Baby, it's hot outside.

06/27/2012

Cardinals 3 Marlins 5

Dear Cards,

We lost the last game of the road trip, but it still feels as though this team is trending upwards. This is a good thing since the Pirates are in town today, and they are currently a half game ahead of the Cardinals.

This is a big weekend, boys. We can move into second place! 

I loved the team that played the last six games of this road trip-- I never felt as if the team had given up or was truly out of game.

Perhaps I should amend that statement: I love the team, hate the BLOWpen for messing up the team's winning swagger.

'Til Later

"Happy Flight!" meter: 11/20

Thrown into the 'ssippi: The 'pen

Turning into a good road trip

06/26/2012

Cardinals 5 Marlins 2

 

Dear Redbirds,

 

Is it wrong that I'm shocked that Motte didn't blow the game yesterday?

 

You can berate me for my little faith.

With yesterday's win, we've won two series in a row, I hope we can keep this up!

'Til Later!

Strange Happenings and Comeback Victories!

06/25/2012

Cardinals 8 Marlins 7

Dear Redbirds,

Even though we were down 6-2 heading to the ninth inning, I knew that we were going to tie the game up.  It just did not feel like a loss, the same way that Game 6 of the World Series never felt like a loss.

 

I went ballistic when Yadi's game tying two-run homer cleared the left-field fence.  I did full party dance and jungle-girl yell. 

A few words about Irony: the Double-Switch Mishap 

What was supposed to happen:

Freese (batting 7th, playing fifth position, i.e. third base) leaves the game, and pitcher Victor Marte takes his spot in the batting order.  Meanwhile, Daniel Descalso moves from second base (4th position) to third base.

What actually did happen:

Communication Issues

Everything occurred as it should, except for the small fact that the home plate umpire, Bob Davidson, penciled Victor Marte into fifth spot on the batting order, not the seventh as Mike intended. This meant that the player batting fifth, Allen Craig should be out the game and not playing first.   Ozzie Guillen alerted umpire.  When the dust settled-- and Bob Davidson had admitted that the mishap was his fault to Guillen--  Craig still had to leave the game and Tony Cruz entered the game to play first (and bat seventh).  Of course, Mike Matheny stated in his post game conference that it was his fault because he guessed somehow the number five came up in the conversation.  All I have to say, is that the man must be super clear next time and stick to numbers when talking about the line up and position names when talking about fielding positions.

Fox Sports Midwest was on the audio, last night.  They have a clear recording of umpire Balkin' Bob Davidson telling Ozzie, "He told me seven, I [expletive] it up." Great thing they caught that, because Cardinal nation would be going crazy on Mike Matheny right now, even with the win.

Ozzie Guillen was beyond happy to get Allen Craig's bat out of the line up last night. I don't blame him:  the game was possibly headed to extras, Allen Craig has pop in his bat, and the Cardinals were out of position players. 

How ironic that the fifth spot Allen Craig vacated would bat in the next inning with the bases loaded.  How funny that  rookie pitcher Joe Kelly managed to get his first MLB hit and RBI on an infield hit to the shortstop.  Joe Kelly is fast.  That was a sweet hit, I'll love to have a moment like that as my first hit in The Show. 

But the funniest thing about the whole deal is the fact that Joe Kelly's hit was the game winner.

Til Later!

Payback is fun

06/24/2012

Cardinals 11 Royals 8

Hey Royals,

Payback is a [expletive], ain't it?  Yeah, ya'll came to the Lou last weekend and took two of three from us, but we sure did a number on you this weekend in KC, didn't we?  We put that good beating on you--outscoring you 30 to 14.  Ouch.

Honestly you got lucky because  those eight runs you all scored yesterday made the point spread look better for you.

Dearest Redbirds,

This weekend was so much fun.  I'll admit that I was worried a bit yesterday. You followed part of the old baseball adage "score early and often," by taking a 5-2 lead in the second inning, and then you just sat around and let the Royals tied the game before you decided to score often.

You scored in five of nine innings, yesterday, which makes me happy.  Three of those five innings were crooked numbers which makes me even happier!

'Til Later, men.

"Happy Flight!" meter: 11/19

One Thing...

06/23/2012

Cardinals 8 Royals 2

Dear Redbirds,

Two wins in a row. Wow!  I wouldn't mind if you guys keep this up.

I love winning. I especially love winning big.

Til Later.

Welcome Back, Cardinals!

06/22/2012

Cardinals 11 Royals 4

Dear Jon Jay and Matt Carpenter,

So glad to see you two back! 

