I was hoping. And it looked pretty damn good there for awhile. Staying within 2 or 3 games of the Cubs until they arrived for the big 4 game set in Busch III.
But then they packed their bags, and, unfortunately for us, they seemed to include enough clothes to get them through the beginning of February.
How in the hell did that happen? I mean, Arizona is a nice story and all, but to get swept? Then lay down in Wrigley? Then have your ass handed to you by the Reds?
Ugh.
Well, at least I did not have to send in that couple grand for playoff tickets. Maybe I will go to Vegas and drop that on the early line for next season.
Now, excuse me while I wander off, open up the liquor cabinet, and get ready for tonight’s pounding.
You start to get the razz from Houston Astros’ fans. I mean, come on. The Astros? The team that has sunk so low that they are battling with the likes of the Pittsburgh Pirates for sole position of the cellar of the National League Central?
Makes me want to cry.
And now I get the pleasure to watch the Cardinals in person the next three games, starting tomorrow evening against the Reds. And, I will admit it, I am fearful. I am fearful of sitting at Busch and watching a 2 days removed from being back at .500 Redbird ballclub getting absolutely lit up by the Red Legs. Yea, yea, I know, the Reds rotation is a mess and generally clubs that beat them beat them by outscoring them.
Hello? Matt Albers anyone? So, a Tom Shearn, probably some AAAA guy and Bronson Arroyo will probably shut down the Cardinals and dash their hopes for remaining in the playoff picture, and I will have had to sit through it all.
Ugh.
And, one more thought before I go. How does Hal McRae keep his job? I am so tired of watching poor plate discipline time after time after time.
What the hell ever happened to working a pitcher? Especially one fresh into a game? I mean, my goodness, Chad Qualls gets through an inning facing 5 batters on 6 pitches? How in the world is Qualls going to pitch himself into trouble if we don’t allow him to do so?
Arrgh. Here is hoping, wishing, that the Cardinals stay within 2 or 3 games until September 14th.
No 5 win road trip, however, a nice 4 of 6 was just as good. It really looked extremely promising after sliding into Milwaukee and sweeping the Brew Crew. Well, not just sweeping them, but pounding them.
The streak of Quality Starts by the starting rotation reached 10 with a strong performance by Looper starting off the Chicago series. However, Rich Hill decided to get his act together at the same time and the Cards lost a heartbreaker 2 to 1. Maybe it was my fault, as I was in attendance.
Now it is back to the Busch that DeWitt built for the Fish and the Braves. The Fish are struggling, but the Braves will bring in there deadline trophy Mark Teixeira (absolutely on FIRE since coming to the NL) and will start the Smoltz on Friday night. Once again, a nice 4 and 2 homestand will serve the Birds nicely.
Why is that you say? Well, both the Cubs and Brewers are headed out West for six games against the Snakes and the Giants. The Brewers are horrid on the road and must face the HOTTEST pitcher going, Brandon Webb. The Cubs are much better on the road than the Brewers, but they are running into a hot Giants team, against the three best pitchers the Giants have (Zito, Lincecum and Cain) and two lefty starters on the trip overall.
Strap in. Keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times, and enjoy the ride as this roller coaster season is just getting started.
Now is the time. The Cardinals are once again on the fringe of the race. They are heading into Milwaukee and Chicago this week. They cannot win the Central Division this week, but with another road trip like the Pittsburgh and Washington D.C. swing, they certainly can take themselves out of the Division race. A nice 5 win trip should set them up nicely to remain in the race for the remainder of the season. It won’t be easy. Their remaining schedule is tougher than that of the Cubs and Brewers.
That being said, I really like the pitching match-ups heading into these next 7 games. Here is the breakdown:
8/14 – Wells vs Capuano (The Brewers have not won a start of his since 5/7)
8/15 – Pineiro vs Gallardo (Gallardo’s ERA over his last 3 starts is over 10)
8/16 – Wainwright vs Bush (Bush’s ERA is 5.83 in his last 6 starts)
8/17 - Looper vs Hill (Looper has been tough on the Cubs this season)
8/18 – Reyes vs Marshall (Reyes coming off 3 good starts/Marshall’s ERA over 10 his last 3 starts)
8/19 – Wells vs Zambrano (Wells was good his last time out vs Chicago, Zambrano coming off a rough outing vs Houston)
8/20 – Pineiro vs Lilly (Cubs have not seen Pineiro since 2002)
Wainwright misses the Cubbies which is good because they have just brutalized him this year. The Cubbies are experiencing injury issues and the Brewers are experiencing youth issues. Unfortunately, the Cardinals do see Ted Lilly, and he has been pitching well and has done a number on the Cardinals this season.
