So somewhat lost in all of the moves that have happened to the Cardinals in the offseason has been the departure of Jeff Luhnow. A former Vice President within the Cardinals organization, he has moved on to take the General Manager reigns in Houston - to turn around the flailing Astros organization and transition them into the all-of-a-sudden fierce AL West during his time there.

Luhnow is somewhat responsible for many things within the Cardinals organization. He seemed to be John Mozeliak's right-hand man in the statistical data and scouting department. Luhnow is from Mexico City and re-opened the Latino market to the St. Louis Cardinals (think Fernando Salas), opened up lines of thinking that were previously unthought-of (think moving Motte from C to P and Tony Cruz from 3B to C - also Skip Schumaker from OF to 2B, which I don't believe worked out quite as well). Lastly, he helped to draft a few people quite responsible for this most recent World Series winning team (think Allen Craig, Jon Jay, and Lance Lynn).

So, in a slight homage to Luhnow, I want to look at some Mexican League players' statistics to get thinking about the next steal for the organization in a market opened up to us by Luhnow himself. The Mexican League is seen like a AAA League in terms of size and attendance; however the talent is comparable to AA in MLB (according to B-R). In looking at the 2011 statistics, the Mexican League might be the best hitters' league in the world. The average OPS was .828 this season (compared to around .720 in the majors, and .735 in AA. Like I said, it is quite the hitters' paradise.

Therefore, I think it would be easiest to find pitchers who stand out. I'll start there. Since the average AA player is only 24 years old, I will look at players only under the age of 24 to find the diamonds in the rough.

League averages pitching: 5.19 ERA, 1.619 WHIP, 10.6 H/9, 4.0 BB/9, 5.9 K/9, 1.50 K:BB

22 year old relief pitcher, Enrique Gomez, pitched his third season in the Mexican League in 2011.

Career: 97 IP, 4.92 ERA, 1.485 WHIP, 9.5 H/9, 3.9 BB/9, 7.4 K/9, 1.90 K:BB

2011: 48 1/3 IP, 4.84 ERA, 1.428 WHIP, 8.8 H/9, 4.1 BB/9, 9.9 K/9, 2.41 K:BB

Gomez's ERA was 7% better than average; his WHIP was 13% better than average, and his K:BB was 61% better than average. He is doing it as a 22 year old. His innings pitched have gone from 17 1/3 to 31 1/3 to 48 1/3 each of his three seasons. His WHIP, K/9, and K:BB have all gotten much better each season.

23 year old relief pitcher Alan Guerrero pitched in his sixth season in the Mexican League in 2011.

Guerrero went from Tijuana to Reynosa after his first three seasons. He was primarily used a starter with Tijuana, but has been used exclusively as a reliever with Reynosa. He has thrown about 65 innings a season the last three years (all three years at 60 IP or better.) All three years have had a 1.500 WHIP or slightly better. All three years have been better than the league average of 4.0 BB/9 and have seen a K/9 of 8.1 or higher (9.1 and 9.3 the last two seasons). His 3.68 K:BB in 2010 was incredible.

Those two pitchers could be brought in and pitch in the hitter friendly Texas League right away, I believe...and quite possibly have better numbers because the Texas League pales in comparison as a hitters' league to the Mexican League.

League average hitting: .299/.374/.454/.828

21 year old center fielder, left fielder, and second baseman Leonardo Heras, played in his fifth season in the Mexican League in 2011.

In the last three seasons, Heras has averaged over 400 at bats a season. In 2009 and 2010, Heras had a .806 and .803 OPS (with a league average OBP, but slightly lower SLG) respectively. His OBP jumped to .399 in 2011 and his slugging to .536 (OPS to .935). He had 18 of his 25 career HR this season. Heras also had 25 of his 58 career stolen bases in 2011. He has a career .318 batting average that jumped to .342 last season. As long as the kid is simply building strength (like most 21 year olds) and not on steroids or some other performance enhancer, I'd say this kid is starting to become legit. The only question that I really have is that he moved from Reynosa to Mexico (the team) last season. Is the hitting environment just that much better in the home ballpark for Mexico, or did he make a leap.

21 year old outfielder, Sergio Perez, played in his third season in the Mexican League in 2011.