My dad claims the reason the Cardinals scored 10 runs in the first two innings last night was due to the "power" of Jon Jay.  He believes Jon Jay is the "X-factor," and that the team wins more with him in it.  I think I heard some stats that actually supports, but I  can't be bothered to look them up right now.

Til Later!

I wish...

06/21/2012

Cardinals 1 Tigers 2

Final/10

Dear Cardinals,

This is my wish:

• I wish we hadn't lost on a bases loaded single that happened after a bloop hit and hit batsman.
• I wish that we were winning more especially since our starters are pitching well.
• I wish that Mike Matheny would keep Carlos Beltran in the three-hole.
• I wish we could win one run games.
• I wish we could win in extra innings.
• I wish that we stop making silly mental lapses.
• I wish that we had fewer injuries, and I hope that when injured players return the team actually plays at the level its capable of  and doesn't go through anything flukey.

And finally, it is just a game, so I hope that you all remember that and have fun regardless of what individual or team numbers look like, because this team plays best loose.

Til Later

"Happy Flight!" meter: 10/18

I'm in a State of Shock

06/20/2012

Cardinals 3 Tigers 1

Dear Westbrook,

Your performance last night has left me in shock.  Color me impressed and surprised-- I really didn't see you throwing a complete game against the Tigers!  Plus, the run that crossed the plate was unearned.  I bet your ERA is in better shape now. 

*Off to search for statistical proof*

I'm back. You had 4.27 ERA and a 5-6 record going into last night, after last night your ERA 3.83 and your record is at .500!  Plus, you got a hug from Yadi.  (That's a win in any girl's book.)

Til Later!

Longest Day of the Year!

06/19/2012

Cardinals 3 Tigers 6

Dear Cardinals,

Back to .500. Yea!  Not really, considering we were a game over .500.

I guess I should be impressed this team managed to score against Verlander. It's almost like a victory.

I wonder if this season will EVER turn around and if it does, when will it?

Meanwhile, lets not talk about Baseball:

Today is the first day of summer! That means that this is longest day of sunlight we will have all year! I love sunlight and I love summer.

One of the first things I do when I wake up in the morning these days is open my curtains.  When I do, I am greeted by a line from Shakespeare's Sonnet 18:  Summer's lease hath all too short a date.

I taped it to my window to remind myself to squeeze the most living I can out of my favorite season, and to remind myself to observe the beauty of God's creation in all its summer splendor.

Til Later

Another Extra Inning Loss

06/17/2012

Royals 5 Cardinals 3

Final/15

Dear Cardinals,

There's nothing to say that except we were outplayed. Again.  And Jason Motte blew another save, leading to the longest game of this year.

It felt like the game time for this game was longer than that one 20 inning game vs the Mets, but apparently that game was nearly seven hours long while this one was five.  We also loss that game but it was actually interesting watching teams fail to score for 18 consecutive innings.

What sucks is that I knew Jason Motte was going to get two outs and then give up a home run. Gut feeling.  

When are things going to start going our way again?

Til Later

"Happy Flight!" meter: 10/17

We end the week 3-3.

06/16/2012

Royals 7 Cardinals 10

Dear Redbirds,

Hey! We played .500 for this week.

I wonder how it will feel if we played above .500 next week. (Hint, Hint).

This was an odd game because we had a big lead early and the pitching gave it up (maybe that isn't so odd), and then we fought back and regained the lead (which I'll like to see more of this year.)

It was a fun game.

Love ya'll.

Til Later.

2/5 for the week

06/15/2012

Royals 3 Cardinals 2

Dear 'birds,

Yes, this is late. Today's game has already been played.  

This post is late because I worked today and I was too tired to write it last night.

I have to say... last night was an exciting loss.  Its always weird for me when I enjoy a loss.  This one left me smiling because of Tyler Greene's mad dash home after he stole second and took third on a errant throw.

We came thisclose to tying the ballgame on that play.  It was the last out, but it left me smiling because of the adrenaline and hope and possibility and-- could it be!-- that occurred in the moment Tyler Greene took a chance.

Til Later.

A.C. cranks up, Freese comes through 2/4

06/14/2012

White Sox 3 Cardinals 5

Dear Redbirds,

We are .500 for the week! Yes!

I love those times when...

• Allen Craig (that is A.C.) gets a  hit and David Freese comes through and picks up an RBI. Tonight this happened twice.
• Starters have quality starts.  Westbrook pitch well tonight.  It was a little upsetting that his stuff went to crap in the  sixth inning with only 67 pitches thrown, but he did throw six complete innings and allowed 3 runs-- which is the definition of  "quality start." It's just if a starter has 67 pitches through six innings, one would expect him to still be throwing well and going deeper into ball games. Luckily...
• The bullpen comes through and allowed no runs.
• I am not hyperventilating because the opposition has the bases loaded with no outs in the ninth inning of a close game, because the closer throws only 7 pitches and retires the first three batters in the ninth inning.
• The game ends before 10 pm, because I have to be at work at six  in the morning the next day and I can write this post before I head to bed.

