TEAM OF DESTINY?

As August begins to turn into September, the race towards October starts to pick up speed as the six month marathon suddenly becomes a 30 game sprint. These last few games can either make or break a team’s chances of punching their tickets for a trip to the eight team tournament that is played every October (since 1995).

The last couple years have not been too kind to the Cardinals come September as late season collapses have done in any hopes of postseason baseball in St. Louis. In 2007, the Cards were attempting to make a playoff push despite the fact that Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen were in severe decline and Albert Pujols was having the worst year of his career (I use the term “worst” very loosely). However, the Cards managed to be seven games out of the Wild Card race with a little over a month to go. The team would go on a tear for a week and actually get to a season high one game over .500 and be only 3.5 games out of the Wild Card lead. But that was short lived as the team went on to lose nine games in a row.

The 2008 version was slightly better. At this time last year, the Cards stood at 73-59 and were in the midst of playing their best baseball all season. They were only 3.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the Wild Card lead. However, fortunes turned quickly as just a week later, the Cards dropped to 74-63. Things only got worse from there as they played a game under .500 the rest of the way to finish four games out of the Wild Card.

The Cardinals currently lead the Central Division by 8 games and with the way the Cubs are playing, postseason play could almost be a certainty. The Cardinals also have history on their side as they have never blown a lead this large with so few games left in the season. When you have a large lead, you don’t have to play great; you just have to play well enough to survive.

Take the 2006 World Champion version of this Cardinal squad. On August 25, 2006, the Cards lead the Central Division by just one game with a record of 67-60. Ten days later, they had turned that into a 6 game lead and were eleven games over .500. We all remember what happened with that team. They struggled almost the rest of the month, at one point losing seven games in a row but held on just long enough to win the division. If that team can hold on long enough to make the playoffs, I am confident that the 2009 version, which is much more talented in all facets of the game, will be able to hold off a struggling and quite injured Chicago Cubs ball club.



Several things would have to go wrong for this team to not be playing in October. But there have been so many things that have gone wrong already this year, and yet, the team has been in first place the majority of the season (91 game days) and have been no further back than three games out of the lead. Chris Carpenter was out for over a month and still the team fought through it. Adam Wainwright struggled with control problems in his first few starts but still, the team fought through it. Todd Wellemeyer forgot how to throw a baseball, and the team survived long enough for him to wind up in the bullpen and then the DL. Kyle Lohse has been hurt several times in freak accidents and hasn’t been the same pitcher, but the team has prevailed. The offense didn’t wake up until late July and the team prevailed. This team even survived having to put out a lineup that had both Chris Duncan and a poorly hitting Rick Ankiel in it. If surviving that dreaded combination isn’t a sign that this team is destined to make the playoffs, than I don’t know what is.

Even having to survive all of those ordeals, there were several things that did go right for this team. Things that will have to continue to go right for this team to go deep into the playoffs.

1. CHRIS CARPENTER AND ADAM WAINWRIGHT

The Cardinals two best pitchers both have 14 wins, which is good enough to be tied for second for the Major League lead. Both have an ERA well under 3.00. The Cardinals are 6-0 in Carpenter’s last six starts, with Carpenter receiving the winning decision in five of them. Both Carpenter and Wainwright must continue to anchor this team’s rotation for the club to be successful in the coming month as the offense still shows signs of sluggishness (look at previous road trip for example).

2. JOEL PINEIRO


Pineiro picked the perfect time to establish his deadly sinker which has allowed him to accumulate the most groundouts in the Majors (282). Pineiro hasn’t lost since June 28 and is in the midst of having his best season since 2003 with the Seattle Mariners when he went 16-11 with a 3.78 ERA. If Pineiro continues to have a career year, there is no question that this team will be playing in October.



