Some of the talk that is going on in the forums would be somewhat understandable if the team was giving up games and playing poorly, but a lot of it is knee jerk reactions to isolated incidents. Duncan swung on the 1st pitch and didn’t get a hit, well that must mean he is trash…even though he was a huge contributor over the weekend…

Another thing I’ve noticed is people often will dislike a player regardless of what they do. I suggest people keep these feelings to themselves unless they can back up their attacks as opposed to “pounding their fists on the ground”

VEB is one of the better baseball communities out there and I hope we can keep it at the high level it has been at in the past.

I can’t remember a stretch all last year where the team was as much fun to watch as this first tenth of the season. We’ve got a lot of baseball ahead of us and most of it looks to be pretty damned exciting.

Sorry but I’m not seeing this, at least not from today’s game thread. Yeah sure there are some questionable comments by a few here or there..maybe, but i think this is being overblown.

I don’t post that much but I do keep up with the game threads from time to time and what I see are mostly posts of passion from Cardinals fans during the game. Not fans that are “Seethingly upset at the Cardinals”.

This is a fan board and sometimes the “fans” do get upset during the game at a certain situation and express it on the board. Yeah it can get way out of line and in those times I can see a post like this being made. But I’m not sure this was one of those times.

Just my opinion….

with growing so much is that the percentage of “idiots” also increases. So we get the nice comments that don’t really add value to anyone reading them. (But we must because we are diehards.) I think this blog is good at self-governance. The problematic people that post nice comments will eventually find that it isn’t worth posting. We’ll get there. Other than that, this team is very exciting.

there’s a handful of individuals around here there really get angry when you tell them they are being too negative.

ps – This is the best diary I’ve read in quite some time. It’s got so out of control that I find myself rooting MOST for people that are constantly getting ripped on – Izturis, Kennedy, Franklin, Wellemeyer, and of course as you can tell by the sig Skippy.

As long as these guys are playing hard and wearing the Birds on Bat I have a hard time ripping them. There have only been a few Cardinals that I have disliked in my short time on this earth and they are the one’s who lack effort or continually suck and don’t seem to care. Amen brotha!!

worth listening to:
http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-080417-marty-brennaman-chicago-cubs-reds,1,6962881.mp3file

a couple things. One, there are power struggles on this team for playing time and at the same time there are people who are decidedly “boosters” for certain players over others and it leads to clashes when those players are criticized.

And that going to happen when you’ve got 1 superstar talent OF and 4 other guys who could be above average players or bagging groceries at Shnucks this time next year.

The other is that the Cardinals have raised expectations so ridiculously high with the best start they’ve ever had while LaRussa has be at the helm that I think some people are holding on to every game like it’s a playoff game.

I’m sure by May or June, people won’t be getting as ‘high’ or as ‘low’ with every move, decisions, missed ball, etc in a game.

However, with the return of Mulder, Clement, Springer and Ryan, there will certainly be arguments over who deserves roster spots and who deserves playing time.

we need one more person to recommend this diary to kick it into the “recommended” box. somebody . . . .?

For me the fury I feel at bad performances and decisions is coming from the feeling that despite the good start this is not a team that can afford to lose games they have a chance to win. Amazingly enough they have had a chance to win every game this year…and are a few hits away from being undefeated; I just don’t think it’ll be this way all year. So when Lohse goes out one inning too long, Franklin can’t stop the bleeding, or Thompson is pitching in a tied game in extra innings when a better arm is available (Reyes)...I get a bit frustrated.

BTW I don’t want to debate who’s the better pitcher between Reyes and Thompson…but in a tied game late I don’t really want a pitch to contact kind of guy.

There have even been invective anti-COW remarks made on here!
:=8O
We’re all Cardinals fans here, or we should be anycow, we’re all rooting for our favorite team, we should all be able to get along.

GO CARDS!!!!
:=8D

that it’s also important to put into perspective how good these players really are. The Cards have 1 All-Star, though Wainwright may be approaching that level and, with a good first half, Molina MIGHT be able to make it. Most of them are probably playing above their heads right now and we should expect to see some regression to the norm.

Think Ludwick’s going to end the year w/ a 1.300 OPS? I don’t. Will Lohse or Looper end the year w/ a sub 2 and a sub 3 ERA? Doubt it. Will Schumaker’s OPS be near .900 when the season ends? Don’t think so. Now some may accuse me of “hating on our own players” but I think it’s important for our expectations to be realistic. Ludwick, Skip, and Kyle have done a great job so far but there’s going to be some regression to the mean. We need to be able to handle it.

Sorry for hating!

.....knows that by the end of Aug all of the numbers are going to point to fairly average play on the field and behind the plate, with a few surprises above average and a few surprises below. Thats baseball! This is not a great team, but I’m gonna hope and watch for the above average surprises.

Do we need to continually hear about the LaDuncan conspiracy theory re: Reyes or about how small Miles and Shumacher are or any of the other needless negative crap _(fill in the blank) that never seems to die the natural death it should.

I’d sure rather being talking about Ludwick or Lohse or whoever or the team being on fire than that tiresome stuff.

That’s fine and perfectly reasonable. I tend to get over-excited with success that we’ve seen from guys like Skip, Lohse, etc. when I should realize it likely won’t hold up.

BUT when it turns to “oh great Skip is batting” or “Franklins in, here’s where we lose the lead”... that’s what pisses me off. These are players on YOUR team! You don’t have to like them, but outward hatred is not necessary.

I see some of you rip Skippy, Izturis, Duncan, etc. to no end and I’ve never heard these people give them credit when he does something good (and he’s been doing a lot of good things lately). That’s what leads me to believe that some of you actually get mad when you see players likethen succeed.

It’s early in the season, folks. Don’t let every loss get to you too badly. Take my route and laugh it off, there’s always tomorrow.