Wainwright: The Club among Aces
By Derrick Goold
04/17/2008
DOWNTOWN — In the eighth inning of a rather usual July game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen stepped into the box and faced Bucs lefty Joe Beimel. Isringhausen had come in to close out what was a 9-6 ballgame, but a turn of the lineup had put a bat in his hand with the bases loaded.
So, naturally he ripped a triple, and the box score reads:
Rolen Scores; Renteria Scores; Matheny Scores
And that, that hit by Isringhausen, those three bases that he got in one of only two at-bats that season — one of only five at-bats in his career as a Cardinal — is the reason why Adam Wainwright does not lead the current pitching staff in slugging.
Isringhausen’s slugging percentage as a Cardinal is .800.
After the home run on the first pitch he saw tonight, Wainwright’s is .500.
Of course, when it comes to an actual representative sampling of at-bats — somewhere north of six — no Cards ace can club like Wainwright.
With the assistance of colleague Bernie Miklasz and Magical Mystery Numbers Machine, we — and by we, I mean he — looked up the best slugging percentages all-time by a Cardinals pitcher. Including his 2-for-3 tonight with five total bases, Wainwright upped his career numbers to 38 total bases in 76 career at-bats. The home run was his third career shot, tying him momentarily with Skip Schumaker.
(Wainwright’s chum avoided ridicule a few innings later with a solo shot.)
Wainwright’s .500 career slugging percentage easily outpaces any other pitcher in Cardinals history with, say, about 50 at-bats or more. The top of the list is heavy with contemporary pitchers, including a Silver Slugger. The best baker’s dozen after Wainwright, topped by a name few would ever guess and including a former pitcher who has done a little work on that career slugging percentage recently:
* Kip Wells … 52 AB … .385 SLG
* Allen Watson … 100 AB … .380 SLG
* Jason Marquis … 218 AB … .358 SLG
* Woody Williams … 183 AB … .339 SLG
* Bob Forsch … 859 AB … .327 SLG
* Rick Ankiel … 84 AB … .321 SLG
* Tom Urbani … 63 AB … .317 SLG
* Scott Terry … 92 AB … .315 SLG
* Omar Olivares … 187 AB … .310 SLG
* Bob Gibson … 1,328 AB … .301 SLG
* Darren Oliver … 91 AB … .297 SLG
* Brett Tomko … 61 AB … .295 SLG
* Bryn Smith … 107 AB … .290 SLG
Forsch and Gibson would be considered the best hitting pitchers in Cardinals history — next two a couple former pitchers who eventually made a mark as hitters, natch — and Wainwright lines up well there, though he’s hundreds and hundreds of at-bats behind them.
Forsch … .215 BA/.238 OBP/.327 SLG … 12 HR
Gibson … .206 BA/.243 OBP/.301 SLG … 24 HR
Wainwright … .329 BA/.355 OBP/.500 SLG … 3 HR
Wainwright now has as many home runs in his career as walks. Seven of his 25 career hits are extra-base hits. Not one is a triple. After all, he’s no Izzy.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
3:/28 Bonus: Mike Shannon
So I get this great email forwarded to me from Pat Breheny and he now finds himself responsible for a double posting in one day -- nice job!
I have to ask you all, what self respecting editor for Dyer Cardinal Nation could allow the season to start without some sweet quotes from Mr. Smooth Drinking Busch Beer Man himself? I can't think of a better way to wrap up Spring Training, so get ready and buckle up for a helluva "transition" year of Cardinal Baseball and so long for just awhile.
- andy
===
SHANNON-ISM: a collection of quotes from St. Louis Sportscaster Mike Shannon.
"A hit up the middle right now would be like a nice ham sandwich and a cold, frosty one."
"This big standing room only crowd is settling into their seats."
"It's raining like a Chinese fire drill!"
After Brian Jordan was hit by a pitch for the 4th time on a single road trip: "He must feel like a Ouija board."
(About former Cardinal Bernard Gilkey) "He was originally born in University City."
"He's faster than a chicken being chased by Ronald McDonald!"
(Referring to Mike Schmidt) "the longtime and soon-to-be Hall of Famer."
"He's madder than a pig caught under a barnyard gate."
(About a base stealer) "Sometimes when you feel the urge, you've just gotta go."
"This game is off to a rather conspicuous start, don't you think, Jack?"
"Well, folks, this game began as a tiny worm and is blossoming into a large cobra."
(About Hideo Nomo) "He's the biggest thing to hit Japan since they dropped that bomb on Nagashima!"
"That foul tip bounced up and caught him right in the groins...and that'll really clear your eyes out!"
"Back in the day when I played, a pitcher had 3 pitches: a fastball, a curveball, a slider, a changeup and a good sinker pitch."
(Broadcasting from New York under a full moon) "I wish you folks back in St. Louis could see this moon."
(On the day before Easter) "I just want to tell everyone Happy Easter and Happy Hanukkah."
(After a warning track fly ball) "A couple of strips of bacon at breakfast, and he'd a busted that baby outahere!"
"Things are not always as they appear to be as."
"I tell you, that same river flows the same way".
"Well, he did everything right to get ready for the throw, but if ya ain't got the hose, the water just won't come out."
"Like Spring makes the rains come, so does the edge of the plate grow."
"Our next home stand follows this road trip."
"I don't like that play. I've seen it go opposite more often than positive."
(Referring to a home run by Ted Simmons) "And that's the bread on Simmons' butter."
"The right-hander is throwing up in the bullpen."
During an Eli Marrero at bat, Mike Shannon makes mention that the Cardinals had a lot of Latin players on the team and that "they are a creditable people."
"If you're writing a thesis or something, you could finish it in a week or so if you were catching this guy."
"We'd like to say hello to all those folks listening in Monkey's Eyebrow, Kentucky."
"He ran to second faster than a cat in Chinatown."
"I wouldn't have seen it if I hadn't believed it."
Joe: "Mike, the Cardinals would like to welcome a group of 19 French foreign exchange students in section 382 today."
Mike: "Where they from Joe?"
Joe: "Uhhh... France... I think."
And Mike Shannon's classic: "Ol' Abner has done it again!"
"Oooh, that last pitch inside was a bit questionable and he'd like to say something to the umpire, but he won't say anything. At least not verbally."
"Boy, a frosty cold Budweiser would be great about now", long pause, then "aahhh".
"The wind has switched 360 degrees"
"The Dodgers are ahead by 5 runs or 3 runs or in between there somewhere."
"It was raining so hard I thought it was going to stop."
"This crowd on their feet for the Canadian Star Spangled Banner."
"Don't bite off your head to spite your nose."
"Horner's arguing, he wants an interference call against Cangeloni. Now Cangeloni's got something to say, but here comes Whitey to give a taste of his vocabulary, and it'll have extra mustard on it.
===
I have to ask you all, what self respecting editor for Dyer Cardinal Nation could allow the season to start without some sweet quotes from Mr. Smooth Drinking Busch Beer Man himself? I can't think of a better way to wrap up Spring Training, so get ready and buckle up for a helluva "transition" year of Cardinal Baseball and so long for just awhile.
- andy
===
SHANNON-ISM: a collection of quotes from St. Louis Sportscaster Mike Shannon.
"A hit up the middle right now would be like a nice ham sandwich and a cold, frosty one."
"This big standing room only crowd is settling into their seats."
"It's raining like a Chinese fire drill!"
After Brian Jordan was hit by a pitch for the 4th time on a single road trip: "He must feel like a Ouija board."
(About former Cardinal Bernard Gilkey) "He was originally born in University City."
"He's faster than a chicken being chased by Ronald McDonald!"
(Referring to Mike Schmidt) "the longtime and soon-to-be Hall of Famer."
"He's madder than a pig caught under a barnyard gate."
(About a base stealer) "Sometimes when you feel the urge, you've just gotta go."
"This game is off to a rather conspicuous start, don't you think, Jack?"
"Well, folks, this game began as a tiny worm and is blossoming into a large cobra."
(About Hideo Nomo) "He's the biggest thing to hit Japan since they dropped that bomb on Nagashima!"
"That foul tip bounced up and caught him right in the groins...and that'll really clear your eyes out!"
"Back in the day when I played, a pitcher had 3 pitches: a fastball, a curveball, a slider, a changeup and a good sinker pitch."
(Broadcasting from New York under a full moon) "I wish you folks back in St. Louis could see this moon."
(On the day before Easter) "I just want to tell everyone Happy Easter and Happy Hanukkah."
(After a warning track fly ball) "A couple of strips of bacon at breakfast, and he'd a busted that baby outahere!"
"Things are not always as they appear to be as."
"I tell you, that same river flows the same way".
"Well, he did everything right to get ready for the throw, but if ya ain't got the hose, the water just won't come out."
"Like Spring makes the rains come, so does the edge of the plate grow."
"Our next home stand follows this road trip."
"I don't like that play. I've seen it go opposite more often than positive."
(Referring to a home run by Ted Simmons) "And that's the bread on Simmons' butter."
"The right-hander is throwing up in the bullpen."
During an Eli Marrero at bat, Mike Shannon makes mention that the Cardinals had a lot of Latin players on the team and that "they are a creditable people."
"If you're writing a thesis or something, you could finish it in a week or so if you were catching this guy."
"We'd like to say hello to all those folks listening in Monkey's Eyebrow, Kentucky."
"He ran to second faster than a cat in Chinatown."
"I wouldn't have seen it if I hadn't believed it."
Joe: "Mike, the Cardinals would like to welcome a group of 19 French foreign exchange students in section 382 today."
Mike: "Where they from Joe?"
Joe: "Uhhh... France... I think."
And Mike Shannon's classic: "Ol' Abner has done it again!"
"Oooh, that last pitch inside was a bit questionable and he'd like to say something to the umpire, but he won't say anything. At least not verbally."
"Boy, a frosty cold Budweiser would be great about now", long pause, then "aahhh".
"The wind has switched 360 degrees"
"The Dodgers are ahead by 5 runs or 3 runs or in between there somewhere."
"It was raining so hard I thought it was going to stop."
"This crowd on their feet for the Canadian Star Spangled Banner."
"Don't bite off your head to spite your nose."
"Horner's arguing, he wants an interference call against Cangeloni. Now Cangeloni's got something to say, but here comes Whitey to give a taste of his vocabulary, and it'll have extra mustard on it.
===
3/28: Ballpark Village, Cards Recap, Boom Goes the Dynamite
Ballpark Village is baseball fantasy
By Bill McClellan
03/28/2008
So the idea of a Village was a myth from the start. Originally, it was part of the Cardinal owners' plan to get as much public money as possible for the new stadium. They knew it would be a difficult sell for wealthy out-of-towners to ask the locals for public money for a new stadium when there was already a very nice stadium. Hence, the myth of a Ballpark Village with its fancy condos, bustling retail center, and flourishing restaurants. It would revitalize downtown.
Yes, just like St. Louis Centre did in 1985.
I think it's time to get our head out of the clouds and start thinking about what to do with that muddy mess that sits just north of the new stadium.
===
Cards wrap up their spring on positive swing
By Joe Strauss
03/28/2008
The Cardinals completed a remarkable Grapefruit League reversal Thursday at Roger Dean Stadium, defeating the Florida Marlins 2-0 on a combination five-hitter started by Lohse. A camp that appeared in chaos barely two weeks ago completed a 12-1-1 finishing kick that coincided exactly with general manager John Mozeliak's reaching terms March 13 with Lohse's agent, Scott Boras, on a one-year, $4.25 million deal.
"I don't think I've seen us lose since I got here," Lohse quipped after working five shutout innings. "I guess I'm a good luck charm. … Yeah, right."
For whatever it's worth, the Cardinals leave Florida with a 17-10-2 spring record. They did not allow more than five runs in any of the past 14 games, worked shutouts in two of the past three and outscored opponents 88-39 during the rush. Their 17 wins tie the record for most Grapefruit League victories since the club relocated to Roger Dean Stadium in 1998. The Redbirds have won 17 games four other springs at The Dean; each time, they reached the postseason.
===
Boom Goes the Dynamite
"I'm looking at a club that can win 90-plus games."
- Lou Piniella
My take: Oh Sweet Lou, you best pass after you puff, puff my friend...
ESPN.com reports San Francisco Giants team president Peter Magowan said the team wouldn't bring OF Barry Bonds back, even at a reduced rate. "No, not this team," Magowan said, standing along the first-base line of a ballpark where images of Bonds have been removed. "We're going in a new direction; that would not be going in a new direction. The time has come to turn the page."
My take: Hallelujah and so far my prayers of no team wanting to pick him up have been answered. I cannot even tell any of you how awesome it would be if all of MLB gave Barry the middle finger for 2008.
===
Y! experts peer into a crystal baseball
By Steve Henson, Tim Brown and Jeff Passan
PLAYOFFS
First round: Red Sox over Tigers; Indians over Mariners; Mets over Cubs; Brewers over Dodgers
ALCS: Indians over Red Sox
NLCS: Mets over Brewers
World Series: Mets over Indians
My take: These guys are calling for the year of the Met?! Good Lord have mercy on the free world if Pond Scum think they can take it all.
===
By Bill McClellan
03/28/2008
So the idea of a Village was a myth from the start. Originally, it was part of the Cardinal owners' plan to get as much public money as possible for the new stadium. They knew it would be a difficult sell for wealthy out-of-towners to ask the locals for public money for a new stadium when there was already a very nice stadium. Hence, the myth of a Ballpark Village with its fancy condos, bustling retail center, and flourishing restaurants. It would revitalize downtown.
Yes, just like St. Louis Centre did in 1985.
I think it's time to get our head out of the clouds and start thinking about what to do with that muddy mess that sits just north of the new stadium.
===
Cards wrap up their spring on positive swing
By Joe Strauss
03/28/2008
The Cardinals completed a remarkable Grapefruit League reversal Thursday at Roger Dean Stadium, defeating the Florida Marlins 2-0 on a combination five-hitter started by Lohse. A camp that appeared in chaos barely two weeks ago completed a 12-1-1 finishing kick that coincided exactly with general manager John Mozeliak's reaching terms March 13 with Lohse's agent, Scott Boras, on a one-year, $4.25 million deal.
"I don't think I've seen us lose since I got here," Lohse quipped after working five shutout innings. "I guess I'm a good luck charm. … Yeah, right."
