-21 was a weird year, so I don't know if coaches will get a pass, but it wasn't good. To your point though, in the lifetime of current recruits, only 2 winning seasons, and neither recent. Chicken and egg problem where it's hard to recruit winners when you aren't a winning team and even harder to sell the "you can be part of the turnaround" pitch when everything in the program is static. I didn't realize how long Vaughn had been around... played 89-92 and became an assistant coach at UCD in 1993. That's actually kind of unusual by today's standards I think to not have had any interludes with other programs. If we believe the coach is the issue, is it the coach's skill (a la Gould), or the coach's culture (CGS) that is the problem? Perhaps the hard question is whether it's really the coach or some other x-factor that would hamper any coach.

It's like if you were you were trying to lose weight but all you did was cut out your daily bowl of ice cream. You might lose a lb. — Goags20172

Ha, I know that struggle. The doctor has been telling me to quit ice cream and soda for years. Neither of which is going to happen, lol.

Compiled late at night when I couldn't sleep. There is an argument for CGS taking us through the transition. Complex man.

My first posting was derived from a 4-year comparison of FB HC records; Coach Biggs numbers revised for clarity.

The new AD might not have to formally dismiss Vaughn if he's inclined to make a change. Vaughn supposedly signed a four-year contract after the 2017 season. If 2017 was the last year of his previous contract then 2021 would have been. the last year of that contract extension The announcement came in December of that year, so maybe that's when we can expect to hear about it ?

Money may.play a huge role. Due to the financial hit UCD has taken in the pandemic (to beat a dead horse) eliminating the program may be on the horizon if the Big West will allow them to remain a member. UCI still doesn't have a softball team. If baseball and softball are considered equal until Title IX then that's an indication that full participation in Big West sports isn't as important as it used to be, especially now that it has 11 baseball-playing, whereas before UCD joined I believe it only had 8. 10 could be the sweet spot.

Now, suppose they don't cancel it the ability to attract a new coach could be seriously limited due financial constraints. Vaughn may be the cheapest option they can find who has any head coaching experience unless there'a JC coach (who would have been paid less) who wants to take on a huge challenge.

The ideal candidate would be Tyler La Torre. Aggie alum with professional experience as a catcher. I'm given to understand he also wore several hats as Tony Schifano's only assistant at SF State. Speaking of the Golden Gators (I just got that pun) I read they are eliminating their baseball field to replace it with a green space for meditation or some crap. Their team will go on, but they'll just squat at HS fields instead.

His status as an assistant at Sac State is not a big impediment. Reggie Christiansen has been very supportive of his assistants finding advancement opportunities. The questions are whether he even wants to do it and if UCD can afford his services.

There's also the lingering question of whether a new coach would make a lasting change. When Rex Peters took over he inherited a team that was good already from Phil Swimley, and it fizzled when it had Division I competition. Then after the the 2008 peak the team tanked, and after 2011 he quit to be a UCLA assistant. Frustration with the program had to have played a role in that.

Vaughn makes 140K, which makes him one of the lowest paid HC's in the Big West. One could say that his salary is commensurate with his coaching performance. The only HC's that have been paid lower salaries are Percival before he quit (and he obviously didn't need the money with what he made in MLB), Beard at Bakersfield and Newman at UCSD when they were in D2.

Reggie C makes 200K at Sac State. One again, his salary is commensurate with his coaching performance. The only coaches in the UC (not counting UCLA or Cal) or CSU systems who are making more than Reggie C are Checketts at UCSB and Valenzuela at Long Beach.