plea for sanity/rant of the insane

eighteen million dollars a year for barry zito? i'll bet supp wishes he had held out a while longer.

let's discuss salaries in baseball for a moment.

first off, i will make the disclaimer that i am something of a socialist and fully expect to see class warfare within my lifetime.

now, this is america, and entertainment is the ultimate good, so naturally, we pay those who entertain us extravagantly. professional sports are at least merit based, unlike hollywood, where being someone's nephew can guarantee a career (cough*nic*cage*cough), so i'll lay off that.

in a country where most households won't make baseball's league minimum salary, i think the sport needs a salary cap. nothing too restrictive, say 20 million a year, moving up on a sliding scale along with the minimum, but a cap is necessary nonetheless.

i'm not trying to sound too preachy, but our values as a culture are fucked up. when a teacher has to work a night job to keep food on the table, we shouldn't be paying someone the gross national product of malawi to play ball. yes, they provide a distraction from our pains as the everyday people, but we must look at it from a populist perspective. baseball is supposed to be our sport, yet ticket prices go ever upward, bleachers are torn down to make room for more luxury boxes, and virtually every game is on cable tv, often requiring an additional expenditure if you don't live close to your team's home town. furthermore, we're working our way back to having several teams in each of a very few cities as teams like the royals struggle year after year with low payrolls, low attendance, and low expectations. yes, new york is a big market, but folks in the midwest like baseball too.

ok, end of socialist rant.

cold supp

i hope one and all had a merry christmas. i know that the suppan household did. i will miss supp as a cardinal, but in all reality, inflated market or not, a four year deal is too far to go with him. had he been willing to sign for two years at that per year price, he would have been a steal for the cards, but those last two years are the kicker. i wish him good luck and hope that the brewers emphasize their infield defense more next year for his sake.

i am starting to wonder where we're going to pull out that last starter, assuming that wainwright is definitely going to the rotation. at this point, i wouldn't mind letting brad thompson start for the half year or so that mulder will still be rehabbing and then trade him out for mulder (still not his biggest fan, but when he's on, he's freakin' on).

resquiat in pace, godfather of soul.

merry something

merry christmas to those who lean that way. never been much of a fan myself, but, hey, who am i to get in the way of someone else's good time.

my x-mas wish list

a serviceable starting pitcher who doesn't cost the remainder of our payroll (weaver? narveson?)

a 4th outfielder who bats right handed

a healthy izzy

somewhere to dump rincon (not his body)

more tickets than the one game we have so far.

if anyone wants to give rabid redbird any of these things, please let me know.

happy holidays

per request

anonymous asked me to "talk about mcgwire!"

i don't get requests very often, with the possible exception of "stop posting: do you want to go on another 8 game losing streak?" in honor of the request, i will have a few swings at this dead horse.

i was only making my way back into baseball fandom when big mac and corky sosa were in the race, and it wasn't home runs that brought me back. i like the strategy of baseball, and the fact that one needs to be a complete player to succeed for long (that's why i don't like the dh).
mcgwire wasn't a complete player, in my opinion. he was a home run hitter, plain and simple, and unfortunately for me and those who feel the same way i do, there will always be a place for those guys in baseball, today more so than in the past. he was an average first baseman, and didn't hit for a great average, it's just that every time he was up, there was a good chance of it going out of the park.

if i got a vote for the hall of fame, i wouldn't vote for big mac. i think his scene on the floor of congress tells us that he did more than the andro he admits to, and i don't want cheaters in the hall of fame. if big mac is a hall of famer, so is barry bonds, and i don't want him in there either.

however, my opinion has no weight in these matters. i think both mcgwire and bonds will be in the hall of fame, though not on the first ballot. it is bothersome to me that that's what serves as "punishment" these days. in twenty years, it won't matter who was first ballot or not; they'll be hall of famers. and some of them will be cheaters.

big head barry

big head barry gets to play baseball another year, and in all likelyhood, will end up breaking hank aaron's home run record. this is a fucking travesty, but a virtually unavoidable one. at least he signed in the one town that likes him.

as for the cardinals, i (like everyone else) am waiting anxiously to hear that next year's rotation will not include braden looper or any other such nonsense. i'd also like to see chris duncan traded while his stock is high, but i've said that many times before.

i'm glad that we're not making moves for the sake of making moves (see royals) or spending money to show we have a lot of it (see cubs, red sox), i just want to see the move that will make me confident that this has been a good off season.

spring training is still two and a half months away. if i don't hear something about the dominican league or something soon, i'm going to break down and start watching the nfl. it can't come to that.

moving not treading

regarding yesterday's bunch of signings: i like them. they are all good money deals for the redbirds. true, adam kennedy is signed for more than last year's 2nd base spending limit which cost us grudzielanek (god knows i've misspelled that), but in the end, we'll have spent less this coming year than in 2006 on 2nd base due to the junior spivey-as-million-dollar-minor-leaguer added to luna (at minimum), gollum (at slightly over minimum), and jabba the second baseman (pro-rated, but 1mm+).

kip wells for 4mm a year is fine with me. he projects to be a good duncan fixer-upper, with a new coat of paint and maybe new curtains. most groundball specialists can succeed as #5 guys with the cards, thanks to the emphasis on infield defense (and the dumb luck of the best hitter in the game, possibly of all time, also being one of the best first basemen in the bigs today).

