What a season

Wow has it really been almost two weeks since we've posted anything on here?!?! Maybe it's the moving to a new home that kept me from posting....or maybe it's the fact that the Cardinals have fallen of the face of the earth since the last post. Either way the first two games of this Phillies series is the perfect comparison to the Cardinals season. The first game...a total blow out for most of the game, down 11-0 heading into the bottom of the 6th. They score three runs during that half inning to at least make things SOMEWHAT less embarrassing. Then all of the sudden they have a scoring outburst and eventually pull within one (sound familiar?!?!) only to let themselves down and lose by two. The next night rolls in. The Cardinals take an early lead but can't hold on letting the Phillies tie things up, the go extra innings only to allow three runs in the 14th to make it look like the game wasn't as close. Justin just made the comment that when you think about it, this was one heck of a managing job by Tony. 21 of 25 on the opening roster have spent significant on the DL. He's lost his best pitcher after one start. And now has lost his best player for the last week and a half of the season. He's had to deal with the death of Hancock, his own DWI, Juancion getting smacked in the eye by a foul ball, season ending surgery for Rolen (again), substance abuse problems for Spiezio etc ect. Yet up until these last two weeks he had his team RIGHT there. Fans can be as upset with him as they want....but there's only so much you can do with AAA players. Last year Cubs fans used the excuse that they had so many injuries and that was the reason for finishing in last place in a bad Central Division. I think Cardinal fans could argue that this season has been much more of a challenge then what the Cubs had to face last year....yet the Cardinals won't find themselves in last place.
So here's to giving Tony another contract and extending Duncan and Jocketty. But more importantly here's to hoping that ownership will actually open their pocket book a little more and give them more room to work with.

Take the good with the bad

Or so they say. And the Cardinals have had their fare share of "bad" this year. Beyond the injuries, the Cardinals have faced some crazy stories during this year, from Tony's DWI, Hancock's passing, losing their ace for the year, Encarnacion's freak season (and potentially career) ending injury.
All that, yet the return of Rick Ankiel has seemed to bring SO much joy and excitement to Cardinal nation that a lot of that bad stuff seems like forever ago. The 28 year old is having a stellar year even though it's only a month old. And on what could be considered a "career day", news comes out that he might of used HGH back in 2004. Now granted this article says NOTHING about him taking it after it was banned, and it was also well after his phenomenal 2000. But this couldn't have come out at a worse time. This team has been so resilient all year. And if by some miracle they are able to make the playoffs, I would venture to say it would be Tony's greatest managing yet....even over last year!!! How this team has overcome the injuries and stories that have happened to them this year is beyond me. They have two everyday players who have not been on the DL at some point during this year, and they will have to play the rest of the year without 3 starters and their ace. I don't care how bad the central is, it's an amazing story that they are still in this thing. And I think that no matter what happens, Cardinal fans need to step back and think about that for a second before they complain about the "off" year (that's if they miss the playoff's).
On a side note, one of Tony's better friends, Jim Leyland, said the other day that he fully believes that not only will Tony be managing next year but he thinks that it will be in St. Louis. Take it for what it's worth.