You must hunt them down. It is your life mission.

It would be crushing, but I’d still follow the Cards. Not sure how I would feel about him, it probably depends on how the negotiations play out.

I know this is completely off-topic, but b/c Glaus is on a rehab assignment, does that mean the 20 day clock is now running on his activation? I presume so. I don’t understand why you start the clock if he can’t throw the ball.

Albert Pujols is going to be one of the game’s top few greatest hitters. And I think that letting that player go somewhere else would be a grievous mistake. In the same way that Musial is a Cardinal great, I want Pujols to be riding into Busch VI on a golf cart someday. We may very well be talking about the greatest hitter to ever live before it’s all said and done. That’s the kind of talent that builds the team’s brand. Hell, if no steroid allegations ever come out, Pujols could be remembered as the white knight that led the game of baseball beyond its dark period of drugs and cheating. The face of the Cardinals legacy and whatnot. And as a bonus, he’ll never be paid what he’s actually worth, because the market won’t sustain that kind of contract. I mean, why WOULDN’T you sign him? I just don’t see a reason to let him go.

I’m not going to stop rooting for the Cardinals if they lose Pujols. But I’ll be damn pissed. And as sad as it is to watch Dan (“Who?”) Haren dominating elsewhere, it would kill me even more to watch Pujols make history year after year as a Yankee.

I would still be a Cardinals fan, and an Albert fan (unless he went to the Yankees or Red Sox), but I would not stop giving Mo grief. I hope Mo is saving up for Albert’s next contract, because from what I can tell so far, Mo’s been a pretty cheap GM. I’m not saying that Mo being cheap isn’t a bad thing, and it really isn’t. But when Albert wants to be on a contender and you’ve played 15 rookies in a single season (really, in the first half of a season), and your team keeps having injury issues, he may not be around after his contract’s up. And in a way, I wouldn’t be surprised if Albert left – as much as I hate to say it.

I’m really hoping that the Cards have the commitment on Albert, but at the same time, I hope the team contends. I don’t think Albert would like seeing repeats of last year (where STL finished 4th in the NLC), and I have no idea how the rest of the season will play out for the team. I just hope that the team can get healthy, we can contend, and then we can sign Albert.

I was really, really disappointed in the pre-game stuff yesterday. I had been looking forward to that for a year and what we got was incredibly lame. I really wanted a celebration of all of our HOF’ers, not just musial, and we didn’t even get a celebration of Musial; what we got was 5 guys in ugly red suits standing around looking uncomfortable, an orange woman singing, and a photo op for a guy from chicago.

but I know that I don’t even want to start thinking about it.

it is really simple to keep him this off-season.

*Win the division.
*Sign Matt Holliday, draft picks be damned.

That’s it. Matt Holliday is an uber-religious family guy like Albert. Signing him to play LF, retaining Colby and Ludwick to fill out the rest of the OF, I think Albert will sign an extension this off-season.

It’s going to cost money, there is no doubt about that. But Bill DeWitt has to realize what a colossal cultural mistake it would be for his organization to let what is likely to be one of the Top 5 careers all-time walk away.

Would be greatly eased by the long-term Cardinality of the Raz and Wainer. If there’s one thing I learned from the ‘revival’ season of ‘98, it’s don’t get into Cardinal fandom for one guy, no matter how amazing he is.

The real question is: does Yadier Molina also leave with Albert? If things get so bad that the Cards let two franchise players walk, there’s a lot more going wrong with the organization, personnel or GOB-wise, than just losing Albert.

Do we lose Red? Do we lose Dave Duncan? Does Oquendo walk? Will they deal Motte for a guy who breaks down in five minutes so some other team can enjoy the Sauce’s new pitch? A lot has to happen before I lose interest in the Cardinals. I mean come on. So Taguchi still gets ovations.

and being a Cardinal fan was evidently born in me. Over the years, I have drifted in and out pulling for different college and pro football teams but i have never ventured from being a Cardinal fan in baseball come hell or highwater.

 or the team for that matter. There might come a time when it’s best that Albert goes. I was a Cardinal fan before he came and I’ll be a Cardinal fan when he goes.

