The popular sports website Deadspin was founded in 2005 by Will Leitch, one of my personal heroes in the world of writing about sports on the internet. Not only is he a terrific writer, but he is also, like me, a native of the Midwest and a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan.
As a tribute to Leitch's devotion to the Cardinals, the website has taken it upon itself to anthologize the minutiae of the season to this point. After the first game of the season, they published an entire post about it. And this is a national sports website we're talking about here, giving free press to the Cardinals. What an honor!
VIDEO: Check out all these St. Louis Cardinals striking out like jamokes https://t.co/RIFwc2xVFk pic.twitter.com/DZbE5bSH4S
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) April 3, 2016
But this was the first game of the entire season, not just for the Cardinals. But the second game brought more attention for the Birds on the Bat.
The Cardinals lost their second game: https://t.co/0wrJrLK9Tx pic.twitter.com/XvQRZR7aWX
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) April 6, 2016
Such in-depth coverage. And for Game Three...
The Cardinals lost their third game: https://t.co/FowhNFBoKt pic.twitter.com/YpG5DGyo1H
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) April 7, 2016
And now that the Cardinals have won their game of the 2016 campaign, I am excited to see what direction Deadspin goes with coverage of our favorite baseball team. Really, it's just an honor to be noticed.
Anyway, here's April 8th on VEB.
Matheny's lineups
I did the reasonable and logical thing following three games of a 162 game season: I wrote a 1000+ word piece about Mike Matheny's tendencies in filling out a lineup card. I particularly wondered about the presence of Jeremy Hazelbaker in Wednesday's lineup, a concern which seemed silly after he hit yet another home run last night. Hazelbaker is now on pace for an 81 home run season, and I, for one, welcome our new Hazelbaker overlord.
Panic! at the Pittsburgh
Craig Edwards addressed whether or not the Cardinals are pressing so far in 2016. And I honored his work by coming up with the awful "pun" which preceded this link.
Lou Brock returning to St. Louis
Lou Brock, the youngster whom the Cardinals received from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for veteran starter Ernie Broglio in 1964, will return to St. Louis for the Cardinals home opener on Monday, and lil scooter has it covered.
Previewing the Atlanta Braves series
Craig wrote about the Cardinals' weekend tilt with the Atlanta Braves as a series during which the Cardinals should be able to improve upon their poor showing in Pittsburgh, and it's hard to argue against this. The Braves have made some quite admirable moves in their initial quest to rebuild: their trade of Shelby Miller to the Diamondbacks for Ender Inciarte, Dansby Swanson, and Aaron Blair may be seen as highway robbery in a few years. But at the moment, the Braves are not expected to field a contender in 2016.
The prospect report
Ebo compiled a report of how Cardinals prospects fared in their minor league appearances on Thursday. This was going to be especially beneficial to read ad nauseam had the Cardinals fallen to 0-4 last night, but even so, this is still a good recap.
Victory is ours!
The Cardinals won their first game of 2016, by the score of 7-4. mister_manager provided the recap, and most important notes about the game can be found in it, but here are a few more vital tidbits.
- 50 cent fountain drinks at St. Louis area Mobil on the Runs tomorrow because the Cardinals scored 6+ runs. Their discounted drinks were a fun treat back in 2011 and 2012, but at this point, I'll probably get one just because who knows when we'll get another chance?
- Home runs so far from the St. Louis Cardinals have been from Jeremy Hazelbaker (2), Aledmys Diaz, Jedd Gyorko, Greg Garcia, and Stephen Piscotty. Okay, Piscotty, I can kind of buy that, and I guess Gyorko (but only if he's facing a lefty), but what is this? I guess if Trevor Story can have 38 home runs (note: at the time I'm writing this, he had 6; 38 is an estimate based on current rates) at this point, why can't these guys be the home run hitters?
- The Cardinals will not be joining the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and 2008 Detroit Lions as the only teams in North American major professional sports history to lose every game they play in a season. Which is good!