As a 19 year old in Chihuahua (2009), Perez had 351 at bats. Since going to Monterrey, his at bats have gone down from that career high of 351 to 189 and 245 in the past two seasons, respectively. His first two years showed OPSes less than .700. His OBP was subpar and his SLG was non-existent. Last season, Perez took a leap - similar to Heras. His .839 OPS was slightly above league average; Perez's OBP jumped to .406 (above league average) and his SLG jumped as well, but was slightly below league average at .433. So far, the 21 year old has shown very little speed or power, but his BB:K ratio last year was getting much better and his OBP rose greatly. Since that is one of the best offensive skills you can possess, he might be worth a look.

Let's go all Jeff Luhnow on the Astros here and steal those guys before he can rebuild our current division rival with those very same players.

You laughed, you cried, you recommended... now, due to boredom and craving for more attention popular demand, the producers who brought you Cardinals 2011: The Album are back, with a brand new collection of hits you and your basement will treasure!

From looking back at the roller-coaster season, to re-living the painful and tumultuous winter, to the joyful holidays shared with friends and family, this special musical collection is the perfect companion to Cardinals 2011: The Album, and can be yours only through this special Fanpost offer!

Continue reading this post »

Since a lot of us are just sitting around in limbo, waiting anxiously for ST to get under way while with little else to do but talk about the Cardinal’s prospect for the coming season and the expectations of this player or that player etc. I thought a few people might have an interest in a kind of offbeat post on a piddling subject, so with that in mind, here goes.

For four or five days after the Beltran signing, someone would invariably every day, re-post the old video of Wainwright’s game inning strikeout of Beltran in the 2006 playoffs and every time it’s been posted, I’ve always paused to watch it for a minute or two. I have never tired of watching that clip.

After studying for a few minutes the other day, I was reminded of a news story from back in the 1950’s when some American university (and I can’t remember which one), published A scientific paper after conducting extensive experiments on the question of: how is it possible that a baseball can be made to curve by a pitcher throwing it the distance from mound to home plate on a baseball diamond and their conclusion was; it wasn't possible. In short their findings were as I remember: no human arm had the strength, torque or wrist movement to make a round object the size and weight of a baseball, curve within a distance of 60’ 6." Therefore a curveball was only an optical illusion perceived by the human eye, when a baseball was thrown with a certain amount of spin on it.

The AP picked up the story and it was printed in a number of papers around the country and was treated with some scorn by the baseball world and knowledgeable sports fans in general. The Sporting News, which was still a baseball only publication at the time, printed a large article including an interview with the Professor that had headed up the experiment and he was quite adamant in that their findings were valid. I took the whole matter with only mild amusement because I was old enough at the time to have played HS and some semi-pro ball and had seen some pretty good country curve balls thrown by me and they seemed real enough to my thinking.

The faint memory of this occurrence has however, always remained embedded in the (ROM) read only memory of my brain, and from time to time surfaced, when observing an especially good curve ball snapped off by some major league pitcher. So, after studying Wainwright’s beauty for a couple of minutes last week, I decided to try a Google to see if I could find something on the incident I had remembered and to my surprise found much more. Although, I could never pin down an account of the incident I was seeking, the issue had obviously been an ongoing argument for some time among Physicists and only until more recent years had theory and evidence been presented to settle the matter somewhat among them. Also, I found that the reported findings that I had recalled was by no means the first controversy with the protectors of the law of physics and the issue had evidently gone on since Abner Doubleday, or whoever it was, had first managed to serve up a twister to a befuddled batter.

I discovered the matter had surfaced also back in the 1930’s when Dizzy Dean was pitching and somebody asked Dean what he thought about the theory and Dizzy commented: (there have been a number of versions of what Dean said, so I’ll just take the liberty of passing on my favorite) "Well, I don’t rightly know, but if you’ll give me a baseball and stand over behind that tree yonder and kinda’ peep around, I’ll show you a real nice one of them optical illusions." I was about to abandon my little venture into research on an insignificant subject when one Google link caught my eye with the mention of a theory called "the magnus effect" which it seems had become widely excepted as proof positive by a portion of the scientific community, that a baseball indeed could be spun into a curve by a human arm from 60’ 6".. but with a slight hitch. It would be on a gradual curve line (or an arcing curve line) and not with the break that we normally see. The break really is an illusion they purport.

