Last night's game with the Cubs was not a fun affair. What started as a pitching duel ended as a one-sided 5-0 Cubs victory. It's just one game of many and certainly no reason to overreact but instead of talking about that crummy game, let's go back to another April 18th, only this one 29 years ago when the Cardinals beat the Mets' 12-8 in the famous Tommy Herr seat cushion game.
I am lucky in that this was the very first baseball game I ever attended but for the uninitiated the setting was 1987 when the New York Mets were the Cardinals' main competitive rival and they were fresh off a World Series title. We hated the Mets back then and the feelings were mutual. They jumped out to an early 5-0 lead but the Cardinals tied it up in the bottom of the fifth. And that's when it started. The giveaway that evening was a seat cushion for every adult and after the Mets finally recorded the third out in the fifth one adventurous fan threw his cushion onto the field which began an avalanche of seat cushions from every section. The announcer on the PA had to go as far as to warn Cardinals fans that the next cushion thrown on the field could result in a forfeit. After a long delay for the clean-up, the Cards held on to a one-run lead in the top of the 9th only to surrender two runs. The Cardinals plated a run in the bottom of the inning to send it to extras. The Mets again scored in the top of the 10th. The Cardinals answered with a run, loaded the bases, and then this happened:
And with that, every remaining seat cushion was airborne. That's how all April 18ths should go if you ask me.
Booing Jason Heyward
I wrote why I thought it was perfectly acceptable to boo Jason Heyward. This was before the game but as we all assumed would happen he was booed rather mercilessly the entire game. He also made several outstanding catches in the field to remind everyone why they were booing in the first place.
Wainwright's Slow Start
Adam Wainwright is not off to the best start and Joe Schwarz did an excellent job of analyzing Wainwright's early returns. From the piece:
Pitchers with fastballs like Trevor Rosenthal's can get away with living up in the zone, but Wainwright, especially at his current stage of his career simply cannot. Again, small sample size considered, but hitters have been smacking Wainwright's fourseamers/sinkers/cutters all over the park so far this season. Wainwright may possess the best breaking ball on staff, but he can only throw it so much before hitters begin to sit on it. In order to be successful going forward, Wainwright must begin to command his fastballs, and ideally shift their respective locations downward. I do not intend on stealing any of the red baron's thunder from yesterday, but I wonder if Wainwright's lower release point over the years is a contributing factor in his pitches' vertical location, affecting his ability to get "on top of his pitches."
Cardinals' Offense
Last night notwithstanding, this is a nice story penned by Lil Scooter reminding all of us that the Cardinals have been scoring a lot of runs this year.
Down on the Farm
Here's a recap of what's going in throughout the Cardinals' farm system.
Cardinals / Cubs Series
The latest installment of the series previews from Craig Edwards came out yesterday and they are quickly becoming my favorite thing. Remember, the key word in all of these previews is "should." And here's the game thread from last night's loss as well as an excellent recap.
Remember, there are still a lot of games to be played and we have Jaime Garcia and Carlos Martinez on deck. Have a great Tuesday, everyone.