1 more year, 162 more chances to utter the phrase "gary freakin' bennett?!?"

eli marerro is a fan favorite, and as far as i'm concerned, we can sign virtually any old body to a minor league contract. let him compete for a spot. it worked for the imperial spiez, did it not?

start out on the (relatively) cheap, build from there. i like it, walt.

a little further celebration

two more quick thoughts...

i kinda hope we do sign jabba the second baseman, if only so i get to use that nomenclature again. on the other hand, if we don't resign strikeout machine hamlet as a fourth outfielder, i will be satisfied to have only called him that this one time, so long as someone other than my wife recognizes just how freakin' clever that is.

free agents! free all contractual prisoners!

stl free agents already filed (and opinions where warranted):

ronnie belliard - i like his glove, i like his offensive potential. this may be the year ownership decides to pony up on spending at second, but it's worked for them to do no such thing for four years in a row, so who knows? ron-ron will probably price himself out of a lot of teams range this go round.

gary bennett - say it ain't so, gary, say it ain't... ok, i really don't care in the slightest.

jason marquis - bye. best of luck, headcase.

scott spiezio - if we can afford this super-sub i can see going for it. if not, well, the soul patch was fun while it lasted.

the corpse of jose vizcaino - thanks for that one homer, jose, and for giving eck a few minutes to heal.

jeff weaver - i don't think our other jeff will be back next year. call it a hunch. therefore, i want to keep this jeff. his stuff is better; it's just a matter of control. working with duncan again can only help, and if he needs to know, i might know a guy who knows a guy who can get him some good weed.

i've heard a rumor on mark mulder as well. if this is true, and he doesn't accept an incentive-heavy deal from us, i will truly wash my hands of him, the ungrateful bastard. if he does, welcome home, mark. we always knew you'd be great again.

oh my good cardinals loving god

the world champions! very few rabid redbird posts, just in case the curse was real, but oh my god, the baseball. it was beautiful and ugly, sometimes at the same time. some thoughts.

- what a time for david eckstein to remember how to bat! though i am of the opinion that scott rolen deserved the series mvp, eck is a great choice as well.

- i'd be thrilled to have jeff weaver next year, especially when (not if) we can't afford to overpay supp for his "play to the level of the opponent" talent.

- you can beat pujols this world series, but you can't beat the cardinals. i guess we turned that one on it's head for the series.

- the parade was a fun half hour, but jack doesn't deal well with crowds, so that's about all we got. we did get home just in time to see the ceremonies on tv. my man juan e'car'cion as a no show, well that just wasn't ok. come on, man, i've been defending you.

perhaps more later this week. for now, i'll enjoy it as much as you will.

Game 4

oh, there they are

last night we got a little reminder that this team did limp into the post season. as evidenced by the series versus the padres and the first three games of the nlcs, they are capable of some stunning baseball. as perfectly shown by the play in which edmonds, belliard, and (correct me if i'm wrong) eckstein watched a ball fall that any one of them could have caught. we were an offensive force last night, but we were up against an offensive juggernaught.

it doesn't matter, though. everything so far this series has been a bonus for a team that finished the season only a few games over .500 in a division full of weaklings. it's now a three game series. we stand a chance in a three game series, just as any team would (hell, the royals swept the tigers at the end of the regular season... anything could freakin' happen).

now, if the new driver we hired will shut up today about the met blowout, we can all move on. just a three game series.

curses be damned

so, we backed into a championship. yesterday was kind of like being the runner up in an election, only to have the actual winner be exposed as a drug addict on election night, and thus you win by default.

thanks to anonymous, who (for the benefit of those who don't read the comments) wrote regarding my last post:

Did you seriously post this before another seven game losing streak?You should erase this blog for the good of your team and your city.It's funny.I like to read it.But start over.And burn some sage or something.

no, i think i posted it after the first game of the streak, to be honest, but in reality, i don't believe in such things. i haven't been posting much not because of the "curse" of rabid redbird, but rather because i haven't wanted to badmouth our team through some of the ugliest stretches of baseball i have ever had the displeasure to follow. in the last few weeks, i turned off more games than i care to admit.

regarding yesterday's start. why reyes? i would have just called it a bullpen start and sent narveson out there again against that lefty heavy lineup. then again, i'm not a major league manager, so, what happened happened. i do think that anthony may have pitched himself out of a playoff roster spot, and frankly, so much the better. i would rather him not get rocked by a superior team in the post-season, damaging his confidence or (far worse) his arm by trying to overthrow.

the three homers in the ninth tell me not to expect too much in the playoffs (not that i was, anyway). once the pressure was off, our guys found it in them to knock the shit out of the ball. up until that point, they had been shut down by a good, but not great pitcher, despite having several great talents in the lineup.

