some data:

STL HITTING LEADERS, JUNE

player	ab	r	h	hr	rbi	bb	sb/att	avg	obp	slg	ops
sanders	56	10	22	4	13	6	8/8	.393	.444	.679	1.123
pujols	67	20	25	6	16	13	2/2	.373	.475	.672	1.147

where is the love for reggie sanders in card nation? the sanders 22 jerseys? the chants of reg-gie!, reg-gie!? . . . . ok i admit it, i take the guy for granted too. worse than that -- i tend to discount him. he bats down in the order, whiffs a ton, somehow seems worth less than his stats suggest . . . . right? in may, when there rose a rumor that sanders might be shipped to the athletics for eric byrnes, did stl fans rise as one to denounce that idea as sheer madness? to shout that sanders is too valuable to move? no, not really . . . . it was kind of like sander, byrnes, what's the diff? one's 37, one's 29, but they're basically the same player -- we need to get younger in the outfield so yeah, sure, why not?

inevitably rolen will start to hit, edmonds will return to the lineup, sanders will drop down to the 6 or 7 hole in the order, his avg will drift back toward .260, and we'll forget all about games like last night. so before all that happens, let's give the man some recognition. with walker edmonds and rolen all ailing or faltering, reggie has stepped up and held the middle of the order together. very quietly, like a pro. i'm damn glad he's on our side.

more kisses for the reg and his stat profile at beyond the boxscore.

add'l data, courtesy pinto's day-by-day database:

NL ERA LEADERS, MAY 20 - JUNE 20

player	ip	h	r	er	bb	so	era
carpenter	45	33	8	8	10	46	1.60
pedro	45	31	10	10	7	47	2.00
rocket	31	22	7	7	10	30	2.03
santos	31	27	11	8	13	22	2.32
v zambrano	33	24	12	9	16	15	2.45

carp. rocks. . . . has now put up zeroes in 47 of last 52 ip

battle of the 1st-pitch: cardinal hitters were particularly aggressive on the first pitch against aaron harang last night; musta had a scouting report or something. of the 29 stl hitters who faced him, 13 swung on 0-0; after he departed, only 2 of 12 stl hitters swung at the 0-0 pitch. carpenter also faced 29 hitters; 9 swung at the first pitch. the results:

1ST-PITCH SWINGING, JUNE 20

	foul	miss	out	h	ops
card hitters	8	2	2	3	2.000
red hitters	2	3	4	0	.000

i'll tell you one cardinal who strikes me as an indiscrimate 1st-pitch swinger: mabry. i've seen flashes of such before, and now that i'm paying real close attention he's doing nothing to alter my opinion. in the first, batting with the sacks jammed and one out, mabry swung at a fastball in on the hands -- might've been ball one, but even if it caught the corner there was nothing he could do with the pitch; might as well take. mabry fouled it back, ultimately whiffed. his next at-bat, in the third, he came up with two out and a man on second -- rbi situation, good time to look for a pitch. but with the stale, rh-hitting rolen on deck, you're probably going to get worked carefully. sure enough, harang started mabry off with a low curve, and mabry swung and, again, fouled it back. if he takes the pitch, maybe it breaks out of the zone for ball one.