Hunt and Peck: Links of the Week

Writing about the Cardinals after a tough week is a bit arduous. The past three games I have gone from extremely confident to fairly confident to slightly less confident. A good series against the Rockies would do wonders for my mental and cardiac health. Let's focus on this wonderful chart Ben made in this post yesterday and hope to see the magic number drop from fourteen this weekend.

what else is going on in baseball...

• This Red Sox fan melts all our hearts. - Cut4
• Along those lines, here are two young fans that cannot decided who should have the ball. - Cut4
• Albert Pujols gets hit number 2500. - MLB
• David DeJesus hits an inside-the-park home run. - MLB
• And Lorenzo Cain hits an inside-the-park home run. - MLB
• And Andrew McCutchen hits an inside-the-park home run. - MLB
• And Albert Pujols hits an inside-the-park home run...
  Just kidding. But he did hit his first triple since 2010. - Cut4
• A reporter's cell phone rings during a post game interview. Naturally, Derek Jeter answers it. - Cut4
• This article looks at the two most underrated pitchers in the game. Can you guess one? I bet you can. (thanks to Drew for this link!) - Beyond the Box Score
• Take a look at this year's rookies. - Sports on Earth
• Ben sent me this link about the history of performance enhancing drugs and it is excellent. - Vice
• Victor Martinez is a very good hitter. (thanks Rick!) - Fangraphs
• Someone has finally hit a home run off Craig Kimbral's curveball. - Cut4
• Another article about the pace of baseball. - Sports on Earth
• Giancarlo Stanton is hit by a pitch in the face. Very gruesome. - SBNation
  Could this bring about better protection for hitters? - USA Today
• Chris Davis has been suspended twenty-five games for a positive amphetamine test. - CBS Sports

what the cardinals are up to...

• Here is a quick look at the 2014 Cardinals offense. (thanks flood!) - Fangraphs
• Forty years ago, Lou Brock set the single season stolen base record. (thanks to Rick for the link!) - STLToday
• Grantland weighs in on the Cardinals and the postseason. - Grantland

KNOW THINE ENEMY:

the nl central

• This Pirates fan wanted an autograph, but it would cost him. (thanks flood!) - SBNation
• Discussed a bit in the Viva el Podcast, take a look at the Pirates new reliever, John Holdzkom, who throws... a palmball. (thanks Rick!) - Fangraphs
• Miller Park has a "pink out" for breast cancer awareness. - Cut4
• Standings (I think I calculated this correctly):
  

  Worshington Nationals	83	62	.572	-
  Los Angeles Dodgers	83	63	.568	0.5
  St. Louis Cardinals	80	67	.544	4.0
  San Francisco Giants	81	65	.555	2.5
  Pittsburgh Pirates	77	69	.527	6.5
  Milwaukee Brewers	76	71	.517	8.0
  Atlanta Braves	75	71	.514	8.5

the colorado rockies

• Fink does a Q & A with Purple Row about the upcoming series. - Viva el Birdos
• Bryan Kilpatrick of Purple Row does the same! - Purple Row
• Check out Purple Row for all things Rockies! - Purple Row

viva el stuff...

• Achilles' Heel writes about this frustrating season. - Viva el Birdos
• The mob can stop! Episode III of the Viva el Birdos Podcast is out! - Viva el Podcast

other things...

• Chris Long of the St. Louis Rams will undergo ankle surgery and miss eight to ten weeks. - CBS Sports
• Oh, and it doesn't get better for Rams fans. Shaun Hill, the backup quarterback starting in place of the injured Sam Bradford, missed practice with a quad injury, making it look more likely that third string quarterback, Austin Davis, will make the start Sunday against the Bucanneers. But who knows with football... - ESPN

weekly scoreboard: