Texas vs Rice (baseball series)

[utisdabomb12]

It will be a nice 4 game series to start the season. Rice is ranked in the top 20 in most polls, so it will certainly be a test on the road. I would honestly be happy with a split, anything else would be gravy. 2 RPI wins to start the season would be nice. We have a habit of starting the season slow so hopefully that isn't the case this year (we lost the first two games of the Cal series last year). 

Rice returns 5 starters in the field, 2 weekend starters, 1 mid week starter, and 5 "key relievers". Rice returns a bunch of arms but it did lose 4 of its 5 top hitters from last year. 

I've read that Gurwitz and Boswell are a little banged up, but should be ready to go this weekend.  John Duplantier, starting pitcher for Rice, will be held out this weekend because of arm soreness. 

Rice returns some serious arms, but they might struggle a little bit with the bats early in the season. From what I've read Rice has struggled big time with the bats during Spring intrasquads. This series will come down to which team manufactures some runs IMO. 

 

[duqu]

We'll struggle and maybe pull one game out of it. I'm a Rice grad/baseball fan and it's the only time I root for someone over UT. Horns take this 3-1.

 

[Worster1]

Horns got men on base last season but struggled for timely hits to get a lot of them in for a run(s).  Hopefully Augie small-ball this season can manufacture more runs and keep some pressure off the pitchers.  Who pitches for UT in the opener - perhaps our ace French?

 

[Juan]

I fail to see why LHN cannot waddle over to Houston and televise these games

 

[Juan]

Going into the season, UT baseball has 3,248 wins

242 of those wins are over aggy - more than any other opponent

 

[Worster1]

I fail to see why LHN cannot waddle over to Houston and televise these games

Agree - seems like an easy decision for LHN versus showing a re-run of some games or programs.

I can't sit by the PC for 4 days and follow the HS game threads, but they may be all we get if we want to follow the Horns in this series.

 

[SFlonghorngirl]

Why is the pitching mound raised?

 

[joeywa]

Why is the pitching mound raised?

Clearest explanation I could find Shan:

Then there is the strange history of the pitcher's mound, an artificial, small hill in the middle of the baseball diamond that the pitcher strides from when delivering a pitch. Baseball fans take it for granted, but why is it there?

How the pitcher's mound was born

In the early days of baseball , pitchers were required to stay within a pitcher's box that had its front edge 45 feet away from home plate. But pitchers were dominating batters, so in 1881, the front edge of the box was moved back five feet.

But this was still not enough, so in 1887, a new rule required a pitcher to keep his back foot on a line that was 55 and one-half feet from the plate. Finally in 1893, the pitcher's box was removed, but the pitcher's plate, or rubber, was introduced and moved back an additional five feet. That gave us today's 60 feet 6 inches.

With an official diameter of 18 feet, and rising to 10 inches above the level field, the pitcher's mound, or hill, has been a part of baseball since around the turn of the 20th century. By elevating their delivery point, pitchers can gain momentum as they stride down towards the plate. This forward motion adds speed and a downward angle to the ball, making it more difficult to hit.

How the mound's height has changed

According to baseball historian Bill Deane, the idea for a mound was claimed by an 1880s pitcher, John Montgomery Ward. From 1903 to 1968, baseball rules limited the height of the mound to 15 inches, although several groundskeepers were rumored to have added an inch or two depending on the state of their team's pitching.

Over the years, as pitchers grew bigger and stronger, hitting declined. Major League Baseball knew that most fans would rather see home runs than shutouts, so the mound was lowered to ten inches in 1969. The adjustment worked team batting averages jumped up about 15 points.

Compared to those 1969 numbers, last season's averages were about 10 points higher still, but so far the pitchers have been quiet.

 

[streettopeschel]

Slim has some great first hand accounts of John Montgomery Ward.