Carpenter and Gibson; 2011 and 1964

The comparisons between Chris Carpenter and Bob Gibson are not new. Ever since Carpenter joined the St. Louis Cardinals in 2003 and began his incredible run of clutch victories, Cy Young performances, all the while brandishing a bulldog, take-no-prisoners attitude, writers and fans began to nod and murmur. They had not seen pitching performances and guile like this in St. Louis since Gibson wore the Birds on the Bat from 1959 thru 1975.

Now, before we all hyperventilate, it must be noted that Carpenter’s great run in St. Louis truly pales in comparison to Bob Gibson’s hall of fame career here. Gibson is a classic. Gibby was one of a kind. The quotes and stories about him are legendary. Dusty Baker, the manager of the Cincinnati Reds who played against Gibson, once said “Only two people ever intimidated me, my daddy and Bob Gibson.” And Gibson once told his catcher Tim McCarver when he came out to the mound to converse, “What are you doing here? The only thing you know about pitching is that you can’t hit it.” And in 1967, after the great Roberto Clemente smashed a line drive off of Gibson’s leg and fractured it, Gibson pulled himself up and pitched to 3 more batters before finally succumbing to the injury. And finally, Bob Gibson’s 1.12 ERA in 1968, which is still the lowest in history by a starting pitcher for a season, was a big reason that Major League Baseball changed the rules after that season and lowered the pitching mound; to give the hitters more of an advantage. So, when Chris Carpenter or anyone else is compared to Gibson, it is a high complement, but must be taken with a grain of salt.


And the comparisons between this Cardinals team of 2011 with the team of 1964 have been stirred and shaken about during this current club’s amazing comeback run of September and now into October. In 1964, the Cardinals were left for dead, 7 1/2 games out of first place as September began, only to storm back and catch the Philadelphia Phillies on the last weekend of the season. A blockbuster mid-summer trade with the Chicago Cubs that many questioned at the time, brought Lou Brock to the Cardinals for one of their star pitchers, Ernie Broglio. Brock ignited the top of the lineup and led the Cardinals back from the brink. And young Bob Gibson became the late season horse who threw the rest of the team on his back, pitching on short 3 days rest and several times on only 2 days rest, including the regular season and World Series clinching victories.

And then there is this year’s version of the hometown heroes. On August 25th, they were 9 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the Central Division and 10 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the wild card. They traded young superstar-in-waiting Colby Rasmus to the Toronto Blue Jays back in July for pitching depth. That depth (starter Edwin Jackson, relievers Octavio Dotel and Mark Rzepczynski), along with spark plug addition Rafael Furcal, propelled the Cardinals to the playoffs. And when David Freese hit a monster home run to win game four against the Phillies in the NLDS series, it prompted St. Louis writer Bernie Miklasz to proclaim that it might have been the biggest post season home run by a locally grown Cardinal since Mike Shannon’s blast off of the Yankee’s Whitey Ford in the 1964 World Series. Cardinals’ manager Tony LaRussa enabled the Gibson-Carpenter comparisons when he decided to pitch Carpenter on only 3 days rest in game 2 of the series, so he could have a rested Carpenter available for game 5.

And that set up last Friday night’s game 5 matchup between Carpenter and the Phillies’ ace Roy Halladay. I spent the day at work on Friday channeling Bob Gibson and the 1964 comparisons. I brought in my Gibson memorabilia, along with baseball cards and a yearbook commemorating that season and the championship that ensued. Wearing a retro Gibson jersey, and carrying an autographed Chris Carpenter baseball card, I attempted to add some mojo to the upcoming game. Not that Carpenter needed my help. We all know the outcome, as Carpenter did his own version of channeling Bob Gibson, gutting through a complete game 1-0 victory over Halladay and the Phillies. It was a post season classic that will be talked about for years. 1964’s story ended in a World Series victory. This year’s final chapter has not been written. There is work to be done.

If you are hungry for more comparisons, Post Dispatch writer Miklasz wrote this recent story on Carpenter and Gibson. And in Dan O’Neill’s PD article today, he dug deeper into the 1964 to 2011 comparisons. And if you love baseball books, acclaimed author David Halberstam’s “October 1964” is an incredible read. It not only discusses the World Series clash that year between the Cardinals and the Yankees, it goes behind the scenes to portray the racial story of the early 60s and how the social climate played a large part in the construction of those two franchises at the time.


But alas, in 2011, we will have no repeat of the 1964 World Series. The Yankees have been vanquished by the Detroit Tigers. And World Series talk for these Cardinals is premature. The brash and bold Milwaukee Brewers stand in their way, and this must see NLCS matchup of Central Division rivals begins in a few hours. They do not like each other and it will be interesting to see if the scab comes off of the old wounds. There is more time to savor and explore this in the next week. This series is like a juicy steak sizzling on the grill. It smells so delicious, you can taste it already, you know how good it is going to be, and you absolutely cannot wait to bite into it. Game On!

One of These Nights

One of these crazy old nights . . . Well, we went from Frankie Valli to the Eagles in 48 hours. Ordinarily that is a good playlist, but not this time. This is one of those times where I can’t find fault with the Cardinals game even though I want to assign blame in the worst way. Cole Hamels pitched a great game for the Philadelphia Phillies in game 3 of the NLDS, even though Albert Pujols and Ryan Theriot did their best to derail him. Jaime Garcia, pitching for the Cardinals, outpitched Hamels for the first 6 innings, but the 7th inning proved to be his undoing. Probably in 2 more years, Garcia will be to the Cardinals what Hamels is to the Phillies, a pitching stud who can navigate deep into a game while sidestepping any land mines the opposition tries to lay in front of him. But Garcia is not quite there. He is known around these parts as a 5 to 6 inning guy. It just seems that the whenever he faces a lineup the 3rd time through the batting order, that things tend to get a little dicey for him.

