even chance

Somebody give me the exact intersection, but there is a garage across from the Federal Reserve that is pretty inexpensive and a quick walk.  If there are only a couple of you, park at the Casino Queen lot on the East Side and take Metrolink in.  The Casino Queen lot is free.  

If you are coming from the West, somebody else will be able to give you a good spot to park and ride.  

I'm sorry, maybe I'm just old, but the idea of proposing in public like that frickin' reaks of self-centeredness.  Guys, I don't care how much you like baseball or that it might seem like a good idea, it should be a private moment.  Your woman will appreciate that.  

My wife always says that after the lady says I do, the most commom phrase for ball park proposals is, "WHAT THE BEEP DID YOU TO THAT TO ME FOR?"  

We did see a very cool private one at a game once that the Diamondbacks help set up.  The bride to be was escorted on the field, under the pretense that she won a field visit.  She's hanging out and talking to a couple of the players, getting autographs, and the groom to be was snuck on to the field in D-Backs uniform.  She's not paying attention to this guy, because she's meeting Brandon Webb, who was apparently her favorite player.  The groom hands back her ball, but he's switched it with one that says will you marry me.  Brandon Webb, kind of pushes the guy forward, and then she realizes who he is and starts to laugh and then says, "read the ball."  

Then again, they did this PRIVATELY, the only reason we saw it is because I'm a dork and got there for BP.  

The prelude to the links on the .500 clubs talked about the Phillies' young pitchers over time. The Cards "success" with young pitchers has been a topic here from time to time, especially with the number of starts between Wainwright, Reyes, and Thompson this year.

In addition, a frequent topic is LaRussa (and/or Duncan) and young pitchers.

When having these discussions, it's always good to know what "par" is for the other teams. Or in other words, how often have other teams produced successful young pitchers.

In light of that, I will excerpt some of the text and numbers from the link; please accept the formatting:

"The Phils have not had a history of success with young pitchers (Pat Combs, anyone?). In fact, there have been only ten seasons in which a Phillie youngster has won at least 15 since the 1950 Whiz Kids (Note: for brevity I have left out the Win Shares from the site):

Name               Yr Age  W  L ERA  
Kevin Gross       1985 24 15 13 3.41  
Larry Christenson 1977 23 19  6 4.06  
Rick Wise         1971 25 17 14 2.88  
Rick Wise         1969 23 15 13 3.23  
Art Mahaffey      1962 24 19 14 3.94  
Curt Simmons      1953 24 16 13 3.21  
Robin Roberts     1952 25 28  7 2.59  
Robin Roberts     1951 24 21 15 3.03  
Robin Roberts     1950 23 20 11 3.02  
Curt Simmons      1950 21 17  8 3.40  "

Over a 56 year period, there are SIX names on that list. Five of the seasons were in the early 1950s, one from a 193 game winner and the other a HOFer.

Art Mahaffey debuted in 1960, threw 274 innings in 1962, 149 innings in 1963, 157 innings in 1964, and was out of baseball after throwing 35 innings with the Cardinals in 1966 at the age of 28.

Most Cards' fans are familar with Wise and his place in Cardinals' history (he did pitch the game that I caught my only foul ball, however).

Christenson won 83 games in his career that was finished by the age of 29.

Gross was an innings eater who won 142 games over 15 years with a 94 ERA+.

So if you exclude the first two guys, that leaves four pitchers over the last 45 years that have won 15 games at 25 or under. Cole Hamels, noted in the article, is 14 and 5 at this writing, but there is news that he is going to miss at least two starts (IIRC).

So when you read or talk about the Cardinals and young pitchers, I think you should recognize that other teams have probably not done much better either.

Dave