Wednesday, May 31, 2006

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.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

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.

Monday, May 22, 2006

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.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

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.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

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.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

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.

Monday, May 08, 2006

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.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

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.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

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.

Monday, May 01, 2006

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.