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Mark Mulder hurries off the bus, thankful to have survived his brief run in with Ty Wigginton unscathed. The jelly... it was everywhere. He slowly begins to trudge forward when in the distance he sees the faint outline of a man running towards him. The bus starts to roll away.
"STOP THE BUS!" the man yells.
Mulder turns toward the bus to help the man, but in his condition, could do nothing but watch the bus accelerate and drive away as he hobbled toward it. He turns back to face the man who has already sunk to his knees in exasperation and exhaustion. He buries his head in his hands in what appears to be an attempt to hide his misery.
"You can always catch the next one," Mark suggests.
"There won't be a next one," Rick Ankiel states flatly, "I have already used my last chance." - Sports on Earth (there are some great videos in this article, too); Viva el Birdos; Deadspin; Aaron Miles' Fastball; Hardball Talk
Other Things Going on in Baseball...
- In other sad news, Dr. Frank Jobe, the first doctor to perform Tommy John surgery , passed away Thursday at the age of 88. - ABC News
- Moving on to a little bit happier things (unless you are a Reds fan), here is a list of the offseason winners and losers, although I am still not convinced that if there are 15 winners there are truly any winners at all. - CBS Sports
- This past week was Major League Baseball's first attempt with the new replay system enacted. Here are a few plays that were upheld using these new rules. - MLB
- When you are Tommy Lasorda, you get to pretty much do what you want. - Cut4
- Joe Maddon is the coolest person ever. At least top five. I kind of wish he was my dad (except my current father is awesome and I would never want to replace him, of course! Happy 45th birthday, Dad!) - Cut4
- Every team goes through a time where things seem like they couldn't get any better. Maybe that was over 100 years ago for some, but it still exists. - Sports on Earth
- Do players perform better in the year before they hit free agency? Beyond the Box Score investigates. - Beyond the Box Score
- In an attempt to more accurately measure fielding data, there is now a system that measures data based on the difficulty of the play. I cannot really explain it, so I will let you see for yourself. - Fangraphs
- This may not be Major League Baseball, but it is still a great moment, nonetheless. - Cut4
- Thanks goes to flood for clueing me in to this link. This is yet another article about runs that could be saved by employing defensive shifts. - Beyond the Box Score
- Some reporter asked Albert Pujols if he thought he could put up numbers like Mike Trout. Yeah, it went over about as well as you would think.Thanks, guayzimi, for the link! - Hardball Talk
- Ken Griffey (happy now, Joe?) Jr. does an interview, and apparently it isn't good. - SBNation
- Puig, Trout, replay, play at the plate... this video has everything. - SBNation
What the Cardinals are Up To...
- Trevor Rosenthal resumes throwing again after suffering a hamstring strain. - MLB
- This game is about hittin', and the Cardinals pitchers just aren't very good at that. Even by pitchers' standards. - Fangraphs
- I just feel like Al Hrabosky is somehow to blame for this. - SBNation
- The first phase of Ballpark Village is expected to make is debut March 27! - Cards Conclave; STL Today
- Molina says there is no magic, just hard work and preparation when it comes to calling a game... and maybe a little magic. - STL Today
- Remember Shelby Miller in October? Yeah, neither does anyone else. And he never wants that to happen again. - STL Today; STL Today
- Someone is whining about "The Cardinal Way" again. Ho hum, water is wet and Matt Carpenter is hitting doubles. - STL Today
- You may have seen Jhonny "Don't call me Johnny" Peralta hit two dingers for the Birds. Here is what some other bloggers have to say about the Cardinals new shortstop. - Aaron Miles' Fastball; Cards Conclave
- Oscar Taveras could play today!!!!! - STL Today
- You thought I forgot. I am offended. Here is the newest Marp Extension news. - STL Today; Viva el Birdos; SBNation
Good thing he hits baseballs better than he packs.
Packed the wrong wristband thanks @jonjayU pic.twitter.com/0yjMQ4R4nP
— Matt Carpenter (@MattCarp13) March 6, 2014
KNOW THY ENEMY...
- This is actually really sweet. After nearly five years, Reds closer Aroldis Chapman finally has his family back. - MLB
Viva el Stuff...
- Interested in college hoops? tehzachatak has linked in a fanshot to a VEB Bracket Challenge. It. Is. On. - Viva El Birdos
- I think I am going to start featuring some older articles from the VEB archives every Friday. As a newbie, I missed out on some great stuff and need to correct that wrong. Here is one of my favorites written by the author formerly known as bgh. #RIPSpilly - Viva el Birdos
- stlfan has written another wonderful fanpost about a Perfect Platoon in St. Louis. - Viva el Birdos
- greenwichvillagecard is looking for advice to find some inexpensive Spring Training tickets. Let's see if we can help a fellow out. - Viva el Birdos
- See what you missed last week on VEB with Ben G.H's Week in Review. - Viva el Birdos
- Missed Monday's links? Here is you chance to catch up. Don't worry. I will wait... - Viva el Birdos
Other Things...
- A lot of things have been going on in St. Louis sports lately. The Blues have won three straight with new netminder Ryan Miller in goal, the latest coming last night in a 2-1 victory over Nashville. - St. Louis Game Time
- The Rams have released CB Cortland Finnegan. For all things St. Louis Rams, check out TST. - Turf Show Times
- The fifth gif tournament is in full swing, with another Cardinal appearance, although, I wish this one didn't exist. - SBNation
- USMT falls to Ukraine 2-0 in a game that I don't think really mattered. - SBNation
- The world's oldest woman turned 116 Wednesday. Happy birthday, lady! - KSDK
- I thought this was cool, but kind of sad and weird. It is a collection of photos from the past, and some are really sad and then some are a circus hippo pulling a cart. - Pulptastic
Weekly Scoreboard:
Monday, March 3 | Cardinals | 5 | Tigers | 8 |
Wednesday, March 5 | Red Sox | 6 | Cardinals | 8 |