Time for the Cardinals to control their own 2008 destiny.
Because I know mine is. The daytime emmy award for best soap opera should be a lock for the St. Louis Cardinals, circa 2007.
I mean, come on Jerry, is this really happening? Injury riddled and limping back home from a 1 and 5 swing through lovely Pittsburgh and Washington D.C., the Cardinals, now 8 games back, appeared as though they would have a tough, tough time even finishing in third place.
The on again, off again, tiff between Edmonds and LaRussa flared up. Scotty Rolen sat on Sunday in D.C., mentioning that hinge on his arm was still somewhat bothersome. Albert Pujols starting off August looking, well, very pedestrian. Two youngsters that had good runs the second (or third, or however many) go ’round were dispatched to Memphis, creating quite the tizzy at a known chattering hole. The final straw was the unfortunate “real life” struck again, this time befalling Scott Spiezio.
But wait. Something funny happened on the way to the cellar. The injury bug that seemed as if it had made a home in St. Louis left town to do a little sight seeing in Chicago and Milwaukee. As if on cue, the starting rotation finally realized that the Cardinals were, in fact, playing 9 inning games instead of 7 inning games, and that quality starts meant going at least 6 innings. And, the lurking mystery that was The Natural, Rick Ankiel, was called up to make his second “major league debut.” Ankiel took it upon himself to write the Hollywood ending, swatting an off-balance 3 run ding dong dilly of a dinger.
Where do we go from here? The club is, in black and white, 53 – 59. No two ways to slice that, that is U-G-L-Y. But that is 53 – 59 coming off winning 3 of 4. That is 53 – 59 with the Cubs and Brewers still ordering room service on the road. That is 53 – 59 with 7 games up coming with those same Cubs and Brewers. And, to the most important point, that is 53 – 59, only 4 games out on the loss side.
Is the water cold? Yeah, and its deep, too. <Sorry, I just flashed back to a very vivid, very coming of age time of my life, cruising around in my home town, listening to the 8-track of Richard Pryor’s ….Is It Something I Said? and his famous Mudbone character.>
I digress. The mountain is still high, no question. The starting rotation is still held together with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles band-aids. The aforementioned Albert Pujols, the purest hitter this franchise has seen since Stan the Man, is in a mini-slump again, Rolen and Edmonds, while showing flashes, still cannot be fully counted on, and the old new kid on the block, Chris Duncan, is hanging out at the Mendoza line for his past 30 at bats or so.
4 Games, though, just 4 games back on the loss side and the opportunity for success awaits them next week in Milwaukee and Chicago. Let’s make Phil Roger’s regret writing this little ditty.
***Just a note to say hang in there to Speezer. Speezer is my wife’s favorite Cardinal and we wish him well in his fight to overcome his demons.***
Well folks, it is all over but the shouting. The knock-out blow for all intents and purposes was delivered during the 2nd game of a three game set in the Nation’s Capital. What once looked to be a promising road trip ahead of them in Pittsburgh and Washington D.C while their prey would be struggling against the likes of the Mets and Phillies has gone extremely, and hurriedly, south on the Cardinals.
Walt Jocketty must not sleep well at night these days. Just about every move that Walt has made for and during the 2007 season has been a bust. Kip Wells? Kip wouldn’t know a golden opportunity if it bit him in the arse. Mike Maroth? Hey Mike, just curious when you might want to start pitching like, oh, I don’t know, you are a ML veteran. Joel Piniero? Geez.
Here is the worse part: They have 55 games left to play this season. Ugh. Last night, none of my MLB Extra Innings channels were coming in. Totally black. So I called up DirecTVÂ to get everything straightened out.