3. CARDINAL OFFENSE


The acquisition of Matt Holliday has definitely panned out the way the Cardinals need it to….so far. In 28 games with St. Louis, Holliday has hit .398 and driven in 27 RBIs as well as belting six homers. With Holliday hitting the way he has, not to mention Ryan Ludwick taking better and better swings at the plate, the offense has definitely come to life in the last month or so. However, the team must score more runs at home to help out their pitchers. In 60 home games, the Cardinals have scored 253 runs, good enough for an average of 4.21 runs per game, as opposed to 66 games on the road and scoring 312 runs to average 4.72 runs a game. This team is making a run at having home field advantage throughout the National League side of the playoffs, which means scoring at home is that much more important. If this team can continue to average nearly five funs a game on the road and start scoring more at home, you are looking at a trip to the World Series.

4. ALBERT PUJOLS














This might seem redundant since we just discussed the importance of the Cardinal offense, but Pujols is a side of the Cardinal attack all by himself. He has noticeably cooled off since the All-Star Break, but that was to be expected. His presence in the lineup is help enough for the Cardinals. With Pujols batting in the three hole, teams start having to second guess themselves frequently, especially since Holliday and Ludwick are backing him up. Albert must continue to stay healthy and play consistently for the offense to run on all cylinders. If not, the Cards could be in trouble.



5. JOHN SMOLTZ


With Kyle Lohse landing on the DL again, Smoltz’s presence becomes that much more important. After one start, it appears that Carpenter’s verdict that Smoltz had been tipping pitches was correct as Smoltz pitched five shut out innings against the Padres while striking out nine (seven in a row at one point). Smoltz will most likely be making more starts than previously expected, and if Lohse isn’t able to pitch at an appropriate level, Smoltz may be thrown into the postseason rotation. Even if Smoltz does end up in the bullpen, which is pretty likely, he will be able to pitch the 7th or 8th inning which is becoming more and more problematic as Jason Motte struggles and Kyle McClellan begins to tire.

If all these things go correctly, the Cards will waltz into October. If not, well, you can look on the bright side, the Cardinals aren’t the New York Mets.

BONUS BLOG!

If appears that the conspiracy against Chris Duncan is a nationwide thing. Less than a month after being traded, Duncan was released by the Red Sox before he even made a single plate appearance for Boston. In 92 at-bats for the Pawtucket Red Sox (Boston’s Triple A Affiliate), Duncan hit .188 with 2 homers. Meanwhile, Julio Lugo continues to bat over .300 for St. Louis.



MORE BONUS BLOG!
We aren’t all baseball and hockey here at fromoutofrightfield.blogspot.com, we are also avid football fans, especially college football. Posted below is a link to a rant about the Missouri Tigers and the call from other Big XII schools that the Tiger’s should be “humbled” this year. Hope you all enjoy.

A TIGER RANT!

http://www.tigerboard.com/boards/missouri-tigers.php?message=6815284

Sports Munchies 8-19-09

In this episode we discuss

1. The St. Louis Cardinals Sign John Smoltz

2. The St. Louis Rams start Camp

3. Scott Boras is the devil, and the return of the Chris Duncan Watch

Wainwright + Carpenter = Keys to Success

With the Cardinals beginning to pull away in the Central Division race, the front office is frantically looking to plug the team’s final two holes, a right handed reliever and a legitimate 5th starter for the rotation. Luckily, Todd Wellemeyer went onto the disabled list recently, making it impossible for Tony LaRussa to even attempt putting him back into the rotation….for now. I hope Wellemeyer finds his stuff again, I really do. But this has just been an off year for him and it’s time to shut him down and let him forget about baseball for a little while until he gets his head on straight.

For once I will not be writing about the problems that the Cardinals have, but rather what has been going right. There have been two people all year that the team and its fans have been able to count on all year to show up. Two guys that have stepped up to be imperative leaders on this squad.

No. It’s not Albert Pujols or new found Cardinal Matt Holliday.

I’m speaking of Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter.



This one, two punch in the Cards’ rotation has been amazing. Wainwright is currently tied for the National League lead in wins with 13, while Carpenter is in second with 12. Carpenter currently has the second best ERA in the Majors with a mark of 2.27. Wainwright is not too far behind with a 2.73 ERA. Wainwright is fourth in the Majors with 165 innings pitched this season, while Carpenter has been the most efficient pitcher, averaging 13.56 pitches per inning which just barely edges out teammate Joel Pineiro (13.69).

