over, out
by lboros on Sep 1, 2008 9:00 AM EDT
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Printthe cards are now 11 games out of the nl central division lead --- first time that has happened since 1999. they fell as many as 10.5 games behind late last year . . . . . the 2006 world-title team had the same record after 137 games that this year’s team has, 74-63 --- but they were 6 games up. this is what it’s like to play in a real division, folks. i think the 2008 cardinals are a better team than that 2006 club, but they don’t have the luxury of sharing the division with 5 weaklings. as HC said yesterday, they didn’t fall out of the race so much as get knocked out of it: the cubs went 20-8 in august, and the brewers went 20-7.
the cards finished the month with a 13-13 record, despite having a better run differential (+20) than any month this season besides april. they had their second-best monthly scoring average (4.9 runs/game, bested only in june) and second-best era (3.77, bested only in april), and they only blew one late-inning lead, back on august 3 --- before chris perez became the closer. they outhit their opponents by 40 points in august (.300 to .260) and outslugged them by 30 (.451 to .421) . . . yet this is the month where they reached the end of the line.
i’m like HC: i have no regrets about this season, no frustrations that will gnaw at me all winter. at this moment i am wondering how a lineup with pujols, glaus, and ludwick in it can struggle so badly against lhp ---- ludwick has overcome his longstanding reverse-split to post a .913 ops against lefties this year, and albert is batting > .400 against them in 2008. but that’ll fade. the standings as of this morning are just, and i am at peace: st louis stands 3d in the nl central, which is where they belong. good team, but not good enough in this division in this particular year.
today is the last day of the season for memphis and springfield; we’ll probably find out tomorrow who’s getting called up for september. quad cities also finishes its season today; palm beach starts its playoff series tomorrow at home against dayton. batavia plays on for another week and is fighting for a playoff berth; johnson city’s season is over. all 6 of those farm-system affiliates finished (or will finish) the year with winning records.
i’m gonna head out and enjoy the holiday; game time is 3:10 CDT this afternoon, and the thread will pop up about 1/2 an hour before that. i’ll toss out this question before i go: excluding a miraculous run to the postseason (which ain’t happening), what’s the one thing you’d like to see from this team in september? for me, it’s to have chris carpenter demonstrate that his arm is sound. he’s active as of today and assigned to the bullpen; 10 good innings from him between now and october, with no complications, will put a smile on my face.
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Mornin', LB
I want to see the Birds play a hard September. There are 7 games against the D-Backs which will matter for the NL West, so they’ll have a say in the playoff picture whether they are in or not. I’d love to see them beat the Cubs a few more times, even though there’s no real “carry-over” from now till next year.
Basically, I’d like to see them finish strong; a 15-10 finish would tell me that they leaned into the tape at the end…
I'm with ya, LB
At peace. I wasn’t too sure they’d even have a winning record at this point. If Carp and Waino go into the off-season healthy and sound for next year, that alone will be a triumph of sorts. I’d like to see them play well down this stretch—if for no other reason than to end on a high note, but hey, considering what everyone thought of this club at the beginning of the season, I’m okay with whatever happens. Staying in post-season contention until almost the last month is still way better than my expectations allowed back in March. Viva El Birdos!! They’ll be back.
I gotta agree -
to see that Carp is sound and ready to go next year will finish off this season on a high note for me. It would be nice to see if Josh Kinney has any future with the Cards as well, but I don’t know if that will happen. It was good to see that CPerez CAN close, even if he isn’t labeled the closer yet. It wasn’t the season from hell (see 2007), it wasn’t even close. Most of the time they were an enjoyable team to watch, so all in all, it was a good year.
I would like to see them finish September strong and make the D-backs and Cubs earn their post-season berths against them.
What do I want in September?
Can’t keep it to one:
1. A healthy Carp
2. Playing the kids. Let’s see what we have with Garcia, Boggs, Hoffpair, Stavinoha, and Mather. Let Ankiel heal, Kennedy sit, etc. Lopez should not take at bats away from younger players. Let Garcia start.
I think Lopez should get plenty of at bats
in a way, he’s trying out for the middle infield spot too. He’s still only 28 and has way more upside than anything else they have on the roster.
In the world I see--you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying strips of venison on the empty carpool lane of some abandoned superhighway.