I will pull a Brad Thompson and kick a puppy.

Then I’ll turn on the game and root for the ’birds.

while Rivera was his usual self, the other two weren’t. The box score doesn’t show it, but we all saw Crawford bring back Hawpe’s HR off of Papelbon, and Tejada and somebody else each hit first pitch swings to the warning track (I think off of Nathan). Unfortunately I can’t find play by play to get everything right. All three of those balls were hit harder than Granderson’s slashing triple down the line.

I read your RFT article and you were spot-on. This was a huge missed opportunity. If I am just a regular fan, one of those people who doesn’t necessarily “get” Stan Musial, I don’t come away from that broadcast with a sense of how awesome he is. Ted Williams is an interesting comparison because he was already much more appreciated by the country at-large. I think a lot more people associate Williams with the likes of Ruth, Gehrig, Mays, Aaron and the like from the get-go. So not only did he get a better tribute, but he needed it less.
The thing is, I don’t really believe this is entirely the Cardinals’ fault. It’s not just “our” event, it’s an MLB event, and most importantly, it’s a TV event for Fox. When there’s an infomercial for public service featuring every living president, and the current one throws out the first pitch, it’s going to get overshadowed. I’m not sure what the decision-making process looked like but it was probably not much choice in the matter. A lot of stuff probably got pressed on them.

1. The best free mini-exhibit downtown is the one in the Arch’s museum. (It’s by the beavers. Insert joke here.) Anything that opens with Ken Boyer’s jersey and ends with a baseball signed by Stan the Man and Albert Pujols is awesome. There’s also a diagram of early pitches to try. Good for a lunchbreak if you’re downtown.
2. No one came except other Cardinals fans. We… boosted our own economy.
3. Albert was just trying to put Halladay at ease.
4. Secret plan: The AL votes in a crappy lineup so the manager can pick a really strong bench, thus winning the game.
5. Secret plan: Expectations for Albert will dip, resulting in fewer intentional walks, resulting in a Triple Crown.
6. Secret plan: Albert will lose his taste for big media pressure and opt for a smaller market.
7. NL secretly lets the AL win because home field advantage means nothing if you split the first two WS games.
8. The Padres figured this out, and have been sending their pitchers to close ever since.
9. It takes an All-Star Game to put standard safety features on the ceremonial Chevy trucks, like benches and stairs for exiting.
10. AJ Pujols is already networking with his young cohorts in the division.
11. Molina and Franklin do indeed huddle together and giggle like schoolgirls.
12. Taco Bell scares the bejesus out of me.
13. Mo needs a bigger van. Fredbird was using it…

Last but not least: Yadier Molina owns you all.

There was a comment over at RFT wondering how much MLB may have had in any sort of tribute the Cards didn’t do for Musial. I do think it’s strange that they have done good tributes in the past, even with DeWitt, etc. at the helm (like old Busch).

Then again, I don’t know why MLB would really tell the Cards not to do a lengthy tribute.

I don’t like thinking about this. The way I felt when I first saw an image of Jim Edmonds in a Cubs uniform would be multiplied exponentially. It would be a visceral anger which I didn’t think an adult could muster. There is no rationality here. Whatever he demands, he will inevitably give in value. He is greatness, a level of which we have never seen. What levels he will reach are left to the realm of the imagination. I cannot think about this. I cannot imagine Albert Pujols striking hit #3,000 in pinstripes or some other ugly jersey design. I want to be in Busch Stadium for home run numbers 400, 500, 600, 700, and 800. I don’t think that I would stop being a Cardinals fan, but I might stop being anything more than a casual fan. It would be, to me, like a combination of ‘94 Strike and Steroids on a baseball writer of America, only with more sullenness and less sanctimony. I need to expand on this, although I don’t want to give this potential outcome that much thought.

But why does the red baron use the British spellings of words like realize, organization, favorite, etc.? Before anyone jumps down my throat, I’m just asking.

