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!