Is the media as bad as I think?

The Cardinals Winter Warmup has come and gone.  Guess what the big story coming out of it is?  This should come as no surprise to anyone.  Albert’s contract.  As I’ve talked about before, Mo and Albert’s people had to know that coming out and saying “We want private negotiations, so don’t ask”: was not gonna work.  What I get tired of is the blatant disrespect and childishness of the media.

<RANT WARNING>

It was clear before Albert’s presser started that he WAS NOT gonna talk.  I knew it.  You knew it.  My wife, who doesn’t care too much, knew it.  The media members present DAMN WELL knew it.  But as the first few questions came out, I started getting nervous.  I fear that I am gonna get this feeling ALL year if a Pujols contract doesn’t get done.  When are they gonna ask?  You know they are going to.  They can’t help themselves.  How big of an ass are they going to make of themselves?  How mad are they going to make Albert?  How disrespectful are they going to be?  The fact is they just don’t give a shit.  They are shameless.

WATCH THE PUJOLS PRESS CONFERENCE HERE.

Eventually they did ask.  A.P. politely deferred. They asked again.  A.P.’s PR guy politely deferred. They asked a different way.  A.P. started to get short with them.  I was physically uncomfortable watching it.  I was in my very comfortable recliner, in my living room, 3 hours from STL, and was physically uncomfortable watching it on my cell phone.  It was absolutely ridiculous.  I understand they have a job to do, and I understand that every Cards fan wants to know what is going on.  But….Can we show some respect????  Of course not.

I found a baseball movie last week that, somehow, I had never seen. *61.

If you haven’t seen it, go rent it, Hulu it, Netflix it, or steal it from a WalMart.  Did the media in the movie treat Maris fairly?  Does the media today do the same thing?  You know they do.  Albert’s deal has got to get done.  It’s got to, but all this media drama is sickening to me.  I’m saddened by it.  I’m ashamed at how awful we are to each other.  Baseball is supposed to be fun, and I think we spend too much time stirring up drama. 

Alright, I’m off my soapbox now.  I feel better venting all this here.  I also am very optimistic for spring, green grass, the new season, opening weekend at Busch Stadium, and a ridiculous contract extension for Albert.  He is worth it. PERIOD!  I miss baseball in the worst way.  I also miss civility, respect, and common courtesy.  But the latter is not gonna happen, so I will hold out for baseball.  It can’t come soon enough.  Until next time,

JM

UCB Project: Top 5 Stories of 2010

The Cardinal’s 2010 season was quite the journey.  It was a testimate to how luck sometimes is against you.  The Reds had an incredible year.  They have some talented guys.  But I can’t help but think that the Cardinals should have run away with it.  Writing my Top 5 Stories of 2010 list, for the UCB, made me think hard about the year that just passed, and what could’ve been.

1) Cardinal’s Holliday: My top story happened at the very beginning of 2010, and brought joy to all of Cardinal nation.  The Cards signed their big midseason acquisition, Matt Holliday to a 7 year, $120 Million deal.  Yes this happened before the start of the 2010 season, but it happened officially on January 7, 2010.  Remember the light at the end of the tunnel?  Remember how hopeful you were for the dangerous tandem of Pujols and Holliday?   Were you as hopeful as I was?  I was ecstatic.  I had dreams of the Cubs walking Pujols to load the bases,  Holliday crushing a mammoth grand slam onto Waveland Ave., and the Cubs fans rushing to the exits.  This picture brings back the memory of the hope I had. 

Holliday may have gotten a slow start, and he may not have done what he did at the end of the 2009 season for the entire year, but I didn’t expect him to.  Holliday was the consistent big league hitter we thought he was.  He led the team in batting average, ended the season with 103 RBI, and won a Silver Slugger.  Some fans complained about his clutchiness(not sure that is a word…), some of the fans at Busch even booed him at a game I attended.  But few can deny, that at the end of the year looking back, Holliday is a beast.  He offers more protection for Pujols than the Cardinals have had for several years.  His defense in LF was shaky at times but for the most part, I think he is an average defender, who works hard at coming up for throws.  Either way, NICE WORK MO!

