Baseball Roster Observation

[sportsfanatic21]

I recently made an observation while watching this year's Cajun baseball team play, which I will get to momentarily. Reading through all of the threads about the team, I've seen many talking about the lack of fire on the team, how some already look to be "mailing it in", etc.

Robe has talked in the past about wanting "grinders", and dudes that drink from the water hose and not a Powerade bottle, the team to have "throw down", and guys who are "baseball players" and not "underwear models", among other descriptions he's given. I know you've all heard all of them and I think we can all agree that what he means is...we need guys that are tough SOBs, who are willing to do whatever it takes to get what they want, guys that haven't had everything handed to them on a silver platter their entire lives, and kids who will fight you with everything in them to win. And I (and I'm sure most of you) agree that these are exactly the type of players that the current team is lacking.

Now let me preface my observation by saying that both of my kids currently attend a private school. I personally attended public school, but times have changed a bit and its a decision that we made for the betterment of our kids' education. That said, anyone with experience with public school kids AND private school kids would be lying if they said that the majority, not ALL...so nobody needs to get their panties in a wad, but MOST private school kids enjoy many perks that MOST public school kids do not. In short, most private school kids are entitled, are a bit spoiled, and probably have had most of what they want handed to them throughout their lives. I'm as guilty as any private school parent...I admit it. The point is, if you're looking for players, in any sport, and some of the qualifications are toughness, the innate desire to go out and figuratively beat someone's behind to get what they want, and having to do more with less to achieve their goals, not quitting...then more often than not, public school kids should be your target in recruiting. Which bring me back to my original observation about this year's team. Here is the opening day lineup this season with the high school that each player attended:

D. Lahare - Brother Martin
G. Bourgeois - Notre Dame
H. Cantrelle - Teurlings
H. Monica - St. Paul's
O. Veillon - STM
H. Kasuls - Foster HS/Richmond, TX
T. Lott - Trinity Christian Academy/Fla.
O. Lochridge - STM
B. Breaux - STM

Notice anything here? Hunter Kasuls is the ONLY guy who came from a public high school. So I wondered...what was the make up of the team the last time we made a regional (2016). Here's the lineup and key reserves from that team:


I. Edwards - Tomball HS/TX
K. Clement - Cath. High-NI
A. Pinero - Coral Gables HS/Fla.
J. Robbins - Tioga HS
N. Thurman - Belle Chasse HS
B. Conrad - Lafayette High
S. Trosclair - Sulphur HS
B. Mills - Magee HS/MS.
S. Sensley - University Lab
B. Antchak - Sands Secondary/Canada
K. Fontenot - Barbe HS
H. Kasuls - Foster HS/Richmond, TX

Notice something different here? Clement and Sensley are the only private school players this time. Ten of 12 were public school kids. So just to make sure this wasn't a fluke, I thought I'd take a look at the team everyone is probably already thinking about. Here's the 2014 team:

C. Adams - Texas HS/Texarkana
J. Conrad - Lafayette High
B. Trahan - Kinder HS
R. Leonards - Notre Dame
T. Girouard - Teurlings
S. Harrison - Cy-Fair HS/TX
D. Butler - Archbishop Shaw
C. Compton - Northshore HS/Slidell
M. Strentz - Comeaux
G. Davis - Desoto HS
E. Powell - Sam Houston HS
J. Robbins - Tioga HS
R. Wilson - Owasso HS/OK

Leonards, Girouard, and Butler are the only 3 that went to privates schools, so 10 of the 13 were public school kids that year.

I'm not saying public school players are better than private school players by any means, nor am I being negative to any of the current players individually. But I think we can all agree that, looking at the above data, maybe Robe and staff should spend a little more time recruiting some tough public school kids. If you want water hose drinkers...chances are better that you'll find that type of kid if you look in the right place.

[Turbine]

Mind blown

[Cajunologist]

so we have a team that probably played alot of select ball also.

[LifeTimeCajun]

Interesting to say the least.

[MountainDew]

Select ball can be very good for these kids. BUT!!!! You have to have the right group of kids/parents. Kids/parents that play for the team.

With that said...

Fire Tony Robichaux

[Ole Colony]

Parenting has more to do with it. The Conrads, Breaux and Lochridge all went to Cathedral Carmel. I seriously doubt going to Lafayette High versus STM made a difference.

[CajunNation]

so we have a team that probably played alot of select ball also.

ding ding ding

[CajunRage]

I can't agree with you. I highly doubt public vs private has anything to do with it.

[CajunT]

I recently made an observation while watching this year's Cajun baseball team play, which I will get to momentarily. Reading through all of the threads about the team, I've seen many talking about the lack of fire on the team, how some already look to be "mailing it in", etc.

