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Miscellaneous Tidbits

Posted on November 1, 2010 at 10:06 AM
Filed Under: General Baseball | United Cardinal Bloggers
There's nothing much going on in Cardinal Nation, so here are a few things that have shown up in my mailbox.

Before we get to that, though, I realize that I've not weighed in here about the return of the coaching staff, most prominently Dave Duncan and Mark McGwire.  (I did on last week's UCB Radio Hour--almost a full hour of me talking to myself not counting the cameo by PH8's Josh, so you are forgiven for not listening to that one.)

I think Duncan's contract is pretty interesting.  It's a two-year deal with an option for a third, which means Duncan got what he wanted in terms of length.  It also seems to raise the odds that, at least one of these years, we are going to have a split in the Tony LaRussa-Dave Duncan teamup.  I don't think TLR has three more years in him, possibly wrapping after this coming season.  Duncan, though, seems like he'll serve out the term assuming he likes whomever the Cards tap as successor.

Also, it was noteworthy that Duncan gets more influence and say in how the minor leagues are developing pitchers.  How that will be reflected is still up for debate and how many toes are going to be stepped on is still up in the air, but by and large it's probably a good thing to have the whole organization on the same page, and Duncan obviously has the experience and results to say, "My way is the right way."  However, we'll see how these new methods work with hard throwers like Shelby Miller and Carlos Martinez.

As for McGwire, I'm glad to see him back as well.  For the fact that he was still learning how to coach most of last year, his results were similar to what Hal McRae had put up after numerous years as a hitting coach.  It takes a while for new methods and new ideas to take hold and I'm sure McGwire had some growing pains as well.  If he'd left now, I don't think he'd have ever gotten back into baseball, so I'm glad to see him giving it another shot.

Now, to the mailbox.

*DISH Network and Fox Sports have resolved their dispute.  The November 1 deadline for DISH to start losing local affiliates must have been a driving factor, as it got resolved over the weekend, which is good news for those that are on DISH.

*Out of the Park Baseball, a wonderful simulation that I have mentioned in the past, is having a half-off World Series special through Wednesday of this week.  You can save $20 on the 2010 season if you'll head over this way.  It's quite a deal and might help you get over those lack-of-baseball blues that will be coming soon, especially the way the Giants are going at it.

*Jay over at 85% Sports, a member not only of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance but also the United Cardinal Bloggers, has up a free agent tracker at his site.  It's a very detailed listing, taking into account not only major league free agents, but minor league ones as well.  Bookmark that if you want to see where people are going!

That seems to be the bulk of it.  The UCB roundtable is starting to wind down, with questions coming today and then my question proposed tomorrow and posted here Wednesday (hopefully).  Still trying to decide just what that question will be.

Also coming soon, perhaps by Friday, the ballot for the fourth annual Cardinal Bloggers Awards.  This was the first project we ever did as a group and as such kicks off another year of UCB goodness.  I'll be posting the ballot and then, in a couple of weeks, be doing the voting along with others of the UCB, then posting the results.  Hope to get that all done before Thanksgiving!


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Heroes
Matt Carpenter (4)
Matt Holliday (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
Rafael Furcal (3)
Jon Jay (3)
Kyle Lohse (3)
Lance Lynn (3)
David Freese (2)
Jaime Garcia (2)
Yadier Molina (2)
Adam Wainwright (2)
Allen Craig (1)
Shane Robinson (1)
Fernando Salas (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Hero: Lance Berkman (24)
2010 Top Heroes: Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols (24)
2009 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (28)
2008 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (25)

Goats
Matt Holliday (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Adam Wainwright (3)
David Freese (2)
Rafael Furcal (2)
Tyler Greene (2)
Jason Motte (2)
J.C. Romero (2)
Marc Rzepczynski (2)
Mitchell Boggs (1)
Matt Carpenter (1)
Tony Cruz (1)
Daniel Descalso (1)
Jon Jay (1)
Erik Komatsu (1)
Kyle Lohse (1)
Victor Marte (1)
Fernando Salas (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Goat: Ryan Theriot (12)
2010 Top Goat: Brendan Ryan (14)
2009 Top Goats: Rick Ankiel and Todd Wellemeyer (13)
2008 Top Goat: Troy Glaus (13)

2012 Happy Flights
Happy Flights: 7
Happy Flight Opportunities: 10
Happy Flight %: 70%

Through 5/15

    Cardinal Nation Approval Ratings (March 2012)
    Adam Wainwright 91.9% (down 2.8%)
    Chris Carpenter 90.1% (up 3.2%)
    Lance Berkman 88.6%
    Tony La Russa 88.2% (up 17.4%)
    Yadier Molina 87.4% (up 3.7%)
    Matt Holliday 87.3% (down 3.8%)
    David Freese 85.5%
    John Mozeliak 85.4% (up 13.3%)
    Mike Shannon 85.3% (up 0.4%)
    Jose Oquendo 84.7%
    Derrick Goold 82.8% (down 5.0%)
    Mark McGwire 82.6% (up 20.1%)
    John Rooney 81.5% (down 2.8%)
    Mike Matheny 81.1%
    Bill DeWitt 79.8% (up 8.8%)
    United Cardinal Bloggers 78.9%
    Skip Schumaker 73.3% (up 9.2%)
    Jim Hayes 71.9% (down 4.2%)
    Jon Jay 71.1%
    B.J. Rains 69.5% (down 0.9%)
    Kyle Lohse 68.9% (up 13.8%)
    Dan McLaughlin 68.0%
    Joe Strauss 67.7% (up 10.2%)
    Ricky Horton 67.5% (down 1.6%)
    Al Hrabosky 66.4% (up 3.2%)
    Albert Pujols 54.9% (down 45.5%)
    Colby Rasmus 46.5% (down 35.3%)

    2011
    Dave Duncan 87.9% (up 0.9%)
    Matthew Leach 85.5%
    Pop Warner 76.7%
    Ryan Franklin 72.8% (up 3.1%)
    John Vuch 68.9%
    Jeff Luhnow 66.4%
    Dan Lozano 58.7%

    2009
    Rick Ankiel 83.9%
    Chris Duncan 69.1%


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