Jaime was facing the bottom four in the Phillies order in the top of the 7th inning, sailing along with only 74 pitches thrown and only 3 hits allowed in a 0-0 game. I turned to whomever would listen (my wife in the man-cave, and my friends via text message) and said this was the crucial inning. St. Louis desperately needed to hold serve against the lower part of the order because they would be sending up the top of their own order in the bottom of the 7th; and they had just pushed Hamels to the bench by forcing him to throw 117 pitches through 6 innings. The game was on the line, and it was there for the taking. But to the Phillies credit, they made their own push. Shane Victorino led off the inning with a single up the middle. Garcia managed to scrape through 2 more outs to John Mayberry and Placido Polanco, but he looked to be on the ropes. With Octavio Dotel warming up in the bullpen, Yadier Molina had an animated discussion with Garcia on the mound and then the decision was made (probably from the Cardinals bench) to walk Carlos Ruiz intentionally. Right handed hitter Ben Francisco came into the game, and I was expecting Tony LaRussa to go to Dotel; in fact I pleaded with my television for the skipper to bring in Dotel. In fairness, Garcia was still pitching a shutout and it wasn’t a horrible decision to leave Garcia in the game. But regardless, it turned out to be the wrong decision. Francisco lofted a 3 run home run into the Cardinals bullpen and the game was history.

The Cardinals, of course, did not go quietly in the late innings. They scratched out a run in the bottom of the 7th, and then another in the bottom of the 9th, but it was the 8th inning that broke their backs on offense. They loaded the bases with one out and had Allen Craig at the plate and Albert Pujols in the on-deck circle. Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel took Brad Lidge out of the game and went with his closer Ryan Madson to face Craig. He drilled an 0-1 pitch on a short hop to Chase Utley for an easy 4-3 double play. Three feet in either direction and the game would have been tied.

There were no goats in this game. You tip your hat to Hamels and you tip your hat to Francisco. They got the breaks at the right time and they made the plays. As much as I’d like to blame Garcia or LaRussa or Craig, I cannot. They just got beat.

The math doesn’t look good. Again. But this Cardinals team seems to thrive on bad mathematics.
• On August 25th, they were 10.5 games behind the Braves.
• With 5 games remaining, they were still 3 games behind.
• Facing a possible 0-2 deficit on Sunday and a 4-0 lead by Cliff Lee of the Phillies, the Cardinals rallied. If they had fallen into that 0-2 hole, history said that 93% of the time in a league division best of five series, a team in their position would lose the series.
• Now after losing the pivotal 3rd game, history once again says that they will lose. 83% of the teams that lose the 3rd game after being tied 1-1, go on to lose the series.
That is music to the Cardinals’ ears.

Speaking of math, in these three playoff games, I’ve managed to finish off 3 bottles of scotch/whiskey. Before you judge me (LOL), all three bottles were almost empty when I started. But the Jameson, the Glenlivet, and even the J&B are now in the recycle bin. It looks like it is time for a trip to the store before tomorrow night’s game. I certainly don’t want to drain my Johnny Walker Blue if things go wrong tomorrow.

And since the Four Seasons proved luckier than the Eagles, let’s try these musical musings for good luck . . .
• “Let’s Hang On” and get this series to game 5.
• And when Roy Oswalt throws his off speed assortment Wednesday night, it might be time to “Walk Like a Man”
• Who Loves You (Pretty Baby)? Cardinals Nation is in love with this team and we haven’t given up
• And finally, the Cardinals have their eye on game 5 in Philadelphia with “Working My Way Back To You”

Oh What a Night!

All the baseball world knew what was at stake. Already down 1 game against the mighty Phillies, and with Chris Carpenter pitching on short rest for the first time in his career, it was win or go home. A 2 game deficit in a 5 game series is almost insurmountable; especially to a team with a pitching staff as deep as Philadelphia’s. Since the Division Series round was added to the MLB playoffs in 1995, 39 of those series have started out with one team up 2 games to 0. Only 3 of those series ended up with a complete comeback by the trailing team. 93% of the teams with a 2-0 lead went on to win the series.

So there it was. That was the math facing the Cardinals. Tony LaRussa knew it was long odds but rolled the dice on Carpenter. It didn’t go well. The daunting task of stealing a game in Philly became even more of a long shot after Philadelphia’s lineup strafed Carpenter for 4 quick runs in the first 3 innings. The Cardinals were in a deep hole, facing Phillies’ ace Cliff Lee and trailing by 4. LaRussa had to pinch hit for Carpenter in the 4th and thus began the inevitable bullpen carousel that he is famous for.


Remarkably, the bullpen held, and the Cardinals came all the way back to win an exhilarating game 5-4. It was game of raw emotion in the Rowe Man-Cave and all throughout Cardinal Nation, as each improbable moment unfolded, and the Cardinals evened the series 1-1. Here are the quick hits and emotional bullet points of the night . . .

