Well really to me there is only one place to begin with this team.   THANK YOU.   Did we have the greatest talent at all positions?  NO  Did we we always play the smartest?  NO

Were we a fun bunch of KIDS to watch grow and perform?     YESSSSSSSSSSSSS

T-Will thanks for growing and becoming a joy to watch on the court.  I can't think of anyone I've taken more pleasure in watching play and grow.

A McGee thanks for getting the most out of everything you had.  You deserved to start over Sosa and you played amazingly this year.

E5 take that talent and what you've learned from your less talented breathern and explode when you get to the NBA.  Thanks for spending on more year in LVille and providing us with your talent and brilliance.

Samardo, Jerry, PK, TJ, et al.   Take this lesson and this pain and bring it back next year to compete, to learn, to strive for another great season. 

THANK YOU 2009 Louisville Cardinals you brought a range of emotions and WE WILL ALWAYS BE PROUD OF YOU!

Did anyone hear Lou on the radio this morning?  I was at work and didn't hear a lot of the comments.  Two that I did catch paraphrasing:

"The team is too similar 1-8 right handed, slow"

On Fukodme:  talked to a lot of people involved with Japanese baseball and they think the combination of not playing a full season in Japan in 07 due to surgery combined with the move to MLB hurt him.  Lou talked of adjusting the training schedule to be more Americanized and being familiar with the league as reasons to be postive going forward. 

Lou did make comments on Gregg and how to improve being too right handed and slow but missed them.

UPDATED WIth Link to podcast

Lou on Waddle and Silvy

In my never ending quest to right all the world's wrongs, I submit to you the current NL/AL all star ballot leaders.  As baseball fans, and since we don't have a damn guy that deserves our votes, I encourage you guys to go out and vote for the best players and not let the Yankee/Red Sox/Cards fans elect all their guys... So here's the links and GO VOTE!!!

6/5 NL vote leaders
6/6 AL vote leaders

I'll try and update the ballots as they are updated.

Look for VOTE

Let's state our displeasures correctly.  I'm mad Jim Hendry didn't sign someone who could hit as many homeruns as Sammy Sosa without the steroiods question.

I looked at RF stats and posted some below and Jones fairs well against the other RFs in our Division.  His OPS is a underneath of others when you look at the raw numbers but his PA numbers are inline with most of the others.  His OBP is right inline with the others as well both raw and PA.  Any interest in someone elses stats let me know.

Please also note Jones' salary for this year is listed as 4.03mil so it appears it was back loaded ostensibly so if he's moved it will be on someone else to pay the larger portion.
Data is from Baseball Reference except 06 Salaries USA Today.

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Peter Gammons just called the Cubs most dissapointing team in the NL no surprise there.  However he also called out Hendry (in a way) by saying the Cubs just don't get it.  Their OBP is .301.  The Cubs need to realize that you have to get someone on base to have a rally they just don't seem to get it(paraphrased).  Also he said things would turn around some for the Cubs they should get Lee back around June 20th and they've been missing their third and fourth starters all year which hasn't helped.  
However he didn't come close to saying that they would compete he went on to mention the Cardinals playing well DESPITE INJURIES due to their quality starting pitching and the ability of Tony LaRussa to "manage the 25th man on the bench".  Dusty probably can't even remember who his 25th man on the bench is due to the fact he's had what 8 different guys in that spot this year.