"Matt Holliday's current at-bat music is Zac Brown Band's 'Chicken Fried': Your 2010 St. Louis Cardinals

Yesterday Matt Holliday was signed for a seven-year, 20 million deal with a full no-trade clause. I'm in the "money is fine, length of contract is too long" crowd, but I'm glad they landed him. The third base and relief pitching situations are still a mess, but I'm confident that October 2010 will find the Cards in the post season again.

http://i50.tinypic.com/xppp8p.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2d9wi8g.jpg
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http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/303937999/low_res.jpg

If he would have pulled that pose with the kitties a few years ago at the right time, I bet he would have gotten out of his DUI.

probably should put a 1 in front of that 20 million. but we're all adults here and you already used up your mod req do-over.

DANGIT

For the record, let's just say that I was rounding up his $17 million a year deal to $20 million.

In an interview with the Contra Costa Times, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa mentioned the possibility of putting McGwire on the team's active roster on Aug. 31 so he'd be eligible to play in the postseason, if the Cardinals are still in the race.

ppl going bonkers over this http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4804082

Dude hasnt seen major league pitching in forever. Im sure he'll be fucking great Tony. Go for it.

i was assuming that was a joke?!

Hopefully LaRussa was using the extreme sarcasm voice and it didn't come through in the article. McGwire would be 46 going on 47. I could maybe see it happening if the Cardinals were in the American League so he could D.H., if he wouldn't provoke a chorus of boos every time he appeared at the plate, and if the Cardinals were in last place and everyone was stoned.

one at bat would buy him a 5 year reprieve from HOF induction embarassment

Yeah, true.

Man, the influence of the HOF on aging baseball stars is pathetic. Blyleven's begs for induction until his dignity is destroyed, LaRussa colludes with McGwire to save him some embarrassment..

$20 to the first aging baseball star to say "who gives a dang about the HOF"

i'm sure someone's said that.

by "someone" i mean an certified pro ball star. not morbs or anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsELQmqZwAw

Hitler OTM

erm, about the Cubs

"who gives a dang about the HOF"

ie, Mo'Nique on the Oscars

Shocking News: McGwire admits that he used steroids

I was a bit surprised that he'd been using them since 1989, gotta admit.

yeah, I thought it was probably prior to his MLB career too...

Jimmy 'half-shirt' Edmonds proposes return to Cardinals at league minimum. Lolrussa thinks: he look intersting. John Mozeliak beating head against the wall.

LaRussa wants Cards to switch to the Senior League

Rasmus is already developing into an Edmonds caliber center fielder, defensively, and I'm not sure Edmonds would even outhit Rasmus at this stage of his career. So let the kid play, LaRussa.

Wow, I hadn't read the brief AP article about the Edmonds thing:

ST. LOUIS -- Jim Edmonds went on stage at St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa's charity event to ask for a tryout.

The 39-year-old outfielder did not play last season but never retired. La Russa said Edmonds began text-messaging him about a comeback the day before Sunday's Animal Rescue Foundation event in St. Louis and at first thought it was a joke.

La Russa says he got more texts from Edmonds during the event asking if he could come on stage, where he asked for another shot.

La Russa says he'd meet with the front office to see what money the team has to spend. The team has a need for outfield depth.

After reading that, it's seems like maybe Tony's not pulling a lolRussa, but rather trying to save Edmonds some face after the guy begged for a job onstage.

http://twitter.com/mattholliday7/statuses/8641938505

hahahahaha

http://twitter.com/mattholliday7/status/8642244043
http://twitter.com/mattholliday7/status/8651794270
http://twitter.com/mattholliday7/status/8654644759
http://twitter.com/mattholliday7/status/8654702922
http://twitter.com/mattholliday7/status/8727404542

Welcome to the Internet, duder.