• The Cardinals got 12 hits off of Cliff Lee. Whodathunkit?
• That was a crazy strike zone. Nobody was happy.
• The three runs St. Louis scored in the top of the fourth were huge to turn the game around. And even though Jon Jay was thrown out at home to end the inning, the Redbirds were back in it at 4-3.
• And Jon Jay is a stud. I don’t remember the guy who played center field before he came along. Thank you Toronto for taking old what’s-his-name off our hands.
• The Cardinal bullpen took over and pitched 6 innings and gave up 1 hit, striking out 6 and walking no one. Wow!
• Fernando Salas calmly retired all six he faced, including strikeouts of Chase Utley and Hunter Pence in the 5th inning. I love his demeanor on the mound.
• Octavio Dotel breezed through all four batters he faced. And then LaRussa decided it was time for Scrabble (Mark Rzepczynski). I was screaming at the television for Dotel to stay in.
• Scrabble’s biggest moment was picking Jimmy Rollins off first base to end the 7th. And that set up Tony’s-Delight on the menu for the 8th inning . . . With Utley, Pence and Ryan Howard coming up, I had the feeling it was going to be a 4 pitcher inning. As expected, Scrabble was followed by Mitchell Boggs who was on call to pitch to Pence. And then of course, the ancient one Arthur Rhodes was summoned to face Ryan Howard. The 75 year old Rhodes struck out Ryan Freakin’ Howard. That was a moment to treasure!
• And I knew before the inning was over, Jason Motte was going to be called upon for a multi inning save.
• The Cardinals rode a new young closer named Adam Wainwright to a championship in 2006. Motte has that look about him this year.
• Jake Westbrook was the sole survivor in the Cardinals bullpen. If the game went to extra innings, he was going to be a busy man for a long, long time.
• On offense, Rafael Furcal, Albert Pujols, Ryan Theriot, and Jay all had multi-hit games.
• Every Cardinals regular had at least one hit.
• Skip Schumaker slid into first. Again. And for once, he was safe.
• When the Cardinals needed the heart of the order to tilt the game their way in the 7th, Allen Craig led off with a towering triple and Pujols laced a single to left to drive in the lead run. Lance Berkman followed with a flared single to chase Lee.
• The Phillies are not about to fold, but this game had to dent their invincible armor a little.
• St. Louis knows that if it can hold serve with at least one win at home, they’ll have a rested and determined Carpenter ready for game 5.
• We can all smile and enjoy Monday’s ‘travel’ day. Happy Flight! Happy Flight!

Philadephia Pheels the Pressure

Well, well, well. This is an interesting predicament the Philadelphia Phillies have gotten themselves into. They have marched along all season, undisturbed, toward their inevitable National League Eastern Division title. And with the St. Louis Cardinals in town last weekend, trying to claw their own way back into playoff contention, the Phillies found themselves one win away from the division crown. When they beat down the Redbirds last Saturday night 9-2, the Phillies clinched their fifth consecutive division title. They politely high-fived each other on the field and then retired to their clubhouse for a champagne celebration. They earned it. They deserved it. Their record that evening sat at 98-52, a preposterous twelve games ahead of the second place Atlanta Braves. The Phillies had the best record in baseball, 7 games better than their evil empire counterpart from the American League, the New York Yankees. The baseball world paused and tipped their cap toward the City of Brotherly Love. Even ESPN’s Sportscenter had to push the Yankees game back to second billing that night in honor of the Phillies’ accomplishment.

But, the Phillies were not finished. There was work to be done. This team was not built for just an Eastern Division flag. Not with that starting pitching. Not with Cy Young award contenders Roy Halliday (19-6 record, 2.35 ERA, 220 Ks in 233 innings) and Cliff Lee (16-8, 2.38 ERA, 232 Ks in 226 innings) leading the way, and not with Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt, and spectacular rookie Vance Worley. No sir, this team was built for nothing less than a World Championship. It will be a catastrophe of BOO-ming proportion if this team does not at least make it into the fall classic. The Phillies stumbled last October on their way to the Series to the those upstart San Francisco Giants, who went on to beat the Texas Rangers in the fall classic. The Phillies could not let that happen again, so they went out and added Lee back to their rotation, stealing him away from the Rangers. And this was after they traded for Oswalt at last year’s training deadline. With this true Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Halliday, Lee, Hamels, and Oswalt), this team was built for the long haul in 2012.

The division title they captured last week was just a checkmark on a list. One champagne celebration down, three to go. The Phillies woke up last Sunday, knowing it was time to rest a few regulars and set up their pitching rotation for the first round of the playoffs. But Charlie Manuel, the Phillies manager, would have none of that nonsense. He was quoted in the St. Louis Post Dispatch last Sunday, saying "When we were trying to be a wild card we used to check box scores, I saw some games on the West Coast and the closers they were using and I'd laugh. I thought it was a joke because they weren't giving us a chance. It's respect for the game — not only for the Cardinals and Braves, but for the game." The Cardinals had spent the first couple of weeks of September fighting their way back from oblivion, trying to catch first the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central, but then turning their sights to the Atlanta Braves and the Wild Card race after the Brewers started pulling away. But after the Phillies clincher, the Cardinals found themselves still 4 ½ games behind the Braves, with 13 to play. A daunting task, but not impossible. But ole ‘Chollie’, as my Phillies Phriend Kas likes to call his manager, is an old school guy in an old school town with old school baseball principles, and he still had 2 more games to manage against the Cardinals and a season ending 3 game series on the horizon with the Braves. The fans in both St. Louis and Atlanta had nothing to fear from Manuel; they knew they’d get the best the Phillies had to offer as the Wild Card race came down to the wire.

But unexplainably, even after old ‘Chollie’ said it wouldn’t happen, the Phillies let their foot off the gas pedal and had trouble getting back on track. The Cardinals, behind a Chris Carpenter shutout and a gem by Kyle Lohse as he outdueled Halliday, won the last two games of the series and found themselves only 2 ½ games behind Atlanta as the Braves kept finding new ways to lose ballgames. The Cardinals left Philadelphia with a 3-1 series victory over the home club and a new-found sense of purpose. Meanwhile, the Phillies were left with a two game losing streak and a sour stomach. But the Phillies Phaithful had little to worry about; their team had home field advantage for the playoffs sewn up and the Washington Nationals coming to town for a 4 game series. A winning streak was certainly just around the corner, as was that all important 100th victory. And then the Phillies could march on to their next 2 victories to give them a franchise record 102 wins for the season. But, the players on the field did not cooperate with destiny’s plan. The losses kept coming, even with Washington in town. The Nationals kicked dirt on the best team in the National League, sweeping the series and leaving behind a team of destiny found suddenly scratching their heads. The Phillies finished their 2012 home schedule with 6 losses in a row, and left town to a chorus of boos, even though they still had the best record in baseball.

