Pitching and Defense, Boys, Pitching and Defense

First, I've made some improvements to the blog by finally figuring out how to upload pictures to my layout. This only took 20 months. You want to know how to do it? Layout -- Add page element -- select Photo. Yep, a real technical challenge there.

Cardinals won yesterday 7-4 behind adequate pitching from Braden Looper, Yeoman's work out of the bullpen, and more stellar defense. Cardinals will do no worse than split with Pittsburgh; they go for the series win tonight.

(By the way, why are 4 game series over the weekend now running Fri-Mon? What happened to Thurs-Sun, which was the standard for at least 3 decades? What idiot came up with this schedule? Three-game road trips (ex: Padres completed a 10 game homestand, spent the weekend in San Fran, and are home for 6 more), and weird series scheduling? I'd like to slap the scheduler. Mondays and Thursdays should be travel days, and this should be inviolate. Also, there should only be day games on Thursdays. And every game at Wrigley before 1 July should be played in the sunshine.)

Back to the column.

It's so nice to see this Cardinal team return to the standards that marked the successful Cardinal teams of my lifetime, in emphasizing pitching and defense. There are lots of metrics out there to measure performance on the baseball diamond, and it seems to me the decision makers in MLB have gone way, way overboard trying to quantify offensive production in order to build a winner. USSMariner recently put up their opinion on how much offense (50%), pitching (35%), and defense (15%) contribute to a team's winning. I don't give a hoot how well you hit the ball. If you can't throw strikes, and you can't catch the ball, you will be mediocre - period.

This team's pitching, I think, will never be compared with the great staffs of the past. But their defense makes up for a lot of the failings of the pitching staff. The Cardinals don't give up unearned runs (13 so far this season). Yesterday the Pirates did a good job of putting the ball in play and getting their hits, but the Cardinal defense on more than one occasion snuffed out the rally by making the play on a batted ball (Ankiel, Izturis, et al).

This is the major reason the team is 10 games over .500, especially considering Ludwick and Pujols have been the only consistently dangerous bats in the lineup.

You give me a team of passable major league hitters than can play defense, and I'll contend for a playoff spot every single year. Mozeliak deserves a lot of credit for re-emphasizing this part of the game, something the Cardinals had gotten away from in 2006 and 2007.

The Cubs are in SD for a 3-game set starting tonight, so I'll get a good look at them on the TV over the next 3 days. I may sully this blog with some Cub analysis; you need to know your adversary (and the Cubs are the class of the NL right now, as much as it pains me to say that).

Mather Up, Duncan Down; Franklin Loads them Up

I blogged Thursday about the crowded Cardinals outfield. I thought Chris Duncan was the one guy, of the 3 currently sharing time in LF, who would remain on the roster for the foreseeable future, if for no other reason than his ability to play 1B.

Shows how much I know.

Duncan was sent down before Friday's game, and Joe Mather (who was tearing it up at Memphis) called up to replace him. Of course, Mather is an outfielder, too, so this does nothing to alleviate the logjam in the corner outfield spots. But he is hitting the ball better than Duncan, as has been well documented elsewhere, and hopefully more at bats will help Duncan get back on track.

I have been critical of Duncan's OF play since he started out there in left, but a post I read recently (which, of course, I can't find now that I'm looking for it) stated Duncan's defense isn't all that indefensible. He actually gets to all the balls he should, and occasionally gets to one he has no business catching. So I've begun to change my tune on that score. Based on his injury and aggressive efforts to rehab from it, he strikes me as a guy who really wants to play and really wants to prove he belongs here. So here's hoping he fixes his power stroke quickly and gets back soon.

I looked at the box score a little more closely and discovered that Franklin didn't start the ninth last night; he came in to clean up the mess Flores left him. But, he did allow a soft single to load the bases, which got me thinking. Hasn't Franklin pitched in more bases-loaded situations than anyone else on the roster? Is there a stat somewhere that tracks this kind of stuff? I haven't watched as many Cardinals games this season as I usually do, but it seems that every time I see Franklin on the mound the bases are chocked full of opposing runners.

Anyone else out there notice this? Again, no hard metrics, just a feeling.

Cardinals beat Oswalt; Hand out Cigars

Did you know that Oswalt hadn't lost to St Louis since 16 July 2005? I didn't either until I read the game summary here. Thank God that long national nightmare is over.

Wainwright Rights the Ship

I hadn't realized Wainwright has never lost to Houston until that little factoid appeared in the Post-Dispatch this morning. His excellent effort was sorely needed following Looper's lackluster outing yesterday.

This sets up an interesting finale of the series today between Oswalt and Lohse. Oswalt hasn't pitched like his normal tough self so far this year, posting a 5.61 ERA and a 4-4 record. For this fan, however, seeing his name on the ledger brings to mind his two 2005 NLCS starts against the Cardinals. I will not be surprised if that Oswalt shows up today to pitch.

Brendan Ryan led off yesterday and played 2B. That marks the 4th game in a row he's appeared in. It has been said elsewhere in the blog-o-sphere that the Cardinal second sackers aren't hitting much (Miles, Kennedy), so initially I thought this meant LaRussa is going in another direction. However, so far this season his best leadoff hitter has been Schumaker, so why put Ryan in the 1-spot?

Then I noticed Schumaker wasn't in the lineup at all, with Barton playing LF and hitting seventh.

What gives?

At some point, you'd think LaRussa would settle on a standard lineup and go with it. It's tough to argue with the way he's managing the team; afterall, they're 31-22 and 1.5 games out of first in the NL Central. But trying to spread the wealth so much can't be good in that no one really knows their role; you might start tonight, then be a bench hitter tomorrow, then be a defensive replacement the next day, then start in a different position the next, etc.

The only thing I can think is they're auditioning some of their extra outfielders for a potential trade down the line. I think it's reasonable to assume Ankiel isn't going anywhere, and Ludwick has hit his way into the regular RF position (and his glove is pretty good, too). There aren't enough at bats to keep Duncan/Schumaker/Barton happy playing part time in LF. Even if you slot Duncan as Pujols' back-up at 1B to guarantee him a roster spot, he won't get that many at bats, just the occasional off-day for AP (since AP's a potential gold-glove winner, Duncan wouldn't be spelling him in the late innings for defense, and LaRussa certainly wouldn't want to take AP's bat out of the lineup unless he had do), so Duncan would still need playing time somewhere.

I wonder which one they're trying to move?

Sounds Like They Got Pounded

Looper had a rough outing and the Cardinals trailed 4-0 after a half inning. It got worse from there. 8-2 your final.

Not much else to add today.

Quick Update

I'm a little pressed for time this morning. I'm working on a post for today, but whether or not it gets up on this calendar day will depend on my work load this morning.

The day after a holiday is always rough, as you know, trying to cram a 5-day work week into 4 days.

I had duty yesterday (relieved this morning), which didn't lend itself to posting in the morning as has become the norm around here.

Speaking of that, an update which will be reflected later in the margin. My work schedule has shifted to allow me a posting window in the mornings during the week. I'm (as can be seen by recent posts) trying to get stuff out there during the work week; most posts are up by 0800 Pacific Time, so feel free to stop by more often.

One more thing: There was a pretty bad fire on the USS GEORGE WASHINGTON last Friday. Thankfully no one was seriously hurt, but the in port time to recover from this may be significant. Please remember those sailors in your prayers; there is nothing scarier than a multi-deck fire at sea.

Cardinals Win in Rout; Young, Bard Injured

Not much more to say than that. Lost interest after seeing Bard writhe in agony following AP's slide in the third.

Both plays were clean. Just the way it goes.

Leave a Pitch In The Middle Of The Plate, Get Burned

AP Photo/Larry Ignelzi

Piniero made one mistake in a bad spot - 2 on, 2 out in the sixth against the Padres #5 hitter - and Kevin Kouzmanoff hit it out to dead center for a 3-R HR.

Padre color commentator Mark Grant thought it was a slider that didn't slide. Whatever. It was definitely a breaking ball, and it hung in the middle of the zone, the proverbial "ball on a tee". Kouzmanoff didn't miss it. It was Piniero's 88th pitch of the game. He would throw 2 more, the second turning into a sharp single to LF by Khalil Greene, before exiting.

The warning signs were already up before Kooz hit his HR. Piniero missed his targets badly while striking out Adrian Gonzalez for the second out of the sixth. His 1-0 pitch was supposed to be on the inner half, but actually got a lot of the outer half of the plate. I can only assume Gonzo wasn't looking for that pitch in that spot, because that's a pitch he usually handles with power. The other pitch was on 2-1, I believe; Molina set up inside and Piniero missed way outside.

I have noticed that LaRussa tends to let his pitchers work out of trouble, even when they are missing their spots; he did it in 2006 with Carpenter on several occasions, for example. Carp is a good enough pitcher to battle through when he's tired. Piniero is hit or miss. I thought, watching that game, that perhaps LaRussa should have gotten Joel after he retired Gonzo. Hindsight is always 20-20, of course. There were good reasons to leave him in. It was only the bottom of the sixth; Piniero had barely cracked the 80 pitch mark; the Padres had only 2 hits coming into that inning (although they had matched that total in the sixth); he had just struck out the Padres best hitter. Of course, some of those reasons are also good ones for taking him out.

Can't really blame the offense for this one. Maddux pitched well other than the second inning, and the Cardinals managed to plate 2 runs. It could have been at least one more if Piniero gets a better bunt down. Credit the rookie Carlin with a good play to retire Kennedy at second. Other than that threat, Maddux pitched like he always does against St. Louis - Tough.

In other news, AP went 0-4, but that o-fer included a line shot in the first right at Gonzo that turned into a DP, and a hard ground ball in the sixth that Kouzmanoff made a real nice play on diving towards the LF line.