That is a call I probably will regret making. At least for the remainder of the 2007 season.
Steve McCroskey: Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking.
Steve McCroskey: Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking. Steve McCroskey: Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue. Steve McCroskey: Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines Yep, now I know how Steve McCroskey felt. This one goes way back to 1980 and the movie Airplane! Things started to go wrong in spades and McCroskey was in the middle of it, trying to talk Ted Striker and the aircraft in for a safe landing. For the Cardinals in 2007, Walt Jocketty has now assumed the role of Steve McCroskey and he will try and guide Tony LaRussa, aka Ted Striker, in for a safe landing. However, this sequel is going to end badly…..The word came down on Chris Carpenter this week that he is in line for Tommy John surgery. Of course, this little event caused the conspiracy theorists to have wet dreams. Nope, no way possible that Carp damaged his ligament during his rehab start. It just had to have been damaged before and team doc George Paletta must have missed it when he was in Carp’s elbow shaving down bone spurs in May. I am sorry, but it rankles me to no end the total lack of disregard for the expertise of others by individuals with absolutely no foundation for their attacks. Maybe it is a generational thing. I don’t know, but it bugs me to no end.Couple that disturbing news with the fact that over the course of the last 9 games, the Cardinals have looked, and I am being generous here, at the very least, disinterested. Good ball clubs, when presented opportunities, take advantage of them. Such was the case last night, when the Cardinals took the field against the Braves, knowing full well that both the Cubs and the Brewers were beaten in the afternoon. The result? A football sized drubbing of 14 – 6.
Good baseball teams do not come out flat time after time when opportunities present themselves, however, that is exactly what the Cardinals have done on this particular road trip. No one said it would be easy traveling to Philly, Florida and Atlanta. The last glimmer of hope that existed out there was the Carpenter would potentially be back starting in the Atlanta series, but that went out the window with the ill-fated July 8th rehab start at Palm Beach.
The Cardinals needed to generate some momentum heading into the demanding seven games in six days homestand against the division rivals above them in the standings. However, that has not happened. And, as such, I expect to see them win no more than two out of the seven games and be unofficially, but realistically, eliminated from any playoff contention for 2007.Which leads us to 2008. Certainly, we Cardinals fans have come to expect the Cardinals to make a mockery out of the division that is the National League Central. Some more than others, and this is a short tribute to them (and they know who they are):
And, let’s face it, for all that has occurred in 2007, it is not like they have been run out the gym by the likes of the Cubs and Brewers (at least not yet). However, and I will say this and all the DeWitt bashers will absolutely love it, money will become an issue if they are to be competitive in 2008, as there is no way around it, as the following shows us:
2008 Cardinals Roster
Position Players
Starting (8)
Albert Pujols1st16,000,000
Scott Rolen3rd12,000,000
Jim EdmondsCF8,000,000
Juan EncarnacionRF6,500,000
Adam Kennedy2nd3,500,000
Duncan LF500,000
???SS-
MolinaC656,250
Bench (5)
Scott SpiezioBench2,300,000
So TaguchiBench1,100,000
Aaron MilesBench1,250,000
???Bench -
???Bench -
Pitchers
Starting Pitchers (5)
Chris Carpenter1 Spot10,500,000
Mark Mulder2 Spot6,500,000
Braden Looper3 Spot5,500,000
Mike Maroth4 Spot3,687,500
Adam Wainwright5 Spot512,500
Bullpen (7)
Jason IsringhausenCloser8,000,000
Ryan FranklinSet Up 2,250,000
Randy FloresLoogy1,000,000
Tyler JohnsonLoogy493,750
???Misc Righty -
???Misc Righty -
???Misc Righty -
90,250,000
I have gone through the contracts as listed on Cot’s and devised this listing. In this exercise, I have listed Taguchi’s and Izzy’s options being picked up, and have shown Duncan, Molina, Miles, Maroth, Wainwright and Johnson (all players under Cardinals control) as receiving 25% increases over their 2007 base pay. Under this exercise, the Cardinals are at $90 mil without filling two bench positions, three bullpen assignments and a starting shortstop, not to mention the fact that Carpenter is unlikely to return before say July of next year, so a fill-in is needed in the rotation.
