Friday Wrap-Up

As the calendar flips from August to September, baseball season begins to wind down and both the college and NFL football season starts to get under way. It’s also the time that I start realizing that college really is over and that I’m kind of an adult now. With all of that being said (and that last part having absolutely NOTHING to do with anything in this article) here are the three things we learned this week and the three things to look for in the days ahead.

WHAT WE LEARNED

1. THE CARDINALS CAN DEFINITELY WIN AT HOME

Traditionally, the formula for a team to make it to the playoffs is to dominate on their home field and to play .500 ball on the road. The Cardinals had done okay at home, but they definitely have made up for it on the road with a 36-30 record. Before this last nine game home stand, St. Louis was 36-24. To put that in perspective, the Los Angeles Dodgers had the best home record in the National League with a record of 40-25. After going 7-2 on the home stand, the Cards over took the Dodgers for the best home record by a full game. The Cards now stand at 43-26 at home with twelve games left to play at Busch. With the Cardinals able to dominate teams at home and take advantage of a full house every night, home field advantage in the playoffs becomes that much more important and the road to the World Series becomes that much easier.


2. THE OFFENSE IS CAPABLE OF PICKING UP THE PITCHING STAFF

Both Carpenter and Pineiro had off-nights this past week as they left their team trailing after one inning. For the majority of the season, if the Cardinals are trailing after just one inning, the game is usually over. Before this week, the Cards were 6-25 when their opponent took an early lead. But two nights in a row the Cardinals erased an early 3-0 deficit for Pineiro and an early 1-0 deficit for Carpenter. After about a two week stretch where the offense barely hit .230, it was nice to see the pitchers get a lift and not have to be perfect for nine innings. If both the pitching and offense can get rolling together come the playoffs, this team is looking unstoppable against anybody.



3. THE SCOTT LINEHAN FOOTBALL DRAFTS WERE JUST AWFUL

This fact was probably already known by many fans, but the trading of Tye Hill to the Falcons for a 7th round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft essentially just confirmed it. This was just a poor pick as Hill was drafted way too high. People forget that Hill’s pick in the draft by the Rams was actually acquired via a trade with the Broncos. The Rams traded their 11th overall pick to the Broncos for the 15th overall and the 68th overall. The Rams drafted Tye Hill with the 15th pick and defensive tackle Claude Wroten. The Broncos drafted quarterback Jay Cutler with the 11th pick (you may have heard of this guy). Cutler has gone on to have a productive and very promising career. Wroten missed four games in 2007 and the whole season in 2008 after he failed to comply with the NFL’s substance abuse policy three different times. He now plays with the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

1. THE PITTSBURGH PIRATES ELIMINATED FROM THE PLAYOFFS

If the Cardinals sweep the Pirates this weekend, Pittsburgh will officially be eliminated from the playoffs and will clinch another losing season. While this may not seem significant, three more losses will break a Major League record. With their 82nd loss this season, the Pirates will break the Philadelphia Phillies record for consecutive losing seasons with 17. The Pirates have not had a winning season (or a trip to the playoffs) since 1992. The Phillies had 16 consecutive losing seasons from 1933-1948. Not only will this be a Major League Baseball record, but no team in any of the four major sports has ever had 17 consecutive losing seasons.

It’s amazing how such a historic franchise has become a minor league team to the rest of baseball. Does anyone realize how many great players have come up through the Pirates system? Here’s a look at a lineup the Pirates could have potentially fielded this year if they hadn’t traded away all of their players.

1B: Adam LaRoche
2B: Freddy Sanchez (2006 batting champion)
3B: Aramis Ramirez
SS: Jack Wilson (still leads the league in flashy plays)
LF: Jason Bay (3-time All-Star, 2004 Rookie of the Year)
CF: Xavier Nady
RF: Brian Giles
C: Jason Kendall (2,062 career hits, .290 career batting average)
SP: Ian Snell
CLOSER: Mike Gonzalez

That’s not the best lineup in the National League, but it’s definitely competitive and not an easy one for any starting pitcher to face.