For whatever it's worth, the Cardinals leave Florida with a 17-10-2 spring record. They did not allow more than five runs in any of the past 14 games, worked shutouts in two of the past three and outscored opponents 88-39 during the rush. Their 17 wins tie the record for most Grapefruit League victories since the club relocated to Roger Dean Stadium in 1998. The Redbirds have won 17 games four other springs at The Dean; each time, they reached the postseason.
===
Boom Goes the Dynamite
"I'm looking at a club that can win 90-plus games."
- Lou Piniella
My take: Oh Sweet Lou, you best pass after you puff, puff my friend...
ESPN.com reports San Francisco Giants team president Peter Magowan said the team wouldn't bring OF Barry Bonds back, even at a reduced rate. "No, not this team," Magowan said, standing along the first-base line of a ballpark where images of Bonds have been removed. "We're going in a new direction; that would not be going in a new direction. The time has come to turn the page."
My take: Hallelujah and so far my prayers of no team wanting to pick him up have been answered. I cannot even tell any of you how awesome it would be if all of MLB gave Barry the middle finger for 2008.
===
Y! experts peer into a crystal baseball
By Steve Henson, Tim Brown and Jeff Passan
PLAYOFFS
First round: Red Sox over Tigers; Indians over Mariners; Mets over Cubs; Brewers over Dodgers
ALCS: Indians over Red Sox
NLCS: Mets over Brewers
World Series: Mets over Indians
My take: These guys are calling for the year of the Met?! Good Lord have mercy on the free world if Pond Scum think they can take it all.
===
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
3/26: Reyes, Cards DL & Pitching
Reyes is likely to go to Memphis
By Joe Strauss
JUPITER, FLA. — If it was an audition for another club, Anthony Reyes' outing Tuesday against the Washington Nationals ranked as a success. If it was a last pitch for the Cardinals' season-opening rotation, better luck next time.
The only remaining question concerning Reyes is whether the Cardinals will option him to Class AAA Memphis or make him one of two long relievers, a move until now rejected by pitching coach Dave Duncan.
===
Cards DL seven, but not Ryan
By Derrick Goold
03/25/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — The Cardinals placed seven players Tuesday on the disabled list for the opening week of the regular season, but the list was noteworthy for who wasn’t on it as much as who was.
Brendan Ryan was not placed on the disabled list and the Cardinals believe that he could be ready for opening day despite the lost time because of soreness in his right rib cage.
“He’s feeling better,” GM John Mozeliak said. “Very encouraging.”
The seven players put on the disabled list were: RHP Chris Carpenter (elbow), LHP Mark Mulder (shoulder), RHP Matt Clement (shoulder), LHP Tyler Johnson (shoulder), RHP Joel Pineiro (shoulder), RHP Josh Kinney (elbow) and OF Juan Encarnacion (eye).
This afternoon offers our first clear understanding of when the injured pitchers are expected to return and in what order. The news: Mulder before Clement. “Oh there’s no doubt,” pitching coach Dave Duncan said today when that order of return was presented to him by reporters. “No doubt in my mind”
Both threw today and the results — or the opinion of the results — were difference enough that Mulder is showing he closer to the rotation than Clement.
* Pineiro — Needs about four/five more starts. Think of it as another spring training.
* Mulder — Soon to be scheduled for a game, then spring schedule and rehab assignment.
* Clement — Going to start year in extended spring. No target.
* Carpenter — Long ways from thinking hitters. No target.
My take: How is it possible that Clement is nowhere near starting? Wasn’t that part of the deal when the team brought him in, checked him out and put him on the roster to begin with –- to help the beginning of the season while we waited on Mulder and Carp?! This development really surprises me and is not cool at all.
===
By Joe Strauss
JUPITER, FLA. — If it was an audition for another club, Anthony Reyes' outing Tuesday against the Washington Nationals ranked as a success. If it was a last pitch for the Cardinals' season-opening rotation, better luck next time.
The only remaining question concerning Reyes is whether the Cardinals will option him to Class AAA Memphis or make him one of two long relievers, a move until now rejected by pitching coach Dave Duncan.
===
Cards DL seven, but not Ryan
By Derrick Goold
03/25/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — The Cardinals placed seven players Tuesday on the disabled list for the opening week of the regular season, but the list was noteworthy for who wasn’t on it as much as who was.
Brendan Ryan was not placed on the disabled list and the Cardinals believe that he could be ready for opening day despite the lost time because of soreness in his right rib cage.
“He’s feeling better,” GM John Mozeliak said. “Very encouraging.”
The seven players put on the disabled list were: RHP Chris Carpenter (elbow), LHP Mark Mulder (shoulder), RHP Matt Clement (shoulder), LHP Tyler Johnson (shoulder), RHP Joel Pineiro (shoulder), RHP Josh Kinney (elbow) and OF Juan Encarnacion (eye).
This afternoon offers our first clear understanding of when the injured pitchers are expected to return and in what order. The news: Mulder before Clement. “Oh there’s no doubt,” pitching coach Dave Duncan said today when that order of return was presented to him by reporters. “No doubt in my mind”
Both threw today and the results — or the opinion of the results — were difference enough that Mulder is showing he closer to the rotation than Clement.
* Pineiro — Needs about four/five more starts. Think of it as another spring training.
* Mulder — Soon to be scheduled for a game, then spring schedule and rehab assignment.
* Clement — Going to start year in extended spring. No target.
* Carpenter — Long ways from thinking hitters. No target.
My take: How is it possible that Clement is nowhere near starting? Wasn’t that part of the deal when the team brought him in, checked him out and put him on the roster to begin with –- to help the beginning of the season while we waited on Mulder and Carp?! This development really surprises me and is not cool at all.
===
Monday, March 24, 2008
3/24: Pujols, Izturis, McClellan, Mulder, Take 5
Pujols again is swinging a hot bat
By Rick Hummel
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/24/2008
PORT ST. LUCIE, FLA. — Albert Pujols is hitting .415, he has five home runs and he's slugging .830 this spring. This hardly is man bites dog material as Pujols does this sort of thing almost every spring and he's repeated it to a large degree in each of his previous seven big-league seasons.
"It wasn't my normal spring last spring, but I felt great," said Pujols. "The wind was blowing in a lot. But I think this is one of the best springs I've had in my career. I started seeing the ball good the first week of the spring, which is not normal. Now, I'm working on different things and I'm getting good results." Asked to amplify on those things, Pujols smiled and said, "Top secret. Can't tell you. Then the league is going to know what I'm working on."
===
Is Izturis solid, or isn't he?
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/23/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — When it comes to his newest charge, shortstop Cesar Izturis, Cardinals coach Jose Oquendo sees more than an infielder caught awkwardly between when to charge and when to wait on a hop. Oquendo recognizes a player grappling with the role the Cardinals need him to play and the one he has been playing — an everyday infielder with an every-so-often routine.
That is what the Cardinals insist he will be.
Three seasons removed from a Gold Glove at the position, Izturis is still feeling for his footing at shortstop. Manager Tony La Russa vehemently insists Izturis has been strong defensively and the errors are not alarming. Izturis turns a double play better than any shortstop he has had in St. Louis, La Russa said. Izturis glides to the ball, has soft hands and a quick-draw release on his throws, La Russa said.
The shortstop has a more bottom-line view. Asked if he believes he has played well defensively, Izturis said: "No, not really."
===
McClellan appears to have made club
By Rick Hummel
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/24/2008
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — In October 2006, a young righthanded reliever made something of a name for himself by freezing New York Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran with a called third strike.
The locale Sunday was Tradition Field and not a league championship game in Shea Stadium, and the pitcher was not Adam Wainwright, but St. Louisan Kyle McClellan. The inning was the fifth and not the ninth, but the result was the same. McClellan froze Beltran with a called third strike to stop a Mets rally, and the Hazelwood West product took a giant step toward landing the final berth on the Cardinals' opening-day pitching staff.
===
St. Louis Cardinals starter Mark Mulder back to pitching after shoulder surgery
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
March 22, 2008
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) -Cardinals starter Mark Mulder took another positive step in his rehabilitation Saturday, facing hitters for the first time since undergoing shoulder surgery in September. Mulder threw batting practice to minor leaguers Oliver Marmol, Allen Craig and Daniel Descalso on a back field before the Cardinals game against the Twins. The left-hander threw 30 pitches.
"He made a bunch of big throws," manager Tony La Russa said. "Considering it's the first time out there against hitters it's even more impressive. "It's all coming together so far." Mulder was more pleased with the final 15 pitches.
"I came away very happy," he said. "If I would have thrown all of them the way I started I probably wouldn't have been real happy with it. The way I felt at the end, I was pleased with that."
The Cardinals remain hopeful Mulder can return to the rotation by early May.
===
Take 5: Why the Cards may not be as bad as feared
By Jeff Gordon
03/21/2008
...The Cardinals keep generating hints that they might not be nearly as bad as the general public fears. Here are Five Positive Signs from the last several days:
1. Against all odds, the temporary rotation is shaping up.
2. Adam Kennedy can hit! Kennedy seems to have relocated the stroke he had throughout his time with the Angels. After a slow start this spring, he pushed his batting average up to .349.
3. Rick Ankiel is going crazy. Ankiel’s spring training performance (.397, three homers, nine RBIs) has raised expectations. Could he fill the clean-up role against righthanded pitching, allowing newcomer Troy Glaus to hit in the more comfortable No. 5 slot?
4. Ron Villone is viable. In past springs, the Cards have seen an assortment of veteran lefties fail to impress Duncan. But Villone has posted a 1.17 ERA in six appearances, generating hope he could become a key bullpen component.
5. The organization finally has depth. The demise of Scott Spiezio and the inevitable breakdown of Juan Gonzalez chilled the competition for roster spots. In past springs, these unfortunate developments would have been major concerns. But this year the Cards will have plenty of help just a phone call away.
Will the Cards contend this season? Probably not. Will the Cards grow this season and become more solid as the year progresses? Probably so. This may not be one of the most exciting Cards teams ever, but it could become one of the more interesting.
===
By Rick Hummel
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/24/2008
PORT ST. LUCIE, FLA. — Albert Pujols is hitting .415, he has five home runs and he's slugging .830 this spring. This hardly is man bites dog material as Pujols does this sort of thing almost every spring and he's repeated it to a large degree in each of his previous seven big-league seasons.
"It wasn't my normal spring last spring, but I felt great," said Pujols. "The wind was blowing in a lot. But I think this is one of the best springs I've had in my career. I started seeing the ball good the first week of the spring, which is not normal. Now, I'm working on different things and I'm getting good results." Asked to amplify on those things, Pujols smiled and said, "Top secret. Can't tell you. Then the league is going to know what I'm working on."
===
Is Izturis solid, or isn't he?
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/23/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — When it comes to his newest charge, shortstop Cesar Izturis, Cardinals coach Jose Oquendo sees more than an infielder caught awkwardly between when to charge and when to wait on a hop. Oquendo recognizes a player grappling with the role the Cardinals need him to play and the one he has been playing — an everyday infielder with an every-so-often routine.
That is what the Cardinals insist he will be.
Three seasons removed from a Gold Glove at the position, Izturis is still feeling for his footing at shortstop. Manager Tony La Russa vehemently insists Izturis has been strong defensively and the errors are not alarming. Izturis turns a double play better than any shortstop he has had in St. Louis, La Russa said. Izturis glides to the ball, has soft hands and a quick-draw release on his throws, La Russa said.
The shortstop has a more bottom-line view. Asked if he believes he has played well defensively, Izturis said: "No, not really."
===
McClellan appears to have made club
By Rick Hummel
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/24/2008
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — In October 2006, a young righthanded reliever made something of a name for himself by freezing New York Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran with a called third strike.
The locale Sunday was Tradition Field and not a league championship game in Shea Stadium, and the pitcher was not Adam Wainwright, but St. Louisan Kyle McClellan. The inning was the fifth and not the ninth, but the result was the same. McClellan froze Beltran with a called third strike to stop a Mets rally, and the Hazelwood West product took a giant step toward landing the final berth on the Cardinals' opening-day pitching staff.
===
St. Louis Cardinals starter Mark Mulder back to pitching after shoulder surgery
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
March 22, 2008
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) -Cardinals starter Mark Mulder took another positive step in his rehabilitation Saturday, facing hitters for the first time since undergoing shoulder surgery in September. Mulder threw batting practice to minor leaguers Oliver Marmol, Allen Craig and Daniel Descalso on a back field before the Cardinals game against the Twins. The left-hander threw 30 pitches.
"He made a bunch of big throws," manager Tony La Russa said. "Considering it's the first time out there against hitters it's even more impressive. "It's all coming together so far." Mulder was more pleased with the final 15 pitches.
"I came away very happy," he said. "If I would have thrown all of them the way I started I probably wouldn't have been real happy with it. The way I felt at the end, I was pleased with that."
The Cardinals remain hopeful Mulder can return to the rotation by early May.
===
Take 5: Why the Cards may not be as bad as feared
By Jeff Gordon
03/21/2008
...The Cardinals keep generating hints that they might not be nearly as bad as the general public fears. Here are Five Positive Signs from the last several days:
1. Against all odds, the temporary rotation is shaping up.
2. Adam Kennedy can hit! Kennedy seems to have relocated the stroke he had throughout his time with the Angels. After a slow start this spring, he pushed his batting average up to .349.
3. Rick Ankiel is going crazy. Ankiel’s spring training performance (.397, three homers, nine RBIs) has raised expectations. Could he fill the clean-up role against righthanded pitching, allowing newcomer Troy Glaus to hit in the more comfortable No. 5 slot?
4. Ron Villone is viable. In past springs, the Cards have seen an assortment of veteran lefties fail to impress Duncan. But Villone has posted a 1.17 ERA in six appearances, generating hope he could become a key bullpen component.
5. The organization finally has depth. The demise of Scott Spiezio and the inevitable breakdown of Juan Gonzalez chilled the competition for roster spots. In past springs, these unfortunate developments would have been major concerns. But this year the Cards will have plenty of help just a phone call away.
Will the Cards contend this season? Probably not. Will the Cards grow this season and become more solid as the year progresses? Probably so. This may not be one of the most exciting Cards teams ever, but it could become one of the more interesting.
===
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
3/18: Rasmus, Mather, Lohse, Ankiel, Editorial
Rasmus, Mather among 6 players sent to minors
By Derrick Goold
03/18/2008
JUPITER, FLA. — Top prospect Colby Rasmus and spring surprise Joe Mather were among six players sent to the Cardinals' minor leagues after Monday's game.
