The Boys are Back in Town!

I'm playing Thin Lizzy's "The Boys are Back in Town" on repeat because THE CARDINALS ARE PLAYING AT BUSCH FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE GAME 7 THE VERY LAST BASEBALL GAME THAT TOOK PLACE IN 2011!  (Sorry for yelling. I'm stoked.)  I always relate this song to the return of baseball.  My favorite lines:

The nights are getting warmer, it won't be long

Won't be long til summer comes

Now that the boys are here again



But, of course, the best song I'll hear today plays when the Cardinals parade around Busch Stadium--Budweiser's "Here Comes the King."  My favorite ballpark song.  Ernie Hays, former Cardinals' organist, plays it in the following video.  Mr. Hays retired after 2010, his 40th season playing the ballpark organ.

Okay, birds! Git 'er done!  Please win your first game at home this year, especially since it's against those lousy north siders.

'Til Later

Ain't Nothing 'Bout It Luck

"Baseball presents a living heritage, a game poised between the powerful undertow of seasons past and the hope of next day, next week, next year."

Jim Thorn

Dearest Birds,

Please do not look back and reminisce about last October.  The only time "World Champion" should cross your mind is when you receive your rings on April 14 and raise the pennant over centerfield on April 15.

Do not strut around like World Champions-- play with a chip on your shoulder.  Remember that there's always something to prove.  There are those who doubt this team can repeat, show them it's possible.  Play like underdogs.  Play with scrappiness, stubbornness, and abandon.

Repeating won't be possible if you let complacency settle in your gut.  Your heart should pound with the wish to return to the Fall Classic, and your gut should burn with the desire to make it happen.  It takes work to make it there, you know that from last year.  Put in the work.  Put in more work than last year.

Learn from the 2011 Cardinals, their resilience, their refusal to give up all year-- from February 24, when Wainwright underwent Tommy John surgery until October 27, when they did the impossible in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series.

That team made it so far because they refused to dwell on the members they'd lost.  They did not make excuses.  No one said or thought about how much better, how much easier, the season would be if Waino was available, because twenty-five other guys were.

Focus on the guys in the clubhouse, the ones who take the field, and do not make a presence of any absences.  Create an identity.  Look at past teams and take the best from all of them, become the ultimate Cardinal team.

Play hard.  Play smart.  Play like a Cardinal.  Have fun.  It's just a game. 

In summary, know your enemies and respect your friends. Your enemies are: complacency, contentment, doubt, what was.  Your friends are: resilience, hard work, faith, what is.

'Til Later

P.S. This post's title comes from a country song "Something 'bout a truck" by Kip Moore.  I like this line about luck, although I do believe that luck does have something to do with what happens over the course of a season.  Teams who stay generally healthy during the season are lucky.  I hope the Cardinals are lucky in health this year, especially since they had so much misfortune in that department last year.

I chose this line because you shouldn't depend on luck-- you should work hard and create your own luck.

That Baseball Team to the North

...No, not the Cubs, they are hardly a baseball team these days, I am speaking of the Milwaukee Brewers.

THE (RECENT) PAST:

Last year, the Cardinals and Brewers had a very volatile relationship. 

"T-Plush", the annoying alter ego of Nyger Morgan, tweeted after the Cardinals and Brewers nearly brawled in a September game  that "Where still n 1st and I hope those crying birds injoy watching tha Crew in tha Playoffs!!! Aaaaahhhh!!!"

The almost fight started because Chris Carpenter yelled after striking Morgan out.  Morgan took offense, and spit his wad of tobacco (yeah, gross) towards the mound.  During a game in August, the umpires issued Morgan a warning after he kept yelling at Carp from the dugout. (As an aside, the Cardinals and Morgan had issues when he was a member of the Washington Nationals). 

The great thing about Nyger Morgan is that he plays with heart-- a lot like Carpenter.  However, players should always respect their opponents.  This means you keep your mouth shut and let your game do the talking. Some people think that the exuberance Carp shows on the mound is disrespectful-- that he is trying to show up his opponents.  He isn't.  He is in the moment, competing, and his celebratory yells aren't usually aimed at the opposition.  Plus, he does not disrespect his opponents when interviewed-- he acknowledges their ability and congratulates great plays.

