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Today is Christmas Day. If you're spending the day with family and need something on the television in the background, Fox Sports Midwest is running a St. Louis Cardinals Christmas marathon today, starting at 1:00 p.m. CT. FSM will show four Cardinals games; each game is edited down to two hours in length. I thought it would be fun to go down the 2014 memory lane with FSM and the recaps by our great recap writing crew.
1:00 p.m. - May 20 vs. Diamondbacks
"Cards pitch good, hit good; win easy game" by mystrui
These games have been far too rare so far this season.
You know, the type of game where the offense scores early. The type where almost every hitter contributes (C'mon, Allen!). The type of game where your ace pitcher obviously has his good stuff and cruises, while your defense plays nearly flawlessly behind him.
Y'know, a drama-free game.
3:00 p.m. - May 31 vs. Giants
There once was a story about a man
His swings were so violent, they shook the land
His 80 hit tool
Made everyone drool
His power: almost too much to withstand
Sadly, "there once was" is now reality in regards Oscar Taveras. In October, The Red Baron wrote, "On an Athlete, Dying Young," and how the homer Taveras cracked in this game is how he will always remember the phenom who died too soon:
The time you swung and brought the rain,
The lines lined up to chant your name;
The red-clad faithful, cheering all,
And came the roar, the curtain call.
5:00 p.m. - August 18 vs. Reds
"Offense raps out 13 hits in 10 innings to defeat the Reds" by Dr. Howl
Nick Greenwood grounded out the side in the top of the 10th. Then the Cardinals offense went to work and figured out how to win this thing. Matt Holliday singled. Matt Adams singled. Then Jhonny Peralta produced big time with a game whinning double over the left fielder's head.
So the Cardinals won Jon Hamm night in dramatic fashion. It was a really fun game and I'm glad it didn't go past the 10th because it seemed like it could go either way all night. Masterson had another disappointing start, but the offense was able to pick up the slack, and the bullpen was not a total disaster.
7:00 p.m. - August 31 vs. Cubs
"Cards claw their way to 9-6 comeback win" by The Continental
Well, here's something that hasn't happened much lately. The Cardinals pulled out a comeback win after getting behind big and early. Comebacks are fun, except for that part when you're way behind and everything looks grey and bleak and pointless and why-the-heck-am-i-still-watching-this. Comebacks, of course, are why we still watch when Our Guys are down 5 to zip in the 2nd and the win expectancy is at 10%. Soak it in, folks. Revel in it. Baseball.