Friday's game was probably a pre-cursor to what would happen in the Cards' series with the Reds.

Saturday... KMac looked sharp early, but Cueto looked sharp throughout his entire outing. The web gem that Cueto made was cool to see in person - and yes, the stadium went nuts over it. Even I was amazed. Jay's three-run dinger was about the only highlight of the game for the Cards, as Franky and Motte did their usual after Jay's home run. There were a couple of Reds fans sitting two rows behind me who randomly shouted "You suck, Pujols" even when he wasn't batting. It was funny every time they did it, especially because it was so random - at least it was to me.

Sunday started out nicely, with back to back homers by Berk and Yadi, but Carp would eventually start being his 2011 self sooner than I'd hoped. The most baffling decision of the two games was easily Carp batting for himself in the 7th, only to be taken out after 1 out in the next half of the inning. I have no idea what the managing crew was thinking, given that we were down by two and still in it. As soon as Miller came in, I knew he was going to give up a hit to Bruce, and my parents and I left after the Cards batted in the top of the 8th, missing the 5-run mini-rally in the 9th.

You know it's bad when Ramon Hernandez has as many home runs in two games you see as your entire team. Hernandez definitely had our number. I joked before he hit his out yesterday that he probably would hit another homer, and when he did, I just shook my head.

This is also the first year since 2007 that I haven't seen a Cards win. I was contemplating going back to Cincy in July (and it still may happen), but my ambition to (for now, at least) is down a little.

There weren't many highlights to the trip when it came to the Cardinals, although I was on FSNMW on Berk's homer. I'm the kid in the gray hoodie above the 379 sign standing up.

/fanshot

2010 was a year of the good, the bad, and the ugly for our favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals. It started on April 6 in Cincinnati, an 11-6 win, in which Albert Pujols smacked two homers and Yadier Molina hit a grand salami. It ended nearly six months later on October 3, a 6-1 win over the Rockies at home.


Some of the favorite, more memorable, and bizarre Cardinals moments from the 2010 season...

April 6: The beginning. The 2010 season began with a bang, or rather two, from the bat of Albert Pujols. Pujols hit a dinger off of Reds' opening day starter Aaron Harang to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead, en route to a 4 for 5 day with two homers.

April 12: Waino & Albert win the home opener for the Birds. Busch Stadium began the year rocking out with a 5-0 win behind Adam Wainwright & Albert. Waino pitched 8 shutout innings, striking out 7. Number 5 hit a homer, and the Cards left the day with a 5-2 record.

April 17: The game that saw Felipe Lopez and Joey Bombs pitch. The game lasted 20 innings, and saw a multitude of surprises, disappointments, and multiple VEB overflow threads. No runs were scored until the 19th inning in the Cardinals' 2-1 loss to the Mets, with the Mets scoring in the top of the 20th. Had you not looked at the box score, you may have never remembered that Johan Santana and Jaime Garcia started the game and both pitched 7 innings of shutout ball. (It's even featured on MLB.com's "10 for 10", talking about the 10 most memorable games from this past season.)

July 4: Waino pitches a CG. Yours truly was lucky enough to be there that day, having bought a Waino shersey the day before. It seemed to have good karma, since he did pretty much everything. Other than giving up a solo shot to Corey Hart, Waino pitched a solid game and helped his own cause with a 3-run double. 

July 18: Matt Holliday gets the [stuffing] punched out of him, part I. I remember watching this game and thinking, in the 7th inning, that the Cards were done. I remember that my dad and I went somewhere, to the store I think, after the 8th, and we were shocked to see that the Cards came back from being down two. Even more so, that Holliday did it. 

July 30: Luddy's final game. In a sense of irony, Ryan Ludwick's last act as a St. Louis Cardinal was scoring the winning run in a 1-0 win over Pittsburgh. And, in another sense of irony, Boog hit the game-winning single. Oh, how we miss you.

August 4: The beginning of the Westbrook era. JW pitched six strong in his debut, but it wasn't enough as the Cards fell to the Astros 9-4. That was all the fault of Jason Motte and Mike MacDougal.

September 16: Luddy's return. Ryan Ludwick tipped his cap to the Cardinals fans as he received a standing ovation, and even his walkup song, the Beastie Boys' "Brass Monkey" played in the background. (The Cards won the game 4-0)

September 30: The last BOOOOOG goat. Brendan Ryan shows that he should have won a GG, or at least that he should still be a Cardinal.

October 2: Matt Holliday gets the [stuffing] punched out of him... again. Matt Holliday drives home everyone's favorite 3B Pedro Feliz to give the Cards a 1-0 victory after 11 innings.

October 3: The finale. Jeff Suppan started the game and pitched like it was the 2006 postseason all over again, a 6-inning, 5 hit, no run performance in a 6-1 win over Colorado. In a twist of irony, Matt Pagnozzi caught against the team he is now a member of.

