SB Nation User Blog: birdsonbat

I am looking for an Ozzie Smith stadium give away...it was a life size poster of him (so not that...

birdsonbat — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 02:15:20 -0000

I am looking for an Ozzie Smith stadium give away...it was a life size poster of him (so not that tall), around 1990. Help me recapture my youth in my mancave. any help would be appreciated.

Meeting Gary Carter

birdsonbat — Sat, 31 May 2008 06:06:39 -0000

So tonight I went to my local Yuma Scorpions independent baseball league game. The season just got started and I am trying to make it to at least one game per home series. Mike Marshall runs the local squad and tonight they were hosting the Orange County team, managed by none other than Gary Carter. I grab an official MLB baseball that my two year old son has been destroying in our back yard and head to the ballpark for a nice evening of baseball with my father-in-law who is visiting.

We arrive early to watch some BP and I see Gary walking into the dugout with hitting coach Darrell Evans. I walk up, ball and pen in hand. To give you an idea of the setting, there are only 200 folks that show up to the game and I would bet that only 50 know who Gary Carter is and only five people know that he happens to manage this team. I would also bet that I am the only one who knows who Darrell Evans is....which is tragic. So, I say "Hey Gary, do you mind signing a ball for me?" He says "You sure you don't want Darrell's?" I laugh and tell him I would prefer both.

So my father-in-law, Roy, and I are standing around with Gary and Darrell. Pretty cool. I ask Gary if he is excited about being in beautiful Yuma, Arizona (it was the final game in 3 game series) and we joke around about how great the middle of the desert is. Gary points out I am wearing my Cardinals hat. Making small talk Roy says "You had some really great games against the Cardinals" and Gary, says "Yeah, I had some really great games against every team" Reading that, he sounds like a douche, but trust me, in person it was funny and we all laughed. He signs the ball (on the sweet spot), we talk, he hands it off to Darrell (who signs below Gary) and that is it.

Its funny because when I went to spring training in Phoenix I was talking to Trevor Hoffman, while he was in a uniform, an active ball player, and I was a little nervous...nervous on the approach, nervous on the conversation, nervous as he also pointed out that I was wearing a Cardinals hat. But with Gary and Darrell two players from my youth (more Gary than Darrell) I was much more at ease. Maybe it was the weight they have gained or how they have aged or maybe the fact we were standing in a dilapidated stadium in the middle of the desert, I don't know. Regardless it was a nice experience. I was tempted to ask Gary about the Mets and trying to replace Randolph or what he thought of "The Bad Guys Won", but I didn’t want to push my luck.

The game was great. The Yuma left fielder stole a homerun in the bottom of the seventh in a tied game and Scorpions won it with a walk off run. There are a few other managers in the league that I want to meet to include Steve Yeager and Cory Snyder. The next game I am looking forward to is against a team that Jeffery Leonard is managing. Do you think I could get him to sign it "One Flap Down"? Do you think he would notice my Cardinals hat?

all time greatest cardinals to me.

birdsonbat — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:24:10 -0000

This is to spark conversation that are based soley on life experiences and perception rather than stats...ultimately thats what got us into the game so it is fun to visit. I dont think there is a better time to reflect than just before the start of a new season. So here is how it works, my favorite cardinals, a super brief description of why I love them and their stats from their best season with the redbirds. Some of my picks are based on reality others are based on my perceptions at the age of 9. Others are based on my fascination with Bat S!@# Crazy people. I avoided digging in to old cards and line ups to try and be clever, these are all off the top of my head...if you cannot name your top 25 favorite cardinals off the top of your head, what kind of cardinal fan are you? I tried to make this look as much like a fantasy league roster as possible, so I only list OF vice LF, CF, RF...it makes it much easier. The stats are from baseballreference.com. Additional Disclaimer: this list obviously reflects my disinterest in baseball from 1995 to 1998 when I was more interested in music and girls than baseball...luckily, I got over it. Also, this list could be completely different tomorrow. Submitted for your approval...

HITTERS Year G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG

1B - Jack Clark 1987 131 419 93 120 23 1 35 106 1 2 136 139 .286 .459 .597

Jack Clark hit the first homerun that I recall witnessing in person. I was 6 years old. I was 12 rows behind home plate (my mom was old friends with a distant relative of Marge Schott and we were playing the Reds, it would be another 10 years before I would see a game closer than the nose bleeds) and Jack knocked the shit out of the ball. It could have just cleared the fence, but I heard him grunt and in my mind it went 750 feet. He also knocked Mike Scocia out cold and blew a small fortune on muscle cars and women...a man's man.

