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. ;)

From all of us to all of you...

When Erika came to me during spring training this year with the idea of starting a blog, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Every new opportunity that has presented itself to us over this season was new and exciting, and constantly reminded us why we had jumped into this crazy writing world. We've enjoyed everything, from our work with Baseball Digest and i70 Baseball to all of the fun projects that Daniel and the guys over at United Cardinal Bloggers throw our way.

We posted the UCB's November project last week, which was the Blogger Awards. Our ballot can be found here. The results were posted over the weekend, and imagine our surprise to have picked up two different awards! We are both honored and blessed to have been recognized by the other bloggers as both the most optimistic blog and the rookie blog of the year. You can check out the entire results list here, and if you are not reading all of the other blogs that won various awards, make sure to get them in your readers asap!

It is safe to say that we are thankful for all of you. Whether you are reading our work for the first time or the hundredth, talking about the Cardinals with all of you and hearing your thoughts and responses about various posts and topics is what makes all this hard work worth it. There is no better baseball community than Cardinal Nation, and sharing that love for defensive gems, long home runs and biting curveballs is a joy.

Thank you.

Stay safe this holiday weekend, and keep watching that countdown clock!

2010 Cardinal Blogger Awards Ballot

Each year the United Cardinal Bloggers put out postseason awards. Since there were four of us voting, of course we had to make it into a little roundtable back and forth between the four of us, if for no other reason than because it gave us an excuse to chatter about the boys together for a couple days over email!

So without further ado, here is our ballot for this year...

Cardinal Bloggers Awards

2010 Ballot

1. Player of the Year
–Matt Holliday - Erika surprised no one with this vote, saying, "Holliday, because I love to watch him.  More reasons? Because he rallied back after a dry spell and played like every out mattered to the bitter end.  Everyone is going to say Albert because he is Albert.  But I think Matt gets a nod here too."
–Albert Pujols - Erika was outvoted. Jacqueline said it best, "Best player in the game from Opening Day to Oct. We are blessed to watch him play. Doesn’t take him half a season to 'warm up'."
–Colby Rasmus
–Write-in: _______________

2. Pitcher of the Year
–Chris Carpenter
–Jaime Garcia
–Adam Wainwright - Did you even have to ask? Now that he has officially taken home 2nd place in the Cy Young voting, it's a no brainer who the best pitcher was for the Cards this year... and no, I'm not saying that just because he's my favorite. This one was unanimous! The announcement yesterday also tripped a clause in his contract that will most likely (provided he does not end 2011 on the DL - please no!!) keep Adam in the birds on the bat through 2013. Consider this our CDD happy dance of the day!
–Write-in: _______________

3. Game of the Year
–April 5 at Cincinnati–Opening Day, 2 HR from Pujols, slam from Molina
–May 30 at Chicago–Pujols three home runs
–July 18 vs. Los Angeles–Five runs in eight and ninth to win
–July 19 vs. Philadelphia–Four home runs
–August 10 at Cincinnati–Brawl, home run from Molina - Well now you know what gets our blood boiling! Erika chimed in with, "Finally we played with real passion and it finally looked like it would propel us into first and keep us there…..Not exactly." I think all of us in Cardinal Nation had our blood boiling during that series, and to fall flat and not ride that adrenaline high or whatever you want to call it right through to October was a definite letdown after the smackdown the Cards laid on Cincy that weekend.
–Write-in: _________________

4. Surprise Player of the Year - One of the bummers with having 4 votes is that we completely split. While I tried to be the deciding vote in most of these, I couldn't make it happen here. So here's our tie!
–David Freese - Erika and Jacqueline sat firmly in this camp, with Jacqueline saying, "Complete player. Hot bat, good glove, bad ankles."
–Jaime Garcia - Cadence echoed my thoughts with this one, "Although I knew he would be good, I wasn’t expecting Jaime to come out like this.  Awesome to watch." I absolutely felt the same way. Every time I saw Jaime pitch this year was awesome! I'm looking forward to see him and Waino taking turns shutting down the opposition for many years to come.
–Jon Jay
–Write-in: ________________

5. Disappointing Player of the Year
–Kyle Lohse - Jacqueline
–Dennys Reyes
–Brendan Ryan
–Write-in: Brad Penny - Cadence says, "I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from Penny, but not seeing him again after the Grand Slam was a surprise to me.  Did anyone know the injury would be that bad?  Even Kyle Lohse had surgery and came back (while not necessarily good, he came back).  Even better, we hear in the offseason that Penny spent his “hard earned” Cardinal cash on an engagement ring."  Disappointing. Ang agrees, and that became the deciding vote.
Erika did not vote in this one, hysterically (predictably?) saying, "I can’t even answer this one!  Calling any of them disappointing would be too mean!  Haha  Help!!" Don't worry - we got your back on this one!