AP gave an interesting interview to the Padres radio pre-game show yesterday afternoon. I caught about 2/3 of it before pulling into my driveway. In addition to the usual platitudes about the team and LaRussa (and that' s not a dig at AP; just good interview-ese), he was asked about his approach, specifically if he changes his approach for a notorious pitcher's ballpark like Petco. His short answer: No. His longer answer focused on keeping his routine, which includes video of that night's pitcher and time in the batting cage to get loose.

He also said "I don't worry about the ballpark. I can hit it out of anywhere." Not boastful, just matter of fact. I thought that was cool. His approach during BP, if you are interested, is to make good contact and concentrate on hitting line drives gap-to-gap (this matches what he told Joe Morgan during an interview ESPN played on Sunday Night Baseball about 2 weeks ago). If it goes out, it goes out. He wants to get the ball deep in the power alleys on a line. Real interesting to me to hear what he focuses on. I know I'm only a beer-league softball player now, but I tend to get caught up trying to hit it 350 feet plus (because I can) instead of concentrating on making solid contact and hitting a line drive.

Which, incidentially, is what my father tried to impress on me. Since AP does the same thing, looks like my dad knew what he was talking about. And that doesn't surprise me one bit.

Cardinals Pummel Padres 8-2

A good friend of mine offered me last-minute tickets to the game. With regret, I had to turn him down.

Boy, what I missed.

If I ever need a photo of a half-hearted effort, I'll use this one:

AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi

That's as high as Hairston could get? I can jump higher than that, dude.

And thanks for challenging Pujols - two HR. The one off the Western Metal Building was a moon-shot, and his eighth inning effort was gone when he hit it. Beautiful.

Just three other comments:

- Brian Barton had by far the worst AB I've seen in a long time with the bases loaded in the seventh. Caught looking at three fastball strikes in a row? Come on, Brian. How can you be sitting on an off-speed pitch in that situation? I was always taught to look fastball and adjust - it's easier to slow down your bat to meet a breaking ball than to speed it up after a fastball. And the 0-1 pitch looked really, REALLY fat to me (in perfect position to see it, 10 miles from the game on my couch, of course). Strike 3 was a tough pitch, but that 0-1 pitch? Wow. You got to swing in that situation, don't you?

- Love Russ Springer's beard. The first thing I thought of was "Shaggy" from Scooby Doo, except Shaggy doesn't have a full beard like that. Grizzly Adams, perhaps?

- You may have heard about the explosion yesterday in downtown SD. The Hilton that's under construction which suffered the blast is right across Harbor Drive from the Ballpark. It, as you migh expect, was the lead story on the late news, and has been blamed on a slow gas leak in a machinery room; apparently the leak had been present for a while, for it filled the room and then something sparked it. 14 injured, 3 seriously (second and third degree burns). Keep them in your prayers, please.

Maddux tonight. The Padres look like a beaten down team.

Post-script: The hot topic this morning? Edmonds' catch. Now the wagging tongues are saying, why didn't we give him a longer look? Hilarious. Also, Kevin Towers is pretty pissed off about his team's effort; stand by for more knee-jerking from the left coast.

You Just Don't Know, Do You?

This Cardinals team, although very entertaining, is going to drive me crazy over the next 4 months. How do you drop 2 of 3 to the Pirates, then turn around and take 2 of 3 from the best team in the AL? Crazy.

Cardinals flat-out stole one yesterday. Tampa Bay has had, statistically, the best bullpen in the AL this season. To trail 3-0 after 6 and win 5-4 in the ninth against that group is quite the achievement.

There's been a lot of ink spilt discussing the propensity of this team to leave men on all over the place, and rightly so. They stranded 6 on Friday, 16 on Saturday, and another 10 yesterday. The silver lining is they're getting guys on consistently; the hits with men in scoring position will eventually come. I'd be a lot more concerned if they were hitting .800 with men in scoring position and only stranding 2-5 runners a game, because that success rate is not sustainable over the season.

Shore up the bullpen, and get some hits to fall in, and this becomes a VERY dangerous team.

So it's off to the west-coast to complete their swing through California for the season. One of the things I liked about the old schedule (and this goes back to the 12-team NL, when they played 18 games against teams in their division and 12 against the NL West) was they had 2 nine-game road trips through the coast a year, and hit SD, LA, and SF all in the same trip. If you were so inclined, and could get the time off, you could follow the team up the coast. Why they made the trip out to SF in April and then swing through LA/SD now is beyond me. I can see why a lot of folks in the league think this schedule stinks.

For the first time in 10 years I won't be going to see the Cardinals in person. My schedule is too chock-a-block right now to afford taking 4 hours to attend a baseball game. That's a sad state of affairs, but it's reality. Since we're back on Cable TV (having told ATT to shove it with regard to Dish Network), I'll be able to watch all 3 games from the comfort of my own home, so at least I'll get to see them play.

Pitching matchups for the next 3 days:

Wellemeyer vs Ledezma
Piniero vs Maddux
Looper vs Young

Maddux has owned the Cardinals during his career, and Young is very tough at home; I think we'll be fortunate to take 2 of 3 in this series, even though we're playing the Padres, who were anointed the worst team in baseball yesterday by virtue of dropping 2 of 3 to the Mariners. Talk about the Toilet Bowl - a weekend series that pitted the worst AL team against the worst NL team.

Giles is hot, Adrian Gonzalez is tearing the cover off the ball, but the rest of the lineup is scuffling right now for San Diego.

In-depth analysis over the next 3 days for this series. Go Cards!

Even Jim Edmonds Can't Make This Uni Look Good...

AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

Bleech.

The San Diego paper points out Edmonds didn't improve much from his Padre stint, but he is hitting .250 as a Cub. That's 72 points better than with the Padres! Go Jim!

Looks like the bullpen has become a major problem.

Lost 2 of 3 to the Pirates. Blew a 5-1 lead. Izzy and Villone can't get anyone out. Whoo, boy; doesn't bode well for the home team.

Izzy seemed so despondent in his post-game comments, I wonder if he's mentally tough enough to pitch at all in pressure situations anymore. He also seemed to indicate he expected the Cardinals to make a move regarding his status on the roster.

Boy I hope they offer to send him down to Memphis vice releasing him outright. Somehow, I don't think designating him for assignment is the right answer. It (one more time) also seemed he would be willing to spend some time at AAA to clear his head.

That's one problem. What do we do with Villone? He's one more team away from tying Mike Morgan's 'most city stickers on your bag' record for a reason. I say we punt him outright and bring someone else up. I don't care who accompanies Chris Perez to the majors, whom I would expect to be called up if they make a roster move with Izzy.

Reyes' line from tonight: 3 2/3inn, 6 H, 2 ER, 2BB, 3K, ND (Memphis won in 12). Recap didn't say why he was pulled in the fourth; his pitch count might have been high, or they're working on lengthening him out to pitch more innings per appearance.

Now this is funny

I've been wracking my brain looking for something to blog about today.

So far, I've got nothing.

Edmonds signed with the Cubs this morning and was rumored to be in the lineup today.

Let's check CBS Sportsline. Yep, he's there, hitting sixth. Had a hit in his first AB off Maddux.

Then I noticed something was amiss with the box score:



If you can't read that, it shows Edmonds replaced in the Padre lineup, and in the Cub lineup.

Yep, apparently Edmonds was in the Padre lineup, was substituted for, but still wanted to play today, so he went over to the Cubs side and is now in CF hitting sixth.

They better run a breath-a-lyzer on the guy covering this game.

Was Villone the best option?

It sucks when you fight back from an initial 2-0 deficit to tie the game in the eighth, then lose in extra innings. I didn't realize that Villone was the guy tagged for 4 ER in the 10th until seeing the highlights (lowlights?) on ESPN.

Which got me thinking: Was he really the best option at that point in the game?

LaRussa famously remarked about Braden Looper's 6 May start, that Loop needed to go deep into the game, because the bullpen was gassed. Why the bullpen was gassed given the excellent April our starters had is a whole other discussion; but I figured that was a good point to start from when looking at bullpen loading leading up to last night's game.

Here's the usage graphic:

If that were at all legible you'd see what I mean.

What it does show is that Villone had only been used one time in the previous 7 games, thrown 5 pitches, and not gotten anyone out. It also shows that Parisi wasn't available for extended duty, and that Izzy and Flores probably could have gotten one guy out. McClellan, however, was fully rested. Franklin and Springer had already been used.

Lets look at the lineup Villone faced. He started with the top of the order (Sanchez). Sanchez is right handed. In fact, other than McClouth (hitting behind Sanchez), LaRoche (hitting seventh), and Mienkiewicz (isn't there a 't' in there somewhere) hitting ninth, the lineup was right handed, and Villone wouldn't face 2/3 of the lefties until the bases were loaded and 2 out (assuming no runs had scored).

So why throw him in there? Even if you want to use him there due to his lack of work, why leave him in to face the 3-4-5 hitters, all right handed, after McCouth sacrificed Sanchez to second?

Why not bring in McClellan?

I don't understand the logic there. Why save McClellan for a protracted extra inning game when the game was on the line there?

Better 201st Post - Anthony Reyes

Let me pull out my old moniker (The AngryRant, for those of you new to the site) to discuss Anthony Reyes for a moment.

As you know, Reyes was sent back to AAA Memphis on 4 May. He wasn't happy about it, and I don't blame him; I don't think his performance was so bad it merited his being demoted. But let's look at the data to see what it tells us.

In his first 6 appearances, he pitched very well. He did have a hiccup in his second, against the Nationals; he gave up a 1 out 2 run HR to Flores, Washington's catcher. He got the next guy out and was replaced by LaRussa, getting credit for a hold.

