I get to see about 2 games a year in person, and maybe 6 or so on TV, so the problem is, how do I tell them apart on the radio?  If one was named Saltzberg and one Sambotini it would be easy.  If one threw 95 and one 85 it would be easy.  If one had an ERA of 7 and the other 1.00 it would be easy.  If one was an aging vet and the other a rookie, it would be easy.  If one was 6' 6" and the other 5' 9" it would be easy.   As it is, I did not know we had changed pitchers until there were two outs in the 8th.

  So, the question is do Rookies deserve nicknames?  And if so, wht should they be.  I really need some help here. 

 

The season is quite young, but it is already evident that this Cardinals team is flimsier than overcooked spaghetti in the bullpen. Now, one must not forget about the positives – namely the superb offensive production of Lance Berkman, Colby Rasmus, and David Freese, and Jaime Garcia’s decision to channel his inner Cliff Lee – but as fans, it is our job to dwell on the negatives. It builds up are emotional investment and makes winning only so much sweeter.

But, Oh My! The bullpen. Of course, Ryan Franklin’s inconsistencies, or rather, consistently abysmal play deserves much of the attention, but the problem is admittedly more than this. Just as a primer, I present the members of the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen:

• Ryan Franklin, a closer who expresses neither power nor command, instead relying on contact and luck that appears to have finally run out
• Jason Motte, a one dimensional pitcher whose one-dimension, a 94-97 fastball, has a bi-polar nature in terms of success
• Mitchell Boggs, a starter/reliever tweener whose name has hung around in the lingo of Cardinal fans for a few years now, but has failed to promote excitement or exude confidence, at any time.
• Bryan Augenstein, a right handed pitcher who fools no one, as his 8.34 career ERA and .354 BAA exhibits. Perhaps to the benefit of the Cardinals, he finds himself on the DL just two weeks in to the season
• Brian Tallet, an aging lefty with injury problems, as he, too, finds himself on the DL early in the season
• Miguel Batista. Oh Please No, we didn’t sign him, did we? Regardless of what his early numbers may indicate, a 1.4 WHIP suggests a quick regression to the mean.

That was our opening day bullpen, minus one name: Trever Miller. I left Miller’s name off the list because, simply, his persona and his value do not correlate with the names mentioned before him. Trever Miller is a classic lefty reliever: a wiry sidearmer, unkempt and mysterious, with a track record of experience and success. As such, he encourages confidence in even the most casual of Cardinal fans. And with good reason, as Miller has been consistently successful with the Cardinals and handles his team role – neutralizing tough lefty batters in the 7th and 8th innings – ably. He does this while also filling a defined personality role on the team that fans and players alike can latch on to.  Frankly, in an element of the game, the bullpen, that is all about confidence and character, Trever Miller is the only Cardinal that emits the vibes of these crucial traits.  This is the Cardinal bullpen’s crucial problem.

The way I see it, while a bullpen does not need "character" from all its members, it does need it from their guys with defined roles: 7th and 8th inning guys, a lefty, and a closer. And not all character is created equally, mind you. It helps to have one 7th or 8th inning man of the fiery, emotional variety, who packs heat with results, and another with a diverse set of pitches, calmer in nature that pitches to the model of efficiency, minimizing walks and pitches thrown. The 7th guy can be fiery and the 8th calm, or vice versa. Whatever works. A good bullpen also requires a wily lefty, a veteran in years and in MLB service who performs well under immediate entry into a big situation Essentially, the Trever Miller mold. Finally, a major league bullpen needs a shutdown closer who either has an unhittable, often  trademarked pitch, i.e. a Mariano Rivera cutter or a K-Rod slider, or so much personality (and firepower) that opposing teams and fans legitimately fear his entrance into the game. I’m talking Eric Gagne in his record saves streak, or a Brian Wilson or Heath Bell of today.

Don’t buy my broad "prototyping analysis" of relievers. Check out these current MLB examples.

• San Diego has arguably the best pen in baseball. Their 7th inning guy Mike Adams is a fireball totin’ (95+ fastball) strike out machine. 8th inning man Luke Gregerson (former Cardinal draft pick) is a game-face sportin’ slider/fastball combo user, and also a strike out machine. Yes, they lack a go to lefty, but with Gregerson and Adams sporting .180 and .185 BAA’s against left handed hitters, this position is unneeded. Then there is Heath Bell, fastball aficionado and lockdown closer.
• San Francisco also has a stellar pen, with crafty old lefty Javier Lopez, a poised out machine in Ramon Ramirez, charismatic Brian Wilson look alike Sergio Romo, and the man himself, Brian Wilson doing the closing.