Calm down. This is just an exercise based upon current personnel. Geez. I am not suggesting all of these players be brought back. I am merely looking at the numbers, and the numbers suggest that, will deferred monies, that it appears on the surface that DeWitt will need to pony up some dollars in order to make the Cardinals competitive for 2008 because as we sit here today, I am not sure all of those positions that are not currently under contract can be filled with players from within the organization, especially the role of one Chris Carpenter.
And that does not even address the players under contract, say an Adam Kennedy.
I do not envy your job Mr. Steve McCroskey, err, Walt Jocketty.
Yes, once again I have shirked my responsibilities and not written for quite awhile. As if you were waiting with baited breath.
I last wrote that the final four games of the homestand leading up to the All-Star break were crucial. Momentum is a fickle partner and sometimes you needs a little nudge to remember which side its on. However, the Cardinals, ever the charitable bunch this season, decided to give those poor Giants from the Bay two games while they were in town. Wasn’t it bad enough that the Giants brought the human circus to town? If they take those two games as they should have, low and behold, they are looking at sliding into the break with a record of 42 – 43, on the cusp of reaching .500 for the first time since April 16th, and, more importantly, sitting only four games back of the BrewCrew in the loss column. Those two games were extremely important.
Why? You had to ask why? Simple. It would have given the Cardinals momentum heading into the break, and, probably just as important, instilled some confidence in a club that severely lacks it. Plus, it would have provided just a little more wiggle room to use in the stretch of 10 games they were facing on the road starting back from the break.
And we have seen now why those two games were so critical. The Cardinals have stumbled out of the blocks in the second half much the same way as they limped home into the break. They have put forth two little league style efforts in Philly and have gotten pounded because of it, sorta like the comic strip where the father asks the son how he did down at the sand lot game that day and the son responds “I had a no-hitter until the big kids got out of school.” Yes, Virginia, the Phillies are the big kids and the big kids are playing well right now. Kip Wells showed us that he needs Cal Eldred to travel with the team and maybe, just maybe, petition the league to be on the mound with the Kipster to remind him of all the damn mechanical things he needs to remember, and Mike Maroth got a second taste of Citizens Bank Ballpark (CBB) and found it to be sour. His first go round in 2004 he delivered a quality start. Not quite the same experience yesterday for Mike and I am sure he is left wondering if it is true that CBB doubles as a wind tunnel testing facility.
So where does that leave us, us die-hard Cardinals’ fans? I have to be honest. I really do not know. The Brewers are trying their best to let teams back into the division race by going 4 – 8 over their last dozen games. And, as we knew might happen, Ben Sheets left yesterday’s game with an injury. Talk about a guy that is just absolutely snake-bitten. It is yet unclear as to the extent of the injury, but, with the way Capuano and Suppan have been going, the Brewers cannot afford another injury to Mr. Sheets and expect to keep a stranglehold on the division.
Currently, the Cardinals sit 8.5 games back of the Crew and 8 back on the loss side of things. They end their series with Philly (thank you!) on ESPN tonight with Wainwright tossing against Eaton. I think that the Cardinals have a great shot at taking this game and then move onto Florida.
I think that they have a good shot at taking 2 of 3 versus the fighting fish down in Miami. They have handled Byung-Hyung Kim pretty well in the past and the rookie that goes against them in the second game of the series (Rick Vanden Hurk) looks extremely hittable. I think that Looper and Thompson walk away with victories in the first two games of the series and allows us all to brace ourselves as the Kipster gets wiped out in the third game of that series.
Then onto Atlanta where they will be a) lucky to find four guys to start in the series and b) lucky, extremely lucky, to get out of there with a split of the four games.
With all that being said, if the Cardinals can come out of these next 8 games with five victories, I believe that they will be headed home no worse than 7.5 games back, OF THE CHICAGO CUBS. Ugh. I think that the Cubs roll is going to continue. I have a feeling that they may catch the Brewers over the next 8 games. For some reason, I think that Arizona is going to play the Brewers tough up at Miller Park and the Giants are going to get hammered in Wrigley starting Monday.
