Tag Archives: St. Louis Cardinals

And So The Cardinals Meet The Cubs Again

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So much for my hope that Sept. 20 was the final game between the Cardinals and Cubs this year.

And so much for the temporary Pirates fandom for me and many other Cardinals and non-Cubs fans, eagerly rooting for the Bucs to win Wednesday night to give us a more palatable National League Division Series.

NLDS logoNope. Not to be — just like Jake Arrieta told everyone on Twitter last Sunday.

Which means here we are, on the brink of THE MOST HISTORIC PLAYOFF MATCH-UP IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD!!! BASEBALL!!! Never mind, as many obviously haven’t realized, that such a meeting has only been possible since the addition of a wild card team into the playoffs in 1995. So “historic” might be a bit of a stretch, despite how often that word has been tossed around since Wednesday night.

Details! What do they matter?

Before Wednesday’s game, I purposely wouldn’t think about the Cardinals facing the Cubs in the division series. Neither would any of the Cardinals/non-Cubs fans I know. Because that outcome seemed too dreadful to contemplate.

Now I can admit that, deep down, I figured the baseball gods would find this all too tempting to avoid. Even for the hype alone.

The baseball gods obviously found it all too tempting (poor Gerrit Cole), so now we are dealing with such pre-game storylines as “Feel-good Cubs threatened by playoff staple Cardinals” a noted Cardinals fan writing that the Cubs are “the hottest, most beloved, most exciting team in baseball” and a Chicago writer beginning his NLDS preview by rehashing all the wonderful, media-hyped tough talk of Joe Maddon from the series a couple weekends ago — which, to me, seems like it means nothing now that October is here, the little dust-up between the Cubs and Pirates Wednesday night notwithstanding.

As much as I hate to admit it, this is the Cubs’ world right now.

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Let The (Spring) Games Begin!

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We move one step closer to the 2014 St. Louis Cardinals regular season today, with the beginning of spring training games. The Cards take on their Roger Dean Stadium partners, the Miami Marlins, starting at noon Central Time.

Roger_Dean_StadiumNot that the outcome of the game matters, of course. Still, it’s an interesting pitching match-up for the first couple of innings: Carlos Martinez against NL Rookie of the Year Jose Fernandez.

But it’s baseball and — even better — it’s on television and radio so you have a choice of how to keep up. It’s the first game on FOX Sports Midwest of the year, plus MLB Network will be carrying it and it’s online at MLB.TV. And, of course, Mike Shannon and John Rooney will be back on KMOX and the Cardinals Radio Network.

Ah … when you ignore the temperature outside and the weather forecast, it really does feel like spring!

Here’s the Cards lineup for today, from Brian Stull on Twitter.

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My Biggest Fear About This Cardinals Season

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With spring training games beginning at the end of the week, we are inching closer to the start of the 2014 season. We know the Cardinals are talented and deep and poised for success again this year, and that was even before learning they have eight of MLB Network’s Top 100 players in the game right now.

Yadier-MolinaYet there’s one player whose value is indispensable, who presence is invaluable and whose absence — despite the team’s depth — would be irreplaceable.

Yadier Molina.

Of course, right? Yadi puts the bad-ass in BAMF, without a doubt.

Hearing the high praise for him during the MLB Network’s Top 100 Right Now countdown reminded me of that yet again, without hearing Dan Plesac say he’s hands-down the best catcher overall in the game of baseball right now and that the success of the entire Cardinals pitching staff — starters and relievers — is because of Yadi.

And that brings me to my biggest fear for 2014: Yadi getting hurt.

Injuries are unpredictable, as we Cardinals fans know all too well from experience, and an injury to any other member of the Cards is something they could probably handle without missing a beat. Jaime Garcia is having shoulder trouble after coming back from last season’s surgery? If it’s long-term, that just opens up the door for — take your pick — Joe Kelly, Tyler Lyons or Carlos Martinez in the rotation. The team has extraordinary depth in pitching, and certainly enough depth in the outfield and even the infield.

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If You Could Attend Any Game in Cardinals History, What Would It Be?

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Last night I saw this intriguing tweet from Beyond the Box Score: if you could go back and attend any game in MLB history, which game would you choose?

1926_World_Series_Program_MagnifiedThought-provoking, right? Great way to spend some time pondering on a cold night. Cardinals games were the first that came to mind for me: of course Game Six of the 2011 World Series. Game Five of the 2011 NLDS. Game Six of the 2006 NLCS. Bob Gibson’s no-hitter in 1971, or his 17 strike-out performance in Game One of the 1968 World Series. The Cardinals pennant-winning game on the final day of the 1964 regular season, to cap their miraculous comeback. The doubleheader where Stan Musial hit five homers.