Pitching has been key this year, especially since the offense did not wake up until the trade acquisition of Matt Holliday. Carpenter and Wainwright both stepped up to the challenge, keeping their team in the game when their team could barely muster three or four runs. It will not surprise me if both Carpenter and Wainwright finish one and two in the National League Cy Young Award Vote.

The pitching one, two punch is not an uncommon thing amongst postseason contenders. In fact, a pitching duo has historically led to a championship. So get out your Batman and Robin costumes, here are the greatest postseason pitching duos of the last fifteen years.

4. DAVID CONE, DAVID WELLS (New York Yankees)


YEAR: 1998


We start with, quite possibly the best team to ever play Major League Baseball. The 1998 Yankees won 114 regular season games, 125 including the playoffs. You could argue that if your offense is as prolific as the Yankees’ was in ’98, you don’t need a 1, 2 pitching punch. Not necessarily the case. The 2001 Mariners won 116 games in the regular season but didn’t make it to the World Series.

In the 1998 season, David Cone recorded a 20-7 record while Wells went 18-4. Wells pitched a perfect game on May 18, 1998, an accomplishment that Cone would repeat a year later. Wells pitched in Game 1 of the World Series against the San Diego Padres and lead the Yankees to a 9-6 victory. Cone took the mound in Game 3 and while he didn’t receive a decision, he did hold the Padres to three runs through seven innings, giving the Yankees time to amount a comeback to win the game and take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.

3. GREG MADDUX, TOM GLAVINE (Atlanta Braves)


YEAR: 1995

The first thing that should come to mind when thinking about the Braves during the 1990s should be their incredible pitching staff. Or Bobby’s Cox’s ever expanding gut. Either one is acceptable.

The Braves were stacked in 1995 with pitching. With Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine (both 300 game winners) leading the charge, it’s no wonder why they won it all in 1995. Maddux pitched Game 1 and Game 5, winning the first game. He threw a complete game in Game 1, giving up two unearned runs.

Glavine won Games 2 and 6 compiling fourteen innings pitched with an ERA of 1.61 on his way to being named World Series MVP.

2. PEDRO MARTINEZ, CURT SCHILLING (Boston Red Sox)


YEAR: 2004

While the 2004 postseason is best known for a stained sock instead of an awesome back and fourth seven game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Houston Astros that saw walk-off home runs in back-to-back nights and a legendary diving catch to save the game by Jim Edmonds and a go-ahead home run off of Roger Clemens by Scott Rolen (don’t worry, I’m not bitter that dirty laundry is more legendary than pure awesomeness), it’s often forgotten that Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling gave the Red Sox the duel aces they had been looking for.


In 2004, Schilling won over 20 games while Martinez tallied 16. In the two World Series games they pitched in, the Cardinals were only able to muster a total of two runs. Martinez pitched seven shutout innings in his Game 3 start.






Yeah, that catch isn't nearly as cool as a blood stained sock.

1. RANDY JOHNSON, CURT SCHILLING (Arizona Diamondbacks)


YEAR: 2001

The best 1, 2 punch any team could ask for. Randy Johnson was in his prime as was Curt Schilling. This duo was near unstoppable, and Curt Schilling didn’t need to paint a red spot on his sock in order to pitch well. And Johnson, what can you say about him in 2001? You knew he was going to be on his game when he managed to hit a bird in mid-air during spring training (see YouTube video). Guess the bird wasn’t guessing fastball.



During the regular season, Schilling won 22 games with an ERA under 3.00. Johnson won 21 games, but bettered Schilling with a 2.49 ERA and struck out 372 on his way to a Cy Young Award. Schilling was second in the Cy Young Vote.

In the World Series, the two combined to go 4-0 with a 1.40 ERA in 39.1 innings pitched. Johnson even came into Game 7 in relief of Schilling the night after winning Game 6 against the Yankees. Oh, and both pitchers were named Co-MVPs of the 2001 World Series.


So will the trend continue for the Cardinals? Only time will tell. Personally, I think Wainwright and Carpenter have the best chance of becoming the next great postseason duo. They have something none of the teams above had. Something dangerous and something consistent and something unstoppable.

Yes, this time I am talking about Albert Pujols.

