Thanks.

I don’t know what’s wrong with Izzy. Apparently, neither does he. I’m sure Duncan and LaRussa will figure it out.

But this isn’t the end of the Cardinals. Players come and go. It’s sad, but it’s part of life. New pitchers will come up, and someone will take the closers role, even if it’s only temporary until Izzy figures out what’s wrong. Or doesn’t, and then he retires.

The King is dead, Long live the King.

n/t

That last night I was about as mad as I have ever been at any Cardinal player. Once I read his quotes my heart sank. It seams that he has lost his fire, and that may be a bigger problem to over come.

but jeez. it’s just a game. Isringhausen has had a longer career in the big leagues than most. He’s made a ton of dough. He’s been one of the lucky ones in that he’s survived a major career-threatening surgery. He’s easily the most successful of the NY Mets three “young guns” who flamed out. I don’t feel THAT sorry for him.

the decline of Edmonds and Izzy happened so quick. It’s like they woke up one morning and aged 5 years.

I’ve ever read on VEB. Well done!

After how upset I was last night, reading your post eased me a bit. Excellent post, and a very good way to look at the end of a fantastic era in Cards history.

Thanks!

post. man.

I too feel a bit sad that so many of the Cards former greats are all coming to the end. That being said I think Izzy gave TLR the opening he needs to make a change. They should DL Izzy for now (I’m sure they can find a reason), install McClellan as closer and bring up Perez to take McClellan’s place. It’s high time those power arms on the farm started getting big league hitters out.

Okay, okay—he’s out as the closer. At least for now.

But is he really gonna be out entirely? I mean, this is a guy who can still get outs. And there is that contract of his to consider.

My prediction, closer by committee. Izzy will be one of the committee. He’s just not going to get the latitude and confidence that a closer gets,i.e., we’re not going to let him be the one who’s closing the games anymore.

and not one was a curve. I wonder why. All fastballs and cutters. If your cutter’s not cutting, and you’re not blowing anyone away w/ the fastball, why not throw a curve? Not one!

I was afraid to read VEB this morning but this is very reassuring.

I’ll admit.. i was enraged at Izzy until I saw the postgame. Empathy kicked in and I felt bad for the guy.

It’s hard to bounce back from a loss like that. I’d be stunned if the Cards won today.

He is one of my favorite Cardinals. he is a standup guy and takes the blame when it’s his. He takes the ball and does his best. Most are forgetting this man has had major injuries. The hip problem alone would have ended many a careers. It did Bo Jacksons. This may be the end for izzy, but i wouldnt count on it!

This was an excellent, emotional piece. I can relate more than I will go into to your personal story, though I tend to lean to the other side of the family. Whether anyone thinks that was going too far about a baseball player, or not, thank you for sharing that with us. That is writing.

I was particularly interested in your point about how some would see his salary as a way to cushion the blow of his failures. I think that would be a disingenious view of the situation. Any individual of integrity, as I believe Isringhausen is, would feel much worse about failing when receiving such a salary.

I have never been enamored with Isringhausen (for all of the reasons you stated), but his results have been unmistakeable. When Isringhausen has been truly bad, it has always coincided with some significant, unreported injury. There is still a part of me that wonders if he is hurting, right now.

He has always impressed me with his sincerity, honesty, and cool-headedness when dealing with his teammates and the media. He has never been one to make excuses, but he has always portrayed confidence in his abilities. I think that is what makes his demeanor on the mound yesterday and his comments afterward so disconcerting to all of us. Both seemed to indicate that he doesn’t believe he can right the ship. He seems to be frustrated over why it isn’t working. I hope Marty Mason can identify something mechanically that is causing his issues, or that maybe just some time off will clear his head. If not, I think your point has been poignant. I think we would be remiss to not take a moment to reflect on what has been an era of some terrific players proudly displaying the Birds On the Bat. Then, we can turn the page and look to what is hopefully the start of a great new era.

I hate that Izzy blew it again, but you have to admire the willingness to not only accept the blame, but also admit that he doesn’t understand what’s going on.

One of the things that used to drive me nuts about Jason Marquis was that he always, even after another multi-run short inning outing, just had to make a “minor adjustment’, or needed to throw another pitch less or more.

I respect a guy that can say, hey, somethings seriously not right, and I can’t see what it is.

BTW, this is how I felt when the Cardinals began deconstructing the Whiteyball team after the 87 season. Can’t remember the exact sequenecs that lost us Clark, McGee, and Pendleton, but I do remember laying on my bed crying and cursing Dal Maxville when they got rid of Clark. I was seven, and having just seen him hit a walkoff hr in extra innings the previous summer, he was my favorite ballplayer at the time.

that Izzy is still the closer until TLR says that he ain’t. That would mean that TLR would have to admit that he made a mistake in continuing to send Izzy to close the last several weeks when he obviously had nothing on his pitches. TLR will never admit a mistake. I see Izzy losing more ballgames in the closer role. I’d almost be willing to bet the farm.