2. WHO ARE THE MISSOURI TIGERS?

After two record setting seasons, the Tigers will take the field at the Edward Jones Dome on Saturday in the annual Arch Rivalry Game against the Illinois Fighting Illini. No team in the Big XII this year has more question marks this season than the Tigers. After losing superstars Chase Daniel, Jeremy Maclin, Chase Coffman, William Moore, Ziggy Hood and Jeff Wolfert (who was the most accurate place kicker in the history of NCAA football), it’s hard to grade where the Tigers will be. The team will definitely look to improve on defense from last year, when they ranked 116th out of 118 teams. The biggest question of all is can Blaine Gabbert orchestrate the spread offense? He has one year under his belt and had the privilege of watching Chase Daniel (the master of the spread offense) run the spread almost to perfection. Illinois will prove to be a good team to read the Tigers as the Illini are ranked 27th nationally and the Tigers are ranked 47th. This season will also solidify Pinkel as either a one-hit wonder with recruiting classes or a recruiting genius. If this team ends up going to a bowl game, Pinkel will have officially changed the face of the Tiger program.

My prediction: 8-4 with a trip to the Sun Bowl (Sorry. I’m a Homer when it comes to the Tigers and sometimes I’m blindly optimistic).

3. WAINWRIGHT TRIES TO SEPARATE HIMSELF FROM THE PACK

Cy Young or not, Adam Wainwright will end up having one of the best seasons by a Cardinal pitcher since Chris Carpenter in 2005. Right now, Wainwright and San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum are neck and neck for the NL Cy Young. Last night, Lincecum lost to the Phillies in a pitcher’s duel, 2-1. However, he still struck out eleven batters. While Wainwright can’t possibly pass Lincecum in total strikeouts, he can extend his Major League lead with his 17th win tonight against the Pirates. Depending on how well and how deep Wainwright goes into the game, Wainwright can overtake Lincecum for the 2nd lowest ERA in the National League and only trail the Cardinals other ace, Chris Carpenter.

That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter for up-to-the-minute opinion.

Cardinals on the Brink of History

Chris Carpenter recorded his 15th win last night by defeating the Brewers

With the Cardinals win last night, their magic number shrunk to 20. Barring a New York Mets-like collapse, it is almost a certainty that this team will be playing in the eight team playoff bracket in October. While there is still a month’s worth of games to play, there is a buzz about the city again, a buzz that hasn’t been heard since October of 2006. I use the word “since” very loosely as the Cards’ two year playoff drought is tied for the second shortest in Major League Baseball. The longest playoff drought belongs to the Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos, who last saw playoff baseball in 1981 when the then Expos lost in the National League Championship Series to the eventual World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Cardinals in the playoffs has been commonplace this decade. If the Cardinals clinch a playoff spot, it will be the franchise’s seventh trip to the postseason this decade and the club’s 27th appearance overall. Assuming that the Dodgers maintain their lead in the NL West, the Cardinals will keep pace with the Dodgers and stay one playoff appearance behind them with the third most playoff appearances in Major League Baseball history. Below is the complete list of playoff appearances for all 30 teams (not including projected appearances for 2009).

1. New York Yankees (47)
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (27)
3. St. Louis Cardinals (26)
4. San Francisco Giants (24)
5. Atlanta Braves (23)
5. Oakland Athletics (23)
7. Boston Red Sox (19)
8. Chicago Cubs (18)
9. Cincinnati Reds (12)
9. Detroit Tigers (12)
9. Minnesota Twins (12)
9. Pittsburgh Pirates (12)
13. Baltimore Orioles (11)
13. Philadelphia Phillies (11)
15. Cleveland Indians (10)
16. Chicago White Sox (9)
16. Houston Astros (9)
18. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (8)
19. Kansas City Royals (7)
19. New York Mets (7)
21. San Diego Padres (5)
21. Toronto Blue Jays (5)
23. Arizona Diamondbacks (4)
23. Seattle Mariners (4)
25. Milwaukee Brewers (3)
25. Texas Rangers (3)
27. Colorado Rockies (2)
27. Florida Marlins (2)
29. Tampa Bay Rays (1)
29. Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos (1)

A playoff appearance in 2009 would add to a franchise record. In no other decade has a Cardinal team been to the playoffs more than in the years 2000 thru 2009. This year would be the Cards’ seventh trip to the playoffs in 10 years. Before this decade, the previous Cardinal record was four, which had been achieved twice: Once in the 1880s (when the Cardinals were known as the St. Louis Browns in the old American Association League) and again in the 1940s. This is just one franchise record that this team is chasing. Here now are some possible records that the 2009 Cardinals can tie or break.

