Short, cute video. This is why (most) ladies love Joe Mather. And of course, we all love Boog.

Brendan TV!

Awww. So cute! Brendan is cooking a nice salmon dinner for Mr. Mather, who is out running errands. The best part: dessert is a strawberry RING POP.

Observations and/ or interpretation welcome. : )

Mostly it's him taking swings, but he makes the Pujols face on demand. The timer counts down instead of up, so it's at about 0:50.
His stance and follow-through look pretty good, but of course I will miss the neurotic shoulder-licking.

Worth a look for those of us that have been experiencing Brendan Ryan withdrawal for the past few months. This video is a few days old so it may have already been posted among the comments somewhere. From Good Reporter's blog.

Bounce back, kid! <3

This article mostly talks about the fact that getting an autograph from Matt Holliday at Winter Warm-Up will cost $100 (donated to Cardinals Care), but what I found interesting is that Brendan Ryan has moved into the echelon of players that command fees for autographs. Fifteen bucks to meet Boog--I'd do it.

EDIT: I totally got fooled. I posted this before I realized it wasn't real--but it would have been funny if it were. My original post follows:

Poor, messed up Milton Bradley. Someone on VEB theorized that MB doesn't mean to be a dick--he's just nuts. I tend to agree, and this latest incident is evidence of his persecution complex, I think.

Choice quotes:

"I am in utter disgust over your bitterness and hatred...I guess 100-plus years of losing makes people intolerably cruel and insensitive."

(probably nexdef'd but I haven't checked comments yet)

via twitter--thanks, @jonahkeri

There's a Train Robber Piniero sighting too.

I know I'm posting this at the risk of being nexdef'd again. I haven't read any post comments yet today.

"On Tuesday, St. Louis Cardinals second base prospect Jarrett Hoffpauir became a member of the Toronto Blue Jays when he was claimed off waivers. The Cardinals were attempting to remove the 26-year-old from their 40-man roster."

Too bad. I liked Hoffy.

Buster Olney says Hal McRae has definitely been fired, confirms McGwire rumors:

"ESPN's Buster Olney has informed MLBTR, via email, that Tony La Russa has signed a new multi-year contract to return as the Cardinals manager. La Russa's coaching staff will look different though, as the Cards have fired hitting coach Hal McRae. The leading candidate to replace him? According to Olney, it's former Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire."

"In the season's final two months, Ryan hit .310, and only Pujols and Matt Holliday had better slugging percentages than Ryan's .432."
I didn't know that!

"I think they can tell I want to be the shortstop."

Interesting character study. Excerpts:

"When he was 3, his older brother, Paul, found him watching a Dodgers game on television and repeating the pitcher's windup until he could mimic every motion."

"...Ryan had become such a distraction [in freshman English] that the teacher at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High assigned one of Ryan's classmates to screen his questions."

Yaaaaaay, Boog. : )

This will either make you take note of my research and networking skills or add to the perception that I'm "stalking " Brendan Ryan; either way, the result is the same. I joined the FSN Midwest facebook page and specifically requested that they post this video. This morning, my wish was granted. Thank you, Guys In The Truck. (Seriously, the pre-game producer maintains the facebook page, so I guess that really IS a Guy In the Truck...right?)