(06-09-2021 06:53 PM)Buho00 Wrote:  Love the hire as a Puerto Rican Owl and I see a ton of upside.

I expect/hope that Enrique Cruz will be an assistant, he compliments his brother, would make a good recruiter and has coaching experience, plus a CWS champion. Will be interesting to see if Janish is offered an assistant spot and who'll be pitching coach. Perhaps most importantly, Cheito will bring Wayne back to the program. Great hire!

I don’t think that is going to happen until Karlgaard is gone.

(06-09-2021 06:53 PM)Buho00 Wrote:  Love the hire as a Puerto Rican Owl and I see a ton of upside.

I expect/hope that Enrique Cruz will be an assistant, he compliments his brother, would make a good recruiter and has coaching experience, plus a CWS champion. Will be interesting to see if Janish is offered an assistant spot and who'll be pitching coach. Perhaps most importantly, Cheito will bring Wayne back to the program. Great hire!

Again, Wayne is not coming back until JK is gone. End of story. Second, i don't think Enrique would be a good choice as an assistant coach, and I don't think Paul adds much either. To compliment Jose, he needs two experienced assistant coaches, and at least one who has served as primary recruiting coordinator with strong Houston and Texas ties.

Quote:Mark Berman
@MarkBermanFox26
#Astros icon Jose Cruz Sr couldn’t be more proud after his son Jose Jr named
@RiceBaseball head coach: “That’s great for Rice, for Cheito (Jose Jr), for the Cruz family, for all the fans of Rice University. He’s gonna help Rice play the way they used to play, winning when...”

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E3euGL5XoAQ3...me=900x900

(06-09-2021 07:29 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(06-09-2021 06:53 PM)Buho00 Wrote:  Love the hire as a Puerto Rican Owl and I see a ton of upside.

I expect/hope that Enrique Cruz will be an assistant, he compliments his brother, would make a good recruiter and has coaching experience, plus a CWS champion. Will be interesting to see if Janish is offered an assistant spot and who'll be pitching coach. Perhaps most importantly, Cheito will bring Wayne back to the program. Great hire!

Again, Wayne is not coming back until JK is gone. End of story. Second, i don't think Enrique would be a good choice as an assistant coach, and I don't think Paul adds much either. To compliment Jose, he needs two experienced assistant coaches, and at least one who has served as primary recruiting coordinator with strong Houston and Texas ties.

Jose can take or leave Paul he needs to do what he needs to do, but saying he doesn't add a lot is a pretty petty thing to say about a guy who stayed a true pro through a bad situation and is a fellow owl.

I would expect that the decision on Janish will depend a lot on whether they have a prior relationship, and what kind. I would expect Jose, Sr., to have a lot of input as far as staff decisions.

I think he needs an experienced recruiter with heavy duty Texas ties and an experienced, successful pitching coach.

(06-09-2021 08:17 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  I would expect that the decision on Janish will depend a lot on whether they have a prior relationship, and what kind. I would expect Jose, Sr., to have a lot of input as far as staff decisions.

I think he needs an experienced recruiter with heavy duty Texas ties and an experienced, successful pitching coach.

I would like to suggest Spider Tack as our pitching coach. There are only 4 left on Amazon though

(06-09-2021 08:17 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  I would expect that the decision on Janish will depend a lot on whether they have a prior relationship, and what kind. I would expect Jose, Sr., to have a lot of input as far as staff decisions.

I think he needs an experienced recruiter with heavy duty Texas ties and an experienced, successful pitching coach.

Agreed, which is precisely why I said Paul J. doesn't provide anything that Jose needs in his two assistant coaches. It was not meant to be a knock on Paul and his coaching abilities.

(06-09-2021 09:02 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(06-09-2021 08:17 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  I would expect that the decision on Janish will depend a lot on whether they have a prior relationship, and what kind. I would expect Jose, Sr., to have a lot of input as far as staff decisions.

I think he needs an experienced recruiter with heavy duty Texas ties and an experienced, successful pitching coach.

Agreed, which is precisely why I said Paul J. doesn't provide anything that Jose needs in his two assistant coaches. It was not meant to be a knock on Paul and his coaching abilities.

Yet you offer nothing to suggest that this is true or false about Paul? He's obviously been recruiting Texas for several years and was a pitcher coming into Rice. But you just trash him and move on?

I predict the coaches will be Paul Doyle, vice-coach, Mike Wilson, guy in dugout, Matthew Reckling, pitching coach and Kim Koehn for baseball ops director. Junior is loyal.

Sweet. That would be a perfect game!

(06-09-2021 08:42 PM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  

(06-09-2021 08:17 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  I would expect that the decision on Janish will depend a lot on whether they have a prior relationship, and what kind. I would expect Jose, Sr., to have a lot of input as far as staff decisions.

I think he needs an experienced recruiter with heavy duty Texas ties and an experienced, successful pitching coach.

I would like to suggest Spider Tack as our pitching coach. There are only 4 left on Amazon though

Firm Grip, pine tar, and coca cola all boiled together down to a sludge/paste in a Coke can.

(06-09-2021 08:42 PM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  

(06-09-2021 08:17 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  I would expect that the decision on Janish will depend a lot on whether they have a prior relationship, and what kind. I would expect Jose, Sr., to have a lot of input as far as staff decisions.

I think he needs an experienced recruiter with heavy duty Texas ties and an experienced, successful pitching coach.

I would like to suggest Spider Tack as our pitching coach. There are only 4 left on Amazon though

Got mine!!

Kind words from Lance...

https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/stat...6140709891

(06-09-2021 10:55 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Kind words from Lance...

https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/stat...6140709891

That ellipsis made me nervous that he was going scorched earth on our program before I read the quote.

I wonder if he will be able to get some of the great talent coming out of the Domican Republic and South America.
I am not aware of any Texas college recruiting in these areas.

(06-09-2021 02:12 PM)Musicowl1965 Wrote:  Really really love this move. Cruz loves Rice, gets Rice and I'm confident will do a fantastic job. Excited for Spring 2022!!!

Cruz is Puerto Rican, not Dominican.

(06-09-2021 03:34 PM)Wayne’sWorld Wrote:  

(06-09-2021 02:47 PM)esposito Wrote:  Can someone close to him ask to bring back the OER full time?! No more of that new logo garbage.

Maybe it’s just me but I really like the Owls on the bat jersey

It would be if it was done like MLB’s Cardinals or Tulane’s Pelican. The Rice version is just cheap looking.

I prefer the OER, but the uniform is miles away from being my biggest concern. Hint: It starts with W and ends with L.

(06-09-2021 10:55 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Kind words from Lance...

https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/stat...6140709891

Classy tweet from Lance.

After some time to reflect and as someone who grew up watching Jose and Enrique play, and then playing at Bellaire and Rice myself, I am very excited about this.

Just as Lance said, Jose finds himself in a situation to once again energize the program like he did in the 90's. The guy has everything going for him and decided that resurrecting the Owls is what he wants to do most which is pretty awesome IMO. I know this hire and process has rubbed some the wrong way but giving Jose a fair shot is the least anyone can do (especially after tolerating 3 seasons of the previous regime).

The Cruz family is baseball royalty in this town and are just plain good people. I am proud to call them friends and can't wait to watch what Jose and whoever he brings on board can do.

As an aside, Coach Hallmark was well deserving of the job as well. This is by no means an indictment on him and I hope he kicks a** wherever his career takes him.