Since the season ended, we've seen fan favorites Joe Mather and Brendan Ryan leave, Fat Elvis/Big Puma sign with us, and The Riot join the right side of the Cubs-Cards rivalry. It's been an unusually busy offseason for the Birdos, with a few disappointments, but it's getting me pumped for 2011. I'm wearing my Waino shersey today just for the hell of it. And hey, March isn't that far away, and neither is opening day.

Happy New Year, VEB!

The fire may be burning in the outfield, but it's also been burning in the clubhouse. We know about the problems with TLR and Colby, how Colby demanded a trade this past season and in 2009. The question now is: what should the Cards do?

Personally, I don't want to see Colby traded, but I think that it would be best for the club to do so. I just can't see TLR and Colby keeping their peace. The situation seems to have affected the team a little bit (like Albert's critical comments), and the last thing St. Louis needs is something like that.

The bad thing about the scenario is that we aren't sure what it would take for a trade to go down. Sounds like the Raz for Quentin trade won't happen, and frankly, it's probably a good thing. Would it take prospects? Something else? Go ahead and sound off your opinion.

The Cardinals currently stand at 46-41, two games behind the Reds. They are 27-15 at home, 19-26 on the road. In their last 10 games, they are 3-7. So far in July, they are 3-6.

If you asked me how the Cards' roster would look heading into the break, I would have in no way pictured Nick Stavinoha, Aaron Miles, Randy Winn, Tyler Greene or Jeff Suppan on the roster. If it weren't for the injury bug (and in part, TLR), they most likely wouldn't be. After all, we've got Lud, Penny, Lohse and Freese all on the DL heading into the All Star Break.

The Cards have looked absolutely pathetic as of late. Those late losses against the Rockies this past week didn't help their cause. I think that those games may come back to haunt the Cards, if they haven't done so already.

There is no way that Miles, Stav, Winn or Soup should be starting on this team, or any other for that matter. I think TLR's "proven veteran" theory has gone too far. The reason that those guys were free agents was because they didn't perform on their prior teams. So what is Tony thinking? "These guys are proven veterans! Miles has grit, Stav hits homers on one knee, Winn is a switch-hitter, and Soup was dominant on the 06 squad. I want them on my team!" And what have they done? Honestly, not jack shit.  While Mather and Craig are raking in the minors, we send Miles, Stav and Winn out there instead. I would much rather have a young bench than a bench of washed-up guys that TLR thinks - THINKS - can be good again. I honestly think TLR hates sending guys like Jay (until recently) and Craig out there. Craig has been up, what, two or three times - and hasn't gotten any chances to play. Why? Because Tony La-Frickin'-Russa.

And the bullpen? Ugh. KMac scares me every time out. Reyes, in short, can't pitch. He walks just about every batter he faces - or so it seems. I still don't like Franklin as closer - the NLDS was the end of his dominant run. Motte needs to learn another pitch. A slider, change, curve - ANYTHING.

And, last but not least, the rotation. How in the world could we have Soup & Hawks as the 4/5 guys while Penny & Lohse are out? Back to back, no less? Those are basically throw-away games. I'd like to see Tony give Boggs another shot. That would eliminate at least one of them. I could handle either Soup or Hawks in the rotation for now, but not both. Not back to back.

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Basically, all of that was just a frustrating rant that I put out there. I am sick of all of the bad things that are going on with this team. I think TLR's late-game management is just horrendous these days. I think the roster management couldn't be much worse. I don't know how much influence Tony has on the roster, but I would certainly hope that Mo could disagree with Tony about some of those moves.

Yes, this team is a few games over .500, but it sure as hell doesn't feel like it, at least to me. The Cards, at one point, were around 12 games over. They've been on a gradual downslide. And the way the Reds have kept their ground, I don't think it can go on much longer. I would certainly hope that the Cards try to make some trades. I would hope they would try for a utility guy and a starter.

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I leave the rest of it to you. Talk about whatever you want. It can be frustrating things you've seen, commenting on what I said, I don't care. I just HAD to get it out. I couldn't take it anymore.   

I've always felt like St. Louis is my home away from home. It felt right to be there, and now that I'm back in Michigan, I miss being in STL already.

What I saw this past weekend was a tale of two games. Saturday's game, in short, was one to forget.

Carp didn't pitch bad, but he wasn't exactly himself. It wouldn't have been too bad, I don't think, if it wasn't for terrible defense (and an awful lineup). I am scared every single time a baseball comes Stav's way in the outfield, much like I'm scared of KMac out of the 'pen every time. His walkup song, however, sounded cool on the speakers. And also, Tony should not play Greene at 2nd. Greene is best at short. There were few bright spots in the game, but the surprise of them was Jason LaRue going 3 for 3, including a solo homer. It was also nice to see Albert hit one out, even when the game was long over. I was very confused when Tony made all those lineup changes in the 9th, having to keep checking the scoreboard in right-center on who played what and where. I'd figured that Miles would play again on Sunday after he got a hit, and I was hoping to be wrong.

