Game 59 Open Thread: June 7, 2006

ponson harang
4-0, 2.93 6-4, 3.65

prior to their 14-inning loss vs chicago on june 2 -- the rolen-error game -- st louis had been on a two-week tear, going 10-4 to reach two 2006 high-water marks: 15 games over (34-19), and 5 games in front of the nl central field. that june 2 loss sent the birds into a 1-4 dive, which has included a 2d 9th-inning meltdown and the loss of their franchise player. according to baseball prospectus' nate silver, we should not be surprised. he ran a little study today showing that teams tend to play poorly in the wake of a long, frustrating loss like the june 2 game, while teams who win such games tend to play well. (the cubs went 3-2 in the wake of that contest.) he concludes:

an interesting study -- one brad lidge might want to read. or not. . . . by the way, my initial reaction to reading that story was: "bullshit; there was never a more crushing defeat than the astros' loss in game 5 at the hands of albert, and they bounced right back and won. . . ." actually, they won just one of their next five -- with two more close, late, excruciating losses to the white sox.

ok, maybe there's something to it.

if you're not thoroughly demoralized yet, then listen to this: today's playoff odds report at BP gives the reds a 46 percent chance of winning the nl central . . . and the cardinals only a 37 percent chance. stl's overall chance of making the playoffs (ie, as a division winner or wild card entry) is now listed at slightly less than 50-50.

la de dah . . . .

if you haven't read the affidavit pertaining to jason grimsley's steroid-abuse bust, head on over to the smoking gun and read it now. grimsley named names; lots on'm, including a few described as "former teammates." i did a quick survey of grimsley's career on baseball-reference.com and found four current cardinals who are guilty of being one of grimsley's former teammates. before i list these guys, let me disclaim: i'm not accusing anybody of anything; i'm not alleging guilt by association; i'm not launching a smear campaign. i'm merely stating that these four guys have inhabited the same clubhouse as jason grimsley. there are also guys on the team who have occupied clubhouses alongside matt lawton, sammy sosa, raffy palmeiro, barry bonds, and mark mcgwire; just trying to keep inquiring minds informed. ok, ready?

• tonight's starting pitcher, sid ponson, and larry bigbie were grimsley's teammates in 2004-05 on the orioles.
  
• jeff suppan was grimsley's teammate in 2001-02 with the royals.
  
• jim edmonds was grimsley's teammate in 1996 with the angels.

there; that wasn't so bad, was it?

i'll also point out that steve kline, tino martinez, and hoolie tavarez are ex-teammates of grimsley's.

and so is roger clemens.