The examples could continue but the fact remains that this Cardinals team needs help in the bullpen efficacy and charisma department. It appears that one, maybe two pieces – with the arrival of Eduardo Sanchez, fiery strike out guy (8 Ks, 3 IP, no runs) – are in place, but the Cardinals need help securing a calm, diverse and dependable outs guy (the role Kyle McClellan has filled the last couple years) and, of course, the all elusive closer. Internal solutions could include Fernando Salas or, more likely, a focused Mitchell Boggs, who has a fastball with movement and a nasty sinker. While a guy like Boggs filling the 7th or 8th inning role doesn’t solve the closer problem, it delays our need to rush out and overspend on a closer of average quality.

Bullpens require confidence, and confidence, among fans, players, and individual pitchers alike, starts with a certain level of unique bullpen character. 

 In 2009 a series of articles were written by NBC where they restored each teams roster by constructing it with only players originally signed by that club.  I think we should revisit this, but with an updated look at what our system has provided in just the past few years.    

Here is the original article and roster for the Cardinals from 2009:

17. Cardinals

Producing the game's best player and one of the top five pitchers only goes so far. The Cardnals' lack of pitching depth leaves them right in the middle of these rankings.

Rotation:
Dan Haren
Braden Looper
Anthony Reyes
Mitchell Boggs
Brad Thompson

Continue reading this post »

Last game of the series.  The Cardinals are going for the sweep and the Dodgers are trying to pull a rabbit out of the hat in an attempt to contend this year (Bob Schaefer).  The Cardinals offense has been amazing since their visit to the west coast.  Maybe there is something in the local water that has woken up their bats?  Vegas has the Cardinals as slight favorites to win Sunday's game, while the simulator pretty much has it as a toss up.  I guess I need to program in the pH level of the water in to the simulation.  Either way, this is also the last simulation here for a while.  Sorry to clutter up your Fanpost section.  See you the next time the Dodgers come to St Louis.  Hopefully it won't be over 100 degrees with 110 percent humidity when that takes place.  Cut us some slack and let us win a few games.

Today's Results... (Last simulation ran Sunday at 12:41 AM)

Vis Pitcher	Home Pitcher	Vegas Favorite	Vegas Win%	Vegas O/U	Sim Fave Win%	Sim O/U
Chris Carpenter	Chad Billingsley	STL	55.16%	7.5	50.09%	7.20

 

1 LAN 3-2		51 LAN 7-2		101 LAN 9-6
2 LAN 2-1		52 LAN 7-1		102 STL 11-4
3 LAN 4-3		53 STL 8-3		103 STL 9-8
4 STL 3-2		54 LAN 7-4		104 LAN 9-7
5 STL 2-1		55 STL 8-1		105 STL 11-0
6 STL 4-3		56 STL 7-6		106 LAN 10-4
7 LAN 3-1		57 STL 7-0		107 STL 10-7
8 LAN 1-0		58 LAN 7-5		108 STL 11-5
9 STL 4-2		59 STL 8-4		109 STL 12-3
10 LAN 5-4		60 LAN 7-0		110 STL 12-2
11 STL 3-1		61 LAN 8-2		111 LAN 10-5
12 LAN 4-2		62 STL 8-5		112 LAN 11-2
13 LAN 2-0		63 STL 9-2		113 LAN 10-0
14 LAN 4-1		64 STL 9-3		114 LAN 11-1
15 STL 5-3		65 LAN 8-3		115 STL 12-1
16 STL 5-4		66 STL 9-1		116 LAN 11-3
17 STL 4-1		67 LAN 8-1		117 STL 11-6
18 STL 2-0		68 LAN 8-7		118 STL 10-8
19 STL 5-2		69 STL 8-0		119 STL 12-5
20 STL 1-0		70 STL 9-4		120 STL 12-4
21 LAN 3-0		71 LAN 8-4		121 STL 11-7
22 LAN 5-3		72 STL 8-6		122 LAN 10-6
23 LAN 5-2		73 LAN 8-5		123 STL 10-9
24 STL 5-1		74 LAN 8-0		124 LAN 10-9
25 STL 3-0		75 STL 8-7		125 STL 13-2
26 LAN 6-5		76 LAN 9-2		126 STL 12-0
27 LAN 5-1		77 LAN 9-1		127 LAN 10-8
28 STL 6-3		78 STL 10-2		128 STL 13-3
29 LAN 4-0		79 STL 9-5		129 LAN 12-1
30 STL 6-2		80 STL 10-3		130 STL 12-6
31 STL 4-0		81 LAN 8-6		131 LAN 11-0
32 STL 6-4		82 LAN 9-3		132 LAN 11-4
33 STL 6-1		83 STL 10-1		133 LAN 11-5
34 STL 6-5		84 STL 9-0		134 STL 13-1
35 LAN 6-3		85 STL 10-4		135 LAN 11-6
36 LAN 6-4		86 STL 9-6		136 LAN 10-7
37 LAN 6-2		87 LAN 9-4		137 STL 13-4
38 LAN 6-1		88 STL 10-0		138 LAN 12-2
39 STL 7-2		89 LAN 10-2		139 LAN 12-3
40 STL 5-0		90 LAN 9-0		140 STL 13-5
41 LAN 5-0		91 STL 11-3		141 STL 11-8
42 STL 7-3		92 STL 10-5		142 LAN 12-4
43 STL 7-4		93 STL 11-2		143 STL 12-7
44 STL 7-1		94 LAN 9-8		144 LAN 12-0
45 LAN 7-6		95 STL 11-1		145 STL 14-1
46 STL 7-5		96 LAN 10-3		146 STL 13-0
47 STL 6-0		97 LAN 9-5		147 STL 14-2
48 STL 8-2		98 STL 9-7		148 LAN 11-7
49 LAN 6-0		99 LAN 10-1		149 LAN 12-5
50 LAN 7-3		100 STL 10-6		150 LAN 13-1