Agreed...
Let’s see if Lopez can benefit from the Jose Oquendo School of Infielding… he’s got the most speed and the most pop of what’s available right now. I doubt that we’ll see Hoffpauir (.738 OPS) or Barden (.770 OPS) until spring (I Could Be Wrong), so he’s not really “blocking” anybody…
"In this game, don't nobody know nuthin' about nuthin'." -- attributed to Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra
by The Ol Goaler on Sep 1, 2008 10:41 AM EDT up reply actions
I agree that they need to figure out
what they have in Lopez. I would like to see him get some opportunities at SS as I don’t think he will be a 2B for us. They will drag Kennedy back for another year and if it made sense to bring Miles back after 2007 it certainly makes sense after 2008.
I would like to see some evidence of pop in his bat . So far, he has enough XBHs to have a decent ISO, but I haven’t seem him even come close to hitting a HR. His BABIP is a stratospheric .452, so we will probably all agree that his hitting numbers a bit inflated right now. I haven’t gotten a clear idea of what I think of his defense, but I think it is pretty clear he will not be a plus defender.
I have seen that people smarter than me say he is about a -15 defensive player at SS, so I guess he needs to be at least a +15 player on offense to even consider keeping him as a starter. That means (very roughly) that he will need to perform offensively at the level of an Escobar, a Theriot, or a Hardy just to break even. To be a real boost he would need to hit like Guzman, Rollins, or Drew. I am not optimistic here, but it is certainly the right time to see if he can hit and to see whether Oquendo can work any defensive magic
I don’t think there is much uncertainty in what we have with the rest of our MIs.
Those Pilgrims ain't lookin' so proud now...
+1
highest priority is to evaluate talent on hand, including at memphis. i hate to be a negative nancy, but i have considerable concern about waino and carp being able to go 200 next year. despite the surgical technology available today, once one significant part of your anatomy suffers damage and is “repaired”, it is not like putting on a new set of tires (as izzy). “good as new” very rarely happens with tendons, ligaments, and muscles. carp is especially susceptible, but waino’s tendon isn’t likely to go on “as new” for any prolonged period. this makes it all the more critical that we see what we have. we are more than a few pieces short for 09, if we are to compete with the cubs and brewers (much less beat them). if money is to be spent, it has to be on the middle infield, both spots. i’m good with glaus, a pleasant surprise really, but we really need more complete players at both ss and 2nd. if the decision is to not spend the money necessary, then one of the floppy, gtrit, ak will have to go. iz2 is the only one that has shown a special talent, but requires an offensive offset at second. this means, uggla, hudson, or maybe ellis—not a mix and match of floppy, grit, and ak—will be required. more to choose from here than at ss, so this seems the way we need to go. for the OF, trading rick is the sad but the best business decision. at this stage, i’d not “give” rasmus the job, but leave it up to competition. hopefully he will win, and we will have luddy, raz, and skip/mather/barton? in the outfield (cd is probably done via injury). maybe floppy will make it as the new spiezio (seems he will compete with ryan for that slot); problem is floppy was making 5 million. he’ll have to be very superior or take a big pay cut to compete with ryan for that spot. for sure, this year;‘s approach of carrying 4 mif’s who can only play mif is really self-abusive and has to end.
"No matter where you go, there you are" Buckeroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension
I'd like to see Perez finish strong
and solidify his spot as the closer going into spring 09’
Milt Thompson FTW!
What would I like to see?
I’d like to see TLR do something different (which he won’t)………let me explain
Once reasonably eliminated, there are only two reasons to regularly play guys who have been in the line-up all year
1) for integrity, when playing those teams still in contention – our best should be out there
2) when a meaningful individual record/title/bonus is at stake
Other than that, the regulars, no matter how much they want to play, should sit for the sake of the team – playing/evaluation time for youngsters
Maybe AP and Lud are in the running for awards but Molina, Glaus and other vets should sit, rest and watch………any injury like Ankiel, Rasmus, Carp, AW and others should definitely sit…….young arms that have pitched alot of innings (McClellan) should rest
Some guys have nothing left to prove or disprove – Izturis, AK, Miles, Skip
The dugout should be crowded and the lineup should include lots of guys named Anderson, Hoffpair, Ryan, Freese, Phelps, Stavonoha, Haerther…………use Sept to get experience and a better idea of what you have on the cusp – who to keep, who to trade
But, I suspect TLR will run the vets out there everyday
Why sit Yadi or Glaus?