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2009 Cardinals pitching staff, by SIERA

Name	         IP	SIERA	 ERA	 FIP	 ERA-SIERA	FIP-SIERA
Adam Wainwright	 233	3.38	 2.63	 3.20	 0.75	        -0.18
Joel Pineiro	 214	3.57	 3.49	 3.36	 0.08	        -0.20
Chris Carpenter	 192.7	3.36	 2.24	 2.86	 1.12	        -0.50
Todd Wellemeyer	 122.3	5.07	 5.89	 5.37	 -0.82	        0.29
Kyle Lohse	 117.7	4.47	 4.74	 4.60	 -0.27	        0.14
Brad Thompson	 80	4.74	 4.84	 4.70	 -0.10	        -0.04
Kyle McClellan	 66.7	4.44	 3.38	 3.98	 1.06	        -0.46
Ryan Franklin	 61	4.32	 1.92	 3.27	 2.40	        -1.06
Mitchell Boggs	 58	4.49	 4.19	 4.20	 0.30	        -0.29
Jason Motte	 56.7	3.83	 4.76	 4.86	 -0.93	        1.03
Trever Miller	 43.7	2.88	 2.06	 3.41	 0.82	        0.52
Dennys Reyes	 41	4.20	 3.29	 3.91	 0.91	        -0.30
B. Hawksworth	 40	4.69	 2.03	 3.83	 2.66	        -0.86
John Smoltz	 38	2.98	 4.26	 2.75	 -1.28	        -0.23

SIERA is the new Baseball Prospectus stat (see here and here.

Besides 3B, the bullpen was the biggest weakness for the Cards last year, and this doesn't offer any comfort!

Sorry, that's sorted by IP, not SIERA.

http://imgur.com/3pXe6.jpg

brendan ryan o_O

whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat yfitgihjhuf64dtrfnpugyrde7

GRAY HAIR????????????

http://i48.tinypic.com/v2xzi9.jpg

Ryan Franklin is a baaaad influence.

^best pic

if albert tried to take that on deck with him, would anyone stop him?

http://i50.tinypic.com/xppp8p.jpg
"I would stop him"

jeans. so wrong.

cross-eyed dog.

Pujols above is trying to add a cannon arm to his rep.

my notes from saturday's game at roger dean stadium featuring the st louis cardinals and florida marlins.

- albert pujols is a physical freak of nature.
- the only other guy who looked near him in physique was one Hanley Ramirez.
- both of 'em looked rusty in the field.
- cameron maybin looked good and a solid sleeper pick on my fantasy team!
- brad penny looked pretty good, like he can dial it up when he needs to K some mofos.
- jason motte still throws 100 mph but doesn't fool anyone. Predict giving up Chris Perez instead of Motte will burn Cardinals.
- david freese made a couple great plays that albert goofed. but you could see albert apologize after. I get the feeling pujols knows that a breakout year for freese would solidify the lineup.

Pretty sure Dave Duncan can make Penny good/great again. He has the tools, hes just too stupid to put it all together without help.

Yep, he seems like the classic Duncan restoration project. I'm with bnw on Motte, too - I don't have high hopes. I'm dreading watching the Cards' bullpen chronically fail all season.

pujols is playing? why did i think he was injured?

lets talk about that triple, double, single, that smooth home run

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI8l87uyDXM

lol

With Molina's bleak oblique and LaRue's abused wrist (just happened today during a plate collision), there's a chance Matt Fucking Pagnozzi may be the opening day catcher.

*shudder*

Why not make the best out of a shorty situation and get Bryan Anderson some big league playing time while Molina's out? My grandma is better than Matt Fucking Pagnozzi, srsly.

Out of a SHITTY situation, damn you iPhone!

SHORTY FIRE BURNING IN THE OUTFIELD

I apologize for making the lamest old man baseball joke in the world, but I can't help myself:

"If Albert continues on this pace, he'll hit over 320 home runs this year!"

hyuck hyuck

AND a Yadi grand slam. What a great start to the season!

rook fifth starter lookin strong

lol throw

it was the chalk, don't doubt our gold glover

cards have won every series so far ^_^

cards fans ticked all their runs come off homers, blame mcgwire and obama

colby is hitting like the white jason heyward

Ryan Howard signed a 5-year contract extension today, $25 million per year.