For his first 6 games, his line looked like this:

9 2/3 IP, 3R (all earned), 8 H, 1 BB, 8 K, 2 holds, 1 save, 1-0 overall record, 2.79 ERA, WHIP 0.93.

Pretty darn good.

LaRussa at least evinced some faith in him then, using him in tight, close games. You get holds only if you come into the game in a save situation; his save was in the 10th inning against the Giants, who the Cardinals had trouble with (they went 4-3 against St Louis this season). Reyes was pitching about every 3 days to start the season. Since he had gone through spring training as a starter, I thought that was a reasonable approach to a kid now shifted to the bullpen, as you work him into working on consecutive days.

Reyes' 6th appearance was as the long man out of the pen, spelling Looper after Loop gave up 6 runs in the third to those same Giants. He pitched as he had in the previous 5, but he was working on 4 days rest.

It's his next appearance that apparently did him in. Entering in the 8th, against Pittsburgh's 4-5-6 hitters, he gave up 4 hits, one loud flyball, and a groundout. The damage might have been worse had Schumaker not cut down Mientkiewiez at second trying to stretch a single into a double.

After that, he pitched at the back end of 2 blowouts, and got sent down.

Why would a poor outing after 6 good ones get him reassigned? Putting on my JFK "there was a second shooter on the grassy knoll" conspiracy hat, doesn't this ooze something nefarious?

It's almost as if LaRussa and Duncan gave Reyes just enough rope to hang himself. It's no secret neither one of them trust Reyes, otherwise why would he have spent the better part of 2 seasons wearing out the road between St Louis and Memphis? If they really bought into Reyes as a top-flight pitching prospect, why did they not let him work out his problems in 2006 and 2007 at the big league level, like other teams have done with Edwin Jackson, Cole Hamels, John Danks, Gavin Floyd, and several other young pitchers over the past 4 years?

But they didn't; they turned him into a yo-yo, and in the process sapped his confidence to the point he was a wreck last season.

And this year was even crueller. The kid worked his butt off in spring training but would have been sent down anyway if not for the intervention of Mozeliak at the start of the season. So LaRussa and Duncan (seemingly, I have no proof of this) went into a dark room and decided to let the kid pitch out of the bullpen until he made enough of a mistake to justify sending him down.

Which he did in that game against the Pirates.

1-1, 2 holds, 1 save, 1 really bad inning, and back to Memphis you go. Obviously I think he got the shaft...again.

He's pitched only once since returning to Memphis - 3 shutout innings in an abbreviated start on 9 May (4 hits, 3 walks, 3 K). He should start again Thursday (Memphis is off tomorrow) at home against Oklahoma City.

Clearly I want him to have a chance to succeed at the Major League level for the Cardinals. I think he's good enough and the team was foolish for cycling him between St Louis and Memphis last year (yes I know he was 2-14 in 20 starts over 107+ innings). But it may well be time to trade him away, especially if he continues to have this to look forward to as long as LaRussa and Duncan are in charge in St Louis.

GALA 200th POST!

Too bad it follows a lack luster effort at Milwaukee. It's tough to go 3-5 on a road trip when you won the first 2 games.

And as a reward, they come home and get the Pirates, winners of 7 of their last 8.

It doesn't get any easier.

Padres are in Chicago this week, so I get a close-up look at our rival (courtesy of local TV). They exploded for 6 runs in the 5th and 5 in the 6th enroute to crushing San Diego 12-3.

Kyle Lohse tries to stop the bleeding, both personal and team, against Phil Dumatrait of the Pirates. Dumatrait is 0-1 with a 9.45 ERA lifetime against the Cardinals. Lohse is slightly better (2-0, 1.78) lifetime against Pittsburgh.

A new blog of note

My thanks to USS Mariner for mentioning this item and providing the original link.

You may remember from reading this blog that Paul DePodesta, former GM of the LA Dodgers, is now a consultant for the San Diego Padres. He spoke to the local SD SABR chapter; a synopsis of that presentation can be found here, and here, and here.

Paul has started his own blog, to provide 'some unfiltered access to [the Padres'] internal conversations and feelings.' If the blog approaches the quality of Mr. DePodesta's presentation to SABR, it should be well worth the read.

There's a permanent link to his site in the margin.

Izzy OUT as closer

That's what I get for posting before finishing my morning round of sports websites.

Here's a link to the story about it.

Wow. My respect for Izzy just went through the roof. How many guys wouldn't have the guts to tell their manager, "Hey I need a break," instead going out there day after day with a hole in their bat, or their glove, or throwing meatballs?

Looks like it's just a re-shuffle of responsibilities. No word on if there will be a call-up from AAA (Chris Perez?) yet.

Stay tuned.

Edmonds released; Izzy struggles

Yesterday the biggest news locally was the release of Jim Edmonds. Normally on the drive home I have the radio tuned to XX 1090, which covers the Padres; they either have Padres pre-game programming on the air or, as has been true over the past week with the Padres on the East Coast, the game in progress. Because the Padres are at home this weekend, they were doing pre-game stuff, so the Edmonds release was a hot topic.

Edmonds was bitten by two things - a slow start to the season (hitting .180), and becoming an unexpected liability in the outfield. As the Padres continued to struggle (losing 18 of their last 22 after last night's 4-2 decision to Colorado), the discussion became more and more animated out here that something needed to be done; and local fans focused on Edmonds.

He's the new guy, he's making a lot of money, and they jumped on him.

For argument's sake, here's what the other Padre regulars are hitting (minimum 81 AB; that's within 10% of Edmonds' total before he was released): Giles .269; Gonzalez .303; Bard .204; Greene .205; Hariston .208; Iguchi .252; Kouzmanoff .279. Edmonds certainly wasn't the only one struggling at the plate. Also, he wasn't the only one kicking the ball around in the outfield; witness Giles' 2 errors in one inning last week in Miami that torpedoed that game for Maddux, as an example.

I think most of us will agree Edmonds hasn't been the same player he was since the concussions he suffered in mid-2006, but I also think he got a raw deal from the Padres. And I'm sad to see him go; I didn't get a chance to see him in person at the ballpark, which I was really looking forward to doing, seeing as St. Louis comes through the week after next.

I doubt Jimmy will latch on somewhere else; he's probably finished as a major leaguer.

**********

Speaking of players who look finished, Izzy blew his fifth save of the year last night against Milwaukee. What makes it even more painful is he had 2 outs when the rally started. Viva El Birdos had a graphic up this week detailing how Izzy's swing and miss percentage is way off this year; if I remember the article correctly, historically he's missed bats at a 11% rate, but this season it's closer to 6%. If he can't throw it by you anymore, given his recent (as in since 2006) trouble getting his curve ball over for strikes on a consistent basis, he's going to have trouble getting guys out.

This is also the third game already this season that the Brewers have rallied to score runs off him; he's lost 2 of those games, and in the third the Cardinals prevailed in extra innings.

Alarms should be going off in the Cardinal front office. They need to take a close look at Izzy and, frankly, Franklin; neither is pitching as effectively as they did last season. We cannot expect the starters to be as good over the whole season as they have been for the first 6 weeks, which means LaRussa needs a reliable option at the back of the game. Yes, Izzy has 11 saves so far, but the recent trend (1 save, 3 blown saves, runs given up in 3 of his last 4 outings) is disturbing to say the least.

I hope their record going into Wednesday's game at Coors wasn't the high water mark for the season; they've lost 3 in a row since, and two of those games they led in the eighth.

Yikes.

Until next time. Links to it from your site are always welcome.

If anyone has a video link...

To either of Ankiel's two throws last night, please email me or post a comment. I can't find one, and I really, really want to see them.



Boy what must it have been like to be at the last 2 games at Coors? First Pujols' mad dash, then the Rick Ankiel Show. Wow.



I hope they're still playing that well when they hit the West Coast in 2 weeks.

I'd have that look too if I had the game he just did (AP Photo/David Zalubowksi)

[Update 1124: I found the video on MLB.com, but it WON'T PLAY ON MY WORK COMPUTER! AARGH!!]

Way to go, ALBERT!

Was anyone else reminded of the final play in Major League while watching AP round third and sprint for home? I hope Shannon said 'Good GOD Almighty, Albert's trying to score!' while calling it on the radio...

United Cardinal Blogger Project - Cubs vs Cardinals

Our pregame prep for this game can be found over at C70 at the Bat.

Thanks Dan, Hi everybody, and a veeeery pleasant good afternoon wherever you may be; welcome to today's game between the 17-12 Cubs, and the 19-11 Cardinals. St. Louis enters today's game in first place in the National League Central, leading Chicago by 1.5 games. The Cardinals fast start over the first 30 games of the season is surprising, given the uncertain nature of their pitching rotation coming out of spring training and the significant changes to their everyday lineup from last year. What's more surprising, however, is that as of today, the Cardinals are the best team in the National League in defense, and have the league's #1 rated pitching staff.

The old mantra is you win with pitching and defense, which they are certainly doing so far.

Your line-ups for today:

CHICAGO CUBS
Soriano LF
Theriot SS
Lee 1B
Fukudome RF
DeRosa 3B
Soto C
Fontenot 2B
R. Johnson CF
Lilly P

ST LOUIS CARDINALS
Schumaker LF
Ryan 2B
Pujols 1B
Ludwick RF
Glaus 3B
Ankiel CF
Molina C
Lohse P
Izturis SS

The most glaring omission is Aramis Ramirez, who is not in the lineup. He took an Adam Wainwright fastball off the wrist in the sixth inning of last night's game. Ramirez is 5-5 with a HR lifetime against Lohse, so I'm sure Kyle doesn't miss him in the lineup.

Game time temp is a cool 57 degrees, and we're ready to begin!

