Compare and Contrast - Class

Waino no bueno? *tear*
h/t @MatthewHLeach

I sat, stunned, as I saw twitter explode with the news that Adam Wainwright was heading to St. Louis with elbow trouble. My fears were realized when another explosion occurred in my little corner of the internet with the sad tale that Waino was going to be shut down for the year to have Tommy John surgery. I then became horrified when I heard of Jonny Gomes's comments about the matter.

So what I'm here to talk about today is this - class. Some people have it, others need it, and others need it defined for them before they can figure out how to get it.

*ahem*

What happened with Gomes frustrated me. The cover-up/spin put on it by the Reds organization/media made it seem all the more ridiculous that people allow themselves to say things like that without realizing that yes, your voice is being heard, and your words will be spread to the masses by lunchtime thanks to twitter, blogs, and the like. If you're looking for amusing thoughts on the situation, head over to Pitcher's Hit Eighth... Dennis did a better job injecting some amusement into the situation than I ever could.

I could handle the Gomes thing to a certain extent. At least someone was bright enough to tell him that he should probably apologize. He's in the spotlight. I definitely hit the eject button this afternoon though when I spotted a comment awaiting moderation from a Reds fan. It was posted on Erika's goodbye to Jason LaRue from back in September. I did not publish said comment due to the fact that it used no less than six words that I would not be allowed to speak at my grandmother's dinner table, much less publish as representation of a website that I belong to. What sparked such heinous comments months after the fact is absolutely beyond me. All I could think to say was, "Stay classy, Reds fans."

This morning I was directed to this post written by none other than Adam Wainwright himself. I was mesmerized while reading it. I already had a tremendous respect for Adam as a player, person, and Christian, but what I read in that post made that admiration grow exponentially. If I were him, I would have felt devastated with the news that my body had broken down on me at such a high point in my career. Instead he is looking at it as an opportunity, a way to spread God's love to others through his actions and words off of the diamond. He won't be gone though, as evidenced by this thought:

I absolutely hate the idea of missing this season with teammates. I think we have a real good shot to win the World Series. The group we have is really special, and I'll have my pom pom''s out in full force. But here's the deal. This injury, the one that makes me miss an entire year of baseball, has allowed me to stop missing what is right in front of me. I am blessed with an amazing God. A God who continues to teach me lessons in mysterious ways.

I love that! Waino's got class. He will be back. I hope Cardinal fans take after him, instead of spending their time firing dumb comments into the atmosphere in retaliation of what others say about our team.

2011's Top Five Cardinal Stories

I've been thinking about working on this UCB post for awhile now, but haven't really come up with anything worthwhile. Someone (not naming names since I don't remember) made it sound like I could write something sarcastic and completely nonsensical. Score!

So without further ado, here are our top five stories for 2011:

1. Adam Wainwright will win the 2011 NL Cy Young. Okay, this point is obviously legitimate. I really do believe Waino capable of beating out the fierce competition in the National League to take home the Cy. There are a lot of incredible pitching staffs floating around the senior circuit, from the Phillies on the east coast to the Giants on the west, not to mention the Reds, Brewers, and Cardinals in the middle of the country. There are big names like Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Zack Greinke. That said, I think Wainwright can match them, pitch for pitch, out for out.


Warning: That was probably the last 'prediction' that I actually think could happen. The rest is for my own entertainment.

2. Yadi starts a brawl in Cincinnati when Johnny Cueto kicks him in the shins during warm-ups. Who knows why he did it. Cueto that is. Yadi beat the crap out of him, and we know why that happened. Don't mess with Yadi... especially not his shins. Watch your back, Reds' players...





3. The amount of scrappy and/or gritty references made about the Cardinals infielders on various blogs, highlight reels, radio shows and Twitter will quite possibly reach infinity. Good grief. Every new player that has been signed this offseason (with the exception of Berkman who is definitely not the right size or shape to be considered for either) has been labeled with one of these two monikers. Theriot? Punto? What is this? We already had both of those guys, except they were Brendan Ryan, Aaron Miles, and/or David Eckstein, respectively. Can you have too much scrap or grit on one team? The Cardinals might be pushing the limit. Quick, someone find a big slugger to hold together the infield! It would help if he has a good contract that makes him a Cardinal for life.

Wait, what's that?

"Pay me my money."

Yes, sir! Get on it Mo!

4. All of our scrappy/gritty infielders come down with bird flu and Tony LaRussa, in a moment of desperation, begs that Mo undo's the trade with the Mariners for Brendan Ryan. A stretch? Sure. Don't look at me. Erika penned this one. I mean... it could happen.

5. Kyle Lohse's arm will fall off. Again... it could happen (but Erika says I should be nice). He's never known a normal injury for a pitcher, whether it was getting a broken wrist while batting, having an injury only known to long distance runners and motocross bikers, or coming down with that frustrating condition known as crap-itis. Oops, that wasn't nice. My bad.

Let me be perfectly honest - I want Lohse to do well. I hope he becomes the best fifth starter in the National League. But in my mind, the odds of him doing well compared to his arm falling off have to be about even by now.

*~*~*~*

If you're interested, check out the new UCB app for iPhone and Android by clicking on the little icon to your left. It's shiny and NEW! Also make sure that you check out the archive of all the Top 5 stories for this month's UCB project here.


