"I had fun here and the one thing that ate at me was that no one in St. Louis — not the coaches, the fans, even some of my teammates — nobody in St. Louis has seen what I'm capable of doing," Mulder said from his Arizona home. "Even in 2005, it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't what I'm capable of doing. That wasn't the sole reason for coming back, but it was one of the reasons."
Oooh. I just got all tingly.
Why? Because this sounds like Chris Carpenter circa 2003. He had something to prove - he knew he had the talent to pitch in the big leagues, and he wanted to prove he was still capable after his surgery in 2002. I was misty-eyed during Carp's Game 3 of the World Series gem (oh, wait - Little Dirka poked me in the eye that night), because Carp had fought through 2 tough injuries to showcase his Cy Young stuff on the biggest baseball stage. A culmination of his journey back through all that pain.
I don't know if Mulder has the same bulldog streak Carpenter has. Returns from 2005/06 say no - he got lackadaisacal too many times when things went wrong (The balls Mark Bellhorn and Geoff Blum hit off him in San Diego still haven't landed yet). However he was willing to go out there and fight even when he knew his arm wasn't right, which means he may have that desire deep down. If he can back up what he said above, Redbird Nation can sleep well.
Jeff Weaver? The ship with your chances of re-signing with StL just sailed, my friend. Enjoy the view from Scott Boras' basement until you sign with the Texas Rangers. I would have liked to see you back, but here we are.
On a humorous note - the Dodgers announced the opening of an all-you-can-eat-section in the right field bleachers next season. Yep, for $35 ($40 on game day) you can see how much ball park food (hotdogs, popcorn, peanuts, nachos, soft drinks) it takes before your stomach explodes and/or your heart stops. Seeing as the Dodgers have no left-handed power on the roster, you're going to need to eat all that food - it could be a long season in Chavez Ravine.
Note that beer is not included on the menu. Communist Bastards. Walter O'Malley would have included beer. Of course, Walter O'Malley wouldn't be charging $40 a ticket to sit in the bleachers. My first game at the Stadium? Seventy-five cents for a bleacher seat.
Think Kobayashi will be blacklisted from buying season tickets?
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