It seems that the closers this postseason are sucking pretty bad, so I got curious and looked at their numbers. Obviously, the Franklin meltdown isn't reflected very well in this table, but only Rivera really stands out this year as an outstanding shutdown closer, though Lidge, in a relatively small sample, has held it together. Interesting that it's looking like the two remaining closers who have not allowed an earned run will be headed to the WS, while the unexpected meltdown guys are gonna be packing their bags soon, or have already done so.

I also thought the 30% inherited runners scoring was a pretty ugly number.

According to my 2007 "Left Hander's Calendar", today is the birthday shared by Ken Griffey Jr. and Stan Musial. The calendar also says that they're both from the same hometown of Donora, PA.

Hall of Famer Freddie Lindstrom was also born on November 21. However, when you look at the complete list of ballplayers born on November 21, you can see that sharing Stan, Freddie, and Ken Jr.'s birthday does not automatically make you a HOFer. Sorry Hank Blalock, you're gonna have to earn your way in just like everybody else.

A nice article on Stan the Man's birthday is in today's Post Dispatch. You can read the article here.

I live in California and was unable to attend either recent bobblehead night at Busch. Does anyone have either of the above-referenced bobbleheads they'd be willing to part with? Please e-mail me off-board at lawman3842@gmail.com to discuss. Some are available on Ebay I know, but I'd rather purchase them from a fellow VEBer if I can.

According to Hadley: link

I must say that I'm not impressed. Check out his carreer numbers here.

The last time he posted an ERA under 5 was in 2004. He hasn't started for the BoSox this year, and has put up an ERA of 5.03 with a WHIP of 1.618 with 20/14 K/BB in 34 innings.

IMHO this guy's not the piece that'll put us over the top. Just another way to trade the future.

Various players have nicknames that are often given to them whether they like it or not early in their big league careers.

While watching the St. Louis-Houston game today while the Astros announcers were drooling all over themselves about Hunter Pence and repeating his name over and over again (it sounded almost like Joe Morgan talking about Derek Jeter or Barry Bonds), it occured to me that "Hunter Pence" sounds an awful lot like "Under Pants".

From now on, that's what I'm going to call him.

Last week when I was in LA for the second game of the Cardinals/Dodgers series, I was in the hallway just outside the Vin Scully broadcast booth (which you pass as a matter of course when you're going to or coming from the Dodger Stadium Club, a restaurant with a view of the field located near the right field foul pole).

I was just getting onto the down escalator and there, across from me on the up-bound escalator, was Walt Jocketty with a bottle of water in each hand. He saw me in my Cardinals batting practice jersey, and he saw my family members surrounding me in their red; he had a look on his face that indicated he hoped to not be recognized. I did a double-take, which he noticed, and gave me a nod of hello.

Several things went through my mind... I thought about saying "I wish we still had Jeff Suppan", but becuase I know he wasn't worth the money he wanted I didn't. I thought of asking about J-Rod, or about whether we had any more pitchers at AAA who can hit better than our outfielders. None of these seemed like good things to say.

The best thing I thought to say was "hey man, you should read what Larry Borowski has to say about the organization over at vivaelbirdos.com; that's some good stuff", but this would've taken too long and he never would have remembered.

So, having no better ideas, I simply said "We're gonna win!" to which he replied with a grin and a double fist pump, his bottles of water shaking in his hand as he joined me for a moment in being just a fan.

Throughout the remainder of the game I held onto the hope that I was right and that we would depart the victors. After all, we'd taken the previous 10 games against the Dodgers, and the offense was showing signs of life.

That's what being a fan is, I suppose; hoping for something over which you have no control to turn out in a way that favors you. You can be sitting next to your best friend, with whom you agree on just about everything else, with whom you share many common interests and goals, and yet one of you will be jubilant and the other devastated simply by the outcome of a game.

It probably wouldn't be nearly as fun if you did have some control over the outcome, or if you were responsible for assembling or managing the team. I can't help but wonder if, while we all would love the opportunity to be the GM for once, Walt wouldn't want to be just a fan.

At the Houston Chronicle, Jose de Jesus Ortiz wrote this article in which he bashes Tony and calls him a hypocrite and criticizes St. Louis fans for being supportive of Tony.

