October 2012
Posted on October 31, 2012 at 7:15 PM
To give myself a reason to look back on this season, I've started this series of blog posts to review each player that spent time in St. Louis during 2012. More summaries than anything, I imagine the player coming into Mike Matheny's office and having a short conference before heading home for the winter.
This series is brought to you by Burton History Trees. You already know that the code c70 gets you 10% off your order, but did you know that, for a limited time, the Cardinal tree is already 25% off? Combine the two and you'll get a $40 tree for $27 or a framed $135 version for $91. Don't miss this chance for unique Cardinal memorabilia. The tree will be updated to reflect the 2012 season as well. Get yours today!
Season stats: 157 games, 599 AB, 36 2B, 2 3B, 27 HR, 102 RBI, 4 SB, .295/.379/.497
Hero/Goat: Hero 17, Goat 9
Overall grade: B+
Positives: There were no moths, no emergency appendectomies, nothing to keep Holliday from running out there on a regular basis. Which meant that he turned in a season that was right in line with what he always does. He was second on the team in home runs, played almost every day and did all he could to help the team win. What's not to like?
Negatives: Plenty, at least according to a section of the fan base. Holliday has been saddled with the
Albert Pujols burden, as people seem to think that the star of the show should be able to do what Albert did, not acknowledging that Pujols was a once-in-a-lifetime sort of deal. Holliday was very streaky as well, running into the MVP conversation in July before struggling down the stretch. His back did bother him late in the year, influencing a .252/.336/.417 line from August 1 on, and it also meant that his postseason was injury-plagued for the second straight year.
Outlook: For whatever reason, Holliday is not going to likely ever endear himself to some fans, those that deride him for being "unclutch". For the rest of us, though, we'll appreciate a solid performer who is one of the better hitters in the league and fits well in the #3 slot in the lineup.
Posted on October 31, 2012 at 11:45 AM
Four years ago on Halloween, I dressed up the St. Louis squad in
costumes from a galaxy far, far away. Two years ago, for Star Wars Day (May the fourth, of course), I
compared the then-Cardinals to Star Wars characters. Now, with Star Wars Angry Birds just a week away and with yesterday's huge news regarding Disney, LucasFilm and Episode VII, it seemed a good time to break out the conceit again.
We could shuffle the laundry again, put different people in different outfits (I'm sure that
Lance Lynn would rock a Wampa costume), but let's do something a bit different with this excursion into this mash-up galaxy. Let's see what certain memorable Star Wars scenes would look like if they had a bit of Redbird flair added to them.
We'll stick to the original movie, I think. I'm not one of those that derides the prequels (though there are some parts worthy of it) but there aren't as many scenes that made it into the public consciousness from those movies. Plus, since I grew up with IV-VI, those can play pretty much on a continual loop in my head.
So set the navi computer and let's make the jump to hyperspace.......
Continue Reading
Posted on October 31, 2012 at 8:45 AM
To give myself a reason to look back on this season, I've started this series of blog posts to review each player that spent time in St. Louis during 2012. More summaries than anything, I imagine the player coming into Mike Matheny's office and having a short conference before heading home for the winter.
This series is brought to you by Burton History Trees. You already know that the code c70 gets you 10% off your order, but did you know that, for a limited time, the Cardinal tree is already 25% off? Combine the two and you'll get a $40 tree for $27 or a framed $135 version for $91. Don't miss this chance for unique Cardinal memorabilia. Get yours today!
Season stats: 9 games played, 10 AB, 1 2B, 3 K, .200/.200/.300
Hero/Goat: None
Overall grade: C
Positives: Well, he got into eight more games than he did in 2010, so I guess that's a positive for him. He didn't make an error playing an inning-plus at first base, either, so he's got that going for him. He did have 17 home runs in 87 games down in Memphis, which shows that he does still have pop in the bat.
Negatives: Tough to have a negative in just 10 at bats. He basically was a pinch-hitter, so it's not like he was going up there to work the count. Nothing just pops out about his Memphis stats in the negative way either.
