Dear Mike,

It’s a Monday and we’re writing a letter, which is not uncommon here at Aaron Miles’ Fastball. This one, however, is not a love letter.

Not today.

Not after last night’s St. Louis Cardinals loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Because we have some questions.

And they’re pretty obvious.

Like, what is the deal with your choice of relievers? Specifically, where is Joe Kelly?

Also, can you just give Mitchell Boggs a nice, long break?

And can you get past this bunting fascination — please? Or do you really think it’s successful?

Another: where is Joe Kelly?

And, oh yeah, WHERE IS JOE KELLY?

Obviously Joe Kelly is the hot topic — which makes sense when you have a guy who two months ago was in the mix for the fifth starter role. He’s a valuable piece of the bullpen now that Shelby Miller is in the rotation where he should be. But, and maybe this just makes sense to us, Joe kind of needs to pitch to demonstrate that value.

Right?

Sure, it’s great that Derek Lilliquist told you Joe is “a Ferrari sitting in the garage.” And, though I’m no car expert, it doesn’t seem like a Ferrari provides much benefit when it’s not being used. Yeah, maybe it’s impressive to the neighbors when they can see it, sitting there all nice and shiny — but isn’t a Ferrari more impressive when it’s out on the highway getting some action?

» Continue reading “Dear Mike Matheny: We Have Some Questions”

Does this year’s St. Louis Cardinals spring training seem never-ending to anyone else? I know the games started earlier to accommodate the World Baseball Classic, but it just seems endless and we are still 13 days from Opening Day.

Speaking of the World Baseball Classic, at least that has provided entertaining baseball and tonight is the championship game. Yadier Molina, Carlos Beltran and the rest of the Puerto Rican team will take on the Dominican Republic at 7 p.m. Central Time on MLB Network. This is the third time these two teams have met in this WBC, and the Dominican has won both games. (In fact, they’re a perfect 7-0 and could be the first team to go undefeated in the WBC.) Perhaps Puerto Rico was just waiting for the time it really counts to win?

Hopefully that’s the case. And Yadi continues to garner praise for his play and his leadership. Danny Knobler of CBS Sports wrote about him, as did Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. That piece, titled A Triumphant Show by the Artist Yadier Molina, includes this from Tony La Russa, who was at AT&T Park for Sunday’s game:

“He just doesn’t allow his team to lose,” La Russa said. “It’s entertainment at the highest level. He is so good, it’s amazing. You watch him the whole game, and he’s worth the price of admission.”

La Russa continued: “It’s not just instinct. It’s sense, based on how a hitter’s standing, how he responds to the pitch or two before, and he’s very creative in how he makes his adjustment based on what he sees with the hitter and knowing what his pitcher can do. That’s art.”

That’s Yadi.

» Continue reading “Cardinals Wrap-Up: Yadi, Kozma, Carpenter And More”

With week one of Spring Training almost in the books for the St. Louis Cardinals, it’s time to update you with a little news and notes of what’s going on with our favorite team! Here we go!

Yes. That IS Lance Lynn! Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn throws from the bullpen mound during St. Louis Cardinals spring training on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla. Photo by Chris Lee/Post-Dispatch

John Mozeliak has a vision that Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., calls his to maintain. Mo will remain the club’s senior vice president and general manager through the 2016 season. This could make Mo one of the longest serving GM’s in Cardinal history. DeWitt calls Mo a “stabilizing force” in the organization. Be sure to check out this interesting piece about Mo and his contract extension.

The club also agreed to pick up the 2014 option on Manager Mike Matheny’s contract. Mike has a goal for this Spring Training. Get Better. One area Matheny plans to make an improvement? Situational hitting. Hello bunting! Matheny said players “can always get better.” Check out this story on Matheny’s mission to get better!

Former manager Tony LaRussa was at the Cards camp on Thursday when the announcement of Mo and Mike’s extension was made. He called it outstanding and well-deserved.

LaRussa was with  Major League Baseball senior vice president Peter Woodfork and umpiring supervisor Ed Rapuano as they went to all camps to explain some of the rules changes for the upcoming season.