1. FIRST TEAM TO CLOSE OUT A DECADE IN THE PLAYOFFS

It’s weird, but no Cardinal team has ever closed out a decade with a trip to the playoffs. The closest any Cardinal team came was in 1949, when St. Louis finished one game behind the Brooklyn Dodgers with a record of 96-58. The 1949 squad was close to making the postseason, leading the National League by 1.5 games with five left to play. However, the team stumbled down the stretch, losing four out of those five games, allowing the Dodgers to take over first place. The worst Cardinal team to close out a decade was the 1909 squad, who finished seventh in the National League with a record of 54-98.

The 1949 Cardinals finished one game behind the Dodgers and missed the World Series. Stan Musial is the last person on the left.

2. ANOTHER 100 WIN SEASON

This team has a lot of games left to play, but at 79-55, the Cardinals have a legitimate shot at being the 9th team in franchise history to reach the 100 win mark. The Cardinals previously reached the mark in 2005 and are currently the last team in Major League History to reach 100 wins (a title that will most likely be stripped by the 2009 New York Yankees). If the Cardinals reach 100 wins, it will be the second decade in Cardinal history to sport three teams with 100-plus wins. In the 1940s (arguably the Cardinals’ most successful decade), St. Louis had 100 win teams in 1942 (club record 106 wins), 1943 (105 wins) and 1944 (105 wins). In order for this team to reach the century mark, they will need to win 21 of their remaining 28 games, which is a winning percentage of .750. While this isn’t entirely out of the question, it could be difficult. History is also not on the Cardinals side. Since 2000, the Cardinals are 144-110 in games played in September and October; a winning percentage of .567. If the Cards are able to maintain a .567 winning percentage over their last 28 games, it will put them at 95 wins on the season.

The 1942 Worl Champion Cardinals set a franchise record with 106 regular season victories

3. THREE 20-GAME WINNERS

This one is a long-shot as the Cardinals will need several things to fall in place. However, if this one does happen, it most likely means the Cards have won 100 regular season games. Adam Wainwright (16 wins), Chris Carpenter (15 wins) and Joel Pineiro (14 wins) all have a shot at becoming 20 game winners. In order for this to happen, both Carpenter and Pineiro will most likely have to receive the winning decision in the rest of their starts (both most likely have five to seven more starts this season). Wainwright, obviously, has a little more leeway. If all three make it to 20 wins, it would be the first time since 1973 that a pitching staff would have three 20 game winners, when the Oakland Athletics pitching trio of Catfish Hunter (21 wins), Ken Holtzman (21 wins) and Vida Blue (20 wins) accomplished the feat. Overall, only 24 teams in baseball history have had three 20-game winners.

Jim "Catfish" Hunter was a part of the 1973 Athletics trio to win 20 games, the last team in Major League history to have three 20 game winners

If the Cardinals reach this milestone, they won’t be the first St. Louis Major League team to have a 20-game trio. Hall of Famer Eddie Plank (21-11), Dave Davenport (22-18) and Doc Erandall (21-15) accomplished the feat for the 1915 St. Louis Terriers of the now defunct Federal League. For Plank, it was the last of his eight 20 win seasons.

Eddie Plank won 21 games for the St. Louis Terriers. It was the last time in his Hall of Fame career he would win 20 games

The 1915 St. Louis Terriers are the only St. Louis team in history to sport three 20 game winners.

4. 50 HOME RUNS FOR PUJOLS

Not a team record, but 50 home runs would be quite a sight for St. Louis fans. If Albert reaches the mark he will only be the second Cardinal in history to join the 50 Home Run Club. The lone Cardinal Representative is, of course, Mark McGwire who hit 58 home runs in 1997 with the Athletics and the Cardinals. McGwire hit 70 in 1998 and 65 in 1999.