 

Contest Rules:  Guess "over" or "under" on the five questions below.  You must also give confidence points to each guess.  The guess you have the most confidence in you give 5 points, then 4 points ... down to 1 point for the guess you have the least amount of confidence in.  So you must have a guess of 5,4,3,2,1.  If you get a guess correct you get the number of confidence points you wagered on that guess.  A perfect score would be 5+4+3+2+1=15 points.  The person with the most points for the day wins the number of confidence points they guessed correctly.  If there is a tie then the following tie-breaker will be used (1. Guessing the correct team to win, 2. Closest to the score ranking in the table, 3. Person who submits their pick first).  Over/Under points will not be shared.  Points will be kept track of on a monthly basis then reset (with possibly a different contest type) at the end of the month.  You can also win bonus points for correctly guessing the final score from the list of scores in the large table above.  The nightly winner will be the person(s) with the most over/under points.  If you guess the score correctly you get a bonus of whatever number the final score is in the table.  Nobody has to guess the final score correctly to win points.  If any player listed in an over/under question does not play then that question gets thrown out of the contest and fined $100.

 

Over/Under Questions:

A. Total runs scored in game: 7.5
B. Chad Billingsley strikeouts minus Chris Carpenter strikeouts: 1.5
C. Cardinals total bases: 14.5
D. Andre Ethier number of RBIs: 0.5
E. Cardinals runs minus Dodgers runs: 0.5

Sample Answer: 2AU 3BO, 5CO, 4DU, 1EU, #21 LAN 5-3

I used my simulator to simulate 100000 baseball games between the Cardinals and the Dodgers using what to the best of my knowledge will be close to today's starting lineups.  The simulator outputs a win probability for each team, along with the average total runs scored, a distribution matrix of all the final scores and how often they occurred, and an averaged box score tally of all games combined.  The simulator takes into account such things as defense, park factors, home field advantage, pitchers tiring and a proprietary set of hitter and pitcher projections that are calibrated on a daily basis.   Here are the latest Vegas MLB odds.

Today's Results... (Last simulation ran Saturday at 12:01 AM)

Vis Pitcher	Home Pitcher	Vegas Favorite	Vegas Win%	Vegas O/U	Sim Fave Win%	Sim O/U
Kyle McClellan	Clayton Kershaw	LAN	58.85%	6.8	61.55%	7.16

 

