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The calendar turns again. It just keeps turning, doesn’t it? Tonight we say goodbye to the 2010s and hello to the roaring 2020s. So today we are switching it up a bit. Instead of links from around the web, I would like to share with you some of my favorite Viva El Birdos articles of the decade. I am sure other writers will have similar concepts and I look forward to reading them, but this is personal. 2020 begins my eighth year writing for this lovely site. While that is not quite a decade or experience — who am I, the red baron? — it is close enough, right? So let’s share some memories!
The Ten-Millionaires Club | Viva El Birdos
Published by Dan Moore on January 8, 2010
PUJOLS: So... there’s time, of course. Just think it over. With these contracts there’s a certain responsibility, and for shirking responsibility there are, it is to be expected, certain consequences.
The Paquette Sequences: A Tony La Russa Thriller: Based on the Novel Squeeze by Tony La Russa | Viva El Birdos
Published by Dan Moore on May 19, 2011
“You made me live a lie, Tony,” Paquette says, “and it ends this morning. Not everybody can play second base.”
Toward a Unified Theory of Ty Wigginton | Viva El Birdos
Published by Dan Moore on May 14, 2013
Ty Wigginton is a bad major-league baseball player, and the worse he gets at it, the more Ty Wigginton he becomes. Because the point of enjoying Ty Wigginton, of employing him, especially, is to watch him occasionally exceed the low, completely organic expectations he has set for you.
Jaime Garcia and The Curse of the Hot Lefty | Viva El Birdos
Published by A. E. Schafer on May 22, 2013
What matters is the idea; we have to steer clear of sinister, handsome men. Period.
Cardinals vs Mets Recap: Martinez starts, Greenwood premieres, and Cards win 6-2 | Viva El Birdos
Published by santiagofish on June 16, 2014
and here let me propose a new nickname: El Gallo.
EL GALLO.
Watch him strut.
Dugout Thrones: A Song of Grounders and Flies | Viva El Birdos
Published by Aaron Finkel and Catapults on August 15, 2014
The assembly filed past the dugout and into the bowels of Buschfell, winding through a dizzying set of hallways until reaching a door that opened into a small office, bare except a table and two chairs. Hanging from the rafters were flags bearing the Saint Card insignia and house arms: The Red Eagle with a Greatbat gripped in its ferocious claws, Wrigley Winter is Coming scripted beneath.
Mike Matheny should be fired | Viva El Birdos
Published by Craig Edwards on August 9, 2016
Hiring Mike Matheny might be his [John Mozeliak] biggest mistake in a nearly decade-long run of success. Mozeliak has been pretty good about correcting and fixing mistakes in the past. It is finally time to correct this one. Mike Matheny should be fired.
Mike Matheny has been fired. | Viva El Birdos
Published by lil_scooter93 on July 14, 2018
It. Actually. Happened. For real.
The Cardinals should host Pride Night at Busch Stadium | Viva El Birdos
Published by John J. Fleming on May 26, 2017
the Cardinals, a ubiquitous part of St. Louis culture, have the potential to be more than just a baseball team that people like—they can be a significant force for societal good.
John Gant’s Descent into Despair | Viva El Birdos
Published by Ben Clemens on July 30, 2018
The next time John Gant bats, it’s going to be a big moment. He’s either going to get on base or set an all-time record. How likely is it that he’ll never get a hit or walk? I don’t know.
John Gant, King of Kings | Viva El Birdos
Published by Ben Clemens on August 15, 2018
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is John Gant, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
What a strange decade it has been. Good, but strange.