Sunday, on the other hand, couldn't have been much of a better game. I bought a Waino shersey at Union Station when I came into town the previous day, hoping to see a gem. What I saw was exactly that.

The lineup was much better than Saturday - Raz was in center, Jay in right, Schu at 2nd, and the hot-hitting Tyler Greene at short instead of Boog. Waino looked dominant from the get-go. The offense had Yovani Gallardo's number from the start. A fielding error got the Cards on the board in the 1st, and from there it was all St. Louis. The Cards scored 5 in the third, with Waino's 3-run double being the big hit of the inning (and he got the stadium fired up - it was the loudest the crowd had been for the two games). One of the weekend highlights for me was seeing Jon Jay's homer in the 8th. I have always liked the way Jay plays, and I hope Tony gives him a chance while Luddy is out. The best highlight, though, was seeing the crowd stand for the final out, and the reaction after Fielder struck out to end the game. Up until yesterday, I'd never seen a complete game, and I'm glad that Waino did it. 

All in all, it was a good weekend. Sunday's game was obviously much better than Saturday's, and it felt good to be back in the Lou after 4 years. It was good to be home, and I hope to return next summer. There is no town like St. Louis, Missouri, and there is no heaven like Baseball Heaven.

It's been four years since I was at Busch Stadium. Unfortunately, I didn't go during the World Series, but that's what I get for being a high school freshman (at the time) living in Michigan.

I last went to new Busch on July 4th weekend 2006, when we played the Royals. I remember my first game there was in the standing room only section. Before that game, I'd never seen one from an SRO at any stadium, and I will admit that it was a great experience.

What happened that night was a little disappointing (at least, how the game ended), but I did have my share of fun. I casually met a group of guys who were in the section with me, and I was chatting with one of them when I decided to call a home run for Yadier Molina in the 5th inning. As we all know, Yadi's not much of a power hitter, but I happened to call it just right. I remember the guy turning to me, looking somewhat surprised, when I said, "Beginner's luck", and smiled.

I had tried and failed a time or two after that. It had been a couple innings since I tried to call one, but I felt that Jimmy Edmonds would hit one out in the bottom of the 9th. By this time, I had quite the crowd around me. And, when Jimmy hit the home run, they all high-fived me. In no way did I think it would happen once, let alone twice. But that game, despite the bad ending, was cool nonetheless. And I earned the nickname "The Governor" after the game from one of my friends who was at the game with me.

Game 2 was the next day. The Cards had the game pretty much wrapped up from the get-go, when Albert hit a 3-run shot.

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I have seen the Cards in quite a few games, some good, some bad. Unfortunately for me, I haven't really seen the top of the rotation in any of them. Until now. I'm going to see tomorrow's game (hopefully Carp's good to go, and hopefully the Cards hit Parra pretty good) and Sunday (good pitching matchup - Gallardo against Waino). I can tell you that I have never been as excited to go to a Cardinals series as I am this one. It will be different seeing Jimmy Edmonds in a different uni, but should he play, I'm giving him a standing O every time he steps to the plate. Last time around, I was in the Champions Club, but now I'm in party rooms on the first base side (section 216 if I remember correctly). I believe the view will be just as good, and I hope the games are the same (with two wins this time, instead of just one).

I'm sorry if I bored you to tears there, but I'm hoping to be a sports journalist (writing's kind of my thing), and I felt that this would help me get pumped up a little more. I'll be coming back Monday and should be back here for Tuesday's game. Go Birdos!

(And if this should've been FanShot'd, I apologize)

I'm unusually bored right now, so I decided to have some fun and post some good memories at Cards games I've been to. Feel free to do the same.

The best moment I've seen is Albert's grand slam in Cincy in July of this season (link). I was sitting on the 3rd base side, and if you watch the clip, you will see Homer Bailey instead of the fired-up Cardinals crowd (FSN Ohio, I presume). I was sitting next to two Reds fans, who feared bad things would happen as soon as David Weathers came in to pitch. They left right after the grand slam happened.

I called two home runs at my only time at (new) Busch, in a game against the Royals. I had standing room tix that night, and chatted with a few guys at the game. Just for fun, I called that Yadier Molina would hit a home run in the inning. Sure enough, he hit it, and I shrugged my shoulders and said "Beginner's luck". I called Jim Edmonds' homer four innings later, and by that time I had quite a crowd around me. A friend joked about it, calling me "The Governor" because of the crowd.

Finally, I saw my final game at Busch II come to a fitting end. July 3, 2005 was the final game I saw there, with the Birds going up against the Rockies. I don't remember much about that game, oddly enough, just the last play - which was an Abraham Nunez (remember him?) walkoff single.