2B - Jose Oquendo 1989 163 556 59 162 28 7 1 48 3 5 79 59 .291 .375 .372
Jose, as pointed out by his 92 Topps Studio card was born on the 4th of July and his favorite t.v. show is Night Court. In an alternate universe I would birth his children...our first born would have been named Harry, our second, Danfielding. He also has the record for best single season fielding percentage at 2nd Base in the history of baseball (1989). Being known only as a great utility infielder is a disservice to his talent and career.

3B - Ken Boyer 1961 153 589 109 194 26 11 24 95 6 3 68 91 .329 .397 .533
Tough call as Boyer is essential a 1960s version of Rolen. Incredibly hard nosed. gifted fielder from the Midwest with a great bat whose career came up just short of the Hall of Fame. Bill James considers him one of the greatest players NOT in the Hall of Fame. Died too young to sway the Veterans Committee.

SS - Ozzie Smith 1987 158 600 104 182 40 4 0 75 43 9 89 36 .303 .392 .383

He was pretty good. His only drawback is that he never delivered a clutch homerun or anything too exciting. Very boring player.

OF - Stan Musial 1948 155 611 135 230 46 18 39 131 7 NA 79 34 .376 .450 .702

Stan was good at baseball.

OF - Curt Flood 1965 156 617 90 191 30 3 11 83 9 3 51 50 .310 .366 .421

But for Curt Flood's challenge to MLB he would be in the Hall of Fame. He would have remained in St. Louis and had a long career. He was the best fielder of his generation and hitting well in the NL when pitchers were dominating. He was a casualty of the times but went down swinging. Not to be confused with Cardinal great Curt Ford...which I often did as a child and teenager.

OF - Willie McGee 1985 152 612 114 216 26 18 10 82 56 16 34 86 .353 .384 .503

Willie was the most likeable person in the history of baseball. He had a great career that impacted me at a very young age. I remember pleading with him in game seven of the 1987 world series that if he delivered a game winning base hit I would never call him "E.T. McGee" again behind his back. E.T. McGee also was great to watch finishing his career with the Cards.

C - Tony Pena 1988 149 505 55 133 23 1 10 51 6 2 33 60 .263 .308 .372

Chalk this one up to 7 year old me. He was the catcher for the Cards, I was the catcher for the MBI Pinto league Cubs (I didn't get to pick the team I was on). He had a weird catching stance, I had to have a weird catching stance. He backed up 1st base, I backed up 1st base. It was a thing we had.

PITCHERS (by the way, this was hard. I guess I don't like pitchers that much)
SP - Gibson Year W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB BK ERA
1968 22 9 34 34 28 13 0 0 304.7 198 49 38 11 62 268 7 4 1161 6 0 1.12

He is the one with the wallet that says Bad Mother F@%*er on it.

SP - Alexander 1927 21 10 37 30 22 2 4 3 268.0 261 94 75 11 38 48 1 1 1082 NA 0 2.52

Grover Cleveland Alexander was 40 when he pitched for the Cards but he is one of my favorite baseball characters. He was like an early version of Roger Clemens if steroids were alcohol. He was a complex man who finished up playing with my favorite barn storming team, the House of David.

SP - Andujar 1985 21 12 38 38 10 2 0 0 269.7 265 113 102 15 82 112 11 2 1127 12 0 3.40

This is more based on my readings of Whitey's books but he falls into my Bat S!@#$ Crazy category. In a decade of Bob Forsch and John Tudor, he made things interesting.

SP - DeLeon 1989 16 12 36 36 5 3 0 0 244.7 173 96 83 16 80 201 6 2 972 5 0 3.05

I just remember being thrilled that we had a pitcher with over 200 strike outs and 15 wins. Times were tough. He had a sweet little mustache (I think) on one of his Topps cards. I could be wrong.

SP - Kile 2000 20 9 34 34 5 1 0 0 232.3 215 109 101 33 58 192 13 8 960 1 1 3.91

I liked him...at least better than Morris. I found out he had died in the same letter I found out Jack Buck and my dog had died...while I was in Officer Training. That was a crappy letter.

RP - Kline 2001 3 3 89 0 0 0 26 9 75.0 53 16 15 3 29 54 4 1 303 7 0 1.80

Steve Kline was great. He gave me his autograph and let me touch his hat. He was a dirt bag. He coached High School wrestling in the off season...oh and he was pretty untouchable in 2001.

RP - Worrell 1986 9 10 74 0 0 0 60 36 103.7 86 29 24 9 41 73 1 1 430 16 0 2.08

Todd Worrell signed a baseball card for me in the large appliance section of Murdale True Value in Carbondale, Illinois.

CL - Izzy 2004 4 2 74 0 0 0 66 47 75.3 55 27 24 5 23 71 2 1 308 4 0 2.87

Being an Izzy fan sometimes reminds me of me being a republican. Sometimes I am so proud but other times he does something so embarrassing and stupid that I want to strangle him and act like I never had anything to do with him.