A trip to New York would brighten their spirits and pad their win total, but after being rained out Friday night, the Mets swept the makeup doubleheader on Saturday to run their improbable losing streak to 8 games. Manuel was quoted Saturday night, "I'm sitting there watching it. Don't know what I can do about it," he said. "If you want to know the truth, our team's out of sync, definitely out of focus, and we're not playing. You guys see how we're playing. The teams that we're losing to, we stop and look at our record against them this year and everything. There ain't too much going our way right now." The Phillies would finally scratch their way to a victory on Sunday afternoon, behind Halliday’s 19th victory of the season. But while that game was being played, the Cardinals and Braves were continuing their ebb and flow in the standings. After losing two ugly games on Thursday and Friday and finding themselves once again 3 games behind the Braves and virtually on the brink of elimination, the Cards and Braves went different directions again on Saturday and Sunday. The Cardinals stormed back against the Chicago Cubs, winning the last 2 games of their final home series of the 2012 regular season. Those 2 games in St. Louis had a playoff atmosphere, full of late inning heroics as the Cardinals came from behind in both games to keep their hopes alive. Sunday’s game also featured numerous standing ovations for the great Albert Pujols, as the restless St. Louis fans wondered if they would ever see their soon-to-be free agent hero in the home whites again with the Birds on the Bat logo. And in the nation’s capital, Atlanta was finishing their road schedule by losing 2 games in a row to the Nationals. The Wild Card lead was down to 1 with 3 games to play.

Which brings us full circle back to the Phillies and their role in this season ending saga. While the Cardinals are traveling to Houston to play the hapless Astros, the Phillies are licking their wounds on a flight to Atlanta to play their final 3 against the Braves. The Phillies are still looking for that 100th victory, sitting on number 99. And the only way they can reach the franchise record of 102 wins would be to sweep the Braves. The last weekend of the season for a clinched champion, waiting for the playoffs to start, was not supposed to be this fretful. They expected to have about 105 victories at this point, so they could use the series against Atlanta as a merry tune-up. Charlie Manuel could play his regulars for a few swings each, and give his entire pitching staff a choreographed number of innings, much like a spring training schedule. But now, Manuel and company have to find the switch. They need to find a way to win, and they need to get hot and build momentum, to avoid another playoff collapse. And they must certainly have mixed emotions about doing it. If they spend the next three nights knocking the Braves down, they will dash Atlanta’s playoff hopes against the rocks in the process. And that would likely propel the Cardinals to the National League Wild Card title, setting up a first round NL Division Playoff Series between those very Cardinals and Phillies. And Libertytown still remembers what happened last weekend when the Cardinals were in the neighborhood. The Birds bested the local club 3 out of 4. And it wasn’t just that recent series; the Cardinals took the season series against the Phillies, 6 games to 3. Although the Phillies would not be intimidated against any club, they might not exactly be looking forward to a first round series against the Cardinals.

But in an ironic twist of fate, the Phillies control their own playoff opponent destiny. If they roll over to the Braves this week, Atlanta would win the Wild Card, and St. Louis would be on the outside looking in. Then the Phillies would host the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round, and they split the season 3-3 with the D-Backs. But if the Phillies take care of business against the Braves to get their engine once again revved up to full speed, their prize will be the Cardinals in the first round. Door number 1 or door number 2? The Lady or the Tiger? Surely Old ‘Chollie’ wouldn’t lay down for anyone though. Surely Old ‘Chollie’ will damn the torpedoes and put the throttle down. St. Louis sure hopes so.

Young Guns

There’s a new sheriff in town. A few of them actually. A changing of the guard is occurring in the Cardinals bullpen. The Cincinnati Reds have been sent packing, slogging their way through the rain soaked night to what’s left of Lambert Airport. The Cardinals won two of three games in this early season showdown and have taken over the top spot in the National League Central, mostly due to some young flamethrowers in the bullpen.



On Friday night, Kyle McClellan continued his early season mound mastery after Tony LaRussa pulled a shell game in the early evening raindrops. TLR started Miguel Batista, knowing that a rain delay was imminent. Batista threw exactly six pitches including a four pitch walk to the leadoff batter, before the game was halted for over two hours. McClellan emerged after the clouds parted to hang the Reds out to dry for six innings and two earned runs. And then the last three innings were handled flawlessly by gunslingers Eduardo Sanchez, Jason Motte, and new closer Mitchell Boggs. Each of those three throw 95 plus miles per hour, and they all have the heart of a lion. No temerity for this group. No nibbling. Reach back and fire. And then fire again. And then slip in a change-up or slider to make someone look foolish. Boggs earned his second save of the week by pitching one and one third innings and sawing off a few bats in the heart of the Cincinnati order. Score one game for the young ‘uns.

On Saturday night, Tony brought back an encore of the veterans. The bulldog Chris Carpenter did his job, by handcuffing the Reds for six innings. His only mistake was leaving a 3-0 pitch over the middle of the plate to last year’s MVP Joey Votto, who crushed it into the clouds for a 2-2 tie at the time. But after the Cardinals came back with a run in the bottom of the sixth, Carpenter left the game with a 3-2 lead. The fourth young gun in the bullpen, Fernando Salas, came in for the 7th inning and did what he does best. Salas set the Reds down in order, including two ground outs and a strikeout. The only problem was after that, LaRussa tried to go retro and use the geriatric portion of the bullpen to close out the game. Oops. 40 year old Batista was called in for a series encore, and he continued the mess he tried to create the night before. He wasn’t helped by a one out error by third baseman David Freese, but then Batista loaded the bases by intentionally walking Votto and then hitting Jonny Gomes with a pitch. Old man Batista was then replaced by old man Trevor Miller, who was summoned to face the lefty Jay Bruce. After getting in front of Bruce one ball and two strikes, Miller creaked his way to three straight balls to force in a run. Old man Miller was removed and deposed closer and fellow old timer Ryan Franklin was taken off his bullpen life-support system and brought in for a chance to reclaim the glory days of his youth. Not this time. On an 0-2 pitch, Franklin allowed the Reds’ own senior citizen, Miguel Cairo, to single in two runs. 5-3 final in favor of the Reds. Bad game for the geezers.