If There's a God, He Hates Chicago

I always struggle with the existence of God or some other kind of intelligent designer. On the one hand the positive argument seems too convenient, on the other hand, there’s the city of Chicago; God must really hate the people of Chicago.

Sure I’ll concede, the city is pretty nice. The improv comedy scene is stellar. The shopping is pretty sweet, if you’re into that sort of thing… (I am). But that’s the tourist side of town, and anyone who lives his or her days as a Chicago citizen will tell you it’s a tough life.

First let’s forget about the 2005 White Sox, because a) It was a fluke, and b) the South Side of Chicago doesn’t count. Disregarding that one year, the city of Chicago hasn’t won a championship since the Bulls won in 1998, but who likes the NBA anyway? The Bears haven’t won a Superbowl since 1985 and lost a heartbreaker in 2006 due to the heroics of Rex Grossman… Everyone knows how long it’s been since the North Side has had a parade in October. In fact had archaeologists not recently dug up evidence of a World Series Parade, that information may have been lost to history forever.

And finally there’s the Chicago Blackhawks. There’s a lot of glory involved in being a ‘Hawks fan. They’re an Original Six Franchise, their esteemed alumni include none other than Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Jeremy Roenick, Chris Chelios, and Ed Belfour…just to name a few of the more famous ones. However the glory ends there. The Stanley Cup hasn’t paraded in Chicago since 1961, (Blues fans that’s longer than our entire history). More recently, from 1998 until 2008 the Blackhawks had all but been dead from the October drop of the puck (a quick playoff exit in 2002 at the hands of the St. Louis Blues being the only bright spot in a dark time). This of course was during a time where average ticket prices exceeded $50, and home games weren’t even shown on TV in an effort to force home attendance for fans. The Hawks finally hit rock bottom in 2004 when ESPN named the Blackhawks the worst franchise in all of professional sports.

But as quickly as the wheels had seemingly fallen off the wagon, the team began a turnaround. After several top prospects including Eric Daze, Tuomo Ruutu, and Rene Bourque, all fizzled out or found success with other teams, the Hawks finally turned the ship around in 2006 by not only drafting Jonathan Toews at third overall but also acquiring Martin Havlat and Bryan Smolinski.

In 2007, the Hawks earned the top pick in the draft and with it took highly skilled American Patrick Kane.

In 2008 both Kane and Toews contended for the Calder trophy with Kane eventually winning after leading all rookies in points (Toews led all rookies in goals). Finally 2009 marked the first time in six years that the new-look youngster-laden Blackhawks reached the playoffs. With a solid rebuilding plan in place, it seemed to be only a matter of time before the Blackhawks earned their fourth Stanley Cup.

But let’s not forget the title of this think piece. What started out as a good plan, and quickly blossomed into a solid organizational stance may be in the midst of a supernova-esque destruction. Ask any hockey fan who the best young program in the NHL was in 2008-2009, and they would naturally say the Chicago Blackhawks. The NHL even recognized the by awarding Chicago the Winter Classic. I myself although I hated to say it, have been quoted saying that the Blackhawks had a good model to imitate in the Blues’ own rebuilding process. Hell, the Blackhawks led the league in home attendance a mere four years after ESPN named them the worst franchise in sports. This of course all happened before the summer of 2009.

It started off simple, a team seeking scoring brought in a proven goal scorer when they signed Marian Hossa to an admittedly odd 12 year deal worth $62.8 million. A team needing depth signed Tomas Kopecky, and John Madden. For maybe an hour or so this seemed like a good idea, until the city of Chicago, and indeed the rest of the NHL ran the numbers and found two problems. Problem #1, and the more obvious one: in a salary cap-run system struggling with a bad economy, how on earth can a team expect to hold onto a core group of talent when more than $5 million dollars is going to one player each season? Fans reacted in outrage when they realized that it would be a miracle if the Hawks could hold onto Hossa, Toews and Kane (who both lose their entry level restrictions after 2010 and will be seeking huge paydays), Duncan Keith, Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg (who they almost lost to the cap in 2009 anyway), and Brian Campbell who is making $7 million of his own. Problem #2: The NHL found an oddity in the deal that called for Hossa to make only $875,000 in each of the final four years of the outrageously long contract (which would end when Hossa turned 42) after making $5-7 million in the eight years prior. With that information the NHL is now building a case against the Blackhawks by saying that there must have been some kind of agreement involving retirement before the end of the deal, and the drop off in pay is an effort to reduce the salary cap hit should Hossa retire. If this is the case, the Hawks could lose draft picks as a punishment.