The magnus effect:

note: I tried for at least thirty minutes insert this image into the post for better clarity but for some unknown reason, could not. So if you will just read on you can go back click on to check. Also, there is some more g good information on the page. Anyway to mush on:

The figure depicted in the link above is used to explain the curve arc as caused by the Magnus effect. The proponent’s Hypothesis is, that as the ball leaves the pitchers hand ( with a forward spin toward home plate, (from left to right in the figure) the raised seams of the ball will act somewhat as small fins, directing a certain amount of air downward and under the ball and leaving a partial vacuum for the air above the ball to fill in, therefore creating downward pressure on the ball. This downward pressure causes the ball to sink more on it’s flight to the plate than what normal gravity would cause on a ball thrown at the same speed but with less spin. A typical major league curve ball travels at about 75 mph, and spins at an oblique angle at about 1500 rpm, with about 0.6 seconds travel time from the pitchers hand to home plate. The ball undergoes about 13 complete revolutions in it’s travel to the plate. Pitchers who can launch a directly overhand pitch with required spin will get close to a downward arc and this is commonly known as the 12 to 6 curveball. Also for maximum effect (and because of the lower speeds of the curveball), the ball should be released from the pitcher’s hand with a slight upward travel to prevent the ball from dropping low and out of the strike zone or possibly into the dirt before it’s intended destination.

And now for the kicker: the break that the batter sees as the ball nears the plate is the illusion, sometimes referred to as "feature blur." This supposedly is a phenomenon that occurs when the flight of the ball changes from a peripheral view to a more focused view to the hitter. That is the break. Some contend that, what the batter actually sees is the sum of the gradual curving of the ball from the time it leaves the pitchers hand (and is in his peripheral vision) to the time he manage to put focus on the ball as it nears him, and he sees the sum (total) all at once, so to speak. Obviously, if this is true, this is what a spectator who is watching a pretty much direct flight of the ball from behind the pitcher or catcher also sees, because this is what I see watching Wainwright’s hook on TV.

Now at this point let me summarize by saying the wording used in this post to describe what physicists have contend happens, is my own and might be right, close to right or somewhere in left field. I just Googled, "is the curve ball real or an illusion" and scanned a number of articles. There is a lot of material on the subject out there but most of the physicists that have done experiments in the matter obviously hired lawyers to write the reports of their findings, so I just tried to put into my own words and as simple as possible what I thought the lawyers were trying to convey. Feel free to correct me on anything you feel is wrong. I won’t argue. There are probably a number on VEB that are more knowledgeable on the subject than me but in the time that I have followed the blog I have not seen a post on the subject, or that much mention of it, actually.

In the paragraph above in which I presented the "feature blur" or illusion theory, was taken from an article about the experiments and conclusions of four physicists at four different universities that worked collectively to provide evidence to support this theory. They devised a small flash player application to demonstrate the phenomenon and I have provided a link to the page at the end of this post. Notice when you view it that there is a blue dot on the right of the screen. Focus on the blue dot and when you see a spinning ball out of your left peripheral view, shift your focus to it and it will do a sharp downward turn. Notice if you focus to a point somewhat near it, will break less. If you slowly dart your eyes from left to right of it when it is spinning down, you can make it wiggle. There are several controls to adjust speed, spin etc. but I didn’t mess with them much, and also two large tabs labeled REVERSAL and PDF file. Make sure you click the REVERSAL button, It is of interest, and clicking the PDF file will link you to a page with information on tests and the physicists involved in these experiments.

Now for some questions I was left to ponder after absorbing this information: Since spin seems to be the key element involved in creating movement on a baseball and the stitching and seaming also play a large factor, How is it possible that in over a hundred years of history, just Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan and only a few others have learned to put enough spin on a 96 MPH fastball to make it break like a curve ball and everybody else left to throw what would be called normal sliders and sinkers?… And how did Greg Maddox learn to put enough spin on everything he threw, no matter the speed, to make it move all over the place. Did he watch Mike Scott a lot when Scott was pitching for the Astros?