6. Rookie of the Year
–Jaime Garcia - Another unanimous vote for us. I was pulling for Jaime in spring training to snag that fifth spot in the rotation. I wasn't exactly expecting him to hold down the third spot for most of the year! It would have been unfair to have such lofty expectations for the 24 year old who was rolling out of Tommy John surgery rehab, so we've chalked him up as a "pleasant surprise"... one that we hope to see again in 2011!
–Jon Jay
–Fernando Salas
–Write-in: _________________

7. Acquisition of the Year
–Aaron Miles
–Brad Penny
–Jake Westbrook - Jacqueline took the words right out of my mouth when she responded with, "Is this question for real? Brad Penny won four games and spent the rest of the season Dancin with a Star. Miles really didn’t do too badly, just wasn’t a huge game changer. Westbrook could be a good acquisition if he stays a Card." Guess what? We win!
–Write-in: ________________

8. Biggest Off-Field Story
–Jaime Garcia’s shutdown without him knowing - I'm pretty sure that I knew Garcia had been shut down before he did. That's pretty impressive. Erika's got a point here, "Hard to pick between this and the Colby story.  But the Garcia shutdown was fascinating because it involved how social media and twitter can directly affect  the communication (or lack of) within a professional sports team.  The fans knew before Jaime?  That still amazes me.  Do the players like or loathe twitter?  A curious question."
–Mark McGwire’s return to baseball
–Colby Rasmus’s trade request
–Write-in: _____________

9. Most Anticipated Cardinal - Shoot, another split vote. Daniel's going to be maaaaaad...
–Zack Cox - Cadence and Jacqueline went for this year's number one draft pick, saying, "Supposed to have a major league ready bat. 3rd baseman who might be moved to 2nd. Bring it on!"
–Lance Lynn
–Shelby Miller - Last year's number 1 draft pick spent the year at high A Quad Cities, and Erika and I are waiting to see if he lives up to the hype, but I know we both realllllly want him to.
–Write-in: ________________

10. Best Individual Cardinal Blog
–Write-in: C70 - The first blog that comes to mind, and Jacqueline was just kidding when she added, "Very informative-great writing. I could be sucking up."

11. Best Team Cardinal Blog
–Write-in: PH8 - Each one of the guys over at Pitcher's Hit Eighth gives a different point of view. Sounds kind of like us!

12. Best Media Blog
–Bird Land - Derrick Goold is probably our collective favorite scribe for the Cardinals, and his depth of research makes every piece worth the read.
–Cardinal Beat
–Obviously, You’re Not A Golfer
–Write-in: _______________

13. Best UCB Project
–Cardinal All-Decade Team
–Progressive Game Blog
–Roundtables - Far and away the winner here. Cadence said it best, "While I couldn’t participate every time, I really enjoyed the banter.  Cool way to get a lot of bloggers in one place."
–Write-in: ______________

14. Most Optimistic Cardinal Blog
–Write-in: C70 - We were basically unanimous here, although Jacqueline chipped in with, "We’re Card fans. Even when we’re discouraged or angry, we know it’ll get better. We ain’t the Mets or God help us…the Cubbies." In that case, we all win this award!

15. Funniest Cardinal Blog
–Write-in: Joe Sports Fan - Is there something amusing going on in the sporting world? Do you need amusing photoshop pictures to brighten a strange situation (the Colby/Tony spat comes to mind)? Are you entertained by people obsessed with mustaches? Matt and Josh have you covered. Trust us - you'll laugh daily!

