Hunt and Peck: Links of the Week

As many of us are aware, Matt Carpenter was ejected Monday evening for "arguing balls and strikes" by home plate umpire Bob Davidson. It was so bizarre and so petty that it got me thinking about some of the best ejections I have ever seen. So here are some of the recent Cardinals' greatest hits:

• First, we will kick it off with the "Yadier Molina spits on the umpire" ejection in Milwaukee from 2011. Look at Daniel Descalso try to hold him back. It was a noble effort, DD, but your military training will do you no good here. - MLB
• Another Molina ejection, this one from 2013 after he threw his helmet in anger at himself. He was suspended for this, as well as the one above. At least it is the larger Bengie Molina holding him back and not Descalso this time. - MLB
• And now the holy grail of Molina ejections. This tantrum from 2008 (mentioned by spants) features the Cardinal backstop removing his equipment and dropping it at the feet of the homeplate umpire in hilarious fashion, leaving the batboy to clean up the mess. - MLB
• I couldn't not mention the Matt Holliday ejection in 2011. You can actually hear his voice. I think the ump might have peed a little. The last thing anyone would want to see mere feet away from them is an angry Matt Holliday with a bat. - MLB
• Moving on to some really gritty ejections, here is a rare middle-infielder tossing as Ryan Theriot argues a call at second base in 2011. The animated expressions from Skip Schumaker make this one an instant classic. - MLB
• And this one is the ever popular "double ejection", which has been spotlighted a few times already, featuring Daniel Desclaso arguing balls and strikes and Mike Matheny just plain arguing in 2013. - MLB
• Now we see the rare "ejection after the game is over" when Matheny argues with the homeplate umpire for being a jerk to rookie Matt Adams in 2013. - MLB
• And of course, I cannot forget the cherished "fan ejection". We sure do have a lot of problems in Milwaukee. - MLB
• Finally we get to the "Hall of Fame ejection" from 2008 featuring Tony LaRussa, and co-starring Cardinal legend, Russ Springer, and lovable third base coach, Jose Oquendo. - MLB

What Else is Going On in Baseball...

• Do you want to see some Yasiel Puig - Hyun-Jin Ryu cuteness? Of course you do. - Cut4
• Tuesday was Jackie Robinson day around the MLB. Here are some articles to honor his memory. - Sports on Earth; MLB; MLB; Cut4
• Keeping inherited runners from scoring is one of the bullpen's main tasks. Look at who on the Cardinals made this list as one of the best at this last season. Thanks to flood for the link! - Gammons Daily
• Pitchers are getting worse at hitting, which could be an argument for a league-wide DH, or it could be an argument that it makes pitchers that can hit more valuable. I will leave you all to that one, just look at Bartolo Colon because he looks hilarious. - Sports on Earth
• Astros prospect George Springer has been called up. Find out all you need to know about him here. - Cut4
  And here is his first hit. - Hardball Talk
• Here are some baseball practical jokes... just save yourself some headache and resist reading the comments on this one. - Sports on Earth
• The Yankees honor Nelson Mandela and reflect back on his visit to New York City in June of 1990. - MLB
• bgh sent me this cool story about Mr. Met being warned by Secret Service agents not to get too close to President Clinton in 1997. I don't think you have to worry too much about Mr. Met, but the Philli Phanatic I would keep a close eye on. - CBS
• So far in the young season there have been 84 instances (or more by now) of a game being delayed by replay. Is it worth the time? - Sports on Earth
• Rays' Matt Moore will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery. - Sports Illustrated
• Are strikeouts on the rise? Could this be attributed to a rise in fastball velocity? - Beyond the Box Score
• Cliff Lee has had the most called third strikes since 2008 by a large margin. - Baseball Savant
• Not much is more enjoyable than infielders pitching. - MLB
• Some teams are off to a great start. Does that indicate a playoff appearance? - Beyond the Box Score

What the Cardinals Are Up To...