Who are going to get in games at 3B? I guess Miles or Ryan could play 3rd so that we can rotate 5 middle infielders around 3 spots to see who to keep around for next year. I only see doing that if the team really has an intention of cutting AK if he cannot play up to some level of mediocrity.
Who are we going to get in games at C? Why not play Yadi? There’s no reason LaRue should be on the field at any point except for resting Yadi. Even then, I’d almost like to see Johnson. I want to know if he can back up Yadi next year so that Anderson can start in AAA. LaRue will not be back…IMO.
I could see sitting Ankiel and letting him get healthy for next year. I can see Barton sitting with his numerous injuries over the last couple of months. That would allow Skip, Ludwick, and Mather to play. Stavi can get spot starts against lefties for Skip.
I agree with sitting bullpen arms for youngsters coming up…but it also matters how many innings pitchers in the minors threw before they come up in September. You have to look at saving their arms for the future, too.
just my humble opinion
but in games with no meaning, i would play Freese at 3rd and Anderson behind the plate……..we already know (and like) what we have in Troy and Yadi, why not rest them…..eliminate injury risk and see what the youngsters can do……they’ve earned it too
but it won’t happen…..they probably won’t even be called up
Anderson, yes
but don’t we have to begin to worry about Freese becoming a minor league free agent?
by Hardcore Legend on Sep 2, 2008 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't know all the rules for minor leaguers, but
I believe he was drafted in 2006. I would think there’s more time before he becomes a free agent.
In the world I see--you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying strips of venison on the empty carpool lane of some abandoned superhighway.
Hmmmm.......
I’d like to see Albert win the batting title and an MVP; and I would really like to see him get to his totals of 30 HR and 100 RBI. The MVP may not happen since the lower RBI , and because we may end up in third, out of the playoffs.
Hopefully we’’ll see Carp healthy, and figure out what to do with our plethora of outfielders. I for one would love to see one of the young guys get hot, raise his trade value through the roof, and provide us with good trade bait for a quality MIF.
Play hard (which I expect)
and a healthy return for Carp… a batting title for Pujols would be nice, but I don’t see him winning the MVP without the Cards in the playoffs.
Adding a quality SP through free agency will be dicey; I doubt we can outbid everybody for CC or Sheets. The plus side to that is I don’t think Milwaukee can, either; they’ll have holes to fill in their rotation. Re-signing Looper or Loshe at reasonable prices wouldn’t be the worst thing the Cards could do. A healthy Carpenter and Wainwright in 2009 would vastly improve the rotation (Duh!).
Improving the MI will likely have to be done through trade; Furcal’s back injury throws up all sorts of red-flags for me. Orlando Hudson will cost a bundle… and he might want to stay in Arizona. Which outfielders do the Cards offer? They can’t trade Duncan due to injury, and I doubt they’d move Ludwick… so it comes down to Skip or Rick.
Offseason should be interesting!