Baseball season is almost here... just hold on a little longer Cardinal fans! :)

Stories of the Year - UCB Style!

*brushes away the cobwebs again* Hey... remember me? I work here, sometimes.*

Sometimes the holidays take up a truckload of time and you have to scramble at the last minute to finish getting something together so Daniel** doesn't come after you for not putting something together when you said you would for a UCB party. Well, better late than never. Actually, I don't think we're late since this will be posted before the new year. Win for us!

So here's our top five Cardinal stories of the year, but instead of waxing nostalgic, we're going to give you some older posts to bring back the warm fuzzy memories of baseball season. Okay, some of these are a little less than warm and fuzzy, but it's baseball, so why are you complaining?

Our Top Five:

1) Stan the Man winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom - The Cardinals made a big push for the President to award Stan Musial the highest honor a civilian can earn, and Cardinal fans embraced it whole-heartedly. Jacqueline once met Stan, and Cadence got to be there when Stan was honored at the end of the season at "Stand for Stan Day."

2) The Brawl in Cincy - Like this wasn't going to make our list? It was a crazy three game set with the Reds, which we were worked up about for weeks! The gut check reaction was probably my favorite, so look back with this piece called: Words? Meet Actions.

3) Great pitching - The Cardinals could not have gone as far as they did without stellar pitching this year. The two we're choosing to highlight are Adam Wainwright’s 20 wins and Jamie Garcia’s excellent rookie season.

4) Whitey elected to Hall of Fame - Okay, I'll be honest. We did not cover this very well at all. However, watching the Hall of Fame ceremony and seeing his acceptance speech was phenomenal. My favorite line? "Being elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame... is like going to heaven before you die." We apologize for glazing over it with this picture of the day. Are we forgiven?

5) Uninspiring play-uninspiring season - Well this is a downer to end with. We're going to point you back to our first "Girl Talk" piece, where we answer the question, "What was the most frustrating part about this year's team?"

2010 is over. Years from now, we might not really remember much about this season, but we here at the CDD have enjoyed our first year blogging and getting to know so many of you. Here's to a new year and a new season to look forward to. Go Cards!!!!!

*Apparently I work too much over at i70 Baseball. If you haven't been reading my off-season history stuff you can check out the archive here. Okay, end shameless plug.

**Daniel will not come after us. I went on the radio with him Wednesday night. I bought time with that one... I think. ;)

Oooof Course He Did...

Maybe he hurt his elbow taking this picture?
Photo by @CardsInsider

Fine: I'll admit it. When I got home from work yesterday and the first thing I heard was that Adam Wainwright - my boy, my favorite - might be shut down before his last start of the season after sleeping on his elbow wrong of all things, my only reaction was to say 'Of course he did!' out loud, alone, standing in the middle of my apartment. At this point, nothing will shock me.

Let's take a stroll down memory lane, shall we? I think we need to look at when all of our busted up boys were shut down...

May: Brad Penny pulls his oblique while hitting a grand slam. He is never seen from again.

June: David Freese rolls an ankle while running the bases. While rehabbing he drops a weight on his toe and breaks it. When he is finally sent out for a rehab assignment in Springfield during the first days of August he injures the same ankle rounding third bases. He has since had surgeries/procedures performed on *both ankles. Sheesh kid. They're called ankle braces. My volleyball girls wear them. You make more money than them. Invest.

Good thing you're cute... still, Erika's calling you
'Prince Boo-Boo Foot'... are you going to take that?
Photo from STL Post-Dispatch

August: Jason LaRue takes multiple shots to the face and head from the cleats of one Reds pitcher whose name is no longer mentioned within the confines of this blog. After suffering a severe concussion, the effects of which are still lingering over a month later, LaRue decides to retire from the game of baseball. His farewell posts have almost read like eulogies to me, so I don't even want to link 'em up for you (Sorry Erika...).

September: One year removed from Tommy John surgery, Jaime Garcia throws a career high innings total that eventually begins to catch up to him. Despite a very solid year in which he leads all rookie pitchers in pretty much every possible category, he was shut down by the team - not for physical issues, but as a preventative measure. I'm still on the fence about this one I guess, but I definitely will throw a 'plays like a Cardinal' tag on his locker for his plea to the powers that be to keep pitching after the premature announcement was made to the media for his abrupt end to the season before telling Jaime himself.

Ooooh the aching knees...
Photo by Scott Rovak

Also in September: Yadier Molina is a workhorse of a catcher. In the past two years he has caught more innings than all but two catchers in all of baseball. Squatting for minutes a day is no fun, so turn those minutes into hours and it's pretty clear that Yadi's knees have taken a beating. After being sent back to St. Louis for an MRI the announcement was made that Yadi's kaput for the year as well.

More in September: On Saturday in Chicago Blake Hawksworth was smashed in the face by a line drive off the bat of a Scrubbie (oops, forgot I'm not supposed to take shots at the Cubs on here. Hi Grandpa!) and was immediately taken to the hospital. I screeched when I saw it happen, and my first thought was 'broken nose' because those just suck (Personal experience? Yes). Somehow Blake escaped with no broken bones, but around 30 stitches to his upper lip and face. Yikes! Needless to say, I will not be seeing Blake over the last week of the season.

September isn't over yet?: Yesterday, as stated above, the announcement was made that Waino might be done for the year as well.