And what did Beltran see when he watched that Wainwright pitch go by? We know what we saw but Beltran had a better angle and a professional eye and he must have seen one humongous fall off the table as it went by him. Which leads to my next question, can a hitter have too good of an eye and focus, causing him to have trouble with the curve, while a mediocre hitter with less eye and focus, have better success with the curve because his eye detects less break? Would Ryan Theroit have knocked the shit out of Wainwright’s pitch?.. And all the reports of a juiced up baseball over the years when home runs an extra base hits go up. Has baseball just monkied with the stitching of the ball from time to time; using smaller gauge thread to sew the seams, making them less raised and lowering the fin effect and reducing the curved arc, resulting in pitchers giving up mammoth drives because they can’t put enough movement on the ball?..And what happens if you increase the size of the thread used to sew the seams, raising the seams. Would we then see mass low scoring pitching duels and back to "Whitey Ball?" The questions just go on and on.

Like back in the late 1840’s, when a young kid (Ellis Drake) ran into his dad’s shoe shop one day after school with two figure eights cut out of paper and said, "hey dad, will you cut me a couple of pieces of that old horsehide you got in the back, just like these two pieces of paper I cut out and then help me stitch them around this thread ball. I don’t like them old one piece covers on the baseballs we got at school." Now that leads me to wonder, did young Ellis know what he was creating and had already figured out something that would have pysicists scratching their heads for a hundred years to explain…or was it just circumstance on his part and the GOB had already started fiddling with the game.

I tell you folks, This opens up a brand new can of worms for me and I don’t know if I want deal with this confusion any longer, so I’m just going to quit thinking about it and forget the whole damn thing. Thanks for reading.

Dave Duncan took a leave of absence this Thursday to be with his ailing wife who is battling a brain tumor. Its unfortunate about her health. Derek Lilliquist will serve as pitching coach, and Dyer Miller will be promoted from Triple A to serve as bullpen coach. Duncan has probably been the best pitching coach in my lifetime for sure. The only other pitching coach in his league was Leo Mazzone, and Duncan never had a staff as talented as Mazzone did with the 90s Braves. Tony LaRussa gave Duncan alot of credit for his managerial success, and pretty much let him handle the pitching. Duncan was LaRussa's pitching coach for every postseason team he managed.

Duncan was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics in 1963, and made his debut in 1964. He was a good defensive catcher, but not much of a hitter. By the time the franchise moved to Oakland, Duncan finally was in the big leagues for good. After struggling in 1968 and 1969 with averages below the Mendoza line, he finally broke through in 1970 with a .259 Avg. He was an All Star in 1970, and was the A's starting catcher for their 1972 World Championship team.

Those A's teams had alot of great pitchers including Hall of Famers Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers, 1971 Cy Young Winner Vida Blue, and All Stars Ken Holtzman and Blue Moon Odom. During spring training in 1973 Duncan was traded to the Cleveland Indians. He played two seasons there and then was traded to the Baltimore Orioles. His final season was in 1976. He also was teammates with Hall of Fame pitchers Gaylord Perry and Jim Palmer.

Duncan first became a coach for the Indians in 1978, and was named the Mariners pitching coach in 1982. In 1983 he joined the White Sox, who were managed by a young Tony La Russa. Duncan has always had a throw strikes and trust your defense philosophy as a pitching coach. The Sox won 99 games in 1983 and made their first postseason appearance in 24 years. Richard Dotson and LaMarr Hoyt both won over 20 games, and Hoyt won the AL Cy Young Award. During the 1986 season the White Sox fired La Russa, and he took over as Athletics manager. Duncan followed him after the season.

With the A's, Duncan's biggest reclamation project was Dave Stewart. He turned 30 in 1987 and had bounced around the big leagues without much success until then. Under Duncan's tutelage, Stewart won over 20 games four straight seasons and was one of baseball's best pitchers. Bob Welch enjoyed a renaissance under Duncan and won 27 games in 1990 and the Cy Young Award. Mike Moore also had his best seasons with Duncan as pitching coach. The A's made three straight World Series, winning the 1989 Series.

