Although, we've come to the end of the road...

by thecoolalonzo on Jul 25, 2008 4:28 AM EDT Comment 15 comments

Hey guys,

I went to the game last night (6 rows behind home plate), and I must admit, the calls by the home plate umpire were downright awful. That game was one of the most depressing I have ever witnessed in person. I came home last night and read the overflow thread, as I usually do if I’m not on to read it live. I was saddened by the general tone of the thread, and people calling for TLR’s head. I know that the past series was really frustrating, and that winning is a lot more fun than losing, but must we forget that we are Cardinals fans? We’ve been all but spoiled the past few years, winning 5 NL pennants since 1982. Heck, considering Cub’s fans (not that I usually do that), count yourself lucky if you can remember the last time your team won a world series.

At the time of writing, our record is 57-47. We are still 10 games above .500. How many of you expected that, of this team, in April? I thought that this was going to be a rebuilding year, and that we would just brave it, looking towards next year, excited about any win we could muster. What happened to that? I guess we were all spoiled by the great start our gritty team was able to make, and for the most part, sustain.

Our coaching staff has taken a team that shouldn’t have done much, and made them competitive. The last four games were against one of the best teams we will face again this season, and in each of those four games we were competitive. We were competitive against Cy Young Sabathia, and 3 time all-star Ben Sheets. Our club has its problems, but throwing LaRussa (a guy who is the 3rd winningist manager in baseball history) under the bus because of a few bad games, and some bad decisions is kind of silly. He isn’t doing this for the money anymore, and I for one, don’t want to see him go.

“The game is better than all of us.” -TLR

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What...

the hell road?

by mynameistyler on Jul 25, 2008 4:41 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

LaRussa's loyalty and stubborness

has been a bit of his undoing. He’s motivated a rag-tag bunch of guys to go out there, and he’s been helped by some players having career years.

But his stubbornness when it comes to Isringhausen, Franklin, Flores, etc. has cost the team more than a few games. Those sorts of things in the first 70 games or so can be chalked up to ‘feeling out’ the team and trying to ‘find what works’ which is a LaRussa trait.

The problem is, now they are in the stretch drive, less than 60 games to go. He shouldn’t be trotting Isringhausen and Franklin out there and giving away games. Spring can pitch only 1 inning a night and he does so pretty dang consistently. There is no excuse for him to not use Springer as the closer, loyalty and hurt feelings be damned.

It is unfair to Franklin and Izzy to continue to use them. They know they are hurting the team, they know they are giving away pretty special season. You can hear it in their comments. But when the phone rings, they are going to go out there no matter what. It’s up to LaRussa to make the right decision on who to use. He has not been doing that.

Still looking for 1985 Regular Season games on DVD/VHS

by Hardcore Legend on Jul 25, 2008 4:43 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I like the idea of Springer ...

being used as closer instead of izz/franklin, but how many save opps would he really have with one of those two filling his role? Izzy is done. We’ve tried to boo him out of town but it hasn’t worked. Franklin is serviceable, somewhat (not as a closer). K-Mac is relied on waaaay too much. There is NO lefty relief The birds need a lights out closer and it probably isn’t gonna happen, I’d be comfortable with a Franklin/McClellan,Springer, Sherrill 7th-9th. A solid lefty is a must. If we don’t get a lefty AND a closer we may as well go in sell mode, cuz that has been our doom all season. Say what you fuckin want about the offense, but the ONLY position that has been TOO weak is SS, the starting rotation has been ok (lets hope Carp can be Carp). but the relievers have been the death of us. Not enough talent….way too much reliance

"Ding-dong the wicked witch is dead!" - Wayne Hagin after the cardinals snapped a losing streak

by The Ghost of Todd Burns on Jul 25, 2008 5:10 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cubs-Brewers play each other

next week. If the Cards keep playing good ball as they have all year they’ll hang right in it. From what I’ve seen the Brewers and the Cubs relief staffs haven’t been all that steady or consistent all this year. Anything can happen yet. I think this will remain a three team race until the end. The Cards just caught the Brewers when they were on a roll and next time around it could be a totally different result.