So, Sunday night was set up for the rubber match. More rain was in the area, and Jake Westbrook was pitching on three days rest for the Birds. Let’s hope his manager noted the results. The sinker ball tossing Westbrook allowed that one less day of rest to work to his advantage. There’s a school of thought that sinker ball pitchers often do better with less rest; that their tired arms will throw a smidgen slower and cause the ball to sink more. That theory works for me, and it seemed to work for Westbrook. He pitched six stellar innings, allowing no runs with three walks and four strikeouts. Then as the rain drops began to fall again, the only thunderbolt of the evening was struck by Yadier Molina in the bottom of the sixth. The young catcher crushed a line drive into the first row of the bleachers with Matt Holiday and Lance Berkman on the bases. Suddenly the Cardinals led 3-0, and this time Tony LaRussa did not repeat his mistake. He brought back the young guns to shoot out the lights in the last three innings. Fernando Salas seems to be settling into a seventh inning role; he came in and struck out Bruce and Cairo, and induced a weak ground out by Ryan Hanigan. Then Eduardo Sanchez, the other Señor Smoke Brother, took over in the eigth inning and promptly struck out Paul Janish and pinch-hitter Chris Heisey, before retiring Drew Stubbs on a line drive to Colby Rasmus in center. And then the rest of the young gun formula fell in place in the ninth. New closer Boggs struck out Gomes and Bruce to end the game after Votto had reached him for a one out double. Advantage youth.


(Clockwise from upper left – Fernando Salas, Eduardo Sanchez, Mitchy-the-Kid Boggs, and Jason Motte)

The Cardinals may have to start an early retirement plan and push a few of the seniors out toward the pasture. This is the year of the young gun in the St. Louis bullpen.

Happy Hollidays!

What could be better in late April? It’s a long Easter Weekend. I watched yesterday’s Kyle Lohse whitewashing of the Nationals from the Budweiser Suite at Busch Stadium. Now the Cincinnati Reds are in town for an early season first place showdown with the Cardinals. The Birds are playing good baseball with solid starting pitching, some young guns in the bullpen (now that Tony LaRussa is on board with my ABF plan), and the offense is close to firing on all cylinders. My children will all be gathered in the same town for the weekend, and I have tickets to two more of the three games in the series! It’s Fireworks night at the Stadium tonight after the game, and with the Reds making their first appearance in town this season, it may be fireworks during the game too. You never know with these two teams, as the bad blood as been boiling over since a mid-season kick fight last year involving Reds’ pitcher Johnny Cueto injuring Chris Carpenter and backup catcher Jason LaRue. And my son Matthew and I also have tickets to Easter Sunday night’s ESPN game which includes a Stan Musial bobblehead giveaway! Wow, what a weekend! What could possibly ruin these festivities??

We interrupt this happy-go-lucky blog with the latest weather forecast … Rain. Followed by more rain. And then when that rain is done, it’s going to rain some more. And finally, as the weekend starts winding down, it’s going to . . . you guessed it . . . rain! Some forecasters are saying that all three games could get postponed. Unheard of. Arrrggghhh.

While we look out the window and watch the rain, let’s talk offense. What is propelling this club now and why has it had a dramatic turnaround after starting 2-6 and struggling at the plate?

1. Matt Holliday. Ok, I confess. I said the Cardinals were being foolish by not putting Holliday on the disabled list due to his appendicitis. The Cardinals gambled on him returning well ahead of the 15 day injury period, and I thought they should have disabled him and brought up an extra bat. Score one for LaRussa and GM John Mozeliak. Holliday returned after 8 days and the offense took off the day he returned. He sparked the team in his first game back against the Giants, and he hasn’t stopped hitting yet. Holliday has only played in 12 of the 19 games for the Cards this season but is batting .455 with 2 homers, 5 doubles and 11 runs batted in. He’s also worked 10 walks, giving him an on-base percentage of .571. He’s been involved in almost every Cardinals rally.

2. Lance Berkman. He has been a welcome addition and he took off with his player-of-the-week performance at just the right time. During the team slump he was out in front, talking daily to the media, and letting everyone know that this was a good team, and they would eventually hit. He’s been loose in the clubhouse, and you can see him in the dugout during the broadcasts holding court, telling jokes and cracking up his teammates. That is not to be overlooked in this turnaround. Lance has been there, easing the pressure and helping everyone find their focus.

3. Colby Rasmus. The emerging star has quietly put together an outstanding first month. Even when the team wasn’t scoring, he wasn’t the problem. He was getting on base, but was regularly being erased by the rash of double plays that were being hit into by the third place hitter. Rasmus is batting .351, with 11 walks, 5 doubles, 2 triples and 3 home runs. He has been one of the main instigators, getting on base in front of the big boys.

4. Speaking of instigators, one of the main reasons the team has turned around offensively has been their leadoff man, Ryan Theriot. After a slow start, he’s now batting .300 with an OBP of .349. Last year, the first two batters in the lineup were often a black hole. Skip Schumaker, Brendan Ryan, Felipe Lopez took most of the top-of-the-lineup at bats and they struggled all season. John Jay was the only one who provided any spark up there at all in 2010. So far this year, Theriot and Rasmus have been a very good one-two punch. And with them setting the table, it’s hard to keep the runs from eventually scoring with Pujols, Holliday, Berkman and Freese all hitting well behind them.

5. David Freese. With him in the lineup in the 6th position this season, it makes the lineup so much deeper. Last year the 6th place at bats were often being taken by Molina or Lopez. By pushing Yadier down a spot or two, it takes a little pressure off of him and puts a true run-producer in the 6th hole. Freese is off to solid start (.328, 2 HRs, 10 RBIs), and his surgically repaired ankles appear to be holding up well.

