LeClair Responds
©2004 Bonesville.net
The season may be over for
East Carolina, but Keith LeClair is still swinging away. On Monday, the
ECU Hall of Famer and former Pirates baseball coach fielded e-mail questions from fans
in a two-hour session.
Following is a transcript of
samples from
LeClair's exchanges with participants touching on everything from triple
plays to 'vacuum cleaners':
LeClair Interactive
Transcript
Jim Crooke:
Coach, I remember one thing about this Pirate team. The triple play
turned Duke back to the dugout. I have never seen one in all my days of
baseball. Have any of your teams accomplished this?
Coach LeClair:
Jim, unfortunately the one triple play I remember most happened against
the Pirates in 2000, against UNC Asheville to end the game. Let me try
to explain this odd play the best I can. It was the second game of a
double-header, so therefore it was a seven inning game.
The Pirates were down 2-1
in the bottom of the ninth, but had the bases loaded with nobody out.
Erik Bakich was at the plate and Nick Schnabel was on third. Erik hit a
one hopper down the third baseline that was fielded by the third
baseman, who reached to tag Nick but missed, but in the process stepped
on third and threw to first. In the confusion, Nick ran home on my
command and the first baseman threw home for the third out, completing
the most bizarre triple play I have ever seen to end a game.
I was confused, the
players were confused and most of all the umps were. To make a long
story short, that was the last seven inning game I ever agreed to play
as a head coach.
Carter Powell:
Keith, which do you think will take you further in regional play,
gorilla ball or billy ball? I've noticed that most of the teams that
advance play billy ball. I really miss you.
Coach LeClair:
Carter, great question! I think if you're going to win big games against
great teams you have to play some billy ball, especially if you have an
outstanding pitching staff. Scoring opportunities usually happen on a
few occasions throughout the game and it's imperative that you make them
count, which means situational hitting becomes such an important part of
winning those close games. That doesn't mean gorilla ball won't win some
championships. Look at LSU for example in the 90s, but you better have
some consistent gorillas that you can count on.
Danny Whitford:
How does the culture of baseball in general in Eastern North Carolina,
from the T-Ball ranks on up, compare with other places you're familiar
with?
Coach LeClair:
Danny, by far and away, this region, particularly Greenville, has the
best youth baseball I have ever seen in my years of recruiting. My hat
goes off to all the recreation departments in this area that make it the
best.
Jay Surles:
First of all, on a personal level, I want to thank you for your
continuous support and prayers for my good friend, Chris Carter. He was
inspired by you, and your words always perked him up, as well as other
readers of his web site. Chris is in a better place now, and is probably
"the athlete he never was up in heaven. I just wanted to let you know
what an inspiration you are to many people. To battle through your ALS,
and to reach out to others ... is something to be admired. I wish you
all the best!
On to other things. What a
disappointing ending to the ECU season! They accomplished most of their
goals. And by most teams' standards around the country, it was a
successful season. However, the obvious goal of Omaha was not reached.
You and I know that no one is more disappointed than the players and
coaches (and you) who spent countless hours/years preparing for this
opportunity.
It appears that most of
the guys drafted are going to go. I would be interested to hear you
discuss (A) What goes into the decision making process on whether a guy
should go pro or not. Oobviously money plays a part. Also talk about
high school kids getting drafted and deciding whether or not to play
college ball, and any thoughts or opinions you have on that matter. (B)
What are the chances that ECU reloads next year and makes another run at
Omaha with practically a new look team?
Coach LeClair:
Jay, several things go into the process of deciding whether to sign as a
junior or going back to school to play your senior year. Obviously money
is a factor, because if you do come back as a senior you have lost all
your bargaining power unless you're a high draft as a senior. Most
senior draftees get a thousand bucks and a plane ticket to your next
destination, which isn't much. A lot depends on your development stage
as a junior and if there is room to improve or accomplish anything else
at the college level. For instance, some guys have down junior seasons
and may get drafted a lot lower than expected and can improve themselves
as a senior. A great example of this would be Khalil Greene at Clemson,
who was I believe an 11th round pick his junior year and a first round
pick as a senior. That decision made him well over a million dollars,
not to mention he is already playing in the big leagues. That's just a
few reasons of many on this issue.
To answer your second
question, the Pirates should be very good next year with all their young
pitchers returning, and Mr. Vacuum Cleaner, Billy Richardson, playing
short. Big question is whether (Darryl) Lawhorn decides to sign or come
back. If not, a lot of newcomers will be asked to play right away,
especially in the outfield. To be honest, you never know what you have
from incoming guys until they strap an ECU uniform on and play. But, I
look for the Pirates to be in the hunt and develop as a team as the
season progresses and hopefully host a regional in our new stadium.
Q:
Is pitching starting to catch up with hitting in college? It seems like
scores are lower these days.
Coach LeClair:
I am a firm believer that good pitching will most likely always slow
down good hitting clubs, but what I have noticed more this year is the
base on balls ratio to innings pitched, which has been surprisingly low.
That in and of itself will take runs off the scoreboard and Coach Eason
has been a mastermind of that theory over the years at ECU.
I also believe the bats
are becoming more in tune with the game versus five years ago, which is
great to see. Hopefully, in the near future, even more work will be done
to institute the fundamentals of the offensive game, like bunting,
hitting and running, running and hitting, and situational hitting. I
guess I am a baseball purist.
Q:
What is your theory on non-conference scheduling?
Coach LeClair:
Great question! A lot of my decision making going into scheduling
depended on the experience I had coming back. Obviously, an older club
can handle a much tougher grind of having a difficult non-conference
schedule versus a young inexperienced club. I think its important to
balance your schedule and have some RPI schools from fifty to a hundred
to play early and then go ahead and play several top twenty-five schools
before conference. If you go too strong too early, especially with a
young team, you can really dig a hole and lose a lot of confidence. You
have to put a lot of thought into what is best for your club.
Q:
There has been discussion of moving the college season back a couple of
weeks. Good idea?
Coach LeClair:
It's about time college baseball woke up and finally has a plan in
motion to push the season back. The college baseball arena has lost a
ton of money over the years trying to play baseball in early February
and competing with basketball. This is the best thing that could ever
happen for baseball at the collegiate level. The way I look at it,
what's two weeks if the outlook could mean more fan support across the
nation and the chance of bringing in more cash? Cha-ching, cha-ching
opens many eyes in the
collegiate world.
Q:
Recruiting foreign players is prevalent in college basketball. Why do
you think it isn't done more widely in college baseball? The Dominican
Republic immediately comes to mind.
Coach Leclair:
Boy, the questions get better and tougher all the time. In the past we
did hit Canada pretty hard, bringing in Lee Delfino and Jason Mandryk,
who both had outstanding careers. But, the problem baseball runs into
recruiting kids from foreign countries, especially the Dominican
Republic, are a couple different obstacles — the first being grades. A
majority of those kids are not qualifiers and have a hard time passing
their entrance exams, not to mention having the ability to speak
English. Second, most kids from foreign countries need a lot of money to
come to America and enroll in a university and unfortunately baseball
doesn't have that kind of scholarship money. Plus, most baseball players
in foreign countries come from poverty-stricken areas. You do not see
France, Italy and Russia producing too many major league all stars.
Well, my answer may be far from perfect, but that's just a few of many
reasons you do not see more foreign players.
If you
have a question or comment about the Pirates in particular or baseball
in general, get a learned response by firing your best pitch at Ol'
Condo. Submit your
message by clicking the following e-mail link:
E-mail Coach LeClair.
02.23.07 10:27 AM
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