"All of these guys had real solid camps," general manager John Mozeliak said. "Not only did they open up a lot of eyes for our major-league staff, but I think they reinforced how a lot of us felt about them when we added them to the major-league roster.
"It wouldn't surprise me if I saw either one of them (this season) in St. Louis."
Rasmus, pitcher Clayton Mortensen and catcher Mark Johnson were reassigned to the minor-league spring training camp. Mather and pitchers Jason Motte and Mike Parisi were optioned to Class AAA. They will join the minors Wednesday.
===
Lohse's preparation pays off
By Derrick Goold
03/18/2008
JUPITER, FLA. — A man without a mound in early March, Kyle Lohse decided not to wait for spring training to come to him. He went to his own spring training.
In the weeks leading up to his signing with the Cardinals, Lohse replicated a spring schedule as best he could, and the results of his preparation were clear Monday. The newly acquired righthander threw 70 pitches and recorded 20 outs — the equivalent of 6 2/3 innings — in a simulated game.
"I was impressed," pitching coach Dave Duncan said. "(Monday) was a good test for him. He passed it as far as I'm concerned. It's obvious that he's been working."
===
Ankiel ready to provide protection?
By Joe Strauss
03/18/2008
On Monday, during prime time on the main field at Roger Dean Stadium, Rick Ankiel again suggested he is ready to provide protection rather than receive it.
More disciplined at the plate, and more comfortable addressing his station on the team, Ankiel extended his convincing spring with a two-run double in a 4-2 exhibition win over the Atlanta Braves.
"I'm doing pretty well, but I'm still eager to get more at-bats," said Ankiel, the Cardinals' leading hitter through 20 Grapefruit League games. "The more you get, the better your timing becomes. It's part of it."
===
Why we're not as bad as the pundits say
By Vic Amato
By Derrick Goold
03/18/2008
JUPITER, FLA. — Top prospect Colby Rasmus and spring surprise Joe Mather were among six players sent to the Cardinals' minor leagues after Monday's game.
"All of these guys had real solid camps," general manager John Mozeliak said. "Not only did they open up a lot of eyes for our major-league staff, but I think they reinforced how a lot of us felt about them when we added them to the major-league roster.
"It wouldn't surprise me if I saw either one of them (this season) in St. Louis."
Rasmus, pitcher Clayton Mortensen and catcher Mark Johnson were reassigned to the minor-league spring training camp. Mather and pitchers Jason Motte and Mike Parisi were optioned to Class AAA. They will join the minors Wednesday.
===
Lohse's preparation pays off
By Derrick Goold
03/18/2008
JUPITER, FLA. — A man without a mound in early March, Kyle Lohse decided not to wait for spring training to come to him. He went to his own spring training.
In the weeks leading up to his signing with the Cardinals, Lohse replicated a spring schedule as best he could, and the results of his preparation were clear Monday. The newly acquired righthander threw 70 pitches and recorded 20 outs — the equivalent of 6 2/3 innings — in a simulated game.
"I was impressed," pitching coach Dave Duncan said. "(Monday) was a good test for him. He passed it as far as I'm concerned. It's obvious that he's been working."
===
Ankiel ready to provide protection?
By Joe Strauss
03/18/2008
On Monday, during prime time on the main field at Roger Dean Stadium, Rick Ankiel again suggested he is ready to provide protection rather than receive it.
More disciplined at the plate, and more comfortable addressing his station on the team, Ankiel extended his convincing spring with a two-run double in a 4-2 exhibition win over the Atlanta Braves.
"I'm doing pretty well, but I'm still eager to get more at-bats," said Ankiel, the Cardinals' leading hitter through 20 Grapefruit League games. "The more you get, the better your timing becomes. It's part of it."
===
Why we're not as bad as the pundits say
By Vic Amato
- Iszturus is better defensively than Eck, even though he's rusty in the spring.
- Molina is a superior talent behind the plate and handles the pitchers well.
- Ankiel should be more at ease now that everyone but Elliot Spitzer was named in the Mitchell Report. He's a talent and he's at the prime hitting age.
- Colby Rasmus will make some impact this year when the time is right.
- Adam Kennedy was trying to adapt to a new league with a bum knee. He's a much better hitter than he displayed last year.
- Troy Glaus is a legitimate 5 hitter. Rolen and Fat Jimmy were no longer legitimate hitters in that spot.
- The bullpen is among the stronger in the game.
- Izzy is playing for his last contract.
- Lohse should take up at least 180 innings and be slightly over .500 -- just like Kip Wells was going to do. Just kidding... He'll be better than that. If they'd have signed Lohse in December, it would have gotten much better play in the press.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
3/13 : Mozeliak, Izturis, Pujo, Kinney, Carp, Jimenez
Cards Live with Mozeliak
Stltoday.com
3/12/08
A few decent questions from yesterday’s chat on stltoday.com:
Jeremy Landreth: I was really surprised when Larussa decided to sign another contract with us. The Cardinal's brass appear committed to developing players from within the organization. Larussa has always preferred veteran players. How were the two sides able to reconcile on these obvious differences in philosophy?
John Mozeliak: Tony is a HOF manager, but he does understand the direction we are going. You can become younger and still win, and I assure that's our goal to win. Honestly, Tony has been great to work with this off-season and I believe he is excited about our young players coming.
Brian B: With the shortage of reliable pitching available early, why the hesitation to sign someone like Kyle Lohse? I understand we are relying on Carpenter, Mulder, Clement, and now Piniero to get healthy. But wouldn't it be beneficial, as a team "in transition," to bulk up in this area and then trade for prospects with this surplus? And Aaron Miles? Really? Otherwise, I think everyone respects what you have done so far and everyone wishes you the best.
John Mozeliak: I feel everyone missed on the pitching market this year, as of today the only multi-year deal for a starter was Silva. The market was fluid and never reached what many believed would happen. As we sit here today teams are now looking to move their access pitching and there are still a few pitchers out there of interest. I will continue to explore both markets, based on the last few days we need to add depth.
With regard to Miles, he is well respected on this team and gives us great protection at SS/2B. He does have value!
B: Do you seriously think we can get to the playoffs this year with this rotation? Absolutely ridiculous....your the GM for the St. Louis Cardinals not the Kansas City Royals. Make something happen...ask DeWitt for more money. My summer is gonna be ruined.
John Mozeliak: Your summer will not be ruined, look at this way you get a chance to watch a rotation truly evolve. Consider the following addition each month. Clement, Mulder, and then finally Carpenter. But I get your point and will continue to look for ways to save your summer.
===
Will Izturis (or anybody) be the answer for the Cards?
By Jeff Gordon
03/13/2008
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is encouraged by the progress Kennedy is making at the plate. And he remains a big Izturis fan, based largely on what he saw earlier in Cesar’s career.
So La Russa isn’t sweating Izturis’ poor offensive and defensive start this spring. “You just watch, he’s a real good looking fielder,” La Russa said. “He has great, quiet hands. He has an accurate arm. He’s very quick. Picks a ball up like it’s nothing. Very impressive.
“I liked him from the first time I saw him with the Dodgers. He is really fun to watch catch the ball. Offensively, he hasn’t had a big hitting spurt or anything like that, but he’s putting the ball in play. He’s working. He’s also shown, by the way, good legs. That’s an important part of the game.
My take: Well, well, well, I stand corrected. It appears that besides Adam, TLR loves Cesar. Zapple, not so sure about that All Star appearance though.
===
Cards Notes: Pujols excels with extra rest
By Derrick Goold
03/13/2008
JUPITER, FLA. — As planned, Albert Pujols has seen fewer at-bats in games this spring, but that hasn't slowed how he prepares his swing for the season.
Pujols is a believer that rest will tame the injury, which has been the same since 2003 but caused him discomfort late last season. "This is something that I will play by ear, and so far it's good," said Pujols, whose slugging percentage spiked to .926 after Wednesday's game. "I want to play the next 10, 15 years (without) needing surgery. I'm paid to play. If I can walk, I can run, and I'm going to go out there and play."
My take: Thanks Pujo, good to know that if you rest, you play better... I hear if you match Lotto numbers you win cash.
KINNEY'S ANNIVERSARY
Today is the one-year anniversary of Josh Kinney's elbow surgery, and he continues to grind steadily toward a return to games. Kinney threw 50 pitches from the mound Wednesday and said he "mixed in some breaking stuff. (But) didn't really let one loose." The standard recovery from Tommy John surgery like the procedure Kinney had is a year, but Kinney busted his elbow during rehab, setting him back a few months. He expects to throw a simulated game and face hitters before camp breaks.
"My arm feels good, strong," Kinney said. "There's still room to throw harder, but I don't feel like I'm throwing salad up there. For now, I'm where I want to be. A month from now, I hope to be better."
EXTRA BASES
Chris Carpenter continued progressing in his rehab from Tommy John surgery with a second light throwing session on the mound Wednesday. He said everything continues to "progress nicely" — his mantra this spring. … Clayton Mortensen, a 2007 draft pick, is confirmed as the starter for Friday's game against the LA Dodgers.
===
La Russa puts Jimenez on notice
By Derrick Goold
03/13/2008
JUPITER, Fla. -- Cardinals infielder D'Angelo Jimenez muffed a grounder and ended Wednesday's game by taking three strikes with runners on base.
He also drew the ire of Tony La Russa, who wants more from the veteran and nonroster infielder.
Jimenez, once a big-league starting shortstop, is hitting .077.
"He's a savvy player, but he needs to demonstrate it all the time, especially when he's trying to make an impression on an organization," the Cardinals' manager said.
"He has flashes of being a legitimate major leaguer and he shows flashes when he's struggling his (tail) off."
My take: He's still on the roster?!
Stltoday.com
3/12/08
A few decent questions from yesterday’s chat on stltoday.com:
Jeremy Landreth: I was really surprised when Larussa decided to sign another contract with us. The Cardinal's brass appear committed to developing players from within the organization. Larussa has always preferred veteran players. How were the two sides able to reconcile on these obvious differences in philosophy?
John Mozeliak: Tony is a HOF manager, but he does understand the direction we are going. You can become younger and still win, and I assure that's our goal to win. Honestly, Tony has been great to work with this off-season and I believe he is excited about our young players coming.
Brian B: With the shortage of reliable pitching available early, why the hesitation to sign someone like Kyle Lohse? I understand we are relying on Carpenter, Mulder, Clement, and now Piniero to get healthy. But wouldn't it be beneficial, as a team "in transition," to bulk up in this area and then trade for prospects with this surplus? And Aaron Miles? Really? Otherwise, I think everyone respects what you have done so far and everyone wishes you the best.
John Mozeliak: I feel everyone missed on the pitching market this year, as of today the only multi-year deal for a starter was Silva. The market was fluid and never reached what many believed would happen. As we sit here today teams are now looking to move their access pitching and there are still a few pitchers out there of interest. I will continue to explore both markets, based on the last few days we need to add depth.
With regard to Miles, he is well respected on this team and gives us great protection at SS/2B. He does have value!
B: Do you seriously think we can get to the playoffs this year with this rotation? Absolutely ridiculous....your the GM for the St. Louis Cardinals not the Kansas City Royals. Make something happen...ask DeWitt for more money. My summer is gonna be ruined.
John Mozeliak: Your summer will not be ruined, look at this way you get a chance to watch a rotation truly evolve. Consider the following addition each month. Clement, Mulder, and then finally Carpenter. But I get your point and will continue to look for ways to save your summer.
===
Will Izturis (or anybody) be the answer for the Cards?
By Jeff Gordon
03/13/2008
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is encouraged by the progress Kennedy is making at the plate. And he remains a big Izturis fan, based largely on what he saw earlier in Cesar’s career.
So La Russa isn’t sweating Izturis’ poor offensive and defensive start this spring. “You just watch, he’s a real good looking fielder,” La Russa said. “He has great, quiet hands. He has an accurate arm. He’s very quick. Picks a ball up like it’s nothing. Very impressive.
“I liked him from the first time I saw him with the Dodgers. He is really fun to watch catch the ball. Offensively, he hasn’t had a big hitting spurt or anything like that, but he’s putting the ball in play. He’s working. He’s also shown, by the way, good legs. That’s an important part of the game.
My take: Well, well, well, I stand corrected. It appears that besides Adam, TLR loves Cesar. Zapple, not so sure about that All Star appearance though.
===
Cards Notes: Pujols excels with extra rest
By Derrick Goold
03/13/2008
JUPITER, FLA. — As planned, Albert Pujols has seen fewer at-bats in games this spring, but that hasn't slowed how he prepares his swing for the season.
Pujols is a believer that rest will tame the injury, which has been the same since 2003 but caused him discomfort late last season. "This is something that I will play by ear, and so far it's good," said Pujols, whose slugging percentage spiked to .926 after Wednesday's game. "I want to play the next 10, 15 years (without) needing surgery. I'm paid to play. If I can walk, I can run, and I'm going to go out there and play."
My take: Thanks Pujo, good to know that if you rest, you play better... I hear if you match Lotto numbers you win cash.
KINNEY'S ANNIVERSARY
Today is the one-year anniversary of Josh Kinney's elbow surgery, and he continues to grind steadily toward a return to games. Kinney threw 50 pitches from the mound Wednesday and said he "mixed in some breaking stuff. (But) didn't really let one loose." The standard recovery from Tommy John surgery like the procedure Kinney had is a year, but Kinney busted his elbow during rehab, setting him back a few months. He expects to throw a simulated game and face hitters before camp breaks.
"My arm feels good, strong," Kinney said. "There's still room to throw harder, but I don't feel like I'm throwing salad up there. For now, I'm where I want to be. A month from now, I hope to be better."
EXTRA BASES
Chris Carpenter continued progressing in his rehab from Tommy John surgery with a second light throwing session on the mound Wednesday. He said everything continues to "progress nicely" — his mantra this spring. … Clayton Mortensen, a 2007 draft pick, is confirmed as the starter for Friday's game against the LA Dodgers.
===
La Russa puts Jimenez on notice
By Derrick Goold
03/13/2008
JUPITER, Fla. -- Cardinals infielder D'Angelo Jimenez muffed a grounder and ended Wednesday's game by taking three strikes with runners on base.
He also drew the ire of Tony La Russa, who wants more from the veteran and nonroster infielder.
Jimenez, once a big-league starting shortstop, is hitting .077.
"He's a savvy player, but he needs to demonstrate it all the time, especially when he's trying to make an impression on an organization," the Cardinals' manager said.
"He has flashes of being a legitimate major leaguer and he shows flashes when he's struggling his (tail) off."