According to Rick Hummel of the P-D:

One rule that will be changed this year is that there will be no fake throws to third base available to pitchers who, on managers’ instructions, would use that deke and then try to pick a runner off first base. » Continue reading “Cards News & Notes: Mo and Matheny Get Contract Extensions”

Get ready, world. Baseball is almost back. The kick-off event for St. Louis baseball is taking place this weekend in the form of the Winter Warm Up, the Cardinals Caravan, and the Baseball Writers Dinner, and more. It’s a lot to take in, so it was awfully nice of the Cardinals to spell it all out for us.

Take a deep breath … okay, go.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (January 17, 2013) – The 17th annual Cardinals Care Winter Warm-Up (#WWU), the Cardinals Caravan (#CardsCaravan) and the 55th annual St. Louis Baseball Writers Dinner highlight a busy Cardinals-themed holiday weekend that unofficially kicks off the 2013 baseball season.

Winter Warm-Up – the largest fundraising effort for the team’s charitable fund, Cardinals Care – returns to the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch Saturday, January 19th through Monday, January 21st (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) with appearances by a variety of current and former Cardinals players. In addition to familiar favorites, fans will have their first opportunity to greet offseason acquisition Randy Choate and the team’s 2012 first-round Draft pick, Michael Wacha. Both are scheduled to appear on Saturday.

“Winter Warm-Up is our favorite way to bring together players and fans as we work to care for kids in the community,” said Michael Hall, Vice-President of Community Relations and Executive Director of Cardinals Care. “Not only is the event a fun-filled weekend with something for everyone to enjoy, our fans are helping us make a real difference throughout Cardinal Nation.”

For Winter Warm-Up information, and to learn more about Cardinals Care, visit cardinals.com/winterwarmup.

That’s only the beginning, because at the very same time, the annual Cardinals Caravan kicks off the 2013 tour. » Continue reading “Baseball’s Weekend Return: Winter Warm Up And More”

As 2012 winds down, it’s only natural to take a look back at some of the posts we wrote this year — and there were plenty to choose from since this is No. 449.

There also were plenty of you who read them, as we’ve had more than 40,800 visits from more than 24,300 people in the past 12 months. Just one thing to say to that: thank you!

So here’s a little trip down 2012 memory lane …

Remember that time in January when Roy Oswalt was going to be a Cardinal?

In addition to those magic words about pitchers and catchers reporting, February also brought a Yadier Molina contract extension and our very first Monday motivation picture post (of course featuring the new Cards manager!)

“Opening Day” are two more magic words for Cardinals fans — and this year’s home opener was extra special. Forget the rain and just focus on the great pictures … or some gushiness about the whole experience.

» Continue reading “A Look Back At The Cardinals 2012″

Nothing like a Twitter timeline full of baseball news now, right? The abundance of tweets about the winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn., combined with yesterday’s 70 degree temperature in northwest Illinois, had me wondering just what month it really was. (Sadly, the darkness by 5 p.m. told me it’s really not summer.)

Chances are you’re keeping up with the great work being done and posted by Derrick Goold and Rick Hummel at the Post-Dispatch and by Jenifer Langosch at the Cards website. If you want a quick overview of all that happened yesterday Cardinals-wise, check out Winter Meetings Day 1: The Rumors Slow-Cooking on the St. Louis Cardinals’ Lukewarm Stove at Viva El Birdos.


One item of note from yesterday’s coverage is the online chat with Derrick Goold, available here. Great info. He’ll be chatting again today at 1 p.m., so get your questions in or just follow along.


» Continue reading “Catching Up With The Cardinals: Tuesday Edition”

Dear Kyle,

This letter is somewhat bittersweet. The last two seasons, you have quietly been the most consistent starter in an occasionally stellar, but often tumultuous Cardinals rotation. You’ve kept the Redbirds in games they had to win. You’ve eaten up innings when the bullpen needed rest. You earned team-leading stats, and an Opening Day start.

And, you did it all without fanfare and without much praise.

K-Lo and Waino — I’ll miss this 1-2 punch!

Now, though, you’re set to move on. The Cardinals, having pitching coming out their ears, so to speak, have given you the chance to earn the money you’re worth, though likely not in St. Louis.

I, for one, am sad to see you go.

I mean, who else could pull off such a successful Tony La Russa impression?

And this year, the baby blue was nice, but the cane and top hat pulled it all together.

You have a sense of humor that isn’t often on display. But, through the dog days of summer, that is a valuable asset, and an element of the 2012 pitching staff I’ll miss next season.

