Congratulations! As someone who witnessed my sister rehab from knee surgery this past winter, watched her frustrations earlier this track season, and shared in her joy when she received three state medals last weekend, I have a little insight into the emotions you experienced after last night's victory.
Your emotional post game comments about what last night's victory meant to you after you spent a year rehabbing from Tommy John-- I can only imagine the struggles you through daily and the doubt that surfaced this year in your mind after a inconsistent starts.
I am glad I listened to the game on the radio. I would have been more annoyed at Wainwright missing the strike zone constantly if I had watched it. I think.
You do realize that if you lose today, not only would you have been swept, you would have a losing home stand? Ugh.
No, seriously. I have nothing. Nothing to say. Due to last night's poorly written Whitney Houston* Glee episode (*see what I did there?) and the Cardinals team I've watched during this road trip, I am only filled with consternation.
Wait.
I do have a few observations:
1. Umpires SUCK!!
2. Wainwright pitched very well. (And he got a no decision, not a loss! So, we're getting closer to that big W each time out.)
3. Blown saves suck more than umpires, especially on back-to-back nights.
4. The "NL best offense" is currently looking like its worse.
5. Watch Holliday finally stop being the one black hole in the line up only to have all the rest of the guys become a big black hole of suck.
6. What team is going to show up this weekend versus the Brewers? Will we begin May out of first place?
Whoops. Number six is questions... oh well. That is all.
Wait.
I have a suggestion: Win today and make this a .500 road trip. Got it? Cool.
'Til Later
*Meanwhile, I've two song title posts in a row! Whitney killed this song in The Bodyguard:
Enjoy! Maybe it'll brighten up what has been a lousy week in the baseball department.
I do not like losing... at least it came against a pitcher who went undefeated at home last season.
Adam Wainwright looked good in his return. Well, his numbers (5.2 IP, 4 Hits, 3ER, 1 BB, 1 K) were good, and his breaking pitches were great.
I hope we won't get shut out anymore this season. I hate not scoring at all.
Just win the series tomorrow, boys. I'm worried because Lance Lynn is pitching tomorrow... what if he is taken out early and it becomes a bullpen game, ruining the bullpen for the Cincinnati series? I am worried that whoever is pitching for Milwaukee will keep the bats quiet. I hope not. I will be disgusted if that happens. Prove me wrong, Cards. I want to write about how silly my fears were tomorrow.
This is a good opportunity to show how you respond to losing. I wonder how Mike Matheny is handling his first loss.
Tomorrow is a "get away day"-- will it be a "happy flight?"
"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.
2003: The Cardinals sign Chris Carpenter, hoping that he'll be able to pitch by mid- season. He is not able to compete because of a muscle tear in his shoulder.
The Redbirds finish third in the division. (They'd won the division in 2002).
An aside: I'm not too sure this year should count, since he wasn't on the 40 man roster.
2004: Chris Carpenter re-signs with the Cards. He finishes the season with a 15-5 record. Unfortunately, a nerve problem in his bicep prevents him from pitching in the postseason.
The Cardinals win the NL pennant, earning their first World Series appearance since 1987.
2005: Carpenter wins the NL Cy Young award with a 21-5 record.
Cardinals lose to the Houston Astros in the NLCS.
2006: Carpenter finishes the regular season with 15-8 record. He is healthy and pitches in the postseason.
Cardinals win their first World Series since 1982.
2007: Carp pitches on Opening Day, the only game he pitches this season. Tommy John surgery in July places him out of commission until mid-season 2008.
Cardinals finish under .500 at 78-84, behind the Cubs and Brewers.
2008: In July, Carpenter returns and makes his first of three starts before being shut down again.
The Cardinals finish behind the Cubs, Brewers, and Astros with a 86-76 record.
2009: Carpenter wins NL Comeback Player of the Year, and is runner-up in the Cy Young voting.
Cardinals win the division and lose to the Dodgers in the NLDS.
2010: Carp becomes an All-Star for the third time and wins 16 games.
The Cardinals finish second in the division to Reds.
2011: At the beginning of the season, Carpenter pitched well, but receive little run support. He finishes the season with only eleven victories. He logs the most innings of all major league pitchers, when the post season is taken into account.
Cardinals finish second in the division, and enter the post season as wild cards. They win their eleventh World Series.
2012: As of today: Carpenter is out indefinitely due to nerve irritation in his right shoulder-- sources are reporting it's similar to the shoulder discomfort he dealt with in 2008. According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Carp will have to let his shoulder recover, then restrengthen it. This can take a matter of weeks or months.
What will the Cardinals do this year? I still think they'll be pretty good. Hopefully, they'll do what they did last year when an ace went down-- accept it and move on. I don't want to hear anything about "treading water" until Carpenter comes back. This team can win without Carp, just like they won without Wainwright last year.
tl;dr: With the exception of 2010, every year that Carpenter was healthy and able to pitch, the Cardinals played in the post season. And every year he wasn't able to pitch, they didn't make the post season.
And that, folks, is what I call Kate-analysis! I know, I know, very hard hitting stuff. You may hold your applause.
The Cards beat the Mets 7-1 in a spring training game today. Apparently, Waino was fighting his mechanics, but he still threw 3 scoreless innings. His velocity was down, but no huge deal there ( I hope), because he's a stud and studs win even without their best stuff.
The Cardinals scored those seven runs using power and speed. Yes, speed. Tyler Greene STOLE HOME! I really want to see this during the regular season. A few times. Definitely once or twice against the Cubs.
I cannot wait to see the decisions Matheny make this year, I think he'll be more of a risk taker than La Russa in some areas. If spring training is any indication, the 2012 Cardinals are going to bring more excitement to the base paths than previous years.
Although, I suppose one could say that watching Yadi attempt to score from first on a double is exciting. Or that watching Joe Thurston hit a double and get called out because he didn't tag first during that epic, everlasting July 2009 game against the Dodgers was exciting. (I almost broke the remote.) And in 2010, when David Freese tripped over third whilst running home, breaking his ankle, I suppose that counts as excitement, too. (I now think anyone rounding third is going to blow out a wheel. Irrational fear? Maybe. Okay it is.)
I am looking forward to having excitement on the bases because of speed and good base-running and not because of lack of speed or bad base-running! This team is long overdue.