Good night... but since I'm setting this to post in the morning... good morning!

Love ya'll.

Til Later

Yea! 1 for 3

 06/03/2012

White Sox 0 Cardinals 1

Dear 'birds,

Great win last night! You know, I always enjoy good pitching (if we're on the inning side of it-- Santana's no-hitter a few weeks ago was painful). 

Lance Lynn-- Dude, you were amazing when you pitched around that lead off triple in the fifth inning, reaching down and firing your power pitches to strike out the side.  You currently are tied for the lead in wins... it's funny how no one saw this coming.  From what I've gathered, you were a control pitcher who had high strikeout totals in the minors, and then this past year you discovered that you could throw your fastball pretty hard, morphing from Lance Lynn the The Lance Lynn.  Very curious.

Jason Motte-- Loved your reaction when you got that double play to end the game. Priceless!

Carlos Beltran-- I read you were hurting last night, but you still managed to score the only run of the game, and you had three of the Cardinals four hits (Freese had one).

Love you all.

Til Later.

PS. I went to the zoo today and saw quite a few Chicago White Sox fans enjoying the animals.

Keeping the Faith. 0/2 for the week

Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe, It is not enough that a thing be possible for it to be believed. 

Voltaire

You have to understand that life and baseball is littered with all kinds of obstacles and problems along the way. You have to learn how to overcome them to be successful in life.

Dave Winfield

06/12/2012

White Sox 6 Cardinals 1

Dear 'birds,

I can't get over how poorly you all have been playing. I can't get over how little you all have been winning.

What is going on!?

After a botched double play last night lead to the Sox scoring the first two runs of the game, Mike Shannon said this: If you play the game properly, good things will happen to you.

So true.

Love ya still, but know  that you're officially an embarrassment.

Til Later

0/1 in wins thus far this week

06/10/2012

Indians 4 Cardinals 1

Dear Cardinals,

Maybe I'm faithless.  Maybe I'm pessimistic. Or maybe I'm a realist.

But what I know I am right.  I was correct in assuming that some point while playing the Indians, the guy we kept over Indians closer and former Cardinal Chris Perez, current Cardinals closer Jason Motte, would give up runs and lead to us losing the game.  I knew that Chris Perez would come in and shut down the Cardinals.

Motte gave up 3 runs in the top of the ninth, and Perez shut the door in the bottom of the ninth.

I hate being right sometimes, but it's good to know that my intuition is sharp.  

Perhaps the worse part about Sunday's loss is the fact that we had the bases loaded in the eighth and failed to score.

This team is not good at comebacks like last year's was all year.

Love.

Til Later.

They're Still Dead

06/09/2012

Indians 0 Cardinals 2

Dear Redbirds,

You all are still dead.  Flat lining.  Doctors are trying to recover your pulse and all that jazz.

Just to clarify: You aren't dead to me because I'm a masochist. You're just obviously done for the season, understood?

Now tell me why this can't happen more than once in a blue moon:

• A starter pitches 7 and 2/3 innings (GO KLo!), and we only use two relievers.  Why can't this happen every night?  Or at least most days a week?  Why can't our starters throw at least 7 innings each time they pitch? Why do I keep asking these questions? 

This is why you're dead, 'birds:

• If the season ended today, you wouldn't even be one of the two wildcards, losers.

I love ya'll.  Really I do. All I have to do is turn on my television and you provide free (well, that's debatable-- costs me my sanity) entertainment. 

On guarding the heart and distancing yourself from the team whilst waiting 'for the other shoe to drop':
Sometimes I lose sight that that's all this is-- entertainment.  I do like being entertained.  I like giving my heart to a team, even knowing that it'll probably be broken a dozen (or a hundred dozen) times over the course of the season.  The price of deep love is the severe pain you feel when you're disappointed, and the reward is the indescribable thrill you feel when all your hopes and dreams are realized.

This makes me think of how apathetic certain fan bases are when teams that have been bad for a few seasons begin a season well-- they don't want to get caught up again because they don't want to wind up with the broken heart when or if 'the other shoe falls.'

 Til Later

I was going to watch the Belmont Stakes

06/08/2012

Indians 6 Cardinals 2

Dear Cards,

I'll get to last night's game, but first:

I have been looking anxiously awaiting the arrival of  this Saturday ever since I'll Have Another won the Preakness.  Unfortunately, I'll Have Another is injured which basically means that I won't be watching the Belmont.  I won't lie.  I was only going to watch because of the Triple Crown aspect of the event in the first place.