"In this game, don't nobody know nuthin' about nuthin'." -- attributed to Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra
I'll wade in on the off-season since I have time
good-bye – Mulder, Izzy and Juan E contract
your time has come and gone – Lohse (Boras), Piniero, both Flores, Villone, Springer (who will likely opt to be with family)
AAA elsewhere – Phelps, Lopez, Jimenez (D’Angelo and Kelvin)
you’re back because we’re stuck with you – Kennedy
injured, we’ll have to keep and see – Duncan, Kinney, TJ
you’re back forever – Pujols
regardless of any opinion, for better or worse, they will be back -because they are loved – Ludwick, Molina. Ankiel, Miles, Glaus, Looper, Welley, Rasmus, AW, Carp, Todd
young cheap with value – keep or trade – Skip, Mather, Barton, Freese, Stavinoha, Haerther, Anderson, Garcia, Boggs, Parisi, Walters, Mortenson, Ottavino, Worrell, Motte et al
possibly back because the FA options are poor – Itzuris
so you put that in the Mo blender and go looking for an outfield bat, a better shortshop, a starting pitcher and a LOOGY or two
I like the way you broke this down
Here is my take:
Good-bye because of injury / lack of production – Mulder, Encarnacion, Flores, Izzy
Gone because of age – Villone, Springer
Gone because of money – Lohse
AAA Elsehwhere – K. Jimenez, Haerther, Barden, M. Johnson
Stuck with you – Kennedy, Piniero, Franklin
Injured, so staying – Duncan, Kinney, T. Johnson, Parisi
Back Forever – Pujos
Back because they earned it – Ludwick, Molina, Ankiel, Glaus, Wellemeyer, Wainwright, Carpenter, Perez, McClellan
Back because of TLR – Schumaker, Miles, Thompson
Young/cheap with value, keep – Mather, Garcia, Motte, Boggs, Mortensen, Walters, Freese, Jay, Phelps, T. Greene
Young/cheap with value, shop – Barton, Ryan, Anderson, Worrell, Hoffpauir, Stavinoha, Todd
Possibly back because of poor FA options – Izturis, Lopez, Looper, Larue
I would put Skip on the "earned it" column
only because he’s another good outfield option defensively and hits great at the top of the order vs. righties.
Miles, Schumaker, and Thompson have all earned it.............
I don’t get why HOYAHEEL thinks they did not earn anything?
Those three filled their given role very well in 2008.
Not sure what hoyaheel is getting at
but here is my take: Miles and Schumaker didn’t necessarily earn their position based on last year, especially Miles. However, they have both performed at a level that has earned them PT for next year. I just hope Skip has earned it for a different team. While his contribution was unexpected and he has been a capable platoon lead-off man, you still can’t deny that he is an incredibly weak offensive player for a LF.
If you check out THT stats and look at only the qualifying LFs then Skip was last in the NL with an OPS of .796, just behind one Fred Lewis. All the rest of the LFs are .100 to .200 points ahead of him. The only way he measures up offensively is as a CF and he just isn’t good enough to play CF for this team.
The only reason I say Miles has earned PT for next year is because his competition will be Adam Kennedy.
Those Pilgrims ain't lookin' so proud now...
I'm not a huge fan of Schumaker
but he’s made himself into an average corner outfielder (around 2 wins over replacement level) and maybe even a touch more than that. His contributions are likely to be somewhat undervalued because a) OPS and many other metrics still undervalue OBP and b) he’s an above average defensive outfielder and perhaps a great one at that.
He’s not necessarily who I would chose for a corner outfield spot and I could easily see his numbers falling next year based on his minor league pedigree but he’s done quite well this season.
Yeah, I hear ya
if I thought we could solve the MI dilemma I would be more interested in having Skip around. Unless we get extremely fortunate and win the MI lottery, then LF is the obvious place to upgrade the OF.
Please help me to get the defensive love for Skip. I am not a huge fan of defensive metrics, but both stats and eyeballs tell me he really isn’t significantly better than either Luddy, Mather, or Barton. He’s got a pretty good arm, but I don’t think he covers any more ground than the other guys.
Those Pilgrims ain't lookin' so proud now...
Hey, were not dead yet!
we could sweep Arizona while Chicago and Milwaukee lose 2 of 3 to New York/Houston. Then the Brewers get Philadelphia while we get Florida.
Hey!, It could happen.
Or not.
by Hardcore Legend on Sep 1, 2008 10:53 AM EDT reply actions
I think I'll go for a walk!
Cardinal fan in the heart of Braves country
DFA Adam Kennedy and Randy Flores!
"Just because nobody understands you doesn't make you an artist."
I love luddy's quote yesterday:
“Hopefully we can mix in an eight-, 10-, 12-, 15-game winning streak. That would be nice.” -ryan ludwick
the ******* plane has crashed into the mountain.
My September wishes
1) A healthy Carpenter & Wainwright heading into next season
2) A totally confident Chris Perez as closer, which means as many positive reinforcements (saves) as possible this month
3)Find a young lefthander as a 7th or 8th inning man in the bullpen (if we have one)
4)The Cardinals braintrust to figure out by the end of the season what direction they are going for middle infielders next season and have two solid starters by next April in those spots.
the million dollar question!
