Merry Christmas! I hope Santa was good to you this year. I have many things to be thankful for this year! The first is not the Cardinals winning the World Series though. (It is second) I was married on Nov. 4th so the back-end of the year was awesome! Anywho I just wanted to know how many stockings were filled with World Series DVD's. THis Christmas I got...

1. World Series DVD
   
2. 1 case of Bud Aluminum WS logo
   
3. 3 magnum bottles bud WS logo
   
4. 1 WS bud logo mirror
   
5. SI special edition WS magazine
   
6. about 4 shirts (one it a polo-type)
   
7. WS champ pajama pants

Hasn't this been a great year? Let us all be thankful this holiday season and let me know what I need to add to my collection.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

There has been much debate over pitching that I had to figure out some things for me that I would like to share. Here is a list of rotations with 06 ERA and the average ERA. I added Batista to ours which is a mid 4 ERA. This is assuming Clemens and Pettite are not coming back to the Astros and I didn't add the Pirates and Brewers. I figured the Reds, Cubs, Astros, and Cardinals. (Except Cubs all were players last year.)

Cubs
C. Zambrano 3.41
Lilly 4.31
Hill 4.17
Miller 4.57
Marshall 5.59
Avg 4.41 ERA

Reds
Harang 3.76
Arrroyo 3.29
Milton 5.19
Lohse 5.83
Michalak 4.89
AVG 4.592

Astros
Oswalt 2.98
Williams 3.65
Hirsh 6.04
Rodriguez 5.64
Albers 6
AVG 4.862

Cardinal
Carpenter 3.09
Reyes 4.68
Wainwright 4.09 (projected)
Wells 6.50
Batista 4.58
AVG 4.588

My opinions on the next page

 

Continue reading this post »

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/brennan/2006-11-29-brennan-mcgwire-hall_x.htm

I came across this article in the USA Today recently. I really made me angry. It made me angry for two reasons. First reason was that Mark McGwire was a Cardinal and he broke Roger Maris' single season record for homeruns. I'm not mad that he did that. I'm upset because he "possibly" cheated. The second reason I'm upset is the baseball writer in this instance says they can make up for this by not voting him in to the Hall of Fame. That people who are good at formulating their thoughts into sentences, that are good at using words to create a picture, have a say in the induction of a person into the Hall of Fame. I personally think they should have no say in the matter but that is how it is right now.

   My thoughts in this whole thing are muddied with "what-if's." Peter Gammons on ESPN said the "Steriod Era" in his mind lasted for 20 years.

   How can you "make an example" out of a player that first of all you know he did andro only?

   The problem with this is that for every argument, there is an equal argument against. (Ex. Mark McGwire did Andro which is a banned substance. Argument: It wasn't illegal in baseball then.) I have no idea if he should be a Hall of Famer. It would be hard to throw out 20 yrs of baseball and pretend like it never happend. But if they induct anybody in that era, then I think they would have to induct Mark McGwire.

   

Hellooooo Cards Fans! Still basking in the glow of a World Series win? I sure am! Want to repeat badly? I sure do! I sure as heck don't want to wait 24 years for the next one! (Here comes the BUT.) I'm not gonna lie though, this offseason scares the willies out of me. (Even though I'm not sure what a willies is) My question is more of a gut feeling than a statistical one. It comes in two parts

1.)Do you think we can bolster the starting rotation enough to be competitive?

2.)Do you think we will aquire any "big" names, or take off the scrap pile?

I look at all the rumor mill sites and all the other sports news sites, and the names that have been tossed around here at VEB are being tossed around every other team. I'm afraid nobody will come to St. Louis. They will sign elsewhere. What do you think? What does your gut tell you?

Poll

What's your gut tell you about the rotation?

6%

We will have a dominant rotation?

3 votes

51%

We will have a good rotation?

24 votes

38%

We will have a mediocre rotation?

18 votes

2%

We will have a bad rotation?

1 votes

2%

This is probably a rebuild season?

1 votes

47 votes | Poll has closed

Okay I'm playing Walter for a second so bear with me. This is going to sound hair-brained and as a matter of fact it is. But I hate waiting for trades and stuff so I try to come up with crazy things that might (or not) work. Feel free to criticize me!