1 LAN 3-2		51 STL 7-5		101 LAN 10-5
2 LAN 2-1		52 STL 7-4		102 STL 10-5
3 LAN 4-3		53 STL 7-2		103 LAN 11-4
4 LAN 3-1		54 LAN 8-0		104 LAN 11-0
5 STL 3-2		55 STL 7-6		105 STL 9-0
6 LAN 4-2		56 LAN 8-3		106 STL 9-8
7 STL 2-1		57 STL 5-0		107 LAN 12-1
8 LAN 1-0		58 STL 7-1		108 STL 11-2
9 LAN 4-1		59 LAN 8-4		109 STL 11-3
10 STL 4-3		60 LAN 9-2		110 STL 11-4
11 LAN 5-4		61 STL 8-2		111 STL 10-6
12 LAN 2-0		62 STL 8-3		112 LAN 12-2
13 LAN 3-0		63 LAN 9-1		113 LAN 10-6
14 STL 4-2		64 LAN 9-3		114 STL 11-1
15 LAN 5-2		65 STL 6-0		115 LAN 10-9
16 STL 3-1		66 STL 8-4		116 LAN 11-5
17 LAN 4-0		67 LAN 8-7		117 STL 12-3
18 LAN 5-1		68 LAN 8-5		118 LAN 12-0
19 LAN 5-3		69 STL 8-5		119 STL 11-5
20 STL 5-4		70 STL 8-1		120 STL 10-0
21 STL 1-0		71 LAN 9-0		121 STL 10-7
22 STL 5-3		72 LAN 8-6		122 LAN 10-7
23 LAN 5-0		73 STL 8-6		123 LAN 12-3
24 LAN 6-5		74 STL 7-0		124 LAN 10-8
25 LAN 6-2		75 LAN 9-4		125 STL 12-2
26 STL 2-0		76 LAN 10-1		126 LAN 13-2
27 STL 4-1		77 STL 8-7		127 LAN 12-4
28 LAN 6-1		78 STL 9-2		128 STL 11-0
29 STL 5-2		79 STL 9-4		129 STL 12-5
30 LAN 6-3		80 STL 9-3		130 LAN 13-1
31 LAN 6-4		81 LAN 10-2		131 STL 11-6
32 LAN 6-0		82 LAN 10-0		132 LAN 11-6
33 STL 6-5		83 STL 9-1		133 LAN 11-7
34 STL 5-1		84 LAN 10-3		134 LAN 13-0
35 STL 3-0		85 STL 9-5		135 LAN 13-3
36 STL 6-4		86 LAN 9-8		136 STL 12-6
37 LAN 7-2		87 LAN 9-5		137 STL 10-8
38 STL 6-3		88 STL 8-0		138 STL 12-1
39 LAN 7-1		89 LAN 9-6		139 STL 12-4
40 STL 6-2		90 STL 10-2		140 STL 11-7
41 LAN 7-3		91 LAN 10-4		141 STL 11-8
42 LAN 7-0		92 STL 9-6		142 LAN 12-5
43 LAN 7-4		93 LAN 11-2		143 STL 10-9
44 LAN 7-6		94 LAN 11-1		144 LAN 13-4
45 STL 6-1		95 STL 10-3		145 STL 13-3
46 STL 4-0		96 STL 10-1		146 STL 13-2
47 STL 7-3		97 LAN 11-3		147 LAN 14-2
48 LAN 8-1		98 STL 10-4		148 STL 14-2
49 LAN 8-2		99 LAN 9-7		149 STL 12-7
50 LAN 7-5		100 STL 9-7		150 LAN 14-0

 

Contest Rules:  Guess "over" or "under" on the five questions below.  You must also give confidence points to each guess.  The guess you have the most confidence in you give 5 points, then 4 points ... down to 1 point for the guess you have the least amount of confidence in.  So you must have a guess of 5,4,3,2,1.  If you get a guess correct you get the number of confidence points you wagered on that guess.  A perfect score would be 5+4+3+2+1=15 points.  The person with the most points for the day wins the number of confidence points they guessed correctly.  If there is a tie then the following tie-breaker will be used (1. Guessing the correct team to win, 2. Closest to the score ranking in the table, 3. Person who submits their pick first).  Over/Under points will not be shared.  Points will be kept track of on a monthly basis then reset (with possibly a different contest type) at the end of the month.  You can also win bonus points for correctly guessing the final score from the list of scores in the large table above.  The nightly winner will be the person(s) with the most over/under points.  If you guess the score correctly you get a bonus of whatever number the final score is in the table.  Nobody has to guess the final score correctly to win points.  If any player listed in an over/under question does not play then that question gets thrown out of the contest and everyone must stand naked out in front of their house for 25 minutes.