I had to write this response, and hope it makes it through the censorship:

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LaRussa was foolish to drive in his condition, there's no doubt about that. The pathetic thing I see here is the glee with which Astros fans read this story. Sure, in their comments in this forum are filled with righteous indignation about Tony's DUI, and are laced with the typical admonitions and diatribes on the evils of drunk driving; but the overwhelmingly obvious underlying message I see here is one of schadenfreude, the taking of pleasure in someone else's misfortune.

Jealous contempt for the superior baseball team is the cause, I'm sure. Astros fans hate the Cardinals, and now are happy to see the St. Louis manager make a fool of himself. Now they call him a hypocrite, but how pathetic is that? Was there this same degree of outrage among Astros fans with Dontrell Willis, or your touted Hunter Pence, when they were charged with the same offense? Certainly not.

All three offenses are equally deplorable, but the Astros' fans hypocrisy is as real, if not more so, than this tenuous hypoctirical "link" of between LaRussa's impaired driving and his advocacy of animal rights. I'm sure there will be a slew of responses to this message trying to draw a distinction, but sophistry can't change the truth.

Get over it, Houston. Leave your jealous contempt for the Cardinals to cheering for the on-field results, and don't take such pleasure in the personal failings of a rival manager.
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In contradistinction to the last song (click here to listen) about the Cardinals and their World Series appearance, a new one is in the works commemorating the season. My brother wrote the music for the last one, and is working on the new tune now. When I drafted these lyrics I had in mind the tune from Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues". Enjoy! I'll post a link when it's done, but the lyrics are pasted below:

When we lost out on AJ, and instead we got Ponson,
The fanbase tossed their hands up; what the heck is goin' on?
We didn't get much better, or so it really seemed.
Ponson instead of Morris; that don't improve the team.

Then Mulder hurt his shoulder, and Marquis really sucked
Ponson kept getting' fatter, we were runnin' out of luck
They kept Reyes in the minors, and Wainwright in the `pen.
Rolen just wasn't Rolen, Edmonds an injured man.

But Albert kept on mashin' and just driving in the runs
When Carpenter was pitching, man, watching them was fun!
But they limped into the playoffs, an 83-win club.
They didn't seem to have a chance, playing like the Cubs.

But Weaver pitched his heart out and Molina found his stroke,
Rolen got his swing back and with bats the Cardinals spoke.
Adam Wainwright threw that curve ball, and no one could connect.
Spezio kept hitting triples, and Johnson pitched like heck.

They dispatched San Diego, and then they beat the Mets
They whupped up on the Tigers then, and people lost their bets.
They won with hard-nosed baseball, and manufactured runs
Now the Cardinals are the victors, the World Champions!

In follow up to my previous post, it's worth noting that, in the history of the Division Series (since 1995), there have been 24 teams to lose game one at home. Out of those 24, only seven have gone on to win the series (I mistakenly put down the 1999 Indians in a previous post, when it was in fact the Braves who overcame the odds that year).

In light of today's victory over the Padres I did a little more research - of those seven teams to come back from losing game one at home, six of them won game 2 at home. The only team to ever come back from losing games one and two at home was the 2001 New York Yankees - that's the series where Hudson and Mulder won games one and two, and then Zito, Lidle, and Mulder lost consecutively to choke away the advantage. (Reading those game summaries was kinda weird - Mulder winning over Clemens with Isringhausen getting the save).

Thus, the Padres have a 4.16% chance, based upon historical models, of coming back to win this series. So, to my Padres fans who say "it ain't over 'till it's over", I concede that they have a 4.16% chance of coming back.

Only three teams other than the Yankees have pulled off a win in the Division Series after dropping game one at home. Here's hoping the Padres aren't the fourth.

Continue reading this post »

Are any other Cardinals fans near enough to San Diego to attend the series coming up at Petco Park on the 26th-27th-28th of May?

I'm up in Bakersfield and am planning to make the trip down there for the series (or at least for the first two games).

If anyone else is interested in hanging with another Cardinals fan at those games, please let me know.

The Cardinal Curmudgeon