SP's

1. Trade Duncan for Erving Santana of the Angels. (Dunc could play 1b or DH)
   
2. Trade Rick Ankiel (or some other schmo) and Juan Encarnacion for Jeff Francis of the Rockies.
   

So my rotation is
1.Carp
2.Wainers
3.Reyes
4.Francis
5.Santana
Yeah that's right ladies and gentlemen! A group of young kids led by their wise master CARP! BRILLIANT! Oh no some of you say! Balderdash screams others! Wainers needs to be in the pen! Well my pen is the best pen in the entire world!

Pen
You remember that guy that used to close for us? What was his name? Isri..Isring...? Oh yeah that guy! Isringhausen! Maybe he could be our closer! I mean hell we're paying him to do that. Take Wainers out, insert Narvie, close by committee until Izzy gets back! BRILLIANT!

Outfield
J-Rod or Schumacher or my mother
Edmonds
Luis Gonzales

Infield
Rolen
Eck
Soriano
Pujols
Molina

Bench
Triple A - Memphis

Now really was that so hard? I might have slipped that Soriano guy in there but with all the cash I just saved us, it's really not unrealistic. Remember before you hammer my rotation that my average age is 26 yrs old. That's the 90's braves right there folks. Except we have David "they call me the pitcher whisperer" Duncan.

Okay I ran out of steam there. Please plug any holes in my leaky boat. Or as my math teacher used to say. "Think outside the box."

(I just wanted this diary to be kinda like a crazy trade diary. What crazy thing could you come up with?)

I have been wanting to post this for a while and I never got around to it. I think this is a good idea for us that know computers, but don't know the "tricks" to it. Also I wanted to know some verbage so when some people here are talking, I know what they are saying. In bullet form

1. how to post a link to an article
   
2. how to post a picture from your computer
   
3. how to post a picture from the internet
   
4. how to make something in italics
   
5. how to make something bold
   
6. what is WISP?
   
7. what is win probablity added? where does it come from?
   
8. There seem to be another dimension to stats other than your standard ERA AVG SB BB etc. I think thats the WISP and OPS etc. Help me on that.

I tend to look at things on the surface. IE Yadier has a hot bat right now. But I think it would be good to know what the heck some people are talking about.This will help me (and others I'm sure) understand better, points that are trying to be made. I don't need details, just what it is and how it works.
THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP!!!

I was listening to the local (OK) radio sports show today and I heard an interesting thing and wanted your take on it. They said that A-Rod was probably going to be on the trade-block but who could take him. They listed a whole bunch of teams that could afford him, and the Cardinals were mentioned. They said the Yankees needed pitching, and the name they tossed out there was Adam Wainwright. So I wondered if that really was feasible. Would you give up Adam for A-rod? Furthermore this depletes our bargaining chips in going after a big name pitcher. Just curious if you would try to go after him.

     How long can a team be streaky for? The reason I ask this is that I feel this team is scary good when it is on. The other reason I ask this is because if the stars line up in our favor, this team could make it to the WS. They could even win a game or two. Could they win the whole thing? Maybe...  

     Look at how this team has been during the season. We get swept by the Cubs, swept by the Pirates, and still lead our division. We got hammered by the White Sox. We have not won 100 games. We should, in all due respect, not be in this position. (We are fortunate we are in the Central.)  

     But we are and I for one am dumbfounded. This is why I say maybe. Because when people expected us in 2004 to be third in the division, we weren't and we went to the WS. Nobody (including me) thinks this team is good enough and that is why I think they will. The so-called chip on the shoulder mentality. Honestly think about it. Do you think they could just because they shouldn't? It is intersting to think about...

Continue reading this post »

 I want to debate two things.

1. What has to be done this year. Looking at who we got and what they have done, what is the perfect senario for us to succeed this year. (This is where I hope the stat guys find optimum pitching performances ie. Weavers only good till the fifth or If Marquis gets past the third he's good till the eighth.)
2. What could happen next year. People have been throwing names all over this blog. (Schmidt has been the favorite) I want a starting rotation that we can afford, but has the right mix of talent that there is no quote un quote blaring weaknesses. Obviously I don't know every players contract, but I always feel if theres a will theres a way.

So there it is. Give me your say on this year, and give me your starting five next year.