(Note: I'm listening to the game on XM radio, because, even though the #2 and 3 teams in the NL (by won/loss record) are playing in this game, FOX has decided we'd rather watch Arizona play the Mets. I miss the old NBC Game of the Week, which was actually the Game of the Week, not the regional game of the week.)

Lohse, who's 1-1 with a 3.93 ERA lifetime against the Cubs, starts Soriano with a strike, ball outside, another ball outside. On the 2-1 pitch Soriano hits a shallow pop to right. Ludwick does a nice job fighting the sun and makes the catch.

We're joined today by my youngest son, although he's more interested in chewing on the stuffed dog he brought with him and examining every power cord in the room than the excitement on the radio. I am chasing him around as I try to keep some notes on the inning.

Theriot is next: Strike, off-speed away for a ball, then he hits the 1-1 pitch to Izturis, who retires him 6-3. Two out.

The missus has returned with lunch, and we will all be eating while listening to the game.

Derrek Lee with two away. Cutter away, foul ball to right, ball inside, fastball outside and low, called strike, foul to RF, and on the 3-2 pitch he pops out to first.

1-2-3 go the Cubs, after a half inning, Cubs 0, Cardinals coming up.

In the meantime, my sons are chasing burritos, soda cans, shoes, and whatever is not bolted down to the rug. So far, there's a lot more action at my house than at Busch. Maybe I should do a running play-by-play of the events here?

Nah.

Bottom of the first. Lilly is 3-2 with a 2.93 ERA lifetime against the Cardinals.

Schumaker gets a nice hand as he steps in. Lilly starts him with a strike; Schumaker hits a chopper to Lee and is retired 3-1.

There is a significant amount of burrito stuffing spread all across the room. It's being used as a diversion by my oldest; we go to clean it up, he takes off for another item (like the soda cans). High comedy.

Brendan Ryan digs in; he's 3 for 11 lifetime against Lilly. Ball high, strike, breaking ball high, swinging strike, and he strikes out swinging on a 2-2 fastball. Two out.

I've hidden my soda under the bed. My youngest, undeterred, has crawled to the bed, and is reaching under it for the can. He now has managed to get his head wedged under the bed. A brief time out as I pull him free.

AP is 5-16 against Ted Lilly. Curve ball for a strike, fastball high, another fastball high, another fastball high. AP tries to hit the 3-1 pitch to East St Louis and swings through it, losing his balance (his loss of balance is not something you see everyday). He fouls the next offering back to the screen, fouls the next pitch out of play off to the right, and then hits a weak grounder back to Lilly. Albert is retired 1-3.

1-2-3 go the Cardinals; after 1, no score.

Lunch is proceeding here at the homestead; the youngest is done, and still annoyed he didn't get the soda can. I need to assist the Missus with the oldest, so thanks for stopping by, and over to John at The Cardinal Virture for the second inning. John?

Until next time...

Cubs vs Cardinals - Game 1

Thank goodness for WGN. The Cubs are back to broadcasting their games on the superstation. The majority of Cardinals games I will see this year will be played on WGN. I ignore the announcers for the most part, so it really isn't so bad.

Of course, with all that's going on I didn't think to check and see if they were showing the game until almost 1900 PDT, by which point it was 2-1 Cardinals, bottom of six. But a little baseball is better than none.

What a strange game. Alfonso Soriano had a seventh inning to forget; first he struck out with runners on second and third to end the top half, then he lost Pujols' pop-up in the lights (that was charitably scored a single), then he made perhaps the worst effort for a lazy (although well-struck; it was very high) fly ball off Molina's bat, and missed the catch. I'm not sure he got any leather on it at all. That was even more charitably scored a ground rule double, although if he didn't touch it how can you give Soriano an error?

Franklin proceeded to ride the ragged edge of disaster in the top of the eighth, but induced Soto to ground to third and end the inning. However, he faced six hitters, which meant Soriano would get a chance to redeem himself in the ninth.

I will now validate my soothsayer credentials by reporting that, as Soriano strode to the plate, I remarked to no one in particular, "Don't be surprised if he hits a 2-run homer here."

Wouldn't you know it.

At least the Cardinals pulled it out in the eleventh. Single by Miles, wild pitch, well executed sacrifice bunt by Ryan (on a 3-1 pitch, no less, on a pitch that was high), then Schumaker's 2-run shot.

Izzy didn't look comfortable to me warming up in the bullpen before he came in. I'm certainly not an expert, but he didn't look comfortable. And I swear he was aiming his fastball. He had a good curve tonight (except for the one he hung to Soriano), but can't locate his fastball at all. No wonder he's blown 3 saves so far this season. He looks like he did in 2006, when his hip was really bad. Perhaps it's time to call up Perez from AAA Memphis.

And although I understand why the fans were booing him, I don't agree with it at all. Izzy's been a rock for this team for years; he's not the Cardinals all-time saves leader for nothing (and considering that Bruce Sutter and Lee Smith pitched for this club, that's saying a lot). He deserves better. He's being treated much like Trevor Hoffman's being treated here in San Diego, another guy who deserves much better from his fan base.

On to tomorrow. I'll be reporting on the first inning of tomorrow's game, and hope to see you then.

Until next time...

Time to get serious. Seriously.

Some cleanup: Cardinals win 7-2. Again, other priorities prevented me from listening to the game on XM, but boy, I wish I had seen Cincinnati's little league baserunning in the first inning. Or heard Mike Shannon's call. Must have been hilarious.

How do you get caught in a rundown between second and third after watching one of your teammates get caught in a rundown between third and home? Ridiculous. I've coached little league teams with more baserunning sense than was displayed in that half inning.

I see Anthony Reyes gave up another 2-run HR in relief. That pushes his ERA to 6.17. Yikes. He has not been good in his last 3 outings (5 inn, 6 ER). I hope this doesn't mean the focus he showed in spring training has faded. I'm sure it's frustrating for a guy who has started his entire life to be sent to the bullpen; just see Barry Zito (although Zito has been even more of a train wreck coming than Reyes; how much, again, of Zito's early success was due to that huge ballpark in Oakland?).

I also didn't know Glaus leads the NL in doubles. That's good and bad; good that he's driving the ball, bad that it may be a sign he's lost some of his power. Merits further study.

**********
You've probably noticed I've used essentially the same title for the last 2 days. Why, do you ask? Because yesterday, while perusing my email, I noticed Dan at C70 at the bat had sent out an announcement email on the next United Cardinal Blogger project to some people.

To summarize what we're doing: 10 of us are covering the 3 May game against the Cubs. Most folks will be able to watch it, since it's apparently the FOX game of the week; I'll be listening on XM radio, since FOX insists on showing regional games of the week, meaning I'll get the Dodgers or Angels or Padres or some other weak west coast baseball matchup. We're each covering one inning, and posting our thoughts on the events that transpire. There will be links to the previous and following innings.

I've got the first inning, for two reasons: (a) I get to describe an Albert Pujols at bat, and (b) it allows me to schedule a definitive time to do this on Saturday, instead of waiting around all afternoon, a must if you have 2 energetic toddlers in your house vying for your attention.

Hope you stop by this weekend and check it out. Some of the contributors can really write, and I'm looking forward to reading what they have to say.

The people that Dan sent out the announcement to? Nobody in particular; just Larry Borowsky at Viva El Birdos, Berine Miklasz, HOF writer Rick Hummel, Jeff Gordon, Joe Strauss, and Derrick Goold at the St Louis Post Dispatch; Matt Leach at MLB.com, and some local St Louis radio and TV people.

I know Larry will check it out this weekend; if one of the others stops by, it will be the most exposure your humble correspondent has had - ever.

So best foot forward, as the saying goes.

One last item: I've added a link to Mike on the Cards in the margin. Check it out.

Until next time...

Time to get serious

Cardinals lost today to Cincinnati, 4-3. For a recap, go here. Sounds like they were done in by some bad luck (Duncan lost it in the lights) and a lack of timely hitting.

Bronson Arroyo joins a long list of pitchers who get well against the Cardinals. Let's see, 0-3 this year until tonight, last ML win was Sept 12 ... against St. Louis. Figures.

With 2 days left in April, the team stands at 16-11. That's the second-most wins in April for a LaRussa-led Cardinals team, tied with the 1998 start. The only years better than that were 2000 and 2006, which both started 17-8. You know how those seasons ended. A win tomorrow and Wednesday would give the club 18 wins for the month; if you had told me in February this team could finish April 18-11, I would have called you a liar. It has been a most pleasant April.

This team seems to have recaptured the play hard attitude that marked the 2004 and 2005 versions. They don't quit, ever. In fact, with some better situational hitting and work at the back of games, they could easily be 19-8 right now; I'm thinking of the two extra-inning losses to Milwaukee and Friday's 3-2 loss to Houston. I sincerely hope this trend continues the entire season.

One other item: Matt Morris was released Sunday by Pittsburgh. His exit interview with the media, as mentioned on Viva El Birdos, indicated he was hanging them up. Morris was one of my favorite Cardinals. Not only did he attend a Big East school (even if it was Seton Hall), he was a stud for some pretty bad Cardinals teams in the late 90s. He lost all of 1999 to injury, and came back in 2000 as a reliever, still hitting 95-97 on the radar gun. I remember sitting in Busch II and watching him pitch, glad to see his stuff had returned to where it was before the arm surgery. He had the great misfortune to have his best year the same year (2001) Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling had their last dominating campaigns, so he didn't win a Cy Young. Man he was good in the NLDS that season. I will believe forever the 2001 Cardinals were good enough to win the World Series that season, even with all their bullpen woes, because Matt could have started 3 games. Morris lost NLDS Game 1, 1-0, and got a no decision in Game 5 (final score 2-1). His other stats for that series: 1.20 ERA, 15IP, 2 ER, 12 K. Wow.