Right now Albert's like

http://i44.tinypic.com/11tlk04.jpg

yesssssss

Ha yeah, this IS good timing for him.

just glad howard did sign so the market gets established. hope the brewers dont go crazy with prince.

there's a friese up coming :)

one thing that kinda bugs is why on earth folx are all ZMGRFLMAOWTF @ howard's contract when Teixiera's is about the same (~90%), 3 years longgggger and Teix is just as old and not as good (IMHO).

is it because the phils aren't the yanx and people are used to the yanx throwing crazy money around like it ain't no thang for most of the past decade with precious little to show for it?

if anything Teix's contract set the standard. Howard is 10% better than Teix (at least).

Teixeira is outstanding defensively, RH is not. Tex also outVORPed Howard the last two years (handily in '08), basically tied him in '07. Also, the Yankees can afford him.

sheehan puts Howard behind Albert, Adrian, Tex, Morneau, and Prince. basically RBIs are bullshit. also Tex's contract was up, right?

(but re: Albert he said it didn't mean anything either way, only comparable is A-rod.)

on what planet is ryan howard better than tex

answer: ones without left handed pitchers and where no one has to play the field or run

on what planet does Morneau belong in that group

i'm gonna assume he meant miguel cabrera actually

on a planet where you don't look solely at home run numbers, you could easily make the argument that morneau is as good as howard

or one where you value lefties being able to hit lefties

i'm not sure which i would take personally (certainly howard at his peak year is better than morneau at his peak year), but right now if you traded howard straight up for morneau i'm not sure either team sees a significant drop off

Morneau gets hurt every year iirc. also lolumaddawg @ prince running and fielding. teix is a wrex in fx imo. would be interested to see Gonzo playing for another team, that's fair.

i understand 50% of that post

wha happen?

Pujols shaves stubble/beard, hits first home run since the last week of April.

Coincidence?!?!

wow i definitely read that as "Pubis shaves"

btw i'm going to back-to-back games next week ^_______________________^ first day game ever at busch ^_______________________^

La Russa supports immigration law

good thing he has no latin players to worry about

Tony should maybe concentrate more on how much the offense has been sucking ass since early May.

Also stop playing Aaron Miles, j-Christ

go Cards go

for real. They've been underperforming for so long that I keep thinking a big winning spurt is around the corner. Maybe this is finally it!

6 in a row!

I just wanted the Phils thrashed

This Cards/Cubbies game tonight has been EXCELLENT, just well played, every single inning entertaining. Tied in the 11th atm

yesssssssss

I went saturday :) had to be > 50% redbird nation

I'm going to the Cards/Nats game in DC on August 28th, pretty pumped!

rolling the strasburg die

phat albert is on letterman tonight

Padres, Cardinals, Indians Agree To Deal Involving Ludwick, Westbrook

Ludwick to Padres, Westbrook to Cardinals, Padres give up two prospects.

what hath Jon Jay wrought?

Some commentary from Viva El Birdos on Westbrook:

Westbrook is a four-pitch pitcher with a low-90s fastball, a cutter, slider and a changeup. He's not going to strikeout many batters but he will get groundballs. Westbrook's command hasn't been quite what it was in previous seasons leaving him with a K/BB ratio below 2.0. No one should argue that Westbrook is a great pitcher at this point. He's more of a known pitcher. We know that he's about 1.5-2.0 wins better than replacement over the course of 200 IP. That means were probably looking at something like a 1 win upgrade compared to Jeff Hawksworth depending on your opinion of how bad those two are in the starting rotation.

With a move from the AL to the NL, a better defensive corps behind him and a pitcher friendly park, Westbrook should do well in St. Louis. If he can regain some of his pre-Tommy John command, he could do better than well. What the Cardinals will ask him for is to take the ball every 5th day and pitch 6 innings.

...and the departure of Ludwick/ascendancy of Jay:

This move shouldn't be a total surprise though. It's coming a little earlier than I think anyone expected but the Ludwick was getting increasingly expensive and the Cardinals have become increasingly enamored of Jon Jay. With Allen Craig continuing to slug it out (.900+ OPS in Memphis), the Cardinals have the latitude to swap an expensive player for a cheaper one without giving up too much ground.

This is something like a .5 win downgrade on paper. The Cardinals are making this move to save money in 2010 and 2011. That doesn't make it a bad deal. I actually think it's a prudent one with the impending contract of Albert Pujols. It's simply uncharacteristic of the Cardinals to move a player like Ryan Ludwick mid-season.