Outlook: Hill will never be a regular catcher in St. Louis. With
Yadier Molina behind the plate and
Tony Cruz still ahead of him on the depth chart, it's not realistic to think that he could strap on the armor. Still, he's put up some good numbers at Memphis and has always been thought of as a power hitter. He's just 27, so it seems likely that if he's not part of a trade, he'll be the Memphis catcher again next year, providing some insurance.
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 5:00 PM
To give myself a reason to look back on this season, I've started this series of blog posts to review each player that spent time in St. Louis during 2012. More summaries than anything, I imagine the player coming into Mike Matheny's office and having a short conference before heading home for the winter.
This series is brought to you by Burton History Trees. You already know that the code c70 gets you 10% off your order, but did you know that, for a limited time, the Cardinal tree is already 25% off? Combine the two and you'll get a $40 tree for $27 or a framed $135 version for $91. Don't miss this chance for unique Cardinal memorabilia. Get yours today!
Season stats: 77 games, 179 AB, 9 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 19 RBI, 9 SB, .218/.272/.358
Hero/Goat: Hero 1, Goat 5
Overall grade: D
Positives: There weren't a lot of them in Greene's first chance to be the regular shortstop. He had a two-homer day against (ironically, as it later turned out) Houston in May. He scored the game-winning run in an extra-inning game against Cincinnati in April after pinch-running. He could occasionally turn in a spectacular defensive play as well. Other than that, it's tough to come up with much more positive other than, "Well, at least now we know."
Negatives: I really wanted the Greene experiment to work. I thought that getting regular play under someone not named Tony La Russa might help him out a lot. However, for whatever reason, it didn't. Greene never hit higher than .240 for any month while he was with the Cardinals and made a number of botched plays in the field, including one that brought the boos (and some intemperate comments from Greene) the day before he was dealt.
Outlook: Greene had a bit more success after his trade to Houston, popping seven homers there and hitting at a .246 clip. That may have been because he was more relaxed, it may have been that bandbox they call a ballpark down there in Houston, it may have been just a fluke. I don't know that Houston is going to hand him a starting job next year, but he easily could win one, especially on a team that lost over 100 games this season.
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 1:45 PM
To give myself a reason to look back on this season, I've started this series of blog posts to review each player that spent time in St. Louis during 2012. More summaries than anything, I imagine the player coming into Mike Matheny's office and having a short conference before heading home for the winter.
This series is brought to you by Burton History Trees. You already know that the code c70 gets you 10% off your order, but did you know that, for a limited time, the Cardinal tree is already 25% off? Combine the two and you'll get a $40 tree for $27 or a framed $135 version for $91. Don't miss this chance for unique Cardinal memorabilia. Get yours today!
Season stats: 7-7, 3.92, 20 games, 121.2 IP, 136 H, 7 HR, 30 BB, 98 K, 1.36 WHIP
Hero/Goat: Hero 8, Goat 5
Overall grade: C
Positives: Garcia was all over the map this season, but that means there were some good points as well as the bad. As everyone knows, he pitched pretty well at Busch Stadium (4-2, 2.82, .668 OPS against). For the most part, he was effective after coming back from sitting out with shoulder problems, only having one big blowup (and a couple other ineffective outings) in that span. When he's right, he's a young effective lefthander under a reasonable contract.
Negatives: Not every game can be in Baseball Heaven. Garcia went 3-5, 5.02 with a .787 OPS against when he was away from the Cardinal sea of red. When he blew up, it was usually complete and would come with a high pitch count--you could pretty much count on him throwing 90-100 pitches, you just didn't know if that'd get you through the seventh or get you through the fourth. Plus there was the whole NLDS Game 2 debacle, which was either incredibly selfish or a gutsy performance, depending on your point of view.
Outlook: Garcia's shoulder flared up again and he was removed from the postseason rosters. As of the postseason press conference by John Mozeliak, it does not appear that surgery will be necessary. That said, the Cards really may not know until next spring training and if it becomes an issue then, there's a strong likelihood that he'll miss the season. While the Redbirds do have a lot of young arms coming up, none of them are left-handed, so a return of a consistent Garcia would be a very helpful thing.
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:04 AM
I get press releases and other news items about the Cardinals all the time, but I never expected to get one from someone I knew. My former college roommate (I'd say old, but he's only a year up on me) works for Sam's Club in their public relations department and thought it might be of interest to any readers that are in the St. Louis area. Getting a chance to talk to the White Rat? That might perk up a few ears.....