In recent years he had declined noticeably; in 2004 he was ineffective from the stretch, and it went downhill from there. Ever the consummate professional, he took this latest development in stride, with humility and thanks. Gonna miss you, Matty Mo. Thanks for the memories.

Until next time...

Still Playing Catch-Up

Yes, that refers to me vice the Cardinals, who caught up last night and beat Milwaukee 4-3. Sounds like it was an exciting game.

I've spent the past 2 weeks moving my family into a new house, so I'm still buried in boxes (although we're opening them feverishly to find the TV remote. How did we live before remotes?). I have a couple of thoughts, although not all of it is Cardinals related.

a. The Post-Dispatch reports today that 'Mulder's not close', and they have no time table for his return. This, unfortunately, is consistent with how his rehab went last year. I think, based on multiple surgeries and his inability to return to the pitcher he was before 2004, that Mark's career may be over. It's a shame to see a guy lose his best years to injury. However, it reminds us all that we need to be realistic about our expectations for this season. What we got now is probably what we got for the long haul; I haven't heard any reports on Clement's rehab, and Carpenter is still targeting July assuming all goes well.

b. Jim Edmonds was interviewed on the local Padres station (XX 1090 if you're in the SD area) last Thursday. Most of it was happy to glads about playing for the Padres, being on the west coast, blah blah blah. But he did say a couple of things I found interesting:

- LaRussa apparently prefers to deploy his CF to cut off doubles, but the starting pitchers like the CF to play shallow and catch those bloop hits. Jimmy, as you well know, prefers to play shallow, and allegedly some of the starters (not named) had to go to Tony to get him to allow Edmonds to play his usual CF (vice backing up). Interesting. I certainly am not a major league caliber outfielder (if I ever was, which according to my one little league coach was NO), but I have noticed (after years of playing beer league softball) that the number of balls hit over your head is not significant compared to the number of balls that land in front of you because you were playing too deep. I can choke off more rallies and prevent more runs by playing up and catching those bloop shots and soft line drives than by playing deep to prevent the extra base hit. Funny that Edmonds and his pitchers prefer to play that way too, and that LaRussa is (again allegedly) adverse to it.

- The other thing he said was he loved playing behind guys like Woody Williams (local interest, former Padre) and Jake Peavy, because those guys tell him, hey, if a ball gets hit over your head, that's my fault, not yours for not catching it. Pretty cool.

b. Matt Vasgersian is the primary play-by-play guy for the Padres on their local channel. Matt is an idiot. Yesterday the Padres got dusted by Houston 10-3. In the fourth, Padre starter Justin Germano was finally yanked after giving up 7 ER and loading the bases (Bourn on third, Tejada on second, Berkman intentionally walked on first) with one out. On comes Wilfredo Ledezma. Now, here's Ledezma's line for the outing:

3 2/3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, SO 2, BB 1.

Pretty good, right? Except that he gave up a first pitch single to Carlos Lee that scored Bourn, threw a wild pitch (missed his target by almost 3 feet) that scored Tejada, and a sacrifice fly to Blum that scored Berkman. So all 3 inherited runners scored, making the score 10-2.

After Ledezma is replaced by Kevin Cameron to start the eighth, Vasgersian the bonehead says "Another great outing by Ledezma." Wow. And Mark Grant (former ML pitcher) agrees with him. I don't think Germano would agree. Padres eventually scored another run, and had two on with one out in the eighth with Edmonds and Greene due; if the score had been 7-3, this game's a lot more interesting. So no, I don't think Ledezma deserves platitudes for his effort.

FInal 'Slidegate' comments; Giants are hot right now, so whatever

The Padres preceded St Louis into ATT (nee SBC, nee Pac Bell) Park to face the Giants; San Diego has the second-best starter ERA in baseball after 9 games. They trail the Cardinals.

San Fran was 1-5 when that series started, and they took 2 of 3 from the Padres, winning in extras on Tuesday and 1-0 in the ninth Wednesday. Since the Padres are one of 3 teams that can make the playoffs out of the NL West (along with Arizona and Colorado), as either division champs or the wild card, that series win had to lift the Giants spirits - especially since they are widely considered to be the worst team in the NL this year.

So Thursday the Cardinals ran into a team that's got some confidence, and a pitcher that's pitching especially well against left handed hitting. Wainwright pitched credibly into the seventh, but the bats were silent, and the boys lost 5-1.

Listened to the first 4 innings or so on XM radio. Question: why o why did Izturis try to stretch his double into a triple? Since Schumaker followed it with a single to RC, the Cardinals would have had 1st and third with 1 out and Duncan/Pujols due. Or, best case, they have a run in, Schu on second, and Duncan/AP due, with the score 2-1. Completely different game from that point.

Way to go, bonehead.

**********

It's been covered to death in the local media (and, apparently, in Houston), but I wanted to pile on with some final thoughts on 'Slidegate'.

If Towles was really upset about AP's slide, why didn't he jump up and say something right after the play

If the play was clean, and by all accounts it was, why did AP, a respected veteran, feel obligated to call and apologize to Towles, a rookie? Has the game gotten that soft? Does no one play hard anymore? Is this fallout from the Rays/Yankees spats during spring training, which also started with a play at the plate (although to be fair, that involved an injury to the Yankee catcher

If the Astros were really peeved at AP, why didn't they throw at him in yesterday's game? Why let him get comfortable at the plate and hit 2 HR?

Can we all agree Brendan Backe is an idiot? Way to motivate one of the most feared hitters in baseball, who was struggling (1 RBI in 8 games) until that point, ya bozo. Then again, no one ever said pitchers were the sharpest tools in the drawer.

Especially converted shortstops.

What the hell?

Man, we're getting some good pitching from our starters. Two of 3 from Houston. Nice.

Belated Kudos to Anthony Reyes for getting the win on Tuesday after throwing 3 innings of 1 hit ball. Well done.

The title of this short post is in reference to the AP/Brendan Backe incident during BP before today's game - what the hell? Can someone explain what got Backe so irate? ESPN showed AP sliding into home and knocking over the Houston catcher in (I believe) Tuesday's game - was that the source of the angst?

Er, Well, Um.....Wow

Nice start to the season, eh?

Cardinals starters haven't allowed a run in the first 3 innings of any game so far this season, and have a 0.96 (not a typo) ERA combined after the season's first week. In my wildest dreams I didn't see a start this good.

And it doesn't help that Rick Ankiel is unconscious right now at the plate. He's carrying the Cardinals, not AP. I said earlier that Rick should hit fourth behind the big guy, but right now he's hitting so well in the 2-spot leave him there. If Glaus can get his stroke back look out; this team will be downright dangerous through the heart of the lineup.

At least Glaus' defense hasn't entered a slump; that was a nifty double play he started yesterday in the 4th (I think it was the fourth).

Reyes watch: Pitched the ninth on Saturday; 2 outs on shallow flyballs, two extra base hits (including a HR to let Washington get within 5-4). I was really hoping LaRussa would leave him out there to finish it, however, I can't argue with the decision to pull him, and since Flores got Guillen on the first pitch to pop to center, it all worked out in our favor.

So enjoy it while you can; we have the best record in baseball after week 1 (tied with Milwaukee at 5-1). Your pitching matchups:

Todd "Mr 5 innings" Wellemeyer vs Wandy "Elmer Fudd" Rodriguez (I loved the comment yesterday by the Cardinals play by play guy (I've lost track of who it is) saying he always wants to break into his Fudd imitation whenever he says Wandy's name. Hilarious).

Wellemeyer (1-0, 1.80) vs Rodriguez (0-0, 7.20; ND at San Diego)
Thompson (1-0, 0.00) vs Shawn Chacon (0-0, 3.00; ND at San Diego)
Looper (1-0, 1.50) vs Sampson (0-0, 2.70; ND at Chicago)

Minute Maid hasn't been kind to the Cardinals in recent years (other than AP's HR), so if the team can keep it going there we may be on to something.

Two of 3 from the NL champs is, well, pretty good!

Before tonight's series kicks off with the Nationals, I have a moment to post some thoughts on the opening series, for your review, possible comment, and probable ignoring.

Wellemeyer worked his standard 5 innings with 96 pitches. Lohse, in contrast, worked 5 innings with 74 pitches. Wellemeyer's high pitch count (and 3 walks/6 K's) is typical of his effort; I'm hoping Lohse's is more because he came to spring training late and is still getting into shape. Otherwise, it's going to be a looong year to be a middle reliever in the Cardinals bullpen.

Franklin faced 4 hitters on Tuesday and didn't get anyone out (took the loss). OK, benefit of the doubt, no one's perfect. Franklin faced 4 hitters on Wednesday - soft fly ball from Holliday, line shot from Atkins that almost took Izturis' hand off, booming double from Hawpe, and then a weak ground ball to first from Torrealba.

I think, perhaps, there's some cause for concern. Franklin isn't anywhere near as sharp so far as he was last year. Two outings don't a season make, but bears watching.

Congratulations to Rico Washington and Brian Barton on getting their first ML hits during the series. Rico's was a big RBI that made the game 5-3 in the eighth on Wednesday. Must have felt good to knock that run in after 4000 AB in the minors.

Thompson pitched about as well as can be expected in winning yesterday's game. I didn't know he owned the Rockies, but he's 2-0 now with a 1.50 ERA against them. Fantastic.

ANTHONY REYES WATCH: Struck out the side in the eighth on Thursday. Whom, do you ask? Only Spillborghs (meh), Tulowitzki (hmmm), and Helton (yeah!). Not bad, not bad at all.

Loved Schumaker's throw to cut down Helton in the sixth, but Molina made that play happen by getting back to tag Helton before he got to the plate (or did he? whatever). Outstanding. This is why I don't think Duncan is destined to start for the Cardinals; his defense is too suspect, and we now have too many good defensive outfielders that can also get on base. Once Glaus heats up, Duncan will become very expendable.

