Blogs By FansC70 At The Bat
Sponsor


Cardinals_WideSkyscraper.jpg

Baseball Schedule is your best source for the latest St Louis Cardinals Schedule information as well as keeping up with division rivals including Cubs Schedule, Reds Schedule, Brewers Schedule and Astros Schedule.

Bet on the Cardinals with Sports Interaction's MLB betting lines


Slots Galore Casino Tournaments

Get your tickets from Bubba! Cheap St. Louis Cardinals Tickets and more, including tickets for the next MLB All-Star Game. Bubba's got Boston Red Sox Tickets and New York Yankees Tickets

Authentic, large selection of Cardinals memorabilia, guaranteed and certified.

Subscribe
RSS Feed

Archives

Players

Categories


Alliance tickets has an extensive inventory of St. Louis Cardinals Tickets , Colorado Rockies Tickets, San Francisco Giants Tickets and Seattle MarinersTickets.

With all of the St Louis tickets out there, Cardinals tickets and Rams tickets make for great presents. GoTickets.com can fill all of your sports tickets needs, just check out our testimonials!

UCB Fall Roundtable: The Conclusion

Posted on December 20, 2011 at 9:11 AM
Filed Under: St. Louis Cardinals
As the organizer of the United Cardinal Bloggers, I always schedule myself as the last question of any particular roundtable.  There are a couple of reasons for that; one is that I want to make sure I don't take someone else's question, one is that I would rather answer other questions than come up with my own.

Whatever the reason, the roundtable that started back on Halloween has finally reached its conclusion.  We've had a number of outstanding questions and many of the transcripts can be found linked at this post.  So, to tap the collective wisdom one final time, I posed the following question:

"What is the thing you are most looking forward to in 2012?"

The answers after the jump.....


Scroll Down to Continue Reading


Bill (I70 Baseball): I'm looking forward to the difference of it all. What kind of manager will Matheny be? What will do for the club? How will Daniel Descalso perform? How well will the new coaches do? 

For the first time in a very long time, there is a new feel to this ball club. I'm excited to peel the wrapper off of this newly repackaged franchise and see what we have... 

Is there a "New Cardinal Smell" like the "New Car Smell"? I am excited for the change of it all...

Tom (CardinalsGM): I am looking forward to leadership that is not Tony La Russa. In my many years I have enjoyed many types of teams that are Cardinal varieties and wouldn't trade that for anything. What I won't miss is the groups pf people that always took exception to anything LaRussa did. Our society had gotten too close with the new media and we tend to feel entitlement instead of fandom.

Ray (STL Baseball): I'm most looking forward to a Matheny-led club. I'm hoping it's faster, more aggressive, and more positive/less paranoid.

Kevin (Cards 'N Stuff): Honestly, I think I'm most looking forward to seeing how the team will change under Mo-Mat (Mozeliak-Matheny) post TLR and Albert. It's another era shift - both in personnel and focus in how a team is constructed. It should be interesting to watch, if not painful and confusing at times. For years, we've watched Offense-first, Veteran dominated teams ruled by one or two personalities (TLR/AP). Now, we will see a development-heavy, pitching/defense-focused organization - a true organization rather than factions of one - attempt to move in a single direction and produce an efficient, club-developed team at the MLB level. It'll be...interesting. While I'm upset at the departure of a couple hall of famers, I'm excited to see a unified Cardinals family work together with a bit less drama.

Jon (Redbird Dugout): I'm looking forward to seeing the Cardinals under a new manager. La Russa has managed the Cardinals since I was 11 years old. I have zero memory of the Cardinals being managed by another manager. So I'm definitely excited about the opportunity to move into the future with Matheny.

Chris (Birds On The Bat 82): Many have mentioned being excited about a "Matheny-led" club, and I am certainly excited about that. I want to see how he handles the pitching staff and late-game bullpen decisions. I want to see how he aggressively he manages with runners on base. 

As much as I look forward to discovering what Matheny's in-game management style will be, I am as much excited about his leadership in the clubhouse and with the media. He seems to understand the importance of not only wins and losses, but being the face of the franchise to the media. He seems to be embracing Cardinal past, and reaching out to those that LaRussa alienated (Ozzie) or didn't call on much for advice or participation (Herzog). I think he has the ability to re-unite this franchise with its past in a way that LaRussa didn't seem to care to. To some of you that may not be important, to me it is. 

The other thing I'm interested to see in 2012 is how Mozeliak's increased influence is seen and felt throughout the organization. With Luhnow out of the mix, what changes do we see in player development and the minor leagues. How will Mo handle the increased payroll flexibility, etc... 

I want to see a team that looks like it's having fun playing the greatest game on the planet. That piece has been missing for 16 years. 

And how could I forget the thing I'm most excited about for 2012......? 

LESS DOUBLE PLAYS!!!!!!! 

There is nothing I hate more in all of baseball. Have been reminded of that fact while watching through the World Series DVD's this afternoon.

Erika (Cardinal Diamond Diaries): Honestly, I'm most interested to see a post-Pujols Cardinals team settle in. I'm ready for fans to be reassured life isn't over. I'd love to see the 2012 Cardinals start off strong and quell any worries about Mike Matheny's ability to manage. I'm ready to get comfortable seeing Berkman (or whoever it is) at 1B. It will be an adjustment, but my goodness, I'm so ready for Spring...

J.E. (STL: Fear The Red): I think I am most looking forward to a fresh start in 2012. That's not to take away from the success that the Cards have had under LaRussa and the greatness that was Pujols, but I am excited to see what the team can accomplish without those two staples. There have been some big changes over the offseason and only time will tell how truly big those changes were, but again, I am looking forward to what the "new look" Cardinals can bring to the table. Also, having Wainwright back, if he's fully healthy, will be great.