Mark McGwire: The only Cardinal to ever have 50 or more home runs in a single season.

While these occurrences (with the exception of the first) are pure “what if” situations, I think St. Louis will be alright if they remain “what ifs”, because the leaves are changing colors, the temperature is dropping and football is about to begin. But the only thing people are thinking about is closing out the decade with another red October.

Pinkel Shows NFL How It's Done

March 16, 2008: A domestic disturbance at Gateway Apartments in Columbia, Missouri escalates when it’s revealed that the man involved has a loaded 9-millimeter Ruger handgun beneath the front seat of his car. The man is identified as Marquis Booker, a reserve linebacker for the Missouri Tigers football team.


Acting swiftly, Coach Gary Pinkel dismisses Booker from the team just two days after the incident.

April 30, 2009: Blaine Dalton, freshman quarterback for the Missouri Tigers football team is charged with possession of drugs and possession of alcohol by a minor. Eventually the charges were dismissed.

Coach Pinkel suspends Dalton after the incident, but reinstates him under the condition that Dalton clean up his act.

August 28, 2009: Dalton is arrested for driving while intoxicated and possession of alcohol by a minor. This time, Pinkel is not as forgiving as he kicks Dalton off the team later that day.




The NFL could learn a lesson from Gary Pinkel. Pinkel stopped problems before they became hazardous to others and showed the type of justice that has evaded NFL players several different times. Too often players are being scrutinized for misbehaviors that only harm them selves while some players have gotten away with murder. Not that I condone actions on either side of the spectrum, but the NFL needs to start handing out the proper punishment and showing a zero tolerance policy like Coach Pinkel when it comes to the safety of other players and everyday citizens and maybe giving the offending player a wake-up call before it’s too late.

Take the case of St. Louis Rams defensive end, Leonard Little. Little was a third round draft pick by the Rams in the 1998 NFL Draft. On October 20th of the same year, Little was driving home intoxicated after celebrating his birthday in St. Louis. With a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 (more than double the legal limit), Little crashed into driver Susan Gutweiler, killing her. Little was charged with involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 90 days in jail and 1000 hours of community service.



The NFL found this so outrageous that they suspended Little for eight games. He has since gone on to have a fairly complete career.

A similar case has come up more recently. On March 14th of this year, Cleveland Browns wide receiver, Donte Stallworth struck and killed pedestrian, Mario Reyes while driving intoxicated in Miami, Florida. Stallworth was four points over the legal alcohol limit and was driving 50 miles per hour in a 40mph zone. Stallworth was charged with involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 30 days of prison, two years of house arrest, 1,000 hours of community service, eight years probation, and his Florida driver’s license was revoked for a lifetime. Stallworth only served 24 days of his 30 day prison sentence.




Again, the NFL was angry. So angry that Stallworth was suspended for a whole season. He is scheduled to be reinstated upon the completion of Super Bowl XLIV.

While Stallworth is in the limelight still because his incident is much more recent, Little’s manslaughter is vastly overlooked. The fact that both of these men are allowed to continue to play professional football is beyond me.

What’s even worse is the coverage and scrutiny the estranged Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, Michael Vick, receives for his involvement in an underground dog fighting ring. Vick was suspended from the NFL for two years and was only reinstated conditionally this year and will miss the first few games at which point, Commissioner Roger Goodell will make a decision whether or not to fully reinstate Vick.




Which of the two offenses are worse: Manslaughter or killing dogs? Neither one is condonable, but one is clearly worse than the other. The life of an NFL player is a special one and is one that should not be taken for granted. What Vick did was awful, but not so awful that he should not be allowed to show that he is a changed man and have a chance to win his life back.

In the case of Stallworth and Little, justice may have never been served. Little continues to play in the NFL and Stallworth will surely be fully reinstated sometime next year. These two playing football will not make up for the two families that lost loved ones because of these players mistakes. Little apparently never learned his lesson as in 2004 he was once again arrested for driving under the influence.

