JimBob
05-17-2008, 08:15 AM
For Sooners, O-S-U spells trouble in Tulsa
By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
5/17/2008
Last Modified: 5/17/2008 2:30 AM
THE SECOND-BIGGEST crowd ever to watch a Bedlam baseball game in Tulsa showed up at Drillers Stadium, where seats were speckled crimson and orange like the hot end of a Crayola box.
But if OSU continues to have OU's number here, how long 'til the stadium does the Visine trick and gets the red out?
The Cowboys are giving their fans every reason to attend Bedlam games in Tulsa and the Sooners are giving their fans zero incentive to show up, except many did anyway.
OSU's 7-1 victory Friday night marked the eighth consecutive time the Cowboys won a Bedlam baseball contest in Tulsa.
The last Bedlam baseball victory for OU in Tulsa came on April 21, 2000, way back when the news of the day was the international tug-of-war for custody of 6-year-old Cuban lad Elian Gonzalez. Little Elian is a teenybopper now. It's been that long for the Sooners and their fans.
The crazy thing is the Tulsa hex used to wear a different cap.
When Eliot Joyner smacked a go-ahead triple to help OU beat OSU 5-3 here back in 2000, it was then-Cowboy coach Tom Holliday who was fielding questions about a Drillers Stadium jinx. It was the Pokes' ninth defeat in the last 10 Tulsa-based Bedlams.
Jinx? What jinx? OSU run-ruled OU here in 2001 and has ruled 15th and Yale ever since.
Understand that the current Bedlam baseball jinx extends beyond the city limits. The Sooners haven't won any regular season Bedlam game since 2005, dropping three-game series to the Cowboys each of the last two years (though they did exact postseason revenge in Big 12 Tournaments).
After one of the sweeps, Pistol Pete caused a stir by brandishing a broom atop OU's dugout. Between the sixth and seventh innings Friday night, a few Sooner players glanced up to see Pete dancing to "Cotton-Eyed Joe," with their dugout roof serving as the hoedown floor.
Debate all you want about whether the actions of Petes, past and present, were out of bounds, but the bottom line for the Sooners is they should consider playing better if they don't like it. Or, perhaps, they should employ more players who know immediately after birth exactly what Bedlam stakes are.
Anyone armed with this season's racing form would have picked OSU to beat OU in the Bedlam series opener. The No. 8 Cowboys own their highest national ranking since 1999, they lead the Big 12 in batting average (four of the league's top 15 hitters wear orange) and their collective ERA of their pitching staff is the conference's second-best. Meanwhile, OU is struggling to reach the Big 12 Tournament.
But the other reason OSU looked like a sure bet was because of roster makeup. The Cowboys have 20 Oklahomans on their roster. The Sooners have five Oklahomans. Which team do you think places more importance on Bedlam?
It's a game for one team and a rite of passage for the other. Even first-time Bedlam participants on the OSU roster grew up knowing that, whatever sport it is, Cowboy-Sooner games are special. OSU first baseman Rebel Ridling said as much afterward.
Ridling was asked about OSU's victory streak over OU in Tulsa and wasn't sure what to make of it. "I don't know what it is," he said, adding that the Cowboys seem to play well here.
OSU never trailed in this game, taking the lead for good with a three-run second inning. Starting pitcher Andrew Oliver (Sooner coach Sunny Golloway called him the difference) escaped a bases-loaded trap in the bottom of the second and this bunch of Cowboys doesn't give up leads late in games. The Pokes are 31-1 when leading after six innings and 34-0 when leading after eight innings.
OU started a lefty pitcher, C.J. Blue who apparently would rather eat sod than give up a base on balls (one or zero walks in 13 of 14 mound appearances this season). Starting a left-hander should have given the Sooners a glimmer of hope. The Cowboys entered Bedlam with only a 5-4 record when facing southpaw starters. Didn't matter. Blue got chased one batter into the fifth inning, giving up nine hits and five earned runs.
Blue, following his Bedlam debut, said he doesn't believe one team can have another team's number.
"I don't think one team has the advantage over the other," he said. "We just need to execute a little bit better."