Please make it stop. There are only five of us here at the CDD, and we can only bandage so many boo-boos at a time. We love you boys and we want to take care of you, but we would really prefer that you take care of yourselves as well!

Of course, the announcement of Waino's possible end of the season came as I was writing a Baseball Digest piece about him. Do me a favor and head over to read it anyway, would you? It's called "Twenty Wins Is A Serious Number"... apologies, it was just too good a title to pass up! :)

Girl Talk - A Frustrating Year

We're trying something new here on CDD - a Monday morning roundtable, covering a different question to kick off the beginning of every week. You'll see answers from us and maybe even some guests from time to time! We are hoping to spark some discussion, so feel free to jump in on the comments and add your two cents!

This week's question: What is the one thing you would say was the most frustrating thing about this year's team?

Allen Craig can play baseball too!

Angela: I'm not sure there is any one thing, but for me it had to be all the jettisoned players that found their way on to the roster. Randy Winn, Aaron Miles and Jeff Suppan have all been designated for assignment this year and got picked up by the team for 'veteran presence.' Now, I am not of the #hpgf (Hyperventilating Prospect Geek Fraternity... and seeing as how I'm not a guy I guess I never will be), and I've never been overly excited about any one particular player, however I do remember being so excited at the beginning of the season seeing all of the "Baby Birds" hanging out on the roster. Joe Mather, Allen Craig, Tyler Greene... they were all there! 

What frustrated me was seeing all of those boys get sent back down to Memphis to make room for all the old fogeys. I won't be naive and say that those guys would have made the difference, and I will be enlightened enough to say that Jeff Suppan was serviceable and Aaron Miles wasn't a total waste of space... but I think the young guys could have done that as well. The overall makeup of the roster never came together. There were the superstars and the everyone elses. You could pin that kind of blame anywhere, from the front office making poor moves to Tony using poor lineups to players just not performing, but for me it had to be watching guys that were tearing the cover off the ball in Memphis get passed by in favor of those 'veteran presences.'




Jacqueline: First of all I love this idea. Way to go Angela and Erika for coming up with another way for us me to get to give my opinion. I look at it as our own little Cawffee Tawlk. Ya know, that great Mike Myers skit on Saturday Night Live where he played Linda, based on his Jewish mother in law, who loved two things: tawlking-giving her opinion and Barbra Streisand. So from now on just think of me(although I'm a shiksa) as Linda's sports loving sistah, Brenda. I have the big hair, shoulder padded sweaters, big glasses, the long nails, the jewelry and animal print clothing and accessories to fit right in. First let me say that Albert Pujols is my Barbra Streisand. He's like buttah. The man can do no wrong. And does he look good in that uniform! His toucas/tuches (bumm for us Gentiles) is a sight to behold! I get verklempt. 

Seriously, my biggest frustration is this: The sum is should be greater than it's parts.That's what is so frustrating about the 2010 Cardinals. The sum some how adds up to less than it's parts. On paper we look like a contending post season team. We have the games best player in Albert Pujols. The man was born to play baseball and wear the Birds on the Bat. If you designed the perfect player it would be Albert. We have two Cy Young caliber shut em down pitchers in Chris Carpenter and my favorite Cardinal Adam Wainwright.Oy vey! The toucas on Waino es Bueno! Like buttah! We have All Star catcher Yadi (don't even think of running on me) Molina. He's the best defensive and  game calling catcher in baseball. We've got Matt Holliday, one of the best hitters in the league. That is our core as Tony would say. We have a good 2nd year center fielder power or at least a doubles hitter in Colby Rasmus, an above average defensive short stop in Brendan Ryan and three very good rookies or newbies in Jaime Garcia, Jon Jay and David Freese. Add these up on paper and we looked like a great team. But...that's why we play the games. 


As Adam Wainwright said yesterday, we came out of spring training with every intention  of playing in the post season and making it to the World Series. What the what happened? We had players who didn't play up to expectations, others regressed to the mean, were slow to get up to par or were very erratic. We had injuries. Such is life in baseball. 


But still something major was missing. Spark, leadership, enthusiasm, killer instinct, will to win, never give upness, chemistry. Our parts added up to a great big pile of bupkes disappointment. "Discuss amooangst yooaselves"

Erika: Since I could easily just say "ditto" to both Angela and Jacqueline on their assessments (the early birds got the worms!), I am changing it up a bit and looking at the question from merely a spectator point of view.  

Biggest disappointment - on a purely aesthetic level:  Since June 27th there has been no David Freese in the lineup.  This season could have been so much better (looking) had Mr. Freese hung around at the hotcorner for more than 70 games.  

Plus Felipe Lopez then could have toodled around at SS or 2B instead of being assigned to 3B where he is not, shall we say, a "natural."  And then Angela might have been a happier member of the Less-Is-More Aaron Miles fan club.  All good reasons to support the theory that the absence of rookie stud Freese was the major disappointment of the 2010 Cardinal season.

