Viva El Birdos Loves Jim Edmonds

and let me say this. I have watched Major League baseball for a great many years and I have never seen a center fielder I would rate above Jim Edmunds.

I have seen Dom DiMaggio, Jimmy Piersall, Paul Blair, Curt Flood and yes, back in the 80’s when Andruw Jones was at his peak and the Braves flooded the airways, I saw a lot of him. I have seen Jones caught napping a few times but I never saw Edmunds when his head was not in the game. Paul Blair, Curt Flood, Tori Hunter and Mc Clutchen of Pittsburg are great CF’s but I would not rate them over Edmunds.

Nobody could turn his back completely on a ball and track it by instinct better than Edmunds. Hope this gets your post back on a serious note.

and I forgot Willie Mays and nobody should forget Willie Mays.

"80% of the earth’s surface is covered by water, the other 20% is covered by Jim Edmonds."

linkage

As well as a decently long career and postseason success should make him a shoe in.

But his catch as an Angel is my favorite of all of Edmonds’ catches.

My favorite memory of him, however, is his first series at Enron Field in 2000. He posted a .900/.923/1.800 series. Not too shabby.

One from the regular season that really sticks out in my mind was this time he was up in a high leverage situation. I think it was around 04-05, though I couldn’t say for certain. I’m pretty sure it was a home game, with men on base, and the Cards down a run or two, though I’m really hazy on the game situation details. It was an important PA in the game though. Edmonds had a full count on him, and the pitcher was pitching him away, away, away, not wanting to risk coming inside Jimmy’s wheelhouse. So, the pitcher puts his next pitch on the lower outside corner, and Jimmy fouls it off. The pitcher again tries to get him to ground out or K on a low and outside pitch, but Jimmy just fouls it off. There must have been about five or more fouled off pitches on the outer half like that, and a few to fill the count before that too. It was like Jimmy just was waiting for that guy to bring a pitch inside, and the guy knew it. Finally, after what feels like 15 full minutes of my adrenaline pumping on max with the game on the line, the pitcher brings this next fastball down and in on him. BOOM — Jimmy just CA-RUSHED that sucker into the RF stands to everyone’s delight and my personal awe and amazement.

It was obviously very silly, but I think this was the moment that I became convinced Jim Edmonds could just hit a HR whenever the fuck he wanted. I had seen him hit so many HRs right when the Cardinals most needed them, that this actually seemed plausible to me. It’s “clutch” moments like that, both at the plate and in the field, that make Jim Edmonds possibly my favorite Cardinal and ballplayer of all time.

no-no, larue

And The One.

the clubs again faced one another in the 2002 NLDS. Unfortunately, the defining play in that series proved to be the villain Cintron ending Rolen’s season by barreling into him as Rolen attempted to field a groundball. That being said, the Cardinals destroyed the defending champs in that series, sweeping them 3-0. The series featured one of my favorite Edmonds moments.

Game 1 pitted Randy Johnson against Matt Morris. After Fernando Vina reached base to lead off the game and Eli Marrero hit a sacrifice fly, Edmonds dug in against one of the greatest left-handed starting pitchers in the history of the game. Johnson was at the peak of his powers, as well, which made this one of those thrilling matchups that elevates the postseason tension to another level. Edmonds bested The Big Unit by absolutely crushing a home run into right-center field. This put the Cards up 2-0.

Even though the Diamondbacks would tie the game at 2-2 and the Cards would go on to win 12-2, that home run off of Johnson was incredible. Whether or not the feeling was true, the homer seemed to bloody Johnson (who would surrender 6 runs in 6 IP) and set the tone for the series. I wish video of the homer survived on MLB.com, but I haven’t been able to find it.

Jimmy Ballgame 2000 Gold Glove Award Commemorative Bobblehead. It was a promotional giveaway during the summer of ’01. Saw a lot of Edmonds that summer as I was interning for Boeing by day, and watching baseball by night. (excuse the lousy photo quality).

Anyway, the leadership that he displayed in 2006 was a highlight for me. The game ball stuff and rallying the guys in the locker room. He really seemed to step up and drive that team through the playoffs.

I loved watching him play. I loved his swing, his defense and his flair for the dramatic. My dad compared him to Bob Cousy, a player who knew how to entertain the fans, and was a showboat, but he did it without negatively affecting his stellar play.

Yet, one of my favorite memories was during the time period when he was out with a concussion. During an interview, he was asked what he was doing with his time off. His response:
“Well, I find myself reading a lot of books.”