With the A's is were La Russa and Duncan changed the way teams used the bullpen. They played matchups and the bullpen became more specialized. Before then a closer would pitch multiple innings, but La Russa limited his closer to one inning most of the time. Dennis Eckersley and Rick Honeycutt both were pretty good starters, but were converted to the bullpen when other teams thought they were finished. Eckersley was a dominant closer from 1987 to 1992, and Honeycutt was the primary set up man. Eckersley won the MVP and Cy Young Award in 1992, and in 1990 he actually had a better year. He had a 0.61 ERA and a 0.61 WHIP with 48 saves.

La Russa and Duncan moved on to the Cardinals in 1996, and they made their first postseason appearance in 9 years. Andy Benes and Todd Stottlemyre enjoyed some of their best seasons with Duncan. Kent Bottenfield had a somewhat fluky 18 win season in 1999, and the Cardinals were able to trade him and Adam Kennedy for Jim Edmonds. Daryl Kile always had a great curveball, but lost his confidence in the thin air of Colorado. He revived his career in St. Louis, winning 20 games in 2000.

Guys like Woody Williams, Jeff Suppan, Joel Pineiro, Jeff Weaver, and Kyle Lohse all had success with Duncan. Whether if it was a mechanical adjustment or a mental one, it clicked with them. Ryan Franklin had his best seasons with Duncan, although his 2009 season was obviously a fluke. He posted a 1.92 ERA in 2009, and his career ERA is 4.14. Chris Carpenter wasn't able to harness his talent in Toronto, and the Cardinals took a risk on him despite him being hurt in 2003. It paid off big time, and Carp has been one of the best pitchers to ever wear the Birds on the bat. He made three All Star teams, won the 2005 Cy Young Award, led the NL in ERA for 2009, and was the ace of two World Series champions.

Some people have criticized Duncan for not working well with younger pitchers and being better with veterans. There has been a few younger pitchers who didn't work out like Anthony Reyes, or pitchers who were traded away too soon like Danny Haren. But, there has also been some successful pitchers come up from the minors. Alan Benes finished 7th in the 1996 Rookie of the Year balloting, and sported a 2.89 ERA in 161.2 innings in 1997 before injuries derailed his career. Matt Morris won over 100 games in Cardinal red. Rick Ankiel had a good rookie year in 2000, going 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 175 innings. Unfortunately, he had a meltdown in Game 1 of the NLDS and never recovered. Adam Wainwright was a reliever his rookie year, and took over as closer after Jason Isringhausen's injury in late 2006. Who can forget him striking out Carlos Beltran with a curve or saving Game 5 of the World Series? Wainwright was moved to the rotation in 2007, and became one of baseball's best pitchers. Finally, lefty Jaime Garcia had a fine rookie season in 2010 finishing fourth in the NL in ERA. Garcia was more durable last season pitching 21.1 innings in 2011 than he did the previous season.

The Orioles have the seed-spitting Mark Reynolds, and the Mariners the awkward-fielding Nyjer F'ing Morgan; neither can match the beauty, grace, and.. umm.. enthusiasm as Gerald Laird. Here the majestic backup catcher appears, immortalized in a ballet-like pose after the Cardinals' improbable come-from-behind Game Six victory in the 2011 World Series:

What grace! What beauty! What... enthusiasm! What a fantastic opportunity to create Photoshop masterpieces!

Here is a nice transparent background picture of Gerald to get you all started.

Where would you like to see Gerald leap next? What adventures could possibly lie in store?

Props to TBender, cardinalswsbound, and hr for suggesting this be put together.

Update 01/13/2012: Bless You Boys has gotten in on the action.

VEB members since 2006 may recall that this Cardinal fan got lucky when my memories wrote my way into the WSJ with the following article now resubmitted to VEB with an updated final paragraph in honor of the 2011 Champs. Hope you enjoy.

Ode to the Cardinals

By DAVE HINKLE

Special to THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

October 20, 2006 12:31 p.m. – <UPDATED JANUARY 2012 IN HONOR OF 2011 CHAMPS>

The WSJ Daily Fix asked readers who are fans of the Cardinals to write an ode to their club, explaining why they're a fan and what characteristics their team seems to have year-in and year-out, even as the cast of characters changes. Here's Dave Hinkle on the St. Louis Cardinals.

