Hey Birdos! I just finished watching the rubber game of the Cards-Reds 2 game set and I just NEED to vent some of my own frustrations. First of all, I do realize that the season is only 27 games old and the reason why they play all 162 games is to root out the pretenders from the contenders. With that in mind, I'm now stepping up on my own personal soap box to make some observations that some, none, or all of you may agree with. Here goes...

I'll start with today's game that really shouldn't have been a game if not for 2 really bad mistakes by Sidney Ponson, who was pretty much in command until the back2backers in the 6th. I realize that those 2 right down the heart of the plate hangers to Dunn & Encarnacion will not be the only 2 of the season, not only for the Birds, but for many pitchers & teams to come. These rumblings bring me to my original thought that I think the '06 Reds are being underestimated by alot of people and this game could be more significant later on in the season. The point is, I know that Tony is trying to acclamate some younger guys to the major league level, but my arguement with that is why, in the bottom of the 9th in a divisional road game with the 1st place team does a manager let a guy like Falkenborg stay in the game...at all! Well, one reason might be that he's trying to preserve the arm of a possible future starter in Adam Wainwright (which has been very effective to this point coming out of the bullpen) just because he left him in one inning too long in a semi-blowout win against the Nats on Sunday, which by the way that outing was ONLY 35 pitches. It just seems to me that an extra 20 or 30 pitches (maybe less) for a 25 year old stud isn't going to ruin him for future starts to possibly prolong a road game into extra innings. Along the lines of this point, I know that John Gall has been tearing it up this year in the minors and he can be a dangerous guy at the plate, but in the situation in the top of the 9th with 2 men on & 2 outs how does a guy let Gall bat (for those that didn't see the game, Gall's previous at bat with 2 on in the 7th was pretty bad) when you have THE most dangerous hitter in the league in the dugout. I do realize that the question here is...do you risk losing Albert for multiple games just for one at bat in one game 27 games into the season that he could have not done anything with? My first thought here is NO, but considering he'll probably be in the lineup tomorrow, the risk option here was pretty low. Also, it must be me, but I question the 7th inning move by letting Jim Edmunds PH for Hector Luna with 2 on. I KNOW that you have the situational righty-lefty matchup & it is historically better than the righty-righty, but at this juncture of the season, what Cardinal fan would really want Jimmy at the plate over the .360 hitting Hector Luna right now...not me!

To make a short story longer, in my opinion, Tony LaRussa is micromanaging alot more than usual this season & I feel that he is directly responsible for at least 3 of the Card's 10 losses to this point. I know I spoke of just one game here, but I'm sure alot of you have questioned more than one move that the Skipper has made this year. I guess that's why he's on the top step of one of the most storied franchises in baseball history & I'm sitting in my chair at home criticizing him. Right!

I DO know that the season is long & there are going to be good games & bad games, streaks & slumps. A week ago, I was ready to trade Juan Encarnacion...but ohhhhh how a couple of dingers & web gems in a few games has completely satisfied me for now. Jimmy's gonna K on that high inside heater, but then he'll go on a tear for a month, KO everything he sees & get back above that dreaded Mendoza line. Izzy seems to always toy with the fans by walking AT LEAST one guy per outing in those 1 run games, but look at what he's done since he's been in good ol St. Lou, just drama!

Just needed to get a few things off of my chest, sorry for the incessent rant. GO CARDS!