Three game set with Washington, as I mentioned before, starts tonight. Your pitching matchups:

Tonight: Odalis Perez (0-0, 1.80; ND vs Braves 30 March) vs Looper (first start).
We LOVE Odalis Perez, or more accurately, Pujols does (13 for 20? That's sick). Odalis is also 3-4 with a 8.46 ERA lifetime against the Redbirds. Yes, I'm salivating.

Saturday: Matt Chico (0-0, 5.06; ND vs Phillies 31 Mar) vs Wainwright (he of the rainout start)
Apparently Chico has changed his mechanics somewhat to get more MPH on his fastball. Good for him.

Sunday: Tim Redding (1-0, 0.00; defeated Phillies, 1.0 Apr 2)
Redding makes his first start at new Busch. He was 0-3 with a 6.83 ERA at the old edifice, so hopefully some of that karma remained in the new ballpark.

Wells Returns, Shows Finger

Anyone surprised Wells handcuffed the Cardinals bats yesterday? I'm not; it figures a guy who was 7-17 for us would make our lineup look silly for most of 6 innings.

And even with that, we had a chance to win, leading 1-0 into the eighth inning.

KFW for an entirely different reason this year.

Glad we only play these knuckleheads in a home and home vice 19 times (or 12 times, as the schedule used to be for interdivisional play before 1993).

Didn't hear much of the game - too busy feeding the little guy dinner.

Remember the Simpsons episode where Homer goes to the all you can eat diner run by the Sea Captain?

"Tis not a man (Homer); tis a remorseless eating machine."

Well, that's my youngest. Ate the Gerber Chicken Noodle dinner, BLEW threw a tub of pears, and inhaled most of a Turkey/Sweet Potato dinner. Ate for an hour. Amazing.

As you can see, not much time left over to hear the game (he's a little vocal when he's hungry and Dad's not fast enough with the spoon).

Did hear Ankiel's 6-4-3 DP to end the Seventh.

Did hear Flores strike out Torrealba in the eighth, then walk Nix on 5 friggin pitches.

Did hear the Birds go quietly in the eighth and ninth.

So far, from what I can tell, no egregious things to discuss (other than Franklin's horrible outing). Lohse pitched well.

Get another crack at them later today.

It's the Opening Day Extravaganza!

Cardinals! Rockies! Wainwright vs Francis! Yipee!

(Insert photo of ominous cloud cover above Busch here)

So I'm stuck at work and can't watch the game. Which is OK, because it's not being telecast nationally anyway. Something about the Cardinals not being very good this year. Over to sportsline.com for the streaming gamecast. Why the CBS website? Because it also hosts my fantasy league. I know, I know - nobody cares about my fantasy league, but I do, so their site is an obvious choice over ESPN.

Game starts. I'm late seeing it due to meetings. By the time I get back to the computer, it's 1-0 Rockies and Wainwright had to wriggle out of a bases loaded jam. Oh, boy.

You know how 'you can tell how the season will go by the first hitter'? (thanks, Harry Doyle) Well, Schumacker walks.

On 4 pitches. The rest of your first inning:

Ludwick: Ball, Ball, Ball, Ball (Schumacker to second)
Pujols: Ball, Ball, Strike Swinging, Flies out to deep left (remember, I'm watching this on the computer, so I envision the Rockies LF (Holliday?) crashing into the wall to prevent a 3-run HR).
Glaus: Ball, Ball, Ball, Ball (Schumacker to third, Ludwick to second).

(Anticipation rising)

Ankiel: Ball, Ball.....

Waiting for update......

Tired of waiting, hit manual refresh.....

Score updates: 4-1, Cardinals, then freezes. Crap. What happened?

My ISP picks this exact moment to shit itself. Fantastic. What the hell happened?

Luckily, there's another Cards fan in the building - and he has MLB TV at his desk. Stop by to chat. His computer is running slow, too. He tries to pull up the box score...and it won't come up.

God Damnit.

Eventually, we discover that Ankiel has a hit and 2 RBI, and Molina has a hit and 2 RBI. I assume that Ankiel doubled in 2, and Molina singled in the other 2. Correct.

Pujols hits his first in the second. 5-1 Cardinals. I tell my friend, watch, the game will get rained out now.

Damn jinx.

So we'll try again to kick off the season tomorrow at 6:15 PDT.

**********

Have to share this story. There's a new Tiger Woods gatorade out, and the ad campaign shows him hitting a golf ball on the moon. That leads to this exchange:

Me: (groans) "Jeez, now he has a sports drink? What's next, Tiger Woods Condoms?"
Mrs. Rant: (stunned silence, then rolls eyes) "That's disgusting."
Me: "Think about it: Men want to be him, and women want to be with him. Now you can! Tiger Woods Condoms!"
Mrs. Rant: (leaves the room)

I feel you need to know about this. Especially if, sometime soon, there are Tiger Woods Condoms. Note I didn't touch the obvious pun on his last name.

Maybe I'm not so crazy after all

Western Kentucky is about to succumb to UCLA; score is 77-71 Bruins, 1:25 to go, and Boris Siakam (A black guy named Boris? cool) just fouled out. I tip my hat to the Hilltoppers who, down 21 at the break, managed to cut the lead to 4 with just under 5 minutes left. Heck of an effort, fellas. Well done.

We can only hope Villanova shows the same heart tomorrow against Kansas. And that it doesn't take a 21 point deficit for them to reach that deep.

**********

This academic quarter is finally, mercifully over. I had a take home final that I started Thursday last and finished Tuesday afternoon. Four, count them 4, problems. Problem #3 took me 11 hours to do. Never been a fan of the take-home exam. I also had a group project that wrapped up last night, and a final this morning. Needless to say I'm much more relaxed right now than I have been since New Year's Day.

Which is good, because I can quit ignoring this blog and start it up again. Nice timing, considering the season starts Monday.

**********

Sports Illustrated's 2008 Baseball Preview is out. Cardinals are picked to finish 5th in the division, one game worse than the Astros (73-89). 5 years ago (2004) the magazine picked them to finish 3rd, and they won 105 games. Not seeing that this season. The magazine projects the following every day lineup:

Schumaker RF
Duncan LF
Pujols 1B
Ankiel CF
Glaus 3B
Kennedy 2B
Molina C
Izturis SS

Adam Kennedy in the six slot? Yeesh. I'd flip him into the 2-hole, bench Duncan, and put Ludwick in left hitting sixth. You win with pitching and defense; we have minimal pitching, so we need lots of defense - something Duncan doesn't excel at. Of course, I'd only stay with this lineup as long as Kennedy wears his hitting shoes. When they wear out, or he loses them, he moves down in the order rapidly.

**********

Let's return to the subject of Anthony Reyes. Two very interesting posts appeared on Viva el Birdos this week - the first by The Red Baron, the second by Larry. Lboros gives a nice summary of what organizational strife is now playing out in the Reyes saga, but I want to focus on von Richthofen's article, because I finally figured out why I'm rooting for Reyes.

He reminds me of my brother.

Not literally, of course; my bro stands 6'4". He doesn't iron the bill of his cap. And if you're sitting down and he walks between you and the sun, you'll think a solar eclipse is in progress. My brother is an imposing man, and a good athlete, who for a portion of his youth aspired to be a big league pitcher.

He tried out for his high school team as a freshman and got cut. He then buckled down and got to work to try and make the team his sophomore year. I know my dad found a pitching coach in the local area to work with him, and I believe it after his freshman year disappointment that he started working with the guy; this wasn't one or two sessions, but several over the course of the year. Younger Brother (YB - I can't call him Little Bro because, well, he ain't little) played Pony League baseball that fall and summer working on his mechanics and pitching. I distinctly remember one game he was pitching in, where he had runners on first and second and two out, and got the count to 2-2 on the hitter. He threw a fastball over the outer half of the plate. Now, it may have been the approaching dusk, or the fact that after a while the balls aren't very clean at the little league level, but I had trouble seeing the pitch. So did the umpire, who called it outside. YB was starting to throw some gas.

Anyway, by the time tryouts rolled around YB was another year taller and bigger. The coach came over to watch him throw (this story is what my late father told me afterwards). YB was messing with a breaking ball that he never really had good command of, so the coach asked him to throw a fastball. YB fired one over the plate, at the knees, that was a dart. The coach blinked. I think YB made an impression.

To make a long story short, YB was cut in the final cut that season. When he approached the coaches to find out why, he was told 'You weren't dominating enough.' What kind of a bullshit answer is 'You weren't dominating enough'? Tell me I don't have a breaking pitch, that I suck at holding runners on, that I'm tipping my pitches, that my pants don't fit - in short, tell me something objective. Not something subjective like relative domination level.

As I recall, that particular incarnation of the high school team won 3 games that year. Nice job selecting a squad, jackass.

However, the 'dominating' rationale sounds an awful lot like the rationale Duncan and LaRussa are using to keep Reyes out of the rotation. In addition (quoting the Baron):

Anthony Reyes has pitched as well as any other pitcher in competition for a starting spot this spring. He has the second most strikeouts of any pitcher, the second best ERA, (despite throwing one game while still recuperating from the flu) and has walked almost no one. However, there is some mystical thing, some magical thing, some fantastic, bamstaferous, flamtabulous thing that Anthony Reyes simply does not do. Unfortunately, whatever that single thing is, it's the only thing that can possibly make him into a major league pitcher.

How can Brad Thompson, who I also like, only make 1 start and be anointed as the #5 pitcher? How can dead weight like Wellemeyer, who routinely can't get out of the fifth inning due to a high pitch count and walks more men than "Wild Thing" Ricky Vaughn, be guaranteed the #4 slot? Reyes probably thought, if I pitch to my ability there's no way they can send me down this season. Looks like he was wrong; Duncan never wanted him on the starting staff, and is doing whatever he can to ensure that Reyes doesn't make the team.