16. Rookie Cardinal Blog of the Year
–Cardinal Diamond Diaries
–i70baseball - We've obviously got a lot of respect for all the hard work that goes into i70 on a daily basis, from the writers to the editors to the *cough* photo gal *cough*. Those of you that read us but not i70... umm... where have you been???
–RetroSimba
–Welcome To Baseball Heaven

–Write-in: _______________

UCB Roundtable - Day 4

Welcome to Monday's Girl Talk... except, this week, we let the boys join in! Before you gasp in shock, let me explain. Each year the United Cardinal Bloggers does a roundtable discussion in October, with the bloggers taking turns asking a question. Today is ladies's day, so read through our question and the boys of the UCB answers, then head over to the UCB website and check out the full calendar of questions and sites. Enjoy!


Our question won't surprise most of you, given our love of the Baby Birds. We wanted to know which of our beloved Baby Birds that were wandering the grass of Busch Stadium throughout the year should be looked at as permanent members of the squad next year, either as regulars or bench guys. We also asked which players should get the longest looks in the spring and which of the boys the team should (*gasp*) cut ties with, whether through trades or releasing them. I included the names Daniel Descalso, Allen Craig, Mark Hamilton, Fernando Salas, Joe Mather, Tyler Greene, Matt Pagnozzi and Bryan Anderson, but the responses threw out a couple other names as well. I'll toss it over to the boys, then chime in with my thoughts at the end...

Daniel (C70 At The Bat)

I think Salas has established himself as a strong bullpen presence and should be a front-runner for a bullpen slot next year.  Craig looks like he's good for at least a platoon slot in the outfield and Descalso should be a capable bench guy, though I'm not completely sold on him taking over second for Schumaker.

As for the catchers, I think they should keep Bryan Anderson; it's obvious they are going to keep Matt Pagnozzi.  Anderson needs to be traded, because he's not going to get the shot he needs in St. Louis.

The rest, I don't mind having them in the system, don't mind them getting spot time in the bigs, but if the club can get something for them, so be it.

Dennis (Pitchers Hit Eighth)

The one player who I think should be penciled in as a regular next year is Salas. I believe that his 30 innings pitched represent just large enough a sampling to pass judgment on him, and his 3.52 ERA is lower than both Boggs and Miller. I'd like to see Craig make the team as well, but I have reservations about his ability to be effective as a platoon player or pinch hitter.  He seems like he's best suited for an everyday slot that affords him 500+ plate appearances a year.  Unless a slot opens due to trade/injury, I just don't see that opportunity there for him right now. 

The situation at catcher deserves some real consideration.  At 23, Anderson should probably be the catcher of the future.  If Pagnozzi is the backup coming out of spring training, and the Cardinals force Yadi to sit more games, the trade value for Pagnozzi could rise.  Pagnozzi could be traded by the deadline, and Anderson could be bumped up.  If needed, Descalso may be a viable option at 2B, but I haven't seen enough of him to feel comfortable writing his name in the lineup there.  As for Green (27), Hamilton (26), and Mather (28), they are starting to feel like "players to be named later".

Pip (Fungoes)

One player who showed some promise in limited action was Daniel Descalso. He demonstrated excellent plate discipline and offers versatility at two positions where the team has the most doubts, second base and third base. Assuming he's not traded this winter, Bryan Anderson should get some exposure not for a spot on the 25-man roster but in order to showcase his talent for a trade.

Which players should the team consider cutting ties with, whether through trades or releasing them?

Anderson, certainly, because he is blocked as both a starting catcher and a backup. Craig and Mather offer largely the same skill set, so the team needs only one. And depending on what happens with Albert Pujols, Mark Hamilton will either be superfluous or a good-buy (and goodbye) replacement.

Joseph (The McBrayer-Baseball Blog)

Joey Bombs Mather, may not get anything in return.

Dustin (Welcome To Baseball Heaven)

As far as guys who could become permanent members of the squad next year I'm leaning towards Salas, Pagnozzi and Allen Craig. Fernando established himself as a viable option out of the pen as a middle reliever this past season. I could be wrong but I'm assuming with a solid spring that Matt Pagnozzi will be Yadi's backup next year. I'm thinking Allen Craig will get the nod over Joe Mather as an outfield bench option. I'd also like to see Descalso get a long look next spring as a utility guy in the infield.

That leaves names such as Mather and Greene on the outside looking in. I do bounce back and forth a lot on what to do with Craig and Mather, but the organization needs to make a choice and possibly move one. As far as Tyler Greene I just don't know. He seems to have a never ending case of the yips every time he makes an appearance in St. Louis. 