I applaud Coach Gary Pinkel for showing all football coaches at both the college and professional level how to handle their players: With very little lee-way. Marquis Booker threatened to put lives in danger so Pinkel dismissed him. Dalton was given a second chance to prove himself, screwed up and Pinkel dismissed him. End of story. That’s it. No more football for you. Pinkel did not hesitate and gave these two players the wake up call they needed.
If the NFL is smart, they will instate a similar policy: The Pinkel Policy. When a player screws up, the repercussions meet the level of the offense.

Athletes will always make mistakes because they are human. But how can we expect them to behave better when the precedent set for the ultimate offense is a slap on the wrist followed by large paychecks? Nobody is above the law, including athletes. Gary Pinkel realizes this. It’s time for the NFL to realize it too.

Sports Munchies 9-2-09

1. The latest Cardinals news.

2. Chase Daniel

3. Grab Bag

Dear Dave, It's Just Business

When Chris Duncan was traded on July 22^nd this year for Julio Lugo, I didn’t think much of it. It was definitely a “my trash for your garbage” type trade with the Boston Red Sox. Duncan was quickly becoming a problem amongst fans and was bringing down team morale with each start while the Red Sox were simply looking to dump Lugo after signing him to an outrageous contract for a player clearly on the down side of his career. It was a good move for each team. Boston could forget about Lugo and Duncan could get out of the scrutiny he received for being the pitching coach’s son.

I expected Dave Duncan to be a little angry after Chris was traded. How often do you get a chance to be on the same Major League team as your son? How often do you get to work with someone that close to you on a level like that? In 2006 and 2007 it was fun to see. But by the time 2009 arrived, the novelty of that act had worn off with fans.

I did not expect a “cleaning house” trade like this to create such a stir. Duncan is still angry, to the point that he no longer talks to the media and is still threatening to not return next year. While I applaud Duncan for being protective of his son, he comes off as ignorant and blind in this situation.

For those who did not see the story printed by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Joe Strauss, you can find a link to it here. After reading the article, I have found several problems with Dave Duncan’s thinking and would like to propose a few arguments in the hopes of getting him to stay.

NOTE: Anything written in italics is the property of the Post-Dispatch and is in no way the property of fromoutofrightfield.blogspot.com.

“He is angry—publicly so at a St. Louis media he believes stoked last month’s trade of his outfielder son Chris to the Boston Red Sox.”

The media’s job is to tell the general public what the situation is. In the case of the Chris Duncan trade, the media simply stated Duncan’s numbers for the year (which by this point don’t need to be repeated) and openly stated that this was probably best for both Chris and the Cardinals. Only a few media personalities were malicious, and those guys are usually the ones who don’t like anybody.

Quote Tony LaRussa: “I know when it comes down to making a decision, Dave has tremendous personal and professional interest invested in the guys here and the guys here next year. He values them deeply.”

If this is the case then Dave Duncan should have no problem signing a new contract. Both Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright are vying for the 2009 N.L. Cy Young Award and Joel Pineiro is the best groundball pitcher in the game (not to mention the most efficient). The closing situation is close to being filled for the next two years with Ryan Franklin close to signing a new two year contract extension. Kyle Lohse is locked up for three more years and there’s a chance that John Smoltz could be back next year. All of these guys have combined to create one of, if not the best pitching staffs in the Majors this year. This is Duncan’s baby, why would he want to walk away from something that he has taken so much time to build up?

“Chris was not shown respect,” Duncan said. “The stuff he dealt with, the stuff he heard and was subjected to…I don’t know of any player in this town who went through what he experienced in the time I’ve been here.”

In a way, I agree with Duncan on this. The treatment of his son was not fair; it very rarely is when you are the coach’s son. But Chris was definitely not the first person to deal with scrutiny from the fans and the media and was certainly not the first person to deal with it while Duncan has been here. It wasn’t that long ago that Jason Isringhausen dealt with this. Last year, Isringhausen had a strong April followed by a horrible May which saw him blow six save opportunities in a row until he was finally pulled from the closer’s role. Before that, fans would boo him constantly along with the media questioning his health. Sounds awfully familiar to what happened to Chris doesn’t it? Izzy was lucky as LaRussa pulled him out of the game before it was too late. Chris had been hurt for two years but was still playing every day, thus hurting his credentials as a Major Leaguer.

