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).

i'm so easily manipulated. one comment from my dear friend at Twunch, and here i go, posting on the interbot again about the baseball i so dearly love. some updates.

we have moved again, this time within knox vegas to a house we bought. thanks to directv, we now have the mlb network for the first time in our lives, granting us perhaps 3 more games a year. since we have yet another kid on the way, we get to watch that much less, but it's nice to know it's there.

ok, the baseball. it's too early to do a season preview, and that's not really what this blog has been about from the start. let's just get back to the little blurbs all three of you who've read this blog all know and love.

as i type this, albert has hit his fourth homer of the young season, and the cards are sitting at a 5-2 record. here's hoping for another standard season from the mang, by which of course i mean another thor-like performance. we're currently tied with the fucking cubs for the lead of the nl central, but trust me, no matter what, they will find a way to fuck this up. it seems that we have at least three, and perhaps even four pitchers available to fill out our five man rotation. hell, even piniero has made me feel all giddy inside for the '09 season, though he too will manage to fuck that up, i think.

carp. if it's true, it's what i've been hoping for for two years. it's the reason i felt it worth starting to post again. it's the reason i still believe as only a man who still is amazed when a lottery ticket turns into nothing at all can believe. please, carp, please.

oh, and i went to church yesterday for the first time in several years. that's gotta help, right?

some thoughts on the new cards this year.

dennys reyes and trevor miller are both left handed. they will do. that is all.

khalil greene should prove that he is capable of sustaining his previous levels of offensive production, while creating only a slight decrease in infield defense as compared to izturis. he ma also show at least a touch of emotion while in st louis.

joe thurston will manage to look like a big leaguer and sign with someone else for way too much next season. he will then fail, but we will have got what we needed from him. well met, sir.

freese and barden will probably rotate out for their memphis equivalents (or troy glaus, should he prove not to be totalled) as the season progresses. they will show promise, but still need seasoning, which they will not really get.

colby rasmus will start somewhat slow on paper, but be an OPS force from day one.

there, the season preview i promised i wouldn't do. why you trust me, i'll never kow.

facing wain? pray for rain.

i forced myself not to reference alanis morissette in the title of this post. you can than me later.

rained out first game, but so far, so good. i guess albert will have to hit two dingers tomorrow to make up for the erased one today. it's too bad that wainwright won't get the chance to get an opening day win, but at least he won't take the loss either.

in lieu of the cards game, i've been tuned to every other baseball game available, and i have to say this. eric gagne is a big ball of fuck. after coughing up the lead in the cubs/brewers game so fast you'd think he was paid off, he managed to pitch his way through one inning (purportedly his job) and take the win from ben sheets, who started and shut out the cubs for six plus innings.

auspicious beginning for fukudome, however. ah, they'll still fuck it up.

tomorrow, lohse versus kip "kip wells" wells. i set the over/under for kip's era after tomorrow at infinity. any takers?

are giants stronger than pirates?

in the end, it doesn't matter, as they both seem to be able to outplay the cardinals. rabid thoughts

albert seems to be seeing the ball a little better, which is promising. if anyone else on the team can manage to get it going (hello, scott and jimmy), we may be able to go from having a horrendous offense to a merely a limp offense. lots of bloggers have noted that he seems to be pulling everything these days, which is a bothersome habit, but probably just a habit, so here's hoping he can break out of it.

mr edmonds, this town (mostly) loves you. please justify this with your bat (we know how great a defender you still are). a scant three years ago, you had grounded into the fewest double plays of any major leaguer (4), a number you have already matched in april of 07. 4 is an absurdly low number for a season, but it's high for a hitter of your calibur in less than one month.

i want birds to eat some bear this weekend. i want to not have to hang my head in shame when a cub fan walks by. i want an outfielder who can hit now and again.

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!

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.

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.

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.