1, 2, and 3 are all pretty feasible. But 4 I think is the brain-buster of the group. Honestly, what are we going to do about the MIF situation? There aren’t any great free agents (I don’t think…) and even if there were, we’d have to pay 10+mil a year to get them… If we trade to get one, we’d have to part with some pretty serious AAA value (Detroit lost Maybin for the opportunity to pay Cabrera a ton of money…) and still pay quite a bit. We don’t need someone to be overwhelming (a ramirez or arod or anything like that…), but this year we got a grand total of 7 hr’s in 1400 AB’s from our middle infield…. yes that’s right, one every 200 AB.
by duncans_army on Sep 1, 2008 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions
typical
i expect the typical rosy glasses approach to ss next year, which means izz2 or someone like k greene, who has had a bad year and might be had in that good ol st lou way, “on the cheap”. i doubt they’d pay for cabrerra or even edgar, which menas the word will again be “competitive” rather than “winning” team.
my personal cheapest way out is to keep iz2 and pay for the o-dog. for ak, just say no.
"No matter where you go, there you are" Buckeroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension
I'd rather not dump a bunch of money on Cabrera or Renteria, thank you very much.
In the world I see--you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying strips of venison on the empty carpool lane of some abandoned superhighway.
O-Dog
is just a dog away from his cozy home park with a .718 OPS that makes him a worse offensive player than Miles. Oh yeah, he also had the worst RZR in the NL among “qualified” 2B, far worse than Kennedy and worse than Miles.
Today’s homer fest should give some idea how different it is playing in AZ than in StL.
Those Pilgrims ain't lookin' so proud now...
I know there apparently
was no “upgrade” available. But the teams in front of us upgraded at the trade deadline. I’m not saying we should have traded Rasmus for CC, but when you stand pat, this is what happens. And don’t give me that bullcrap that we were waiting for Carp and Mulder. Mulder had a history of throwing an inning then getting hurt for two years in a row. If you look at all the pitcher who come back from Tommy John ala Carp, none were extremely effective the first time back. I don’t know, there is no right answer, but now I hope we get as many people we can up here during September and play them all so we can build value and have more trading chips.
"It is easy to be brave from a safe distance." - Aesop
no *one* upgrade
I think the problem is that there was no one player we could get that would have pushed us over the top. OK in hindsight, maybe CC would have done it, but no one could have predicted that he would be this dominating. Given that, it’s better to keep our good young players — and we have many of those — in order to compete well over the next several years rather than take a poor shot at things this year.
Really, what we need most is a middle infielder who is both a good hitter and a good fielder, but I think no one of that nature was available this year (at least not for anything remotely resembling a reasonable price). Also note that the one area that people were clamoring most for Mo to address — the bullpen — basically was stabilized with internal options. Far better to keep the guys we have than to have wasted them for a few months of Fuentes or someone like that.
Overall, Mo did a great job of putting this year’s team together, and we were largely undone by injuries, plus good play and aggressive trading on the part of the Cubs and Brewers. That’s the way it goes sometimes. Now he has a clear-cut job to balance out the talent on the team, and he should be able to do that through a combination of trading out of our outfield surplus and investing some free agent $$$$.
Right
but really the Harden deal is what irks me. They gave them Sean Gallagher. Oh well hindsight is always 20/20. I think MO did a good job for what he had.
"It is easy to be brave from a safe distance." - Aesop
About the only comparison we have to Gallagher is Garcia
Plus, its a well known fact that Beane coveted Murton and a mlb ready middle infielder. We didn’t have either.
In the world I see--you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying strips of venison on the empty carpool lane of some abandoned superhighway.
Cardinal Season
I live in Santa Fe, and this town has a lot of retired famous folks. One of them is the ex Mustang, ex Cowboy Don Meredith. I don’t see Don much, he has lived a private life, but he still has that thousand watt smile and down to earth humor. After he left football, you’ all might remember that he went into broadcasting; in his heyday on Monday Night Football, he might have captured the essence of the 2008 Cardinal season as it stands on the brink of September: “…turn out the lights, the party’s over…”
Absolutely...
I offer the same sentiments as most already… but to come out of this season with a healthy Carpenter and Wainwright heading into next year would be outstanding. What I would not like to see are more comments from TLR & Co about how Rasmus “hasn’t earned it.” I know he got off to a slow start… but he was on a tear for quite a while before he sustained that injury. Let’s not jerk the kid around before he’s even got a chance to contribute. Seems as though TLR could have been much more diplomatic about his response to Rasmus getting called up.
I also just look forward to seeing a few more youngsters called up. It will be nice to see some names that I’m only familiar with in box scores transposed onto jerseys and between the white lines.
All in all, it’s really been one hell of a year, ain’t it? Surpassed my expectations.
Series sweep of Cubs
Let’s help recreate the 2007 collapse of the Mets and help Milwaukee where we can.The Brewers will still have to win most of their 6 games against Chicago. Maybe even the Phils/Mets can claim the wildcard.
I don’t want to hear about the 100 year drought throughout October. I rather hear about 101 year drought next year, not as poetic.
Otherwise, play hard for the last month, try out some kids and stay healthy.
I'd like to see
The Cards finish with a better record than one of the division winners.
Carp pitch with ease.
Motte get a couple of chances.
A LOT of shots of Kennedy eatting seeds on the bench.
Mather playing more.
Hoff???
The K. Jimenez farewell tour.
And some smiles on Cardinal fans because this was a good year.
I'd like to see
The Cards just freaking put Ankiel on the DL already.
Weinberg not visit any of our pitchers (Carp esp).
Wainwright keep up his return to form (a top three of him, carp, and Burnett, with Welle 4th sounds fantastic for 09)
Pujols win the batting title.
More than 88 wins.
Adam Kennedy flick off the fans.
hecanthithecanthithecanthithecanthit
making it to 88 would be amazing
If we could do that I think we could safely assume that with a few bull-pen adjustments (might’ve already happened with perez), we’d be close to 92+ wins next year, which almost certainly guarantees a Wild Card. Though I’d still love an extra bat in the lineup :)
we can't safely assume that
the odds of Troy Glaus staying healthy for another whole year and Ryan Ludwick hitting 40 HRs/110 RBIs just aren’t that good.
by Hardcore Legend on Sep 1, 2008 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions
+1
we need to reduce the “gambling” aspect of roster construction next year. we were not well prepared for the inevitable failure of all injured players to return “good as new”. i also think albert’s elbow will be a riskier issue each year that he does not address a real fix. this is one of the few surgeries that appears to have no adverse effect on position players, hell, he could go back to third if need be.
"No matter where you go, there you are" Buckeroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension
Not willing to bet on Glaus' health
but I think Ludwick will put up very similar numbers next year as long as TLR doesn’t platoon him Duncan or some other as yet undetermined nonsense. Luddy is first in the NL in LD% and fourth in the NL in HR/F%. He is no fluke.
Those Pilgrims ain't lookin' so proud now...
Hope for Pujols hitting 100 VORP
It’ll be close, but it’s possible that he could hit 100. He’s at 83.3 with 538 PAs heading into September. Assuming he gets around 100-115 more plate appearances, he’s going to come awfully close.
If he can pull it off, it’d mean he pretty much nailed his 90th percentile PECOTA forecasts on the slash stats.
It’s been an amazing season for him, and if he hits the 100 VORP plateau, it probably means he’s won the slash stats triple crown as well. Just…awesome.
Not exactly what you asked
I want to see a Diamondbacks/Rays World Series
Cardinal fan in the heart of Braves country
DFA Adam Kennedy and Randy Flores!
"Just because nobody understands you doesn't make you an artist."
i'd like to see
the small bears up 3-0 in world series to the rays………only to have a wild goat run across the infield and the rays come back to win 3-2
90 Wins and much much more
I’d like to see the Birdos win 90 games, officially finish 2nd in the wildcard race(shoving Pond Scum out of the picture as well), and attempt to finish with the best road record in the NL.
Individually, I want to see Prince Albert continue his surge towards the MVP by winning the batting title, hit 35 hr(realistic at this point), and pull off 100 VORP. I want to see Ludwick hit 37-38 homeruns, while Ankiel being shut down and Mather/Stavvy getting a chance to play nearly every day. I want Perez to solidify his spot as the closer, Waino/Carp healthy, and the Colonel to prove he’s legit.