wait, that gives me an idea. perhaps if we can convince them that they've already clinched the world series due to someone else's accomplishment, we can have us a party...

damn the rabid redbird curse!

i know that i haven't been posting much to this blog these days, much to the disappointment of perhaps four people, but as i have stated in previous posts, every time i post something, the cardinals lose, usually miserably.

so i stopped.

however, i can little manage to stop talking baseball at work or at home, so i'll post here just to give my friends and family a break.

i really feel badly for izzy. i have stood by the claim that he's our best option at closer despite his struggles this year, and now we're going to have to go with our second best options. the guy is a total hoosier (in the st louis sense), but he's also totally class.

nice pair of wins over los gigantes. it's also great to see that scotty rolen has refound his stroke.

chris duncan... i'm still holding out judgement, but he just shouldn't be this good. i want him to continue, of course, but i still wonder how long before he falls back to earth. nonetheless, he hits the ball so freakin' hard...

glad to see that anthony reyes is starting tonight, but i do hope they're keeping him on a short leash in terms of pitch count. i very much want to see him doing good things in our rotation next year, and if that means he needs to be pulled in the fifth, so be it.

i'm looking forward to seeing eckstein back in the lineup, though i hope he found his bat while he's been healing. it's not that i hold the concussion against him, i just want what's best for the team. gollum has filled in admirably in eck's absence, so if the options are eck at fifty percent or gollum playing his best, i'd rather see gollum out there.

on the concussion front, it seems less and less likely that we're going to pick up jimmy's option. i'm not pleased by that at all. unless he just doesn't ever recover, he's the best defensive centerfielder in the league. he's better than average at the plate (at least this year; in years past, he's been a monster), and frankly, a good redbird. assuming he recovers his balance/vision/memory, i want to see him patrolling center for at least another year.

don speizio

i haven't been posting, because i am still wary of the apparent jinx that posts to this blog make for, but i can't help getting on to mention...

speiz! three homers, two days! way to be the dangerous switch hitting veteran!

that is all.

gary bennett sweeps

and not as a janitor, as previous entries might imply.

gary "freakin'" bennett? are we talking about the same gary "freakin'" bennett that hit his first cardinal homer against the cubs like last week? the guy who has been dancing around yadi's batting average, but without the power?

the same, yes.

gary bennett is officially off the rabid redbird hook, at least until he has a homerless game. ok, i'll even extend that to say if he doesn't homer, but does hit the game winning rbi, he can remain in my good graces.

note to readers: the nickname "freakin'" will be applied to a different cardinal every year. sometimes, there will even be multiple "freakin'"'s in a year. for example, were he not already "gollum," our backup middle infielder would be aaron "freakin'" miles. it is primarily meant to indicate the player least likely to succeed and/or the player in the rabid redbird doghouse du jour. that is all.

i actually got to go to the game saturday, which was fun (my first time seeing carp pitch live), but i feel really bad for my wife, who was at a funeral, thus missing the third of the four-pack of tickets that was her christmas present. oh well, we've got one more game we might be able to go to, but i doubt we'll have seats that i'll like better than the four pack were.

such is life, i suppose.

dear god

two stratospheric home runs
+seven rbi
+one blown save
______________________
=another outing in the season
of continuous throbbing pain

seriously, all i'm saying is that i wouldn't be surprised to see weaver and izzy sporting blacked eyes today, and bruises the exact size and shape of god-like dominican fists.

woo hoo. go mulder.

maybe his bad rehab starts were just a ruse to put other teams off. maybe he'll come in tonight and throw 101 mph left handed heat, and curveballs that look like they're headed for the upper deck dropping in for strikes in the inside corner. that must be why we're bringing an ailing veteran in for a rookie who will be a key rotation guy next year, and could use all the major league experience he can get.

maybe during batting practice, sir albert can knock shawn green's plane out of the sky so there's not one more met home run threat to worry about.

stop the jinx

it seems that every time i write a post, we end a streak. since our streak is at one for the time being, it's an off-day, and we're going off to face the hardest nl competition available on tuesday, i fugured i should post (going by the theory that if we do lose tomorrow, it will be due to other factors).

some thoughts:

anthony reyes demotion is probably purely a business thing, but it doesn't sit too well with cardinal nation. i for one am not confident that mulder is going to be any better than he was before the dl stint, and if we find ourselves unable to make moves without clearing waivers on possibly important (next year: ie weaver) pitchers, i will be pissed off. however, that said, reyes is the only starter we can safely send to the minors without waivers, so i'm sure that's the thinking. if mulder gets shelled on his return, i will be calling for his head.

fat sidney isn't a yankee anymore. turns out, sometimes, one man's trash is another man's litter.

baby dunc. i still don't believe it's the real deal, but he's damn sure trying to prove me wrong. in this past series, he even looked pretty good in left field.

gollum has played some pretty decent (though fairly routine) short, and after watching yesterday, i actually think he might have a better arm that eck; either that, or eck intentionally throws to the dirt in front of first. i hope that they give eck ample time to rest and recover, possibly even dl him so our bench isn't entirely made up of injured guys.