I was thinking of making a comeback until I pulled a muscle -- vacuuming.
-Johnny Bench

by collies-n-baseball on Jul 25, 2008 7:33 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

was gonna mention the tone on the game thread also,

I was gonna ask some questions over at a rivals blog, but looking at the game threads over the last week, as well as the fanposts, it hasn’t been so friendly over there at all. Lots of name calling, swearing, fighting, people being mean, etc. So, I decided just to watch and to keep quiet.

From what I've seen its pretty mild over here compared to there.  This is not meant to trash them, for there seems to be a lot of nice fans over there but there are a lot of nasty ones too.  I've found it to be pretty nice here and while there is some anger at what happened its pretty mild compared to some other blogs. The race isn't over yet. :)

I was thinking of making a comeback until I pulled a muscle -- vacuuming.
-Johnny Bench

by collies-n-baseball on Jul 25, 2008 7:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What is up with that box thingie? Anyways,

I was saying, fans here are nice.. There is some anger and considering what just happened I can understand why. But, the anger here is nothing compared to what I’ve seen at other blogs. I am not trashing them, just a honest observation. The race isn’t over yet.

I was thinking of making a comeback until I pulled a muscle -- vacuuming.
-Johnny Bench

by collies-n-baseball on Jul 25, 2008 7:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

the box happens

if you start a line with a space—and no, I don’t get the syntax either.

"I just wish that the late Harry Caray were still around so I could hear him mispronounce 'Kosuke Fukudome' every fukun' night" -- Dennis Miller

by fourstick on Jul 25, 2008 11:21 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with you about TLR

Over the winter, when his name came up as a possible manager of the New York Yankees, I was sick. I count myself as one of the biggest Yankee haters around. I didn’t want the man I considered a great skipper to manage over there. I have great respect for LaRussa’s record and what he’s done with lesser-talented ballplayers.

Having said that, I have been stunned at what he’s done this year regarding the “Izzy situation.” Sticking with a guy who blows games one right after the other, on and on, and refusing to admit he – or the bullpen in general – is a big problem is more than being stubborn; it’s selfish pride (refusing to admit he made a mistake).

He’s still the guy I want managing the Cards, but he’s got to admit a few things, make changes and move on. That also applies to his situation with Chris Duncan and his dad.

by ccthemovieman on Jul 25, 2008 9:10 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Don't sweat it

it looks like the annual VeB purge is about to happen. Too bad it goes down on a Friday, when I won’t be able to witness people getting banned, live in the gamethread.

by liam on Jul 25, 2008 1:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Ah, the annual VeB purge

Cheers to the age-old tradition.

/raises glass of some Belgian beer called “Budweiser”

by effin fisk on Jul 25, 2008 5:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

im a newbie this year

what does the purge entail?

i take your signatures and use them as away messages

by ihavebadknees on Jul 25, 2008 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's not all that dramatic

People get banned for flagrant, lame assaults on sensible discussion, they start up new accounts to rave about their mistreatment, everyone else resists taking the bait with more or less success, that cycle repeats at diminishing amplitude, then everything gets more chill until the playoffs roll around when things go nuts again.

by liam on Jul 26, 2008 3:03 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Basic Rule

Don’t post anything that you wouldn’t say to someone’s face in a bar without putting yourself at risk of an asskicking, and if you think someone’s repeatedly violating that rule, instead of playing that game back and letting things spiral into a pointless, imaginary pissing contest, use the actions->flag toggle that’s at the bottom of every comment.

(I just found out about the actions thing a few days ago. Apparently if a comment gets enough ‘rec’ toggles, it turns green. Here’s hoping it doesn’t get abused.)

by liam on Jul 26, 2008 3:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Remaining schedule

favors the Brewers. I broke down the remaining games and the Cubs have 19 of their last 60 against either MIL or us. Brewers play us 2 more times. The Cubs are done with the West while both MIL and STL have 10 games left. Ours are against the two playoff teams (ARI/LA) while MIL gets to play SD 7 times.

If you look at games remaining against playoff teams, we have 34 of 58, CHI has 33 of 60 while MIL has only 22 of 60. I would put money on MIL taking the division and us fighting CHI/PHI/NYM for the wild card.

by ubeddie on Jul 25, 2008 7:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs