Rosetta: Intangibles set Tigers apart in ’09

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jul 6, 2009 - Page: 1C

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Talent usually takes a team a long way, sometimes further than expected.

Coaching is a key element as well, especially when a head coach and his staff mesh, are on the same page and team up to make what seems like the right decision every time.

Together, those two elements are often strong to conjure up a championship, and that’s really the bottom-line goal for every athlete, coach and fan.

Sometimes, though, a team wins with a little more flair.

There’s a chemistry running through that team’s veins that endears it to fans more than a champion that relies strictly on talent.

That’s what the 2009 LSU baseball team had and that is a big reason why this crew of Tigers is destined to be one that fans will look back on for years and smile.

There’s a popular country song out by the Zac Brown Band called “Whatever it is.” The singer croons about a special woman, saying “She got whatever it is.”

That fits the Tigers. They’ve got plenty of it.

Talent? Tons of that.

Players picked in the first, second, fifth (two), 10th and 11th rounds of the Major League Baseball draft.

That’s only the tip of the iceberg when you consider where players like Anthony Ranaudo, Micah Gibbs, Leon Landry, Matty Ott, Mikie Mahtook, Tyler Hanover and Austin Nola will be picked in the next few years.

Coaching? Third-year head man Paul Mainieri and assistants David Grewe, Javi Sanchez and Will Davis might be the best collection of baseball minds at LSU since the heart of Skip Bertman’s 17-year tenure.

But the intangibles put this team on a pedestal.