Posted by Big Ron on June 04, 21 at 08:07:38:
Strange interview with Ray Anderson on 247 Sports. Anderson sort of restates his goals for elite programs, but then sort of says that fans should temper their expectations. He also called Smith’s contract a COVID extension. Not exactly a vote of confidence. Ray remains a shifty target.
Q: Do you think that there may be a segment of ASU baseball fans whose expectations are too high in light of the success that the program had for many, many years through (former head coach) Pat Murphy? How would you assess what is realistically achievable for ASU baseball? Do they fall within that top-three Pac-12, top-15 national category? How would you describe it?
A: That’s where we want all of our teams. To be under [former ASU head coaches] Bobby Winkles and then (Jim) Brock and then Murphy, had some success. Last World Series here was in 1981. Murphy didn’t win a World Series, Esmay didn’t win a World Series, Brock I think won one or two but that’s a long time ago. It really doesn’t matter what I think of the expectations of the fans. It’s the fact that the fans here at ASU baseball believe that this is an elite baseball program and should always be. We accept that as the perspective and therefore the reality that we have to strive for. We have to figure a way to get our program back into the discussion of being a World Series participant and a consistent threat year-in and year-out. That’s where we want to be. We haven’t been there in a long time but the fact is our fans believe it and they have long memories going way back to the 70s and 80s and they project that forward to now on ASU baseball. That’s just the pressure we all live and operate, including the coaches and the administration and the [athletic director], respectively. We just have to keep figuring out a way to try and deliver on those expectations and it doesn’t matter whether or not I think they’re realistic or not. Our fanbase believes they’re realistic and that’s what we have to work towards.