SB Nation User Blog: moboiler

the celebration begins after game 7 of the 2004 NLCS, propelling the cardinals to the world series...

moboiler — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:53:49 -0000

the celebration begins after game 7 of the 2004 NLCS, propelling the cardinals to the world series for the first time since 1987.

the fort leonard wood band plays "the star-spangled banner" before game 7 of the 2004 NLCS. a...

moboiler — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:51:01 -0000

the fort leonard wood band plays "the star-spangled banner" before game 7 of the 2004 NLCS. a contrast to the pop diva starlets chosen to sing during earlier games of the same series, this performance of the national anthem was quite possibly one of the most stirring i've ever witnessed.

one of my favorite pictures i've ever taken. scott rolen at the bat during this game, september...

moboiler — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:47:30 -0000

one of my favorite pictures i've ever taken. scott rolen at the bat during this game, september 2003, sometime in the late innings when the sun angle got low. i believe dan miceli is the pitcher for the astros. i miss old busch...

and yes, in case you're wondering, this image is my avatar.

welcome back... to a blast from the past

moboiler — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:47:03 -0000

it seems like just yesterday that fernando tatis posted a .298/.404/.553 line as a 24-year-old 3rd baseman back in '99. walt jocketty looked like a genius prying the young stud (along with decent LHP darren oliver) from the rangers for the aging todd stottlemyre and the disappointing royce clayton, and rightly so. then tatis got hurt in 2000 (hamstring, wasn't it?), struggled upon his return, and was shipped off the following fall in the hermanson/kline deal, which yet again made walt jocketty look like a genius. as an expo in his age 26-28 seasons, he struggled mightily - his .259/.339/.359 line in an injury-shortened 2001 marked his best efforts in each of the slash categories in montreal. britt reames, his counterpart in that trade, also had a rough go of things up there. yikes. must be something in the water.

anyway, with the exception of an expanded-roster cup of coffee with the regretfully bad 2006 orioles, fernando hadn't seen meaningful at-bats in the major leagues since flaming out as an expo way back in '03... until now! yes, he's back! as a met, to be specific. and in his first game after being called up, he roped a pinch-hit single to right field off the nationals' john lannan. (yes, it was a rope; i happened to be watching on TV at the time.)

good to see you back in the bigs, fernando. here's to a long-overdue string of success, even if it is for the pond scum.

the memorabilia thread

moboiler — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:07:43 -0000

based on the interesting discussion generated when i posted fanshots of my old scorecards (see links), i thought i'd pose this question to the VEB community:

what is (are) your most prized piece(s) of cardinal memorabilia? and most importantly, what makes it so important to you? is there a personal story behind it or is it just something unique and cool?

i'd love to hear more about all the interesting stuff out there.

1958 scorecard cover. see previous fanshot posts. this is the last one i have for now;...

moboiler — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:15:45 -0000

1958 scorecard cover. see previous fanshot posts.

this is the last one i have for now; i'll scan some more eventually.

1955 scorecard cover. see previous fanshot post.

moboiler — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:14:35 -0000

1955 scorecard cover. see previous fanshot post.

a few years back my grandfather gave me one of the coolest christmas presents i've ever received. ...

moboiler — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:09:28 -0000

a few years back my grandfather gave me one of the coolest christmas presents i've ever received. i'm a scorekeeping addict when i go to ballgames, so with that in mind my grandfather (who is a lifelong cardinals fan) unearthed five old scorecards that he had saved from when he went to games with my grandmother and their kids. they ranged in year from '54 to '64, and there were some exciting names - jackie robinson, roy campanella, willie mays, stan musial, hank aaron, eddie mathews, bill mazeroski, roberto clemente... you get the idea. it was an amazing gift and it ranks up there in my memorabilia collection (right next to the '87 seat cushion that a co-worker gave me after finding it at a yard sale in virginia).

this one is the cover from the '54 scorecard - i have a few more of them scanned, they're coming next.

glad this wasn't us...

moboiler — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:13:32 -0000

i'm sure everyone remembers back in november when the cards had interest in curt schilling. seemed like a lot of the community here was in favor of signing him to a 1-year deal, and even schilling was agreeable to the idea. however, things didn't progress too far beyond that as it turned out. he re-signed rather quickly with the red sox, leaving it up for debate as to whether he merely used the cards (and other interested teams) as leverage with boston.

well, if we only knew then what we know now: it looks like his shoulder is in really bad shape. could require surgery, threatening most of this season if not his career. yikes. while it's sad to see just about any player get hurt, i'm extremely thankful that it's the sox on the hook for this lost season from schilling and not the cardinals.