I can't imagine how disappointing it is for everyone involved with I'll Have Another.  His jockey was an unknown named Mario Gutierrez, do you know what winning the Triple Crown would have done to his life?  He'll still have plenty of offers and opportunities, but it'll have been something for him to put  "Triple Crown Winner" next to his name.  Mario Gutierrez has been great through this whole ordeal, nothing but class since crossing the finish line at the Kentucky Derby to yesterday when he praised, expressed gratitude, and showed concern for I'll Have Another.  I wish him the best.  

Mario Gutierrez will ride the (very gorgeous) chestnut today. They will lead the post parade (and then sit out the race, obviously).

And I wish I'll Have Another the best in horse retirement.  It was a thrill watching you race. 

Back to our regularly scheduled Cards' nervous breakdown:

• Jaime Garcia is the most recent Cardinal to bite the dust, so may he rest in peace.

He joins a whole host of Cardinals on the DL. We could field a pretty good team with all the guys on that list: Berkman, Carp, Jaime, Skip, Baby Carp, Jon Jay, Kmac...

Joe Kelly, Memphis' best starter, will pitch tomorrow.  I said this before, but I really mean it now: we have culled Memphis of it's talent. (Well, Shelby and Ryan Jackson are still down there, though).

• Speaking of laying people to rest, should we now declare the Cardinals dead? 

 It's only June, I know. They aren't mathematically out of it, I know.  Shoot, I was here all last season, I witnessed the Zombie Cardinals (that should be a tee shirt! On the Front: I witnessed the Zombie Cardinals, subtitled 2011 World Series Champions. And the back of the shirt can list all the times we were sure they were "dead").  So this team may look down enough to declare officially dead, but as last year showed, don't count on it (I hope).  

Anyway, I'm declaring them officially dead until further notice.

Til Later.

Just Like Old Times

Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True.  And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.

George Will

06/08/2012

Cardinals 14 Astros 2

Dear Redbirds,

Happy Flight to the Lou!

Last night's game was great-- wonderful pitching from the starter and the 'pen, and a lot of offense!  I remember back in April when ya'll used to play this game that way all the time. Can we go back to that style of play permanently, please?

You don't have to outscore your opponents by 12 runs every night... or maybe you should, considering that when we score 5 runs-- which should be enough to win most games-- a pitcher always finds some way to mess it up.  Perhaps I should address the pitchers instead: STOP CAUSING US TO LOSE BALLGAMES!!  Starters-- go deeper into games so our bullpen stops be overworked and overexposed.  Thanks.

I'm excited for tonight's game against the Indians.  I hope last night was indication that we are going to start winning more.

Hey, let's do the "impossible" and win another game this week!

Til Later.

"Happy Flight!" meter: 10/16

PS. What is up with all the strikeouts that happened this road trip?

We've reached this week's win quota

06/06/2012

Cardinals 4 Astros 3

Dear Cardinals,

We've been winning like 2 or 3 games a week.  So prove me wrong and win more than two games this week. Okay?

Love ya'll.

Til Later

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

06/05/2012

Cardinals 8 Astros 9

Dear Cardinals,

We are going to make this really easy today.  Let's get started.

The Good

We scored eight runs...

The Bad

It wasn't enough...

The Ugly

Because we allowed nine.

Hey, at least we rallied.

Til Later

We Won!

 06/04/2012

Cardinals 5 Mets 4

Dear Cardinals,

Considering that the one run win (heck, wins in general) last afternoon is a very rare thing, like-- I don't know-- as rare as the Sun, Venus, and Earth aligning (which is happening this evening and won't happen again for 105 years-- there's a joke about the Cubs there, but it's way too easy), I think this is cause for celebration.

How should we celebrate?  

Water balloon fight? No.

Barbecue? Good one. But no.

Wet T-shirt contest? In your dreams.

No. We will celebrate by winning another game. Tonight.

Til Later

"Happy Flight!" meter: 9/15
From The Big Apple to H-town Houston

But They/We Scored a Run (It's almost like a victory)

"I hate losing more than I even wanna win."

-Brad Pitt as Billy Beane in Moneyball

06/03/2012

Cardinals 1 Mets 6

Dear Redbirds,

Another day, another loss.  When is it going to end?

I've noticed that during this VERY HORRIBLE stretch, I have been confused about whether to us they or we when referring to the team.  I'm still mostly using we (yes, grouping myself in with losers), I think.