Quickly after these allegations arose, Hossa found himself in more controversy when he announced he could miss the first four months of the season due to a shoulder injury. It couldn’t get much worse for the Blackhawks right?

Wrong. This is why I’m sure that if there is a God, he really hates Chicago. On August 9^th, Buffalo Police arrested number one overall pick Patrick Kane for Criminal Mischief and Robbery. What was at the center of this alleged incident? Alcohol? Nope. Drugs? Nope. Hookers? Nope. Money? Well maybe, if by money you mean twenty whole pennies. That’s right, allegedly, when the driver of the cab in which Kane and his cousin were riding didn’t have two dimes, four nickels, or twenty pennies to complete making change for the $13.80 fare, the two boys (yes young boys under 22) punched the driver repeatedly, took their money back, taunted the driver by asking him over and over again “Do you know who I am?”, and then fled the scene. (As a responsible journalist I should note that Kane has plead not guilty so all the facts are not out at this time.)

Call it the EA Sports curse, (Kane recently appeared on the cover of NHL10), call it a young star with a huge ego, or call it whatever you wish, (Personally, I call it ridiculous. We can save these stories for the NBA and NFL) one thing is for certain…Each day I get a little bit more proud to be a Blues Fan.

8/5/09 Sports Munchies

In today's episode:

1. We gloat about how with Albert Pujols back to his old self, the Cardinals are officially the team to beat in the NL Central.

2. We pay a visit to an old friend and see how the minors have been treating him.

3. We play "Good Guy-Bad Guy" for all three of the major sporting leagues...that's right, three.

Hosted by Martin Winkler and Kevin Lorenz.

WHITE FLAGS: How to Know When Your Manager has Given Up

We all know the feeling. A victory is still within reach and yet it still seems so far away. All you need is a few more outs or a few balls to find gloves instead of holes. But you know there’s one thing standing between you and a victory beer. And that one thing is….

YOUR MANAGER’S WHITE FLAG!

You know what I’m talking about. That one guy on your team’s pitching staff that the manager brings in that just makes you want to grab a gun and just start shooting. That one guy that creates a huge moan out of the 40,000 plus fans in a stadium when he comes marching onto the field with his head buried in his jersey already. Every baseball team has one of these guys and the Cardinals are no exception.




This year, LaRussa’s white flag has been the combination of Dennys Reyes and Todd Wellemeyer. Reyes, though his main stats look alright, has been somewhat worthless. He has inherited 36 runners this year and allowed 10 of them to score. While this may not seem that bad, it means a lot in a close game in the eighth inning and your guy in the bullpen is giving up runs.

Wellemeyer has statistically been the worst pitcher in baseball this year. With an ERA closer to 6.00 than 5.00, players are hitting well over .300 against him. His demotion to the bullpen was a step in the right direction. The next step is completely cutting ties with him.

Unfortunately, two negatives don’t make a positive as Reyes and Wellemeyer combined their forces to help the Cards drop the fourth game to the Dodgers by the score of 5-3. Reyes put two men on for Wellemeyer and it only took him three pitches to allow both runners to score. It ruined what could have been a four game sweep of the Dodgers, the team that currently has the best record in the National League. Three out of four isn’t bad, but when the separation between the top two teams in the National League Central Division is only a half game, every victory counts.

There are a couple reasons why time after time, a manager will wave the white flag and go to the same guy each time to signify defeat:

1. You’re really kicking the other teams behind and want to taunt them by throwing the guy that gives up home runs out there just to tease them.

2. You are the one getting the snot kicked out of you and you don’t want to waste your good pitchers to finish off your own demise.