BENCH (honorable mentions)Year G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG

Rex "Hurricane" Hudler 1991 101 207 21 47 10 2 1 15 12 8 10 29 .227 .260 .309

I was young and the Cardinals were pretty weak. I was a slow white kid looking for a speedy white role model...Rex was fast (although his numbers don't show it, or did he think he was fast?) so I liked him...and he had a life size poster night. He is a funny guy though and he tells some funny stories on sports radio when anyone gives him a chance.

Tim Jones 1988 31 52 2 14 0 0 0 3 4 1 4 10 .269 .321 .269

Tim Jones has the distinction of being the only Citadel graduate with a professional skate boarding contract to play for the Cardinals. I am not making that up. He now owns and operates a BBQ restaurant in Little Rock, AK.

Vince Coleman 1990 124 497 73 145 18 9 6 39 77 17 35 88 .292 .340 .400

I loved Vincent Van Go almost as much as he loved launching fireworks at children.

Mark Whitten 1993 152 562 81 142 13 4 25 99 15 8 58 110 .253 .323 .423

He hit 4 homeruns in a game and you didn't .

Mike Laga 1988 41 100 5 13 0 0 1 4 0 0 2 21 .130 .147 .160

Hit a foul ball out of Busch. Wore a pink shirt for his 87 Topps pic. Some say hack, I say ICON.

So Taguchi 2005 143 396 45 114 21 2 8 53 11 2 20 62 288 .322 .412

Was one of the nicest ball players I have ever met in person. The Julio Franco of Japanese players.

Ron Gant 1996 122 419 74 103 14 2 30 82 13 4 73 98 .246 .359 .504

This one time I was at my buddy Jon K's house in 1996 and Ron Gant was up to the plate and the announcer said "the pitcher is throwing his 100th pitch of the night" and I looked at Jon and said Ron is going to hit this one out. And he did.

Reggie Sanders 2004 135 446 64 116 27 3 22 67 21 5 33 118 .260 .315 .482

Reggie was awesome. We wouldn't have had the opportunity to be swept by the Red Sox but for Reggie's performance in the post season of 04. As you can tell, unlike TLR, I like black ball players.

George Hendrick 1980 150 572 73 173 33 2 25 109 6 1 32 67 .302 .342 .498

On July 4th 1980, the day I first graced this planet, George hit a walk off homer in extra innings to win the game, I believe the final was 1 to 0. Ahhh, small ball.

Honorable other mentions...Joe McEwing, Stubby Clapp, Bo Hart, Scotty, Jimmy, Sweet Lou, Mabry, Julian Tavarez (the other Bat S!@# Crazy candidate) Enos (even though he is a racist, him and my grandpa are the only racists I allow myself to love in spite of their ignorance), Eck, Larry Walker and Will Clark.

An evening with Mark Whiten

birdsonbat — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:45:47 -0000

So I am sitting in doors on beautiful Sunday afternoon in Yuma...its 75 and sunny and I am sitting in doors...only because I can and everyone back home is miserable. SOOO I thought I would write something.

Friday night I had a hankerin' for baseball (shocking). Not just any baseball, but random pre steroids, oh my God the Cardinals are horrible (we should all prepare for that again) baseball. I tried to find random pirated video clips on the internet, I am sure they existed at one time, but any trace has been assumedly cleaned up by the attorneys and powers that be at Major League Baseball. So, I was forced to sign up for the MLB.com "Baseball's Best" archives to find a game. As I scanned the games available I realized that I wasn't really getting into anything that they were offereing...I almost watched the 89 NLCS game where Will Clark gives the Cubs the "Thrill" (I am lame) of being losers for another year and almost settled for the 1982 game seven of the world series to watch the Cardinals stick it to the Brewers ...but the 1982 Cardinals were never really one of my Cardinal teams...I was two years old. BUT then, among the greatest WS games of all time, greatest career accomplishments, I found the Gem of all the futile efforts (I use the word effort in its lightest sense) of the Joe Torre era...the game where Mark Whiten hits four homeruns and collects 12 RBI. I was giddy as a school girl.

This was a tough time for Cardinal fans...my greatest memory of this time is it being around the 100th year anniversary of the Cards and McDonalds had this set of Cards cards (!), celebrating the greatest players of the franchise. You couldn't buy the set, you had to put it together yourself while eating hundreds of double cheeseburgers (or at least I did). You got like 3 cards for 3 bucks and my Grandma Pat and Aunt Lois didn't sleep until I had the whole set (It was the first time in 60 years that a kid said "FINALLY I got a Chick HAFFEY card!) I believe that Augie had died already and this may have been one of the last seasons that Anheiser Busch, Inc reluctantly ran the club. Also, if I remember right Augies son hated baseball and he was in charge...I have visions of Joe Torre motivating the club in the locker room with a half naked cut out of the evil owner, Augies son, ala Major League. I have sick visions. So I sat down with an 18 pack of Busch Light and began my journey back to a simpler, pre GNC time. Here are a few things I found interesting....

