Steve Phillips - open mouth, insert foot

I love the NLDS round, because games are actually played during the day. Which means I can follow the games on line at work (work allowing, of course), and listen to the games during the drive home. Tonight I spent about 25 minutes in the car, so I heard the beginning of the Yankees/Twins game.

And in those 25 minutes, Steve Phillips managed to say three dumb things. Three! He must be the most limber man in America, because his foot is always in his mouth.

To wit:

(a) Steve and his broadcast partner, the normally savvy John Miller, were discussing Justin Morneau's absence and how the Twins have played very well since Morneau went down for the season with a stress fracture in his back. Phillips commented that Kubel (who led the Twins in RBI this year, by the way) had been the DH while Morneau was in the lineup, but now that Morneau was out Kubel had shifted to the OF because Cuddyer was now at first. Then the money comment (paraphrased; remember I was driving): and that puts your power in the field, which is not what you want to do.

Apparently, according to Phillips, teams would be better off if their best hitters only had to concentrate on hitting and not that pesky fielding thing. I guess this is why the NL is considered inferior.

Of course, the BEST HITTER IN BASEBALL currently plays first base for the Cardinals, which would seem to blow a hole in this theory. Strike One.

(b) I think Jorge Posada is a future Hall of Famer. Wow. Just wow. Posada has never won an MVP (he's received votes twice, finishing 6th in 2007 and 3rd in 2003) and never won a gold glove behind the plate. He's won the All-Star popularity contest 5 times, which is not a good metric for HOF worthiness anyway. He has won the catcher Silver Slugger 5 times, which is noteworthy.

Posada's career line: .277/.379/.480. Know who Baseball Reference compares him to? Rich Aurilia, Ken Caminiti, Jose Valentin, Mickey Tettleton, Mike Lieberthal, and Joe Ferguson. None of those guys will ever be included in a document listing potential Hall of Famers.

Playing for the New York Yankees, by itself, does not qualify a player for the HOF. Strike Two.

(c) Regarding Robinson Cano (paraphrasing) - what a luxury to have a guy like this hitting seventh, with his 200 hits and 25 HR. He can hit higher in the order.

The reason Cano is hitting seventh is because his OBP is eighth best of the 2009 Yankee starters. Yep, of the regulars, only Melky Cabrera (.336) has a lower OBP. Cano had a great year, and one could argue it was a career year, although his 2006 and 2007 seasons are comparable. But let's give Girardi credit for understanding on-base percentage and crafting his lineup accordingly.

Cano hits low in the Yankee order because that's where his OBP dictates he should hit. Strike Three.

Enjoy the Sole Sandwich, Steve.

Not the way it could have ended

Ended up watching the last 6 innings or so of last night's Cardinal/Cub game after getting home. Didn't quite end like we wanted it to.

- The Cardinal ninth baffled me. Not the Holliday call - he was clearly out of the base line and that was the correct call by the second base umpire. But after Schumaker reaches on a single, why use DeRosa to bunt him over? DeRosa had tagged the ball his previous 2 at bats (an RBI double to tie the score, and a flyball to left that Scales had to jump up to catch). Everyone knew if Lugo made it to second with one out the Cubs would walk Pujols (which they did), so that play effectively removed AP from the game.

Now folks will argue that, with Holliday on deck, this isn't as serious a tactical error as it was before the end of July, and there may be some truth to that; but for as well as Holliday has played since joining the Cardinals, he isn't the best hitter on the club. Pujols still is. I want Pujols swinging the bat in that situation.

As it turned out, Holliday got hit by a pitch, so the bases were loaded for Ludwick. Who promptly grounded into the double play. I don't know who Dan selected a the goat (I haven't looked at his post yet today), but he probably gave Goat to Mitchell Boggs; Ludwick deserves it more.

- I didn't know So Taguchi was in the Cub chain. I thought he retired after last season. Nice to see you, So.

In Memoriam of Fire Joe Morgan, some dumb things said last night during the broadcast:

- JM, when LaRussa pulled Adam Wainwright from the game: I'm disappointed he took him out there. I think you have to let him try to get the win and get to 20 wins.

Couple of things here. (a) Wainwright had already thrown 102 pitches on a hot night. Seemed appropriate to take him out after 7. (b) I know it would be nice from a milestone perspective to see Adam win 20, and I know lots of people put too much weight in the wins statistic that clearly doesn't measure pitching performance as it once did. Not to mention the fact that the Cardinals are going to the playoffs. Wainwright's now thrown 219 innings and faced 909 hitters, most in the NL. THE POINT IS TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES, NOT REACH SOME MEANINGLESS MILESTONE. LaRussa made the right decision.

- Jon Miller, in the eighth, when the Cubs had runners on with 1 out: The Cardinals can't afford to give up more runs here if they want to win.

To this my wife responded 'That is the point stupid!'. I got nothing to add there.

- JM, in the eighth, referring to Skip Schumaker: Why is he hitting leadoff? He only has 2 stolen bases all year.

He's right, Schu has only 2 steals this year (and has been caught twice). This is classic Joe Morgan. In his day the leadoff hitter was a stolen base threat, no matter what his success rate. There can't be any possible other measuring stick for selecting a leadoff hitter, can there Joe? Except the whole point of leading off the game is to get on base so your #2-5 hitters can drive you in. Scoring runs is the object of the game, right? Score more than the other guy? Then the goal is to get on base. Schumaker has the highest OBP of any Cardinal not named Pujols. Perhaps THAT'S why LaRussa has him hitting leadoff.

At any rate, the Cardinals magic number remains at 4 going into Houston. There'll be a preview up later, but with the back end of the Cub rotation starting the first 2 games in Milwaukee, I'm hopeful the Brewers can take the first two; if St Louis wins 2 of 3 from Houston, that'll do it.