Some people hate when fans say "we."  I like "we."   It means you support the team, you are (hopefully) there through the winning streaks and the losing streaks.  People say we when they identify with the team, when they have accepted the team as part of their identity.  Is it harder to accept a team that is losing as part of your identity?  Or do you stick with the we during losing streaks because you see the traits that can make the team special?

I really hope the Cardinals figure this out.  I hope we are still within striking distance at the All-Star Break.

It is never easy.  It wasn't easy last year, either.  I don't think we were ever under .500 last year, though.  Actually, we were 4 games under on April 9th, 2011.  Last year was a tough summer (August was ugh), but we were still over .500.  We definitely can't have a bad August this year, we don't have enough early season wins to support a failure like that.  We are at .500 now a third of the way through the season.  Where will we be when half the games have been played?  Hopefully we start trending upward.  And soon.

I watched Moneyball last night.  Maybe we'll go on a winning streak like the 2002 Oakland A's!

Til Later

It is obvious

06/02/2012

Cardinals 0 Mets 5

It is obvious that the birds are never going to score again.  Well, they might.  Perhaps five games from now.  Perhaps.  I'm sure they're out to set some type of record-- most consecutive games without scoring.

Okay, I guess I'll stop treating the team like my black sheep uncle and address the boys directly...

Dear Memphis Redbirds edition of the St Louis Cardinals,

Um. Yeah. I love ya'll. We'll go get 'em tomorrow!

And this has been a spectacular road trip!  You've really improved your record against Eastern division teams. (There's that darn sarcasm. Sorry.)

Guess what? You can still finish this trip at .500 if you win the rest of the games-- take them one day at the time. ( I can be sincere.)

A short aside: my dad thinks Jon Jay is "factor x." "When he's in the line up, we win," he says.  I just hope that Jon is fully healthy when he comes back.

'Til Later

P.S. The knuckleball is a mean and unusual trick, R. A. Dickey.

Oh, Bitter Irony

06/01/2012

Cardinals 0 Mets 8

Both Adam Wainwright and Johan Santana both had no hitters through three innings, only Adam eventually allowed seven runs, and Santana never allowed a hit.  (Actually, a ball Carlos Beltran hit down the left field line should have been called a hit, but was ruled foul. That, unfortunately, is the way the cookie sometimes crumbles.)

Yup, my birds were no hit yesterday. (First no-hitter in the Mets history, ugh). Can you believed that this was the next game after my last post where I praised the offense, and completely fried the pitching staff?  Yesterday, I hoped that this month the offense would keep up what it did in April and May, while the pitching found a (very) happy medium between being awesome (April) and thoroughly disappointing (May).  And the last night happened-- the offense did poorly; and the pitcher who showed improvement his last starts, regressed. Or something.

At least when you start a month this poorly, there is no way to go but up.  Right?

Til Later :)

Pitching: Weighing Down the Team

Dear Redbirds,

When I picture the 2012 Cardinals, I see this: a bird attempting to take flight with a lead ball and chain attached to its feet.  Figuratively, the pitching is that ball and chain.  The offense does all it can-- it still leads the NL in most offensive categories!-- while the pitching is keeping this team from flying away from the division.

Joe Strauss of the Post-Dispatch wrote an article going into detail about how the poor effort by the pitching staff lead to a sub .500 May.  He mentions that in the last 20 games the Cardinals are  7-13 with SIX bullpen losses. SIX.

Is this team going to deal with a BLOWpen all  year like last year's?  It's annoying because it is the ONLY really glaring problem with this team (well, that and the starters not pitching deep into games, which could alleviate some to the bullpen problems...).  We've had the best offense in the National League for a season and two months now.  This team gets its pitching together, it is most definitely a better team that 2011 because our defense is also (mostly) good.

Basically, he says what we all know, what I said all last month: the pitching sucks and its making the team lose games the offense had done MORE than enough to win.

The offense is still clicking even with weekly losses of key components-- that's because this team is DEEP.  I cannot wait until everyone is healthy again, because right now we are playing our depth.  And that's scary.  But it's also great that the depth is keeping it up.  I just hope they don't decide to falter in June-- ugh, imagine if they have a funk this month along with the pitching-- ugh!  I'll die!

Anyway, PITCHERS-- shape up! Starters, your goal for June is to go deep into games! Aim for seven innings, go no less than six.

The worse part about the losses is how close we came to winning most of them. If the starting pitchers had gone deeper into more games in May, if the bullpen wasn't overexposed and overused, we wouldn't be looking at the Reds right now.  They'll still be looking at us.

Oh yeah, I hope you all enjoyed your unhappy flight from Atlanta to the Big Apple.

'Til Later

"Happy Flight!" meter: 8/14