Mark (RetroSimba)

Salas should help the bullpen in 2011. He could be an upgrade over Hawksworth. Craig is a better hitter and run producer than he showed in the majors this year. He should have a role as a bench player with St. Louis in 2011. Descalso should compete for a utilityman role.

I agree that Anderson should be given a long look in the spring, and Cards should make a decision to keep him or trade him.

I agree that Mather and Hamilton have no futures with this club, and should be traded.

Tom (Cardinals GM)

Salas is in. He looked sharp and deserves a bullpen shot. Craig I would keep as an extra outfielder,. He show the prowess to get some hits and a spot starter. 

After that, I am not handing out spots just yet. I believe the backup to Molina will be/and needs to be a veteran (can you insert walkaway Dioner Navarro here?) Pagnozzi needs more daily reps in Memphis. Anderson needs to be somewhere else, in a package trade and Delscaso just needs to show us in Spring Training he is ready. The rest can play AAAA ball

Cole (Redbird Report)

I'd say Fernando Salas. He was solid just about every time he stepped out there this year. Also, you can't ignore his 19 saves and 0.98 WHIP that he posted in AAA this season. He clearly has good stuff, and it wasn't just at the minor league level.

In 27 games with the Cardinals, Salas posted a 3.52 ERA and struck out 29 in 30.2 innings pitched. With Franklin aging (and struggling) I wouldn't be surprised to see Salas get looks in the ninth inning next year. He'll certainly be an eighth inning guy at the very least. 

Bill (I-70 Baseball)

I am of the belief that a good portion of the Cardinals Minor League system are nothing more than career minor leaguers.  

Craig, Mather, Greene could all be traded or cut loose and I honestly would not notice or care (sorry, Erika).

That being said, as for "long looks" next Spring, I would like to see Descalso, Anderson, and Pagnozzi be given every opportunity to play themselves out of a job.  Fernando Salas needs to be a part of this bullpen.  

Hamilton is intriguing, but projects as a first baseman.  Let's hope he's blocked. 

Finally, I think there are a few guys that need to get a look in Spring to determine where they belong this year.  Guys like Matt Carpenter and Darryl Jones need to be evaluated and determine where there future is and how quickly it is coming. 

Goodness. Not much love for some of our favorite Baby Birds, is there? Last I checked Erika hadn't read any of these responses... I think we should all be crossing our fingers that she hasn't made it this far into today's post. If she has, sorry dear, but I'm going to probably agree with all of the above. 


I want Pags and Anderson given shots to make it on the roster as Yadi's back-up, but whichever one doesn't make it should probably just be traded ASAP, because it's not worth keeping them both around anymore. 


I think Descalso will become next year's Tyler Greene if he doesn't make the roster. He'll be the first one up to be the bench guy. In all honesty I want him to have a strong spring and oust Skippy for second base, but I'm not sure he'll get that much of a chance.


Salas is here to stay. He put it a lot of miles this year between Memphis and St. Louis, and played well everywhere he went. Keep him around.


Craig needs consistent playing time. If he can get it in St. Louis and finally put up the numbers he's been putting up in Memphis he'll stick. If not, sayonara. 


The rest? You all know I love Joe Mather, but I don't see him ever being anything more than a AAAA guy (*sheds a tear*). Tyler Greene has never impressed me at the big league level. Ever. His defense isn't as good as Brendan, his bat isn't as good as Skip, and I have to believe that there will be someone standing at third not named Tyler Greene. I like the look of Mark Hamilton, but if he is manning first for the Cardinals in the coming years, that means Albert is not. I'm not sure I'm ready to deal with that idea.


Now, we just included players that were actually on the big league squad at some point this year. There are still plenty of names and faces coming up through the ranks of the Cardinal minor league system... but it might be awhile before the calvary comes riding in. Just sayin'. 


Thanks to Daniel and the rest of the UCB team for letting us join in on the fun, and be sure to check in over at the official site to see some of our responses to other questions throughout the month of October! Oh hey, while I've got you here, yesterday my newest post went up at I-70 Baseball, checking out the Cardinals from 1900-1905. Give it a look and let me know what you think!