 

 

Over/Under Questions:

A. Total runs scored in game: 6.5
B. Clayton Kershaw total strikeouts: 7.5
C. Albert Pujols total bases: 3.5
D. Kyle McClellan pitch count: 91.5
E. Dodgers runs minus Cardinals runs:1.5

Sample Answer: 2AU 3BO, 5CO, 4DU, 1EU, #21 LAN 5-3

I used my simulator to simulate 100000 baseball games between the Cardinals and the Dodgers using what to the best of my knowledge will be close to today's starting lineups.  The simulator outputs a win probability for each team, along with the average total runs scored, a distribution matrix of all the final scores and how often they occurred, and an averaged box score tally of all games combined.  The simulator takes into account such things as defense, park factors, home field advantage, pitchers tiring and a proprietary set of hitter and pitcher projections that are calibrated on a daily basis.   Here are the latest Vegas MLB odds.

Today's Results... (Last simulation ran Friday at 12:01 AM)

Vis Pitcher	Home Pitcher	Vegas Favorite	Vegas Win%	Vegas O/U	Sim Fave Win%	Sim O/U
Kyle Lohse	Jon Garland	LAN	53.05%	8.1	51.06%	8.48

 

Table de Most Likely Scores

1 LAN 3-2		51 STL 8-2		101 STL 11-4
2 LAN 4-3		52 STL 8-3		102 STL 11-5
3 LAN 5-4		53 STL 8-4		103 LAN 11-3
4 LAN 2-1		54 LAN 5-0		104 LAN 10-6
5 STL 3-2		55 STL 5-0		105 LAN 10-5
6 STL 4-3		56 LAN 7-1		106 LAN 9-0
7 STL 2-1		57 STL 8-5		107 LAN 10-1
8 STL 5-4		58 LAN 8-3		108 STL 10-7
9 LAN 4-2		59 STL 8-6		109 LAN 10-9
10 STL 4-2		60 STL 6-0		110 STL 11-1
11 LAN 6-5		61 STL 8-1		111 LAN 11-4
12 LAN 3-1		62 LAN 8-4		112 STL 10-8
13 STL 3-1		63 LAN 6-0		113 STL 12-2
14 LAN 5-3		64 LAN 8-2		114 LAN 11-2
15 STL 5-3		65 STL 8-7		115 STL 10-0
16 LAN 4-1		66 STL 9-2		116 STL 12-3
17 LAN 5-2		67 LAN 8-5		117 STL 12-4
18 STL 5-2		68 STL 9-3		118 LAN 10-7
19 STL 6-4		69 LAN 8-6		119 LAN 11-1
20 STL 4-1		70 STL 9-4		120 STL 11-6
21 STL 6-5		71 LAN 8-1		121 LAN 10-0
22 STL 6-3		72 STL 7-0		122 LAN 10-8
23 LAN 6-4		73 STL 9-5		123 STL 10-9
24 LAN 1-0		74 LAN 9-4		124 LAN 11-5
25 LAN 6-3		75 STL 9-1		125 STL 12-5
26 STL 6-2		76 STL 10-3		126 STL 12-1
27 LAN 7-6		77 LAN 9-2		127 STL 11-7
28 LAN 6-2		78 LAN 9-8		128 LAN 12-2
29 LAN 5-1		79 LAN 9-3		129 STL 12-6
30 LAN 2-0		80 LAN 7-0		130 STL 11-8
31 STL 5-1		81 STL 10-2		131 LAN 11-6
32 LAN 3-0		82 STL 9-6		132 LAN 12-5
33 STL 7-3		83 STL 8-0		133 STL 13-1
34 STL 2-0		84 LAN 9-5		134 LAN 12-3
35 STL 1-0		85 STL 10-4		135 LAN 12-4
36 STL 7-4		86 LAN 9-1		136 STL 11-0
37 STL 7-2		87 STL 9-7		137 LAN 11-7
38 STL 6-1		88 STL 10-1		138 STL 13-2
39 STL 3-0		89 STL 10-5		139 STL 13-4
40 STL 7-5		90 STL 9-8		140 STL 12-0
41 LAN 7-4		91 LAN 9-7		141 STL 13-3
42 LAN 6-1		92 LAN 9-6		142 STL 13-5
43 LAN 4-0		93 LAN 8-0		143 LAN 11-10
44 STL 7-6		94 LAN 10-2		144 LAN 11-8
45 LAN 7-3		95 LAN 10-3		145 LAN 13-4
46 LAN 7-5		96 STL 10-6		146 LAN 11-0
47 LAN 7-2		97 STL 11-3		147 STL 11-9
48 LAN 8-7		98 STL 11-2		148 LAN 12-1
49 STL 4-0		99 LAN 10-4		149 STL 14-2
50 STL 7-1		100 STL 9-0		150 STL 11-10