• Adam Wainwright and Trevor Rosenthal probably shouldn't quit their day jobs, especially since that would make me terribly sad. - Cut4
• Remember that weird face Matt Carpenter made in Milwaukee the other day? Well, it has been captured for the world to see and it is beautiful. Thanks, flood! - SBNation
• Matt Adams has really been effing that shift lately. - Fangraphs
• "Machine Gun/Bazooka/Goggles/Dancin'/Deadfish Handshakin'" Joe Kelly will hit the 15 day DL with a strained hamstring. Tyler Lyons is the expected replacement for his next start. - MLB; Viva el Birdos

KNOW THINE ENEMY...

The NL Central

• A lot of homeruns were hit in Great American Ballpark when the Reds took on the Pirates on Tuesday evening. - MLB
• Until their series with the Cardinals, the Brewers were winners of nine straight and looking like possible contenders. Are they for real? - Sports on Earth
• Anthony Rizzo hits meatballs. That is all I got, really. - Sports Illustrated
• In the spirit of ejections, here is a marvelous Cardinals-Cubs brawl from 1974. - Hardball Talk
• Standings:
  

  Milwaukee Brewers	11	5	.688
  St. Louis Cardinals	10	6	.625
  Pittsburgh Pirates	8	8	.500
  Cincinnati Reds	6	9	.400
  Chicago Cubs	4	10	.286

The Worshington Nationals (9-7)

• fink does his preview of the series... in black and white. - Viva el Birdos
• For everything Nationals related, check our their SB Nation blog. - Federal Baseball

Viva el Stuff...

• Tackle Box visited the Peoria team and took copious notes for us. There is also some great video here, too! Check it out! - Viva el Birdos
• Don't forget: VEB Day is next weekend. Remember, if you haven't paid Aaron (ew, that is weird to say) yet, please be prepared to do so. E-mail him at the address in his profile for more details. - Viva El Birdos
• Going back into the VEB Archives, I have carefully selected this post written by the lovable robot, azruavatar, in honor of the Blues victory last night. While it ended up being a jinx, it is still amazing in many ways. - Viva el Archives
• bgh provides his recap of all things VEB last week. - Viva el Birdos
• Missed Tuesday's links? I express my dissatisfaction about Bob Davidson. You don't want to miss it. - Viva el Birdos

Other Things...

• avs18fan didn't know this when he sent me this wonderful article because I haven't mentioned this to you all before, but... I... I am...
  ...a huge Bob Ross fan. When I was little, I would always sit in amazement and watch him paint on the re-runs of his show in the afternoon after my cartoons were over. This uses statistical analysis on his artwork and I just love it. - FiveThirtyEightLife
• Mizzou Men's Basketball head coach Frank Haith may be leaving Mizzou. - STL Today
• I was given a lead of a sale on SABR related books. Here is the link, if it is still going on. - Nebraska Press
• Guess what. There was a hockey game last night and the St. Louis team was victorious in the third round of overtime over heated nemesis Chicago. It appears the appeal to the Hockey Gods did not fall of deaf ears, so far. Even if you don't like hockey, you should read this because it is beautiful and passionate. - St. Louis Game Time
  For all things St. Louis Blues, check out their SB Nation blog. - St. Louis Game Time
• Also relevant - SB Nation
• Isn't it nice to see two of the St. Louis team blogs get together for a common goal (and to defeat a common enemy)?
  

  @vivaelbirdos As do we! That goes for hockey and baseball - one's just easier than the other.

  — St Louis Game Time (@StLouisGameTime) April 17, 2014

Weekly Scoreboard:

Tonight, in the second game of the series, the Michael Wacha and the Cardinals will face Gio Gonzalez and the Nationals. The game will start at 6:05pm CST and be broadcast on Fox Sports Midwest and MAS2. The radio feed can be found across the US, on the always reliable KMOX 1120 and also in the Washington area on 106.7 The Fan and WFED 1500.

Remember to send me your links you want to share! Tweet me any time and any place @lil_scooter93 or e-mail me at lil_scooter93@msn.com.