2) Jamie Garcia: The Cardinals came into the 2010 season with a major question about their rotation.  Who would be their 5th starter?  They had Carp/Waino for the 1/2 punch.  They had signed Brad Penny to a 1 year deal in hopes of settling the 3rd spot.  Kyle Lohse was going to be back, healthy this time, hopefully to compete with Penny for that 3/4 hole.   But who would be #5?  Kyle McClellan? Rich Hill? Jamie Garcia?  Though McClellan pitched well, the Cardinals decided to leave him in the bullpen and call on young Jamie to take the empty rotation spot.  Jamie was a surprise to everyone.  I was hesitant to buy into Garcia’s success. But in his first 4 starts, he had pitched 26 innings and given up only 3 earned runs.  His ERA was microscopic, among the league leaders.  He showed no signs of frustration, no sign of anyone rattling him.  He had a wicked curve, and a rapport with Yadier Molina that made you think they had known each other for decades.  When Penny and Lohse would eventually go down due to injuries, Jamie was called upon to be the #3.  I can’t imagine the pressure of following Wainwright and Carpenter.  Jamie took it in stride and continued to pitch his way to a #3 finish in the Rookie of the Year balloting.  Some would argue for a higher finish…However you feel about the ROY, one thing is undeniable, Jamie Garcia had an amazing rookie season, and provided stability in an area that was unstable for most of the year.  He answered the call.  He answered it with a 13-8 record with an impressive 2.96 ERA.  And on August 22nd vs. the eventual World Series champion SF Giants he pitched a complete game 3 hitter that would be his season’s gem.  He faced 28 batters, one over the minimum. Remember?

3) Yadier Molina ain’t yo’ bitch, and kickin’ Cueto.  Beginning on 8/9/10, the 3 game series between the Cardinals and Reds was all set to be an important one.  The Cardinals, with a sweep, could close the small gap between the teams in the standings.  The fans, players, coaches, and media knew that this might be the biggest series of the year for the Cardinals.  Could they beat the upstart Reds down before their threat got out of hand?  Would the Reds put it to the Cards and widen the gap between them?  As a fan my thought going into the series was that the Cards needed to win 2 out of 3.   The first game saw Carpenter take on Leake.  Brendan Ryan was late to the field, Carp got mad, and yelled a little, nothing new.  The Cardinals got to Leake in the 4th inning for 7 runs including a Skip Schumaker grand slam.  That was plenty for the Cards, who won game one 7-3.  End of story right? WRONG! Before the game the Reds 2nd baseman had decided to say this…

“I’d play against these guys with one leg. We have to beat these guys. I hate the Cardinals. All they do is bitch and moan

about everything, all of them, they’re little bitches, all of ‘em.  I really hate the Cardinals.

Compared to the Cardinals, I love the Chicago Cubs. Let me make this clear: I hate the Cardinals.”

I wonder how the Cardinals liked this mental giant’s comments.  For some reason, they didn’t appreciate it…at all.  The Cardinals would find out about this moron’s comments after game one.  What was already an important series just took on a whole other angle.  What would happen?  How would the Cards react?   Would Jamie Garcia, the game 2 starter, hit Brandon Philips during his first at bat?  Well as it turned out, he never got the chance.  Phillips decided, with his infinite wisdom, to tap the shin pad of Yadier Molina as he led off the bottom of the first inning.  Yadi didn’t think too much of it, stood up and it was on. 

Nobody knows what exactly was said here, but I have had thoughts on the subject, I’m sure you have also.  If you’d like, you can enter your own transcript of the conversation in the comments, I won’t mind.  Whatever was said, it was clear that the two of them were not making plans for an after-game cocktail.    In the ensuing scrum there were a lot more things discussed, more dinner plans made, and a few kicks from Cueto.  Before this I thought Bronson Arroyo was the only Reds starter with an annoying leg kick.  Turns out Cueto can kick just hard enough with spikes to force Jason Larue into retirement.  Although he was the only one who did any punching, or kicking for that matter, he received a ridiculously small 7 day suspension.  He missed 1 start.  I’m still pissed.

 

The Cardinals swept the series and left Cincinnati with serious momentum.  It made no difference.  Cardinal nation’s collective hope, that this would give the team a jumpstart, didn’t pan out.  They played a bunch of teams they should’ve beaten, and didn’t.  They lost the NL Central to Brandon Phillips and the Reds…Have I mentioned I’m still pissed?