St. Louis has

1. Great food
2. Forest Park
3. Albert Pujols

When that’s all you’ve got, you can’t really afford to lose any one of those things. The great food and Forest Park are safe, let’s hope Albert as a Cardinal is too. Sometimes I do feel a twinge of guilt though, almost as if we’re holding Albert back from becoming the true colossal mythic figure he’s meant to be. I think the BoSox will be a viable suitor if Albert becomes a FA, and as much as i hate to say it, can you imagine what he would accomplish there (assuming he stays healthy), in that ballpark and with the supporting cast they will surround him with. The Red Sox would dominate the AL for years, they’d be damn near untouchable. And still, another part of me thinks that maybe Albert is not meant for that — that he’s meant to build a different kind of legacy right here in STL. He says he is content here, and so I’ll believe it, and just continue to hope that what Albert wants and what St. Louis fans want coincide in the end.

This is very cool:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4329684

for keeping up with the playlist stuff. I always check them out and usually end up downloading some if not all of them.

Pretty dark for a snow cone stand; I like it.
And that Nirvana Unplugged album has got to be one of the best live albums of all time. Their version of that song is awesome, and it can’t be an easy task to make a Leadbelly song relevant to a 90’s audience.

you could include the appalling Keb’ Mo version of Folsom Prison Blues, in which the song’s most famous line becomes:

“They say I shot a man in Reno, but that was just a lie.”

I kid you not.

your quote says it all for me regarding the Machine

The Cardinal jersey is what matters to me; I’m a fan of the team, not Albert Pujols. Actually, let me rephrase that: I’m a fan of Albert Pujols because he’s a Cardinal; not a fan of the Cardinals because they have Albert Pujols.

Glad he’s a Cardinal. Will be sadden if he leaves, but it will happen someday by retirement, FA or the dreaded career ender…. but a Cardinals fan I’ll always be.

I’ll always root for the Cardinals; it’s in my blood — but how Albert’s contract talks play out will greatly affect the fervency of my attachment.

As fans, what we can reasonably expect of ownership is that they offer him a contract making Albert, if not the highest-salaried player, than at least in the top 3. (say 6-8 years/$25 million per.) This is not a fellow on the verge of decline — given his age, skill set, and work ethic, we are not looking at a Barry-Zito-caliber contract disaster here, as long as avoids a major injury.

If Albert gets an offer in that range and still decides to walk b/c Boston or someone else decides to offer him $30+ million a year, I wouldn’t hold it against the club. I’d give them credit for doing all they reasonably could.

Red Baron asks if some of us would, in that case, “Accept that there was really no way to build a competitive team around the financial demands of such a contract?” Let’s assume that’s the reality for a mid-market club like ours. i.e., you can choose either (1) Albert finishes his career in Cardinal red, breaking all sorts of records along the way, but b/c of his contract, the team can only manage to be moderately competitive and never really sniffs another title during his career; or (2) Albert walks for a ridiculous deal elsewhere (either for the money or b/c he doesn’t believe he can win another ring in STL), and the organization uses the newfound resources (yeah right!) to build a team that consistently contends for titles. Which do you choose?

I will be devastated. I think it will be because it’s ultimately his choice, and I would be sort of betrayed by him, since I expect him to stay his whole career. that is, unless the Cards make him a really bad offer which I totally don’t expect them to do. I think it will be competitive but will ask for a slight discount, which Albert will be ok with I think.

silver lining if he leaves (and this guy doesn’t get traded): put Brett Wallace at 1B

as for the Perez trade, it’s easy to diss it right now since Derosa got hurt right away. But we don’t really have any guarantee that Perez will overcome his control issues and/or be an amazing closer or set up man. good chance it could happen though I guess, but he sure doesn’t look like it now.

Put him at SS, move Boog to 2B and Skip to LF

OR

Put him at 3B, Derosa goes to 2B when he becomes healthy, Skip to LF.

The question is, what are the Braves looking for in return? They certainly aren’t sellers so I assume they want talent that will improve their current MLB roster.

Did anyone else hear this interview on ESPN radio, where Gibby apparently said about roids that he would probably have been inclined to “just try this and see what it does to me”?

I don’t have time to listen to it right now so I don’t know anything about the question, context, or any additional elaboration. But I’m quite curious to listen to it….