18th in runs scored
2nd in era

I guess they knew they weren't going to sign Luddy.

More coverage, including a summary of Nick Greenwood, who the Cards also picked up in the deal:

The Padres selected Greenwood in the 14th round of last year's draft and he's now pitching at A ball. The 22-year-old lefty has a 4.15 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 as a starter in the Midwest League.

...

could we have gotten a primo bologna sandwich instead?

so our only pitcher not to give up runs tonight was aaron miles
facepalm.gif

Ugh, AARON MILES pitched better than any of the actual Cardinals pitchers tonight:

Pitchers	IP	 H	 R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
J Garcia	5.0	10	8	4	0	3	0	99-68	2.53
M Boggs	        1.0	4	5	5	2	0	0	26-14	4.10
D Reyes	        1.0	4	3	3	1	0	0	25-13	3.77
M MacDougal	1.0	3	2	2	2	2	0	29-16	5.40
A Miles	        1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	10-7	0.00

xpost

*facepalm* over here too, jeezus

ugh, I'm trying to be optimistic, but this season has "90-72, eliminated in first round 3 games to nothing" all over it

Of course, so did 2006, so who knows

my bro was at the game :-(

who knows with this team -- i think in his trade deadline column joe sheehan raised some p valid points about how their hitting might very well disappear in the playoffs (not enough good hitters), but by the same token, hard to straight up discount a team w/ waino & carpenter going 1-2

there's certainly no dominant team in the NL right now, so who knows, but i do agree that it's concerning that they haven't had a dominant stretch this year

they had that 8-game win streak just a week ago or so...but it was kind of a fluke. The hitting won't "disappear", it hasn't been there consistently since April. I mean, obviously the pitching was awful tonight, but look at half of the starting lineup: Miles (ugh) and Craig (eh), both rookies, Schumaker and Ryan (both playing near replacement level), Molina (hitting .242/.321/.317), and a Pujols season that's relatively weak (for him).

just not able to patch the non-superstar holes this year. who has out-performed expectations? garcia. rasmus? freese until he got hurt? below: ryan, lohse, penny, schu, pujols, molina. xpost we said the same thing again

kind of getting sick of hearing about allan craig, the beast of triple A who repeatedly does nothing much in the majors.

Yeah, but I'd rather see Craig play than Winn or Stavinoha. At least Craig has potential upside. Winn is...old, and Stavinoha's knee keeps touching the fucking ground when he swings!

I didn't hate the Westbrook trade as much as some people, but yeah, it would have been really nice to have gotten a decent SS or 2B for Ludwick. Ryan and/or Schumaker is gonna have to be replaced soon, it's not like they're career Cardinals (at least I hope not)

as my friend pointed out: yadi w/ the gordie howe hat trick - fight, stolen base, homerun

yadi is the shit

but carpenter has been totally aggro lately

well there's one night of "little bitches" talk fallout

I'm glad Phillips said it - before the Reds were the underdogs and the Cardinals were the team that was underperforming but still probably going to make the playoffs (ie, not very fun for anyone to root for). Now the Reds just look like assholes.

do they? cuz everyone dislikes LaRussa, if only for making us watch 3 fucking pitching changes per inning.

i think carpenter has always been kinda aggro

xpost

this is true. He's also hated for always pulling a double-switch that somehow results in Colby Rasmus being replaced by Randy Winn and a relief pitcher batting directly after Matt Holliday.

at the same time, though, AWWWW...

http://i46.tinypic.com/2d9wi8g.jpg

lol that happened in the game i was at the other day

yeah, that move is still fresh in my mind, but I feel like he's done very similar things all season. Rasmus should v v rarely be pulled for anyone imo, let alone Randy fucking Winn.

the thing for me is that if you HAVE to pull an outfielder, wouldn't it be jon jay instead of rasmus? shit don't be makin sense imo

definitely (re: pulling jay)! I've never really read any sort of rationalization for it, it's insane. Everybody's just like 'Tony u so crazy', but c'mon, wtf

lol at carpenter post-game being all "wtf....??" at cueto kicking dudes

thanking you, brandon phillips

just saw mark mcgwire at schnucks while buying my fantasy football guide :/

Was he crying?

http://i37.tinypic.com/oa7o6c.jpg

"Same lineup in all 3 games of a series for first time since 7/6-7/9/95"

my cashier (very heavy, middle aged guy) started booing him and saying loudly "is he buying drugs? probably buying the drugs!"

he told me that Aaron Miles had been in there before with his girlfriend who was hot with a lot tattoos.

