2011 Pre-Season Preview: AL West – Seattle Mariners

Staff ace, Felix Hernandez Seattle Mariners (2010 record: 61-101) Many pundits believed the Mariners could win the American League West last season – I am numbered among those people. The joke was on us. Instead of making a run at the Angels and the Rangers, the Mariners turned in one of the more disappointing efforts […]

More Of The Same

It’s a little checklist that Cardinal fans go through before games, to prepare themselves for what is to come: Is the opposing pitcher someone the Cardinals haven’t seen much of? Check. Does the opposing pitcher have a high ERA? Check. Is the opposing pitcher lefthanded? Hey, he’s not!  Maybe they have a chance! Of course, […]

Cardinals Get Off Script

We’ve seen it before.  Way too many times, in fact.  A miscue, a bad pitch, and suddenly the Cardinals are in a 3-0 hole early in the game, a hole that they don’t climb out of as they slog to another loss. Finally, someone got that script into rewrite. I was afraid we were in for […]

The Frustration Continues

Remember when I said that Cardinal fans should caution against getting too high off of that Cincinnati series?  Unfortunately, this 2010 team is becoming predictably frustrating.  Let’s look at the series. Friday (6-3 win) Hero: Albert Pujols.  Three hits, including a home run, and scored three runs.  AP pretty much did it all. Goat: Brendan Ryan.  Not […]

Doing It The Hard Way

When I turned on the game a little late last night, I was well-pleased to see that the Cards had already been serious, putting up six in the top of the inning.  And even though Jaime Garcia allowed two runs of his own in the bottom of the frame, I figured the Cards were well […]

Frustration Revisited

I thought this was behind us. Whatever corner the Cardinals turned after the All-Star break, they’ve turned another one or two and seem to be back where they started from–a frustrating team that can’t get anything going.  And when the big gun has an off night, you know things aren’t going your way. I guess you […]

Cards Soar In Foreign Land

You know, when the discussion of launching pad stadiums comes up, I never think of Toronto’s Rogers Center.  Wrigley, Coors, even the old Atlanta stadium that started the nickname.  However, if last night is any indication, Rogers Center is right up there with the rest of them. The Cardinals played the long ball better, smashing […]

Desert Mirage

The Cardinals won the first game in Arizona, but that was just the oasis in the losing streak.  A quick recap: Friday (5-2 win) Hero: Brendan Ryan.  He’s still not found himself at the plate entirely, slipping back around .200, and a home run was about the most unlikely thing that could have happened in […]

Signs Of Cardinal Life

It wasn’t a perfect weekend for St. Louis.  Not that it was bad, mind you; anytime you win two of three it’s a pretty good set.  However, the signs from this weekend indicate that as nice as this series with the Angels was, better days are a-comin’. Heroes and Goats, quickly: Friday (9-5 win) Hero: […]

Cardinal Numerology

On a night when seven became three and five became four, it was seriously good that it all added up to six. Batting order probably is overrated and it is hard to know if the swap of Matt Holliday to third and Albert Pujols to fourth really had that much of an impact.  I think […]

Laying An Egg

No, I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth or been thrown into some big glowing light on a remote island.  My work schedule has made it tough to blog this week and the Cardinals’ play has keep the motivation to blog down as well.  Let’s take a quick look at the Houston series […]

Back Against It

The biggest news from Cardinals camp yesterday didn’t come out of the matchup between the Cards and the Red Sox, between Chris Carpenter and Josh Beckett.  The news of the day was made before the game even started and hopefully hasn’t put the team’s back to the wall. Albert Pujols didn’t make the trip yesterday […]

Let’s Play Some Ball

I check the weather forecast and it’s supposed to be in the sixties this weekend.  I can see the sun coming up earlier and earlier and staying up later and later.  Those might be signs, but the real indicator that spring is returning comes today, as the Cardinals take on another MLB team.  Baseball games […]

Cardinals Getting Ready

Before we get to the news of the weekend, it’s just come across Twitter that the Cards have invited Shelby Miller and Sam Freeman into camp.  While it’s most likely to make sure they have enough arms for whatever drills and situations that they have in mind, it’s still interesting to see Miller get a […]