Prince Boo Boo Feet

The Cardinals can of course make up for this disappointment pretty easily -  David Freese (a.k.a. Prince Boo Boo Feet) gets another shot at the hotcorner next season.  Maybe a pair of good ankle splints, some steel toe workout shoes and a megapack of bubble wrap could help protect those dainty hooves of his?  I'll help wrap!  ;)

Cadence: It is really hard for me to pinpoint an exact moment where the season went wrong. There are many things that have been frustrating, especially in the last 2 months, and trying to pick one might just be the reason that the season has turned so disappointing. We all know that the lack of wins by a team with a ton of potential and talent has to be the number one most frustrating thing; a team loaded with proven veterans like Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, and Yadier Molina and a group of young guys full of potential including Brendan Ryan, Jon Jay, Colby Rasmus and David Freese, it is hard to grasp why a team that came into the 2010 season with high expectations might finish just above .500 and second in the NL Central standings behind the Reds. What is even more frustrating is that when the Cardinals swept the Reds in early August and the team was defending itself, it only lead to a downward spiral. Even more frustrating than that, Jason LaRue was put on the 15-day DL, then the 60-day DL, then announced his retirement after a kick in the head by Johnny Cueto ended his season and eventually his career. We lost a great back up catcher and a great asset to our team for no good reason. Disappointing.

Brad Penny after his Grand Slam on May 21, 2010.  The last time
we saw him this season. (I was at this game)
Photo Credit: St. Louis Post Dispatch

So, I guess the conclusion I have come to is that the most frustrating thing about the 2010 season is the injuries and the (as I like to call them) leftovers used to fill the void. David Freese twisted his ankle and then hurt it again during his rehab assignment, Brad Penny strained his oblique muscle in May and we haven't even seen him since, Ryan Ludwick strained his hamstring and spent several days on the bench before finally getting DL-ed and then eventually getting traded a couple days after coming back, Colby Rasmus was injured off and on for parts of the season, and Kyle Lohse had a surgery that no one even heard of that we thought could end his season if not his career. We all know Lohse came back (disappointingly...sorry, Kyle) and Colby was able to work his way back into the starting lineup even with the TLR drama, but we lost Penny & Freese for the season, and Ludwick forever (sad face again). So, instead of allowing the farm guys come up, for the most part, wholes have been filled with leftovers; Randy Winn, Aaron Miles, Jeff Suppan. Sure, they have done their part and I don't hate them, but I still can not justify in my head that this was the best decision. A lot of spark was lost when the minor league guys left; in particular when Joe Mather got sent down, I think some of that energy in the clubhouse disappeared and I think a lot of Brendan Ryan's spunk went away too (we all remember Brendo-vision & the home movies). I could definitely notice a change in him at photo day when he spent less time chatting with fans than he did the year before. And that kind of thing is what I felt made the 2010 Cardinals what they were...fun and exciting, and this was all lost when injuries took over, baby birds didn't get much of a chance, and leftovers filled their place. The camaraderie wasn't as strong as I thought it might have been. My hope for next season is that David Freese comes back better than ever and we figure out how to fill positions (bench and other) with legitimate players. Here's to 2011!

Small Joys

This picture is merely saved on my computer
as 'Bueno.' (AP Photo)

That's all we have left for this year, isn't it? Small joys like Adam Wainwright winning his 19th and keeping his Cy hopes alive, watching the boys play a little small ball and score runs with smart baserunning and sacrifice flies, and just taking in the last few games of the season, knowing that the harsh winter lies ahead and there will be months on end where we wish we could turn on a game, any game, even if it is the Pirates and the Nats playing (okay... maybe that was too extreme).

Now, despite the fact that the Cards are still technically 'in the hunt,' and even though I am still rooting for a comeback, please do not mistake me for one of those delusional people who refuses to admit that the Cardinals will probably not make the playoffs this year. I'm still allowed to enjoy every last moment of this season, and enjoy it I will, thank you very much.

*ahem* Okay, I'm better now.

Something I think is interesting is the fact that the Cardinals are actually kind of playing the spoiler to a few other teams around the league right now. It makes perfect sense really. They can't figure out how to beat bad teams, but they beat the good ones (this has been well chronicled... I even did so myself a few weeks ago).  That's bad news bears for the over .500 teams they've been playing. Taking 3 of 4 from the Padres have dropped them out of the lead in the West, and while they were already in a tailspin before getting to St. Louis, they're definitely in trouble now. What will happen when the Rockies make it into town for the last series of the year? I've never really played the 'It's fun to crush other people's dreams' game before, but it is kind of fun now that I'm seeing it play out.

Cards are road tripping down to Florida for the make-up game that was rained out back in August today, then quickly hustling up to Pittsburgh to open up a three game set at PNC and rounding out the last road trip of the year with one last series in Chicago. With any luck at all the team will show some signs of life after recalling some fresh faces from down in Memphis. I'm hoping to see some Joe Mather and Daniel Descalso types running around on the field, and I know I am not the only one!

Speaking of our beloved Baby Birds, head on over to i70 to check out a comparison I did between our AAA kiddos and the big boys in St. Louis... 'A Tale of Two Teams'

Until next Monday... :)

The Week People Forgot About Baseball

What a depressing week to be a baseball fan. Don't get me wrong - I'm still going to watch the games, cheer for the boys, and hope for what is now getting to be dangerously close to mathematically impossible. But people keep talking about football... I'm not ready. I'm not ready for the season to be over. I'm not ready for baseball to be over. I'm not ready for Sportscenter to be 35 minutes of football, 10 minutes of hockey, 10 minutes of basketball and the last 5 for a quick baseball drop-in.

The Cardinals are playing the CUBS! Remember when we used to get excited about this?

No? You don't?

Well I do.