If I was Mark McGwire I would probably, tearfully, purchase my groceries online and have them delivered

From BP chat w/ Joe Sheehan last week:

Andy (St. Louis):
As a Cards fan, I've always had a love/hate relationship with Tony LaRussa, but that 20 inning game pushed me into the full on hate column. Any insights broad or detailed to share without giving away your entire chapter on the game with the Mets?

Joe Sheehan:
TLR's success with the late 1980s A's was an evolutionary point in bullpen management, and you can trace the weirdness we saw later in that game to the matchup plays earlier in it. Relievers IP/app is at an all-time low, and I sincerely hope that we look back in 20 years with that still being true. If so, that game ends up as a milestone.

It's easy to conduct expert analysis when you've been smoking doobies on your back porch all day

All I've done is check the starting lineup, but quick question regarding tonight's game:

WHY THE FUCK IS PEDRO FELIZ HITTING 5TH? wtf is LaRussa thinking? Jon Jay is hitting 7th? So he can set the table for Westbrook and Brendan Ryan?

What

Allen Craig is hitting 2nd? Seriously, this lineup is like April fools

Trolly La Russa

srsly, the dude is a fucking troll.gahhhh,

sinking fast.

too many injuries for a very thin team.

I have a feeling that at the end of the season, the Pedro Feliz "deal" will be the identifiable point where they jumped the shark, at least for me. It's kind of becoming apparent that this is a regular season 2006 kind of year. Maybe they'll luck out and accidentally get into the playoffs and even advance a round, but they really don't deserve it

they reeeeeeally need to upgrade 2B, SS & maybe 3B next year if freese can't do it for a whole year

yep, definitely. yeah, if you think about it, the starting pitching has been better than expected (with Garcia playing better than expected), the outfield has been fine (with Jay playing better than expected, and Ludwick doing fine before that), the bullpen's alright...it's just the infield-Pujols that's been a big sack of shit this year

read: infield MINUS Pujols

Also Nick Stavinoha/Randy Winn somehow getting a bunch of playing time

wonder if they make a run at beltre

if you turn right and third into non-power hitters, then you can't just have light-hitting ecksteins up the middle.

a lot of ppl wanted beltre before he went crazy in boston too :(

big one here

btw did the nats have the infield in with bases loaded and one out?

no, they were at normal position but it didn't look like the short stop tried at all to stop that ball.

classic yadi, thank god cards were already up 2

i want them to lose!

you gotta be shitting me

one thing that they always teach you as a pitcher is to throw fastballs right down the middle on 3-1

YES!

i'm fighting for my wild card spot. don't care if the Reds or Cards win the division, just don't want the wild card to come out of the Central or East.

jesus CHRIST the cardinals this year

lmao

Tossing his helmet down when all he'd done is tie it up was a little hotdoggy -- I wonder if he thought he'd won it.

not that he was gonna hit a homer or anything, but willie harris jumping all over the 3-2 pitch like it was a fastball after franklin gave up a homer on a fastball and then didn't throw one the whole at bat was a bit "you probably don't have the brain to play baseball"

willie harris is so bad

yes he is

he hit a HR in the nats game i went to 2 years ago, i had no clue who he was at the time

he hit one off josh johnson earlier this year and it almost made me wonder if i should just stop following a specific baseball team

http://i17.tinypic.com/6ptj2ua.gif

I am convinced the cardinals were engineered by evil pyschologists to underachieve.

i would say that with dunn out of the game, the only truly scary player that the nats have right now is zimmerman & maybe desmond, but considering roger bernadina hit a game tying homer, i'm not so sure if that is true

i'm not COMPLETELY abreast with the cards roster, but please god tell me that there is a pinch hitter left on the bench for when trever miller's spot comes up in the coming inning (larue?)

