So the season started off on a bad foot. Cardinals up 5-1 (against a lefty mind you)....down comes the rain. Hard enough and long enough to call the game. And because of the "rules" the game and the stats don't count and they have to completely restart the game.
So of course the next day, Opening Day: Take 2, the Cardinals get a great pitching effort from Lohse, only to get no run support and to have the bullpen (namely Franklin) blow things in the 8th. That type of thing seems to have happened all to often to this team in the past year or so. Getting half of a team effort. Last year it seemed to be one or the other...pitching was great and hitting was horrible or the other way around. And to see the bullpen...one of the teams strongest aspects last year, fall apart like that does not bode will for this team. I know I know..it was the first game of the year. But that bullpen HAS to be just as good if not better then last year. Because it's going to be tested virtually every game.
Now last night was a breath of fresh air. The hitting was there...granted the majority of the big hits came late in the game, but at least some key guys contributed. Ankiel and Ludwick had GREAT games at the plate. Pujols was pretty patient...getting 3 walks. And it seems Kennedy has contributed more in the first two games then he did all of last year it seems.
An afternoon game today...I LOVE afternoon games. I actually get to listen to it while at work. Gotta love that. The only thing that scares me now is how well the guys did last night. Seems like the past few years they can't ever string together multiple solid games in a row. But hey...it's a new year right!!!!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Gaffe of the Glaus
Not a good way to start the season - a loss, and at the hands of our new acquisition. Glaus gave up the game-winning run on a throwing error. I hope we don't see this too often. We'll just blame it on Ryan Franklin....or the rain from the day before. The upside is that Kyle Lohse looked decent in 5 scoreless innings. And we don't have to worry about Kip Wells turning into a star....sure he had a decent outing, but so did Marquis at the beginning of last year, and now the Cubs' fans are seriously regretting having picked him up.
Friday, March 28, 2008
New Season all around
Well after our off-season that lasted a whole 189 days I figured it's time to get back in the swing of things....especially with the Cardinals opening day a mere 3 days away!!
The Cardinal's off-season was one of change. Some of you may view it as good change others maybe thing they were changes that will doom the organization. The first move was to "relieve" Walt Jocketty of his GM duties. WJ has long been considered one of the better GM's in the game and when the news first came out I thought it was a big mistake. But after looking at where the club had gone in the past few years it was apparent that a change at the top was probably the best choice. Under WJ's direction we did win a World Series, but we also found the team with little to no farm system and a few aging players with lengthy contracts. So thank you for bringing in so great players WJ, but it really was time to move on.
The next change came as we watched two fan favorites leave, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds. To many fans Scott Rolen had lost his "fan favorite" title. The guy no doubt played in pain, and he is still one of the best 3B in the game. But this is the second time that he was traded due to conflicts with his manager. In no way am I saying LaRussa had no fault in the feud between the two, in fact I felt Tony did a HORRIBLE job during the winter meetings when he called Rolen out. But it was time for both of those guys to go. Jimmy was one of my favorite Cardinals in a long time. The guy played all out all the time which is why he is so banged up at the end of his career.
So those three moves alone meant that the Cardinals had changed directions. They were going to go younger. With the dismissal of WJ, who has always been one that liked veteran players more then the youngsters, the organization was making a statement that they were going to try to build up a sorry excuse for a farm system. And in many ways that has already happened. With guys like Colby Rasmus and Chris Perez the Memphis team seems pretty stacked this year (at least compared to years past). The trade of Edmonds opened up a huge hole in the outfield. But it also meant that much younger players, with more upside, were going to get a chance to play on a more regular basis. And the trade of Rolen just meant that we got out of $11 mil in 2010.
All in all as scared as I was about this team at the end of last year. That fear has turned into curiosity. When will Rasmus get the call? How long with Tony stick with the coaches son before finally putting Barton in? When will our other starting 5 be back? Think about this folks....Clement, Piniero, Mulder and Carpenter. That's a solid 1-4 a few years ago!! ;) How long before Ryan takes over at SS? And perhaps the most troubling question for us Cardinals fans....how long will we have Pujols for this year??
Stay tuned.....it's going to be interesting.
The Cardinal's off-season was one of change. Some of you may view it as good change others maybe thing they were changes that will doom the organization. The first move was to "relieve" Walt Jocketty of his GM duties. WJ has long been considered one of the better GM's in the game and when the news first came out I thought it was a big mistake. But after looking at where the club had gone in the past few years it was apparent that a change at the top was probably the best choice. Under WJ's direction we did win a World Series, but we also found the team with little to no farm system and a few aging players with lengthy contracts. So thank you for bringing in so great players WJ, but it really was time to move on.
The next change came as we watched two fan favorites leave, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds. To many fans Scott Rolen had lost his "fan favorite" title. The guy no doubt played in pain, and he is still one of the best 3B in the game. But this is the second time that he was traded due to conflicts with his manager. In no way am I saying LaRussa had no fault in the feud between the two, in fact I felt Tony did a HORRIBLE job during the winter meetings when he called Rolen out. But it was time for both of those guys to go. Jimmy was one of my favorite Cardinals in a long time. The guy played all out all the time which is why he is so banged up at the end of his career.
So those three moves alone meant that the Cardinals had changed directions. They were going to go younger. With the dismissal of WJ, who has always been one that liked veteran players more then the youngsters, the organization was making a statement that they were going to try to build up a sorry excuse for a farm system. And in many ways that has already happened. With guys like Colby Rasmus and Chris Perez the Memphis team seems pretty stacked this year (at least compared to years past). The trade of Edmonds opened up a huge hole in the outfield. But it also meant that much younger players, with more upside, were going to get a chance to play on a more regular basis. And the trade of Rolen just meant that we got out of $11 mil in 2010.
All in all as scared as I was about this team at the end of last year. That fear has turned into curiosity. When will Rasmus get the call? How long with Tony stick with the coaches son before finally putting Barton in? When will our other starting 5 be back? Think about this folks....Clement, Piniero, Mulder and Carpenter. That's a solid 1-4 a few years ago!! ;) How long before Ryan takes over at SS? And perhaps the most troubling question for us Cardinals fans....how long will we have Pujols for this year??
Stay tuned.....it's going to be interesting.
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