My take: He's still on the roster?!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
3/12 : Lohse, Rasmus, Franklin, Edmonds
Cards seek help on the mound
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/12/2008
Four days after Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak downplayed the club's search for additional starting pitching, the club reacted Tuesday to persistent questions about Joel Pineiro's right shoulder by inquiring about free agent Kyle Lohse.
My take: This guy is St. Louis Cardinal Prime Time Work In Progress™ material -- check out these '07 stats -- 192 innings pitched going 9-12 with a 4.62 ERA. With Scott Boras as his agent I can hardly wait to see what kind of $$$ he wants.
===
It's now or later for Rasmus
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/12/2008
JUPITER, FLA. — Manager Tony La Russa said Colby Rasmus' batting average is only a small — and misleading — part of the numbers the outfielder has produced. Just like his numbers are only part of the decision whether he'll make the team.
Rasmus, the club's top prospect, is hitting .231, lagging behind the other outfielders vying for big-league jobs. But the real indicators of his spring are his .538 slugging percentage (fifth on the team) and .412 on-base percentage (third best among leadoff candidates).
===
Ryan Franklin displays his pitching resume
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/12/2008
JUPITER, Fla.--Before he lets his throwing partner, Russ Springer, free to go about other business, Ryan Franklin has a ritual Springer could do without.
Franklin floats him a few knuckleballs.
"He throws me two or three every time," Springer said. "He's superstitious."
Good thing Franklin doesn't have the habit with all his pitches.
They'd be there awhile.
The Cardinals righthander reliever, who emerged as a shutdown setup man last season, came to the club primarily as a starter, one who had more than a half dozen pitches. Franklin has picked up a new pitch every few years or so, and he's working on another. Earlier this spring, Franklin talked about how he developed or used his unusually expansive array of pitches.
He has used all nine he has in a game. Even that knuckleball.
"It's mediocre at best," Springer said. "OK, he's got a good knuckleball, but why does he need it? He's already got seven pitches."
Or, something like that. But who's counting?
My take: That’s all well and good for 9 pitches but I’d settle for somebody that had 2 great pitches, about 200 innings in him and flirts in a low 3.0-ish ERA.
===
Padres CF : Jim Edmonds said his strained right calf felt "much better" on Saturday. He hurt it Thursday breaking out of the batter's box. "Yesterday I wasn't even able to walk straight ahead. So this is good news." Edmonds met Saturday with a team doctor, who confirmed that the 37-year-old player is expected to be out for 2-3 weeks. "We're just going to hope for the best," Edmonds said.
My take: This is an all time low for our former CF... You got hurt running out of the Batter’s Box? Dude, time to hang the cleats up if you get hurt running across a chalk line.
===
Welcome Back
A special Dyer Cardinal Nation shout out to my favorite beloved Cub-monkey fan Lori Peeples who's back in town from the Big Apple. In a questionable year of Cardinal baseball she will certainly provide entertainment value for those of us here at Switch:Liberate Your Brand.
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/12/2008
Four days after Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak downplayed the club's search for additional starting pitching, the club reacted Tuesday to persistent questions about Joel Pineiro's right shoulder by inquiring about free agent Kyle Lohse.
My take: This guy is St. Louis Cardinal Prime Time Work In Progress™ material -- check out these '07 stats -- 192 innings pitched going 9-12 with a 4.62 ERA. With Scott Boras as his agent I can hardly wait to see what kind of $$$ he wants.
===
It's now or later for Rasmus
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/12/2008
JUPITER, FLA. — Manager Tony La Russa said Colby Rasmus' batting average is only a small — and misleading — part of the numbers the outfielder has produced. Just like his numbers are only part of the decision whether he'll make the team.
Rasmus, the club's top prospect, is hitting .231, lagging behind the other outfielders vying for big-league jobs. But the real indicators of his spring are his .538 slugging percentage (fifth on the team) and .412 on-base percentage (third best among leadoff candidates).
===
Ryan Franklin displays his pitching resume
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/12/2008
JUPITER, Fla.--Before he lets his throwing partner, Russ Springer, free to go about other business, Ryan Franklin has a ritual Springer could do without.
Franklin floats him a few knuckleballs.
"He throws me two or three every time," Springer said. "He's superstitious."
Good thing Franklin doesn't have the habit with all his pitches.
They'd be there awhile.
The Cardinals righthander reliever, who emerged as a shutdown setup man last season, came to the club primarily as a starter, one who had more than a half dozen pitches. Franklin has picked up a new pitch every few years or so, and he's working on another. Earlier this spring, Franklin talked about how he developed or used his unusually expansive array of pitches.
He has used all nine he has in a game. Even that knuckleball.
"It's mediocre at best," Springer said. "OK, he's got a good knuckleball, but why does he need it? He's already got seven pitches."
Or, something like that. But who's counting?
My take: That’s all well and good for 9 pitches but I’d settle for somebody that had 2 great pitches, about 200 innings in him and flirts in a low 3.0-ish ERA.
===
Padres CF : Jim Edmonds said his strained right calf felt "much better" on Saturday. He hurt it Thursday breaking out of the batter's box. "Yesterday I wasn't even able to walk straight ahead. So this is good news." Edmonds met Saturday with a team doctor, who confirmed that the 37-year-old player is expected to be out for 2-3 weeks. "We're just going to hope for the best," Edmonds said.
My take: This is an all time low for our former CF... You got hurt running out of the Batter’s Box? Dude, time to hang the cleats up if you get hurt running across a chalk line.
===
Welcome Back
A special Dyer Cardinal Nation shout out to my favorite beloved Cub-monkey fan Lori Peeples who's back in town from the Big Apple. In a questionable year of Cardinal baseball she will certainly provide entertainment value for those of us here at Switch:Liberate Your Brand.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
3/11 : Pineiro, Carp, Duncan, Barton, Misc
Pineiro delayed, return uncertain
By Derrick Goold
03/11/2008 9:13 am
JUPITER, Fla. — The Cardinals sent ailing righthander Joel Pineiro for a magnetic resonance imaging scan and the results showed no structural damage to his right shoulder. That answers one question for the Cardinals, but doesn’t put Pineiro back on the mound.
The Cardinals have taken Pineiro out of his scheduled start and do not know when he’ll next pitch, manager Tony La Russa said this morning. Anthony Reyes will start in Pineiro’s place Wednesday. They will continue to explore reasons and treatments for the recurring tightness in Pineiro’s shoulder.
My take: In a baseball world where you can never have enough pitching, why are we always so shallow on the mound?
===
As another pitcher falls, Carp climbs
By Derrick Goold
03/11/2008 1:59 pm
JUPITER, Fla. — Cardinals healing ace Chris Carpenter threw a light bullpen off the mound Monday, his first trip up the hill since his failed attempt to pitch through bone spurs last season.
Carpenter threw 20 pitches to a squatting catcher, and did so at slightly more than halfspeed. He joked this morning that he wasn’t lobbing the ball, but wasn’t really “firing it” either. Just as importantly, he came to the clubhouse Tuesday with no soreness or discomfort or swelling in the surgically repaired elbow.
“It was fun to get back out there,” Carpenter said. “I got the ball down real good. It had some pop at the end.”
My take: He can’t get back into this rotation fast enough as I don't think Miles can handle more than 25-30 innings of work this year.
===
Chris Duncan focuses on staying healthyBy Joe Strauss
03/11/2008
DUNCAN'S 2007 in Review
Chris Duncan opened last season on a tear but ended it hurt. A look at his production:
Before All-Star break
.288 avg 236 ab
16 hr 47 rbi
34 bb 68 so
After All-Star break
.209 avg 139 ab
5 hr 23 rbi
21 bb 55 so
Duncan, 26, figures as one of the Cardinals' primary production sources this season. As an important first step, he would love to go about his work uninterrupted.
Leaving him with intense discomfort in his lower left abdomen, a sports hernia and ensuing surgery abbreviated Duncan's '07 season.
My take: Stop screwing around as your time has come to buckle down and not look like a CYC 10 year old fielding the ball. We need you to focus as you'll probably be our starting First Baseman in early May for the rest of the 2008 season.
===
Record lags, but Cards see some encouraging signs
By Jeff Gordon
03/11/2008
...The Cards are pretty much on schedule, despite their 5-8 record in Grapefruit League play.
The spring hasn’t been totally smooth, of course. Albert Pujols is trying to play through a partially torn elbow ligament, an injury that may eventually require surgery. This is a big uncertainty hanging over the team. He believes he can manage the injury with treatment and additional rest, but . . .
The Scott Spiezio Fiasco punched a big hole into the Cards bench, since the club lost a switch-hitting infielder/outfielder with power. He was the team’s Troy Glaus insurance coming into the spring.
Shortstop Cesar Izturis has been the biggest disappointment. He has just two hits in 22 spring at-bats and his fielding has been dreadful. Second baseman Adam Kennedy started poorly as well, but he is starting to show a little life at the plate.
Tyler Johnson’s sore shoulder was another setback, since it compromised the team’s bullpen depth on the left side. The Cards were hoping he would take a step forward this spring, not a step back.
My take: Make sure your 6 point safety harness is buckled – this is a gonna be a helluva roller coaster ride this year.
===
Barton: Sudden impact
By Derrick Goold
03/10/2008
The Cardinals proclaimed surprise that they were able to snag Barton in the Rule 5 draft this winter. Cleveland left him off its 40-man roster less than a year after he was considered one of the Indians' elite prospects. The Cardinals were in search of youth and a righthanded bat and found both in Barton. His speed was just a bonus. It was also a question.
It's likely Barton slipped to the Cardinals in the Rule 5 draft because he was just coming off knee surgery to repair a condition that had caused him discomfort for several seasons.
In the dash for outfield playing time, Barton offers an element that few others do. Only two teams stole fewer bases than the Cardinals last season, and throughout the organization the Cardinals have a need for speed. At Class A and higher, they had only one player rank in his league's top 12 in steals — Rasmus. Barton's speed can change a game.
On Sunday, he drove a liner to the gap in right-center for a triple. Then he scored easily on a wild pitch that didn't leave the grass behind home plate. But La Russa lauded how he nearly beat out a grounder to third for an infield hit.
"That's one element of his game that is interesting to us," general manager John Mozeliak said.
Coder’s take: The Ronnie Belliard dreads are back in the house and he’s the new Twizzler.
===
Viva el Birdos author Larry Borowsky mines this nugget of gold from the history books:
In the last half-century, this franchise has recorded back-to-back losing seasons only once, in 1994-95 — the last year of Dal Maxvill’s reign as general manager, and the first year of Walt Jocketty’s.
My take: Ruh roh.
By Derrick Goold
03/11/2008 9:13 am
JUPITER, Fla. — The Cardinals sent ailing righthander Joel Pineiro for a magnetic resonance imaging scan and the results showed no structural damage to his right shoulder. That answers one question for the Cardinals, but doesn’t put Pineiro back on the mound.
The Cardinals have taken Pineiro out of his scheduled start and do not know when he’ll next pitch, manager Tony La Russa said this morning. Anthony Reyes will start in Pineiro’s place Wednesday. They will continue to explore reasons and treatments for the recurring tightness in Pineiro’s shoulder.
My take: In a baseball world where you can never have enough pitching, why are we always so shallow on the mound?
===
As another pitcher falls, Carp climbs
By Derrick Goold
03/11/2008 1:59 pm
JUPITER, Fla. — Cardinals healing ace Chris Carpenter threw a light bullpen off the mound Monday, his first trip up the hill since his failed attempt to pitch through bone spurs last season.
Carpenter threw 20 pitches to a squatting catcher, and did so at slightly more than halfspeed. He joked this morning that he wasn’t lobbing the ball, but wasn’t really “firing it” either. Just as importantly, he came to the clubhouse Tuesday with no soreness or discomfort or swelling in the surgically repaired elbow.
“It was fun to get back out there,” Carpenter said. “I got the ball down real good. It had some pop at the end.”
My take: He can’t get back into this rotation fast enough as I don't think Miles can handle more than 25-30 innings of work this year.
===
Chris Duncan focuses on staying healthy
03/11/2008
DUNCAN'S 2007 in Review
Chris Duncan opened last season on a tear but ended it hurt. A look at his production:
Before All-Star break
.288 avg 236 ab
16 hr 47 rbi
34 bb 68 so
After All-Star break
.209 avg 139 ab
5 hr 23 rbi
21 bb 55 so
Duncan, 26, figures as one of the Cardinals' primary production sources this season. As an important first step, he would love to go about his work uninterrupted.
Leaving him with intense discomfort in his lower left abdomen, a sports hernia and ensuing surgery abbreviated Duncan's '07 season.
My take: Stop screwing around as your time has come to buckle down and not look like a CYC 10 year old fielding the ball. We need you to focus as you'll probably be our starting First Baseman in early May for the rest of the 2008 season.
===
Record lags, but Cards see some encouraging signs
By Jeff Gordon
03/11/2008
...The Cards are pretty much on schedule, despite their 5-8 record in Grapefruit League play.
The spring hasn’t been totally smooth, of course. Albert Pujols is trying to play through a partially torn elbow ligament, an injury that may eventually require surgery. This is a big uncertainty hanging over the team. He believes he can manage the injury with treatment and additional rest, but . . .
The Scott Spiezio Fiasco punched a big hole into the Cards bench, since the club lost a switch-hitting infielder/outfielder with power. He was the team’s Troy Glaus insurance coming into the spring.
Shortstop Cesar Izturis has been the biggest disappointment. He has just two hits in 22 spring at-bats and his fielding has been dreadful. Second baseman Adam Kennedy started poorly as well, but he is starting to show a little life at the plate.
Tyler Johnson’s sore shoulder was another setback, since it compromised the team’s bullpen depth on the left side. The Cards were hoping he would take a step forward this spring, not a step back.
My take: Make sure your 6 point safety harness is buckled – this is a gonna be a helluva roller coaster ride this year.
===
Barton: Sudden impact
By Derrick Goold
03/10/2008
The Cardinals proclaimed surprise that they were able to snag Barton in the Rule 5 draft this winter. Cleveland left him off its 40-man roster less than a year after he was considered one of the Indians' elite prospects. The Cardinals were in search of youth and a righthanded bat and found both in Barton. His speed was just a bonus. It was also a question.
It's likely Barton slipped to the Cardinals in the Rule 5 draft because he was just coming off knee surgery to repair a condition that had caused him discomfort for several seasons.
