The 2003 Cardinals, the 2010 Cardinals, and the bench
by DanUpBaby on Sep 2, 2010 6:01 AM EDT
949 comments
If I had known the team as a whole were going to scuffle so badly in August and September I would have had a much easier case to make about Matt Holliday not being a disappointment in April. All that warbling about small sample sizes and descriptive vs. predictive stats could have been replaced with:
You think he's hitting poorly with runners in scoring position, huh? Check this out, nerds—according to Future Baseball-Reference the Cardinals are going to hit .250/.316/.374 after taking the NL Central division lead in August! By then you'll yearn for the sweet release of a late-innings Matt Holliday pop-out, but it won't come, because he's a good player! And he'll be surrounded by bad players! Like Pedro Feliz, and Aaron Miles!
fanpostwordlimitfanpostwordlimitfanpostwordlimitfanpostwordlimit
Which would have saved me some time, not that I had much going on in April and May, anyway. If I ever hand the VEB keys to Futuredanup (he insists on the capitalized F), expect more smugness, less insight, and more mystifying future-haiku (space-winter is cold / in the future all haiku is self-referential / during space-winter.)
There have been worse Cardinals teams than this one, and will be again, but the 2006 team that made that 3-9 nosedive into the playoffs didn't have the Reds targeting 90 wins. The 2003 club is probably a better comparison, and not just because I beat the Mike DeJean thing into the ground for a solid week after the Pedro Feliz trade; they featured four MVP-caliber players (and a fifth, J.D. Drew, who would have been had he played more than 100 games), two solid pitchers, and found themselves with considerably less depth than they thought when things broke down.
But here's what amazes me about that team, especially given how good they were the next year: There's nobody exciting on the fringes of the Major Leagues.
949 comments | 2 recs |
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Mozeliak, Summer School Edition
by the red baron on Sep 1, 2010 3:29 PM EDT
309 comments
Enclosed you will find John's grades for the special summer session just completed. Please take the time to not only review these grades in detail, but also to sit down with your son and discuss the results with him.
As you know, the special summer session is only open to a select few students, and is a much more challenging and results-oriented course than the usual schooling. Every year we get applicants from all over the country, from locales as far afield and diverse as Seattle and Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Houston. We take only those we feel have done the necessary course work to be able to compete in such a high-level program ahead of time; there are also a few students who manage to test in without our prior approval. My point is this: you should feel proud of John (I'm still getting used to his request not to call him Johnny anymore, haha), for even getting into this program. Plenty of students are left out in the cold. We've had to turn down one student from Toronto several different times over the years simply because while his work was good, it was clear he simply wouldn't be able to compete with the high level of coursework required.
All that being said, I must admit this is not, strictly speaking, a happy report. While John excelled in his preparatory studies for the summer session, he seemed to wilt a bit when exposed to the high-pressure situation of the class itself. Several times he made poor decisions in an attempt to catch up to the class, leading to further difficulties for himself. He also seems to have a bit of an issue with confidence, as he struggled with one older boy named Anthony who continually bullied John into giving him his lunch money. (Oddly enough, the student doing the bullying then spent John's money on nothing but junk food and cassette tapes, just empty calories and things past their day of being useful. We think he may be struggling with extreme early onset dementia.)
Still, I have enjoyed having John as a student, and I believe in his abilities enough to think with only a bit more work and preparation he could position himself much better in future special class sessions.
As always, if you have any questions you may contact me directly; my door is always open. John struggled at times this year, but I think if we as parents and educators can keep our own relationship strong we cannot help but pull John through these tough times and into a better future.
I remain your faithful servant,
Dr. Eustace V. "Red" Berrohn, retired (Mrs.)
309 comments | 11 recs |
Game 120-whatever open thread: Let's get ready to Suppan!
by vivaelpujols on Sep 1, 2010 2:07 PM EDT
558 comments
Cardinals going for the series shutout. Tony's done his part by starting Miles and batting him second, but we can't do this without a healthy does of dejection from VEB. C'mon guys I know you can do it!
Game 130 Open Thread: Cardinals at Astros
by DanUpBaby on Aug 31, 2010 7:49 PM EDT
775 comments
Fan Scouting Report
Each year, tangotiger does his annual Fan Scouting Report that compiles ratings of a player's fielding ability on a scale of 1-5. You don't have to know anything about sabermetrics to participate; this is all about the wisdom of crowds and your eyeballs. I know some of you really trust your eyes so go and vote.
We've got a measly 27 ballots right now (59 behind the leader!) so even if you don't know anything about FIP or WAR or UZR, this survey is still for you. All you have to do is watch the Cardinals play baseball!
St. Louis Cardinals September Viewing Guide: Things to watch if you can't watch the score
by DanUpBaby on Aug 31, 2010 6:01 AM EDT
649 comments
I had a writers' workshop last night that spanned basically the entirety of yesterday's game. Let me just say I'm happy about that. The Cardinals continue to lose in novel ways, and the Reds continue to win in novel ways; I can't explain it, and I won't try to with clubhouse intrigue or team mood or chemistry because that's not my place. All I can do is watch. But watching hasn't been particularly fun lately, especially the scoreboard. So I'm going to stop.
If the Cardinals run off some wins and I realize, hey, this is closer than it used to be, things might change. But I look at it like this: Once upon a time, young danup lived and died with the St. Louis Cardinals. They'd blow an important rally or trade a favorite player and young danup would probably throw something against something else, or at least want to. But old danup is convinced baseball should be watched because it's fun, and only because it's fun. Days are already a succession of obligations; there's no need to add one from 7-10 every night for the next month.
Right now watching the Reds run away near the top of the NL Central standings is the least fun thing in the world, but if we put a week's moratorium on scoreboard watching, or at least explicit scoreboard watching, I'm sure we can come up with reasons to watch this baseball team every night for another month. Starting with:
Jaime Garcia. How wonderful has it been to watch Jaime Garcia this year? Answer: very wonderful. I don't want to jinx it for the guy directly in front of him, but Garcia's ERA—2.33—is within 0.09 of Tim Hudson, the current National League leaders. He's 15 innings from qualifying for the title at the end of the season.
I won't say it's likely, and given the Cardinals' luck of late it's more likely that he's inadvertently locked inside J.D. Salinger's secret vault and asphyxiates, but Jaime Garcia, who pitched about 40 rehab innings last season, is in a position where he could theoretically win the ERA title. In a year where Kyle Lohse disintegrated, the Cardinals got a piece of good news that more than makes up for it.
649 comments | 1 recs |
game ?? STL @ HOU - 8.30.10
by tom s. on Aug 30, 2010 8:03 PM EDT
954 comments
jake westbrook
ERA: not as bad as you think, not as good as you'd wish
v.
somebody else, possibly a member of the houston astros.
gamethread for d-dee
954 comments | 1 recs |
Top Five: Tony La Russa Clubhouse Rifts
More Colby Rasmus talk and another overflow thread, for all your 3 AM discussion needs.
3 days ago
DanUpBaby
780 comments
3 recs
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NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cincinnati
|
78 | 55 | .586 | 0 | Won 4 |
|
St. Louis
|
69 | 62 | .526 | 8 | Lost 5 |
|
Houston
|
62 | 71 | .466 | 16 | Won 3 |
|
Milwaukee
|
62 | 71 | .466 | 16 | Lost 3 |
|
Chicago
|
57 | 77 | .425 | 21.5 | Won 1 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
44 | 89 | .330 | 34 | Lost 1 |
(updated 9.2.2010 at 10:52 PM EDT)
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
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