The Central has seen him for so long maybe they know what is coming. He needs to make an adjustment or come up with a new pitch.

The Brewers definetly have his number this year.

If he is not hurt then he needs to adjust to the league catching up with him. I think he can do it but maybe he should do it on the D.L. and not blow anymore games.

. ” I’ve never been a huge fan of Isringhausen. I’ve never booed him, simply because I’m not really the sort.”
That statement kinda’ summed up my feelings for Isringhausen also. All of my family are gone except me and an older sister who is in a nursing home now with at best, months. Being the youngest, I was the only one with stamina so I was called upon often when the burdens of dying arose. so I know how it is to witness things come to an end.
With Izzy there have been a lot of warning signs, kinda like a slow death. It was sad watching that 9th inning last night. Luck got him 2 outs, but skill couldn’t get the last one.
After some time off, I would not mind seeing him try to come back in the bullpen in some other role other than closer (even some spot closing)...Isringhausen is dying, but for now, I am not going to pronounce him dead.

If his velocity is good and he isn’t injured someones got a book on him out there and he needs to adjust.

It’s not mental but it may get to that point . He is to tough mentally.

Switching out your bullpen every few years is a good idea because it keeps your divison foes on thier toes…

...we get the games on cable in Jonesboro, Arkansas, but can’t get the pre-game and post-game stuff because the local cable company is forced to carry FSN Southwest; but I read Izzy’s quotes this morning.

Last night, I saw a guy “pressing”... Izzy’s frustration was evident. I don’t think he’s “done”; I do think he needs to re-gain command of his cutter, which has become a vital part of his arsenal.

Every ballplayer fails; it’s the nature of the game. When closers fail, their team loses, making their failures more glaring. I believe Izzy can and will correct his mechanics and regain his closer’s role.

As for the moment, I suspect Russ Springer’s role on the club may have just gotten a boost in responsibility… we’ll see.

to keep Izzy in the closer spot. It shoudn’t be that way, the guy best suited on the 40 man roster should be closing. But anyone that is actually paying attention knows what I am talking about. I just do not see TLR taking Izzy out of this role, blown saves be damned.

That was a well written very eloquint post. It is sad to see a player breakdown and underperform after years of service. Its almost like looking at yourself aging when a player stay with a team so long and you look back and say damn I was X years old when he started am I declining that much in X years.

With that being said it is time to look at other options. I am in sales and it is a perform or go business also if your good your close ratio is about .300 much like a good batter. So I might be a liitle more callous than most about this.

Over the past four weeks Izzy has blown four saves. One a week and three of those came to divisional foes. Not good. When you have a young team playing thier ass off for a spot on the field and the manager keeps rolling out someone who’s continually failing it must be a little demoralizing.

8 million be damned. I have never been a proponent of just because your paying a player alot of money you need to roll him out there when he’s not getting it done. It’s time to start looking at other options, (closer by committee, bringing someone up or a trade). A young teams psychy can be crushed with continued defeats like this.

mr Red Baron, i like this post very very much! thank you!
sometimes Izzy was one of my favourites, in other times i could not appreciate his performance. back in 2006 i couldn’t even understand why TLR had so much patience with him, now I understand.

and for me this “end” shows two things:
-first: Izzy really is a warrior and i wish him all the best. thanks Izzy and hope he somewhere in the future will become a (pitching?) coach with the Cardinals. his words of last night make me respect him even more.

- second: the respect of TLR for his players; i don’t approve what is called his “preference for veteran players”, but i appreciate his respect for players like Izzy.

a warm welcome to our new closer. go Cardinals!

I lacked access to the post game conference last night so I didn’t see Izzy’s comments until this morning. After checking out the written reports this morning, I could almost feel the emotions that Izzy probably showed last night.

Izzy may be done for the closer role but he will continue to contribute to the organization with his mentoring and taking his turn protecting leads. I believe we heard him say last night that he was realizing his dream of reaching 300 career saves was gone.

it appears Chris Perez has been called up. Which would mean that someone has been moved off the 40 man to make room for him.

for saying this, but this blog is at its best when it conducts lean and mean analysis of actual events on the field and moves by the front office. These melodramatic, excessively verbose posts seem to be coming with increasing frequency. This type of post should be left to when a guy on the 40-man dies, or we lose a game seven, or when Pujols’ elbow finally blows out. Just my opinion…

but it feels a bit misplaced to be mourning when our team is in first place.

I’m not saying that the closer role isn’t presenting a challenge for the Cards, one that needs to be solved to stay in first. I’m just saying that I’m not ready to cue the violins.