Then I realized my choice: Game Seven of the 1926 World Series. It was at Yankee Stadium. It was Rogers Hornsby, Billy Southworth and Grover Cleveland Alexander against Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. It was “Old Pete” Alexander coming in for a bases-loaded situation in a 3-2 game in the seventh inning the day after winning Game Six while, according to legend, still drunk and striking out Tony Lazzeri. It was Pete walking Ruth with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. It was Ruth attempting to steal second and being thrown out — to give the Cardinals their first World Series championship. (Can you imagine the reaction if today’s media and social media had been around then?)

Which leads to today’s question, which is a twist on the Beyond the Box Score’s tweet. If you could attend any game in Cardinals history, what would it be?

Share your choice below — and enjoy the chance to think about the rich Cardinals tradition and history as we inch ever closer to the 2014 season.

Cardinals Throwback Thursday: Mark Mulder’s 10-Inning Shutout

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In case you haven’t heard, Mark Mulder could be joining That Guy Who Used to Play First Base and David Freese in Anaheim this season. Mulder signed a minor league contract with the Angels as he attempts to return to the majors.

capt.989e77d27a48436d88daa5bbc7b3c83fNow, chances are when you think of Mark Mulder’s career with the Cardinals, you’re some combination of disappointed or angry since Walt Jocketty traded Danny Haren, Kiko Calero and Daric Barton to obtain him on Dec. 18, 2004. Mulder’s four-year career as a Cardinal only included 55 appearances due to shoulder injuries that forced him into retirement after the 2008 season. And you don’t even want to look up the numbers for his very limited 2007 and 2008 seasons — some things are best left in the past.

However, Mulder’s first season as a Card in 2005 was very good — he was 16-8 with a 3.64 ERA in 32 starts. The best of those was on April 23, just his fourth start as a Cardinal, when he threw a 10-inning, 101-pitch, five-hit shutout as St. Louis beat the Houston Astros 1-0.

Roger Clemens started for the Astros and lasted seven obviously scoreless innings. The winning run scored when Larry Walker drove in Reggie Sanders, who’d singled to start the inning and advanced to second on a groundout by (who else but) David Eckstein.

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Mariano Rivera, Skip Schumaker and Michael Wacha — Oh My!

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What do the just-retired greatest closer of all time, a Cardinal-turned-Dodger-now-turned Red and the Cardinals rookie sensation all have in common? Nothing, it would seem — yet posts we wrote about those three were what you read the most at Aaron Miles’ Fastball in 2013.

12-31 collageAfter looking at our picks for the top five stories of the year yesterday, we close out the year today with a look at the most-read posts. And, as you can already see, it’s certainly not a Cardinals only list — although of course they dominate the list. Just not at the top.

No, our No. 1 post of the year (in terms of readership numbers) is one about the man who is used to ending things instead of starting them, Mariano Rivera. Watching the All-Star Game tribute to Mo on July 16 reminded me of the time my Yankees friend Kat and I went to Busch Stadium in 2005 for the Yankees-Cardinals series. We had the opportunity to see something very few people probably even noticed before that Sunday’s game, which I wrote about in The Tale of Mariano Rivera and The Ball Thrown Out of Busch Stadium. It was a fun, entertaining post — and it ended up in Deadspin (which was a surreal moment, and one I had to capture via screenshot). So lots and lots and lots of people ended up reading about what Mo did that day, and it was by far our most read post of the year.

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A Cardinals Fan’s Letter to Santa

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Dear Santa,

Two days before Christmas is definitely a little late for sending you a letter, I know, but there’s a good reason for that (beyond being behind on getting ready for the holiday this year): as a Cardinals fan, there’s really nothing I need.

santa hatYes, I know that sounds terribly spoiled of me and could just add fuel to all that October commotion the sports media and fans of other teams had such a great time with in bashing Cards fans. (Some of that was justified — there really are stupid Cardinals fans out there, as there are of every single team in every sport.)

But what I really want to say, Santa, is thanks. Because you’ve already helped John Mozeliak take care of the few needs the Cardinals did have once the final game of the 2013 season ended — and all before the calendar year of 2013 concludes.

Sure, the needs were not great for a team that made it to Game Six of the World Series (which is something those really obnoxious and whiny Cardinals fans need a reminder of: this team made it to the World Series in 2013 for the second time in three seasons. The Cardinals don’t have the needs of the Cubs, obviously. Or the Brewers. Or …) Anyway, we knew what the most glaring need was too: a shortstop.