Wentzville Sam's Club Hosts
St. Louis Cardinals Legend Whitey Herzog
Baseball Hall of Famer to sign free autographs on
Nov. 2 at the new Wentzville Sam's Club
WENTZVILLE, Mo. (Oct. 30, 2012) - Sam's Club and General Mills have announced that they will host a Member Appreciation event at the new Wentzville Sam's Club on Friday, Nov. 2, from 2:30 - 4:30 p.m. As part of the day's celebration, St. Louis Cardinals' Legendary Manager Whitey Herzog will meet with fans and sign free autographs at Sam's Club, 3055 Bear Creek Dr.
Herzog's style of play, based on the strategy of attrition, was nicknamed "Whiteyball" and concentrated on pitching, speed, and defense to win games rather than on home runs. As the manager in St. Louis, he won the 1982 World Series and made two other World Series appearances with the club in 1985 and 1987. In total, he led six division winners, three pennant winners, and one World Series winner in compiling a 1,281-1,125 (.532) career record. Herzog was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010. In addition, the Cardinals retired the number '24', which he wore during his managerial tenure with the club.
"We encourage fans to join us for a fun and exciting day," said Steven Johnson, Club manager of the Wentzville location. "This event is our way of thanking the community for their patronage of our numerous clubs in the area. We are excited and look forward to seeing all the smiling faces of Wentzville and surrounding communities, as we welcome St. Louis Cardinals legend Whitey Herzog to our new location."
Sam's Club will officially open its newest location in Wentzville on Tuesday.
Sam's Club members and guests are welcomed and encouraged to visit the Wentzville location at any time throughout the day. Autographs are limited to one per person and are only guaranteed for the first 120 people in line.
WHO: Whitey Herzog, St. Louis Cardinals Legendary Manager
WHAT: Member Appreciation Autograph Appearance with Whitey Herzog
WHEN: Friday, Nov. 2, 2:30-4:30 p.m.
WHERE: Sam's Club - 3055 Bear Creek Dr., Wentzville, MO 63885
About General Mills
One of the world's leading food companies, General Mills operates in more than 100 countries and markets more than 100 consumer brands, including Cheerios, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Progresso, Yoplait, Cascadian Farm, Muir Glen, and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, General Mills had fiscal 2010 global net sales of US $16 billion, including the company's $1.2 billion proportionate share of joint venture net sales.
About Sam's Club
Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), is the nation's eighth largest retailer and a leading membership warehouse club offering superior products and services to more than 47 million members in clubs across the U.S., as well as in Brazil, China and Mexico. To learn more about Savings Made SimpleSM, visit
SamsClub.com, and look for Sam's Club on
Twitter and
Facebook.
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 9:30 AM
To give myself a reason to look back on this season, I've started this series of blog posts to review each player that spent time in St. Louis during 2012. More summaries than anything, I imagine the player coming into Mike Matheny's office and having a short conference before heading home for the winter.
This series is brought to you by Burton History Trees. You already know that the code c70 gets you 10% off your order, but did you know that, for a limited time, the Cardinal tree is already 25% off? Combine the two and you'll get a $40 tree for $27 or a framed $135 version for $91. Don't miss this chance for unique Cardinal memorabilia. Get yours today!
Season stats: 121 games, 477 AB, 18 2B, 3 3B, 5 HR, 49 RBI, 12 SB, 44 BB, 57 K, .264/.325/.346
Hero/Goat: Hero 7, Goat 11
Overall grade: B-
Positives: Looking at the numbers, Furcal had a better season than I remembered. That was mainly due to a strong first two months (.333/.391/.460) which was farther back in the memory core. Furcal played very regularly--some would say too regularly, especially after how events transpired--and was a big part of why the Cards got off to such a strong start. Given what the shortstop position looked after he went down (
Pete Kozma's miracle run notwithstanding), when he was good he was one of the most valuable parts on the team.
Negatives: The problem was, the season didn't last just two months. From June 1 to August 30, when he was shut down with his elbow problem, Furcal hit just .215/.278/.265. No doubt injury played a part in that, but we don't know how much. Furcal was a drain on the top of the lineup for weeks until Matheny realized it wasn't getting better and put
Jon Jay up there.
Outlook: Furcal went with a plasma-rich replacement therapy rather than surgery when he was hurt last year. Currently the club doesn't expect that he'll need surgery but they admit they'll know more in November. Personally, if he avoids it I'd be shocked. Not only because that's the track record of the Cardinals but also because he was the Top Goat here this season and, in the four years I've been doing Hero/Goat, no Top Goat has played another game in Cardinal red. We'll see if that streak continues, but it would seem shortstop is on the radar for John Mozeliak this offseason.
Posted on October 29, 2012 at 7:00 PM
To give myself a reason to look back on this season, I've started this series of blog posts to review each player that spent time in St. Louis during 2012. More summaries than anything, I imagine the player coming into Mike Matheny's office and having a short conference before heading home for the winter.
This series is brought to you by Burton History Trees. You already know that the code c70 gets you 10% off your order, but did you know that, for a limited time, the Cardinal tree is already 25% off? Combine the two and you'll get a $40 tree for $27 or a framed $135 version for $91. Don't miss this chance for unique Cardinal memorabilia. Get yours today!
Season stats: 9.00, 6 games, 5 IP, 6 H, 1 HR, 5 BB, 6 K, 2.20 WHIP
Hero/Goat: None
Overall grade: F
Positives: Umm, he didn't cost much? There were people clamoring to sign Fuentes three years ago when he wound up with the Angels for $11 million per year. The Cards wound up getting him this year for the pro-rated minimum. Other than that, I don't know. I guess maybe his first appearance, where he struck out two Cubs in an inning of work in a close game. That's about the highlight. His numbers are skewed, though, by four runs given up in his last inning of work. Take that out and he gave up one run over four innings, a much more tolerable ratio.
Negatives: Be honest, you'd even forgotten Fuentes was on the team this year. I pretty much had until I started making the list for this series. Fuentes gets released by Oakland, signs on with the Cards, has three minor league appearances that were middling at best, then gets brought up to the big leagues. Two weeks later, he packs his bags and heads home, no public explanation given. There was some indication that there was a family matter that needed to be taken care of, but from this point of view it just looked like he didn't care for his role in St. Louis. That last game, though, was a reason the Cards were leery about giving him a bigger one.
Outlook: It seems extremely likely that Fuentes is done in baseball. It's possible someone might sign him to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training, but that seems unlikely. If a team does do that, though, I'm pretty sure it won't be the Cardinals. I don't think they had a pleasant experience.
Posted on October 29, 2012 at 7:30 AM
To give myself a reason to look back on this season, I've started this series of blog posts to review each player that spent time in St. Louis during 2012. More summaries than anything, I imagine the player coming into Mike Matheny's office and having a short conference before heading home for the winter.
This series is brought to you by Burton History Trees. You already know that the code c70 gets you 10% off your order, but did you know that, for a limited time, the Cardinal tree is already 25% off? Combine the two and you'll get a $40 tree for $27 or a framed $135 version for $91. Don't miss this chance for unique Cardinal memorabilia. Get yours today!
Season stats: 144 games, 501 AB, 25 2B, 1 3B, 20 HR, 79 RBI, 3 SB, .293/.372/.467
Hero/Goat: Hero 11, Goat 5
Overall grade: A
Positives: What's not to like? Let's start with the first number in that list. 144 games shattered the career high in games played prior to this season by Mr. Freese. (Last year? 97.) With the health came the production, something that I don't think we should take for granted. After last year's heroic postseason, it would have been easy to rest on his laurels, to know he was a baseball immortal no matter what he did the rest of his career. Instead, he came out and showed that he was no
Mark Lemke-like fluke, that he can produce with the best of them.
Negatives: There's not many. Freese's defense was not
Scott Rolen-level, but whose is? He seemed adequate enough at the hot corner and could turn in a spectacular play from time to time as well. He's older than you would think he was (he'll be 30 next season) but last I checked, there's not much you can do about the clock ticking. He also struggled against the Giants, hitting just .192, but there weren't many Cardinals hitting during the NLCS.
Outlook: The most obvious replacement for him was traded to Miami at the trading deadline. The other third baseman on the roster has been told to learn second during the winter. I'd say Freese is fairly well ensconced at third base for the Cardinals for quite some time to come and, as long as he can continue to stay healthy, should put up numbers very similar to the ones he produced this year.
Posted on October 28, 2012 at 9:50 PM
Not the World Series, though I will say that watching the Giant pitchers dominating what is a very powerful Detroit Tigers staff makes me feel a little better about the way the NLCS ended. As of this moment the Tigers have put up five runs in three and a half games (it's 2-1 Detroit in Game 4 right now) and were shut out on back-to-back days. While the Cards could have made those games more competitive, with the way those pitchers are running I'm not sure they could have done much to change the outcome.
No, instead of running out another in the Exit Interview series of posts (and thanks to all that have commented about enjoying the series--I'm glad to hear that), I wanted to stop and talk about a few things that came out of the
postseason wrap session that John Mozeliak had with the media. There's time for more EI posts later, but I didn't want this to get away from me.
First off, Dyer Miller isn't returning as bullpen coach. That seemed to be more a function of letting
Mike Matheny pick that person (Miller got promoted hastily when
Dave Duncan stepped down and
Derek Lilliquist moved to the pitching coach slot) than anything Miller did. Miller had been with the team for quite some time, but he's 65 and might be looking to retire anyway. Since they didn't mention it, I'm assuming Miller didn't get another role in the organization, which given the fact that he'd
been with the Cardinals for 19 years might lead one to surmise that he was ready to hang them up. Sounds like they plan to promote from within, which is not a bad idea since so many of these pitchers are going to be homegrown players anyway.
Then we have the bigger news, which was that the club seems to think that there won't be surgery needed for either
Jaime Garcia or
Rafael Furcal. I'd say you already know what I think of that, but those EI posts have been written but not released. Suffice it to say that, with the way injuries tend to go especially in the St. Louis organization, my money is on at least one of those being lost for most of 2013. The news seems to be more optimistic on Garcia, who got a lot of opinions and is doing the rest and rehab thing with a chance to be examined shortly. Furcal hasn't thrown and the Cards really won't know what they have until December, which could put a possible crimp in Mo's shopping plans. If Furcal is going to be out, a shortstop would seem to be on the list of things to get.
The headlines of the piece were that the Cards weren't planning on bringing back
Kyle Lohse or
Lance Berkman. In other words, water is wet and if you are in the path of Hurricane Sandy, you probably ought to be somewhere else. Everyone has known since probably spring training that Lohse wasn't returning. They'll make the conditional offer to get the draft pick, but the money he'll command and the term he'll want don't make sense for a team that can get likely very similar production at a tenth of the price. There are too many young arms coming up to bring Lohse back. Even if there weren't, with
Chris Carpenter,
Adam Wainwright, Jaime Garcia,
Lance Lynn and
Jake Westbrook, there are five starters already penciled in. Breaking the bank to sign Lohse doesn't make sense on any planet.
The same is true for Berkman. Now, if Berkman wanted to come back and be a bench player for a minimal salary, I'd be all over that like
Bill Ivie on a promotional opportunity. I love what Berkman brought to this team and it's been a treat to have the Big Puma wearing the birds on the bat. I just have to think, though, that if Berkman's going to push himself to get into shape, he's going to do it with the idea of at least a platoon situation if not a starting gig. It's tough to do all that work just to ride the pine, but with
Allen Craig,
Carlos Beltran, the possibility of
Oscar Taveras,
Matt Carpenter, etc., there's no place to play him regularly. It's a shame, but also one of those facts of baseball.
Jon Jay missed being a Super Two--and therefore being able to file for arbitration--by five days. While I don't expect the Cards to tighten the screws on him since they can sign him to any deal and he has no recourse, that probably did save the Redbirds some money, perhaps as much as a million, depending on what the two sides would have asked for in arbitration. Every little bit helps, right?
It'll be a while before much more trickles out. The Giants have gone back ahead of the Tigers now in Game 4, so it could be just a few days before free agents file and teams start negotiating, which means the Hot Stove League is just around the corner. Can't wait!
- Keeping You Informed: Whitey Makes An Appearance [Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:04 AM]
- Exit Interview: Rafael Furcal [Posted on October 30, 2012 at 9:30 AM]
- Exit Interview: Brian Fuentes [Posted on October 29, 2012 at 7:00 PM]
- Exit Interview: David Freese [Posted on October 29, 2012 at 7:30 AM]
- We Interrupt This Series [Posted on October 28, 2012 at 9:50 PM]
- Exit Interview: Sam Freeman [Posted on October 28, 2012 at 6:15 PM]
- Exit Interview: Chuckie Fick [Posted on October 28, 2012 at 3:00 PM]
- Exit Interview: Brandon Dickson [Posted on October 27, 2012 at 8:00 PM]
- Exit Interview: Daniel Descalso [Posted on October 27, 2012 at 4:00 PM]
- Exit Interview: Tony Cruz [Posted on October 27, 2012 at 1:45 PM]
- Exit Interview: Allen Craig [Posted on October 27, 2012 at 8:00 AM]
- Exit Interview: Maikel Cleto [Posted on October 26, 2012 at 7:00 PM]
- Exit Interview: Adron Chambers [Posted on October 26, 2012 at 7:00 AM]
- Exit Interview: Matt Carpenter [Posted on October 25, 2012 at 6:00 PM]
- Exit Interview: Chris Carpenter [Posted on October 25, 2012 at 2:30 PM]
- Exit Interview: Barret Browning [Posted on October 25, 2012 at 1:15 PM]
- Exit Interview: Mitchell Boggs [Posted on October 25, 2012 at 10:30 AM]
- Exit Interview: Lance Berkman [Posted on October 25, 2012 at 7:15 AM]
- Exit Interview: Carlos Beltran [Posted on October 24, 2012 at 8:30 PM]
- Exit Interview: Bryan Anderson [Posted on October 24, 2012 at 3:00 PM]
- Exit Interview: Matt Adams [Posted on October 24, 2012 at 10:00 AM]
- We Don't Get To Write The Endings [Posted on October 23, 2012 at 6:38 AM]
- An Unexpected Position [Posted on October 22, 2012 at 6:55 AM]
- Fighting Overconfidence [Posted on October 19, 2012 at 7:06 AM]
- Rain Delay Theater [Posted on October 17, 2012 at 8:32 PM]
- Keeping You Informed: Win Game 5 Tickets [Posted on October 17, 2012 at 8:04 PM]
- Product Review: BiGR Headphones [Posted on October 17, 2012 at 7:39 PM]
- Keeping You Informed: NLCS At Busch [Posted on October 17, 2012 at 10:07 AM]
- Join The Bonfyre, Cardinal Style [Posted on October 15, 2012 at 7:29 PM]
- Incre-DD-ible [Posted on October 13, 2012 at 11:17 AM]
- BBA Award Season: My Ballot [Posted on October 12, 2012 at 8:40 AM]
- All The Marbles [Posted on October 12, 2012 at 7:06 AM]
- Keeping You Informed: Walk Off A Hero [Posted on October 11, 2012 at 12:27 PM]
- Ribs Are Overrated [Posted on October 11, 2012 at 6:28 AM]
- Keeping You Informed: NLDS Times and Channels [Posted on October 9, 2012 at 4:05 PM]
- Quieting The Noise [Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:38 AM]
- Squandering The Advantage [Posted on October 8, 2012 at 7:24 AM]
- Time For The Real Show [Posted on October 6, 2012 at 6:12 PM]
- There's No Credit For Style Points [Posted on October 6, 2012 at 10:31 AM]
- Keeping You Informed: NLDS Details [Posted on October 6, 2012 at 10:01 AM]
- The Miller's Tale [Posted on October 4, 2012 at 6:30 AM]
- Keeping You Informed: Postseason Schedule [Posted on October 3, 2012 at 5:16 PM]
- Keeping You Informed: Postseason "Go Red" [Posted on October 3, 2012 at 8:05 AM]
- Backing In And That's OK [Posted on October 3, 2012 at 6:30 AM]
- Playoff Bound--But Which Playoff? [Posted on October 2, 2012 at 6:35 AM]
- Keeping You Informed: Lance Berkman Field [Posted on October 1, 2012 at 4:47 PM]