clocking in at not quite a month between posts is better than i was doing a year ago...

some thoughts on this year so far:

offense: clearly, we have a bit more of it that last year, but like the last three years have been, it's seems to have an on-off switch that we don't yet understand. our usual producers are producing, usually, and even a few rookie types are showing their stuff, but when we're cold, we're all very cold.

pitching: so far, despite some stellar performances from surprising individuals (see piniero, joel, first few starts of), the cracks are starting to show. it seems the man we knew to be our go to ace this year has been struggling, but the guy we wanted to hope could come back to ace form knows how to fix it. multiple great pitchers coming back to their true abilities? i'll drink that kool-aid, thanks.

albert: is still albert fucking pujols. greatness, my friends, greatness, like legend of the game type greatness, spoken in the same breath as ruth, mantle, aaron greatness. even the agnostics among us, pray for his continued health and that he likes his restaurant enough to stay in town for the rest of his long and storied career.

yadi: leading catchers in ba? that's what i'm talking about.

manny: being somewhat more than manny. ha.

with three other nl central teams looking at least a little bit threatening, that's all i'll commit to as yet, but i remain cautiously optimistic. i have been able to watch all or parts of more games this year than i was all last year (thank you direct tv) but have missed a few that seemed to be no brainers (all of which we lost, i might add) (god damned mlb restrictions).

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.