Guess what else?

Adam Wainwright is on the mound today.

Who? Hey, he's one of our aces. He's fighting for a chance at the Cy Young. Yeah, starting to ring a few bells in there? I hope so.

More things to watch? That Albert Pujols guy is still pretty good. He's still leading the league in home runs, RBI, runs, and intentional walks (I didn't even look this one up - I'm just assuming).

Did you know that Brendan Ryan is 9 for his last 20? He's riding a 5 game hitting streak, which isn't a lot, but it is for Brendan this year!

In minor league news...

• AAA - Memphis starts their best of 5 PCL championship series tonight against Tacoma. In the off chance that Waino has a rough outing, I'd advise jumping over to a Memphis broadcast to see how that game is going!
• AA - Springfield's season ended last night against NW Arkansas in the North Division playoffs. They ended the season with a regular season record of 76 wins!

Head on over to Baseball Digest and check out the numbers on what happens by the numbers when the Cards score runs.

Game time is 7:15. Go Waino! Beat the Cubs! :)

My Happy Place

Today, as I sipped coffee and pondered possible blog subjects, I suddenly knew exactly what to share.

Autographs from Whitey Herzon, Warren Spahn,
Adam Wainwright & Kyle Lohse, David Freese
and Colby Rasmus

We in Cardinals Nation are in dire need of a lift, and this weekend my baseball joy was renewed! Clearly not from a spectacular showing by our Redbirds as they continued their downward spiral and a shockingly unwavering ability to lose games to the lowliest of teams, the spirit boost came instead from the simple exercise of redesigning space.

We just completed a lengthy and much anticipated project in my household. And on Sunday I was finally able to put the finishing touches in my new favorite nook.

Most families have it – the place that never quite has a purpose other than “catch-all” - a room or a corner that collects random boxes, papers and clutter.  In our house it was the back bedroom.  Once it was a child’s bedroom, then it morphed into an office of sorts - consisting of a hand-me-down desk and file cabinet surrounded by odds-and-ends, our kids’ never-ending art projects and the dreaded pile of papers without a home.

My dear husband, who is the smartest, handiest but also the busiest guy around took on the task of carpentering a built-in desk, cabinets and a 10-foot-long work surface along the back wall (in his spare time – of which he has none.)  Every piece of clutter and errant paper now has a home and my chaos has been replaced with zen.

This morning I dropped the kids off at school anxiously anticipating the pleasure of returning to the peace and quiet of my new paradise.  Here in my own little corner of the house, in small town USA, far from any Major League venue, I am happy.  Why? Because after hours of framing pictures, preserving keepsakes, and finally pounding nails into walls and arranging the displays, I am surrounded by baseball memories lovingly collected over the past four years of my short love affair with the game.

My Wall of Fame
Including Dad's childhood glove autographed by Warren Spahn, Ed Mathews and Del Crandall

Baseball is a hobby that has forever changed my soul. The glorious sights and sounds of the game. The intrigue of discovering something new about the heralded pastime. The triumphs and tragedies of a long season. The players I have had the opportunity to meet. All these fan experiences have built the foundation for my devotion.  My passion is hardly unique as countless fans for generations have similar emotions about the sport. However, this weekend’s exercise of revisiting the highlights of my own baseball history reminded me that at this point in the season when my team is losing and the fun seems gone, the joy of baseball can survive.

2009 AAA Championship Game

It is a beautiful sight now. My baseball treasures have a new home, moved out from boxes and reunited from their various perches around the house.  My husband is glad to have his bedroom a baseball-free zone again, and a former junk room has been reclaimed in the name of home improvement. With just a glance, I can revisit memories of Spring Training adventures, AAA championship games, autographs and a growing stack of baseball cards that have found their way into my possession. And most importantly, irreplaceable family memories have finally been appropriately protected and preserved.

Spring Training 2010
Adam Wainwright, David Freese
 and Kyle Lohse 

The demands of day-to-day life (and baseball schedules) have the ability to dishearten and discourage. But a trip down memory lane reminded me that the enjoyment of this baseball hobby cannot be ruined by a slump or a bad season.  Baseball is simply bigger than that.

May you too find your ‘happy place’ until our boys regain their footing!

GO CARDINALS!  =)

Right Down To The Very Last Pitch...

When I got up this morning, I didn’t bother reading any headlines, articles or blogs about the Cardinals because I already knew what they would say.  It is what the weary beat writers and naysayers spout every morning after a loss and I am just plain tired of  the complaining about how the Cardinals can’t hit or the managers can’t manage or how our postseason chances are slipping away.

I may be one of the few Cardinal fans who will say this today, but I actually enjoyed yesterday’s game. Sure, the final score was crummy, but right down to the very last pitch, I knew we had a chance.  And the game was full of moments that made me smile.  Albert may not have hit his 400^th homerun, but he had a 3-hit night.  Matt Holliday sent one flying out of the park in the first inning. Jon Jay may have only gotten one hit, but I love that he tears out of the batters box and down the line to 1^st base trying to beat the throw on an easy infield hit.  Even Yadier Molina and his catcher’s knees had some extra energy as he ran the bases.  And of course there is Adam Wainwright and the way his determined piercing eyes give him an entirely different (scary) demeanor on a night he’s pitching.