There’s also the fact that, in 33 regular-season games this year, you pitched less than six full innings no more than six times — four of which came in the same rough month. You pitched more innings than any other Cardinal pitcher, and posted a rotation-leading 2.86 ERA — the only starter with a season ERA below three. The consistency is what stands out, partially because that’s the thing that was missing for much of the 2012 season in other places in the lineup.

It started early — and against the Reds, no less! Seven innings of work, four hits, no runs, six strikeouts.

Baseball’s pretty easy when everything works like it should!

There were days in May that were a struggle. But that wasn’t just you. The entire team saw a downswing … to say the least.

» Continue reading “Cardinal Love Letter: Kyle Lohse”

Another day, another award for Yadier Molina. (Not that this is getting old at all.) Yesterday Yadi received the National League Platinum Glove Award, his second and only the second ever awarded. Those eligible for the Platinum Glove are this year’s other Gold Glove recipients, with the winner determined by fan voting — which to me does not make it “arguably the most prestigious defensive award yet” as Jenifer Langosch calls it.

Really? If there were enterprising (and bored) Pirates fans out there, they could have voted over and over and over again for Andrew McCutchen to win. And how prestigious would the award have been then? (You might know that I adore Andrew McCutchen. But he’s not a Gold Glove-worthy center fielder — so certainly not Platinum Glove-worthy. Silver Slugger center fielder? Yes, he rightfully earned that. He’s a great hitter, not a great fielder.)

Anyway, Yadi of course deserves every accolade possible for his defense — congratulations on the Platinum Glove! And Thursday we’ll no doubt find out that both Yadi and Cutch finished behind Buster Posey in the NL MVP race.
» Continue reading “Catching Up With The Cardinals: Sunday Edition”

Much has been said, written, debated, and explained about Mike Matheny in his first year as manager of the Cardinals.I’ve been hesitant to cast my judgement, because there were certainly more than enough extenuating circumstances to make the 2012 season difficult for any manager. What exactly is the appropriate measuring stick for a past Cardinal hero as he follows in the footsteps of a World Championship team, a Hall of Fame manager, and a legacy that creates unusually high expectations?

If we base his value on how far the team played into October, I’d have to call it a success — not based on how the season ended, but by how many other managers would have loved to be in Matheny’s shoes.

If we base his success on how the players performed … well, good luck with coming up with and answer for that! There were high highs, and low lows that made for a frustratingly inconsistent year.

I, however, think his value should be judged by what he brought to the team: exactly the character and leadership abilities that he was hired for.

It was those abilities — the “intangibles” that are hard to quantify — that rallied a team with more obstacles to overcome than I even want to count. No, his decision making wasn’t always grand. But if you recall, there were plenty in Cardinal Nation who questioned Tony La Russa’s sanity night after night, even when the team was winning. The decision making skills, the strategy, the flexibility, the gut instinct … those things will develop. I’m sure of it. Anyone who saw how hard Matheny took every single loss, and how often he didn’t make the same mistake twice (bunting aside…) can expect progress in the in-game management department for 2013.

But, as I looked back at Matheny’s debut season, it was a matter of  moments, not milestones, that stood out.

So, here are my Top 5 Manager Mike moments for 2013. » Continue reading “Looking Back: Matheny Moments”

Busy week? (Yes, most definitely.) Here’s a look at some St. Louis Cardinals stories you might have missed in the last few days.

Cardinals Mourn Loss of Ernie Hays: The entire St. Louis Cardinals organization is saddened by the passing of Ernie Hays, retired Busch Stadium organist, on Wednesday night at the age of 77.

Hays’ sports music career began in 1971 when the Cardinals installed an organ in Busch Stadium II, and he quickly became a fixture at major St. Louis sporting events. Of course he’s best remembered for playing “Here Comes the King” (which you can hear here, and just automatically makes me think of Opening Day and the parade around the warning track). Read more on Hays here and here.

Tony La Russa wants hockey tradition in MLB: Remember back to the 2004 Dodgers-Cardinals NLDS — specifically the handshakes on the field between the two teams once the final game ended? It was Larry Walker’s idea (anyone else miss him?) and one that Tony La Russa wanted to see happen more often. He still does. (And is it a surprise that a Canadian newspaper is writing about it? Of course, it’s not like there is hockey to write about now, unfortunately …)

» Continue reading “Catching Up With The Cardinals: Friday Edition”