Robe has talked in the past about wanting "grinders", and dudes that drink from the water hose and not a Powerade bottle, the team to have "throw down", and guys who are "baseball players" and not "underwear models", among other descriptions he's given. I know you've all heard all of them and I think we can all agree that what he means is...we need guys that are tough SOBs, who are willing to do whatever it takes to get what they want, guys that haven't had everything handed to them on a silver platter their entire lives, and kids who will fight you with everything in them to win. And I (and I'm sure most of you) agree that these are exactly the type of players that the current team is lacking.

Now let me preface my observation by saying that both of my kids currently attend a private school. I personally attended public school, but times have changed a bit and its a decision that we made for the betterment of our kids' education. That said, anyone with experience with public school kids AND private school kids would be lying if they said that the majority, not ALL...so nobody needs to get their panties in a wad, but MOST private school kids enjoy many perks that MOST public school kids do not. In short, most private school kids are entitled, are a bit spoiled, and probably have had most of what they want handed to them throughout their lives. I'm as guilty as any private school parent...I admit it. The point is, if you're looking for players, in any sport, and some of the qualifications are toughness, the innate desire to go out and figuratively beat someone's behind to get what they want, and having to do more with less to achieve their goals, not quitting...then more often than not, public school kids should be your target in recruiting. Which bring me back to my original observation about this year's team. Here is the opening day lineup this season with the high school that each player attended:

D. Lahare - Brother Martin
G. Bourgeois - Notre Dame
H. Cantrelle - Teurlings
H. Monica - St. Paul's
O. Veillon - STM
H. Kasuls - Foster HS/Richmond, TX
T. Lott - Trinity Christian Academy/Fla.
O. Lochridge - STM
B. Breaux - STM

Notice anything here? Hunter Kasuls is the ONLY guy who came from a public high school. So I wondered...what was the make up of the team the last time we made a regional (2016). Here's the lineup and key reserves from that team:


I. Edwards - Tomball HS/TX
K. Clement - Cath. High-NI
A. Pinero - Coral Gables HS/Fla.
J. Robbins - Tioga HS
N. Thurman - Belle Chasse HS
B. Conrad - Lafayette High
S. Trosclair - Sulphur HS
B. Mills - Magee HS/MS.
S. Sensley - University Lab
B. Antchak - Sands Secondary/Canada
K. Fontenot - Barbe HS
H. Kasuls - Foster HS/Richmond, TX

Notice something different here? Clement and Sensley are the only private school players this time. Ten of 12 were public school kids. So just to make sure this wasn't a fluke, I thought I'd take a look at the team everyone is probably already thinking about. Here's the 2014 team:

C. Adams - Texas HS/Texarkana
J. Conrad - Lafayette High
B. Trahan - Kinder HS
R. Leonards - Notre Dame
T. Girouard - Teurlings
S. Harrison - Cy-Fair HS/TX
D. Butler - Archbishop Shaw
C. Compton - Northshore HS/Slidell
M. Strentz - Comeaux
G. Davis - Desoto HS
E. Powell - Sam Houston HS
J. Robbins - Tioga HS
R. Wilson - Owasso HS/OK

Leonards, Girouard, and Butler are the only 3 that went to privates schools, so 10 of the 13 were public school kids that year.

I'm not saying public school players are better than private school players by any means, nor am I being negative to any of the current players individually. But I think we can all agree that, looking at the above data, maybe Robe and staff should spend a little more time recruiting some tough public school kids. If you want water hose drinkers...chances are better that you'll find that type of kid if you look in the right place.

I guess you could make some observations from those numbers. But they all played travel ball and many have competed against each other along the way. You can visit Perfect Game and look at their profiles from the past. Bottom line, some of these guys were gamer's and others weren't.

[BoogerRed]

I can't disagree with you.

I think we can all agree 2014 and 2016 showed more "throw down" than current team. But... I don't think this is a large enough data set for comparison to validate a correlation.

[Dad04]

so we have a team that probably played alot of select ball also.

Nearly every player drafted in the past decade also played travel ball. That argument is tilting at windmills. I bet we also have a team full of players that played Little League, too.

[Ray Finkle]

This is the most interesting RP idea I've seen in a while. Thank you sportsfanatic for putting this together. Of course, there will be people that won't be able to deduct any meaning behind your logic, but I'm on the same page as you. Now consider this observation. Sticking on the topic of "underwear models", of those three teams you've laid out, how many of those that went to private school went to an all boys school versus a co-ed private school? Could there be more underwear models at co-ed private schools?