Dead Simmons

Maybe I missed it, but I don't read here that the Brewers now have the best record in the NL again mentioned. 'Frisco had a 6 game losing streak and is 3-7 in the last 10. MLBTV grudgingly had a short segment today about it.

Phnxbrew said: Thank you for touching on what many fans thought of with players like freese after the ludwicks, ankiels, etc concerning larussa's well known steroid history. That brings my hatred down for cardinals fans a lot (first time I have ever heard one admit their players probably used) End quote To tell you the truth Phoenix, after the truth came out about Mc Gwire I felt fairly ashamed in the 2004 season. My god...Edmonds, Roland, Vina and Larry Walker were definitely juicing, and there was some suspicion of Pujols as well. (since verified by Jack Clark) I don't doubt that La Russa held team meetings preaching the Bash Brothers' evangel. What really tore it for me was the day that little David Eckstein, choking up powered a HR to the opposite field 10 rows back! I did not watch another game that year 'till the WS where Boston proved to be the far better Juicers.

It worries them alright. But the pitiful hitting is what has them in panic mode. Swapping hitters back and forth from the AAA team trying to catch lightning in a bottle. Multiple lineup experiments, the latest had Holliday moved from his usual #3 to #2 yesterday. A good idea since he's on a pace to hit 14 HR's this year. (he went O'fer) The pressure from the fans and media, not to mention Matheny's fear of being fired will force some sort of significant aquisition before the trade deadline. No free agent is safe! (you guys got any?) What happened to the offense? Is it just a matter of bad luck, age, injury or did they have a lot of good luck in the past and it is evening out? I looked back at past team stats and a main difference I see is they are not hitting as well with runners in scoring position. Considering they hit much better with runners in scoring position than they did overall I think perhaps they just had a bit more luck last season. I could see that make the offense look better than it really is. I think you put your finger on it Thurston. Molina seems to be ageing overnight. Not only is his hitting down, he's allowing more passed balls. Craig's power outage and inconsistent RISP has me thinking steroid deprivation. I supected a lot of players that came in on La Russa's watch, David Freese being the most obvious. Carpenter: I think pitchers have figured out that he won't swing the bat until he's got 2 strikes on him, so he's constantly behind in the count. He leads the team in strike outs. How a guy that hit 55 dbls and had 79 RBI leading off off is not batting 2nd or 3rd is beyond me. Bourjos, Ellis, Gritchik, Tavares, Peralta and Wong all living in or heading to Mendozaville. It's these new guys more than anything else that drag scoring down. Fortunately their collective defense has been quite good or the Cards would be way more than 5.5 games out.

Losing Beltran was a good thing: freed up payroll and put Adams on the field every day, who along with his great glove work is the only Card batting .300, leads the team in triples and has to date 4 infield hits. Carlos has been less than stellar for the Yanks. Batting .220. It looks like the guy has pretty much lost interest in baseball. Last week he pulled an on field gaffe I don't remember ever seeing: safe at first, he peeled of to the right and headed for the dugout. For some reason he thought he was out. Can you imagine the embarrassment? In true Beltran form he promptly blasted one out later in the game.

Did you have to post that link DocLuna? Are you a masochist? I had forgotten that TLR also shipped talented Jordan and Pendelton to the Braves for....I have NO idea. I think Terry won the MVP the very next year and Atlanta's dominance began. And to think LaRussa is in the Cardinal HOF. Who's next....Mc Gwire?

It worries them alright. But the pitiful hitting is what has them in panic mode. Swapping hitters back and forth from the AAA team trying to catch lightning in a bottle. Multiple lineup experiments, the latest had Holliday moved from his usual #3 to #2 yesterday. A good idea since he's on a pace to hit 14 HR's this year. (he went O'fer) The pressure from the fans and media, not to mention Matheny's fear of being fired will force some sort of significant aquisition before the trade deadline. No free agent is safe! (you guys got any?)

1917.... Red Sox reliever Ernie Shore replaces an ejected Babe Ruth, who had walked the only batter he faced, and retires the next consecutive 26 batters. The only base runner is thrown out trying to steal second. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w1PooCYvBVM/UGQ4Fhws5RI/AAAAAAAAB34/EqROIZqZ0Tg/s1600/babe+ruth+quotes.jpg The 19 year, 6"3', 190lb Babe The young pitcher became enraged when the ump called his 1st 4 pitches of the game balls. His catcher joined in and both were tossed. But before he left the field Babe slapped the ump. But the new battery did a pretty fair job. Shore was awarded a perfect game. He had, after all been on the mound for all 27 outs. Years later it was wiped off the record book because he actually faced only 26. 1971.... In addition to hitting two home runs and driving in three runs, Rick Wise throws only 95 pitches to 28 batters to no-hit the Reds, 4-0. The Phillies' hurler will again hit two home runs in the same game this season against San Francisco in August. This performance greatly impressed the Cardinal brass, and when Steve Carlton requested a raise after his 20 wins in '71 old Gussie Busch refused over a $5,000 difference. The Card GM, in a panic over the prospect of losing the young lefty called Busch before midnight of the deadline and convinced him to relent. But it was too late as just an hour earlier Carlton had reluctantly signed with the floundering Phillies. That 5K would not have kept the old man's yacht gassed up for two days! Of course Carlton had one of the greatest pitching seasons in the modern era, winning 27 and pulling the Phils back into contention and later their first EVER WS win. Card fans are left to only dream of a combo Of Gibson and Carlton in their lackluster '70s...... Rick Wise was a complete bust. http://www.goldenagebaseballcards.com/hall-of-fame/imagesbig/69T255Steve%20Carlton.jpg http://celebpictu.com/images/steve-carlton-05.jpg

Get that man something undetectable and get him healthy.

Good afternoon boys. They are showing your game on MLB right now so I'm tuned in. Going to sweep those Rockies huh?

Right. The official announcement was just to give him a "breather" to keep him fresh for the post season. That sounded pretty bogus to all savvy Card fans. We are used to the FO and Med. staff misrepresenting the truth. Also Matheny (like TLR) believes in squeezing as many innings out of the top starters as possible. 2011: Chris Carpenter leads all of baseball in innings pitched and is never the same again. 2012: Waino leads the NL in IP and is gassed by WS time, getting rocked by the Bosox twice.

The #2 and #4 starters, Wacha and Garcia have joined the old #4 Kelly on the DL, both with shoulder issues. This on top of #1 Wainwright being watched closely after missing a start with elbow soreness. I guess we will see if Cardinal "depth" of arms is for real.

It's been a while, but I think it WAS Gant. The trade that urked me the most was Polanco for Rolen. It made no sense. Polanco was a plus .300 hitting utility man with a good glove. Rolen was an injury prone 'roider and a clubhouse grumbler that played a great 3B. The Phils wanted him gone. There was no reason to make that deal at all. And it turned out in the coming years that Polanco had the FAR better career. It was a gradual process but La Russa got the black players weeded out after 4 or 5 years and even eliminated Ozzie Smith from Cardinal functions fearing that Oz wanted his job. (he was a candidate too) Smith, loved in St. Louis must have been surprised when there was only a tiny outcry of support in his behalf by the fans. They really drank the putrid TLR cool-aid. http://phillysportslive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/080711-placido-polanco-400.jpg

That's correct Vegas. That should have been Jose's job. Now he has to answer to a relative "kid". I have to figure he was promised the job if Matheny screws the pooch. And yes Homer...Hornsby was a man to make Cobb proud.

I see this thing is not going to blow over. The mayor of St. Louis has thrown gas on the flame. Benign, but still gassy. http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2014/06/mayor_slay_invites_milwaukees_mayor_to_cardinals_game_in_nicest_smack_talk_video_ever.php I think it's official. The Brewers are replacing the Reds (who replaced the Cubs) as the Cards' biggest Central Div. rival. I love this stuff. It's fodder for the talking heads and may even wake up a couple of sleeping Cardinals.

VERY interesting thread. Some astute insights. Particularly on the race issue. It's been bothering me ever since La Russa took over the team. That piece of work changed the look of the franchise beginning in 1998. Eckersly, Isringhausen, Mc Gwire, Edmonds, Rolen, Larry Walker, Matt Holliday. Most big money free agents, some block buster trades. You see the commonality? The Cards of today bear no resemblance to the great teams of the 60's and 80's. There were no Black American names on the roster this year on opening day. (Jon Jay, born in Miami who is clearly of mixed race says "I'm Cuban") If you take a look at the crowds you see all white faces. Some 40,000 every day and 50,000 on weekends. All upper middle class folks paying big bucks for a seat and a beer. I could go on ad nauseum on racism and the Cards, but I'll spare you. I'll just say that it's alive and well in the front office. Bill De Witt Jr. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Billdewitt3.jpg/440px-Billdewitt3.jpg

As a bonafide , Gateway Arch thumping St. Louisan I have something to say about this! I liked the ad. I particularly liked the way the narrator chick said and he plays for the St. Louis Cardinals, as if they were something vile. Also I was impressed by the production value of the piece. I can assure you that any intelligent person in ANY city in the country got a kick out of it. Others won't. http://www.gunaxin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Puddy.jpg I'm curious: who paid for the ad?

It was said that Satchel Paige would start as many as 3 games a day in different towns. Hard to fathom.

St. Louis got up in arms when they saw this video. But JL is clearly better this year. But Yadi will be "grandfathered" in this year, and Lucroy will get the nod next year. Now Jeter starting for the AL is a different (worse) situation. http://thecardinalnationblog.com/2014/06/18/brewers-lucroy-draw-all-star-attention-any-way-possible/

1961.... Eddie Gaedel, the 3' 7" Illinois native made famous by Bill Veeck, who employed him to be the Browns’ lead-off batter for one at-bat in a game played in 1951, is found dead lying in his bed with bruises on the left side of his face, most likely as the result of an assault after being followed home from a Chicago bowling alley. Bob Cain, the opposing Tiger pitcher who issued a base-on-balls in the infamous stunt, is the only person from major league baseball to attend the funeral of the 36 year-old unemployed midget, whose cause of death will be determined by a coroner's inquest to be the result a heart attack. http://www.honus.fr/wp-content/uploads/image/090428_Eddie%20Gaedel.jpg 2012 After a lengthy ten-week trial, Roger Clemens is acquitted by a jury on all charges that he obstructed and lied to Congress when he testified at a deposition during a 2008 nationally televised hearing. The seven-time Cy Young winner, who won 354 games playing for the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees and Astros during his 24 years in the major leagues, contended that the success in the latter part of his career was a result of an over-the-top work ethic and not due to taking performance-enhancing drugs as widely believed. http://1manstanding.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/p1_clemens.jpg

OMG!....... Lucroy

What's happening here?!!

Now THAT'S a thread stopper.

Oh my! I guess ESPN hasn't yet got the memo. (it's news to me)

The starting pitching is in a good stretch right now, but the team is only scoring about 3.5 runs a game. To my utter amazement Jon Jay has started to hit again (after a 2 year slump) and ended the Taveras experiment. The recent anomaly of starters making it to the later innings has greatly reduced the opportunities for Matheny to screw up the team. A blessing, to be sure.