 

Contest Rules:  Guess "over" or "under" on the five questions below.  You must also give confidence points to each guess.  The guess you have the most confidence in you give 5 points, then 4 points ... down to 1 point for the guess you have the least amount of confidence in.  So you must have a guess of 5,4,3,2,1.  If you get a guess correct you get the number of confidence points you wagered on that guess.  A perfect score would be 5+4+3+2+1=15 points.  The person with the most points for the day wins the number of confidence points they guessed correctly.  If there is a tie then the following tie-breaker will be used (1. Guessing the correct team to win, 2. Closest to the score ranking in the table, 3. Person who submits their pick first).  Over/Under points will not be shared.  Points will be kept track of on a monthly basis then reset (with possibly a different contest type) at the end of the month.  You can also win bonus points for correctly guessing the final score from the list of scores in the large table above.  The nightly winner will be the person(s) with the most over/under points.  If you guess the score correctly you get a bonus of whatever number the final score is in the table.  Nobody has to guess the final score correctly to win points.  If any player listed in an over/under question does not play then that question gets thrown out of the contest and fined $100.

 

 

Over/Under Questions:

A. Total runs scored in game: 7.5
B. Jon Garland HRs allowed plus Kyle Lohse HRs allowed: 1.5
C. Albert Pujols RBIs minus (James Loney plus Matt Kemp) RBIs: 0.5
D. Andre Ethier total bases: 1.5
E. Dodgers runs minus Cardinals runs: 0.5

Sample Answer: 2AU 3BO, 5CO, 4DU, 1EU, #21 LAN 5-3

I used my simulator to simulate 100000 baseball games between the Cardinals and the Dodgers using what to the best of my knowledge will be close to today's starting lineups.  The simulator outputs a win probability for each team, along with the average total runs scored, a distribution matrix of all the final scores and how often they occurred, and an averaged box score tally of all games combined.  The simulator takes into account such things as defense, park factors, home field advantage, pitchers tiring and a proprietary set of hitter and pitcher projections that are calibrated on a daily basis.   Here are the latest Vegas MLB odds.

Today's Results... (Last simulation ran Thursday at 12:01 AM)

Vis Pitcher	Home Pitcher	Vegas Favorite	Vegas Win%	Vegas O/U	Sim Fave Win%	Sim O/U
Jaime Garcia	Huroki Kuroda	LAN	55.16%	6.5	45.35%	6.91

Notes: My simulator obviously likes Jaime Garcia much more than the betting public does.  It will be interesting to see who is right, even though a one game sample size does not prove much.