3. You are coming off a very hard earned victory in which you are emotionally and physically drained, which means everyone worth while needs rest so you can start another winning streak. This means the guy that sucks gets thrown to the wolves so that a tough loss can be blamed on one player as opposed to a team just not having enough.

Through the last decade, Tony LaRussa has had several white flags. Join me now as we take a walk down memory lane and boo these players one last time.

2000: HEATHCLIFF SLOCUMB


ERA: 5.44

Between May 17 and June 10, the team lost five of six game in which Slocumb appeared. During that time he allowed six runs, five of which were earned.

2001-2002: LUTHER HACKMAN

’01 ERA: 4.29, ’02 ERA: 4.11

Hackman has the dubious distinction of being the only player this decade to be used as a white flag for two years. The Cardinals lost Hackmans’ first six appearances and lost 16 of the 35 games in which he made an appearance in 2001. Several games he appeared in were blowouts in the opponents favor. One game against the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals) went into extra innings. Instead of burning all of the useful bullpen pitchers, Hackman was thrown out there multiple innings until the Cardinals either won or the Expos scored. The Cardinals lost 5-4.

2003: JEFF FASSERO

ERA: 5.68

Fassero was a home run machine, which isn’t good because he was a pitcher. He gave up 17 home runs in 62 appearances. Three of those homers were on the first pitch he threw. Eight of them were given up to the first batter he faced. Of his 62 appearances, 51 of them were when the team was down by four runs.

2004-2005

These teams were too good to need a white flag. When you are winning 100 games a season you don’t need to give up. You could make a case for Cal Eldred who, in 2004, made 42 of his 52 appearances when the game was within four runs. But his 3.76 ERA was pretty solid.

2006: RANDY FLORES





ERA: 5.62

Flores was one of the most well-liked guys in the Cardinal Clubhouse. Unfortunately his pitching was less than likeable. With two outs and runners in scoring position, batters hit .308 against Flores. Most of his appearances came in the 7th, 8th or 9th inning, during which batters scored 25 runs off of him while hitting .282.




2007: KIP WELLS

ERA: 5.70

The first starting pitcher to be used as a white flag. Wells lost seven games in a row at one point. During that stretch he gave up five or more runs in four of those starts. Wells lost 17 games in 2007 and was eventually demoted to the bullpen. To just show how bad of a clutch pitcher he was, batters hit a healthy .382 against Wells with the bases loaded. If the bases were loaded and there was less than two out, hitters licked their chops as they swung their way to a .417 average.

2008: THE ENTIRE BULLPEN

2008 was a frustrating season to watch unfold. As soon as the starting pitcher left, it wasn’t a question of would the Cardinals hold on to win, but a question of how would the bullpen blow it? Jason Isringhausen completely lost his pitching mojo last year as he blew seven of nineteen save opportunities while compiling a 5.70 ERA. Izzy was removed as the team closer in early May which left the bullpen in utter chaos as nobody had a set role. The bullpen blew 31 saves in all which tied for the Major League lead. And just think, if the club wins half of those blown saves, they win the Central Division by one game.

HONORABLE MENTION:

JEFF BRANTLEY: Closer in 1998. In 48 appearances he managed to give up 12 home runs. When he left he claimed the fans “never gave me a chance.”

RICKY BOTTALICO: In 68 appearances during the 1999 season, Bottalico managed to give up 45 runs. His time with St. Louis was so bad that every picture of him wearing a Cardinal uniform has been destroyed.


As long as there is baseball, there will be a player that a manager always uses to blow the game or make things worse. It’s just part of the game. If you are having trouble picking your team’s white flag out, here are a few questions to ask yourself:

When the player appears do you:

Throw up in your mouth a little?

Suddenly want 20 more beers?

Want to punch a baby?

Think the Apocalypse can’t be much worse than what you are about to see?

If the answer to all of these questions is yes, than you’ve found your manager’s white flag.

SPORTS MUNCHIES 7/30/2009

In this episode we:
1. Break down the new look Cardinals.
2. Discuss and give our predictions for the 2009-2010 Mizzou Tigers Football season
3. More Cardinals talk complete with some Fake Intern Darren bashing

Hosted by Marty Winkler and Kevin Lorenz