St. Louis Cardinal baseball is a multi-generational mosaic of love, passion and loyalty. Cardinal baseball is decades of sandlot kids from Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Arkansas who are now adults in all parts of the world -- and still wearing red. We are Cardinal Nation -- the Sea of Red.

Cardinal baseball is heroes blazing through the record books: Hornsby, Frisch, and Mize, Pepper, Marty, Kenny and Stan the Man. Oh, the splendid memories of Flood, Maxvill, Forsch, Sutter, McGee, Tudor, Worrell, Clark, Rolen, Edmonds, Lankford, Kile and Tommy Herr. Cardinals have captured more titles than any other team except for that nasty team up north that we knocked off in the '64 series.

But Redbird Passion is about more than winning. It's the Gashouse Gang, Birds on a Bat and good ol' Gussie sipping a cold, frosty Budweiser. We're Ernie Hays at the organ, the Wagon Gate and Fred Bird. We're the Clydesdales, the Arch and three Busch Stadiums. We already had Jack Buck, Mike Shannon and 'ol Abner so we gave the world our spares -- Harry Carey, Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. We're the hometown of Garagiola, Costas and Berra. Need more proof we're the Kings? We make all the beer. Now, THAT'S a winner!

The Cards are tough, in-your-face competitors like Cox, Stottlemyre and Matheny. We are Gibby pitching on a broken leg and Albert smashing sliders into orbit. We got a Wizard doing backflips. Oh, and for toughness, don't forget we got a Frazier, a Spinks and a shortstop named Mike Tyson.

The Cardinals are speedy and daring -- suicide squeeze, first to third and stealing home. There goes Enos, Lou, Vince, and Bake McBride -- the Calloway Kid. We are loveable super-subs like Lawless, Iorg, Brummer, Tito, Rex and the Secret Weapon.

We are the Mad Hungarian, Silent George, Skates, Mudcat, Simba, Cha Cha and the Zamboni. We got a Rat, a Cat and Harry the Hat. We got a Ducky, a Woody, a Yadi, an Obie, a Stubby, a Nellie and a Belli. We got So, Bo and Little Joe. We got Matty, Moe and Matty Mo. We got Soup, Pags, Hub, Tewks and Uke. We got Ozzie, Izzy, Dizzy and Daffy. We even have the coolest sports name ever -- Julian Javier. (Silent J's please.) We got Coopers, Simmons, Benes, Cedenos, Duncs, Ecks, half the Guerreros, a lot of Perez, a bunch of Penas and most every Cruz that ever wore a glove. We have our very own Reggies -- Smith and Sanders. And they are all happily ours -- Cardinals forever.

We've got a Henke, a Heinkel and me -- just an ordinary Hinkle who started a lifetime love affair when Dad and Grandpa took me to Busch and taught me to keep a scorecard just the way I do now with my son. We watched Torre as a Cardinal -- before he was cool. We launched the 27-team career of Todd Zeile.

We survived Don Denkinger. We're the nicest, most-knowledgeable bunch of baseball fans you'll ever meet. Heck, we even let Lefty, Rollie, Keith, Andy and TP go elsewhere so others could have heroes too.

St. Louis Cardinal baseball is the best. But don't trust my opinion -- ask baseball legends who got some serious Cardinal love at the end of their careers. Roger, Quiz, Lee Arthur, Larry Walker, Sutcliffe the Cub, Eric the Red, Will the Thrill, Berkman and Big Mac. And don't forget - we got Red, Whitey, TLR and now Matheny (not Pat).

This year? Maybe not our best regular season team ever -- but who cares? We played hard nines while the Braves tent collapsed, we watched breathlessly as Holliday beat Halladay, we whipped the obnoxious Brauny Brewers,and then smiled in generational amazement as the Rangers got a double dose angst from Dr. Freese. We got El Hombre, a Torty and a Magic Squirrel. We got Super Carp and no injury from a tarp. We got a Skip and a Scrabble. We got Furky and Double D turning two with ADAM cheering them on. We got a Jaime (another silent J), a Jay (red not blue), some Motte Applesauce and we got us another World Championship! Our Grandmas and Grandpas would be proud. Yes sir, Cardinal fans, we did it again so you can “Go Crazy Folks, Go Crazy” – again.