we've won three of our last four series. i can live with that. if we keep playing at that level, there's no telling. especially if glavine and pedro are injured for the rest of the year, we might even make it to the series, though i don't think it will be a fruitful one if we do.

t-shirt idea:
cuck the fubs
muck the fets
ass the fucktros

ron ron in frozen

so last night, i was at trader joe's, picking up some hormone free frozen chicken breasts, when i looked up to see none other than cardinals second baseman ronnie belliard. this wasn't a guy that looked like ronnie belliard, this was the fat-lete himself. he looked exactly like his mlb mugshot, same expression, same cock to his hat. he wasn't wearing a cardinals hat, but who does wear their work hat to the store on their day off?
he also had a spanish speaking posse with him, neither of whom i recognized. i didn't say anything to him, but i think he knew i recognized him.
i don't see a lot of celebrities, if you don't count a very drunken alicia silverstone and her pack of dwarves at the viper room the one time i went to l.a. if i could pick a cardinal to run into, it probably wouldn't be ronnie belliard, but hey, this is already the fifth time i've told the "story."

go cards. come back strong from a sweep at the hands of the worst team in our division, why don't you...

viva el streako

ok, well three games may not constitute a streak to everyone, but it sure does to me after an eight game slide.

that was the weaver we paid virtually nothing for. if he had shown some measure of consistency, i'd be more comfortable with the fact that he's probably going to take anthony reyes spot in the rotation when mulder comes back. to be fair, though, it isn't like reyes has shown any consistency either, except to consistently not live up to cardinal nations overly high expectations for him (in the off season, as i recall, he could walk on the water he had just turned into bud select and feed forty thousand spectators with only six hot dogs and twelve pretzels).

j'enc and yadi busting dingers in the last two games has me grinning pretty big as well. i make no secret of the fact that i like juan encarnacion in right, and i've felt all season that yadi was a far better hitter than his average showed. last two games have given some credence to those thoughts.

is it a dodgers-style 10 game streak? well, not yet...

looking forward

we're in first place in our division, yet, i'm already entertaining thoughts of next year... what does walt need to do in the offseason? a few thoughts from a newish fan...

rotation:
carp
serious pitching acquisition/healthy mulder (tbd this season)
reyes
wainwright
#5 guy better than weaver/ponson

i can even deal with suppan or marquis as the #5 guy, but we can't carry this many mediocre pitchers and expect good things come october 2007.

relievers:
replace flores
fill wainwright's spot competently
i'm not sure what izzy's contract length is, but i like keeping him as long as it doesn't cost us more than he's getting now ($12 mil this year, i think, or 13% of payroll?)

lineup
restructure and resign edmonds
a hard hitting left fielder (that isn't chris duncan) so we don't have to rely so much on edmonds' streaky bat
lose so, duncan, and jrod. i like them all, but we have to do better than this. if we have to keep one, make it jrod, who is getting better in the field and is better off the bench than the other two.
lose gollum and belliard, replace with a honest to god short stop
move eck to 2nd (his [all-american] college position)
keep yadi, but get a better hitting back up catcher than gary freaking bennett.

next off-season is also the time to start negociating future contracts with rolen, pujols, and carp.

perhaps it's time the secret weapon was our manager.

now that i've got this down, maybe the team will get back from the slide, get mad (not frustrated), and start kicking ass again.

filthy little jorge

ok, so first of all, i'm not all that bothered by the jorge sosa signing, because it cost us very little, and maybe his heat will be a good thing to mix in with our pitch to contact set. he is also a relief pitcher we can allow to bat for himself without too much concern, so he can span a few innings without necessitating a pinch hitter. no, sosa isn't the problem so much as he is not the solution. what about the impact move we've been calling for/hearing about? what about the lack of off-season moves being to save money for the big trade deadline snag? where's my championship calibur team?

my complaint about our backup ss still stands as well. the first time i see miles and belliard as our middle infield, i may have to slit my wrists. hell, let spiez do it. i think i recall so taguchi playing some middle infield in an emergency situations before. christ, let rolen play short and put spiezio at third, just don't play gollum at short!

thanks, reverend redbird, for helping me share with cardinal nation aaron's true name...

at what price belliard?

this smacks of trading for trading's sake. luna for belliard seems like a great way to take on salary, but that's it. while it is true that belliard will probably be taking more time away from aaron miles than was hector, it still doesn't really solve any problems. not that they would have taken it, but couldn't we have given them miles and some low level prospect or something? my dislike of gollum is occasionally proved unnecessary, but only occasionally. he's got a few clutch hits for us, but not nearly enough to make me like having the shortest middle infield in the majors. hector luna, on the other hand, may not have always come through in the clutch, but he did hit. it seems like we left him on base in the ninth quite a few times this year when he represented the tying run...

whatever, in a year or two, it may prove that walt saw the possibilty of magic, or some such nonsense, but for the time being, belliard seems like a good money sink and nothing more. here's hoping there's another (meaningful) trade in the works.