Izzy is a stand up guy. I agree wholeheartedly that booing him or others when they aren’t performing well is not going to help the situation. Ballplayers already know when they screw up; they don’t need 40,000 “experts” to point it out to them.

June 18, 2006 Izzy came into a game where the Cards had a 2 or 3 run lead. I remember the date because it was my first anniversary and the wife got tickets to celebrate. Back to the game. Izzy gets an out, everyone cheers. Then he gives up a solo homer. Everyone in the place, other than me and the wife it seems, lets him hear it. He rebounds to pick up the save.

After the game we head down to the players parking exit and stand around with about 25 other fans hoping to get autographs, photos, whatever. The cop in charge of directing the traffic keeps telling us that we’re wasting out time, that nobody is going to stop, etc. Then, after every player has driven by without any sort of acknowledgment to the group gathered there, we hear a loud, old sports car fire up. The cop looks at the rest of the cops and says with a tone of disgust, “thats Izzy, he’ll probably stop.” Up rolls Izzy in his ‘68 (i think) Camaro. He pulls over just inside the gate, gets out and walks around to every single fan. He signs, he smiles for pictures, he carries on brief conversations. It was simply amazing to me on a night where he had hear the boo-birds despite still completing his job that he would be the only guy on the team to stop and acknowledge the fans.

It will be a sad day for me and should be a sad day for all of Redbird Nation if Izzy is truly “washed up.” Despite his struggles, he has served our beloved Cards dutifully for many, many years now.

I was hoping the game would be on, but of course it’s the scrubs and dbacks

Who’s gonna step up and lead this bullpen to a pennant?

I always enjoy your posts and this had to be my favorite because you found a way to put my feelings over the past couple of years into words.

I became an everyday watching/listening fan during the summer of 2002. I was living at home with my parents for a brief time while I studied for the bar exam. My parents had FSN Midwest on DirectTV. Taking time out for the game was my treat for studying hard. Despite the outcome of the playoffs, that was a really special summer for me. I was taking the NY Bar Exam and the exam happened to be the next week after Ozzie was inducted into the HOF. I was sooo nervous about that exam but I got to Albany and seemed to be surrounded by Cardinals fans! I sat next to two elderly ladies in a restaurant and overheard their warm stories about Jack Buck. I just seemed to calm down and I passed the bar on the first try.

I think what made that summer so special was the time I spent with my dad. He and I were very different, but we really bonded over those nightly ballgames. I lost my dad in January 2006 (at the way too young age of 52). We watched and cheered those glorious teams of 2004 and 2005 (sometimes states apart), but he didn’t get to see the championship season. As great as it was to win, it was almost too bittersweet for me. Now, seeing all of our heroes from those seasons past fading into retirement, it’s another loss to me.

But, I have to say, RB, your post actually gave me hope and inspiration. We will send these warriors on to retirement to spend time with their families and leave behind the physical pain of playing ball. I’m looking forward to moving forward with our next set of heroes.

well-written, from a fan perspective, but personal too. good segue from remembering your grandmother to the little,much less important “deaths” players experience when they realize it may be time to end their career.

i agree with other posters, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Izzy. He’ll drive you crazy, but, by reading VEB did I learn that he owns the franchise record for saves. I would have bet on Eck. I think there may be a bullpen by committee in the making, with Franklin’s save today, Perez coming up, and McCellan available too. Izzy needs some time by straighten things out. But, he’s one stand-up guy.

Does someone want to take a shot on a post on JEd’s chances for the HOF?

I appreciate VEB all the more after a short trip over to Bird Land. Apparently, the idiocy of the P-D forums has infiltrated Mr. Goold’s blog, as well. Mr. Goold simply posted Isringhausen’s comments after the blown save in Colorado indicating the he felt uncomfortable with using the curve in the high altitude. Not news to anyone that has followed the careers of so many curve-ball pitchers that have gone there to implode. Instead, the commentors were nearly one long continuous rant about how he was just making excuses; and that he has clearly been a bum. LaRussa is an idiot for having him around, and the Cards should shove him out the door as fast as they can.

It makes me appreciate the great perspective that this article employed. Thanks again, Red Baron. I don’t know if he is really done, or not. If he is, it would be nice to know that the self-proclaimed greatest fans in baseball understand that part of being a great fan is being gracious to those that have given us so many years of their lives. I know they get paid handsomely, but would you honestly subject yourself to real possibility of public humility and scorn for nothing more than money. These guys have pride, and it is cruel to scream obscenities at them if they are clearly trying to succeed. It appalls me the way people conduct themselves when they are cushioned from any direct repercussions of their actions.

Thank you, also, to all of the great members of this site for rescuing me from subjecting myself to the torture that is reading the irrational ravings that go on on mainstream media blogs such as FoxSports.com and StLToday.com.