Josh Hancock, April 11, 1978 - April 29, 2007

Here's the original thread on VEB from when the news came out -- hard to read through for me -- considering all that has happened since that day one year ago, it definitly seems like a lot more time than 366 days have past. In fact, his passing is even now, just twelve short months removed, often overlooked in the drama that the 2007 club endured.

Although a lot of the original rumors about what had happened that night (unfortunately) were true, this still marks the passing of a young man who was a beloved son, brother, friend, teammate, and World Series Champion.

I still almost morbidly think of Josh every day as I'm driving home from work, passing by the Anheuser Busch sign on Highway 40 by Grand, and remember the night that one man made the fatal mistake of not calling a cab.

Rip, Josh. You're missed.

Hey Fanpost!

As our prearranged VEB Meet n' Greet day of May 17th approaches, I figure i should probably get around to actually, you know, planning the event.

So, first things being first, I'm going to need a head count. A few questions:

How many of you actually (as in greater than an 80% chance) plan on going? Please post below by the end of the week so I can get something reserved next weekend.

Also, how many are under 21?

And does anyone have any special needs (wheelchair access, etc) that I should be aware of?

Right now the plan is to reserve a back room at a nearby watering hole for an hour or two before the game and then afterwards until question mark. Hopefully if we have enough people going, we won't have to pay a cover charge, and I'm fairly certain the place I'm considering numero uno will allow minors, providing they have a voucher, much like Navin Johnson working at a St Louis gas station.

(And please, feel free to respond off-line via e-mail if you'd be more comfortable: alxfritz@gmail.com)

And thus concludes my first "fanpost." This seems awkward.

Now that single game ticket sales are only a handful of days away, now seems like an opportune time to rehash some details for the hoped VEB Meet and Greet. The game against the Tampa Bay Sans-Devil Rays on Saturday, May the 17th was the runaway winner for the event, meaning that if my calculations are correct, Wainwright will be facing Kazmir.*

What we need to decide now is decide what all to do for the event.

Continue reading this post »

"The New York Mets have agreed to a trade for two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana, giving up four prospects to acquire the left-handed ace of the Minnesota Twins, according to two high-ranking Twins officials with knowledge of the talks and a person close to Santana.

The deal is pending the Mets and Santana reaching agreement on a six- or seven-year contract extension and that Santana passes a physical; they have been granted a 48 to-72-hour window to do so. Santana has a no-trade clause that he will waive if agreement is reached on a contract extension.

The Mets paid a high price in prospects to land Santana, agreeing to send the Twins outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey."

Link

According to FOX's Ken Rosenthal,  Mike Cameron has signed with the Brewers, on a  one year deal with an option for 2009. Financial terms have not yet been released.

Cameron will have to sit out the first 25 games if I'm not mistaken (though I could be) but it will allow the Brewers to move Bill Hall to third and Ryan Braun to left field. Taking frying pan hands Braun off of the hot corner should help their defense tremendously. Milwaukee might be really, really good next year.

Also, it sounds like Walt Jocketty signed on as an special adviser with the Reds.

And thanks for the memories.

link

"Moving quickly to replace center fielder Mike Cameron, the Padres have agreed to a trade that will bring them center fielder Jim Edmonds, a 37-year-old who has won eight Gold Gloves.

The Cardinals are to get single-A third baseman David Freese, a minor leaguer. Cash will also be part of the deal, which could be made official as soon as Saturday. In talks last month, the Padres said they would be interested in Edmonds only if St. Louis helped to pay for his $8 million salary. "

What an offseason.

David Freese's MiLB stats

Update [2007-12-15 0:34:18 by lboros]: shocking news, but there's some logic to this move. it's not a great step down production-wise from 37-year-old jim edmonds to a centerfield medley of ankiel / barton / schumaker / rasmus; indeed, it might well be a step up. just playing a hunch --- i wonder if the cardinals are gonna take the savings from edmonds' salary (roughly $7m) and make a run at either loshe or silva. i'm not suggesting this would be a smart thing to do . . . . i'd have to think about that. but if that's indeed how it goes down, it would have the effect of shifting marginal payroll from a position where it isn't doing much good (centerfield) to one where it might really upgrade the team; they'd be no worse in cf but much better in the rotation.

this is pure speculation, and i'm probably way off the mark. but i gotta think this move was made with a subsequent move in mind. we'll see . . .

here's the current lineup:

schumaker cf
ankiel rf
pujols 1b
duncan lf
rolen 3b
kennedy 2b
molina c
izturis ss
pitcher

Update [2007-12-13 13:18:44 by lboros]: here's the report.

whichever players are named, the two names that should be the most discussed are those of don fehr and bud selig. the union and the commissioner’s office. both organizations tacitly encouraged steroid use in the name of the dollar. steroids led to big home run totals, which led to big money --- for the union members, in the form of gaudy salaries; and for the owners, in the form of tickets and tv contracts and licensed merchandise and everything else. mlb and the union didn’t actively encourage steroid use, but both organizations actively prevented deterrence until congress got involved in 2005. they were the enablers --- without their acquiescence, most of the individual players listed here would probably have stayed clean.

as for the players: i’m not asking any of them to apologize. but i am asking them to be honest. if a guy juiced, then let’s out with it. "there was a widespread steroid culture in the game, and i was one of the many who participated in it." is that so hard to say? the steroid cheats who’ve been honest about their use --- ryan franklin, for example --- aren’t dogged by it; they tell the truth, submit to the corresponding penalty (if any), and move on with their careers, without condemnation. it’s the liars who draw all the grief, and deservedly so.