The Sooners will have to wait until next year, again, before they can try executing better in Tulsa.
By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
5/17/2008
Last Modified: 5/17/2008 2:30 AM
THE SECOND-BIGGEST crowd ever to watch a Bedlam baseball game in Tulsa showed up at Drillers Stadium, where seats were speckled crimson and orange like the hot end of a Crayola box.
But if OSU continues to have OU's number here, how long 'til the stadium does the Visine trick and gets the red out?
The Cowboys are giving their fans every reason to attend Bedlam games in Tulsa and the Sooners are giving their fans zero incentive to show up, except many did anyway.
OSU's 7-1 victory Friday night marked the eighth consecutive time the Cowboys won a Bedlam baseball contest in Tulsa.
The last Bedlam baseball victory for OU in Tulsa came on April 21, 2000, way back when the news of the day was the international tug-of-war for custody of 6-year-old Cuban lad Elian Gonzalez. Little Elian is a teenybopper now. It's been that long for the Sooners and their fans.
The crazy thing is the Tulsa hex used to wear a different cap.
When Eliot Joyner smacked a go-ahead triple to help OU beat OSU 5-3 here back in 2000, it was then-Cowboy coach Tom Holliday who was fielding questions about a Drillers Stadium jinx. It was the Pokes' ninth defeat in the last 10 Tulsa-based Bedlams.
Jinx? What jinx? OSU run-ruled OU here in 2001 and has ruled 15th and Yale ever since.
Understand that the current Bedlam baseball jinx extends beyond the city limits. The Sooners haven't won any regular season Bedlam game since 2005, dropping three-game series to the Cowboys each of the last two years (though they did exact postseason revenge in Big 12 Tournaments).
After one of the sweeps, Pistol Pete caused a stir by brandishing a broom atop OU's dugout. Between the sixth and seventh innings Friday night, a few Sooner players glanced up to see Pete dancing to "Cotton-Eyed Joe," with their dugout roof serving as the hoedown floor.
Debate all you want about whether the actions of Petes, past and present, were out of bounds, but the bottom line for the Sooners is they should consider playing better if they don't like it. Or, perhaps, they should employ more players who know immediately after birth exactly what Bedlam stakes are.
Anyone armed with this season's racing form would have picked OSU to beat OU in the Bedlam series opener. The No. 8 Cowboys own their highest national ranking since 1999, they lead the Big 12 in batting average (four of the league's top 15 hitters wear orange) and their collective ERA of their pitching staff is the conference's second-best. Meanwhile, OU is struggling to reach the Big 12 Tournament.
But the other reason OSU looked like a sure bet was because of roster makeup. The Cowboys have 20 Oklahomans on their roster. The Sooners have five Oklahomans. Which team do you think places more importance on Bedlam?
It's a game for one team and a rite of passage for the other. Even first-time Bedlam participants on the OSU roster grew up knowing that, whatever sport it is, Cowboy-Sooner games are special. OSU first baseman Rebel Ridling said as much afterward.
Ridling was asked about OSU's victory streak over OU in Tulsa and wasn't sure what to make of it. "I don't know what it is," he said, adding that the Cowboys seem to play well here.
OSU never trailed in this game, taking the lead for good with a three-run second inning. Starting pitcher Andrew Oliver (Sooner coach Sunny Golloway called him the difference) escaped a bases-loaded trap in the bottom of the second and this bunch of Cowboys doesn't give up leads late in games. The Pokes are 31-1 when leading after six innings and 34-0 when leading after eight innings.
OU started a lefty pitcher, C.J. Blue who apparently would rather eat sod than give up a base on balls (one or zero walks in 13 of 14 mound appearances this season). Starting a left-hander should have given the Sooners a glimmer of hope. The Cowboys entered Bedlam with only a 5-4 record when facing southpaw starters. Didn't matter. Blue got chased one batter into the fifth inning, giving up nine hits and five earned runs.
Blue, following his Bedlam debut, said he doesn't believe one team can have another team's number.
"I don't think one team has the advantage over the other," he said. "We just need to execute a little bit better."
The Sooners will have to wait until next year, again, before they can try executing better in Tulsa.