The goal at this time is to get to the Cubs series and the Brewers series back at Busch III no more than 8 games back in the loss column. Any more than that and I think that the remainder of the season is for evaluating for 2008.
Ok, so that rambling was the THEblindhomer in me.
I am not sure how any of that happens with the way they are currently playing. Another error in yesterday’s game. Another failure to get a runner in from 3rd base with less than three outs. Another example of a pitcher failing to shut down the opponent after the Cardinals had scored in the previous half inning. These are things that bad ball clubs do on a consistent basis. These are things we are not used to seeing during the LaRussa years. Yeah, yeah, I remember 1997 – 1999. Ya know, those years were just a little bit easier to swallow because they were so closely connected, time-wise, to the lost-in-space years that were 1988 to 1995.
Now, however, we are working off a run of successful campaigns that make watching a down year such as this extremely challenging. Is there a root cause? Can we chalk it up to injuries?
I like to think of it as the “Perfect Storm” theory. Just about everything that could go wrong has gone wrong, except for two guys out in the bully who have been nothing short of outstanding. Please stand up and take a bow, Misters Franklin and Isringhausen.
Otherwise, all of the following have occurred:
Jim Edmonds’ foot injury from 2006 did not respond to rest and needed to have off-season surgeries. His recuperation period was longer than expected, but also led to additional in-season injuries. He has not approached his career averages. Their are those that will say we should have seen this coming, however, I am not convinced that there were viable alternatives that fit into the long-range plans for centerfield that would have been better if Edmonds would have come out of his rehab as expected.
Juan Encarnacion’s wrist injury from 2006 did not respond to rest and therapy so he required off-season surgery, which would have been fine, however, his recuperation from the surgery suffered challenges due to scar tissue. He returned much later than anticipated and his absence was a huge blow because….
Preston Wilson was a shell of even his 2006 self due to the continued deterioration of his knees and was pitiful in his platoon role.
Carpenter going down for this amount of time.
Molina, off to a much better offensive campaign, breaks his wrist in Colorado.
Josh Kinney does not even make it to Opening Day and is shelved for the season with elbow surgery.
Adam Kennedy playing like he is 40 years old. My goodness, if you throw out his career average stats of roughly .275/.330./.400, no one (ok, there is one guy I could think of, right BG?) that would be complaining about Adam Kennedy. But to date he has shown absolutely nothing.
Kip Wells pitching like he has a long term contract. I was strongly in Kip’s corner because I felt that with the blot clot discovered and him being fully recovered from that surgery, he might be the kind of diamond in the rough find for Walt that had occurred in the past with Kile, Williams, Carpenter, Marquis and Suppan. But Kip continues to pitch like he works for some department in the City of Chicago and is a distant relative of Mayor Daley.
Anthony Reyes pitching like he enjoys living in Memphis. I have never been to Memphis and I am sure that it has fine qualities, but the meal money in the show is so much better Anthony, you might want to pitch like you enjoy it up here.
David Eckstein getting stung by the injury bug, again.
The entire offense deciding to take their Florida act on the road up north for an extended run of approximately 4o games.
All of the above placing undo pressure on a bench and farm system that was not meant to support at that level for that length of time. (see Miles, Aaron as an example)
Anyway, given all of the above, it is laughable that I could even write this today and muse that the potential exists for them to actually compete for the division crown, but it is what it is with the National League Central these days.
However, in order for such a phenomenon to occur, the Cardinals would need to get back to playing baseball <those of you who know who you are, prepare yourselves for what is coming> the Cardinal way and the LaRussa way. Good defense, good pitching, playing smart, fundamental sound baseball and capitalizing on your opponents mistakes, all by playing hard for a full nine innings.
There is Hope. But right now Hope is hiding behind Momentum, and the Cardinals have not been the best of pals with Momentum during the regular season since May 2006. Either the Cardinals engage in a world wind romance with Momentum over the next three weeks, or the Cardinals will become a footnote to the 2007 season.
Hope? How can there be hope? Well, as long as I have Mas Tequila……. ……………there is always hope. Or at least a very viable method of deadening the pain of watching this train wreck of a season.