In the dash for outfield playing time, Barton offers an element that few others do. Only two teams stole fewer bases than the Cardinals last season, and throughout the organization the Cardinals have a need for speed. At Class A and higher, they had only one player rank in his league's top 12 in steals — Rasmus. Barton's speed can change a game.
On Sunday, he drove a liner to the gap in right-center for a triple. Then he scored easily on a wild pitch that didn't leave the grass behind home plate. But La Russa lauded how he nearly beat out a grounder to third for an infield hit.
"That's one element of his game that is interesting to us," general manager John Mozeliak said.
Coder’s take: The Ronnie Belliard dreads are back in the house and he’s the new Twizzler.
===
Viva el Birdos author Larry Borowsky mines this nugget of gold from the history books:
In the last half-century, this franchise has recorded back-to-back losing seasons only once, in 1994-95 — the last year of Dal Maxvill’s reign as general manager, and the first year of Walt Jocketty’s.
My take: Ruh roh.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
3/6 : Schumaker, Johnson, TLR, Rolen
Quiet days in Cardinal Nation...
===
Leadoff spot is beckoning Schumaker
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/06/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — Among the many job listings the new-look Cardinals posted entering spring training was for a leadoff hitter, a role long held by veteran infielders (Fernando Viña, Tony Womack, David Eckstein) but now thrown open in the aftermath of Eckstein's departure as a free agent.
One candidate is a 28-year-old outfielder with only 255 major-league at-bats but intimate familiarity with the role.
Schumaker's career has been one of purposeful advancement. He has never hit more than eight home runs in a professional season. The club never has rated him as one of its premium prospects, and his opportunities typically have arisen because of injuries to veteran outfielders. For perhaps the first time, Schumaker may be the right person in the right place at the right time.
"I've hit leadoff forever," he said. "I'm comfortable doing it. It's about getting on base ... pretty simple."
===
Johnson looks likely to start season on the disabled list
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/06/2008
JUPITER, FLA. — Cardinals reliever Tyler Johnson is expected start the season on the disabled list, and he will have to be more diligent in his conditioning or risk a chronic shoulder problem, the team's doctor said.
===
La Russa resents focus on Cards named in report
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/05/2008
JUPITER, Fla. -- Cardinals manager Tony La Russa reacted with some indignation to the focus placed on the five players in camp mentioned in last December’s Mitchell Report, including three acquired since its publication.
"There’s a lot of freshness here and a lot of opportunity in this camp," La Russa said. "And I do resent the implication that some of the guys on this club who were mentioned are not good guys.
"Overall, this is definitely not a haven for guys (who used performance-enhancing drugs). Just because somebody makes one mistake in their career doesn’t make them a bad guy or a bad teammate.
"If a guy demonstrates during his career that he’s a good competitor and a good teammate, I don’t think one mistake means he should be . . . ostracized. I believe the guys here are good competitors and good teammates."
La Russa expected his willingness to acquire controversial free agent slugger Barry Bonds to attract media blowback, but thought that the insinuations made about the club’s embrace of Rick Ankiel, Ryan Franklin Troy Glaus, Juan Gonzalez and Ron Villone — all of whom were cited by Mitchell’s investigation — bordered on self-serving.
Aware that some within the industry have taken a harder stance, even professing to have no interest in suspected users of HGH or steroids, La Russa alleged hypocrisy.
"Are you telling me that those people truly believe they have no one within their organization who may be involved?" said La Russa, very mindful of recent comments by Colorado Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd that he would never acquire a player linked to the scandal. "I have a real hard time with that one."
In Their Own Words...
"I actually don't feel like I have a problem playing for managers, [With my] history, people might think otherwise. I don't think I'm necessarily an overly difficult person to get along with. I want to show up and be accountable and do the job to the best of my ability." -- Scott Rolen
===
Leadoff spot is beckoning Schumaker
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/06/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — Among the many job listings the new-look Cardinals posted entering spring training was for a leadoff hitter, a role long held by veteran infielders (Fernando Viña, Tony Womack, David Eckstein) but now thrown open in the aftermath of Eckstein's departure as a free agent.
One candidate is a 28-year-old outfielder with only 255 major-league at-bats but intimate familiarity with the role.
Schumaker's career has been one of purposeful advancement. He has never hit more than eight home runs in a professional season. The club never has rated him as one of its premium prospects, and his opportunities typically have arisen because of injuries to veteran outfielders. For perhaps the first time, Schumaker may be the right person in the right place at the right time.
"I've hit leadoff forever," he said. "I'm comfortable doing it. It's about getting on base ... pretty simple."
===
Johnson looks likely to start season on the disabled list
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/06/2008
JUPITER, FLA. — Cardinals reliever Tyler Johnson is expected start the season on the disabled list, and he will have to be more diligent in his conditioning or risk a chronic shoulder problem, the team's doctor said.
===
La Russa resents focus on Cards named in report
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/05/2008
JUPITER, Fla. -- Cardinals manager Tony La Russa reacted with some indignation to the focus placed on the five players in camp mentioned in last December’s Mitchell Report, including three acquired since its publication.
"There’s a lot of freshness here and a lot of opportunity in this camp," La Russa said. "And I do resent the implication that some of the guys on this club who were mentioned are not good guys.
"Overall, this is definitely not a haven for guys (who used performance-enhancing drugs). Just because somebody makes one mistake in their career doesn’t make them a bad guy or a bad teammate.
"If a guy demonstrates during his career that he’s a good competitor and a good teammate, I don’t think one mistake means he should be . . . ostracized. I believe the guys here are good competitors and good teammates."
La Russa expected his willingness to acquire controversial free agent slugger Barry Bonds to attract media blowback, but thought that the insinuations made about the club’s embrace of Rick Ankiel, Ryan Franklin Troy Glaus, Juan Gonzalez and Ron Villone — all of whom were cited by Mitchell’s investigation — bordered on self-serving.
Aware that some within the industry have taken a harder stance, even professing to have no interest in suspected users of HGH or steroids, La Russa alleged hypocrisy.
"Are you telling me that those people truly believe they have no one within their organization who may be involved?" said La Russa, very mindful of recent comments by Colorado Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd that he would never acquire a player linked to the scandal. "I have a real hard time with that one."
In Their Own Words...
"I actually don't feel like I have a problem playing for managers, [With my] history, people might think otherwise. I don't think I'm necessarily an overly difficult person to get along with. I want to show up and be accountable and do the job to the best of my ability." -- Scott Rolen
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
3/4: Buck, Looper, Selig, 'Roids in STL
Run of Bucks broadcasting Cardinals comes to an end
By Dan Caesar
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/04/2008
For the first time since 1960, there won't be a Buck in a Cardinals broadcast booth this year.
Joe Buck, who had been doing the play-by-play for a few Redbirds games on FSN Midwest in recent seasons, has decided not to return in order to enjoy himself at the ballpark in a nonworking capacity.
"It's nothing more than it feels like it's time to make that change and to concentrate on some other things and basically go to Cardinals games as a fan,'' he said Monday night. "I'm a fan, and I love to go down there with my wife and two daughters. The fun of that now is more appealing than anything to me.''
My take: Say it ‘aint so Joe!
===
Looper's sinker is solid in defeat
By Rick Hummel
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/04/2008
VIERA, Fla. — Righthander Braden Looper pitched more than effectively in his first outing of the spring, though he was the losing pitcher in a 3-2 setback Monday against the Washington Nationals. Looper, throwing his sinkerball an estimated 80 percent of the time, recorded seven ground-ball outs and gave up just three hits and one run in three innings.
Looper, one of the few assured of being in the Cardinals' rotation in the first week of the season, threw 24 strikes out of 36 pitches. But then, isn't Looper always good in the daytime?
Last year, his first as a starter, Looper, 33, was 7-1 with a National League-best 1.69 earned run average in 10 daytime starts. By contrast, he was 5-11 and 6.75 in 20 nighttime starts.
My take: Awesome. We'll have special daytime pitchers and special evening hurlers... that's swell.
===
Selig: There's no ban on Bonds
Also tells Astros it's up to them about Rocket in camp
Associated Press ©2008
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Bud Selig says he isn't trying to keep Barry Bonds out of baseball, and the commissioner told the Houston Astros it's up to them whether to have Roger Clemens in their spring training camp.
Selig made the comments in an informal meeting Saturday with reporters at Scottsdale Stadium, where the San Francisco Giants played the Oakland Athletics.
"Every club is free to do whatever they want with whom," said Selig, adding that he had not read Bonds' grand jury testimony that was ordered released by a judge on Friday.
When asked if it was appropriate for Clemens to be in Astros camp, Selig said: "I have said to (owner) Drayton McLane and the Houston club that that's a decision they have to make."
My take: Holy shitake mushrooms, what’s this?! Selig being non committal? I’m so shocked I may go lie down.
===
Cardinals deny being lax on 'roids
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/04/2008
This spring, the Cardinals are being examined, and in some cases criticized, for leading in another category: active players implicated in former Sen. George Mitchell's report in December to Major League Baseball. Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt insists the organization is not "permissive" about the presence of performance-enhancing drugs within the game but is ready to "move ahead" rather than fixate on findings that may or may not have been independently corroborated.
My take: Remember this Cardinal Nation: TLR asked management less than a month ago -- for the second year in a row -- if we could pursue Bonds. To quote Forrest, Forrest Gump, that’s all I have to say about that.
By Dan Caesar
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/04/2008
For the first time since 1960, there won't be a Buck in a Cardinals broadcast booth this year.
Joe Buck, who had been doing the play-by-play for a few Redbirds games on FSN Midwest in recent seasons, has decided not to return in order to enjoy himself at the ballpark in a nonworking capacity.
"It's nothing more than it feels like it's time to make that change and to concentrate on some other things and basically go to Cardinals games as a fan,'' he said Monday night. "I'm a fan, and I love to go down there with my wife and two daughters. The fun of that now is more appealing than anything to me.''
My take: Say it ‘aint so Joe!
===
Looper's sinker is solid in defeat
By Rick Hummel
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/04/2008
VIERA, Fla. — Righthander Braden Looper pitched more than effectively in his first outing of the spring, though he was the losing pitcher in a 3-2 setback Monday against the Washington Nationals. Looper, throwing his sinkerball an estimated 80 percent of the time, recorded seven ground-ball outs and gave up just three hits and one run in three innings.
Looper, one of the few assured of being in the Cardinals' rotation in the first week of the season, threw 24 strikes out of 36 pitches. But then, isn't Looper always good in the daytime?
Last year, his first as a starter, Looper, 33, was 7-1 with a National League-best 1.69 earned run average in 10 daytime starts. By contrast, he was 5-11 and 6.75 in 20 nighttime starts.
My take: Awesome. We'll have special daytime pitchers and special evening hurlers... that's swell.
===
Selig: There's no ban on Bonds
Also tells Astros it's up to them about Rocket in camp
Associated Press ©2008
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Bud Selig says he isn't trying to keep Barry Bonds out of baseball, and the commissioner told the Houston Astros it's up to them whether to have Roger Clemens in their spring training camp.
Selig made the comments in an informal meeting Saturday with reporters at Scottsdale Stadium, where the San Francisco Giants played the Oakland Athletics.
"Every club is free to do whatever they want with whom," said Selig, adding that he had not read Bonds' grand jury testimony that was ordered released by a judge on Friday.
When asked if it was appropriate for Clemens to be in Astros camp, Selig said: "I have said to (owner) Drayton McLane and the Houston club that that's a decision they have to make."
My take: Holy shitake mushrooms, what’s this?! Selig being non committal? I’m so shocked I may go lie down.
===
Cardinals deny being lax on 'roids
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/04/2008
This spring, the Cardinals are being examined, and in some cases criticized, for leading in another category: active players implicated in former Sen. George Mitchell's report in December to Major League Baseball. Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt insists the organization is not "permissive" about the presence of performance-enhancing drugs within the game but is ready to "move ahead" rather than fixate on findings that may or may not have been independently corroborated.
My take: Remember this Cardinal Nation: TLR asked management less than a month ago -- for the second year in a row -- if we could pursue Bonds. To quote Forrest, Forrest Gump, that’s all I have to say about that.
Monday, March 03, 2008
3/3: Pujols, Rasmus, Simmons, Ponson, Johnson
Pujols sounds off
By Joe Strauss
03/03/2008
"It's hard to walk in here and not see people like Jimmy, Eckstein and Rolen. But at the same time you get excited to see the young kids here who want to play the game and learn," Pujols said. "We don't have that many veteran guys even though we have a veteran bullpen. We have guys like myself, (nonroster outfielder Juan) Gonzalez and Molina. We'll help these guys like Mike Matheny, (Edgar) Renteria and (Mark) McGwire helped me in 2001.
"I still remember Darryl Kile saying, 'I'm doing this for you because you will do it for others.' That's what I'm doing."
My take: Nice nod to DK Pujo!
===
Cards Notebook: Rasmus reaches (again)
By Derrick Goold
02/29/2008
Colby Rasmus, the Cardinals' top prospect, entered Thursday's game as a pinch runner for Albert Pujols — not that he's had any trouble reaching base on his own.
Including the exhibition against St. Louis University, Rasmus has reached base in his first six plate appearances. He doubled and walked Thursday, and he's three for three with three walks and four runs scored.
"If spring training ended tomorrow," La Russa said, grinning, "he'd have a hell of a shot."
My take: I am anxious like you all to see how this kid plays. Thanks for the email on Friday Zapple, it's still newsworthy even this week.
===
After 20 years, Ted Simmons suits up one more time
By Rick Hummel
03/03/2008
MARYVALE, Ariz. — It's not that Ted Simmons, probably the Cardinals' greatest catcher of all time, had been away from baseball after he retired from the Atlanta Braves in 1988. In fact, he had done a little of everything.
But now, at age 58, he has taken the highly unusual step of putting on a uniform for the first time in 20 years. He signed on as the Milwaukee Brewers' bench coach, where he will assist manager Ned Yost, who was soaking up knowledge from Simmons 25 years ago as the backup catcher on a Milwaukee team where Simmons was a star.
My take: Say it ain’t so Simmons... The flippin’ Brewers?!
===
Notebook: Ponson reappears
By Derrick Goold
03/03/2008
JUPITER, Fla. -- The Cardinals will lend former pitcher Sidney Ponson a place and a mound to throw for scouts Thursday at lunchtime.
Ponson, who made 13 starts for the Cardinals in 2006, is said to have slimmed down to 245 pounds and cranked up his fastball to 91 mph.