Quote LaRussa: “For two years he played hurt when he probably shouldn’t have played. To me, he’s a hero for how he hung in there; but he’s treated like he’s responsible for anything that went wrong.”

I seem to recall a third baseman that played here recently that was scrutinized by LaRussa for playing through pain and not telling anyone about it. Remember Scott Rolen? In 2005, Rolen was tackled by first baseman Hee-Seop Choi while trying to run out a groundball. Rolen hurt his shoulder and required surgery and he was never quite the same player. In the 2006 playoffs, Rolen’s shoulder began causing him great pain but he still continued to play through it. Instead of confronting Rolen about his pain, LaRussa simply took him out of the starting lineup and chastised Rolen for hurting the team by playing through pain. Rolen eventually asked for a trade at the end of the 2007 season. What’s different about Rolen’s situation and Duncan’s? Nothing. Both guys were clearly hurt and were struggling. While I admire any athlete that tries to play through pain and earn their large paycheck, if you are hurt to the point that you can’t perform you should say something. The team is better off and will most likely praise you for having the guts to admit that you’re not 100%. (NOTE: This is not the case for J.D. Drew. Just because you cut your fingernail too short doesn’t mean you can’t play.)

In response to Chris Duncan refusing to see a surgeon after a trip to Houston: “At some point the club should protect those who don’t protect themselves. Chris didn’t protect himself. And no one else protected him either.”

Chris is a grown man and should not have to be told what to do. If anything, this was the perfect time for Dave Duncan to be a dad and advise Chris to go see the surgeon. Instead of pointing fingers at the Cardinal organization, shouldn’t Duncan be looking at himself in this case too? If anything, his words of advice would mean more to Chris than any of his teammates or even LaRussa, especially when Chris was struggling the way he was.

“So somebody wanted to get him out of the organization, and they’ve accomplished what they wanted to accomplish.”

This could not be further from the truth. Reports were that Chris Duncan was one of the most liked guys in the clubhouse as well as in the front office. In my personal experiences at batting practice, whenever I called out his name, Chris would at the very least turn around quickly, smile and wave. He was cordial and never appeared to dog it out on the playing field. These are hardly credentials for someone to have a vendetta against him. The move was purely in the best interest of the team and of Chris. He needed a fresh start and the Cardinals needed some fresh air. Do you need more proof that this was the right move for the Cardinals? The team is 26-9 since the trade, as opposed to just five games over .500 with Chris in the lineup.

Dave Duncan is a great father and I find it honorable that he stands up for his son. Any man willing to do that is worthy of praise and I hope someday I am able to stand up for a son of my own. But in this case, Duncan needs to settle down, breathe and look at the facts. Chris was struggling and needed a change of scenery, so that is what he got. The Cardinals needed an extra bat to protect Pujols, so they made room in left field to acquire Matt Holliday.

In baseball, players are traded, demoted, promoted and moved every day. When it happens, it’s nothing personal. It’s just business.

Friday Wrap-Up

As the weekend draws near and the week that was comes to a close, we take a look back at the three things we learned in St. Louis and three things to look for in the coming days ahead.

WHAT WE LEARNED

1. ADAM WAINWRIGHT IS THE REAL DEAL

When Wainwright faced off against Wandy Rodriguez of the Houston Astros on Tuesday, I honestly expected them to lose. Rodriguez is a great up and coming pitcher and the Cardinal offense has been sluggish. The combination of those two things usually spells defeats for St. Louis, no matter who is on the mound. But the one run the Cards scored on an Albert Pujols double in the first inning proved to be enough for Wainwright, who pitched around trouble in the first and sparked the team to victory by striking out Jason Michaels with the tying run at third in the top of the 8th. He followed this by doing his best Chris Carpenter impression. By pitching eight innings or shutout ball, Wainwright passed Bob Gibson for second on the list of most consecutive starts of at least six innings pitched while giving up two runs or less. It was Wainwright’s 12th consecutive start to meet these standards. Who’s in first? John Tudor with 15 consecutive. That is some great company to be keeping.

