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!