The Milwaukee Brewers Once Famous Mascot
November 11, 2011 by Dennis Pajot · 2 Comments
Most ballparks now have mascots. But how many have a real live animal mascot? Perhaps the oddest I came across were the 1902 proposed mascots for the Denver and Colorado Springs teams: a live Grizzly Bear and a live Mountain Lion. Other Western League owners frowned on the idea and the bear remained the pet […]
A New Beginning, The Same Ending
April 1, 2011 by Daniel Shoptaw · Leave a Comment
In all the hoopla surrounding the start of the season, perhaps I misunderstood.  I thought we were turning the page to 2011, not reliving 2010.  Yet, for one game at least, a lot of last year’s issues reared their head in St. Louis. It was extremely frustrating to see how many two on, nobody out innings […]
Cardinals Get Off Script
September 10, 2010 by Daniel Shoptaw · 1 Comment
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 […]
Another Lost Cardinal Weekend
August 30, 2010 by Daniel Shoptaw · 1 Comment
What is left to say about this team? Â We are using up all the possible words to describe what we are seeing out of this team that, on paper, is one of the most talented ever to play in St. Louis but, on the field, has a frustrating inability to not put bad teams away. […]
The Frustration Continues
August 16, 2010 by Daniel Shoptaw · Leave a Comment
Remember when I said that Cardinal fans should caution against getting too high off of that Cincinnati series? Â Unfortunately, this 2010 team is becoming predictably frustrating. Â Let’s look at the series. Friday (6-3 win) Hero:Â Albert Pujols. Â Three hits, including a home run, and scored three runs. Â AP pretty much did it all. Goat:Â Brendan Ryan. Â Not […]
Sweeping Our Cares Away
August 12, 2010 by Daniel Shoptaw · Leave a Comment
Earlier this year, the Cardinals took the first two games from the Toronto Blue Jays on the road and sent out Adam Wainwright to complete the sweep.  Wainwright, though, had one of his rare off games and the Cards weren’t able to use the brooms. This time, though, Wainwright was able to seal the deal and […]
Cardinals Continue To Roll
July 21, 2010 by Daniel Shoptaw · Leave a Comment
What’s been the most encouraging thing during this current Cardinal winning streak is that they keep winning in different ways.  The first couple of games, they slugged.  They’ve had good pitching performances.  They’ve had comebacks.  They’ve beaten pitchers that normally give them fits. Everything save the comebacks came into play last night.  OK, they didn’t really […]
Signs Of Cardinal Life
May 25, 2010 by Daniel Shoptaw · Leave a Comment
It wasn’t a perfect weekend for St. Louis. Â Not that it was bad, mind you; anytime you win two of three it’s a pretty good set. Â 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
May 18, 2010 by Daniel Shoptaw · Leave a Comment
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. Â I think […]
Laying An Egg
May 14, 2010 by Daniel Shoptaw · Leave a Comment
No, I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth or been thrown into some big glowing light on a remote island. Â My work schedule has made it tough to blog this week and the Cardinals’ play has keep the motivation to blog down as well. Â Let’s take a quick look at the Houston series […]
Redbirds Roll Through Weekend
May 3, 2010 by Daniel Shoptaw · Leave a Comment
It was a very busy weekend for me, but the Cardinals did a lot of working as well. Â By now you know all about the games, but let’s take a quick look at Thursday through Sunday to get our Heroes and our Goats. Â (If you want a more in-depth look, my Week that Was column […]
Disaster Start
April 21, 2010 by Daniel Shoptaw · Leave a Comment
So far the Cardinals have played two games in Arizona. Â The differences could not be more stark. Monday night, it was vintage 2010 Cardinals. Â Brad Penny allowed a couple of runs in the first, then cruised, piling up out after out, extending the streak of starters going seven and allowing two runs or less to […]