Because he'll be on their spring-training campus, the Cardinals will have scouts in attendance, and they are interested is seeing what he has. "Just keep an open mind," manager Tony La Russa said.
My take: I swore I saw Ponson working at Taco Bell last week...
===
Concern for reliever Johnson
By Derrick Goold
03/03/2008
Lefthanded reliever Tyler Johnson will have an MRI taken of his left shoulder today to determine if there is an injury. Johnson stopped throwing during his warm-up for Saturday's game because of tightness and soreness in the shoulder.
Johnson came to spring training in good throwing shape, coaches say, but they were not as pleased with his overall conditioning. La Russa said the lefty had been ill. The manager said given those factors, a shoulder problem was "not a big surprise."
My take: Do we get a group discount for MRI’s or do we have a punch card that every 10th one is free?
By Joe Strauss
03/03/2008
"It's hard to walk in here and not see people like Jimmy, Eckstein and Rolen. But at the same time you get excited to see the young kids here who want to play the game and learn," Pujols said. "We don't have that many veteran guys even though we have a veteran bullpen. We have guys like myself, (nonroster outfielder Juan) Gonzalez and Molina. We'll help these guys like Mike Matheny, (Edgar) Renteria and (Mark) McGwire helped me in 2001.
"I still remember Darryl Kile saying, 'I'm doing this for you because you will do it for others.' That's what I'm doing."
My take: Nice nod to DK Pujo!
===
Cards Notebook: Rasmus reaches (again)
By Derrick Goold
02/29/2008
Colby Rasmus, the Cardinals' top prospect, entered Thursday's game as a pinch runner for Albert Pujols — not that he's had any trouble reaching base on his own.
Including the exhibition against St. Louis University, Rasmus has reached base in his first six plate appearances. He doubled and walked Thursday, and he's three for three with three walks and four runs scored.
"If spring training ended tomorrow," La Russa said, grinning, "he'd have a hell of a shot."
My take: I am anxious like you all to see how this kid plays. Thanks for the email on Friday Zapple, it's still newsworthy even this week.
===
After 20 years, Ted Simmons suits up one more time
By Rick Hummel
03/03/2008
MARYVALE, Ariz. — It's not that Ted Simmons, probably the Cardinals' greatest catcher of all time, had been away from baseball after he retired from the Atlanta Braves in 1988. In fact, he had done a little of everything.
But now, at age 58, he has taken the highly unusual step of putting on a uniform for the first time in 20 years. He signed on as the Milwaukee Brewers' bench coach, where he will assist manager Ned Yost, who was soaking up knowledge from Simmons 25 years ago as the backup catcher on a Milwaukee team where Simmons was a star.
My take: Say it ain’t so Simmons... The flippin’ Brewers?!
===
Notebook: Ponson reappears
By Derrick Goold
03/03/2008
JUPITER, Fla. -- The Cardinals will lend former pitcher Sidney Ponson a place and a mound to throw for scouts Thursday at lunchtime.
Ponson, who made 13 starts for the Cardinals in 2006, is said to have slimmed down to 245 pounds and cranked up his fastball to 91 mph.
Because he'll be on their spring-training campus, the Cardinals will have scouts in attendance, and they are interested is seeing what he has. "Just keep an open mind," manager Tony La Russa said.
My take: I swore I saw Ponson working at Taco Bell last week...
===
Concern for reliever Johnson
By Derrick Goold
03/03/2008
Lefthanded reliever Tyler Johnson will have an MRI taken of his left shoulder today to determine if there is an injury. Johnson stopped throwing during his warm-up for Saturday's game because of tightness and soreness in the shoulder.
Johnson came to spring training in good throwing shape, coaches say, but they were not as pleased with his overall conditioning. La Russa said the lefty had been ill. The manager said given those factors, a shoulder problem was "not a big surprise."
My take: Do we get a group discount for MRI’s or do we have a punch card that every 10th one is free?
Thursday, February 28, 2008
2/28: So Long Scott Spiezio
Kudos to the Cardinals for swiftly dismissing Scott Spiezio.
By Bernie Miklasz
02/28/2008
Owner Bill DeWitt, GM John Mozeliak and the organization made a strong statement about establishing standards for personal conduct.
Mozeliak, in particular, stood up in a strong way that reaffirmed that there's a new GM in charge, and he won't be weak.
Human beings make mistakes, and are entitled to second chances as long as they're genuine about growing from the experience in a way that makes them a better person. Tony La Russa and his DUI in Florida last spring is an example of what I'm talking about. La Russa was ashamed by what he did, and I'd be absolutely shocked if TLR ever put himself in that irresponsible position again. He learned from his poor judgment.
But Spiezio was given many chances by the Cardinals. He was signed off the street when no one wanted him after the 2005 season. As we found out later, he was given an opportunity to get his act together early in the 2007 season, when rumors of his use of alcohol and substances began to surface. The team backed him again when he went into a rehab facility last season. They supported him again, and with a warm embrace, when he checked out of rehab and returned to the uniform. And they were behind Spiezio again by bringing him back for 2008.
At some point, he had to return that loyalty. He had to prove that he was trustworthy and reliable and honest and clean. And Spiezio failed miserably on all counts. For this knucklehead to essentially conceal the nature and magnitude of the wild spree that allegedly occured on the night of Dec. 30 in Irvine, Calif. was simply unacceptable, and unforgivable.
And this is especially true in the aftermath of Josh Hancock killing himself by driving drunk last April.
===
Spiezio's con was so good it even had him fooled
By Bryan Burwell
02/28/2008
JUPITER, FLA. — It was all unraveling before him, his life, his job and the flimsy lies he had desperately used to hold them all together. So now Scott Spiezio was in the players' parking lot at Roger Dean Stadium on Wednesday afternoon pacing anxiously with a cell phone pressed to his ear. He was animated and agitated and behaving like a cornered man, which is exactly what he was.
"He kept walking back and forth kicking the curb," said a concerned teammate who had no idea what was wrong. What was wrong was that Scott Spiezio had blown it. The Cardinals had given him a second chance after he'd missed part of last season in rehab for substance abuse. They had given him a second chance even after he'd breezed through that rehab like it was a fast food drive-through. They'd given him a second chance, and he spent the past few months telling everyone and anyone who'd listen that he was an inspiring comeback story.
And we all fell for the con. On Tuesday morning, he was on the front page of the Palm Beach Post in a touching story about how he'd turned his life around. But it was a lie and he knew it. There was an arrest warrant in California with his name on it, and now on Wednesday afternoon, it became public, and the details were beyond disturbing. The 35-year-old infielder was accused of going on a drunken binge, climbing behind the wheel of his expensive sports car, weaving dangerously through lanes into oncoming traffic, then crashing to a halt when he ran into a fence in the early morning of Dec. 30.
And then he lied to the Cardinals about it. He told them it was a car accident and nothing more, which is sort of like saying a trip on the Titanic was just a boat ride. And Wednesday Cardinals management did the absolute right thing for their organization and this troubled man. They told him he was done in a Cardinals uniform.
Yet they also sent a message that should resonate into every corner of their clubhouse, their organization and throughout Cardinals Nation. "I think there is a message," said general manager John Mozeliak. "Clearly given what is at stake, we want people to understand that ... we do have expectations about how they live their lives. Not trying to be the moral compass, but we felt it was the right thing to do for this organization."
===
Spiezio had to go — for his sake and the team's
By Jeff Gordon
02/27/2008
...The Cards must move forward without Spiezio. In baseball terms, this is a tough blow.
When healthy, Spiezio could fill in at the corner outfield and infield spots -– and play second base in a pinch. He could hit from both sides of the plate and provide power.
At his best, Spiezio could do the job of two bench players and give La Russa great tactical flexibility. His abrupt departure is just one more sign that 2008 will be a rebuilding year for the former champions.
His demise is just another unhappy development for this team. Juan Encarnacion could not make it back from his eye injury. Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder are on the mend from major surgery.
David Eckstein and Troy Percival left as free agents. Scott Rolen demanded a trade and was moved to Toronto for Troy Glaus. Mozeliak sent Jim Edmonds to San Diego in a salary dump. One by one, key veterans from a once-formidable clubhouse have gone by the wayside.
The Cards are starting over. Young infielder Brendan Ryan moves up a peg, since he can play third base in addition to shortstop and second base.
The team’s youthful outfield depth becomes more critical. Extra veterans like Brian Barden and D’Angelo Jimenez suddenly have more hope, too, as La Russa explores all his options.
As for Spiezio, well, you can only hope he finds his way. He faces the distinct possibility that his career is done.
Perhaps this stark realization will scare him straight. Nothing else has.
===
My take:
All of you that know me can only imagine the soapbox I was on late yesterday ...
He is a classic example of squandering god given talent and family connections to be able to PLAY A GAME FOR A LIVING at the Major League level. And what does he do? Takes a second chance that 99.5% of players and wanna be major leaguers never get and gives everyone around him and his fans in STL the middle finger.
AP article I read said, “Spiezio was entering the final season of a two-year, $4.5 million contract. He was released the same way most players are cut, for failure "to exhibit sufficient skill or competitive ability." That means the Cardinals owe him this year's $2.3 million salary plus a $100,000 buyout of a $2.5 million team option for 2009 -- because of that, the likelihood of a grievance by the players' union is small.”
That’s a lot Mr. Red Soul Patch Man, you lied, played us in Cardinal Nation for fools and have cost us 2.4 million dollars for the next year so you can go to a pish posh rehab resort on our dime and “find yourself”. Nicely done skipjack.
By the way, Spiez, that flushing sound you hear is your MLB career.
By Bernie Miklasz
02/28/2008
Owner Bill DeWitt, GM John Mozeliak and the organization made a strong statement about establishing standards for personal conduct.
Mozeliak, in particular, stood up in a strong way that reaffirmed that there's a new GM in charge, and he won't be weak.
Human beings make mistakes, and are entitled to second chances as long as they're genuine about growing from the experience in a way that makes them a better person. Tony La Russa and his DUI in Florida last spring is an example of what I'm talking about. La Russa was ashamed by what he did, and I'd be absolutely shocked if TLR ever put himself in that irresponsible position again. He learned from his poor judgment.
But Spiezio was given many chances by the Cardinals. He was signed off the street when no one wanted him after the 2005 season. As we found out later, he was given an opportunity to get his act together early in the 2007 season, when rumors of his use of alcohol and substances began to surface. The team backed him again when he went into a rehab facility last season. They supported him again, and with a warm embrace, when he checked out of rehab and returned to the uniform. And they were behind Spiezio again by bringing him back for 2008.
At some point, he had to return that loyalty. He had to prove that he was trustworthy and reliable and honest and clean. And Spiezio failed miserably on all counts. For this knucklehead to essentially conceal the nature and magnitude of the wild spree that allegedly occured on the night of Dec. 30 in Irvine, Calif. was simply unacceptable, and unforgivable.
And this is especially true in the aftermath of Josh Hancock killing himself by driving drunk last April.
===
Spiezio's con was so good it even had him fooled
By Bryan Burwell
02/28/2008
JUPITER, FLA. — It was all unraveling before him, his life, his job and the flimsy lies he had desperately used to hold them all together. So now Scott Spiezio was in the players' parking lot at Roger Dean Stadium on Wednesday afternoon pacing anxiously with a cell phone pressed to his ear. He was animated and agitated and behaving like a cornered man, which is exactly what he was.
"He kept walking back and forth kicking the curb," said a concerned teammate who had no idea what was wrong. What was wrong was that Scott Spiezio had blown it. The Cardinals had given him a second chance after he'd missed part of last season in rehab for substance abuse. They had given him a second chance even after he'd breezed through that rehab like it was a fast food drive-through. They'd given him a second chance, and he spent the past few months telling everyone and anyone who'd listen that he was an inspiring comeback story.
And we all fell for the con. On Tuesday morning, he was on the front page of the Palm Beach Post in a touching story about how he'd turned his life around. But it was a lie and he knew it. There was an arrest warrant in California with his name on it, and now on Wednesday afternoon, it became public, and the details were beyond disturbing. The 35-year-old infielder was accused of going on a drunken binge, climbing behind the wheel of his expensive sports car, weaving dangerously through lanes into oncoming traffic, then crashing to a halt when he ran into a fence in the early morning of Dec. 30.
And then he lied to the Cardinals about it. He told them it was a car accident and nothing more, which is sort of like saying a trip on the Titanic was just a boat ride. And Wednesday Cardinals management did the absolute right thing for their organization and this troubled man. They told him he was done in a Cardinals uniform.
Yet they also sent a message that should resonate into every corner of their clubhouse, their organization and throughout Cardinals Nation. "I think there is a message," said general manager John Mozeliak. "Clearly given what is at stake, we want people to understand that ... we do have expectations about how they live their lives. Not trying to be the moral compass, but we felt it was the right thing to do for this organization."
===
Spiezio had to go — for his sake and the team's
By Jeff Gordon
02/27/2008
...The Cards must move forward without Spiezio. In baseball terms, this is a tough blow.
When healthy, Spiezio could fill in at the corner outfield and infield spots -– and play second base in a pinch. He could hit from both sides of the plate and provide power.
At his best, Spiezio could do the job of two bench players and give La Russa great tactical flexibility. His abrupt departure is just one more sign that 2008 will be a rebuilding year for the former champions.
His demise is just another unhappy development for this team. Juan Encarnacion could not make it back from his eye injury. Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder are on the mend from major surgery.
David Eckstein and Troy Percival left as free agents. Scott Rolen demanded a trade and was moved to Toronto for Troy Glaus. Mozeliak sent Jim Edmonds to San Diego in a salary dump. One by one, key veterans from a once-formidable clubhouse have gone by the wayside.
The Cards are starting over. Young infielder Brendan Ryan moves up a peg, since he can play third base in addition to shortstop and second base.
The team’s youthful outfield depth becomes more critical. Extra veterans like Brian Barden and D’Angelo Jimenez suddenly have more hope, too, as La Russa explores all his options.
As for Spiezio, well, you can only hope he finds his way. He faces the distinct possibility that his career is done.
Perhaps this stark realization will scare him straight. Nothing else has.
===
My take:
All of you that know me can only imagine the soapbox I was on late yesterday ...
He is a classic example of squandering god given talent and family connections to be able to PLAY A GAME FOR A LIVING at the Major League level. And what does he do? Takes a second chance that 99.5% of players and wanna be major leaguers never get and gives everyone around him and his fans in STL the middle finger.