6. And finally, Albert Pujols. After his torturous start, he’s now among the league leaders with 6 home runs and 14 RBIs. And his .250-ish batting average has come up over 100 points in the last two weeks. Is there anyone who doubts he won’t clear .300 in the next few weeks? He’s squaring the ball better and elevating it better than he was earlier. The line-drives are jumping and the fly balls are carrying. With Albert back to being Albert, and the strong supporting cast around him, the Cardinals have climbed to the top of the offensive leaderboard in the National League. St. Louis is first in batting average (.292), first in OBP (.360), first in slugging (.451), second in homers (22), RBIs (98) and runs scored (104).

With the starting pitching carrying their load, and the bullpen providing strong support; if this offense sustains it’s depth and strength, the Cardinals will stay at or near the top of the division all summer.

Now, can we do something about the weather?

TWTWTW

That was the week that was. Otherwise known in the sixties as TW3. You’ve got to be really, really old to understand that reference, so that leaves all of you out. Well anyway, it’s Friday night and I have the house to myself. Very strange. The BFF and the son are working, two daughters are married off, and the other daughter and the dog are away at college (I hope that darned dog is finally learning something!) So it’s just me, the Cardinals vs. the Dodgers on television, a glass of my favorite sipping beverage, and my keyboard. So, let’s start rambling . . .

The Cardinals have been out west all week, which means a lot of late night baseball. Which means I’m tired. And when I’m tired (and alone) I get nostalgic, thoughtful, sometimes a little depressed, sometimes a little thankful. So there’s no telling what direction this blog will take. My intent is to talk about the week that just finished up; some about the Cardinals and some about the other details called life.

A week ago, the Cardinals limped out west with a 2-4 record and proceeded to drop the first two games in San Francisco because Tony LaRussa neglected to read my opening day blog entry where I lectured about ABF!!!! And don’t get me started on number 31 and his 9.64 ERA. Lucky for me I didn’t have to be subjected to watching those 2 games on tv. I spent last weekend in the great state of Texas with my wife and son, visiting a couple of college campuses with young Matthew. It was a long exhausting weekend but we had a great time seeing the University of North Texas and Baylor University. Matthew got to see two distinctly different campuses and he even managed to squeeze in 9 holes of golf with his Uncle Danny. It was 90 degrees in Dallas, and we stayed with Monica’s sister Susan, who just so happens to have a swimming pool in the back yard. Good times.



As we were driving home on Sunday afternoon, the Cardinals began to do some driving of their own. They finally scored a serious six runs to finish up the weekend in San Francisco, and they haven’t stopped since. Mobil is probably going broke selling 25 cent drinks, since the birds have put up 6, 8, 8, 15, 9, and 11 in the 6 games this week. In the first 8 games of the season, the Cardinals scored 21 runs. In the 6 games since, they’ve scored a whopping 57! Later this weekend I’ll post more in depth about the Cardinals offense, and what I believe is making them click.

While the Cardinals were beefing up their averages this week, I had an enjoyable week in other ways . . .
- Watched an entertaining Masters golf tournament last weekend.
- Mowed the lawn for the first time and killed a few weeds in the process(I know, I’m sick)
- Had a productive week at work, accomplishing a few projects along the way
- The week at work was also very fun. I have a great group of colleagues and we keep things loose and fun during the week. We also worked some magic and arranged a group outing at Busch Stadium next Thursday for the day game vs. the Nationals. That should be great.
- I hosted a Texas Hold’em Tournament for 21 people last night, and that’s always a blast. I am very fortunate for my circle of friends, and I love opening up the man cave for a huge night of cards, and a few beers. (And I even placed in the top three money spots for a change!)
- Paul got kicked off American Idol. (Hey, little things make me happy)
- Matthew finished first in a golf match this week at school and his JV golf team is still undefeated.
- My daughter Adrienne and my grandson Ode came over and visited during the poker game. He’s the cutest little man ever.
- I spent some TV time tonight with my favorite fictional Kansas farm boy. Only 5 episodes left, ever! Sigh. It’s heading for an epic series finale as the boy finally becomes the legend.
- And I finished off the night with the aforementioned glass of Irish whiskey and another Cardinals victory!

Speaking of tonight’s game, the Cardinals racked up 19 more hits in their 11-2 victory over the Dodgers. That’s 5 straight games with 14 or more hits, which they haven’t done as a ballclub since 1930. Colby Rasmus had 3 doubles; Yadier Molina had 4 hits; David Freese had 3 more hits; Lance Berkman and Albert Pujols each had a 2 homer night. This is an epic offensive surge. It can’t continue at this pace of course, but let’s ride it while we can. They finally reached .500 tonight at 7-7 after their anemic 2-6 start. Now onto new heights.

It was a great week! I have to admit though, when the Cardinals are doing well, my mood is always a bit brighter. It’s hard for me to complain about much when my beloved birds are flying high. Yes, I’m a simple, pathetic human being.

Enjoy the weekend everyone, and let’s have another great week, on and off the field! Hmmm, I have a 4 day work week coming up; I’m going to 3 Cardinal games next weekend; Daughter Jenny will be in town from Nashville; Daughter Michelle will be home from college; we’ll spend time at Daughter Adrienne’s including more fun time with baby Ode. It’s already shaping up as another great week! Hopefully, the Cardinals will do their part to keep it that way.

Kas-manian Devil

This is a long overdue shout-out to my friend Kas Gardiner. He keeps me on my toes when discussing all things baseball, which is not an easy thing to do. And he does it with an Eastern flair, since he was born and raised in Philadelphia. And I’ll have to cut him a little slack, since he still roots for those Phreakin’ Phillies. Kas and I are brothers, separated at birth. We are almost identical twins as you can see from the picture below, although he’s a little taller.