why is it that we've struggled so mightily with one of the worst teams in baseball? why do left handed rookies look good when they play us? why do both scott rolen errors in a year come against the fucking cubs?

i think dusty's poisoning our water coolers.

whatever... the remainder of this series will go the cardinals way. even this game wasn't without merits (like JEnc's homer), it's just that every time we could have made some headway, the cubs played world class baseball for a few seconds, then dropped back down to their usual caliber.

looking forward to a day game massacre... it seems we're much better at day games than night... that doesn't bode well for the playoffs, but it makes for a great finish to this series, anyway.

oh yeah, and amaury marti (my future favorite cardinal) went three for four with a homer in springfield... can we get this guy up to memphis soon, please?

one day late

i should have posted yesterday, still on a high from the sweep and the four game streak. after last night, i don't have anything so cheerful to say as i might have before. if we can turn it around and take the series, i'll be less worried, but this team seems to get discouraged easily.

the highlight of yesterday was reading the following line on the official site:

"Rolen can pitch," La Russa said. "He's got cutters, forkballs, sinkers. But I hope it never gets to that."

i hope it never gets to that, either, but a little part of me kind of hopes it does, just once.

oh, snap

a rather inauspicious beginning for weaver, i would say.

perhaps the whole thing wasn't his fault. after all, randy flores did come back from injury just in time to suck against a tough opponent. josh hancock wasn't the pitcher i've been touting all year, and josh kinney gave up a couple more home runs to go with his first major league pitch.

it's the anemic offense that upsets me most. facing the offensively hottest team in the nl right now, i could have accepted losing that game 15-9, but not 15-3. what is our problem with left handed pitching? are we destined to make it to the divisional series, only to have (hypothetically let's say) the padres trot out a few aa lefty starters and have us cool petco park with our patented new high powered fan system?

let's hope the guys (including jeff weaver) put it behind them and move on. i can't take another losing stretch right now.

i did, did you?

yes, i stayed up to listen to the whole game. i knew what the final outcome would be. how, you ask? i may not have faith in god or my fellow man, but i have a powerful faith in the cardinals.

three day withdrawal

three days with no baseball in the middle of the summer is great for our players, but for me, it's like trying to hold my breath for the same length of time. ok, maybe a better analogy would be not eating for three days, which i might actually be able to survive; thinner, desperate, but still going. the all star game was fine (except for phil garner putting cabrera in at third as a defensive replacement instead of rolen... makes as much (defensive) sense as tlr putting yadi in center, and it cost the nl home field advantage), but hardly memorable, and didn't quite fulfill my need (the all star game is like methadone, to use yet a third simile to describe the same thing).

some post-break thoughts

aubrey huff to the astros... i know a lot of cards fans and bloggers were hoping to snag this guy, but it doesn't seem that big a loss to me. true, they traded him for some bags of sunflower seeds, but still, i don't think it pushes them over the top or anything.

rotation woes... i'm not exactly an optimist, but when it comes to the cardinals, i guess i generally expect things to go pretty well. the last two years have spoiled us in terms of win totals. the rotation should regain some footing in the second half. reyes is strong, weaver is an improvement on ponson, and eventually, mulder might be able to throw a ball better than they did in my third grade coach pitch league twenty years ago. carp has taken some bad breaks, but is still dominant, and i think we're hitting marquis' good stretch he seems to have every year at a good time.

trade deadline... we need to trade for a real left fielder. i'm perfectly content with luna, gollum, and luna at second, but the left field travelling roadshow has got to stop.

wow, this might be my longest post. go second half cards!

m(iles) precious....

aaron miles (who i'm still going to call gollum; look at the eyes and teeth and try to deny it) gets a free pass for the rest of the month. so does josh hancock, though i was never that bothered by him. true, he's had his issues, but fewer problems than the bulk of the rotation, and there have been a few times this season that he's pitched like an absolute champ.
izzy blew another save, but i'll let him slide on this one as well. the error shouldn't have been; even our gold glove caliber first baseman can have troubles, and we have to protect that oblique. if craig biggio wants a sac fly, it's pretty hard to keep him from getting one, short of walking him.

all star break time is great for the team, but hard for me. hell, during baseball season, days the cardinals have off are hard for me. i guess i'll watch the baseball circus of the stars tomorrow, though i hate that it determines home field advantage (can't we just give it to the struggling nl for a few years? please?).

we needed that series. we really needed that series. hell yeah, gollum.

finally!

a deserved win! we almost lost control there, but dingers from el hombre, rolen, and jedmonds are welcomed back after a relatively low power stretch (ok, so scotty has three in his last four games, but still...). and if the rumors are to be believed, moves are about to be made.

in celebration, we went to the batting cages at tower tee, where i learned that i can't really hit a fast-pitched baseball anymore, and by fast i mean 60mph. however, my softball hitting skills have improved significantly. i also learned that my hands aren't as tough as they once were, as i lost quite a bit of skin. thank god for superglue!

