austin power: bellyitcher had an interesting exchange with cincy blogger red hot mama vis-vis austin kearns. the upshot: reds mgmnt have so badly mishandled the player that it's no longer clear what he's worth. cincy brass still consider kearns a premium commodity and will value him accordingly in the trade market
good seats still available: david pinto wants to know how come nobody's coming out to see the cardinals? they rank next to last among nl teams in road attendance. bryan clarke at the cubdom wrote an interesting piece about visiting teams' box-office pull last month --- recommended.
here and there: cardnilly's midseason report cards for pitchers are online . . . . . . hardball times notes that the stl bullpenners' excellent numbers are translating directly into extra victories for the cardinals (scroll down to middle of article) . . . . . . baseball analysts rates gibson's 1968 season as the 3d-best in nl history . . . . . . . a tardy shout out to my SB Nation brother AZ Snakepit, who observes wistfully: "it must be nice to root for a team named the cardinals that doesn't suck."
tonite's matchup:
stl: marquis, 8-6, 4.11
ari: vargas, 3-4, 7.78