Viva El Birdos!

Dave Hinkle grew up with a transistor radio under his pillow and Kentucky parents who taught him about the Redbirds, beginning with the 1967 Series against the Red Sox. The transistor is now a momento on the bookcase, but the Hinkles will be gathered around the television again this year. Write to Dave – still at dhinkle@insightbb.com.

The rivalry between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs dates back to the late 1800s, when the Cardinals were known as the Brown Stockings and the Cubs known as the White Stockings. There is a lot of history between the two clubs and many players who have played for both teams. This Fanpost will focus on three key Hall of Fame players who were acquired by the Cardinals.

Grover Cleveland Alexander

Also known as Pete Alexander was one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. By 1926, Alex had already won over 300 games with the Phillies and Cubs. He also suffered from epilepsy, shellshock from World War I, and was a heavy drinker. Alexander fueded with Cubs manager Joe McCarthy and was released in mid-1926. Second baseman and manager Rogers Hornsby suggested to GM Branch Rickey that the Cardinals should pick up Alex and they did. The Cardinals went on to win the National League pennant in 1926 over the Pirates and Reds.

In the 1926 World Series, the Cardinals faced the Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig led Yankees. Alexander won Games 2 and 6, pitching complete games both times. It is rumored that Alexander celebrated pretty hard after Game 6 and was hungover in the bullpen for Game 7. However, Jesse Haines got into trouble in the seventh inning of Game 7 and Hornsby called for Alexander to come in the game. He comes in an strikes out Tony Lazzeri to get out of the inning and retires the next 5 batters. Alexander walked Babe Ruth in the 9th inning with 2 outs. Then after throwing a strike to Bob Muesel, Ruth tries to steal second and is thrown out by Bob O'Farrell. The Cardinals win their first World Series and Alexander is the hero of the Series with two wins and a save. Alexander went on to win 21 games in 1927 and pitched three more seasons for the Cardinals.

Lou Brock

Brock started his career with the Cubs, but despite his speed and athleticism failed to impress Chicago's management. The trading deadline was June 15th back in 1964, and Bing Devine was looking to improve the teams baserunning and team speed. He decided to trade former 20 game winner Ernie Broglio and two other players to the Cubs for Brock and two other players. At the time of the trade, the Cardinals were 28-31 and in 8th place. People thought the Cubs actually got the better end of the deal with Broglio.

It turned out that Broglio was a bust for Chicago and was out of baseball by 1966. Brock was installed as the Cardinals everyday left fielder and hit .348 with 12 home runs and 43 stolen bases for the 1964 Cards. The Phillies were in first place most of the season until their late season collapse. Similar to this past season, the Cardinals rallied to win the pennant by one game over the Phillies and Reds. Brock had a good World Series and the Cards went on to defeat the Yankees in 7 games.

Brock turned out to be one of the greatest Cardinals players ever. He was a key member of the El Birdos teams of 1967 and 1968 featuring him, Orlando Cepeda, Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, Curt Flood, Tim McCarver, and Julian Javier. Brock was a clutch postseason player, batting .391, slugging .655, and had a .424 OBP during World Series play. He also hit 4 home runs, 13 RBIs, and had 14 steals during his 21 World Series games played. Brock stole 118 bases in 1974 and made 6 All Star teams with the Redbirds. He retired with 938 steals, which was the alltime record until Rickey Henderson broke it.

Bruce Sutter

After the 1980 season, Whitey Herzog made a trade for 1979 Cy Young Award winning closer Bruce Sutter. He traded Gold Glove third baseman Ken Reitz and slugging prospect Leon Durham to get him. Sutter made the last four All Star teams, led the NL in saves in 1979 and 1980, and pitched in over 100 innings the last two seasons. Sutter had a devastating split fingered fastball and was a pioneer of the pitch.