2010 UCB Progressive Game Blog: 7th Inning

This is the third year that the United Cardinal Bloggers (UCB) have done a progressive game blog, and we here at Cardinal Diamond Diaries are very excited to be joining in on the fun this year. If you want to start at the beginning, head over to the pre-game post at UCB. We are taking a look at the 7th inning, so there is a lot of game to catch up on before we get into the action. If you're coming to us from Redbird Rants, then welcome! If you want to back up and see what Ryne had to say about the 6th, click here! We'll wait ... back? Okay, we're picking things up with a 4-0 Cubs score ...

Top of the 7th

Chris: Thankfully, the bottom of the 6th ended – but it gave the Cards an even bigger hole to dig their way out of now. Luckily, the right guys are coming up in the top of the 7th. The Cards still have just 1 hit as the inning starts. Carlos Silva has a career high in strikeouts, with 10 going into this inning.

The shadows are across the plate at Wrigley, while the pitcher is still in the sun. That will make it even more challenging for the Cardinals as they're batting, and it's unfortunately not like they’ve been doing much off Silva anyway.

Ang: Ryan Ludwick popped up in the shallow part of the infield, and Albert Pujols did the same. Not a promising start to what could have been cast as a big inning for the Cards with the heart of the order coming up.

Silva is still throwing well for the 7th inning, although his location is getting a little farther off the mark than it was earlier in the game.

Matt Holliday put a charge into one, but the wind blew it down and it hit off the base of the wall for a two-out, stand-up double. Interesting to note: Holliday has had both of the hits off of Silva in this current 2-hit shutout of the Cardinals.

Colby Rasmus had a great start to the season but his patience at the plate has gone down as he has expanded his zone this month and piled up quite a few strikeouts. Colby already had 2 strikeouts on the day leading into this at bat, and he fared no better as he chased an inside pitch that was caught at his shoetops. Three outs.

Time for the Stretch

Chris: Joe Buck mentioned that Jim Belushi would be singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the 7th inning stretch. The whole celebrity singing thing at Wrigley is beyond tired now. In 1998, the first season after Harry Caray died, it was a nice tribute to him. Now, 12 years later, it’s just another Wrigley Field gimmick. “Oooooh, look – the ivy!” “Ooooh, look – women in tube tops!” “Oooooh, look – someone we don’t care about singing ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’!” Give us "Here Comes the King" at Busch Stadium instead!

Ang: Thank you, FOX, for not making us listen to Jim try to sing.

Erika: We here at the CDD have a better idea for 7th inning stretch. So grab your popcorn, peanuts and your choice of beverage and join us to watch one of our favorite Cardinal commercials, featuring Brendan Ryan!

And then finish up with a little eye candy commercial featuring Mr. Hunky himself, Matt Holliday!

Bottom of the 7th

Ang: After walking in a run and then nailing down the last out of the 6th inning, Mitchell Boggs returned to tackle Derrek Lee and the Cubs in the bottom of the 7th. Lee was punched out on a strike over the outside part of the plate.

Alfonso Soriano came up swinging, striking out on three straight pitches that were all low and away.

Okay, FOX, I'm thanking you a second time for miking up home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt and letting us listen in on his comments to Yadier Molina about Adam Ottavino's first big league start. Wendestedt made the comment that Wrigley Field is an awful tough place to have your first start, but Otto did a nice job. I like that we got that little glimpse into the game!

Marlon Byrd chopped it up the third base line, which David Freese scooped up and tossed a wide but catchable ball over to Albert for the third out of the inning.

Chris: Actually, Byrd grounded to ^Batman^!

Erika: A little background for those of you who may not know: David Freese gained that nickname based on his love of the movie Batman, as described by Derrick Goold during spring training here. We love the nickname and were thrilled when our Twitter pal @stl_cardsfan29 shared this video, which gives us all a chance to see Freese in his good-luck charm mask.

That wraps up our inning. At the end of the 7th, the score is still 4-0 bad guys. Thanks to Daniel for inviting us to join in on the progressive game blog, and hope to see you all again here on the CDD. Head over to Intangiball for the 8th! Go Cards!

Check Back After Today's Game ...

We are very pleased to announce that we will be participating in the United Cardinal Bloggers third annual progressive game blog for today's Cards/Cubs game. Check back after the game for our post, which will be covering the 7th inning.

In the meantime, head over to the UCB site to read the full announcement and follow along with all the fun!

Go Cards! Beat the Cubs! :)