4) David who?  Freese?  OH! Our 3rd baseman… David Freese started the year with HUGE expectations, unfortunately due to injury he would not meet them.  He was to be the Cardinals everyday starting 3rd baseman.  He was to provide another bat with pop behind the likes of Pujols/Holliday/Ludwick.  He had a reputation of being a plus defender at third, with power to all fields.  Cardinal nation had caught a glimpse of that after his call up at the end of the 2009 season.  After a shaky defensive start, David Freese settled right into his role.  He was Mr. RBI.  He came to bat with runners in scoring position a lot, and rarely failed to drive them in.  He was CLUTCH!  Then this happened:

On June 5th going into 3rd base he rolled his ankle.  The Cardinals didn’t immediately DL him, hoping to just rest him up a little and that his ankle would heal.  Unfortunately they were wrong.  They eventually did DL him, gave him so rehab starts, and patiently awaited his return.  Everyone thought he was coming back towards the end of July, and the Cardinals were anxious to get his bat back.  They were so confident in his return that they made the move that is my number 5 story.  But he didn’t return.  Instead, he dropped a weight on his toe and, in a rehab start, messed up his other ankle.  He wouldn’t return for 2010.  His defense, pop, and RBI were sorely missed.

5) Cardinals trade Ryan Ludwick:  In a move necessitated by the injuries of Brad Penny and Kyle Lohse, the Cardinals made a 3 team deal with the Indians and the Padres.  A team that was struggling to find run support for their pitching staff, traded one of their biggest bats.  Their reasoning that Freese was about to return, and the platoon of Jay and Craig, would be an adequate RF replacement had a major flaw.  Freese never returned.  Ludwick, a fan favorite and excellent right fielder was gone.  What did they get in return?  Jake Westbrook.  Westbrook would be a consistent starter, and keep the Cardinals from depending on Blake Hawksworth or Jeff Suppan.  Westbrook is a good quality starting pitcher, and fits the Dave Duncan pitching style of pitch to contact.  He is a good fit and I was impressed by his performance as a Cardinal.  The Cardinals retained him this offseason, and my end opinion of this trade is dependent on Westbrook’s 2011 performance.  If he can continue to pitch like he did at the end of 2010, then I think I will be ok with this trade…reluctantly.  I REALLY liked Ludwick, and missed seeing him in the 2nd half.  But players come and go.  Unfortunately.  Plus the sight of this makes me sad:

But the idea of a Carp/Waino/Garcia/Westbrook top 4 gives me hope for 2011.  Plus, you never know about Lohse.  If he returns to his pre-injury form that earned him that big contract, then we could have a nice starting rotation.  I’m more than a little skeptical about it though.  But Westbrook isn’t to blame for Ludwick being gone, and I am hopeful for a full year of him in our rotation.

Well that is it.  I know, I didn’t include someone.  I reluctantly left out Pujols.  He had another monster year, but with Albert this isn’t news.  Ho hum.  Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, 2nd in MVP.  You know, normal stuff.   I would’ve loved to include news about his monster contract, but unfortunately they haven’t gotten the deal done.  So, in closing PAY THE MANG!!!  Get it done Mo.  Cardinal nation is literally begging you.  I for one, can’t stand the thought of Albert doing this anywhere else:

Till next time….JM

Up your nose with a rubber hose!

Story time: How Cliff Lee nearly caused a wreck on IN-63.  First a little background.  I live in Illinois and work in Indiana.  The time difference from CST to EST time zone is one hour.  Therefore, I leave my house before 6, usually still in various stages of semi-alertness.  

Yesterday on my way to work, soon after turning on to IN-63, I tuned my radio to Mike & Mike just as they were starting their chat about Cliff Lee.  It took at least a minute, maybe more, for me to realize that they weren’t announcing a 7 yr deal with the Yank-mes.  He had signed a deal with the Phillies.  Instantly, I am wide awake and laughing like crazy.  I bring my attention back to the road and what do I see?  A huge whitetail doe.  I narrowly avoided disaster, righted the ship and continued to work.  I am still laughing in some deep guttural part of me. 

He told the Yankees to piss off.  He told them to shove their deal where the sun don’t shine.  I am clearly not a Phillies fan, nor am I rooting for them to get to the post season, where they will be TOUGHER than this chick. 

 

She hopped right back up like nothing happened.  It’d been a 10 but, in her concussed state, she got in the wrong seat.  Good stuff

 Anyway, I will stick by my Cardinals.  But, how can you not like a guy who tells the Yankees to keep their money?  I can’t, I just can’t.  

You can’t help but  think that the Jeter fiasco had something to do with this.  Did Cliff Lee think about how he would be treated in the future?  If Jeter, the face of their franchise, got treated that way, how are they gonna treat me?  I don’t blame Lee a bit, the Phillies aren’t exactly known for the best, smartest, or classiest fans.  But, they come out in huge numbers, every year.  He was comfortable there, didn’t want to leave, and was surprised when they traded him.