2. THE OFFENSE STILL HAS SOME ISSUES

At the beginning of the week I wrote that the Cardinals needed to start scoring at home. While they did take two of three from the Astros, they did it with pitching and not offense. The Cards mustered a total of seven runs in three games against Houston, which is hardly pouring it on. Granted they did face Wandy Rodriguez, Roy Oswalt and Brian Moehler (who isn’t that great but for some reason makes the Cardinals look like they were all just called up from Triple A Memphis), but I’m still concerned as they have been slowly getting more and more sluggish all month. So far in August, the Cardinals have scored a total of 102 runs, which is slightly better than how they did in the month of May when they only scored 99. This fact has been overshadowed by tremendous pitching as the Cards have only given up 72 runs total. Over the last week, St. Louis is batting .256 as a team with five home runs and 19 RBIs. While these stats are alarming, there is some good news. The Washington Nationals are in town this weekend, which will be a good opportunity for everybody to get hot again.

3. STEVE SPAGNUOLO IS CHANGING RAMS CULTURE

I know it’s only preseason still, but I am getting legitimately excited about Rams football. After a 24-21 victory against the Bengals last night, the Rams defense looks like a completely different unit than it did last year. On the Bengals first play, James Butler recorded a sack and James Laurinaitis recovered a fumbled snap to place the Rams at Cincinnati’s 20 yard line, which five plays later resulted in a Rams touchdown. The Rams defense created four turnovers last night (including a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown by James Butler) while the offense played perfectly as far as holding on to the ball is concerned. Through three preseason games, the Rams are plus nine in turnovers. This team is still a ways away from being a true competitor, but Spagnuolo has these guys competing and going in the right direction (which is towards the opponent’s endzone).



WHAT TO LOOK FOR

1. SMOLTZ’S FIRST HOME START AS A CARDINAL

After a great Cardinal debut in San Diego last Sunday, John Smoltz will make his first Cardinal appearance at Busch Stadium tonight against the Washington Nationals. While another outing like the one he had against the Padres would be nice, everyone would settle for anything better than what Kyle Lohse has produced since April. Smoltz’s stats support Cardinal fan hopes that he should be able to deliver. At Busch Stadium II, Smoltz appeared in 20 games going 14-3 with 94 strikeouts while recording a 4.88 ERA. Smoltz has only had one start in Busch III, during which he went eight innings, striking out two and only allowing two runs on his way to earning the victory.

2. ALBERT PUJOLS’ 100TH RUN SCORED ON THE SEASON

Pujols scored his 99th run of the season against the Astros on Thursday. If, and when Albert scores his 100th run, it will be the eighth time in his nine year career that he will score 100 runs. The one year he missed the mark? 2007 when Albert scored 99.

3. THE BRAD PENNY AUCTION

Brad Penny was released by the Boston Red Sox this week to create room on the roster for Billy Wagner. While Penny started out with Boston okay, his second half has been forgettable. In his last five starts, Penny was 0-4 with an ERA of 9.11. While these numbers aren’t very attractive, Penny does have upside. Before going to Boston, Penny was a career National Leaguer spending time with the Marlins, where he won a World Series (2003), and time with the Dodgers, where in 2006 he was named the starting pitcher for the National League in the All-Star Game and made the All-Star Team again the very next year. For Penny’s career he is 101-83 with an ERA of 4.18. Just an idea, but why not take a chance with Penny? The Cardinals need a 5th starter and Penny has shown he can succeed in the National League. Plus, you have already found plenty of gold within Boston’s trash, why not take another chance? Adding Penny would only confirm the Cardinals have the best rotation in all of baseball. Just throwing that out there.

That’s it for the week. See all of you back on Monday.


Can’t wait for the weekend to end for more FORF? Follow me on Twitter for quick opinion and analysis until the next blogging week begins!

