Bradley baseball

[Da Coach]

Bradley softball finished the season 15-40 overall, 7-20 in MVC play, and in 10th place-
Final standings- https://mvc-sports.com/standings.aspx?path=softball

All 12 teams qualify for the MVC softball tournament, but Bradley was eliminated in their first game 2-0 by Belmont-

https://mvc-sports.com/documents/2023/5/12//2023_SB_Bracket.pdf?id=3546

[basketball nut]

Attendance seems to be a problem with all of the BU sports other then basketball. The ladies sports are not well attended at all. I am not sure how well the soccer games are attended. In light of this then it is no wonder these sports aren't given the money to be top of the line. Baseball always seems to get some outstanding ball players but the MVC usually has several very good baseball teams which then makes it harder for the under funded teams.
It seems like they do not get the best news coverage (TV of newspaper) in this area so a lot of times people don't even know they had a home game until after it is over.
The baseball team has had several major leaguers over the years so it is a better program then the record looks like a lot of seasons.

[Da Coach]

Baseball always seems to get some outstanding ball players...

2023 MVC All-Conference teams-

https://mvc-sports.com/news/2023/5/22/mvc-announces-2023-baseball-all-conference-teams.aspx

Bradley has no 1st teamers, only 1 second teamer, and two Honorable Mentions.

2023 team stats-

http://www.mvc.org/baseball/2023/lgteams.htm

Bradley ranks low in almost every offensive, defensive, and pitching category, often near the bottom. This was just a terrible year.

[bradleyfan124]

Bradley baseball used to be very respectable. Now it is one of the worst in the conference. I think Bradley needs to make a decision on what to do with the baseball program. Either support it to make it competitive or disband the team and put the money into other programs. Dont do half-ass.

[JMM28]

Bradley baseball used to be very respectable. Now it is one of the worst in the conference. I think Bradley needs to make a decision on what to do with the baseball program. Either support it to make it competitive or disband the team and put the money into other programs. Dont do half-ass.

Post covid hasn't been friendly to Bradley baseball. The few years before COVID, BU was a top 100 program in the country and doing well.

If baseball enjoyed the same level of support that soccer did from a resources standpoint, they'd be a top program year in and year out. Baseball has no facility to call their own. They are a second banana tenant at Dozer Park. They don't have any dedicated space anywhere. About 10+ years ago they were practicing in the parking lot of Sterling School.

[yoda]

a lot of college kids would die to be able to play in a professional ballpark like Dozer Field...
and how does it matter what the practice field looks like - the can practice both indoors at the Louisville Slugger facility and outdoors there & a number of places

ISU's field looks like a Little League field- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p/...s680-w680-h510

SIU's home field looks more like a girls softball field - https://siusalukis.com/images/2016/1...=360&mode=crop

Valpo's field is roughly on par with what most junior high schools have- https://takeoutyourscorecards.files....alpouturf7.jpg

and even worse- check Loyola and Belmont- ICC's facilities are better
https://loyolaramblers.com/images/20...ball_field.jpg
https://belmontbruins.com/galleries/...-park/89/19211

The biggest hurdle is that DI baseball only gets 11.7 scholarships and coaches have to divvy that up to recruit a roster of 25-30 kids, meaning most kids get a 0.2 or a 0.4 scholarship or walk on - then the rest has to be paid by the athlete and costs run way higher than state schools - so huge disadvantage.
Remember, the two candidates Ken Kavanagh had lined up for interviews when Glasser went behind his back & hired Elvis, and both wanted the job -- were two guys who ended up being tremendous, winning coaches, both who won Coach of the Year in the MVC elsewhere. Kingston won MVC COY TWICE. Both are now very successful at HIGH MAJORS, and we missed badly, hiring a coach that went 31-95 in the MVC over the next 6 seasons.

[Old Coach]

a lot of college kids would die to be able to play in a professional ballpark like Dozer Field...
and how does it matter what the practice field looks like - the can practice both indoors at the Louisville Slugger facility and outdoors there & a number of places

ISU's field looks like a Little League field- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p/...s680-w680-h510

SIU's home field looks more like a girls softball field - https://siusalukis.com/images/2016/1...=360&mode=crop

Valpo's field is roughly on par with what most junior high schools have- https://takeoutyourscorecards.files....alpouturf7.jpg

and even worse- check Loyola and Belmont- ICC's facilities are better
https://loyolaramblers.com/images/20...ball_field.jpg
https://belmontbruins.com/galleries/...-park/89/19211

The facilities issue has to less to do with where you play and more to do with access to an indoor hitting and throwing facility.

And regarding conference stadiums, ISU and SIU both have nice on campus facilities. Each school spent between $3 million - $4.5 million on their stadiums 10-15 years ago. Indiana State also has a very nice stadium. (Maybe the nicest that isn't a minor league park.) Belmont's stadium is a public/private partnership. Although the facility is quaint, it is extremely clean and nice. I've had the opportunity to watch high school and college games at all of these facilities. Capacity ranges from 750 to 2,000, which is more that sufficient for midwest college baseball. These are just my opinions and observations.