The Phillies front office shouldn’t have dealt him away  to begin with, and they realized it.  They appreciate him more now.  They figured out how much of a good thing they let go.  The fact that Cliff Lee told the Yankees to keep their money, has made him the devil in NY, and that much more awesome to me.  I hope Yankee fans, ESPN, MLB, and the national media realize now, what we already knew.  The baseball world doesn’t revolve around Yanks/RedSox.  There are other baseball towns after all.  The outcry from NY,

 

shouldn’t surprise anyone.  The Yanks fans/media are furious with the fact that Cliff Lee couldn’t be bought.  Other things were more important to him.  My opinion of him will never be the same.  I hope you absolutely slay this year, except against the Cardinals.

My wife’s uncle is a huge Cardinals fan, but he doesn’t keep up with the offseason.  We had dinner with him the other night, and I filled him in on everything.  Theriot, Ryan, Berkman, Hawksworth, Mather, Pagnozzi,  Westbrook…  When I told him about the Berkman deal I said, “They signed Berkman also.”  I thought his jaw was gonna fall off.  His reply was classic:  ”LANCE Berkman?”  When I said yes he replied “We’ll take him!”   We talked at length about where he was gonna play, his defensive abilities, the deal with Brendo, the rotation, and made plans to go see a game together this summer.  It was nice to chat about the Cardinals with somebody in person.  It has been too long. 

        

I actually had something positive to say today.  I can’t believe it.  Maybe working with the public is getting better.  There is also the more likely theory that I’ve just had a good week so far.  Ready for spring training?  Missing the Cardinals?  Check out the United Cardinal Bloggers latest project The year in Cardinal baseball.  It is 64 pages of awesome, from several of my favorite Cards bloggers/tweeps.  It is sure to feed your hunger for Cards baseball and, since it is so big, it might just get you through until the pitchers and catchers report.  Till next time,

JM

It’s Midweek, & I’m A Mess

 Well for some reason, some of you fine folks out there enjoyed my first blog post (read:RANT).  In fact, I was invited and joined the United Cardinal Bloggers (thanks guys).  Since I doubt I will post anywhere close to everyday and I normally have Wednesdays off, I thought I would start a regular midweek post. 

First of all, I can’t believe it is only Wednesday.  This week is dragging.  No Cards baseball, no Blues hockey, and my normally overflowing DVR ran out Tuesday afternoon.  Plus it is literally 4 degrees.  Chances of me going outdoors unnecessarily?  Well, they go down exponentially with every degree.  Where are they now? About the same as the chances of @athooks getting a record deal for Albert’s Song.  Ok, enough of that.  Discussion in Cardinal Nation recently has dealt with 3 areas.

1) The SignTheMang campaign.  I covered that one last time. Moving on.

2)Backup catcher options. 

As much as I would love to see Bengie, Jose, and Yadi Molina all in Cardinal red, I think we will only have 1 Molina for our wives/girlfriends to swoon over.  For some reason I don’t see Bengie signing to be his younger brother’s backup.  Maybe I’m wrong…who knows.  One things for sure, we will have the best of the 3 Molinas patrolling behind the dish next season.  That’s good enough for me.  I am not a fan of Zaun, but I suppose he is the kind of veteran player the Cards are after.  You know, one who can “handle the pitching staff”.  That phrase always sounded like a babysitting gig to me.  On the other hand Zaun isn’t exactly the “offensive threat off the bench” type guy they want either.  Who knows what will happen here, I’m not getting too close to the stove on this one.  The whole world is crowding around it right now.

See what I did there…yeah I know, shameless at best.  But admit it, that’s a cool pic.

3)Which teams are a) Interested in Brendan Ryan b)no longer looking for a SS c)TLR vs. Ozzie Smith about Brendan Ryan.

a) These rumors are flying in from all over.  As soon as somebody posts that Team A is interested in Brendo, someone else posts that it is only speculation or that Team A has already signed shortstop B, and is no longer interested in our little shortstop that could.  I’ve given up on it, instead I will duck for cover and wait for the dust to settle.  When there is a deal done, then I will take something seriously.

b) see a)

c) I honestly think some of the former players (i.e. Jack Clark, Ozzie Smith) just enjoy getting TLR’s feathers all ruffled.  I think they enjoy seeing his veins popping out of his head.  I don’t know, it just seems like they have a jealous coworker/sibling type attitude towards each other.  I have dealt with this on many occasions, and what I find works best is treating them like 5 yr olds.  Just a tip for ya, when adults act like children, it’s because they are children.  Need an example? #McNuggetDetox… LINK HERE and HERE…see how similar those were?  Amazing what an addict will do when her dealer cuts her off.  Although I think the 3 yr old probably had better self-control.