Holy crap the Cards were horrible. That's not fair, really, they won 87 games (That's four more than the 06 World Champs) but this was before we had the Central Division. This game was the night cap of a doubleheader, that due to rain delays didn't start until 10:15 Cincinnati time...so a lot of players got the night off, i.e. Ozzie. So, I was kind of bummed I wasn't going to see the Wizard. But Torre's line up card more than made up for it...Geronimo! Pena, Lonnie Maclin, Bernard Gilkey (OR "Bernie" to Joe B. and Al H. on this particular night, I guess it never caught on), Todd Zeile, Gerald "Tyler" Perry, "Home Run Hitten" Mark Whiten (which, I must assume before this game was "No emotion face" Mark Whiten), Tom Pagnozzi, Tripp "Dear Lord, Please Kill Ozzie Smith" Cromer and Tewks on the mound.

This game was at Cincinnati's River Front Stadium and there isn't a single advertisement on anything...everything was green...green walls, green backstop, green turf, green empty seats...so I had a thought...the Cookie Cutter stadiums were huge and vast with little in the way of facades and such, so little room for advertising...SO maybe the push for retro stadiums was an effort to create more advertising space and bricks. Just a thought.

There was nothing on the screen but baseball. No score. No scrolling "crawler" and the bottom of the screen. No dancing robot. Just baseball. Can you imagine a time when you could watch a baseball game without knowing who was winning the WNBA finals?

Everyone was skinny. Whiten, by today's standards was skinny. Even the umpires and the fans looked skinny. It was nice.

Two comments were made that I never would have imagined being uttered, ever. Joe Buck gets the credit for both and they are both loosely paraphrased... "It looks like they will pitch around the threat of Zeile" and "After his homerun in the first game, Zeile is chasing Barry Bonds".

The game was, as I mentioned was a late start, and Joe Buck and Al Hzfghnoirabosky were calling the game. I assumed I wouldn't be hearing from Jack. Then the 3rd inning started...I was stunned hearing Jacks voice...it was like eating chicken and dumplings at my Grandmas...incredibly familiar and comforting.

Mark Whiten hits a grandslam in the first inning and it is hardly a "no doubter", however, it was not to be a fun night for Larry Luber. Later, I cannot recall what inning it was, I think the 3rd, the bases are set to be loaded, but the Reds 2nd baseman mishandles the ball and Bernie heads home. The next at bat, Whiten hits a homerun that should have been a grandslam. Bernie's heads up play cost Whiten an RBI and the all time record for RBI's in a game (he is tied for 1st with 12). Rumor has it that Mark Whiten hasn't talked to Bernie since.

The second HR by Whiten was particularly funny. When he hits the ball he gives the bat a Tom Lawless flip and trots to first...the ball begins to drop and Whiten sprints the rest of the way to first because it looks like its not going to clear the fence. It clears by inches, also like the Tom Lawless "blast".

Mark Whiten hits another home run off of Mike Anderson. As Whiten gets back to the dugout, Joe Buck and Al say "Da-na-na, Da-na-na! referencing SportsCenter. This may be the first time this ever happened.

None of Whiten's homeruns were hit particularly far and none would qualify as the best homerun of the game...that honor would go to Gerinmo! Pena, who absolutely crushes (in Geronimo Pena terms) a pitch off of Rod Dibble in the 8th. The ball soared down the right field line, into the 3rd deck. It was Geronimo!'s 3rd of the year. It was September.

By the top of the 9th inning there are 15 fans left. I assume that it was well past midnight. Mark Whiten comes up again, facing Rod Dibble, and knocks it out of the park. Joe Buck is going relatively crazy and says something to the effect of "Wow, this game was actually worth staying up for". This may be because it is after midnight, but I am guessing it has more to do with going through the motions in a dismal seasons whose outcome was probably decided in the first week of august. Then he follows with another "Da-na-na, Da-na-na!" Mark Whiten looks like he just drove in a run with a sacrifice fly for his teams only run in an 18 to 1 blowout. He may have smiled, but not what you would have expected from someone who just had one of the most individually productive evenings in the history of sport. Finally, the 12 people left stand and cheer until Mark jumps outside of the dugout and tips his hat for a curtain call. The Cards won 15-2 and Tewks pitched a complete game for his 16th win of the year. It should also be mentioned that the Cardinals lost the first game even though they put up 13 runs.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun for watching a 15 year old baseball game on a computer while drinking alone.