1 LAN 3-2		51 STL 8-3		101 LAN 9-6
2 LAN 2-1		52 STL 7-5		102 STL 10-6
3 STL 2-1		53 LAN 7-3		103 STL 12-2
4 STL 3-2		54 STL 8-0		104 LAN 9-0
5 LAN 4-3		55 LAN 6-0		105 LAN 10-4
6 STL 3-1		56 LAN 7-4		106 STL 12-0
7 LAN 1-0		57 LAN 7-5		107 LAN 10-1
8 STL 4-3		58 STL 7-6		108 LAN 9-7
9 STL 4-2		59 LAN 7-1		109 STL 12-3
10 LAN 3-1		60 STL 8-4		110 STL 12-4
11 STL 1-0		61 STL 9-2		111 STL 11-5
12 STL 2-0		62 STL 9-1		112 STL 9-8
13 LAN 5-4		63 STL 9-3		113 STL 10-7
14 STL 4-1		64 STL 8-5		114 LAN 11-3
15 LAN 4-2		65 LAN 8-2		115 LAN 11-2
16 STL 3-0		66 STL 9-0		116 LAN 10-5
17 LAN 2-0		67 STL 9-4		117 LAN 10-0
18 STL 5-3		68 LAN 8-7		118 STL 10-8
19 LAN 4-1		69 LAN 8-3		119 STL 13-2
20 STL 5-4		70 LAN 7-0		120 LAN 11-4
21 STL 5-2		71 STL 10-2		121 LAN 10-6
22 STL 5-1		72 STL 8-6		122 LAN 10-9
23 STL 4-0		73 LAN 8-1		123 STL 11-6
24 LAN 5-3		74 LAN 8-4		124 LAN 11-1
25 LAN 3-0		75 STL 10-1		125 STL 13-1
26 LAN 5-2		76 STL 10-0		126 STL 13-3
27 STL 5-0		77 LAN 8-6		127 STL 12-5
28 STL 6-2		78 LAN 8-5		128 LAN 10-8
29 STL 6-1		79 STL 8-7		129 LAN 12-2
30 LAN 6-5		80 LAN 9-2		130 STL 10-9
31 STL 6-3		81 STL 10-3		131 LAN 10-7
32 STL 6-4		82 STL 9-5		132 STL 11-7
33 LAN 4-0		83 STL 10-4		133 STL 13-5
34 LAN 5-1		84 LAN 9-3		134 LAN 12-1
35 STL 6-0		85 LAN 9-1		135 STL 13-0
36 STL 7-2		86 STL 11-2		136 LAN 11-0
37 LAN 6-3		87 STL 9-6		137 STL 13-4
38 STL 6-5		88 LAN 8-0		138 LAN 11-6
39 STL 7-1		89 STL 11-1		139 LAN 12-3
40 LAN 6-4		90 LAN 9-4		140 LAN 11-5
41 STL 7-3		91 STL 11-0		141 LAN 12-6
42 LAN 6-2		92 STL 9-7		142 LAN 12-0
43 LAN 6-1		93 STL 11-3		143 STL 14-2
44 LAN 5-0		94 STL 10-5		144 STL 15-1
45 STL 7-4		95 STL 11-4		145 STL 11-8
46 STL 8-1		96 LAN 9-5		146 STL 14-1
47 STL 8-2		97 LAN 9-8		147 STL 14-3
48 STL 7-0		98 LAN 10-3		148 STL 14-4
49 LAN 7-6		99 LAN 10-2		149 LAN 13-2
50 LAN 7-2		100 STL 12-1		150 STL 12-6

 

Contest Rules:  Every game over at True Blue LA we have a contest where we guess the game score from the table above along with five over/under questions along with confidence points.  Feel free to make guesses in the comments and see if you can score higher than anyone does over at TBLA.  Follow the format in the example below or mimic the format of my first post.  Guess "over" or "under" on the five questions below.  You must also give confidence points to each guess.  The guess you have the most confidence in you give 5 points, then 4 points ... down to 1 point for the guess you have the least amount of confidence in.  So you must have a guess of 5,4,3,2,1.  If you get a guess correct you get the number of confidence points you wagered on that guess.  A perfect score would be 5+4+3+2+1=15 points.  The person with the most points for the day wins the number of confidence points they guessed correctly.  If there is a tie then the following tie-breaker will be used (1. Guessing the correct team to win, 2. Closest to the score ranking in the table, 3. Person who submits their pick first).  Over/Under points will not be shared.  Points will be kept track of on a monthly basis then reset (with possibly a different contest type) at the end of the month.  You can also win bonus points for correctly guessing the final score from the list of scores in the large table above.  The nightly winner will be the person(s) with the most over/under points.  If you guess the score correctly you get a bonus of whatever number the final score is in the table.  Nobody has to guess the final score correctly to win points.  The starting pitchers listed in my table must be the actual starters otherwise only the game score portion of the contest is valid.

 

Over/Under Questions:

A. Total runs scored in game: 6.5
B. Jaime Garcia strikeouts minus Hiroki Kuroda strikeouts: 0.5
C. Johnathan Broxton pitch count: 6.5
D. Pujols + Holliday + Berkman total bases: 5.5
E. Dodgers starting outfielders total RBIs: 1.5

Sample Answer:

#27 STL 5-0
2AU
3BO
5CO
4DU
1EU

Given the high density of drinkers and/or alcoholics on the site anyways, I figured it'd be a fun idea to come up with an official drinking game for this season, and then pick one (or several) game/s this season to have everyone on VEB participate, if they are so inclined.

Continue reading this post »

A wonderful afternoon which began with finding Schafly Summer Lager on tap at the stadium (Right Field upper deck Jose Cuervo bar), included seeing Stan Musial doing his patented swing while seated in his Pope-of-Cardinals-Nation-mobile, highlighted by Matt Holliday's go ahead dong in the bottom of the eight inning (featuring the post-HR double curtain call; rare even for Busch Stadium, home of unnecessary curtain calls) and capped off with a 1-2-3 inning in the ninth that did not happen, slowly turned into a cold, windy, mess of a baseball game.