I posted this at the bottom of yesterdays thread, then figured, hell, might as well start todays off.

Anyhoo...

"PADRES SIGN WOLF: Randy Wolf will get a nice payday if he can make 30 starts and pitch 200 innings for the San Diego Padres.

The left-hander, coming off shoulder surgery in September, and the Padres finalized a one-year deal that has base pay of $4.75 million and tops out at $9 million if he reaches all his incentives.

Wolf was 9-6 with a 4.23 earned-run average in 18 starts with the Los Angeles Dodgers last year. He didn't pitch after July 3 because of soreness in his left shoulder. He had surgery in September."

I really wish Wolf didn't like the West coast so much. This is the second year in a row I have thought he'd make a great fit.

[Note - If you have sensitive ears (or eyes, I guess, since you're reading this) you may want to not follow the links. Nothing NSFW or anything, just a lot of cursing. But, it is history, so culture yourselves.]

Via a link from The Sportsfrog, I cyber stumbled across a piece from 1898 up for auction at the Robert Edwards Auction House. It was issued by the National League and is entitled "Special Instructions To Players."

I'll let the REA blog describe it further:

"Reading this document started out very drab for a sentence or two, but then quickly got our attention as the language used became very unexpected for an official Major League baseball document, let alone one devoted to demanding players not use "any indecent or obscene word, sentence, or expression." It turned "blue," and, well, got "bluer."

This piece is ironic as it provides many examples of exactly the kind of "brutal language" that was being outlawed. In fact, it is so over the top that at first we thought it was some type of a joke. But as we examined the paper, found that this language did exist in the 1890s, considered that general rowdiness and the use of obscene language by players were big issues in baseball in this era, and noted that the accompanying items were all from the same era, we soon realized that that this was not a joke at all.

This was actually a fascinating and historically significant baseball document, distributed to National League players, that captures an aspect of professional baseball from the rough-and-tumble single-League 1890s era that is not well documented. Granted, in terms of language, it is also the most offensive official Major League baseball document that we have ever seen.

That makes it all the more amusing to us, but we also recognize that maybe this is a piece that isn't for the entire family. Truck drivers, yes, sailors, yes, ballplayers in the 1890s, obviously yes. But probably not everyone."

The document begins with (and was apparently inspired by) the following anecdote: "In a contest between two leading clubs during the championship season of 1897, the stands being crowded with patrons of the game, a gentleman occupying a seat in the front row near the players bench asked one of the visiting players who was going to pitch for them. The player made no reply. He then asked a second time. The gentleman, his wife who sat with him, and others of both sexes, within hearing distance, were outraged upon hearing the player reply in a loud, brutal tone, 'Oh, go f*&k yourself.'"

The entire document can be viewed here, with it broken down into two sections for easier foul language reading top and bottom.

Just thought one or two other of my fellow baseball history dorks might find it interesting.

And, of course, I'd be remiss not to include a link to the most informative video on Olde Tyme Baseball ever produced.

(Also, if Rolen thought La Russa's letter was too rough, imagine if TLR would have said: "A dog must have &$%!& your mother when she made you." Olde Tymes sound awesome.)

Dear diary,

I am writing to gauge the response of fellow VEBers in what kind of interest you may have in doing a Viva El Birdos get-together for a Cardinals game at Busch the third next season. I've gone to a few games with other VEBers before, and have always had a great time at the ballpark, so why not get everyone who can make it to one? Plus, it will be nice to put faces to names and to find out if azruavatar is actually a robot or not.

In the poll below, you'll find a list of Cardinals home weekend series coming up in 2008, please vote (if you will seriously consider attending) on which date will work most feasibly for you.

(Note: I took out the opening weekend series, Fourth of July series, Labor Day series, and the final weekend of the year since those tickets are usually either in high demand or you probably have something better to do than hanging out with strangers from the Internet).

My personal preference would be the May 17th game against the <strike>Devil</strike> Rays. The weather will be well past the spring thaw, but not yet into the sweltering summer heat. Also, I can't imagine tickets will be in high demand for that game, so it is probably our best choice. (Also, I may or may not be planning on kidnapping Scott Kazmir and Carl Crawford and making them play for the Cards. Mums the word.)

Once we get a date set that works for everyone, we can decide whether it would be best for everyone to get single seats (I don't think we'll be able to all sit together in the bleachers or anything) and meet up before and after the game at, say, the Broadway Oyster Bar (or some other bar/restaurant down there that doesn't make me want to punch myself in the throat) or if we should go ahead and get one of those Coca-Cola patio-ish things for everyone to enjoy the game together in.

So please vote for the series that works best for you and a few weeks before single game tickets go on sale, I'll have another diary going forward to the next step.

(and yes, I feel like I'm planning a high school reunion, thank you for asking.)