it appears as if "bryan anderson" is still on the bench

adam kennedy needs to retire

desmond has like a .310 obp and only average power, he shouldnt be a threat

bryan anderson is relatively good (he's been doing well in the minors for a couple years, and yet somehow Jason fucking LaRue holds onto the backup catcher spot).

desmond has like a .310 obp and only average power, he shouldnt be a threat

― ciderpress, Thursday, August 26, 2010 9:30 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

he's been incredibly hot lately tho

TLR is sort of lucky in a way that there isn't anyone in scoring position right now

hahaha COME BACK ELIJAH DUKES, WE LOVED YOU

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

this game is a literal nightmare

xpost

oooooooooooo...ooh...oooh. oh. phew.

cardinals and tarps wtfffff

that was the most unnecessary thing ever too

yeah, I had an awful feeling as he took the attempted step up on there, just a disaster waiting to happen

i like to think that albert has been inspired by the rash of crazy japanese outfielders standing on top of fences to snag balls

randy winn - legend

xpost i'm gonna need youtube evidence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtEOFBuziUs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9_ozLBfTXc

it's almost as if they explicitly built the stadium for that in a jock jams baseball sort of way

oh hey btw donnie avery likely tore his acl in a preseason game

good luck stl

we are pretty deep at receiver, should be all right

the legend of triple A, alan craig.......................

lord almighty

alright i need to eat something

crucial bit of info for y'all - I am attending the Saturday game LIVE IN PERSON,

should be an epic losche/lannan matchup

Home    Away
41-23	27-33

The thing is, even if somehow they make it in through the wildcard, or even win the division...that's not the kind of split that a championship-deserving team puts up

think Mo needs to dump/trade Flip Lopez to keep TLR from playing him.

I have tickets for the reds series. hopefully the nats haven't buried us by then.

holy snowcone

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo...ooooooo....ooo...ooh. oh. PHEW

don't worry about the nats, at least not on Saturday. I will be yelling really really good tips at the cards the whole game, they'll win no prob

kinda embarrassed to be a nats fan right now

you may need to sing "don't stop believin" to jon jay

Nats down to their last pitcher. I'd be ok with winning this one by attrition, if that's what it takes

I'm always happy to see long exhausting games for every other team than "mine."

if a Nats player got injured right now...would they have to forfeit? do they have anyone left?

I assume that everyone who watched this game just drank themselves into a coma

I suppose this is worth a mention:

TLR and Pujols attending the Beck 'Restoring Honor' event in DC

"I made it clear when we were approached: I said, 'If it's political, I wouldn't even approach Albert with it.' I don't want to be there if it's political," La Russa told the Post-Dispatch.

one more \_O_/ move for TLR this year, I guess..

http://twitter.com/buzzbissinger

How TLR can say the Beck rally is not a political event is beyond me. What are they going to talk about--why Cards play like gutless shits? about 1 hour ago via Osfoora HD

Would be the same w/.Beck, Limburger, O'Riled all bullshit froth-mouthed entertainers. TLR should be in locked room worrying about his team.

It does change how I view LaRussa. Beck is a racist Jew-hating bastard using his hate to line his pockets. How can TLR, Pujols not see it?

Countdown to TLR on Sunday saying "they promised me it wouldn't get political, but once it did, what was I supposed to do, leave? That would have been impolite."

it must be really conflicting for much of "fire LaGenius!" crowd because I always figured that the venn diagram of LaRussa haters and tea party dipshits was heavily overlapping.

Albert and Holliday playing tonight.

I AM LEGEND (AAA) is leading off :P

I mean jesus fucking christ, you shit away the season in three series against the pirates, nats, and stros.