tourniquet of errors

thank god for errors... if you can't hope for good play, at least hope for the other guy's mistakes. last night was ugly, but i was hanging on shannon and rooney's every word. i've never been so happy to hear about a bad throw, even if it allowed the game winning run to cross the plate, as i was about this one.

the bullpen still needs some help.

the starters still need some help.

this win is like the first food a man starving for eight days gets to eat. even after he has consumed it, he is still technically starving, though he damned sure feels better.

where did albert leave his bat? ok, that really isn't fair, as he did just come back from an injury, and if the production he's had since the injury had come from say, yadier, we'd be thrilled. however, i worry that perhaps he is trying to push too soon and playing at less than 100%. i'd rather have a 100% el hombre in september/october than a 85% el hombre for the remainder of the year. true, since he's the best player in the game, at 85%, he's still amazing, but it's more like jeff francoeur amazing. we won't be hanging our championship hats on a jeff francoeur type player. on the other hand, if we can kick the pitching in the ass to get things back to normal, we can ride the (100%) pujols gravy train to at least a pennant.

but damnit, i'll not be satisfied by a pennant. this season was supposed to be our world series winner. if they don't spend, we don't win. i don't advocate throwing money at a problem, but with walt jocketty, that wouldn't be the case anyway.

shel·lac also shel·lack (sh-lk) KEY NOUN:
1. A purified lac in the form of thin yellow or orange flakes, often bleached white and widely used in varnishes, paints, inks, sealants, and formerly in phonograph records.
2. A thin varnish made by dissolving this substance in denatured alcohol, used to finish wood.
3. An old phonograph record containing this substance, typically played at 78 rpm. TRANSITIVE VERB:
1. shel·lacked , also shel·lacked shel·lack·ing , shel·lack·ing shel·lacs , shel·lacks To coat or finish with shellac.
2. Slang
a. To strike repeatedly and severely; batter.
b. To defeat decisively.

i think both of the slang definitions apply to last night, don't you?

we already knew ponson was having issues, but without at least a tolerably decent mulder (and for that matter, brad thompson), we are in serious trouble...

the boy at busch

call me kool-aid man

but oh yeah! good god we needed to win a series, even if it was against the brewers. we needed to learn that we didn't have to hang every win squarely on el hombre's broad shoulders. we needed yadier to figure out what to do with that stick he's been flailing about with. we needed scott rolen to continue playing like he's the on-base master he's been this year (i won't worry about power yet). we needed a first baseman who's head doesn't look disporportionately tiny and young when compared to his massive physique. ok, we don't always get what we need.

i'll post the 2 pictures of jack's first game soon. they're at home, and i just haven't had the time to do so yet.

what's all this about great minds?

i think that it's really funny that three cards bloggers other than me titled a post since saturday "the sky is falling."

izzy, izzy, izzy, damnitall.

the sky is falling

ok, so i'm most concerned about albert and his work ethic right now. he's going to be itching to come back, and could end up making this injury a lifetime problem if he comes back too soon. for the love of god, dierdre, keep him at the house!

but seriously, let's think about this rationally.

the last two years, the cardinals have breezed through the season, running away with the division, only to be beaten inthe playoffs by the team with something to prove who had come from behind with an amazing september/october hot streak. we've played like we were tired from playing a long winning season in these games. this probably won't be the case this year, now will it? i think we'll maintain a winning percentage even without el hombre (call me a kool-aid drinker if you will), especially if we go ahead and make some kind of net positive trade. i mean, despite his ups and (scary) downs, i'm a jason marquis fan, but right now he's tied for first place in wins in the major leagues, and that can't hurt his trade value. someone is blind enough to trade a decent bat for him, right? (maybe not...)

jack really will be headed to his first cardinals game on wednesday. i'll post baby at the game pictures when i have them.

bastros

last night i was trying to quiet the boy and watch some of last comic standing, so i didn't get the game turned on right away. when i did, i was just in time to hear rolen's solo shot called by john rooney. seconds later, i heard what sounded like a replay of the call, which had me curious, and then it turns out to be jauncarnacion's homer. i was ecstatic. anthony reyes is major league ready (or so three very strong starts would have us believe).
josh hancock, however... well to be honest, we can give as much or more blame to so's throwing error. let's just say that with the exception of scott rolen, our redbirds weren't themselves after the seventh inning last night. maybe they were worried about jim edmonds. god knows i am.

but enough gloom and doom. juancarnacion looked decent last night, which is a plus. yadi hit an rbi double, which has to be good for him (and when you're batting .174, going 1 for 4 can only help, albeit slowly). hector luna continues to play above his actual skill level, even if no one could manage to get him home. hell, even anthony reyes got a hit.

i still think this could be our year, but it's going to take the acquisition of a larry walker-type to re-energize our offence. i just hope we can settle for only replacing one outfield position by the trade deadline.

before jack was born, i would have taken great pride in staying up to hear every minute of these west coast games on the radio, 9:15 starts be damned. these days, i'm just glad it's a day game today so i can hear all the way to the end.