Sutter only pitched 4 seasons with the Redbirds, but they were four of the best seasons a relief pitcher has ever had in St. Louis. He was an All Star three of those years, leading the NL in saves three times, and finished in the top three in Cy Young voting twice. He was Fireman of the Year for 1981, 1982, and 1984. Sutter won two games in relief and saved three games during the 1982 postseason in which the Cardinals won their ninth World Series. Sutter left after dominating 1984 season, signing with the Braves. He was never the same pitcher in Atlanta, and was injured most of the time their. In 2006 Sutter was elected to the Hall of Fame.

Its not often that a team has 3 switch hitters in their starting lineup. With the signing of outfielder Carlos Beltran to go along with SS Rafeal Furcal and 1B/0F Lance Berkman, the Cardinals will have 3 next year. I realize all three players are in there mid-30s now, but Berkman and Beltran had All Star years last season and Furcal was an All Star in 2010. Its possible manager Mike Matheny could bat Furcal, Beltran, and Berkman in the 1-2-3 spots in the order in 2012.

Berkman and Beltran have teamed up once before for the 2004 Astros. I'm sure most of you remember that team and the grueling but exciting 7 game NLCS that year. Beltran played his home games in pitchers parks last season, batting .300 with 22 home runs. He did hit 39 doubles which was second in the NL, and was ninth in the NL with a .910 OPS. Beltran has also grounded into 99 less double plays during his career than Albert Pujols did, so thats a plus for a team who set a National League record for GIDP last season. Having Beltran in the outfield and Berkman at first will improve the defense as well. Not having Ryan Theriot on the team helps as well. Furcal shored up shortstop after he was acquired, and hopefully he can play in 130-140 games next year.

This isn't the first time the Cards have featured multiple switch hitters. The 1985 and 1987 Cardinals teams featured five switch hitters. It included a Hall of Famer(Ozzie Smith), two former MVPs(Willie McGee and Terry Pendleton, and two All Stars(Tommy Herr and Vince Coleman), all in the prime of their careers. Switch hitting Jose Oquendo was a reserve on the 1987 team. Makes it harder for an opposing manager to play matchups like that. The Redbirds have also had some other pretty good switch hitters in their history including Frankie Frisch, Red Schoendienst, Ted Simmons, Reggie Smith, and Garry Templeton.

There's been some pretty good teams in the last 20 years to have 3 or more switch hitters. The 1993 Blue Jays had Roberto Alomar, Tony Fernandez, and Devon White. The 1995 Indians had Eddie Murray, Carlos Baerga, and Omar Vizquel. The 1997 Marlins had Bobby Bonilla, White, Luis Castillo, and a couple of bench switch hitters. The 1998 Yankees had Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Tim Raines, and Chili Davis. The 2004 Braves had Chipper Jones, Furcal, and Jonny Estrada. The 2004 Red Sox had Jason Varitek, Bill Mueller, and Mark Bellhorn. The 2006 Mets had Beltran, Jose Reyes, and Jose Valentin. Finally, the 2009 Yankees had Posada, Mark Teixiera, Melky Cabrera, and Nick Swisher. Next year we'll find out were the 2012 Cardinals trio of switch hitters fare together.

Long time lurker, a couple of comments here and there, but my first fan post. This may have been asked before, but I haven't found anything definitive. My situation is this: I don't have cable (thus no FSMW), but I am in Western Illinois so I am blacked out on MLB.tv. I found good links for the last week of the season (mostly a Phillies fan showing the four wild card race games) and for the first two rounds of the playoffs until I could watch the WS on Fox.

So my question is this...are there any reliable places that any of you watch the regular season games on a regular basis online? I realize most people on this board are watching on FSMW, but I thought I might be able to find someone with a good knowledge of websites to get MLB games on. I have reliable websites for NFL games (Chiefs fan) and NBA games (Bulls fan), but I haven't found a good one for MLB games.

Any help would be much appreciated!

The Hot Stove was yelling, drink some coffee and write! So that's what I am doing, heh. With the option of showing many fanposts (rather than the default amount), it should open up the possibilities of fanposts more. Of course, there is still the Fanshot chat/discussion starter, but that is rarely used. Anyway, my main goal was to look at the current roster thus far into the hot stove season... and to have a completely arbitrary excited moment about it.

Clicking on this link will direct you to the wikipedia version of this, from where I copied this info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:St._Louis_Cardinals_roster

Continue reading this post »