I've been so frustrated I can't even listen to the games anymore. It was that damned, glorious first month of the season that did this to me (and to lots of others, I think). They were fucking unstoppable at the beginning of the season, it felt like 2004 again.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/09/potential-trade-destinations-for-colby-rasmus.html

that list is so empty -- everyone wld want CR

loool, newspaper guy has been the best part of the cardinals game tonight

http://i54.tinypic.com/dz749u.jpg

strike zone is beyond belief tonight

home plate ump would throw you out of the internet if he caught you saying that

Here are some quotes from the four-time All-Star first baseman nicknamed "Jack the Ripper":

I'm really tired of watching the effort, that's for sure. I'm not seeing a lack of (effort) I'm seeing a pathetic effort. These Cards fans deserve much better. That's just awful. They won't admit it, that they're quitters. If you can't put a better effort out there on the field, take 'em all out, back up the truck, ship 'em all out and get somebody in here that wants to play baseball. We've got one team here (San Diego) going for the title and we've got our team going for the toilet. They've got poopy in their pants.

next season:

"They've got poopy in their pants." -- Your 2011 St. Louis Cardinals

Srsly, someone should just go ahead and start it! I've emotionally detached from this season anyway.

La Russa's cerebral, academic approach to the game doesn't always yield the right answers, but you're always left with the idea that he's asking the right questions.

Colby's dad trollin' again:

La Russa is apparently driving home that philosophy this winter with the help of an offseason program designed by Cardinals hitting coach Mark McGwire. It calls for Rasmus to slim down, to stay off the weights, and to work on his quick-twitch leg muscles.

Brian Walton of The Cardinal Nation Blog gathered a couple of revealing comments on the program Thursday from Tony Rasmus, father of Colby and highly successful high school baseball coach in Alabama:

“Colby has been working on spraying the ball around the field this offseason via the Big Mac approach. Hasn’t been lifting since the plan is to be a slap hitter so there is no need for the added muscle. The goal I hear is to hit .300 and hit more ground balls and line drives the other way.”

It doesn't take a rocket science to dissect this mess. Rasmus' father took to a Cardinals-centric interested message board this week with news that manager Tony La Russa was trying to turn his son into more of a Skip Schumaker-type hitter. Schumaker, of course, is one of the least productive regulars in all of baseball.

colby's dad otm

what do we think about theriot and berkman acquisitions? The decisions to use Theriot to replace Ryan instead of Schumaker is a bit mindboggling. So sick of watching Skip play. Berkman could be ok if doesn't go down to injury in late May.

I am kind of stunned they are doing nothing about 2nd base. it's embarrassing. line-up is still super thin. foresee a lot of bases empty albert at-bats.

on the plus side: starting pitching 1-4 is really strong.

larussa used to on the sorta cutting edge as far as using computers in the dugout and stuff like that, so it's kinda surprising/sad that his take on Skip seems to be "he hit .300 a couple years so he is really good"

?

his christian athlete stats are very high though

well i hope the lord favors the cardinals over the rest of the league next year

http://25yearsofbaseball.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/217_albert_pujols-214x300.jpg

Corny joke: How is cards outfield like Michael Jackson? All white with one glove.

(Sadly Rasmus is the "glove" and a minus defender.)

ha!

we are minus 1,000 batting stances and any defense up the middle

Infielder Brendan Ryan traded from @STLCardinals to @Mariners for RHP Maikel Cleto http://is.gd/iD926

did we ever discuss this obscenely stupid TLR slobjob by sheehan

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/joe_sheehan/06/24/baker.larussa/index.html

La Russa's cerebral, academic approach to the game doesn't always yield the right answers, but you're always left with the idea that he's asking the right questions.
La Russa's cerebral, academic approach to the game doesn't always yield the right answers, but you're always left with the idea that he's asking the right questions.
La Russa's cerebral, academic approach to the game doesn't always yield the right answers, but you're always left with the idea that he's asking the right questions.
La Russa's cerebral, academic approach to the game doesn't always yield the right answers, but you're always left with the idea that he's asking the right questions.

I thought that lines like that were the exception, overall I thought it was a good article. Dusty ended up doing a good job with the pitchers, but in June you couldn't really blame someone for thinking that he wouldn't.

if the reds lose (they're down 3-1 in the 9th right now) and the cards win (they're up 5-3 in the 6th), there will be a 4-way tie for first between stl/chi/cin/mil. not sure why i'm so excited by this possibility 18 games into the season but hey

PARITY ACHIEVED

Kyle Lohse. . .

. . . is pitching like fucking God! WTF?

I'm not sure why I revived this 2010 thread, whoops!