that first one was ugly, and i'm kind of glad i slept through the six run inning. last night was good, so i wish i had made it for the last couple of innings, but it all worked out for the best.

the first inning last night made my argument for me again, though. short rest marquis! make him pitch three simulated innings before taking the mound! tire out the sinkerballer! (especially since we might not have him next year...)

and i must say, i'm really pleased that neither marquis or mulder gave that toltec-headed slugger his record setter, aren't you? keep the flame alive, carp.

watching our guys this weekend was kind of like seeing the grown-ups play the talented seven-year olds. they showed a lot of promise, but couldn't really play the men's game.

three games, three el hombre homers. that in and of itself should show that a) albert is el hombre for a reason, and b) the royals need pitching (and hitting. and fielding [except for emil brown... that was unreal]).

the chi-town brawl was great, but still not as good as crazy joolie's lone punch from spring training.

now, let's go shut down steroid man. if marquis is going to hit anyone on the giants tomorrow, well, at least he's the biggest target.

last night i went to sleep during the rain delay. when i awoke for jack's 1am feeding, i went to check gameday on the computer. it's a good thing jack was already awake, because i would have woken him up.
jeff, every walk is costly. last night, you found out just how costly.

what's with all the errors? with our groundball pitching staff, errors, especially from infielders, are costing us games. is it just coincedence that it all seems to be happening at once, or is this indicative of some clubhouse issue? whatever the case, i hope they get it out of their systems soon.

i have to say, i'm glad we're in first, but not by much. the last two years, when we were so far out in front of the rest of the central division, i, like a lot of cardinal fans, thought it hurt our drive going into the playoffs (i.e. we weren't the team with "something to prove"). frankly, i hope the division race stays closse the whole season, and that's only slightly because i used to be a reds fan.

mulder/trachsel should be interesting, especially if mulder can keep them in the park.

is there any question left as to the greatness we are witness to on a regular basis? 3-2 count, two men on, an albert pujols home run becomes a near statistical inevitability.

carp was hardly at his best, but he was able to hang in there better than any of the rest of our pitchers would have. wainwright is still proving unstoppable from the pen; he has a history as a fine but fragile starter. i think it’s safe to say that he will be starting for us next year… i just hope he can be as lights out for seven innings every fifth day.

let’s go, soup.

disappointment

so last night turned out not to be jack's first ever cardinals game, as he had just come from a doctor's appointment and was too fussy to go to the park. siouxs! and i missed the game as well, but we did listen to it on the radio. i'll still stick with my cries for a short rest, but marquis just looked (sounded?) bad last night. this guy is having a mental meltdown that is ending up worse than a physical issue. his consistency is horrendous, his record with a full count is ridiculous, and he doesn't seem to be taking the whole thing hard enough to make the necessary changes.

jason, we like you, but listen to dave and figure it the hell out.

spearfishing

just what a ballclub that has had recent struggles needed: a weekend series with the fish. there were a hell of a lot of great moments during the series this weekend, but here are a few random thoughts about the games in miami.

-scott rolen is a baseball hero. we all knew this, but over the course of 2005, a lot of fans started to lose faith, and the national media completely forgot that he was ever a dominant presence in the infield and at the plate. no more. ten pounds lighter from illness, and he still performs like that?

-soup nearly pitches a complete game... i thought perhaps he'd get the chance, but i'm not complaining. he had a fantastic outing, pitching like the top notch suppan only the cardinals have been able to draw out of him in his career.

-hr #16, rbi #38. we have a baseball god in this town, folks. i'm not the only one who thinks so, but i will add my voice to the throng. (the next in the rbi race is lance berkman. i wonder how many of those rbi come from crawford box cheap homers?)

-100 career wins for mulder is great, but i don't see him getting 300 unless he's still pitching at 49-50. just a feeling i get. feel free to disagree, but in the end, it won't matter to me, because i doubt he'll be a cardinal after this year.

-ponson's elbow. dave duncan says that it would be more likely to go with a four-man rotation than to have a spot start to cover sidney's spot in the rotation, so we go back to my mantra from an earlier post... short rest marquis!

-we seemed to recover some of our offense, even from those who haven't had much this year (read: yadi). encarnacion is working his way back to his lifetime numbers, and jrod (i like to say it with only one syllable... it rhymes with zod) is tearing it up still.

tonight, i'm going to see my second (marquis start) game of the year. today my son is four weeks old, and he will be attending his first cardinals game with me and my wife. i'll post some pictures of jack at the game in the next few days.

marquistone

remember last year, when marquis took that slide for the middle of the season, how he just snapped out of it? do you also remember that it was on a short rest (i think only three days, if memory serves) subbing for an ailing mulder? and finally do you remember that mike shannon and other broadcasters pointed out that for a sinkerballer, sometimes a short rest was better, as a well rested arm was more likely to overpitch and stay up in the zone due to velocity?

i'm starting the campaign to tire out jason marquis.

make him throw another bullpen session of 100% sinkers. short rest him. give him a bullpen appearance. something, anything, just get that sinker down in the zone!