Brewers pitcher Zack Greinke said this about Carpenter before the NLCS: 

"They think his presence, his attitude out there sometimes is like a phony attitude," Greinke said. "And then he yells at people. He just stares people down and stuff. And most pitchers just don't do that. And when guys do, I guess some hitters get mad. Some hitters do it to pitchers. But when you do that some people will get mad.
"There's other pitchers in the league that do it, but, I don't know," Greinke said, "a lot of guys on our team don't like Carpenter."

So, they hate Carpenter because he is "old school"... tough.

I can't find the exact quote, but I believe it was said by a Brewers player last year.  The player spoke about how at spring training, the team they hate with a passion and think about beating is the St. Louis Cardinals.  What a compliment-- I mean, no one in the division has a vendetta against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

THIS YEAR:

Prince Fielder signed with the Detroit Tigers this off season.  The Brewers replaced some of his offense by signing former Cub, Aramis Ramirez, to play third base.  

For years, the Brewers offense-- carried by Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder-- had always been top-notched, but their pitching kept them from being a consistent contender.  Last year, the Brewers finally acquired capable pitching, and made it to the NLCS.  This year, starters Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum, and Yovani Gallardo will probably make pitching the strongest point of the team, especially with Prince Fielder's production gone.  The Brewers also have a good bullpen.

Reigning MVP Ryan Braun had a difficult off season (he tested positive for steroids during the playoffs, but does not have to serve the 50 game suspension due to a technicality in the way the sample was handled) and it remains to be seen whether he elevates his play, or suffers from all the ridicule he'll hear on the road this season.

The Brewers have solid offense and solid pitching, but suffer on defense.  And, ultimately, it was their defense-- those seven errors in Games 5 and 6 of the NLCS-- that ended their season last year.

Mercurial Missives

"A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings"  Earl Wilson

The 2011 Cardinals' season was a crazy, emotional ride for me.  I mean, I was more bipolar than usual over the course of a season (and I've had some dark baseball moments over the years).  August was the lowest month because my team had so much talent but was not playing up to par, my team had shown so much heart-- fighting back after losing their Ace to Tommy John, overcoming deficits in late innings, rebounding after blown saves (second most in the league)-- only to die on the metaphorical field of battle after being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in late August.

From NLDS Game 4 Post Game Interview (as I heard on Fox Sports Midwest):

Reporter: How many times has this team been announced dead by the proper authorities?

Lance "Puma" Berkman: A lot, I mean, but y'know, that's what we're here for-- entertainment purposes.



I didn't lose all hope, but the Cards certainly looked officially dead, so I and anyone else with proper sense declared them as such.  Of course, gladiators that they are (supreme entertainers), the Cardinals revived themselves (again), played a brilliant month of baseball and with the help of the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs closer Carlos Marmol (according to Cubs fans), and Cardinal Nation (according to Tony La Russa) the Cardinals claimed the National League Wild Card.

It is because of that September rush and the thrill of "Red October," that I have decided to blog my experience of watching Cardinals baseball.  At first, I was unsure exactly what I was going to focus on-- some blogs go into player and game analysis, others are vendettas railing against the front office.  I want this blog to be a reactionary blog-- reacting to all the funny and frustrating things that occur over the course of a season.  The best way to do this, I think, will be to write letters to the team after each game.  I believe baseball fans would agree when I say that one develops a strangely close and personal relationship with the team you follow throughout Spring Training to those first wary, exciting days of April, and through the dog days of summer to the stretch run.  You understand their weaknesses, marvel at their strengths, you watch the team evolve as they take hits but stay resilient. You share 162 nights with your team, and the team and the personalities it encompasses become an intimate friend-- granted, one you occasionally yell at -- but a friend nonetheless.  This is why I will frame my reactions in the form of a letter-- because I will be addressing a friend.  They will be "mercurial missives"-- I am sure my views in some letters will directly oppose one another-- but that is because I am a bipolar fanatic!  And that's okay.  It's that silly (and occasionally pathetic) perspective that makes the season fun, because it makes a triple in the bottom of the ninth, down by two runs, with two-on, two-out, and two-strikes one of the best moments of my life. 

So... in this space I will write letters to my Redbirds, letters "for the birds"--  meaningless little ramblings in the world's view, but special missives in my view, in my world. Take a peek through my lenses and stay awhile!

'Til Later