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Baseball: A Game of Words

Last Tuesday, Dave Duncan and Tony LaRussa were separated for a ball game for the first time in the legendary duo’s career. Duncan took a leave of absence sighting “personal reasons” for his decision to leave the ball club, yet another first for Duncan.

Just one day later Duncan rejoined the ball club. Upon his arrival he simply told the media that he is back and that he is not going to comment on the reasons he left the Cardinals for a night. He continually repeated himself, just stating that he was back and that was the end of the story, almost as though his absence on Monday night had never even happened.

While Duncan is allowed to keep his silence for personal reasons, he is a public figure and does have the responsibility of talking to the media because that is what public figures do. This normally wouldn’t be that big of a deal if it weren’t for the timing of Duncan’s personal leave. Last week, his son, Chris Duncan, was released from the Red Sox organization after hitting .188 for Triple A Pawtucket. It is speculated that Dave Duncan’s leave was to attend to his son for mental support, though this is all just hearsay.

His silence may also be from the way Duncan believes his son was treated in the media and this is a chance for Duncan to “get back” at St. Louis outlets, which have never been known for being overly tough on players.

Of course, this is all just speculation. But the timing of Duncan’s silence is rather unusual. He will talk eventually. He’s going to have to.

This is just one example of the relationship between sports figures and the media. Players and coaches put up a stone wall and it’s up to the reporters to break down the façade brick by brick until the person either says something stupid or just gives up and starts talking.

However, staying silent is not the best way to do this. What is? Why, sports clichés of course. The simple phrases and mumbo jumbo that comes out of a player or a coach’s mouth to describe how a game went or how a player has struggled or been on fire are meant to make you sound like you’re saying something without saying anything at all. Tony LaRussa has become a master at this.


You can’t read or listen to a sports interview without hearing at least one cliché. But the trick is learning the subtext of what a player is actually saying when he tells a reporter these one-liners. For your education, I present several well known baseball phrases along with their actual meaning in the game of baseball, especially Cardinal baseball.


CLICHÉ: It’s a beautiful day for baseball.

MEANING: It’s sunny, but the temperature is 98 degrees with a humidity level of 200%. But the field looks terrific!



CLICHÉ: He’s got the batters eating out of his hand.

MEANING: The Cardinals are facing an unproven rookie who is most likely left-handed.



CLICHÉ: We’re going to play a hard nine.

MEANING: The Cardinals were down 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth, but somebody got hit with a pitch and Colby Rasmus walked so Albert Pujols hit a walk-off home run. Total hits on the night? One.



CLICHÉ: He really grinds out at-bats.

MEANING: He fouls off a lot of pitches and forces a full count before striking out. This most likely means Skip Schumaker.





CLICHÉ: He’s got good mechanics.

MEANING: He sucks.



CLICHÉ: He’s a gritty player.

MEANING: He sucks but he’s most likely short and tries really hard.






CLICHÉ: We got a real pitcher’s duel going on right now.

MEANING: This game is really, really boring.






CLICHÉ: This game is a real slugfest.

MEANING: Todd Wellemeyer is on the mound.





CLICHÉ: He’s trying to pitch out of a jam.

MEANING: Jason Isringhausen is trying to close out a game.





CLICHÉ: They are one strike away.

MEANING: Brad Lidge is on the mound about to give up a heartbreaking home run to Albert Pujols in the 2005 playoffs.




CLICHÉ: That’s a home run in any other ballpark.

MEANING: Somebody just flied out to the centerfield wall at Minute Maid Park over 420 feet away.





CLICHÉ: We’re happy to make it out of here with a victory.

MEANING: The bullpen made a laugher into a 1-run game.




CLICHÉ: It was a total team effort.

MEANING: Chris Carpenter pitched a shutout with someone other than Pujols or Holliday hitting a home run.



CLICHÉ: We’re going to savor this victory.

MEANING: I’m stopping by Taco Bell on the way home to get some nachos and then I’m going to bed because we play the same team at noon again tomorrow.


CLICHÉ: They caught us on an off-night.

MEANING: Neither Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright nor Joel Pineiro were on the mound tonight.


These are just a few. Feel free to add your favorites and say what they mean.