Losing to the Cubs is annoying. Especially on the heels of sweeping the Brewers and that six-game winning streak. Not to mention, Lance Lynn’s perfect win-loss record was on the line. Against the Cubs. And, no matter how good of a game it was, Cubs fans will take great pride in rubbing this in. At least for a day, they will.

So yes, losing to the Cubs is annoying. But, it’s not devastating. It’s still just one game.

Rivalries are tough, no matter the opponent. Wrigley is tough, no matter the strength of the visiting team. And, if the Cubbies have had one thing going for them this season, it’s starting pitching. So, getting to Travis Wood wasn’t going to be the easiest of ventures.

Allen Craig made Wood pay for a mistake early, launching a line-drive home run to the bleachers in center field. The Redbirds created a few opportunities here and there after that. Every time there were runners on base, though, they stayed there. No one could bring them on home.

Lance Lynn pitched a beauty of a game. Did you realize he didn’t throw a single pitch with a runner in scoring position? Unfortunately, after Alfonso Soriano looped an ankle-high slider over Craig’s head for a single, Lynn made his only mistake of the night — a 91 mph fastball that caught too much of the plate … and then caught a lot of air as it sailed over the still-brown ivy. Cubs lead, 2-1. This game was probably going to lower Lynn’s average run support, too.

Carlos Marmol tried to give the Cardinals a chance later in the game. In the eighth inning, with chances for the Cardinals running out, Yadier Molina singled off of Marmol with two outs, then proceeded to (barely) steal second on an awkward, good-thing-he-missed-the-tag play. Safe, nonetheless. And, Jon Jay walked. Two on. Two outs. Cardinal Nation’s favorite Cub on the mound. Perfect set up, right? » Continue reading “Cardinals: Rivalry Games Are Never Easy”

A few years back, the Cardinals came up with this crazy idea to invite 40+ amateur writers/photographers/analysts (okay, bloggers) to a special, private event at Busch stadium. Bill DeWitt III and John Mozeliak played along, making themselves available to answer questions and provide insight. And, somehow, three years later, Blogger Day continues!

The Cardinals in recent years have done a great job incorporating non-traditional media into the way they share information. They’re not only committed to their own branches of social media, but they have embraced what we as fans have turned into quite the network of “non-traditional” coverage. And, the Cardinals staff make excellent hosts.

I keep trying to decide how best to describe the experience this past weekend in St. Louis. Last year, (my first at the event) I may have been so in awe of the whole ordeal that I didn’t realize the same things I did this time around. Let me try to explain …

You know how, as a kid, your parents would drag you to dinner with some old family friends, and you would be threatened within an inch of your life to be on your best behavior? It wasn’t like that. At all. Think, instead, about that trip to see your really cool aunt and uncle and your favorite cousins. Sure, they may expect certain things of you, but mostly they just want you to feel comfortable, have the best time, and go home ready to come back again.

Photo courtesy of the Cardinals

It was like that.

The event is a reunion of sorts anyway, since most of us don’t actually live in St. Louis. So, we see one another once or twice a year. The efforts made by the media relations staff to get us all there and coordinated are tremendous each time, and it certainly makes for an even more enjoyable visit to beautiful Busch.

Many who attended last year were greeted by name as we made our way through the executive offices to the conference space where Mr. DeWitt and Mo would soon be joining us. Thanks to Lindsey Weber and Ron Watermon, we collected not only tickets, but also Carlos Beltran bobbleheads.

And, we were just getting warmed up. » Continue reading “Blogger Day 2013: Ballpark Village, Shelby Miller And The Hat Color Conundrum”

It was a blustery spring night in Pittsburgh, as Jake Westbrook took his sparkling 0.00 ERA and a chance for career win No. 100 to the mound. Despite the darkening clouds and the inevitable rain storm, Mike Matheny opted not to pull the classic LaRussa “bait and switch” by starting a reliever and saving the starter until after the expected rain delay.

So, Jake began the quest for 100. These Pirates have always presented issues for Westbrook. They have hit .314 against him in the past. As a pitch-to-contact kind of guy, the free swinging Pirates seem to get hits to fall in just the right spots.

Last night, though, it was the Redbirds who struck first, plating two in the top of the opening frame. At starting pitcher loves the idea of throwing his first pitch already up by two. But after an opening strikeout, Jake’s night took a dark turn.

Single after single after single, mixed in with a few untimely errors, and all of a sudden that two run lead was a two run deficit.

Four runs in the first?!? Clearly, Jake’s night — no, his career — was on the brink of disaster!!

Um, okay. Hold that thought.

We all knew Westie wouldn’t hold a perfect ERA all summer. We also knew he’d likely have a bad inning or two, and maybe even a bad game. The task for a pitcher like Jake against a lineup like Pittsburgh’s was a tall order anyway, but the defensive miscues didn’t help. Plus, after that first inning, he came right back with a scoreless second.

