Spartans Finish the Season Showing Off a Lack of Heart

Written by: Hondo S. Carpenter Sr. on 19th May 2008

Another season ends for MSU baseball, and it has become a regular rut that they finish below .500 and, yet again, they don’t make the Big Ten Tournament. Coming into the Spartans last five games, they had one with Central Michigan (at CMU) and a four game series with Indiana at MSU. They had a 24-24 record and a 12-14 record in the Big Ten. Well, they ended with 5 straight losses! It wasn’t just losing…it was how they lost.

I have been a firm supporter of David Grewe since he came to MSU. I enjoy baseball, but I also admit that I do not know the intricacies of the game as I do others. What sold me on Grewe was proven people with track records of success that believed in him. I still support him. I have no doubts that he can lead this program.

He is attempting to change a culture. He is trying to change what MSU baseball had become into where he sees it. It isn’t easy. At MSU it is even harder. Baseball is MSU’s oldest sport and the program has fallen. Where does the blame lie?

First it lies with MSU. When Grewe arrived he inherited facilities that some high schools have better. In MSU’s defense, they have moderately addressed it and are on the verge of doing much more. Doing being the key word there. With Mark Hollis now holding the reigns at MSU, you will see that program take off. Hollis is a person that won’t stand still and will refuse to let any program flounder, but the issue is still real and relevant. If MSU is going to compete, its facilities MUST be upgraded. That isn’t Grewe’s fault. Neither does the blame lie with Mark Hollis. MSU baseball had been ignored.

Second, you must look within the program. Grewe inherited what was there. He didn’t get a star-studded lineup; he got a good group of kids, but none that were setting the world on fire. How many of this year’s seniors walked on? Look it up!

The frustrating thing was that on Saturday, the final game of the season, you had players that simply didn’t want to be there. They joked, they laughed, they acted as if it didn’t matter that they had started the last week of the season with a chance to do something that MSU hadn’t done in a long time. No, I am not even talking about winning the Big Ten Tournament. I am simply talking about being above .500 and MAKING the Big Ten Tournament. When the pride and the killer instinct were needed, they overslept on an opportunity and quit.

Baseball is not what it once was in America. It is the past time, but it no longer holds the grip of the community like football and basketball does at MSU. It is a non-revenue sport and it must accept it. MSU cannot fund programs that lose consistently with such tight budget dollars on the line. It is my opinion that Hollis will eventually have to come to that conclusion when he looks at his athletic department in its totality. I am in no way saying that I think MSU baseball will go away. It is too much a part of the heritage of the school. What I am saying is that what happened this weekend couldn’t be continued…in any sport!

Don’t tell me northern teams can’t succeed. Don’t tell me that because I don’t believe it. I support Grewe. I think he is a great young coach and I think he is a winner. I also think it has been three long years of trying to lay a foundation of a program. Someone on Saturday asked me, “If Dantonio can fix football so fast why couldn’t Grewe have done it in three years?” Here was my answer to him and you: Simple, as bad as MSU football was, baseball was in a lot worse shape. Grewe wasn’t even trying to rebuild, he was given a task of building something that had been ignored in my opinion.

Next season begins today for MSU baseball. A season that will be very telling. I don’t care if Grewe has to empty his roster, he can’t ever allow an MSU team to play again with no heart. Fight, scratch and claw and the let the outcome be what it is. Quitting however isn’t acceptable. I sincerely believe that no one is as upset with this year’s season as Grewe.

Next season this team needs to get above .500 and they need to make the Big Ten Tournament. Those goals are attainable. Those goals are achievable. One last goal: Don’t ever let a player on the field whose heart isn’t into it. I attend many MSU games in many sports. Players quitting isn’t acceptable and never should be. I am sure that the way his team lost this past week, makes Grewe even more sick than the losing.

I believe in Grewe 100%. I think he is the kind of coach along with an AD like Mark Hollis at the wheel that can lead this program and do amazing things. It has simply been frustrating trying to get there.

The Spartan Nation is realistic. They understand and will support their program. They won’t however tolerate what they saw the last week of the season. If the players didn’t care why should the fans? The fact remains that Grewe cares, and he will have a roster of young kids that care next year. Next season has to be different. They can’t afford the same effort. Grewe shouldn’t accept it, but Hollis won’t!

MSU baseball hit the bottom on Saturday. Now they will move up and Grewe will lead the way.