that said, i actually thought that last night's game was pretty good. we don't have cable, so i couldn't watch it, but it sounded like a solid game, except for the bottom of the first. solo dingers from speizio, albert, and luna aren't ideal (capitalize on the baserunners, damn it!), but kept us in the game, and once again, the eccentricities (read: architectural cheats) of minute maid park probably cost us the game, via the would-be multi home run night that tal's hill/willy taveras gobbled up . the astros 13-4 home record versus a 5-5 away record would indicate to me that they certainly know how to use minute maid to it's fullest, but aren't necessarily as hot as their current numbers might indicate. houston is currently in second in the division, but that can be reversed tonight. the reds, also playing in a less than fair to pitchers ballpark (just ask the reds pitching staff) are in first, but god knows they can't possibly stay as hot as they are right now.

if we maintain this kind of play (which we can do easily, barring major injury), we will still take the division. my money's still on the redbirds.

juan love

today's game was something of a foreseeable disappointment, but i would like to point out that juan encarnacion proved a worthy redbird again (at least in the third). i think he's coming out of his spring slump. on the whole, i was glad to see a strong showing from the team without albert, scott, and jim. god forbid we prove to be as injury plagued as last year, but i'm glad our bench can still make some waves.

i'll start taking bets as to how long cincy can remain in first...

i grew up a reds fan. my dad was a reds fan, so by association, i was a reds fan. i hate the reds this year.
it isn't because they are in first. it's because i don't like seeing that kind of baseball. last night's game only featured two home runs, but i don't like seeing teams live and die by the home run. don't get me wrong... i love the home run, and great long ball hitters are something to watch, but if they happen every game, they lose something. show me a hard fought four to five game with fifteen hits total, all the runs manufactured. give me small ball. give me great (or at least, evenly matched) pitching.
for all my bitching, last night's game was the other kind i hate to see. it's one where the redbirds just seem to roll over and die. i don't like the kid much, but bronson arroyo pitched quite a game, the cornrow-wearin' brat.

so friday night's game (my first at the new stadium) was a bit disappointing, but at least i got to scope our seat for this year. they're in section 450, straight behind home plate, all the way up. while the height is pretty extreme, i really enjoyed being able to see balls and strikes as well as i could. (i did not enjoy marquis having such a hard time finding the outside corner against righties, however.) at least i was there for pujols april hr #13.

as for the other two games this weekend, i wonder sometimes how this team ever loses. everyone has talent, even the talentless hacks. what is it about the cardinals? how can don speizio di soulpatch hit like he has been, and make plays at third like he has in the last few days? how can the smallest middle infield in the majors be so surprisingly productive (though i'll allow that the actual production is a bit skewed)? why am i such a big hector luna fan this year? am i drinking too much kool-aid, or what?

god damn, i love baseball.

memo: izzy

izzy
your stat to shoot for should be saves, not wins.
sincerely,
everyone

slump buster

i had a feeling encarnacion might find his stroke soon. last night was the kind of confidence booster that would do any struggling position player right: great play in the outfield, 3-4 at the plate, and every one for extra bases. ok, juan, good job. just hit two singles today, and you're starting to bring all the redbird faithful to your side.

speizio once again proves that when the pressure is off, he can perform with the best of them. (to be fair, though, our bench hasn't exactly been clutch this year.)

at the beginning of this season, i was touting 2006 as the year of yadier's bat. as yet, this hasn't been the case. shouldn't catchers have something of an advantage just based on their familiarity with the look of pitches? whatever, i'm not really complaining. continue to be a great backstop and a force to be reckoned with for baserunners, yadi, and you'll continue to be one of my favorite cardinals.

just two more days until my first trip to new busch...

welcome to thunderdome (i mean, the cardblogosphere)

[hopefully, this doesn't post twice]
g here (aka geronimo, aka gthedamned). i've been blogging for a few years now, but it's finally time for me to devote a whole space to one of my passions, namely cardinals baseball. for those of you looking for another metric for your fantasy league team, this blog is not for you. in fact, i will probably shy away from stats a lot more than other baseball blogs. i can only keep a few numbers going in my head at a time, so while i know that john gall is currently batting .397 in aaa, i can't remember what albert's average is. i don't consider this to be a problem, as that information is available elsewhere.

now, for my first post...

dear god, what's scott rolen gotta do to score a run? two doubles inches away from being homers, and how many times has he been left on after great efforts at the plate in the last few games? scott is still underappreciated, by cards fans and the rest of the league alike. the fact that he is hitting like this after last season's collision with a mountain in/from korea is a testament to how great this guy is. even if eckstein is officially our second best hitter right now, let's show scott rolen some love. he's one of the hardest working players in baseball, and therefore a perfect cardinal.

i won't say anything about sir albert, so as not to throw a jinx his way.

juancarnacion might be showing some signs of life (maybe). (i bloody well hope so).

i had to pass up tickets to the game last night because my son is only two weeks old, and i'm already leaving him alone with my wife on friday to go to the game (as part of her x-mas present four-pack). it hurt like being knifed in the belly.