Anyway, Kas had a brush with fame last summer when he was attending a Cardinals game. He happened to be seated next to a visiting gentleman by the name of Matt Langer, who was on a mission to see 30 stadiums in 39 days. Matt kept an online blog of his stadium visits, including a photo of his fan-of-the-day in each city. Kas of course, was selected as his St. Louis fan-of-the-day! Here is a picture of Kas and Matt and some other fan wannabe. ;-)


Click here to read Matt’s blog about his stadium visits. Check on the Fan Of The Day link on his site to see more info about Kas and the other fan-of-the-day selections.

Congratulations Kas! You’re always the Fan-of-the-Day in our book.

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Speaking of stadium visits, how many have you seen?
I haven’t been as fortunate as our traveler Matt above, but I’ve been lucky enough to visit these 11 major league parks:
1. Busch Stadium I (former Sportsman’s Park)
2. Busch Stadium II. I even got married there! Check that out here.
3. Busch Stadium III. Not as good as Busch II, but it will do.
4. Wrigley Field, Chicago. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there; I’m long overdue for a return trip.
5. Fenway Park, Boston. Once as a teenager; once to see the Cards in 2003.
6. Yankee Stadium, New York. Not the newest one though. I saw Roger Clemens get his 300th victory and his 4000th strikeout in the same game against the Cardinals on a cold rainy day in 2003.
7. Shea Stadium, New York. A couple of times to see the Cards vs. the Mets when I lived out east. (Hello Doogie!!)
8. Camden Yards, Baltimore. Considered the first of the classic retro ballparks. I’m anxious to read my daughter Michelle’s upcoming college paper on classic baseball architecture, which is certain to feature this park.
9. Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh. My family had a quick burst of trips in the early 90s to see the Cardinals play in some of the older NL stadiums the year before they got vacated, including the next 2 . . .
10. County Stadium, Milwaukee. Made a slight detour to visit here one summer on the way to our vacation hideaway in upstate NY
11. Olympic Stadium, Montreal. There were less than 5000 people in the park that day to watch the Cardinals play the Expos.

I’ve been IN these stadiums, although there were no games going on at the time . . .
- Petco Park, San Diego. I was in town for an Anheuser-Busch convention, and we got to attend a party in the attached warehouse.
- Arlington Stadium, Arlington. Ok, I wasn’t there, my son Matthew was; I’m just living vicariously through him on this one.
- Champion Stadium, Lake Buena Vista. This is the spring training home of the Atlanta Braves in the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex outside of Orlando. There was a little league game going on at the time.
- Doubleday Field, Cooperstown. This is the stadium just down the street from the baseball Hall of Fame. Featured in the movie “A League of Their Own”, we popped into this stadium and watched whatever game was going on during a visit to the HOF.

And, LOL, I’ve seen these stadiums from the highway during drive bys . . .
- Old Comiskey Park in Chicago
- New Comiskey Park in Chicago
- Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City
- Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati
- Candlestick Park in San Francisco
- Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles
- Minute Maid Park in Houston
- Municipal Stadium in Cleveland
- Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia
- Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta
- Miller Park in Milwaukee (It was being built while we were in old County Stadium)
- PNC Park in Pittsburgh (It was being built while we were at Three Rivers Stadium)

I Don't Get It

No sir, I just don’t get it.

- I don’t understand the delay in putting Matt Holliday on the 15 day disabled list. It is a foolish decision not to do it and bring up another bench player. The reason the Cardinals are waiting, is because they think he might be ready in 10-12 days, although they have no idea really. And if he’s back in 12 days, they would get an extra 3 days use out of him that they wouldn’t have if they put him on the DL. I’ve had appendicitis, although not laparoscopically. He may try to play in 12 days, but he’ll be weak and sore. And as much as Tony LaRussa like to err on the side of caution when it comes to injuries, you would think he would suck it up for 3 more days and bring up a bench player. In these late inning, close ballgames, an extra pinch hitter would be nice about now.

- In the Cardinals 3 losses, they’ve scored 3 runs in each game. In their 1 victory, they scored 2. Go figure. They’re not exactly ripping the cover off the ball, are they?

- This team is swinging at a lot of pitches out of the strike zone. They’re being busted inside off the plate by fastball after fastball. And they’re swinging at them. Must – lay – off. Can’t – hit – them.

- I must admit, I thought that the Pittsburgh Pirates would be a welcome tonic for what ails Albert Pujols. But last night he was in the same batting swamp that everyone else in red uniforms resided. Fooled on pitches down the middle and let them go by. And then, swing at a pitch out of the zone. I’m not used to seeing this from the Mang. But knowing Sir Albert, he’ll get it straightened out pretty quickly.

- At least the starting pitching is showing some promise. Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia and Kyle Lohse gave us plenty of reason to hope. I felt bad for Lohse; he was lights out last night except for 2 pitches in the sixth inning that he got up. He made 2 mistakes all night and they both got hammered.

- Signs of the times: Last night’s announced attendance was 32,007, the lowest ever for Busch Stadium III. That’s not bad attendance on a cold Monday night vs. the Pirates, but it’s still not a good trend

OOPs

Opening Observations and Predictions.

Here are some musings and ramblings from my Opening Day experience, as well as some early predictions.