AP article I read said, “Spiezio was entering the final season of a two-year, $4.5 million contract. He was released the same way most players are cut, for failure "to exhibit sufficient skill or competitive ability." That means the Cardinals owe him this year's $2.3 million salary plus a $100,000 buyout of a $2.5 million team option for 2009 -- because of that, the likelihood of a grievance by the players' union is small.”
That’s a lot Mr. Red Soul Patch Man, you lied, played us in Cardinal Nation for fools and have cost us 2.4 million dollars for the next year so you can go to a pish posh rehab resort on our dime and “find yourself”. Nicely done skipjack.
By the way, Spiez, that flushing sound you hear is your MLB career.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
2/27: Rolen, TLR, Matheny, Clement
Rolen: 'It had to happen'
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/27/2008
DUNEDIN, FLA. — Scott Rolen says he misses St. Louis, the fans and "the celebration of the game ... being a St. Louis Cardinal."
But dressed in the deep tones of a Toronto Blue Jays jersey, the one-time Cardinal for life is also visibly relieved.
"I'm happy to be here with the Blue Jays. It's a great environment. It's a fresh start. It's a new challenge with a good group of guys and a good team," offered the Jays' new third baseman. "Never in a million years did I think it would be the situation. I never wanted that situation. I was never looking for a fresh start.
"It came to a point where it had to happen. Because it had to happen, I'm glad to be where I am."
Rolen offered the same theme almost six years ago when the Cardinals rescued him from a ruined relationship with the Philadelphia Phillies. The son of the Midwest had come home. His reward was a World Series ring, a top four MVP finish and four Gold Gloves.
My take:
Whatever you big cry baby... I think we should start a pool for how many weeks/months it'll take before he starts whining about something up there in the frozen north.
===
No worries for La Russa — until they start playing
By Bryan Burwell
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/27/2008
..."You know how sometimes you watch a game and it's one of those sleepy spring training games?" the manager said. "Well, I'll be absolutely shocked if you see us play any of those. A lot of the positions in these games are being manned by guys who are playing for their lives; they're fighting to see how many at-bats they can get, how many innings will they pitch."
So La Russa walks around with his typical "glass is half-full" optimism, even though most of Cardinal Nation is full of "glass is half-empty" trepidation. We see sore arms everywhere. We see an everyday lineup banking on salvation from a former two-time MVP who hasn't taken a major-league at-bat since 2005 and has Mitchell Report whispers lingering around him.
But no one's started to keep score yet, so La Russa wants us to squint a bit and share his vision. "I'm not blowing smoke," he says. "I'm optimistic, and here's the difference. If I said right now that we're as good a club as there is in baseball that would be nonsense, because we've done nothing to establish that. But here's what I do know: We're going to play hard enough. I just don't know if we're going to play good enough. We'll have to wait to see how that all works out. But I can tell you this: Playing hard enough can be a very attractive thing."
It's February, and no one's started to keep score. Let's check back with him again in June and see if he still feels that way.
===
Matheny leaves, but Cards hope he returns
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/27/2008
JUPITER, Fla. -- Former Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny spent his last day in spring training Tuesday, but he’s been told the door is open for his return.
The Cardinals and manager Tony La Russa hope that Matheny, a former Gold Glove winner, will drop by the ballpark during home stands and continue his work with the catchers.
My take:
Matheny went on to say something about the next 10 years were for his kids which is pretty awesome. Wouldn't surprise me to see him wander in and out of Cardinal stuff for a few years before taking on a more official role...
===
Cards Notebook: Clement update
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/27/2008
JUPITER, Fla. -- Righthander Matt Clement is scheduled to throw his last long toss today before returning to the mound this week and restarting his progression toward games.
Clement, coming off shoulder surgery, had his schedule rewritten around a long-toss program to improve his arm strength.
"There’s a big difference," he said. "It’s a matter of now being able to get out there and go with high intensity and stay with it, rather than just going out there and just doing it."
My take:
At this rate, maybe the Ticket Office should look at a Pitcher Rehab Weekend Ticket Package in July. Carp could start the Saturday game and Clement the Sunday one. Brutal.
===
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/27/2008
DUNEDIN, FLA. — Scott Rolen says he misses St. Louis, the fans and "the celebration of the game ... being a St. Louis Cardinal."
But dressed in the deep tones of a Toronto Blue Jays jersey, the one-time Cardinal for life is also visibly relieved.
"I'm happy to be here with the Blue Jays. It's a great environment. It's a fresh start. It's a new challenge with a good group of guys and a good team," offered the Jays' new third baseman. "Never in a million years did I think it would be the situation. I never wanted that situation. I was never looking for a fresh start.
"It came to a point where it had to happen. Because it had to happen, I'm glad to be where I am."
Rolen offered the same theme almost six years ago when the Cardinals rescued him from a ruined relationship with the Philadelphia Phillies. The son of the Midwest had come home. His reward was a World Series ring, a top four MVP finish and four Gold Gloves.
My take:
Whatever you big cry baby... I think we should start a pool for how many weeks/months it'll take before he starts whining about something up there in the frozen north.
===
No worries for La Russa — until they start playing
By Bryan Burwell
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/27/2008
..."You know how sometimes you watch a game and it's one of those sleepy spring training games?" the manager said. "Well, I'll be absolutely shocked if you see us play any of those. A lot of the positions in these games are being manned by guys who are playing for their lives; they're fighting to see how many at-bats they can get, how many innings will they pitch."
So La Russa walks around with his typical "glass is half-full" optimism, even though most of Cardinal Nation is full of "glass is half-empty" trepidation. We see sore arms everywhere. We see an everyday lineup banking on salvation from a former two-time MVP who hasn't taken a major-league at-bat since 2005 and has Mitchell Report whispers lingering around him.
But no one's started to keep score yet, so La Russa wants us to squint a bit and share his vision. "I'm not blowing smoke," he says. "I'm optimistic, and here's the difference. If I said right now that we're as good a club as there is in baseball that would be nonsense, because we've done nothing to establish that. But here's what I do know: We're going to play hard enough. I just don't know if we're going to play good enough. We'll have to wait to see how that all works out. But I can tell you this: Playing hard enough can be a very attractive thing."
It's February, and no one's started to keep score. Let's check back with him again in June and see if he still feels that way.
===
Matheny leaves, but Cards hope he returns
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/27/2008
JUPITER, Fla. -- Former Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny spent his last day in spring training Tuesday, but he’s been told the door is open for his return.
The Cardinals and manager Tony La Russa hope that Matheny, a former Gold Glove winner, will drop by the ballpark during home stands and continue his work with the catchers.
My take:
Matheny went on to say something about the next 10 years were for his kids which is pretty awesome. Wouldn't surprise me to see him wander in and out of Cardinal stuff for a few years before taking on a more official role...
===
Cards Notebook: Clement update
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/27/2008
JUPITER, Fla. -- Righthander Matt Clement is scheduled to throw his last long toss today before returning to the mound this week and restarting his progression toward games.
Clement, coming off shoulder surgery, had his schedule rewritten around a long-toss program to improve his arm strength.
"There’s a big difference," he said. "It’s a matter of now being able to get out there and go with high intensity and stay with it, rather than just going out there and just doing it."
My take:
At this rate, maybe the Ticket Office should look at a Pitcher Rehab Weekend Ticket Package in July. Carp could start the Saturday game and Clement the Sunday one. Brutal.
===
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
2/26: TLR, Bonds, Walker, Wainwright
La Russa on McGwire, others in Mitchell Report
By Bryan Burwell
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/26/2008
Q: You have more than your fair share of Mitchell Report guys on this team. Does it bother you that there's a perception that you give safe harbor to steroid guys?
La Russa: "No, and I'll tell you why not. One way I was taught to survive is my No. 1 accountability factor is myself. This is my 30th year doing this at the major league level. There isn't anybody — the commissioner, our owner, the fans, you — there isn't any person, man or woman, who can make me any more accountable than I am now right now because of myself. And I know there isn't anything we've done in all those years that was — with one small exception where we stole signs, a little hiccup — there isn't anything else that has happened on our ballclubs in Oakland or St. Louis that there's a hint of illegality. There isn't anything that we didn't actively and proactively attempt to do it right."
Q: But that's not what most of us think.
La Russa: "You're missing my point. If I'm going to base the way I survive on everything that others think, I have no chance."
Dyer Perspective:
This is a great article and if you have time, go to stltoday.com to read the rest of the story.
===
La Russa wanted to pursue Bonds
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/25/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — The possibility of free agent home run king Barry Bonds hitting behind Albert Pujols in the Cardinals' batting order remained intriguing enough this winter for manager Tony La Russa to take the idea to general manager John Mozeliak and team owners a second consecutive year, La Russa confirmed Sunday.
And for a second straight winter, the idea died in committee.
"When you look at somebody dangerous to hit behind Albert, Barry was the guy I thought of," La Russa acknowledged before Sunday's workout. "For whatever reason, at the general manager or the ownership level, they didn't agree."
La Russa said he consulted his coaching staff before making the recommendation and received a positive response from some, but not all.
Any intrigue surrounding the possibility evaporated when Mozeliak concurred with the owners that signing Bonds would run counter to the club's stated commitment this season to younger players.
"It became moot as soon as I raised it and they said no," La Russa said.
Mozeliak confirmed discussing the matter as well as underscoring his lack of enthusiasm for the idea.
"Tony and I discussed it. I never got the feeling this was something he wanted to push for. He had some interest in it," Mozeliak said. "To me, to bring in somebody as protection in case something happened is a very different equation."
Dyer Perspective:
What in the hell Tony - did you do a Coder and slip and fall in the shower and bust your head? The last thing we need in St. Louis right now is a clubhouse distracting, big headed, overly-hyped, needle pushing, asteriked Barry Bonds. The man is a Carnivale Sideshow that Cardinal Nation wants absolutely NOTHING to do with. Nice job Mo, you’ve got my unwavering support on this issue.
===
Walker weighs in on steroids era
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/26/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — When the report that called into question the era in which he starred became public, former Cardinal Larry Walker shared a laugh with a few neighbors.
"Gee, I might go into the Hall of Fame now," Walker said he joked. "There's nobody left from when I retired. I'm the only one that year who didn't get busted."
He jests and exaggerates, but he may have a point.
Walker, who retired in 2005, joined the Cardinals' spring training Monday as a guest coach. He'll make a few appearances this week — working with outfielders, throwing batting practice and cracking wise — and then be a regular around workouts later in March. From 1995 to 2002, no hitter had a better average than Walker's .341 for Colorado. He won three batting titles (hitting .350 or better for each) and won the MVP in 1997, the eve of baseball's brawniest summer.
The Mitchell Report identifies the late 1990s and early 2000s as the time steroids and other banned substances took root in the game and became "widespread." The stain of steroid allegations has already affected Hall of Fame voting, so could it have the opposite effect on bubble candidates like Walker, who had seven Gold Gloves to go with a .313 average and 383 homers in a career hampered by injury?
"If I stuck a needle in me, then there was pancake batter in it, not steroids," Walker joked. He then said: "Do I feel good that I did it clean? My feeling on the steroid thing (is) if it wasn't banned, then what's the problem? I think once they started testing, once they banned it from the sport, why don't they go forward from there instead of digging into the past to see what happened?
"I don't know what the politically correct thing to say on this topic is," Walker continued. "That's just my opinion."
Dyer Perspective: Pancake batter?
===
Wainwright seems set for opening day
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/25/2008
JUPITER, Fla. -- The Cardinals are reluctant to confirm the obvious, but Adam Wainwright is set to be the club’s opening day starter.
The righthander, and proxy ace of the staff, will make his spring debut Friday against the New York Mets.
Holding to the Cardinals’ current rotation, Wainwright would be on turn to start March 31 at Busch Stadium against the defending National League champions, the Colorado Rockies, in the regular-season opener.
Dyer Perspective:
Thank God Aaron Miles is back. We may need him this year on the mound at this rate...
===
And, Boom Goes The Dynamite
Contributing Editor: El Birdos
Yadier Molina offered this startling revelation when ask to asses starting pitcher Anthony Reyes.
"When he can locate every pitch, he's totally different."
Dyer Perspective:
Nice observation there Yadi and a tip of the cap to Lt. Dan for the new column.
By Bryan Burwell
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/26/2008
Q: You have more than your fair share of Mitchell Report guys on this team. Does it bother you that there's a perception that you give safe harbor to steroid guys?
La Russa: "No, and I'll tell you why not. One way I was taught to survive is my No. 1 accountability factor is myself. This is my 30th year doing this at the major league level. There isn't anybody — the commissioner, our owner, the fans, you — there isn't any person, man or woman, who can make me any more accountable than I am now right now because of myself. And I know there isn't anything we've done in all those years that was — with one small exception where we stole signs, a little hiccup — there isn't anything else that has happened on our ballclubs in Oakland or St. Louis that there's a hint of illegality. There isn't anything that we didn't actively and proactively attempt to do it right."
Q: But that's not what most of us think.
La Russa: "You're missing my point. If I'm going to base the way I survive on everything that others think, I have no chance."
Dyer Perspective:
This is a great article and if you have time, go to stltoday.com to read the rest of the story.
===
La Russa wanted to pursue Bonds
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/25/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — The possibility of free agent home run king Barry Bonds hitting behind Albert Pujols in the Cardinals' batting order remained intriguing enough this winter for manager Tony La Russa to take the idea to general manager John Mozeliak and team owners a second consecutive year, La Russa confirmed Sunday.
And for a second straight winter, the idea died in committee.
"When you look at somebody dangerous to hit behind Albert, Barry was the guy I thought of," La Russa acknowledged before Sunday's workout. "For whatever reason, at the general manager or the ownership level, they didn't agree."
La Russa said he consulted his coaching staff before making the recommendation and received a positive response from some, but not all.
Any intrigue surrounding the possibility evaporated when Mozeliak concurred with the owners that signing Bonds would run counter to the club's stated commitment this season to younger players.
"It became moot as soon as I raised it and they said no," La Russa said.
Mozeliak confirmed discussing the matter as well as underscoring his lack of enthusiasm for the idea.
"Tony and I discussed it. I never got the feeling this was something he wanted to push for. He had some interest in it," Mozeliak said. "To me, to bring in somebody as protection in case something happened is a very different equation."
Dyer Perspective:
What in the hell Tony - did you do a Coder and slip and fall in the shower and bust your head? The last thing we need in St. Louis right now is a clubhouse distracting, big headed, overly-hyped, needle pushing, asteriked Barry Bonds. The man is a Carnivale Sideshow that Cardinal Nation wants absolutely NOTHING to do with. Nice job Mo, you’ve got my unwavering support on this issue.