[JMM28]

The facilities issue has to less to do with where you play and more to do with access to an indoor hitting and throwing facility.

And regarding conference stadiums, ISU and SIU both have nice on campus facilities. Each school spent between $3 million - $4.5 million on their stadiums 10-15 years ago. Indiana State also has a very nice stadium. (Maybe the nicest that isn't a minor league park.) Belmont's stadium is a public/private partnership. Although the facility is quaint, it is extremely clean and nice. I've had the opportunity to watch high school and college games at all of these facilities. Capacity ranges from 750 to 2,000, which is more that sufficient for midwest college baseball. These are just my opinions and observations.

Yep. Slugger is a great facility and Rick makes a lot of things work in Bradley's favor. However they still have a (successful) business to run there so there can't be unfettered access as if it were Shea Stadium - the only facility that any Bradley athletic program has unrestricted access to. Slugger also doesn't have a full sized baseball field on the property. It has full softball but only goes up to, I believe, 12U baseball size. Bradley also uses The Yard and they are great with scheduling, but that is another location 20 minutes from campus and without a full sized baseball diamond.

[yoda]

I agree- the other MVC fields are nice fields, but they are to baseball, what Ren-Col is to basketball, and if the Bradley basketball team was playing at Ren-Col as their home arena, I think we'd all agree that it is a recruiting hindrance.

My 2 cents-
Bradley has had decent talent, kids that got drafted, played Milb & MLB, yet the results speak for themselves about what the current coach has done with that talent.
As we sit today, Bradley just completed another badly disappointing MVC season (7-20), deep in last place again and eliminated from the MVC Tournament even before it started.

Even when he was hired here, he came in with a career record that was well below .500, having never finished higher than 4th in a weaker conference than the MVC. He has shown in his 22 year career a remarkable consistency of mediocrity and failure in his coaching seasons.
I am sure he is a good guy and well liked, but he's in his 60's now and it's time to make a change.
BTW- just thinking....the guy who works at FGCU under Ken Kavanagh just finished a great 39-17 season, a top seed in their tourney and already advanced with a 7-0 win. He's a FIVE TIME Coach of the Year, 7 conference championships, developed 47 players who have been drafted or signed as FA's,
and even produced a NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR. He's won 25 or more games every year since he was hired in 2003, and 16 of those years he won 30 or more. (Elvis has won 30 only 3 times)
We are paying our head coach twice as much and getting nothing compared to what FGCU is getting, just sayin'.

[Old Coach]

BTW- just thinking....the guy who works at FGCU under Ken Kavanagh just finished a great 39-17 season, a top seed in their tourney and already advanced with a 7-0 win. He's a FIVE TIME Coach of the Year, 7 conference championships, developed 47 players who have been drafted or signed as FA's,
and even produced a NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR. He's won 25 or more games every year since he was hired in 2003, and 16 of those years he won 30 or more. (Elvis has won 30 only 3 times)
We are paying our head coach twice as much and getting nothing compared to what FGCU is getting, just sayin'.

Think how lucky that guy is that he didn't get the Bradley job.

[Bball31]

Bradley gave it’s baseball program a real slap in the face several years ago when it eliminated the fall baseball season. That was the time that coaches evaluated the new recruits and walk on players. Couple that with the horrible foresight to not build an indoor batting cage in the new facility on campus, that the men and women could have used, tells all we need to know.

[sam hannam]

I thought that I would add this to this thread. Right now the starting center fielder for the Chicago Cubs is a Bradley grad. Mike Tauchman graduated in 2013. He batted .425 his senior year. He went to high school in Palatine.

[KillerB]

Had a good run in the 80's.
In 84 Mike Dunne # 7 over all to the Cardinals.. and in 83 Jim Lindemann was taken in the first round by the Cardinals with the 24th pick.
In 82 Kirby Puckett went number 3 overall. He only played one year for the Braves before transferring. The Braves gave him a shot when he did not receive any scholarship offers.
I'm sure there were others.

[yoda]

Had a good run in the 80's.
In 84 Mike Dunne # 7 over all to the Cardinals.. and in 83 Jim Lindemann was taken in the first round by the Cardinals with the 24th pick.
In 82 Kirby Puckett went number 3 overall. He only played one year for the Braves before transferring. The Braves gave him a shot when he did not receive any scholarship offers.
I'm sure there were others.

Dewey had really good years- 13 seasons w/ 30 or more wins, right up to the Glasser era with 32wins in 2007 & a nice run in the tourney, knocked out by ranked Creighton. There were no miserable 2 or 4 win MVC seasons.

[PhiAlphaBoy]

Had a good run in the 80's.
In 84 Mike Dunne # 7 over all to the Cardinals.. and in 83 Jim Lindemann was taken in the first round by the Cardinals with the 24th pick.
In 82 Kirby Puckett went number 3 overall. He only played one year for the Braves before transferring. The Braves gave him a shot when he did not receive any scholarship offers.
I'm sure there were others.

Bradley was so much better in the major sports during the '80s -- men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball... What the hell happened?!