In the 9^th inning when the boys came off the bench and sparked a rally, I thought “we are going to WIN this one!” Skip Schumaker, Randy Winn and Aaron Miles all made things happen.  Then Jon Jay’s RBI brought the Cardinals back within one run of tying the game. Even as Felipe Lopez stood in, switch-hitting at the plate with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the final countdown, I was glued to the television, firmly believing I would be witnessing a come-from-behind Cardinal victory.

But the victory celebration would have to wait.  The Redbirds lost and that’s the way it goes sometimes.  The Cardinals record will show an L for the August 24^th game against the Pirates, but that loss certainly does not tell the big picture for me.

If you haven’t figured out by now, I love baseball.  Warning: I am one of those fans who will occasionally cheer for the opposing team – not by mistake because I’m not paying attention, but because the hit or the play was just too good not to applaud.

So, even after a Cardinals loss like last night, I can smile because I saw some wonderful baseball.  Sure the wins and losses matter – they matter A LOT – but this is the game of baseball.  Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose.  Anything can happen and that is why they play 9 innings and why teams like the Pirates and the Cubs and the Brewer even bother to take the field.  And that is why each game has the potential to provide countless individual moments of baseball magic that keep us coming back for more, that give every fan hope and that make us believe our team can still win… right down to the very last pitch.

The boys are back at it again for the last game of the series against the Pirates tonight at 6:05 PM! Albert will hit that 400th homerun and the Cardinals will win - I just know it!  ;)

FYI:  Today you can catch my article "What Is It About Aaron Miles?!" over at i70baseball.com.  Love him or hate him, Miles is certainly an interesting Cardinal issue.  Here's the link - and thanks for reading!  

GO CARDS!!  =)

Jinxing Jay and Operation Jack

Yesterday I was bragging on darling Jon Jay (you can see the lovefest here) and he responded with an 0-for-4 night, striking out 3 times.  Today, I am avoiding any potential jinx by switching gears and bringing you a public service announcement instead.  Well.... a public service that gets you a face-to-face with some Cardinal ballplayers!  WIN!!

I know where you can find starting pitcher Adam Wainwright and Cardinal cutie Skip Schumaker on Saturday October 2nd!  =)

Do not miss this great opportunity to meet some of our St. Louis Cardinals, snag some autographs and help a great cause.  The event is to support Operation Jack, a charity to raise money for autism.  Our Twitter friend Scott, who is also a big Cardinals fan and writes for the wonderful Cardinals/Royals baseball website i70baseball.com, has helped coordinate this event.

If you would like more information, please visit the Operation Jack website at www.operationjack.org

or to find out more information about the autograph event, click here. 

Thanks for reading, spread the word and buy some tickets to meet Waino and Skippy!

And GO CARDS!!

Two Nights and An Afternoon in August

Talk about making a statement.

In sweeping the Reds, the Cardinals provided the heroics and dominated the villainous antics of the Reds to take a one-game lead in the NL Central. The series featured a familiar cast for anyone who’s read Buzz Bissinger’s classic “Three Nights in August”: Tony La Russa, Dusty Baker, Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds. Yet the drama and intrigue provided during these two nights and an afternoon went far beyond anything that happened during that pivotal August 2003 Cubs-Cardinals series.

Of course the main antagonist is well known by now: Brandon Phillips. The desperate-for-attention statements he made Monday provided him with the media attention he apparently craved, but also united the Cardinals as a team in a way we haven’t seen all season. Yes, the Cards have played with spark and energy at times – such as in April and during July’s eight-game winning streak – but these three games were different and more intense, particularly when they discovered what Phillips had said about them.

Yet even before the Cards knew how they’d been disparaged, they were on a mission during Monday night’s game when the combination of scoring seven runs in the fourth inning and Chris Carpenter’s pitching brought them victory.

Tuesday night, Yadier Molina played like a true Cardinal: standing up to Phillips’ shallow attempt to play nice after his words were blasted everywhere, and then hitting his most memorable home run since game seven of the 2006 NLCS. (The fact that Reds fans booed him the rest of the series, just like Mets fans still boo him today, proves how monumental the homer really was.) Jaime Garcia was able to rise above the literal fray that happened as he was ready to pitch and provided a solid performance that led the Cardinals into a tie for first place.

Yesterday the Cardinals completed their statement to the Reds and moved to a season-high 15 games over .500, thanks especially to birthday boy Colby Rasmus and Adam Wainwright. Waino further enhanced his Cy Young qualifications, moving into a tie with Ubaldo Jimenez for the league lead in wins with 17 and lowering his ERA to 1.99 (just above current leader Josh Johnson’s 1.97). His numbers for this month are astounding: three wins, one earned run allowed in 23 innings pitched for a minuscule ERA of 0.39, one complete game shutout (and he was certainly on track for another yesterday until the rain came). And those are only through Aug. 11!

His numbers weren’t the only impressive ones of the sweep. Matt Holliday hit .636 (7 for 11) during the three games and had four RBI. Including his Monday grand slam, Skip Schumaker hit .455 and had five RBI. Colby drove in six runs during the series. Yadi hit .417 for the three games, plus had a stolen base on Tuesday in addition to his homer. Jon Jay hit .385. Albert only hit .274, but his four walks definitely had an impact (particularly the intentional ones). Pitching-wise, the bullpen bounced back from last week’s struggles and turned in admirable performances. Fernando Salas especially deserves mention for his 1.2 innings pitched Tuesday night.