Dustin (Welcome To Baseball Heaven): I'm looking forward to the feeling I'll get when the new look Cardinals take the field for the first time. It's going to be so odd without Albert Pujols manning 1st base and without TLR perched in the dugout. After that 1st pitch is thrown I feel as fans we'll be able to officially turn the page. Oh, and of course Adam Wainwright's return to the bump with his brand new elbow.

Tara (Aaron Miles' Fastball): I won't lie, while I'm pretty excited to see Mike Matheny make his debut, David Freese attempt to continue his late season surge, and the club as a whole forge its post-Albert identity, I'm really excited to get Adam Wainwright back. He is an incredibly special part of this team in the club house (even in a season where he didn't throw a single pitch), but he's also a Cy Young kind of pitcher. But I don't have to tell you all that. He has the character and the talent to be that "face of the franchise" we talked about a few days ago, as well as the full support of his teammates. There's a reason the baseball world acted like someone had run over their dog when Waino went down in spring training -- he's a Cardinal, through and through, and his skills make this club competitive.

Daniel (Redbird Rants): What I am looking forward to seeing is how Mike Matheny fills the huge shoes. Does he hit the pitchers in the 8th or 9th slot? Will Matt Holliday have a full healthy season, not one that is what I would label as weird from start to finish. Seeing Descalso get some solid playing time at second would be good, too.

Bob (On The Outside Corner): Just watching a game. Nearing the winter Solstice (or is that the offseason equinox), I am truly missing the excitement of live baseball. Yes, I am interested in seeing how the Matheny era will be different than the La Russa aeon, and of course, how well Adam Wainwright does returning from his reconstructive surgery, but more than those, I just want to see the 25 men wearing the Birds on the Bat competing on the field.  

Have I mentioned that I miss baseball :-) 

For those of you with mlb.com accounts, there is a gem of a game in the archives that you should check out. The date was June 16, 1978. It's Tom Seaver's no hitter (so you know how it ends), but you get to see a lot of Cardinals names from the past. Lou Brock (looking in very good shape), a young Garry Templeton, George Hendrick had just been traded from San Diego, a very young Keith Hernandez, the Zamboni (Kenny Reitz). The Cardinals starter was John Denny, and the guy was a horse.

Aaron (Cards Diaspora): I'm looking forward to the following blog posts: 

+ Holy [Crap]! Has Mike Matheny Even Been To a Baseball Game? (Right after the Cardinals first 5 game losing streak.) 

+ So Um, Who Else Wishes Pujols Was Still a Cardinal? (Right after his first multi-HR night with ANA or another 2-1 loss where the Cardinals couldn't muster enough offense.) 

+ Dave McKay, You're a Traitor. (First Cards/Cubs series of 2012.) 

+ Where Did That Pujols Money Go Exactly? (Mid-Season, month or so before the trading deadline.) 

Ok, maybe those are just the things we'll be [griping] about on CardsDiaspora, but in all honesty, 2012 has a chance to be a special year. 

I wrote at the beginning of 2011 that even if the Cardinals won the World Series on a walk off-home run in Game 7 at home, the second question out of Chris Meyers' mouth to Pujols would be about his free agency. A World Series lets us revise history, but this pretty much played out to a tee. Pujols' contract was the dark cloud hanging over the Cardinals all of 2011.  

Now? Like it or not, it's gone. 

This 2012 team won't be better without the best player in baseball... BUT... if they are in contention, I think this is a team that is going to galvanize a city much more than any team has for years. We all want to shove our success in Pujols' face and show him what a huge mistake he made. Maybe not overtly, but definitely covertly. 

Lets see if these Birds can pull it off. 

And if they bottom out? Then we'll have tons of fodder too.
------

My thanks to all that participated in this or any other question.  The ability to stretch out baseball talk until almost Christmas has been a joy.  As for my answer to this query, I think that, besides agreeing with Bob and wanting to see a baseball game on my TV basically every day, I'm really anxious to see Adam Wainwright back on the mound.  As he's the player I'm most likely to transfer the title of "Favorite Cardinal Player" to, I'm ready to see if he's healthy and can pitch at the level he did pre-surgery.  Baseball can't return soon enough!


Leave a comment




Cardinals_MediumRectangle.jpg

UCB_11_trans_dark_sm.png

Search



BallHyped Best Sports Blogs Book
This blog was featured in the Best Sports Blogs of 2010 Book!
• Pick up the limited print edition
• Free Best Sports Blogs ebook 


United Cardinal Bloggers

FRIENDS OF THE UCB


Download the iPhone or Android UCB app by clicking on the nice orange picture.
Open in Mobile App 

And check out the UCB Network over at LockerDome!
lockerdome-share_63x63.png
  



Other Cardinal Blogs

Recommended Cardinal Forum

Other Cardinal Sites

General Baseball Blogs/Sites



Heroes
Matt Holliday (5)
Matt Carpenter (4)
Rafael Furcal (4)
Yadier Molina (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
David Freese (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Jon Jay (3)
Kyle Lohse (3)
Lance Lynn (3)
Adam Wainwright (3)
Lance Berkman (1)
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)
David Freese (3)
Rafael Furcal (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Tyler Greene (3)
Jason Motte (3)
Marc Rzepczynski (3)
Fernando Salas (3)
Adam Wainwright (3)
J.C. Romero (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)
Eduardo Sanchez (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: 12
Happy Flight %: 58%

Through 5/20

    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%


    Looking for St. Louis Cardinals Tickets?  TicketCity is your source for New York Yankees Tickets and World Series Tickets.

    Looking for Cardinals tickets? Stop by OnlineSeats. We’ve got Blues seats and even Rams games. Go to the coasts as well and catch a Celtics game or get Dodgers tickets.

    Referrals