About the day:
- It ranks right up there as one of my favorite days. If only we had a closer. But more on that later.
- I love my son Matthew. He's almost 17, and he's becoming a best bud. We had a blast together. We slipped onto the "Ballpark Village" softball field and played some catch, tossed some grounders, etc. Everyone walked by on the other side of the fence, thinking we were special people, out there on that field by ourselves. Well, we are!
- We entered the stadium early and sat in the LF bleachers to watch batting practice. Matthew roamed the bleachers with his glove, waiting for a home run ball. I sat there in the 9th row, playing with my phone and watching. Crack! I looked up and here came a towering majestic batting practice home run right for me. I calmly stood up, placed my phone in my pocket, stuck out my bare hands and caught the ball. Very cool experience.
- About the ballpark village pep rally across from the stadium, overall it was not a must see experience. It needs to be beefed up a bit. The Kiener Plaza rally up the street is still THE Opening Day place to be. Although, kudos to the band Trixie Delight that played at the ballpark village rally. They were very good! Their classic rock sounds were rocking the crowd across the street at the stadium.
- Pregame festivities . . . Stan the Man waving from the golf cart always brings a smile and a tear. Mark McGwire's tepid ovation was about right for a batting coach (the hype is over). It was great seeing Jimmy Ballgame Edmonds and his son throwing out the first pitches. The pregame eagle that flew from center field must have circled the field a dozen times; he really knew how to milk his 15 seconds of fame; it turned into 5 minutes of fame. Clydesdales. Hall of Famers. Ford Trucks full of Cardinals. Awesome.

Game related:
- The day after Opening Day is always a little funny. Everyone (including me) makes snap judgements about the season based on 9 innings of baseball (well, in this case, 11)
- Pujols had a bad game. It happens. I'm not worried about the Mang.
- I'm more confident than ever about our offense. Every regular but El Hombre had a hit, and the Cardinals had men all over the bases. We will score runs this season.
- It was good to see vintage Carp, although I wish he could have pitched around Skippy's dropped tag in the 5th.
- All spring, everyone was raising questions about the Cardinals . . . Can The Riot handle SS? Berkman in RF?? And can he hit lefties? How will we replace Waino? McClellan and Lohse, what can they contribute? Will Freese stay healthy? These were repeated over and over again. But my biggest question all winter, and this spring, was the 9th inning. Still is. I want our closer to be ABF. Anybody but Franklin. Actually, my choice for closer is not even on our 25 man roster. Fernando Salas had 19 saves for Memphis last year with 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings! And he spent a lot of time in St. Louis last year getting major league experience. He appeared in 7 games for the Cardinals in 2010, accumulating an ERA of 1.93 with 10 strikeouts in just 9.1 innings pitched. What is this guy doing in Memphis still?? Ryan Franklin just doesn't fool anyone anymore. I want a closer with some mustard. I want a strikeout artist. I want ABF. But I'll take Salas.
- And excuse me, but the "Best Fans in Baseball" have some serious issues. By time the game got to extra innings, the stadium was practically empty. Bad form folks!
- Finally, get well Matt Holliday! We need you back, big boy.

Predictions:
- How do we replace Wainwright's 20 wins? Kyle McClellan wins 15 this year folks. You heard it here first. And last year, an injured Kyle Lohse won only 4 games. This year he will be the staff leader with 17 wins.
- Albert Pujols will bat .300 with over 30 home runs and 100 RBIs. Duh.
- My friend Matt Freiburg has predicted only 57 starts for Lance Berkman. I took the over. Waaay Over. Puma will get 17 homers and 85 RBIs for the Cardinals.
- Speaking of 85 RBIs, Freese will get that many as well. Matt took the under on that one.
- Everyone has buried the Cardinals, so naturally I am not. They will win the NL Central. But the Phillies pitching is too much in the playoffs.
- Everyone has annointed the Red Sox, so I'll take the Yankees to surprise and represent the AL in the series.
- Phillies win the World Series

Let's play ball!

Opening Day

It is simply . . . the greatest day of the year.

Here is a simple take on Opening Day written many years ago by your humble blogger; followed by the poem "365" written by Hall of Fame Cardinal Broadcaster Jack Buck.

Enjoy the day baseball fans. I know I will.

Opening Day
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As winter drags on
It’s still months away
My most important, most special,
Most favorite all time day

February comes,
And my thoughts of warmth begin
I think of Florida and Arizona
Where the gentle breezes blow in

The boys of summer
Begin to stretch
They begin to throw
They begin to catch

I watch the news
And surf the net
For any pictures and stories
That I can get

Then March arrives
And they start keeping score
Oh, it’s only for practice
But it keeps me wanting more

Three weeks away
Then two, then one
Oh, the anticipation
Of that first hit and run

The night before arrives
I can’t breathe, I can’t sleep
Tommorrow’s the day
I hope my team hits one deep

I open my eyes and
I see the sun’s first ray
It’s finally here
It’s Opening Day

Better than Christmas
Better than birthdays
Baseball’s new season has begun
The best of all days

I arrive at the park, I close my eyes
I smell the grass of green
I hear the sounds of bat and ball
I imagine, and feel, the scene

It’s finally here, I can see it all
My grin is from ear to ear
The players take the field, the ump shouts “Play Ball!”
It’s my favorite day of the year.


365 by Jack Buck
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When someone asks you your favorite sport
And you answer Baseball in a blink
There are certain qualities you must possess
And you're more attached than you think.
In the frozen grip of winter
I'm sure you'll agree with me
Not a day goes by without someone
Talking baseball to some degree.
The calendar flips on New Year's Day
The Super Bowl comes and it goes
Get the other sports out of the way
The green grass and the fever grows.
It's time to pack a bag and take a trip
To Arizona or the Sunshine State
Perhaps you can't go, but there's the radio
So you listen-you root-you wait.
They start the campaign, pomp and pageantry reign
You claim the pennant on Opening Day

From April till fall
You follow the bouncing white ball
Your team is set to go all the way.
They fall short of the series
You have a case of the "wearies"
And need a break from the game
But when Christmas bells jingle
You feel that old tingle
And you're ready for more of the same.
It will be hot dogs for dinner
Six months of heaven, a winner
Yes, Baseball has always been it.
You would amaze all your friends
If they knew to what ends
You'd go for a little old hit.
The best times you're had
Have been with your Mom and your Dad
And a bat and a ball and a glove.

From the first time you played
Till the last time you prayed
It's been a simple matter of love