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Update: July 2024
Things didn’t quite turn out as the Seminoles hoped this year, although they were one of the last 4 teams standing.
An unfortunate missed call on a clear strike 3 swing by Tennessee’s Blake Burke that would have ended the game in FSU’s favor instead led to them being sent them to the loser’s bracket.
Seminole fans are excited to see our baseball team back in Omaha for the first time in several years.
Our last trip to the College World Series in 2019 looked promising after we beat Arkansas in the first game, 1-0. However, it was all downhill from there. We lost to Michigan (a school not known for baseball…after all, they only have maybe six months out of the year that they can even play outside), then to Texas Tech to end our season.
But hey, at least we didn’t do what in my family has been frustratingly but affectionately referred to as the “0 and 2 and a barbecue” approach the ‘Noles too often take to Omaha. It’s been as if they are just happy to be there, to take in the sights, play a couple close games, and enjoy the rest of the time watching more serious teams.
In my sons’ travel baseball tournaments, we are pitched the “3 game minimum” teaser, letting us know that no matter how poorly we play, we’ll at least get three games worth of value (2 pool play games, then a single elimination tournament). For too many years, Florida State’s baseball team hasn’t even been worth mentioning after two games.
But this year feels different.
My title for this article is clearly self-fulfilling. Of course this year is our best chance of winning the College World Series so far. All of the previous years’ winners have been already been decided, and as we scan through the college baseball history books, we don’t see the Seminoles listed as champions. We do see a softball championship in 2018, and we see a few runner-up mentions, including:
From 1957 until 2024, Florida State baseball has appeared in 24 College World Series. We are 0 for 23 so far when it comes to earning CWS championships.
Understanding that the CWS tournament includes some of the best of the best of college baseball, not ending up on the top of any of 23 tournaments feels statistically improbable, maybe close to impossible. It seems like something that a team as successful as FSU is at getting to that level could only accomplish by changing their approach to the game once they got there.
I will get in trouble with a lot of Seminole fans for thinking this, let alone saying it.
If someone told Mike Martin in 1980 when he started out as FSU’s head baseball coach that he’d go on to build the winningest program in college baseball history, he’d probably reply that that was his goal. If you told him that, despite being the winningest program in college baseball, he’d never win an NCAA championship, proving his team to be the best in any given season, he’d surely be disappointed.
Yet there it is: 0 championships in 17 tries. That’s a stat that can’t be hidden very easily. This time of year you’ll hear that stat (or something like it) mentioned over and over again on ESPN and wherever else they talk about college baseball superlatives. No matter what you’re measuring, 0 for 17 is not good. It’s a clear indicator that something is wrong. Jackson Holliday’s recent 2 for 34 MLB posting showed he just isn’t ready for that league. 2 for 34 can be simplified to 1 for 17, which is still better than 0 for 17.
My first time going to Omaha to see the Seminoles play in the CWS was in 2008. I went with several of my siblings, and we took our families to see the ‘Noles finally pull off a championship. We were big fans of Buster Posey, whose winning persona felt like it provided the swagger we needed. That year FSU fielded as good a team as they’ve ever had.
But instead of even competing that year, FSU lost 16-5 to unranked Stanford in their first game (giving up 11 runs in the 9th inning of that game to make it look uncompetitive), then lost to Miami in the loser’s bracket to finish them off. Just like that, FSU season was done, and they were off to the barbecue instead.
What I observed in the FSU baseball games I’ve watched in person at the CWS is that the intensity that is brought by the other teams who show up in Omaha just wasn’t matched by Florida State. You could feel the difference in urgency and determination.
Mike Martin tended to bring a different game plan to Omaha than what he used to be successful during the season, or maybe his style was just not cut out to win the MOST important games.
In the past, it has been frustrating watching Seminole batters in Omaha constantly taking the first strike (usually the best one to hit), especially when their opponents knew they were taking pitches. It has been frustrating to see the lack of confidence in Omaha that the team seems to have in Tallahassee and even at most away games.
I understand that there is a lot of credit due to Coach Martin for what he accomplished, but there is another perspective I’ve had on his years as FSU baseball’s coach.
Try asking yourself this question: What would any respectable baseball coach have accomplished at FSU if he was there for 40 seasons?
That question is a tricky one, but what it attempts to understand is analogous to the baseball stat that has emerged in baseball over the past couple decades: Wins Above Replacement, or WAR. What if we had a similar stat for college baseball head coaches? What would Mike Martin’s WAR be? What if it could be measured in terms of his teams’ performances when it REALLY matters, in Omaha in June?
The nature of the environment in Tallahassee and the greater area, where baseball is very competitive, and where there are plenty of talented baseball players interested in playing close to home makes me wonder if another coach at FSU could have done better. If not during the season, another coach might have been able to get his team ready to win the tournament that really matters.
Hopefully we’ll be able to find that out soon, as in the next week or two.
FSU grabbed Link Jarrett from Notre Dame in 2022 after realizing that nepotism is as bad a strategy for hiring a head coach as DEI (see Willy Taggart, football coach). Jarrett was impressive at Notre Dame, making it to the CWS semi-finals with a team that played above their talent level.
Jarrett, as compared to Mike Martin’s traditional approach to coaching, is known for incorporating modern baseball analytics and advanced coaching techniques. His understanding and application of data-driven strategies should give him the competitive edge required to win it all. At 52 years old, Jarrett should have some of the energy and passion for winning that gives FSU’s baseball team more an opportunity to get over the top.
As with most competitive championship tournaments, when it comes to the College World Series, anyone can win. It all depends upon who shows up to play.
But this year, it feels like we may have a better chance than in previous appearances. We should see it in the demeanor of the players, including being aggressive with the bats, not taking first-pitch strikes.
FSU faces some serious competition, starting out with #1-ranked Tennessee this Friday. Then we’ll hopefully be taking on an ACC foe on our way to winning Bracket #1. As opposed to previous championships we’ve played in, the CWS championship is a best of 3 series, which should give the Seminoles a better chance to show that they’re the best team.
The odds makers are saying that FSU has the fifth best chance to win the College World Series.
But if they’re thinking like I and a lot of other long-time fans are thinking, FSU isn’t interested in fifth best this year.
It’s time for us to win the whole thing!