It was, by far, the series of the season.

Now, after a 4-1 road trip, the Cardinals return home and enjoy a day off today. Fittingly, after such an impressive sweep, they take on the Cubs this weekend for one night and two afternoons in August. (How can this really be the Cubs first time in St. Louis this season?) With Chicago currently in fifth place, the action won’t necessarily be as important as that August 2003 series – but it is still the Cubs vs. Cardinals, after all. And that always means something.



Now for a few chick comments …

Thanks to Twitter, Erika and I discovered we are not alone in our fascination with the now clean-cut Jason LaRue. His pre-game interview on Fox Sports Midwest to discuss his battle wounds from Johnny Cueto’s unbelievable form of fighting drew plenty of complimentary tweets yesterday morning. (There’s something rugged about seeing those stitches on his lip too, right? In addition to that scruff ...) Hopefully Jason will be healed up very soon and, more importantly, hopefully Cueto gets the punishment from MLB that he definitely deserves. If you didn’t have the chance to see Jason's interview, it’s available here.

In addition, the dugout shots of Jason and his fellow wounded warrior Chris Carpenter sitting side by side Tuesday night were great. When Dan McLaughlin mentioned that the two had just been shown on the kiss-cam at Great American Ballpark and Carp obliged by kissing his pal on the cheek, my immediate reaction on Twitter was where’s the footage of that? My sentiments were not unique, I was happy to find out, although we unfortunately never did see video or a photo of the moment. And I wonder how the camera operator in Cincinnati felt following the kiss? My guess is that person purposely chose Carp in hopes of getting some negative reaction from our fiery ace. So way to go, Chris, for smooching your buddy and showing your softer side to the Reds crowd. Your intensity not surprisingly returned when you were discussing the fight following the game (you can see his reaction on the Fox Midwest link also), and we once again saw the literal and figurative hot Carp who we love.






Photos: top, Gary Landers, Cincinnati Enquirer; bottom, New York Post

One Step Closer, and Looking at Wainwright's Cy Chances

Quite the game last night, wasn't it? Wow.

First, and most importantly, the Cardinals beat the Reds 7-3 thanks to their most productive inning all season: six straight hits (including an infield single from Yadi!) in the fourth that was capped by the first-ever grand slam from Skip Schumaker to give them six serious runs before there was even an out. During his second at-bat of the inning, Albert singled again to drive in the seventh run. And, with Chris Carpenter pitching, those were more than enough runs.

Ah, yes, Carp. No, there's not (yet!) a feud here over his displeasure with Brendan Ryan delaying the bottom of the first inning. (Thanks, C70!) But, really, haven't there been plenty of comments made throughout this season about a lack of fire and spark on the team, how they're just business-like out there and act like they don't really care? Then how can you complain when Carp understands the importance of this particular game and series, is all amped and ready to go, gets ticked when he has to wait because the guy who's always the last one to the field anyway (based on our observations last week) delays his start of the inning and Carp lets him know about it later? Angela made a good point during the game: that it might not have been noticed at all were it not for the ESPN cameras focused on the dugout. But the look of fear on Brendan's face that the camera did capture ... yeah, the Hyperactive Puppy won't be doing that again!

I could go on and mention the Jim Edmonds trade (who's next, Walt?) or Brandon Phillips (think he'll be regretting those comments?) but instead will switch gears a bit to talk about tomorrow afternoon's starter, Adam Wainwright. After his brilliant two-hit shutout last Friday against the Marlins, he's continuing to reassert his position as one of the top National League pitchers. So what are his chances for winning a well-deserved Cy Young Award this season? That's exactly what I explored for Baseball Digest, which you can find here.

With all the drama and entertainment that the first game of this series provided, it's hard to know what to expect tonight. Here's to Jaime bouncing back from his outing-we-want-to-forget last Tuesday and providing another dominating performance again tonight. Because a win will bring those magic words "first place" back once again ...

Go Cardinals!!

July in Review: Good Cards, Mediocre Cards

Well, how about that month of July? Wow. It’s like the Cardinals were two different teams – playing, as Bernie Miklasz described it on Twitter during that 13-inning game against the Mets, bipolar baseball. The Good Cards were definitely more fun to watch, while the Mediocre Cards were just frustrating.

Record-wise, the Cards definitely were good: 15-11. A big part of that win total was the Good Cards 8-game streak, the longest since winning 9 straight in 2004, which began the Sunday before the All-Star break and continued through July 21. Before the All-Star break, the Mediocre Cards were definitely taking the field nightly. We don’t want to remember much of that, given that the sweep at Colorado was part of it. And right after the 8-game streak ended, the Mediocre Cards reappeared again – and even were shut out in back-to-back games for the first time since 1995.

And it’s interesting when the Good Cards and the Mediocre Cards tended to appear in July. The Cards record at home for the month was 11-3 – including 7 of the 8 wins of the streak. On the road – traveling to Colorado, Houston, Chicago and New York – they were 4-8. Ouch.

