My Friends Are Mostly Cardinals

Wow! What Are Our Redbirds Eating These Days

cardsmainman — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:35:18 +0000

If you have been out of the USA for the past six weeks and just returned, you may wonder what is going on with the offense of the St. Louis Cardinals. A team that lost its perennial superstar to free agency, it’s sure fire Hall of Fame to be manager to retirement, and its All World pitching coach to an indefinite leave to be with his sick wife, finds itself leading virtually all offensive categories in the National League and its pitching staff in 2nd place! What’s going on??? My theory is that everything is a result of EVERY player and coach of the team putting forth ALL they can muster to make up for the aforementioned losses. The result, A FANTASTIC TEAM EFFORT!!!

CAN IT CONTINUE? The answer to this question is: “That’s why we play all 162 games every season”.

GO CARDINALS! You know all your fans love you, and we always will, but it is definitely more enjoyable to follow you when things are going so very well!

2012 Starting Out Well for New Look Redbirds

cardsmainman — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:37:13 +0000

After winning it all in 2011, the Cardinals had their long time manager (16 yrs) retire, their best in the bigs pitching coach, Dave Duncan, take off to care for his wife, and their slugger, Albert Pujols, head west to greener pastures. Even with some early injury problems this year (Chris Carpenter and Skip Shumaker), the Redbirds are off to an excellent start, having won 7 of their first 10, with a NL leading team batting avg of .293!

Spring Training in Full Swing

cardsmainman — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:26:50 +0000

As Spring Training progresses, several things look quite different for my St. Louis Cardinals. Two very familiar faces are missing – Albert Pujols and Tony LaRussa. Quite a few new faces are in camp, and, other than Chris Carpenter’s problems with a stiff neck, which now appear to be the result of a bulging disc, and Carlos Beltran’s bout with the flu, things are looking bright for 2012. HOPE does spring eternal, as the saying goes, and this is one of my favorite times of year. FINALLY, we can put the football season to rest, and move on to the start of what I consider to be the BEST GAME around – MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL!

Once again this year, I am planning to participate in a form of fantasy baseball – ESPN’s Baseball Challenge. Last season was my first dip into the fantasy baseball pool, and I was delighted to discover that I truly enjoyed it, but for a different reason than I had assumed. I thought I would enjoy the strategy, but it turned out the thing I most enjoyed was getting familiar with the talented players all across the Majors, most of whom I knew very little about, since most of my time over the years has been taken listening to and watching my Cardinals and the teams they played.

I want to encourage each of you reading this piece to follow your favorite team closely this year. Get to know each of their players like they were part of your family, because in many ways they are. Let your hopes and dreams ride with them! I know first hand how wonderful and frustrating this can be…

Cardinals 2012 First Baseman a Huge Hit at 27th Annual Houston Baseball Dinner

cardsmainman — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 05:21:28 +0000

Dateline Houston, Texas – February 10th, 2012

Thanks to a gracious invitation from my brother, Dennis, a devoted Houston Astros fan, I was fortunate enough to attend the annual Baseball Dinner presented by Minute Maid, Astros in Action, and the Houston Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America last night at the Hilton Americas in downtown Houston. A dazzling array of former Astros MVPs were present, with Milo Hamilton and Lisa Malosky serving as co-Masters of Ceremony. A large crowd of Houston area sports fans was in attendance to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Houston Astros and to honor the following 2011 Award Winners:

2012 Houston Area Preseason Major College Player of the Year – Austin Kubitza

2011 Fred Hartman Long and Meritorious Service Award – Bill Brown

2011 Houston Area Major League Player of the Year – Lance Berkman

2011 Astros Rookie of the Year – J. D. Martinez

2011 Darryl Kyle Award – Jason Bourgeois

2011 Astros Pitcher of the Year – Wandy Rodriguez

2011 Most Valuable Astro – Hunter Pence

As a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan, I was quite pleased that the crowd gave an exceptionally warm reception to Cardinals first baseman, Lance Berkman, on the occasion of his first public appearance in Houston after leading the Cards to their 11th World Series Championship this past fall.

HERE’S WISHING THE CARDINALS A SUCCESSFUL DEFENSE OF THEIR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP THIS SEASON!

How About 2012???

cardsmainman — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:47:41 +0000

Now that Albert is officially an Angel, the Cardinals need to move on to reconfigure themselves as a winning ball club. After all, we are the reigning World Series Champions! Albert’s shoes will be impossible for one man to fill, so it’s up to each of the players to take their games to a higher level and collectively improve. Getting Adam Wainwright back, hopefully at his former level or even better, will be a significant part of the process.

I would like to challenge each of us as Cardinals fans to also improve. We need to support the players, coaches, and management and become the “tenth man” or “twenty-sixth” man, and by doing so to play a most important role in encouraging our entire organization to take their success in 2011 to an even higher level in 2012 and the future.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS – PLAYERS AND COACHES, THEIR MANAGEMENT, AND FANS! MAY EACH OF YOU HAVE A JOYOUS, HEALTHY, SUCCESSFUL 2012!!!

John Mozeliak and Bill Dewitt, Jr. Need to Step Up the Pace

cardsmainman — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 02:13:09 +0000

A player like Albert Pujols only comes along once every generation or two! The Cardinals were fortunate to have drafted him and had him shine for 11 glorious seasons, but it is how they handle him as a free agent that will be remembered by Redbird fans and historians alike!

Put yourself in Albert’s shoes. If you had been the catalyst for your team for your entire career, had carried your team’s offense on too many occasions to count, has been selected the Most Valuable Player for the National League three times, had the highest lifetime batting average among active players, and had done everything humanly possible to endear yourself to the local fans and the city your team represents, would you expect your team’s General Manager and Ownership Group to do everything possible to re-sign you, or would you want them to wait until other teams made you an offer and then try to beat or maybe just match it?

As a lifelong fan of the Cardinals, I am absolutely APPALLED at the tactics being employed by Sr. V.P. and General Manager, John Mozeliak! He is negotiating like a penny pinching weakling! If this is an example of the true colors of Cardinal Management, I definitely would not blame Albert for signing elsewhere! Let’s remember that this franchise just won its 11th World Series Championship! Let’s let Albert know how very much we appreciate his excellent performance over the first 11 years of this career, and how much we want him to finish his illustrious career as a Cardinal!

Albert realizes that the Cardinals do not have unlimited resources. He wants the team to be able to afford to place the cast of talented teammates around him that is necessary to continue to be highly competitive and win more championships. Mr. Mozeliak and Mr. Dewitt, PLEASE make the best offer you can to keep Albert, and HAVE FAITH IN HIS INTEGRITY AND HIS LOVE FOR THE TEAM!!! I know deep in my heart that he will not disappoint you!

What Should Albert Do?????

cardsmainman — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 22:15:25 +0000

As a lifelong fan of the Cardinals, who absolutely loves Albert Pujols, both as a baseball player and a tremendous human being, I have given quite a bit of thought to what I think Albert should do now that he is a Free Agent. Simply put, I want all my friends, family, and fellow Cardinal fans to know that I really truly want Albert to do WHATEVER he thinks is best for him and his family, period! I will be quite sad if he leaves the Redbirds, but I will continue to follow his career and wish him all the success possible! I will be unbelievably happy if he plays out the rest of his storied career with the Cardinals and will continue to follow his career and wish him all the success possible!

I’M WITH YOU, ALBERT, WHATEVER YOU DECIDE!!!!

“Perfect” Fall Evening

cardsmainman — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:35:21 +0000

What’s your definition of the PERFECT fall evening?

Mine is sitting in my favorite recliner watching my Redbirds battling the Brewers in an attempt to win the National League Pennant and move on to the World Series. It doesn’t get any better than that for me!

Tony La Russa says his goal is to put the team into the position of having the opportunity to win every day. Mine is to be there watching our attempt EVERY day or evening. MLB.tv makes this goal a reality for me during the season, and TBS is making it a reality tonight, weather permitting…

G-O C-A-R-D-I-N-A-L-S!!!!!

On the eve of our bid to gain entry into the 2011 NL Championship Series…

cardsmainman — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:24:59 +0000

I just want to say that win or lose I am extremely proud of this year’s team. The way they have battled to win the Wild Card, overcoming injuries to many key players, and the way Tony has performed his magic with the bench players has been nothing short of superb! I was fortunate to have been able to see virtually all the games this year via mlb.tv on my laptop, and I have really gotten to appreciate the entire 25 man roster. I would vote to bring them ALL back next season. Too bad I am not weathy enough to help make that happen.

BEST OF LUCK, 2011 REDBIRDS! MY WISH IS THAT YOU WILL PROCEED ON ALL THE WAY AND BECOME THE 2011 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS! BUSCH STADIUM NEEDS THAT 11TH FLAG!!!!!

What does a REAL fan want from his team?

cardsmainman — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 15:58:55 +0000

As my team, the St. Louis Cardinals, currently with 74 wins and 65 losses, 8 1/2 games behind the Central Division leading Milwaukee Brewer begin the last three weeks of regular season play for the 2011 MLB season, one stops for a moment to reflect on what he really wants from his team. In my case, a lifelong Redbirds fan, here is what I came up with:

1. A team that plays EACH game with a REAL desire to win it.

2. A team that plays as a team and not as simply as 25 players each trying to advance their own careers at any cost.

3. A team where each individual member does his best to perform at his maximum effort EVERY day.

4. A team where each individual member truly wants the best for the team.

5. A team where each individual member strives EVERY day to improve.

6. A team where each individual member strives to help the other members reach their potential.

And how does my team, the 2011 Cardinals, rate according to my arbitrary set of criteria? I give this team a B+.

Here’s how I arrived at that score:

1. Tony Larussa’s primary objective for each and every game is to put his team in a position to win. This year I feel like he has done that about 90% of the time. His primary failing occurred early in the season when he stayed too long with Ryan Franklin as the closer, costing the team some very valuable wins. I respect his loyalty to Ryan, who always gave his best in my opinion, but I feel Tony lost sight of what was the best for the team as a whole.

2. The primary reason I rate the team as a B+ is that I don’t feel the team improved defensively as much as it should have, and I feel that our starting pitchers have also failed to improve and carry their share of the load.

Do I still love and ardently follow the Cardinals? YES Do I see signs of hope for this season and the future with this team? YES Why????

SEVERAL REASONS:

1. Skip Shumaker is my idea of what a real Cardinal should be. He always hustles, he takes each mistake hard, maybe a little too hard at times, but he does what is necessary to learn from that mistake. The steady rise of this batting average and his outstanding hitting for the second half of this season is indicative of his great work ethic. Also, his continued improvement as a defensive second baseman, and his willingness to play in whatever position Tony puts him, even as a reliever!

2. Albert Puhols, Matt Holliday, and Lance Berkman are all consummate professions, as is Yadier Molina. Each of them is an outstanding leader as well as a true team player.

3. David Freese, Jon Jay, Allen Craig, and Daniel Descalso are exciting young players who seem willing to to whatever is required to help the team win.

4. Kyle McClellan seems to be most valuable in the bullpen right now, although his heart is set on being a starter. He needs to fully understand that he needs to fill whatever role is best for the team at the time.

5. Kyle Lohse needs to listen more to Dave Duncan and have more heart. A pitcher needs to learn how to put his team into a position to win even when he doesn’t have his best stuff.

6. Jason Motte is becoming an extremely dependable reliever very well may develop into an effective closer.

7.Fernando Salas show great signs of being an effective reliever, as well.

8. Chris Carpenter, although getting older, still has the heart of a lion, and my belief is that he will be very effective in the next few years when supported by Adam Wainwright.

So what do I think we need to do to win this year? Play each game like it’s the 7th game of the World Series, as Tony suggests, and if everything goes just right, we will be successful, whether or not the Brewers choke down the stretch…

GO CARDINALS!!!!! IT IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL THAT WE RESIGN ALBERT, CARPENTER, AND SHUMAKER, AND IT WOULD BE GREAT TO PICK UP RAFAEL FURCAL AND LANCE BERKMAN ALONG THE WAY!!!!!