However, Mother Nature is apparently a Jake Westbrook fan. In the third inning, the dark clouds that had rolled in opened up and the rains came tumbling down.

One look at the radar, and it was evident there would be no more baseball in Pittsburgh that night. After an extended rain delay, the night was officially called. The stats were all washed away. The starters had a little extra time to rest. And Westbrook’s 0.00 ERA is still officially in tact.

No make-up date for the game was announced.

Instead, we’ll try again tonight with Shelby Miller looking to continue his hot start against AJ Burnett who has just one win in 12 starts (dating back to August) and is two away from career strikeout No. 2,000. Game time is 6:05 p.m. … Hopefully!

Cards win 5-1 over Reds behind Lynn, Adams & yes, the bullpen.

This was just the kind of bounce-back winner the Cardinals — and all of us fans — needed.

After Monday’s home opener collapse, there was an overwhelming sense of “Maybe we have more problems than we thought we did!” that was fighting against the ever-present logic shouting “It was ONE GAME!”

The reality is, Monday night was a really awful way to lose. But, more telling than one heartbreaking loss would be how this team rebounded the very next day against the very same team … with the very same guys who struggled the night before.

Before Trevor Rosenthal and Mitchell Boggs had their chances to remind us that all is not lost, Lance Lynn was up for a comeback of his own. After pitching only four innings in his first start of the season, we all needed a boost of confidence where last year’s All-Star was concerned.

Ten strikeouts over six innings will do that.

The kid looked good. He looked really good. And manager Mike Matheny commented after the game on just how much fun Lynn is to watch when he’s throwing the ball as easily as he did last night. Mike, I have to agree. » Continue reading “Lesson Learned: These Cards Bounce Back”

See? What’d I tell you? New day, new result. And I much prefer this one.

Jaime Garcia — yes, on the road! — was impressive. He could have crumbled early after he gave up a solo shot to Arizona’s Miguel Montero in the bottom of the second. We’ve seen the wheels fall off at that point before. This time, though, Jaime pulled it together and pitched 3.2 scoreless innings after that.

His final line looked like this: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K. He threw 97 pitches, 57 for strikes. Sure, the four walks aren’t pretty … especially since he walked himself right into a sticky situation in the 6th, where he left with the bases loaded and two outs.

Fortunately, Mujica/Rosenthal/Boggs seems to work as well as Mujica/Boggs/Motte did last year.

Jason Kubel, facing Edward Mujica in a prime situation to lay down the hurt, fought off six pitches before striking out looking to end the threat. » Continue reading “Jaime And Heath: Thanks For The “W””

Dear Jake,

With spring training officially beginning (though most of you have been there long enough to give us plenty of almost-real, interesting, baseball things to talk about), I’m happy to make you the first Love Letter of the 2013 season … technically, anyway.

There’s a point I want to make right off the bat (um, no pun intended!): You, my dear, are not the forgotten man in the rotation. Not in the least.

Sure, you may not be the center of the buzz. Chris Carpenter kind of stole that thunder. That turned into a domino effect, making guys like Joe Kelly and Shelby Miller even bigger stories. Then, of course, there’s Lance Lynn showing up to camp all sleek and smooth (faced. Smooth faced …). That made a few headlines. And, with Jaime Garcia’s status still up in the air and Adam Wainwright’s contract negotiations in the “nothing new” stage, the question marks surrounding the rotation are creating more interest than the thing that isn’t a question mark – you.

Last season was one of your best in St. Louis. After starting with your own off-season transformation, you showed up to spring training fit and focused. Then, starting 28 games while posting a 3.97 ERA, you earned more “Westbrook’s dominating start” headlines than the reverse. » Continue reading “Love Letter: Jake Westbrook”

So … here’s what’s happened this week:

Yep. About that much.

To say things are slow would likely qualify as the biggest understatement of the year, and we’re only two weeks in! I suppose no news can be good news. If there was bad news, say, RE: Jaime Garcia or Rafael Furcal, we’d likely be hearing much more. So, business as usual is a good thing, as far as baseball is concerned. For those of us tasked with writing about a team content to sit tight and wait for pitchers and catchers to report? Not such a good  thing.

But, in checking around for some Minor League news, I discovered that while I was at work all last weekend, Cardinals hopeful Kolten Wong answered some questions from Redbird fans on twitter, via the MLB Futures account.

Having been in the Quad Cities when Wong first arrived to make his professional debut, I got a good first look at just what we were in for. I believed then, and still do now, that Wong is exactly the kind of player that makes it in the Cardinals organization. He’s a hard worker, he soaks in instruction, his passion for the game is palpable, and he loves the history of the club.

His answers to fan questions reiterated that.