It wasn’t necessarily only the team that was Good and Mediocre – Chris Carpenter exemplified that trend perfectly in July. He had his worst start of the year July 3, allowing 7 earned runs in the 3 innings pitched. The start after that, he gave up 4 earned runs in 6 innings. Then he headed to Anaheim as an All-Star and, though he didn’t pitch during the game, he’s certainly pitched like an All-Star ever since: two 8-inning outings where he allowed only 1 run, a 7-inning outing against the Cubs where he allowed 3 runs and his start Friday night where he pitched 8 scoreless innings. Thankfully, though, Mediocre Carp seems to have faded away. Let's hope the same can be said for the Mediocre Cards.

The Cardinals started July 1 1/2 games behind the Reds and ended the month a half-game ahead of them and in first place. Let’s hope the Good Cards continue what they started this weekend, with the offense being so productive.

So who helped make the Good Cards and Mediocre Cards have the kind of July we went through?

Biggest surprise
Jon Jay
We knew he was having a terrific month, and he hit .431 in July with a .500 on-base percentage and .647 slugging percentage. He’s hitting .383 overall. And he’ll continue to play regularly now, thanks to the (unfortunate) trade of Ryan Ludwick to the Padres at the trading deadline. So, yay for Jay!


Other surprises
Kyle McClellan
Although he was the losing pitcher in the 11-inning loss to the Phillies to end the 8-game winning streak, Kyle actually had a great month. He allowed only that one run – via a homer by Placido Polanco – in 14.1 innings pitched over 12 games. His ERA for the month was 0.64.

Jason LaRue
Although he gets mentioned more for the clean-cut look we all approve of, the back-up catcher hit well during his limited playing time in July. He had a .385 batting average with a home run in 7 total games.


Biggest disappointment
Trading Ryan Ludwick
Yes, it still stings. Luddy, we already miss you!


Other disappointments
Albert Pujols
While his numbers aren’t bad, they aren’t Albert-like and he began August with a .299 batting average. His average for July was .267, his worst for any month this season, and he also had a season-low 11 walks for an on-base percentage of .333 (also a season-low).

Ryan Franklin
Although he had 4 saves, he allowed 6 earned runs in 10.1 innings pitched for the month. Yes, those runs all came in one particular game we’re all trying to forget … but Ryan still had a 5.23 ERA for July.


Welcome
Mike MacDougal
He made his Cardinals debut against the Mets on July 28, picking up the win in the 13-inning game with a scoreless inning. He pitched 3 scoreless innings in 3 games at the end of July, allowing only 1 hit. And, based on Twitter, there are plenty of us who are willing to take him out for some pasta and help him gain a few pounds!


Best game
July 18
Cardinals 5, Dodgers 4
When the lineup was announced, everyone basically wrote this off as a loss – no Albert, no Yadi, Jeff Suppan pitching. And the Dodgers had a 4-0 lead in the seventh inning, but that's why they play the games. The Cards came back and won, thanks to birthday boy Allen Craig – picking a fantastic way to celebrate turning 26 – and All-Star Matt Holliday, who drove in the walk-off winning run in the bottom of the 9th.


Worst game
July 6
Rockies 12, Cardinals 9
Does anything more need to be said? (If you somehow need to refresh your memory, here you go.)


Pitcher of the month
Adam Wainwright
Even with his worst game of the season against the Mets on July 28, Adam still finished the month with a 3-1 record and a 1.85 ERA – and with a scoreless inning pitched during the All-Star Game. His 14 overall wins at the end of July were second in the National League, his ERA of 2.23 was third and his WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) was fourth with 1.03.


Player of the month
Jon Jay
One more time: yay for Jay!


Although there's only been one game in August so far, it was definitely a great showing by both the offense and the continued stellar pitching of Adam Wainwright. And now tonight will bring the Cardinals debut of Jake Westbrook – as well as the first of two Cardinals Diamond Diaries nights at Busch Stadium! (You mean that's not listed on your schedule?) It's a road trip for the three of us and the chance to watch the next two games together, which we are all highly anticipating! So we'll be taking a little break from posting until later in the week. In the meantime, GO CARDINALS!!



Photo of the game of the month by Chris Lee, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Production by the Pound plus Pics!

Well, I guess I do have to say something about the disaster - at least mention the trauma so that we can move on to happier thoughts...

The Cardinals' 8-2 pounding by the pondscum (Mets) is something we all want to forget, nobody more than pitcher Adam Wainwright.   
You know it's bad when the postgame show's 'Great Play' of the game is video of a confusing onfield delay during the 2nd inning when Yadier Molina suddenly decided he needed sunglasses behind the plate and everybody from Blake Hawksworth to Brendan Ryan and finally Albert Pujols himself was involved in fetching Yadi his shades.


On the bright side... with 2 hits in the game, Brendan Ryan now has a batting average above .200!   Oh, the simple pleasures...


Changing the subject.....

Today, I have a piece over at i70baseball.com that delves into statistics (I can hardly keep a straight face typing that!) analyzing our Cardinals' batting based on their body weight.  Who gives the most bang for their hunk?
Find out here!


Now, how about a few pictures, yes?

Ooh, someone finally caught at least a little of Chris Carpenter's tattoos!
Nam Y. Huh - AP

'Can't catch me - I'm the gingerbread man!'
Scott Rovak - US Presswire

'Being elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame... is like going to heaven before you die.'
Congrats Whitey!
Jim McIsaac - Getty Images

If those aren't the craziest eyes you've ever seen...
Dilip Vishwanat - Getty Images

Brendan says, 'When are you going to learn? You don't run on Yadi!'
Dilip Vishwanat - Getty Images