Is Augie Garrido the Bob Knight of College Baseball?

[MudHorn]

From the Alcalde website:

Both Knight and Garrido are fierce competitors, which is to say that they hate losing so much that they have been known to lose their minds under two distinct circumstances: after a perceived slight by the ref or umpire, or when a player or players aren’t performing.

Here’s the truth, as I see it: Garrido is a better version of Knight, a fiery winner who gets close to that line, dips his toes over, but never fully crosses, which is where the two coaches depart.

I asked Stuart Reilly, BA ’01, who you may remember from last week, to summarize Garrido in one sentence. He decided to respond in Haiku form, which I suppose is acceptable:

likes to bunt a lot
has a lot of famous friends
they say he is Zen

 

[NBHorn7]

Bobby Knight doesn't care what anybody thinks of him and acts the same way in public or private. He is consistent in that way and I don't think he knows how to be any other way. He is the same way whether on the court of off. Remember how he got in trouble over his dealing with a student when he was at Tech and his famous fights with media.

Augie seems like he can turn it on and off and is different when he is off the field. I used to talk to Augie every time we would play Fullerton and once the game was over he was very cordial. He can go toe to toe with Knight when it comes to a profanity laced tirade, but it is just to his team. He doesn't do that with fans and media like Knight did and still does if provoked.

Somehow profanity laced tirades and Zen don't exactly go together. I don't remember the real Zen master coach Phil Jackson, having a lot of those. Augie does talk about the game of baseball like it's a person he knows and has a love/hate relationship with.

I think we all have a love/hate relationship with sports because of the highs and lows it can bring. Those of us that have a pretty strong attachment with baseball know how it can give and take away, but like a lover we adore, we wouldn't want baseball to ever leave us for good.

 

[Statalyzer]

I will say it's always a bit embarrassing when a coach or player loses their cool over a call that turns out to have actually been the correct call.

 

[UT Horn Fan]

I will say it's always a bit embarrassing when a coach or player loses their cool over a call that turns out to have actually been the correct call.

Only that didn't happen this weekend. On the play where Augie was ejected, the umpire missed two calls: 1) the runner left the base path to avoid the tag; and 2) he was tagged.

If a coach sees that an umpire misses a call, I expect him to call him on it. It's the coach's responsibility to stand up for his players and the integrity of the game. Although the integrity of the game is going to take a hit anytime a Big XII umpire crew takes the field.

 

[BevoBeef]

Augie seems like he can turn it on and off and is different when he is off the field. I used to talk to Augie every time we would play Fullerton and once the game was over he was very cordial. He can go toe to toe with Knight when it comes to a profanity laced tirade, but it is just to his team. He doesn't do that with fans and media like Knight did and still does if provoked.................................. Somehow profanity laced tirades and Zen don't exactly go together.

Although I am not saying that he does not have a temper, I could bet that some of this in-your-face tirade is part of an act. It was not a coincidence that the game could have gone either way when AG was tossed in the 2nd W.Va game. A team can rock along and really sometimes need a shot in the arm to build a momentum. A zen master like Augie always has that in the back of his mind and looks for the right spot to truly fire his team.

I think you have to keep in mind that Kevin Costner is his good friend and that Augie has even appeared in the movies. So acting lessons have been there in his past. AG is not the coach with the most wins just because he can teach the mechanical fundamentals of baseball.