It’s Wednesday folks, I can’t believe I’m this big of a mess already.  My cynical attitude gets worse as the week goes on. Want to hear my completely unedited opinion?  Ask me on Saturday @ 6 p.m. on my way home from work.  I usually resemble this by then….on a good day.

Till next time…

JM

Cards Nation puts the cart before the horse.

I’ve been debating starting a blog for a long time, but I never thought I would have enough to say that someone would feel was worth reading.  I’ve now decided that I have WAY too much to say to vent it all on twitter, facebook, or other blog’s comments.  So here it goes. Wish me luck

First an introduction: My name is Justin Moore, I’m 25 years old with two beautiful girls, a wife, and a serious sports addiction.  I love Cardinal baseball, which will probably be my main topic on this blog.  I have also recently started to enjoy watching  Blues hockey as a substitute(though an inadequate one) for Cards baseball.  So on occasion, during the dreadful winter months, I might chime in with some Blues related opinion.  Who knows where this will go.

Most in Cardinal nation seem to be up in arms over the recent free agent signings by the front office.  First, Ryan Theriot.  I understand the love for Brendan Ryan, I really do.  He is an excellent defensive shortstop, who just had an incredibly down year at the plate.  I myself have used the  #SaveOurShortstop tag on occasion.  However:

1) Can we blame the Cardinal front office for trying to improve the offense?

2) Is there anyone who believes the Reds should have won the Central? 

3) Can we blame the pitching staff  for the Cards failure last year?  

If you answered NO to those three questions, as you should have, then this move isn’t entirely without merit.  

Other folks take issue with the Cards saying that Theriot would be the starting shortstop at this point.  These fans would prefer to see him at 2nd base.  If you want to talk strictly to defense, I tend to agree.  However, who is the more proven offensive player: Skip or Brendan?  It is a double-edged sword.  It is further complicated now that they’ve signed Lance Berkman, who I will get to in a minute, to play one of the corner outfield positions.  The #FreeSkipTheOutfielder option is now all but eliminated.

 I understand some of the complaints with the current game plan, I just don’t think that Theriot is a bad signing.  Besides, as many have mentioned, with TLR at the helm it’s not like we will EVER have a set lineup.  Theriot is a solid guy, who the Cubs fans loved, and now are making Cards hating gifs about.  That gives him a little more appeal to me…How about you?

Now, onto a subject I’m really frustrated with, Lance Berkman.  How can we be unhappy with this?  He is a .296 career hitter, with a .409 OBP, a 5 time All Star, has a Jew score of 5, and was a division rival’s franchise player, who positively slayed against us.  He is a proven performer at the MLB level.  Can we say that about Allen Craig?  Jon Jay?  Sure they had fine call ups last season, but can we say they are proven?  And yes, Luddy is gone…for that I have no defense.  I wasn’t happy at the time and, despite the excellent performances of Jake Westbrook, I’m still not sure what they were thinking.  Say what you want about the Luddy/Westbrook swap, but…

But what is not to like with THIS signing?  The MONEY?  Is it your money?  As Dan and Al annoyingly tell us every time they get a chance, they have no problem spending other people’s money.  For once, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, I agree with them.  How many tickets to games did you buy last year?  While at those games, how many times did you buy a $6 hot dog?  $5 bottled water? $8 Budweiser?  When you think about it, would you rather have them hold our money, or spend it on someone who could potentially have a major impact on the ball club you love?  Also, for the record I don’t think Berkman’s $8 Million will affect, even a little, the situation to be discussed in the next paragraph.

This has nothing to do with any of this but, I guarantee you won’t expect it: LINK HERE

Last but for damn sure not least, there is Albert Pujols.  Jonny Mo said in an interview that talks have begun, and that they would remain private.  I think he honestly thought that saying this would keep some media members from asking about it.  Yeah, ok.  This is, without a doubt, the most important contract he will negotiate as GM of the Cardinals.  He MUST, and I believe, will get this done.  Albert is the Cardinals.  The Cardinals have to retain him, period.  John, good luck, just don’t expect the media not to ask how it is going.  It’s not gonna happen.

We only have a couple of months until spring training begins.  If the Cards don’t deal Brendan off by the end of the winter meetings, then I doubt they will.  If they don’t he WILL be on the big club, and will have a oppurtunity to earn his spot back.  Calm down, Cardinal Nation…he’s not gone yet.  Give Berkman a chance, he might surprise you and be what his career #’s show.  We all agreed changes were needed, now we must keep an open mind to them.

-JM