And I want the Cubs to choke away the division :)
"...and pujols has given st louis the lead"
also at peace
my basic “take” on this really wonderful season has always been… tell me on April 1 that we would get virtually nothing out of Carpenter and Mulder {no early summer ‘the Marines have landed’} and absolutely nothing from Clement, and I would already have been depressed.
Add to that the somewhat foreseeable success (even over-achievement) of Chicago and the Brew crew, both of whom put a lot on the line to win “this year” whereas we did not… and…well, you get what we got.
My Do and Don’t Do list for the remaining month is topped by:
forward DO — get a glimpse of Rasmus in CF and give the ball to Perez in the ninth in nearly all close games. Also a longer look at Garcia, pen or even a few starts.
backward Do — shut down Ankiel, play Yadi sparingly, and totally shelf the dubious quartet of MI’s (especially Kennedy and Itz). I’m on the fence re Lopez, altho leaning toward ‘no.’
September
I don’t think we’re gonna get a miraculous run to the postseason, but I’d like us to be competitive in the WC race. I’d like to see it close to 2.5 games over the next week or two.
"I believe he’s been reincarnated, that he played before, in the twenties and thirties, and he’s back to prove something."
Things I'd like to See
1) The Devil Rays in the World Series
2) Pujols winning the batting title
3) Ludwick finishing strong (.300+ BA, .370+OBP, .600+ SLG)
4) Miles finishing strong (.315+ BA, .360+OBP)
5) Molina finishing strong (.310+ BA, .360+OBP, .400+ SLG)
4) A healthy Carp
The St. Louis Cardinals- 11 time World Champions!
Ben Sheets just had a 5 pitch inning against the Mets.
She isn't crazy, she's just not impressed.
he sucks!!!!! :)
Brewers, Diamondbacks, and Cubs have pitchers who can step up and dominate in the play-offs… I don’t know if the NL east can say that about the staff they will bring to the table. Just a question of who gets hot/stays hot if you are talking Cubs and Brewers.
And Johan struck out the side
(with a single to Kendall mixed in). Can you say “Pitchers’ duel”, boys and girls?
This is a game I wish was on television......
two big game pitchers having a big time duel.
I say we go after Sheets…….if the Brewers don’t re-sign him, you know the Cubs will.
She isn't crazy, she's just not impressed.
Anyone know why Sheets is out of that game?
He was only at 54 pitches through 5, but he didn’t come back out for the 6th. The live box at Yahoo Sports doesn’t say anything about an injury yet.
by BTown Birds fan on Sep 1, 2008 3:42 PM EDT up reply actions
just checked brew crew ball
said it’s a groin injury. To be specific, left with “groin tightness” i think.
In the world I see--you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying strips of venison on the empty carpool lane of some abandoned superhighway.
ESPN pushing for CC Sabathia for NL MVP.
I found it interesting that ESPN this morning was starting their push for CC to win NL MVP. I will agree that CC has been 100% dominate since joining the National league on July 7th but should he really be the NL MVP after only playing HALF of the season in the NL??? I think he should get NL Cy Young consideration but not MVP.
A league MVP should be judged on a whole season or at least 75% of the season and not just 2-3 months.
Albert SHOULD win NL MVP but probably won’t because the Cards won’t make the playoffs but it would be kind of a shame to see a guy who didn’t play in the NL until right before the All-Star break win the award. It pains me to say it but I would rather see Ryan Braun win it over CC because he has played in the NL all season.
Am I the only one that will be upset if CC wins NL MVP for just 3 months of playing in the League??? Maybe I am too old school thinking this.
Once again, it depends on what you think an MVP is
I’m trying to think along with the WWL on this one (which is often difficult to do) but if the Brewers catch the cubs (and they’re only 4.5 games back, plus the cubs just called up a bunch of September call-ups so I’m not exactly sure what their gameplan is right now), then you might have to at least consider it.
In the world I see--you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying strips of venison on the empty carpool lane of some abandoned superhighway.
To me the MVP should be the best player in the League for that particular season.
Good cases can be made for Pujols, Braun, Utley, Ludwick, Wright, Chipper Jones and Lance Berkman. They have been the best hitters in the NL this season. Of course over the last 5-10 years the award seems to go to whoever the player with the best numbers leads their team to the playoffs, which is another arguement for another post but when I think MVP I want to think of the best everyday player in the League. CC is a great player and yes the best pitcher right now in the NL…but he is not the NL MVP for 2008…
No way.