Reyes is getting railroaded, just like YB did. Now I understand. Stick it to them, kid. This blog will be vocal in your defense all year, starting now. If you make the team (and the rotation) out of camp, I'll tone it down a little bit, but don't worry - I got your back.

Quid Erat Demonstrandum

Exhibit A:

AP Photo (Mike Carlson)

San Diego 70, Connecticut 69 (OT).

Exhibit B:

AP Photo (Mike Carlson)

Villanova 75, Clemson 69.

Moral: NEVER bet against a Catholic School on Good Friday.

What's that? What about this?

Oklahoma 72, St. Joseph's 64 (AP Photo - John Bazemore)

OK, never bet against a GOOD Catholic school on Good Friday.

United Cardinal Blogger Round Table Discussion

Because we are all diehard Cardinals fans, and don't have nearly enough going on to keep us occupied during the course of a normal work day, all week some of us have been discussing various hot topics on the Cards.

The beauty of it is, when its your day to moderate, you pose a question and let the discussion go. Jump in as necessary.

Since I'm convinced somewhere in the deep Mideval past of my family we were actually named 'Murphy', it follows that today, my day to moderate, all hell would break loose at the office. Luckily, I had enough foresight to pose my questions of interest Tuesday night, so folks could chew on them all Wednesday.

What follows is a rough transcript of the discussion. Your players:

Me (playing myself)
Don (of Redbirdblog)
Bryan (of Rockin the Red)
haedar (of Redbird Ramblings)
Dan (of C70 at the bat)

Question #1 - We've discussed whether Reyes or Duncan would be on the team 1 August. One of the Cardinals consistent strengths since 2004 has been their bullpen (they get a bit of a pass last year because the starting 5 was so fluid; Franklin and Izzy were solid at the back of games). Is there anyone in our pen that might be an attractive trade option come July? If so who and why?

Don: If you assume the Cards will not be in contention in the NL Central by July (and, frankly, I'm not sure they won't hang around in the race for awhile), then I think Izzy becomes an attractive trade target for a contender that has issues at the back end of its 'pen. He's in the last year of his contract, and by all accounts Chris Perez is the closer-in-waiting.

Bryan: It partly depends on what the bullpen looks like in July. If Mulder, Clement, and Pineiro come back at their expected dates, along with Carpenter's estimated end of July/August arrival, the bullpen could look significantly different than it does now. Any of the current starters aside from Wainwright could be pushed into the 'pen when our guys get back and instantly become trade candidates. Kyle Lohse and Anthony Reyes are two names that come to mind. Out of the current bullpen, however, I think the only real trade candidates that would have value would be Ryan Franklin and Tyler Johnson. I think Isringhausen will stay with the team, as he wants to finish his career in St. Louis. Keep in mind he's from the area.

haedar: I gotta say springer would be the most enticing one. he is on a one year deal, he pitched pretty good last year and if he can match that his value will only rise. he is a grizzled veteran that has been through everything, the type of guy you need on a playoff team going for it all. the problem is he does not want to be traded, and he won't be. the other guy is obviously izzy, but he has said earlier that he will not waive his no trade clause so it's a lost cause.

Dan: Springer and Izzy are the obvious candidates, but don't forget the possibility that Looper could be back in the pen when all of the other arms get healthy. If he shows he can still do it there, he could be intriguing to some people that either need a fifth starter, a closer, or an 8th inning guy. All the arguments for Izzy staying or going make sense, but the big key is if Perez actually pitches in the majors and how he does. I don't know that, if the Cards feel like they can contend next year, they'd want to give the closer job to a rookie. Signing Izzy for another year and letting Perez throw the 8th (if they don't do that most of this year) may make the most sense.

Follow-up question: Agree Izzy is probably the team's most attractive veteran that could be moved at the deadline, and he has been steadfast in his desire not to leave St Louis. Can you envision a scenario where he would change his mind - perhaps like what Jim Edmonds did (although not, probably, tied to playing time as in Jim's case)?

Don: While I understand that Izzy has expressed a desire not to be traded, I think the writing is on the wall. He'll be a free agent at the end of the year, and I seriously doubt the Cards will try to negotiate another contract with Izzy given Perez waiting in the wings. That being the case, Izzy is leaving at the end of the year anyway (assuming he doesn't retire). So I doubt he'd be opposed to going to a contender for a couple of months at the end of the season. I can understand why he objected to a trade with a full year remaining on his contract, but that's not the case in '08.

Bryan: I think the Cardinals could try to bring Izzy back, as I'm not sure that Chris Perez will be outright handed a job next year. Even if Izzy left, I could see them bringing in a "transition" closer to help ease Perez into the spot. Tony will be back next year, remember, and he has a good relationship with Isringhausen. Izzy will be turning 36 in September and has had problems physically in the past years, so it's hard to tell what he's thinking in terms of how long he's going to play. While I'm a huge fan of Perez, I could honestly see Izzy and Perez being in the same bullpen next year. I could be wrong, but I think Izzy would jump at the opportunity to mentor his eventual successor.

Me: Assuming the club doesn't move Izzy at the trade deadline, I think re-signing him will really depend on when Chris Perez is brought up from Memphis. If he's a September call-up, then perhaps they'll try and sign Izzy to a 1-yr deal. If he's up before the All-Star break, and performs well in the seventh and/or eighth, then Izzy's more expendable.

Bryan: I agree. It depends on how the bullpen formulates during the course of the season, which is almost impossible to predict right now.

Consensus: None. Most thought Izzy would be the best trade chip assuming (a) Perez matures as expected and (b) Izzy waives his no-trade clause. Other possibilities included Franklin, Johnson, and Springer.

Question #2: Tony LaRussa is signed on through 2009. Is 2009 his last year as a manager? What style of manager (or who, if you have someone in mind) do you think the Cardinals will pursue as his replacement?

Bryan: Tony La Russa will be done after his contract runs out. There's too many opportunities outside of baseball that I think he'll want to pursue. That said, I think it would be beneficial to the club too to have a new manager. La Russa's antics for getting veterans in the lineup at whatever cost have gotten old, and I think the club will be heading in a totally different direction by then. Jose Oquendo is a frontrunner to succeed Tony, and I think he has some of the qualities that we need in a manager - a good relationship with the players, knowledge of international players, and a willingness to play the best player, regardless of age or contract status. The new manager must be able to see the value in developing young talent. It is a must. I've noticed that the Cardinals are preferring to stay in-house when filling positions lately, which could affect who our next manager is.

haedar: I think 2009 will be tony's last season as a manager of any team in the mlb; especially if he doesn't make the playoffs in 2008 and 2009 because he is all about winning and making the playoffs. he is a "win now" guy and I don't think he has the patience to see the youth get established and play like polished big leaguers nor does he want to which is proven by all the moves that they have made to block some young and potentially good players (miles/izturis vs. ryan, gonzalez vs. schumaker/barton, etc.).

Daniel: I don't see how TLR stays after '09. He really had to debate coming back this time, it sounded like, and I think he'll be ready to move on after it. I'm not huge on having Oquendo follow him--I think a lot of the Oquendo love is from his Cardinal background, not necessarily his managerial chops--but I don't know who else it'd be. I do think it'd be a young gun, not a retread in the LaRussa/Baker/Leyland mold.

Don: I do think '09 becomes LaRussa's last year, but I really think it's his decision. It seems DeWitt is very loyal to Tony. So if Tony is still energized and the Cards are seemingly close to another post-season run, I can see him staying beyond '09. As far as potential replacements for Tony? The obvious candidates, in my mind, are Oquendo and minor-league manager Ron "Pop" Warner (Springfield AA). But the name that really intrigues me is Mike Matheny. He'd need some time as a bench coach, but I think he's a future managerial star.

Consensus: 4 out of 5 Bloggers surveyed (including me) think LaRussa is done after 2009. Who the new manager will be is a lot harder to predict, but the belief in this forum is that whoever it is will have to be able/willing to coach young players and let them develop, vice plugging in the grizzled veteran and/or having a preference for the veterans which seems to be how the team is run now.

Question #3: Jeff Gordon had a nice summary yesterday on stltoday.com of the Memphis Redbirds roster for 2008. We've discussed Rasmus and Mather; who else has potential to be on the big club before September 1st?

haedar: you got jarrett hoffpaur, mark worrell, chris perez (if he doesn't make the team), and a couple of guys that have left huge impressions on dunc and tony (mclellan and parisi). maybe even the legendary Marti if he continues to hit. also, maybe brain barden if they need another infielder. ron flores for lefty relief and josh phelps if pujols goes down (god forbid).

Dan: Perez, if he's sent down at all. Hoffpauir I think will be up at some time this year, especially if there's a chance to move him over to SS. (Not sure if he's got any experience there.) Mather should be up as well.

Don: Chris Perez is an obvious candidate. I also think you could see Mike Parisi and/or Kyle McClellan. Don't sleep on Marti for a spot start here and there in case of short-term injury.

Bryan: I think Jose Martinez has an outside shot of getting the call to the big leagues at some point this season, especially if Izturis really does turn out to be a complete dud. He's starting to get more attention with the upper management, which is always a good sign. I agree with Don with the bullpen talent available, and I would add Jason Motte to that list. Joe Mather will be the first outfielder called up after a trade or injury. That is, unless Juan Gonzalez decides to continue shaking off the rust in Memphis.

Consensus: Chris Perez will be promoted from Memphis prior to the trade deadline. Lots of other candidates are available, but their ascension really depends on who gets hurt or bombs during the first month or two.

My thanks to all the contributors to today's discussion. See you again tomorrow.

Hope this isn't a sign of how my fantasy season's going to go

Update from the tournament of champions: I'm completely out.

Yep, my champs (1934) played a simulated Game 7 today against the 1964 club - and led 1-0 going into the ninth. But Mike Shannon hit a backbreaking 3-R HR to win the game (and the series) 3-1. Ouch. My other teams were all knocked out, too.

I currently sit in third place, but that's as high as I'm going to go. It's all downhill from here.

Oh well - only pride at stake. I hope this isn't a precursor of how my Rotisserie league will play out (we draft on Saturday).

There's a United Cardinal Blogger event in progress - we're posing some questions among 4 of us - Redbird Ramblings, C70 at the bat, The Redbird Blog, and yours truly. I'll be posting the results of my question (still formulating that one) on Thursday. Please visit the other sites - lots of interesting points being made.

I still believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny

Wow! Villanova made the NCAA Tournament! WOO HOO! WOO HOO! WOO-

Who are they playing? Clemson? CLEMSON?!?

Didn't they just lose on a last-second shot to the #1 team in the country? I guess that means they're pretty good, hunh?

Crap. Looks like 1 and done for our favorite #12 seed.

(To my mind only Dayton has a legit beef as a should-a been in. If they'd beaten Xavier in the A-10 tourney, they'd have probably made it; unfortunately, injuries to their big men early in the A-10 league schedule did them in.)

Oh, this week I'm sure we'll be treated to the high-pitched whine from the All-Cash Conference about how Va Tech should've been in, that Villanova doesn't deserve it, blah blah blah. And that whining will certainly peak if Villanova loses - especially if they get blown out. And since the club has been Jeckyll and Hyde again (meaning we don't know which team will show up on a given night), that's entirely possible.

We got one thing going for us, though - playing on Good Friday. Do you really want to play a Catholic school on Good Friday? That's when the magic started.

Assignments and other fun stuff

Monday night the University of San Diego somehow beat #22 Gonzaga to win the West Coast Conference tournament - and secure an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. This was cause for some celebration here in the hometown. Being the casual local sports fan, I picked up Tuesday's sports section to read the summary and reaction to the game. All positive. Even though USD will probably be first round fodder for a #3 or higher seed.

Underneath the Tuesday sports section was the Wednesday section (today's paper to me, tomorrow's by the time you read this). In there I found this little tidbit:

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (NL)–Optioned RHP Mark Worrell, RHP Blake Hawkesworth and INF Jarrett Hoffpauir to Memphis (PCL). Assigned RHP John Wasdin and INF Josh Phelps to their minor league camp.

Most of the names on this list didn't surprise me, but Josh Phelps' name did. Here's a guy ostensibly picked up as insurance for AP; if AP's elbow exploded, at least we'd have a right-handed guy with some pop to step in for him.

If he's in minor league camp, and therefore on his way to the minors when the team breaks camp, that isn't going to happen.

So who backs up AP at first? Here's a thought - Chris Duncan.

Lets face it - Duncan tries hard, but he ain't the best defensive outfielder in the league. But he worked his way through the system as a first baseman. Moving him to first as a back-up removes one name from a still crowded field of guys vying for the 3 starting spots - and it gives the team a good power bat off the bench.

The downside is that his LF spot will probably be inherited by... Juan Gone. A minimal upgrade (in my mind) in power, and probably a wash on bad defense. Interesting.

----------------

A note about today's big brawl between the Rays and Yankees. This was allegedly started with Elliot Johnson (2B prospect for Tampa) collided with Francisco Cervelli (C prospect for New York American) on a play at home, and Cervelli caught the worst of it, breaking his wrist. There were some things said in the paper by Yankee manager Joe Girardi and Rays advisor Don Zimmer, and then today's events (Longoria hit by a pitch, Duncan sliding in at second with his cleats up).

First, Johnson is trying to make the team. You make the team by making an impression, by playing hard. So for a guy trying to make the majors to come charging around third when there's a play at the plate and make an aggressive move for the bag is part of the game. Cervelli breaking his wrist is unfortunate and tragic, but sometimes that's the way it goes. Rabbit Maranville broke HIS LEG in a play at the plate during a spring training game; it ended his career.

It would have probably died this weekend if Girardi hadn't called the play bush. He's responsible for what happened today. His comments fanned the flames, and then Zimmer had to chime in, and the next thing you know some guys are getting thrown at and other guys are sliding into people's legs with their spikes up. Nice call, Joe.

I'll tell you what - if it's me, and I'm trying to make the team, I'm playing each inning like it's my last. Because it definitely could be. And if that means I've got to run someone over to make the roster, banzai. [clarification note: playing hard does NOT include trying to stick your nails into someone's knee. If Girardi wants to complain about something, there's a good topic to start with.]

------------

Final college hoops thought: Today's Syracuse/Villanova game was touted as a NCAA Tournament play-in game; winner would go, especially if Syracuse won. Well, the Orangemen got crushed by 19. Now the talking heads are saying, well, Villanova improved their chances, but they really need to beat Georgetown tomorrow to lock it up. Bastards.

You know tomorrow if Nova beats the Hoyas, they'll say, well, Villanova really improved their case, but they probably still need to beat Connecticut.

Go Cats. [Update 3/13 2100: Hoyas 82, 'Cats 63. So much for that.]

"We were different people with different morals."

For one Monday, things fell into place - got my work work done early enough to dig into my homework; actually understood the homework and was able to finish it in under 3 hours (for this course, that's a statement; I'm not a dummy, but this Optimization class is kicking my ass).

Which left me time to poke around on the internet, you know, to see what's out there. And naturally, time to blog about it.

Spring training means I spend some time monitoring the Cardinals, but most of it searching for nuggets that will help my fantasy team. I know, I know - nobody cares about my fantasy team. But I've got a title to defend.

Which is how I ended up reading about the Toronto Blue Jays. Well, it's more than that; as you know, the left side of their infield played for the Cardinals last year. While reading the article by Jayson Stark, I came across this gem of a quote from Scott Rolen:

"St. Louis is as good a place to play baseball as there is anywhere -- the city, the fans, the personnel there, teammates, the whole package," [Rolen] says. "My wife loved being there. I loved being there. I had every intention of finishing my contract there. And from what I'm told, many of the people who make the decisions there had every intention of me finishing my contract there. So the fallout, and the situation that became untenable, was personal. There was no contract issue. There was no organizational issue. So when I'm asked about that relationship [with the manager], the way I look at it, everybody has their story. And if you give both sides of the story, I don't think they're going to match up. I've said it before. We were different people with different morals."

Isn't that an interesting thing to say? What the hell does that mean?

After Rolen's injury in 2005, and the debacle with his surgery/rehab that required a second procedure, there were questions raised on how the team handled his medical treatment. I asked them here; Bernie Milkasz asked them publicly in his column and took some heat from LaRussa at a subsequent press conference.

Could we speculate that perhaps the sub-standard medical treatment Rolen received wasn't the whole story? Was perhaps he rushed back to help the team before he was physically ready to, and, being the gamer he is, he tried it to his physical detriment?

And what does it say about LaRussa if he has 'different morals' in light of the steroid era, when two of the biggest stars now associated with steroid abuse played significant years for him (Canseco and McGwire)? Did he really know what was going on and turn a blind eye, to get any advantage to win?

Of course, this supposes that Rolen's moral code closely approximates mine, which doesn't condone cheating on any level. I'll never know that, just like I'll never know what LaRussa's code is. But as someone with some leadership experience, I did find it interesting that LaRussa took their issues public, including his excoriating comments against Rolen this winter.

Seemed like someone trying awfully hard to set the ground rules for how the dispute would be viewed.

Seemed like someone trying awfully hard to spin the story in his favor.

Seemed like someone with a guilty conscience.

Once around the field, then hit the showers

Well we've been playing spring training games for about a week now. I've never gotten too excited about what happens during Feb/Mar at the major league level. For one, the veterans typically have a time table or workout schedule they adhere to - a product of many, many springs getting ready for the long season. That means the majority of at bats go to the kids - kids trying to make the team, kids being evaluated as to where they should start the season, etc.

Every now and again a veteran climbs into camp, more often than not an old Cardinal from days gone by (Andy Van Slyke, Willie McGee, Ray Lankford) trying to will themselves onto the team. That's at least interesting to watch, especially if they have a good spring (like Van Slyke and Lankford did their last go-around); you can't help but root for them. Even if, in Van Slyke's case, they tear a hammie and ultimately don't break camp with the club, or, in Lankford's case, get hurt early in the season and are really not the same afterwards.

We have a story-line sort of like that in Juan Gonzalez this year, but he's not an old Cardinal hand, and I've expressed my opinion of him previously, so you know I'm not that excited about this either.

So there won't be much analysis of the 2008 Grapefruit League Cardinals here this month. We'll continue trying to fill the weeks with somewhat interesting blather until the season starts.

Although I will continue to watch Anthony Reyes' progress this spring. I really hope that guy turns it around and has a good season. Two starts so far, one a teaser of all his talent, the other a reprise of last season. If he's throwing strikes, that's a start; if he has velocity on his fastball, that's a plus; now he needs to put hitters away when he's ahead in the count.

Come on, kid - we're rooting for you.

One final note - the Sweet 16 round in the Tournament of Champions (hosted by vivaelbirdos) is complete. Going into today, I was tied for third with 18 points; two series remained, 1944 vs 1964, and 1934 vs 1886 (my pick in bold). 1934 won, as did 1964. I should know better than to bet against Gibson. I end up 4-4 in this round. Based on a rough calculation, I should be tied for second with 21 (one point out of first); but the most important thing is both my finalists are still alive.

Enjoy your weekend.