Here are a few of my favorites:

It’s great to see a young kid with such a solid grasp on what it means to have that legacy behind him. » Continue reading “Kolten Wong: Scrap-tastic Cardinal Of The Future”

The start of a new year naturally leads us to reflect on the last one. Chris collected a lot of our greatest memories from 2012, but that, in turn, tends to get me thinking about the coming year. Before we know it (and yet not as soon as we’d all like!), pitchers and catchers will be headed to Jupiter. Shortly after that, we’ll get our first taste of the latest edition of our Cardinals, and begin to develop ideas and opinions on the season ahead.

We’ve been pretty fortunate the last few years to have exiting and successful late-season runs. But this year, I’m selfishly hoping for a little different route to the postseason. (But, I’ll gladly take it however it comes!)

However things play out, though, I’m just ready for baseball to be back.

And with my mind geared up to look ahead, I’ve come up with the top 13 things I’m most excited about for the 2013 season.

13. Bacon-wrapped hot dogs

I probably could have just said, “ballpark eats.” But, after the food we ate at UCB Weekend, those bacon-wrapped dogs were sensational, I must say. There’s nothing like a good hot dog on a summer night at Busch. And you can never go wrong with bacon!

12. High Sock Sundays becoming High Sock Weekends

I thought “High sock Sundays” were a pretty great treat. I know there are people who aren’t fond of the Cardinals adding an alternate jersey this year, or their plans to wear it once a week, but Jon Jay made an excellent suggestion when he tweeted about wearing high socks on Saturdays to complete the throwback look. I’m totally okay with this. In fact, I’m pretty excited about it.

11. Mo’s magic

The last few years, it’s turned into a bit of a trend. Mid-season struggles have John Mozeliak searching for the perfect solution. Nothing all too dramatic, but enough of a shake up to get the team over the hump. While I hope the circumstances are a bit less imminent, I find myself quite curious to see what dear old Mo has up his sleeve this time around.

» Continue reading “Looking Back To Look Ahead: Cards in 2013″

We all knew it was coming. In fact, most people agreed it was a fair deal for both parties. If the Cardinals and Skip Schumaker could both be helped by a trade …

That doesn’t make the reality easier to grasp. I know, I’m looking at it through the emotions of a Cardinals fan who grows to love every guy that wears the uniform. Especially one like Skip who plays the game the right way, works hard, does whatever he’s asked, strengthens the clubhouse resolve and unity, and makes a difference in the community.

Baseball is a business, yes, but one that inevitably toys with the emotions. This prospective deal has been on the table since the end of the season, really. Where did Skip fit into the 2013 blueprint? Any way you slice it, he hardly fit at all. So when I saw the internet buzzing last night with the news that, pending a physical today, Skip Schumaker will be heading to LA and sporting Dodger blue, it was an odd thing to try to handle.

Schumaker has spent his entire nine-year career in St. Louis. He’s been present for two World Series victories, and five total playoff runs. There was, perhaps, no bigger moment for Skip than the RBI double that scored Rafael Furcal to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS. Yes, that game. That season. That at-bat. Ten pitches, and the biggest hit of his life? Probably.

It’s that kind of memory that makes it hard to let Schumaker go. But, his place with the Cardinals was limited. And even as a backup at second base and center field, he’ll likely see more playing time with the Dodgers. That’s all he wanted when his manager approached John Mozeliak about a potential trade. He didn’t want out of St. Louis, necessarily. He just wanted on to the field.

He appears to be getting more than that, though. This move will be a homecoming of sorts for the Schumakers, as Skip is from Southern California. Plus, Mark McGwire is there. Long-time friends, Schumaker and McGwire have worked together for years. If you’re going to have a new team, it’s definitely a plus to have a familiar face along for the ride. » Continue reading “SoCal Bound — Schumaker Traded To LA”

The Cardinals headed to Nashville with a short check list. The 2013 squad needs middle infield help and left-handed relief. Adding bench depth wouldn’t hurt, either. Other, less likely moves could be made, but that would be out of character for John Mozeliak and company. They generally opt to only make blockbuster moves when it’s absolutely necessary.

Thus far, they’ve kept to that M.O.

After falling out of the hunt for significant upgrades at short or second base (including Marco Scutaro and Yunel Escobar), the focus shifted to solving the lefty relief problem. Sure, we all saw what Marc Rzepczynski can do. But we also saw what happens when the expectations are too high … or the left side of the ‘pen gets lonely. Or something like that.  Sean Burnett seemed to be in play, until he got too expensive.

Still the Cardinals ended the day with a friend for Scrabble: Randy Choate.

He definitely fits the “LOOGY” role. Last season, he pitched in 80 games (44 for the Marlins, 36 for the Dodgers), and just 38.2 innings between the two. In 25.1 innings with Miami, he 7 earned runs on 16 hits, none of them, however, of the home run variety. After being traded to the Dodgers in the front-page Hanely Ramirez trade, he surrendered just one run in his last 13 appearances. For the 2012 season, he held a 3.03 ERA. » Continue reading “Quiet Cards Check One Off The “To-Do” List”