Pitchers have their own “MVP”, it’s called the Cy Young. In my book they should not be considered, unless they do something so out of this world that there’s no way around it.
I would say CC has been out of this world since joining the Brewers
and is close to propelling them into first, which was once thought to be a lock for the cubs. They’ve gone 30-16 since acquiring him (50-40 before).
In the world I see--you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying strips of venison on the empty carpool lane of some abandoned superhighway.
i'm not opposed to the "playoff" caveat
as long as it is applied consistently. It’s the fact that it hasn’t been that is the kicker. Inconsistent application of the principle cost big mac and it cost albert (probably twice), and cost david wright last year in what was one of the worst mvp picks ever.
As far as the guys you listed there, a couple of them got off to very hot starts, but none of them sustained their success (value?) the way albert has this season. Utley is an .860 OPS player since 1 May. Berkman, .909 since 1 June, even after this last series. Wright has a .912 overall- the diff between pujols and wright is more than twice the diff between wright and glaus.
Pujols has an ops+ of 191, for chrissakes. He leads the NL in OPS by 68 points, and in OPS+ by 19. There’s no one even close to him; the difference between pujols and berkman/jones, who are tied for #2 by OPS+, is the same as the difference between Wright and glaus, by ops+. That’s how incredible albert has been this year.
OTOH CC has been pretty ridiculous, and he’s getting all the media attention, so it won’t be surprising to see him win the award. And it wouldn’t even be an unjust as Rollins winning it last year, or howard the year before…
the ******* plane has crashed into the mountain.
I agree
I think it’s unfair if Albert gets hosed for the award if the Cards don’t make the playoffs but the voters didn’t care when Bonds won some of his MVPs when the Giants didn’t go to the playoffs. Albert is the best everyday player in the NL this year hands down but because the Cards don’t go to the playoffs I bet he has less than 30% chance of winning the award. Double standards.
i'm sorry, but i'm not at peace with this season
they had a chance to “steal” this season & make the playoffs, and they failed. after the start they had, after they’ve come so close, i’m nothing if not aggravated & deeply disappointed that they didn’t have the horses to finish this sucker off. i can’t help but feel this season was a huge lost opportunity. they had a playoff birth in their hands, and they let it slip away.
i know, i know, the flubs & brew crew have more “talent” & better pitching. i hate to come off as a “if only” fan like HTown pointed out yesterday. but i can’t help it. they got my hopes up, & this crash back to reality hurts.
I'm going to go try to find a puppy and kick it. - Brad Thompson AND THAT'S A WINNER!
i feel the same way.
We were a couple of minor pieces and a little bullpen management away from winning it this year, and saying “we did better than the pundits thought we would” doesn’t make it any better imo.
the ******* plane has crashed into the mountain.
I think karma has a "one steal a decade' rule.
Kind of like you only get to go on “wheel of fortune” once. if you barely finish above .500 and still win the World Series, you can’t “steal” your way into the post-season for at least 10 years. you can only earn your way there during those seasons.
on another topic, shouldn’t we talk about who needs to be showcased as trade bait for the offseason? I think Ryan and Schumaker should definitely play for that reason; probably many of our minor league pitching prospects; stavinoha and phelps have a DH slots waiting for them somewhere. Anybody else who will likely attract interest and is eminently tradeable (Anderson is remaining at memphis, apparently)?
And nobody mentioned it, but with the roster expansion, we effectively completed the Brian Barton marathon and kept him on the 25-man (and, intermittently, the DL). hooray, birdos!
This tean can be fixed for next year
After the events of the last couple of weeks I’ve resigned myself to saying “wait til next year.” But we’re still lucky that we get to watch Pujols compete for a batting title. And maybe this will be the year that the MVP is awarded based on the individual players performance and not the whole team. The MVP should go to the best player, the World Series goes to the best team. And maybe the gold glove will go to the catcher with the best defense and let the silver slugger go to the catcher with the best offense. They are two different awards aren’t they?
On another note, if we could have seen the future I guess we would have been worried about the pen instead of the starters this year
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