===
Walker weighs in on steroids era
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/26/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — When the report that called into question the era in which he starred became public, former Cardinal Larry Walker shared a laugh with a few neighbors.
"Gee, I might go into the Hall of Fame now," Walker said he joked. "There's nobody left from when I retired. I'm the only one that year who didn't get busted."
He jests and exaggerates, but he may have a point.
Walker, who retired in 2005, joined the Cardinals' spring training Monday as a guest coach. He'll make a few appearances this week — working with outfielders, throwing batting practice and cracking wise — and then be a regular around workouts later in March. From 1995 to 2002, no hitter had a better average than Walker's .341 for Colorado. He won three batting titles (hitting .350 or better for each) and won the MVP in 1997, the eve of baseball's brawniest summer.
The Mitchell Report identifies the late 1990s and early 2000s as the time steroids and other banned substances took root in the game and became "widespread." The stain of steroid allegations has already affected Hall of Fame voting, so could it have the opposite effect on bubble candidates like Walker, who had seven Gold Gloves to go with a .313 average and 383 homers in a career hampered by injury?
"If I stuck a needle in me, then there was pancake batter in it, not steroids," Walker joked. He then said: "Do I feel good that I did it clean? My feeling on the steroid thing (is) if it wasn't banned, then what's the problem? I think once they started testing, once they banned it from the sport, why don't they go forward from there instead of digging into the past to see what happened?
"I don't know what the politically correct thing to say on this topic is," Walker continued. "That's just my opinion."
Dyer Perspective: Pancake batter?
===
Wainwright seems set for opening day
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/25/2008
JUPITER, Fla. -- The Cardinals are reluctant to confirm the obvious, but Adam Wainwright is set to be the club’s opening day starter.
The righthander, and proxy ace of the staff, will make his spring debut Friday against the New York Mets.
Holding to the Cardinals’ current rotation, Wainwright would be on turn to start March 31 at Busch Stadium against the defending National League champions, the Colorado Rockies, in the regular-season opener.
Dyer Perspective:
Thank God Aaron Miles is back. We may need him this year on the mound at this rate...
===
And, Boom Goes The Dynamite
Contributing Editor: El Birdos
Yadier Molina offered this startling revelation when ask to asses starting pitcher Anthony Reyes.
"When he can locate every pitch, he's totally different."
Dyer Perspective:
Nice observation there Yadi and a tip of the cap to Lt. Dan for the new column.
Friday, February 22, 2008
2/22: Ryan, Kinney, TLR, Izzy, Spring Outlook
Ryan feels a hunger to return
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/22/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — Brendan Ryan tries to calm himself, but it's little use.
Here, in his third major-league camp, Ryan represents something of a test case within an organization that has pledged to create more opportunities for younger players. He is still 25, coming off a solid rookie year in which he showed well offensively, and offers the versatility a transitioning Cardinals team claims to embrace.
In many ways Ryan is the canary in the clubhouse. When the club re-signed utility player Aaron Miles and free-agent shortstop Cesar Izturis, it created a middle-infield logjam daunting to a player with only 180 major-league at-bats.
"I could be in a much worse position," Ryan says. "But we've got a lot of middle infielders on the roster. If you do the math, I'm in a pretty tough spot."
Unless manager Tony La Russa opts to keep only four outfielders — a possibility he all but dismissed earlier this week — Ryan would become, as he calls it, "odd man out."
Dyer Perspective:
Kennedy will fall flat, Miles will start 2B and Ryan will be a reserve on the bench in the first month of the season.
===
Kinney continues down road to recovery
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/22/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — So much has happened since Josh Kinney last threw a pitch with major-league purpose — an entire season, for one — and he still has so far to go before he does again.
Like his elbow, his patience is tested with every bit of rehab.
"I feel good, I feel real good," said Kinney, who is recovering from elbow ligament replacement surgery done last spring. "But I have to ease back, because I felt good (last fall) too and had a setback. Intensity isn't a main priority right now. Repetition is."
Kinney is scheduled to upgrade to 45 pitches off the mound today, but he is under strict orders to throw at around 60 percent of full effort. The righthanded reliever does not expect to be ready for opening day, and it's possible he'll begin his season on a rehab assignment. While he continues to expand his workouts on the mound, Kinney said it will be a couple of weeks before he incorporates a breaking ball and could be a month before he's game ready.
===
La Russa stresses better defense
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/22/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — Hidden behind a starting rotation that wheezed and stammered through last season was a defense that didn't do it any favors.
A staple of the Cardinals' October-bound teams earlier this decade was sterling defensive play, which helped to turn a groundball-happy pitching staff into a successful pitching staff. And then there was 2007.
It put an end to the summers of glove.
"That is why there will be a defensive emphasis in this camp," manager Tony La Russa said this week. "We have to be more consistent. Our defense was several levels below what we've been accustomed to."
Led by the addition of former Gold Glove shortstop Cesar Izturis, the Cardinals hope to perform a defensive revival this season. When there is an opening in the daily schedule, La Russa plugs it with defensive work. That has meant more scheduled time for Izturis to spin double plays with Adam Kennedy, and more short-hop drills for Kennedy and the other second basemen, like they had Thursday.
===
Izzy takes pals on excellent RV adventure
By Derrick Goold
02/22/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — Boredom is the fuel of so many road trips.
Jason Isringhausen and a few other Cardinals pitchers let the tedium of the early daze of February take them places a few weeks ago. Here they sat around the spring training clubhouse, realizing that there weren’t many teammates around, there wasn’t anything to do on a Saturday night and, dadgum, none of them planned to work out on Sunday anyway. So, Isringhausen organized the obvious.
They were going to go RV’ing.
“There weren’t that many people here, there wasn’t that much to do,” Isringhausen said. “Seemed like a thing to do.”
And where else do you take an RV than … the infield at Daytona.
Isringhausen scored passes for the 30th annual Budweiser Shootout at the Daytona International Speedway. He had a 37-foot RV delivered from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and in piled a group of pitchers: Isringhausen, Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, Todd Wellemeyer and two of his buddies, Adam Wainwright, and bullpen coach Marty Mason. Isringhausen’s dog, Sierra Nevada (yes, you guessed it), also hopped aboard. They packed the standard-issue folding chairs for the kickback atop the RV. They bought some small grills to short-order cookout. They sought flags to fly like the other RVs. And they packed some coolers full of “concessions,” Mason said.
“We acted like your average redneck,” Mason said. “Just go with it.”
Dyer Perspective:
Priceless quote from Mason.
===
Cardinals: Spring Outlook
By Scott Miller
CBSSports.com Senior Writer
Things can't be worse this spring for the Cardinals than last, when manager Tony La Russa was socked with a DUI arrest and things went downhill from there. On the other hand, things aren't significantly better, either. The Cards have downgraded at shortstop with Cesar Izturis over David Eckstein. They didn't exactly cover themselves in glory in trading Scott Rolen to Toronto for Troy Glaus. Two of their best starters -- Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder -- won't be ready on opening day and part of this spring will be about evaluating whether phenom Colby Rasmus, 21, is ready for The Show. That's part of why they traded Jim Edmonds to San Diego. Mulder isn't expected back before May and Carpenter is out until at least the All-Star break. Ah well, at least one-time slugger Juan Gonzalez is riding in to the rescue. Let's see whether he's got anything left this spring.
Dyer Perspective:
Damn. You spell it out like that and I'm starting to think my friend Adam Zapple might be writing for CBS Sportsline under a Scott Miller pen name! It's Spring Training so hope of course springs eternal -- I do think we'll be better than most give us credit for and it'll be an interesting season for sure.
===
CBS Sportsline
The Sports Xchange
TOP CANDIDATE TO SURPRISE
2B Adam Kennedy is coming off the worst year of his career at .219. He finished the season on the disabled list after knee surgery. Presumably healthy, Kennedy should be more comfortable in his second season back in the National League, although, if Kennedy struggles early, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa isn't likely to go too long with him with Aaron Miles in reserve.
TOP CANDIDATE TO DISAPPOINT
RHP Braden Looper won 12 games in his first year as a starter but must improve his nighttime record of 5-11 with a 6.75 ERA. A 4.94 overall ERA doesn't suggest he would win 12 games again.
AUTHORITY FIGURES
Tony La Russa has 2,375 wins (2,070 losses), ranking him third all-time in managerial victories. He is very much a hands-on manager, although he will let pitching coach Dave Duncan make many of the decisions in that category. La Russa is comfortable with his six-man coaching staff, which has been together for five years.
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/22/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — Brendan Ryan tries to calm himself, but it's little use.
Here, in his third major-league camp, Ryan represents something of a test case within an organization that has pledged to create more opportunities for younger players. He is still 25, coming off a solid rookie year in which he showed well offensively, and offers the versatility a transitioning Cardinals team claims to embrace.
In many ways Ryan is the canary in the clubhouse. When the club re-signed utility player Aaron Miles and free-agent shortstop Cesar Izturis, it created a middle-infield logjam daunting to a player with only 180 major-league at-bats.
"I could be in a much worse position," Ryan says. "But we've got a lot of middle infielders on the roster. If you do the math, I'm in a pretty tough spot."
Unless manager Tony La Russa opts to keep only four outfielders — a possibility he all but dismissed earlier this week — Ryan would become, as he calls it, "odd man out."
Dyer Perspective:
Kennedy will fall flat, Miles will start 2B and Ryan will be a reserve on the bench in the first month of the season.
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Kinney continues down road to recovery
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/22/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — So much has happened since Josh Kinney last threw a pitch with major-league purpose — an entire season, for one — and he still has so far to go before he does again.
Like his elbow, his patience is tested with every bit of rehab.
"I feel good, I feel real good," said Kinney, who is recovering from elbow ligament replacement surgery done last spring. "But I have to ease back, because I felt good (last fall) too and had a setback. Intensity isn't a main priority right now. Repetition is."
Kinney is scheduled to upgrade to 45 pitches off the mound today, but he is under strict orders to throw at around 60 percent of full effort. The righthanded reliever does not expect to be ready for opening day, and it's possible he'll begin his season on a rehab assignment. While he continues to expand his workouts on the mound, Kinney said it will be a couple of weeks before he incorporates a breaking ball and could be a month before he's game ready.
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La Russa stresses better defense
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/22/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — Hidden behind a starting rotation that wheezed and stammered through last season was a defense that didn't do it any favors.
A staple of the Cardinals' October-bound teams earlier this decade was sterling defensive play, which helped to turn a groundball-happy pitching staff into a successful pitching staff. And then there was 2007.
It put an end to the summers of glove.
"That is why there will be a defensive emphasis in this camp," manager Tony La Russa said this week. "We have to be more consistent. Our defense was several levels below what we've been accustomed to."
Led by the addition of former Gold Glove shortstop Cesar Izturis, the Cardinals hope to perform a defensive revival this season. When there is an opening in the daily schedule, La Russa plugs it with defensive work. That has meant more scheduled time for Izturis to spin double plays with Adam Kennedy, and more short-hop drills for Kennedy and the other second basemen, like they had Thursday.
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Izzy takes pals on excellent RV adventure
By Derrick Goold
02/22/2008
JUPITER, Fla. — Boredom is the fuel of so many road trips.
Jason Isringhausen and a few other Cardinals pitchers let the tedium of the early daze of February take them places a few weeks ago. Here they sat around the spring training clubhouse, realizing that there weren’t many teammates around, there wasn’t anything to do on a Saturday night and, dadgum, none of them planned to work out on Sunday anyway. So, Isringhausen organized the obvious.
They were going to go RV’ing.
“There weren’t that many people here, there wasn’t that much to do,” Isringhausen said. “Seemed like a thing to do.”
And where else do you take an RV than … the infield at Daytona.
Isringhausen scored passes for the 30th annual Budweiser Shootout at the Daytona International Speedway. He had a 37-foot RV delivered from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and in piled a group of pitchers: Isringhausen, Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, Todd Wellemeyer and two of his buddies, Adam Wainwright, and bullpen coach Marty Mason. Isringhausen’s dog, Sierra Nevada (yes, you guessed it), also hopped aboard. They packed the standard-issue folding chairs for the kickback atop the RV. They bought some small grills to short-order cookout. They sought flags to fly like the other RVs. And they packed some coolers full of “concessions,” Mason said.
“We acted like your average redneck,” Mason said. “Just go with it.”
Dyer Perspective:
Priceless quote from Mason.
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Cardinals: Spring Outlook
By Scott Miller
CBSSports.com Senior Writer
Things can't be worse this spring for the Cardinals than last, when manager Tony La Russa was socked with a DUI arrest and things went downhill from there. On the other hand, things aren't significantly better, either. The Cards have downgraded at shortstop with Cesar Izturis over David Eckstein. They didn't exactly cover themselves in glory in trading Scott Rolen to Toronto for Troy Glaus. Two of their best starters -- Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder -- won't be ready on opening day and part of this spring will be about evaluating whether phenom Colby Rasmus, 21, is ready for The Show. That's part of why they traded Jim Edmonds to San Diego. Mulder isn't expected back before May and Carpenter is out until at least the All-Star break. Ah well, at least one-time slugger Juan Gonzalez is riding in to the rescue. Let's see whether he's got anything left this spring.
Dyer Perspective:
Damn. You spell it out like that and I'm starting to think my friend Adam Zapple might be writing for CBS Sportsline under a Scott Miller pen name! It's Spring Training so hope of course springs eternal -- I do think we'll be better than most give us credit for and it'll be an interesting season for sure.
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CBS Sportsline
The Sports Xchange
TOP CANDIDATE TO SURPRISE
2B Adam Kennedy is coming off the worst year of his career at .219. He finished the season on the disabled list after knee surgery. Presumably healthy, Kennedy should be more comfortable in his second season back in the National League, although, if Kennedy struggles early, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa isn't likely to go too long with him with Aaron Miles in reserve.
TOP CANDIDATE TO DISAPPOINT
RHP Braden Looper won 12 games in his first year as a starter but must improve his nighttime record of 5-11 with a 6.75 ERA. A 4.94 overall ERA doesn't suggest he would win 12 games again.
AUTHORITY FIGURES
Tony La Russa has 2,375 wins (2,070 losses), ranking him third all-time in managerial victories. He is very much a hands-on manager, although he will let pitching coach Dave Duncan make many of the decisions in that category. La Russa is comfortable with his six-man coaching staff, which has been together for five years.
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