As certain as grown men and women will get busted at Busch sneaking cigarettes in the nooks of the upper deck like a sophomore in high school after football practice, the Cardinals will win a game this season.

And just as twenty-somethings will find the need to get blackout drunk at four o'clock in the afternoon before leaving when the stadium stops serving beer and hitting up Paddy O's, Miguel Batista will torture a fanbase as he continues to pitch with the urgency of an old man writing a mystery novel.

Albert Pujols won't hit into three doubles plays every game, Skip Schumaker will tag a runner out eventually, and Ryan Theriot will eventually do something noteworthy (no promises). But David Freese, Colby Rasmus, and Matt Holliday will continue to perform and Lance Berkman will hit .500 this season (promise).

In the short attention span football heavy culture of America, starting 0-2 with two losses to the Padres may seem like a big deal. Luckily, the Cardinals have 160 games to make up for it.

Just as Thursdayand Saturday there will be good, there will be bad, but above all... there will be baseball.

And a reason to break out the Tony Reyes jersey.

 

I am a Cardinals fan largely because my grandpa was a dyed-in-the-whool Cardinals fan from southern Missour-ah. I am as much a Cardinals fan because of my grandpa as I am because of Ozzie Smith. When I would visit my grandparents, we would listen to an LP he had of great moments in Cardinals history, a record that featured the radio call of Stan Musial's 3,000th hit. I went to my first game at the astroturfed Busch Stadium II with my cousin, my dad, and my grandpa. My cousin and I got our picture taken with my grandpa in front of the Stan Musial statue. Stan Musial was my grandpa's favorite player and I have never doubted why. Musial was a Cardinal who I have never heard anyone speak of Musial as being anything but kind and decent. My grandpa passed away a few years back and, as I Iook back today, it occurs to me that I have never heard anyone speak of him as being anything but kind and decent, either. My grandpa and Musial will be forever linked in my mind. I teared up reading Joe Posnanski's wonderful feature article on Musial in Sports Illustrated not because of Musial but because of my grandpa.

I am sharing this because I want you to understand where this post comes from, that, like many of you, being a Cardinals fan is intertwined with being a member of family. It is a part of who we are. And that began with my grandpa. There is no question that I had the "Busch Beer Salutes" poster of Stan Musial on my wall growing up because of my grandpa or that I met Stan Musial as a boy and got him to autograph a baseball for me because of my grandpa. At that time, I did know much about the statistical basis for Musial's greatness. I only knew that he was my grandpa's favorite player, so Musial must be great. In 1988, I got my first Baseball Encyclopedia as a Christmas present (you see, I have always been a stat geek, even as a child) and this multi-inch thick reference book led me to become quickly versed in the numbers of the all-time greats. I marked Musial's page in it. As I have grown older, like many of you, I suspect, I have grown more and more aware of the stories about Musial's kindness and decency. None of them surprised. In fact, I expected no less. After all, Stan Musial was my grandpa's favorite ballplayer.

I consumed baseball growing up and still do as an adult. It was not just stories and books about the Cardinals. I had books on Mantle, Ruth, Williams, and more. When I was younger, my favorite book, without a doubt, came from a series of books in white binding. Each one had a character trait as a title and was a mini-biography about a famous individual who, at least according to the book, embodied that character trait. My absolute favorite was titled, "Courage," and was the story of Jackie Robinson. To be sure, this story was more a charicature of the great Robinson, casting him in the light of myth as much as man. As I have aged, I have found the stories featuring Robinson to be even better, because they illustrate that he was a human being, and I feel that makes him all the more admirable and his accomplishments all the more impressive. 

One can imagine, then, what I felt as I read the baseless smear of Stan Musial perpetrated by the blogger Murray Chass. The anger swelled up inside of me. Even now,a week later, I am still angry. Angry for so many reasons. As a Cardinals fan, I am angry that a blogger would baselessly smear the good name of The Greatest Cardinal Of Them All. As a grandson, I am angry that a blogger would paint my grandpa's favorite player a racist, even though it is absolutely false. As a baseball fan, I am angry that a blogger would irresponsibly attempt to stain the rich history of the sport with such falsehoods. Lastly, as a blogger, I am angry that another blogger would give mainstream reporters more ammo to use in their attempts to discredit the work that we do by posting on his blog an article that does not approach even a high-school newspaper's level of journalistic standards. 

Continue reading this post »