marquis williams
13-11, 5.70 2-3, 6.90
as if the cards don't have enough problems, they now stand a mere 2.5 games ahead of the phillies in the wild-card competition -- in which the cardinals may shortly be mired. so it is with relief that i report the phils are behind 11-2 at wrigley field as of this writing; i think it's the top of the 9th. they lost their closer, tom gordon, to injury but shored up the rotation by adding jamie moyer for two mediocre prospects. cards could've used moyer; 'nother lost opportunity.
wonder if the phils now regret dumping cory lidle.
Dimitroff Vodka informs me that espn's baseball tonight crew will be showing the cardinals' top 3 all-time web gems on sunday night. i'm curious to hear from you: what 3 plays should espn select? obviously edmonds' catch in game 7 of the '04 nlcs is in the mix; or possibly his over-the-wall grab vs the reds from last year. there will have to be a play by ozzie smith, and it might be the one from the late 1980s where he ran out into short left field with his back to the plate and made a diving, game-saving catch --- i think the last out of the game ---- while leap-frogging the left fielder (prob'y coleman). because espn fetishizes superstars, they will be tempted to find pujols' best defensive play and put it on the list; the only great play i can think of off the top of my head came from game 4 of the '04 world series, an outstanding off-balance throw to force a baserunner at the plate. great play, but not particularly important --- the cards' fate was already pretty much sealed.
certainly rolen gives them a well-stocked highlight reel to choose from. any other candidates, either fielders or individual plays? post `em below.
while we're talking about glovework, did anybody see chris dial's series of articles about the most impactful national-league defenders of the last 20 years? without going into too much detail re dial's methodology, cardinal players won top honors at 3 of the 4 infield positions --- rolen at 3d base (pendleton finished 3d in that category), ozzie at short, and jose oquendo as the surprise victor at the keystone. the complete list is at the bottom of this post at baseball think factory. surpisingly, edmonds doesn't even factor into the discussion; the top centerfielders were andruw, steve finley, and brett butler. also worming his way onto the short list was . . . . . corey patterson?
well, leave that aside --- it's still a good read.