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Skip Schumaker announced his retirement on Wednesday. His time with the Cardinals was unspectacular yet memorable because he was not only on the 2011 World Series championship team but also drove in the only run in the legendary NLDS Game 5 vs. the Phillies. And I have this nagging question about that game that I'm going to outsource to the VEB community.
The game ended with Ryan Howard grounding out to second base. Howard barely made it out of the batter's box before collapsing to the ground in agony with a torn Achilles. I have never torn my Achilles. I don't know anyone who has torn their Achilles. I have no medical expertise of any kind nor do I know anyone who specializes in this type of injury. So my question is this: If instead of a dribbler to second, what if Howard had hit Chris Carpenter's pitch to the gap between center and right field? Is he able to crawl to first base in time? Or is the pain so bad that he stays in the same spot where he was when Game 5 ended and is subsequently thrown out?
And can you imagine the scene in Philadelphia if Howard is thrown out at first base to end the Phillies' dream season on what should have been a stand up double? If anyone has an opinion to share, whether educated or not, I'd love to hear it. This has bugged me for a long time. (And if there is already a well-known VEB thread from back in the day hashing out this very thing then I apologize but please point me in the direction of that discussion.)
Here's what you missed yesterday at VEB:
Jonathan Rodriguez and Carlos Martinez
- Joe Schwarz held a Q&A with Cardinals minor league first baseman Jonathan Rodriguez and lil Scooter highlighted how Rodriguez was especially important to Carlos Martinez's early introduction to the Cardinals.
Jaime Garcia
- VEB projections for Jaime Garcia were yesterday. Be sure to participate if you haven't already.
Matt Carpenter
- I explained how valuable Matt Carpenter has been to the Cardinals, took a look at his odd leadoff vs. non-leadoff splits, and argued why he's essential to the team's success in 2016.
Spring Training
- The Cardinals lost a spring training game 7-2 yesterday to the Mets. The bright spots were Matt Adams and Jaime Garcia. Here is the game thread.
- Craig Edwards took a nuanced look at what we've learned from the Cardinals' spring training thus far. It's a good rundown of what you may have missed if you don't follow spring training all that closely.