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Throwback Thursday: So Taguchi’s 2006 NLCS Moment

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When you think back to the 2006 NLCS between the Cardinals and the Mets, chances are you recall Game Seven. Which makes sense, as it was a tremendous and intense game — to stroll down memory lane: the Mets took a 1-0 first inning lead, the Cardinals tied it in the second, the score remained 1-1 until the ninth inning although the Cards would have taken the lead if not for Endy Chavez catching Scott Rolen’s homer. The ninth inning was epic just in itself as Yadi homered after Rolen singled to definitely put the Cards on top 3-1, then rookie closer Adam Wainwright gave up two singles and a two-out walk to load the bases before Carlos Beltran stepped to the plate and Waiwright threw just three more pitches …

so taguchiGame Seven’s majesty wouldn’t have happened, however, without So Taguchi’s heroics six days earlier in Game Two at Shea Stadium.

After winning Game One, the Mets took a 3-0 first inning lead thanks to a rough night from Chris Carpenter — he gave up five earned runs and walked four in five innings pitched. The Mets led 6-4 in the seventh inning and David Eckstein and Chris Duncan quickly grounded out and flied out to start the inning. That Guy Who Used to Play First Base then singled and Jim Edmonds walked, bringing up Scott Spiezio and his little red facial hair thing — starting at third base for the game instead of Scott Rolen. The Speez launched it very deep to right, off the top of the wall, and ended up at third with a game-tying triple.

The game remained tied 6-6 until Taguchi, who entered the game as a defensive replacement for Duncan in the eighth, stepped to the plate. He was facing Mets closer Billy Wagner, who had 40 saves during the 2006 regular season. And Taguchi had two homers during 2006 (although he hit one in Game Three of the 2006 NLDS, his only at-bat of that postseason thus far). The count went full. And then …

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Two Friends, One Epic Game, Neither Was Ever Quite the Same

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Of course we remember Oct. 7, 2011. Game Five of the National League Division Series, the epic match-up of best buddies Chris Carpenter and the wild card Cardinals against Roy Halladay and the 102-win-best-record-in-MLB Phillies.

And now, with the retirement on Monday of Halladay and the official retirement of Carpenter last month, we remember it anew.

roy_halladay_chris_carpenterThat the long-time friends were facing each other for the first time, and in such a situation, was of course much hyped, yet justifiably so. Each was a Cy Young winner, Carpenter in 2005 and Halladay twice — winning as a Blue Jay in 2003 and a Phillie in 2010, the season he threw a perfect game against the Marlins and a no-hitter against the Reds in his postseason debut. (Thank you again, baseball gods, for letting Brandon Phillips be the final batter in that one.)

Then came Game Five itself, living up to every bit of the hype. The Cardinals took charge in the first inning, with a lead-off triple from Rafael Furcal followed by a Skip Schumaker double providing the only run of the game. Halladay scattered four other hits throughout his eight total innings, striking out seven and walking one — That Guy Who Used to Play First Base — intentionally. Carpenter was even better, as we all so gladly remember: only three hits, an equal number of strikeouts, no walks, one final out primal scream and one Nick Punto shredding.

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Throwback Thursday: Looking Back to the 2004 NLCS

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Ah, the 2004 Cardinals. That great 105-win team with the MV3 seemingly unstoppable on offense, Larry Walker receiving a standing ovation upon striking out in his Cardinals debut, a rookie named Yadier Molina getting called up in June, Chris Carpenter having a great first season with the team, those other new starters Jason Marquis and Jeff Suppan doing really well too (yes, they really did) and Rick Ankiel successfully returning to the mound in September plus winning a game. (Sadly, his last.)

2004-CardinalsAnd how could we forget a bullpen with Cal Eldred, Ray King, Steve Kline, Julian Tavarez, Kiko Calero and of course Jason Isringhausen? Ray King! Steve Kline! Kiko!

Plus, in looking at this picture to the left, we can’t avoid mentioning Mike Matheny. Or Reggie Sanders, Edgar Renteria and Tony Womack. Also, of course, Matt Morris (who you can see in the video below).

Ever since researching my post the other day on the 2004-2006 teams vs. the 2011-2013 teams, I’ve been remembering how much I loved that 2004 team. They were just so fun to watch, game after game, because they were so good in so many ways — especially Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds.

The 2004 NLCS was also a classic. A seven-game battle against the Houston Astros, with the home team winning every game. It was the perfect ending to the 2004 season! (That’s what I’ve told myself for years, anyway: the season ended with the Cards crowned NL champs.) Of the seven, Game Six was probably the most epic of all — a 12-inning battle that only went to extras because of a blown save by Izzy yet ended with the spectacular walk-off homer by Jimmy with Albert on base.

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