Tuesday, March 31, 2009
spare parts?
So I'm waiting. Yep. Just sitting idly, twiddling my thumbs, thinking about the word "twiddle" (and smiling), and hoping to hear soon who #25 is going to be. Well, not #25 strictly speaking, but the 25th person to occupy the 25-man roster. You see, by my count, there are 24 able bodies on said roster, and I find it hard to imagine Moze and TLR (or either individually) saying to themselves (or himself), "Ehh. Maybe 24's enough." Right?
12 pitchers. 2 catchers. 5 infielders. 5 outfielders. 2 infielders who could be outfielders. 2 outfielders who could be infielders. One outfielder who used to be a pitcher. One pitcher who used to be a catcher. 2 starters who used to be relievers. 2 relievers who want to be starters. One catcher who shaves his legs. One outfielder who has titanium parts.
Whew. (The word "fielder" has lost all meaning for me.)
ML put up the rotation, and it looks like Wainwright will get the start on opening day. Carp is being saved for the fourth spot in the order, and I heard somewhere (sorry, if it was from you) that it had something to do with the upcoming series against the Cubs.
I can definitely feel the excitement in the air. We're in the final stretch here, sports fans! 6 days until opening day. Seems like it's been forever.
Predictions 2009: NL East
- That being said, here's what I predict:
- 1. FLA Marlins. They had a great first-half run last year, and they learned a lot from it. They'll win the division by one or fewer games, but the margin doesn't matter. A win is a win is a win, after all.
- 2. NY Mets. A much improved bullpen (starting with the back end) will take them far, but not far enough to win the division. 3. PHI Phillies. They'll play the spoiler this year, and do what they can to keep the Mets from finishing strong enough to get past the Marlins. 4. ATL Braves. Even though they are working towards freshening things up, they're still an old team and I don't think they'll get back to the playoffs until the turnover is complete. 5. WSH Nationals. Do I really need to explain? Washington fans don't watch for the glory, they watch for the love of the game. At least, that's all I can figure.
Monday, March 30, 2009
options
Predictions 2009: AL
- AL East.
- The instigators. The (arguably) toughest division in all of baseball. Starting with the Yankees, these teams take up well more than their fair share of the spotlight. What helps me deal with this, though, is the fact that the spotlight doesn't back off just because you're having a "bad hair day" or one of your star players "admits to using performance-enhancing drugs". The good with the bad and all that.
- I predict:
- 1. BOS Red Sox. It's hard to get too creative with this division, although last year was as surprising as anything. I just don't see Tampa repeating, and even with CC and AJ and JC, I don't think the Yankees have quite overcome their own egoes just yet. Besides which, they seem insistent on playing Jeter in an everyday role, and he's just awful. Think of Boston as my "default" pick for this division. 2. NY Yankees. See above. I hate their free-spending ways, but they do have CC. 3. BAL Orioles. They have César now, after all. For this team, he's an improvement. 4. TB Rays. Pennant hangover. Does that apply? 5. TOR Blue Jays. 2018 will be their year.
- AL Central.
- Much like the NL Central, this division is largely overlooked by the National Media. Is it the unsavory locale? Is it the unappealing location? Is it the unpleasant region? Is it...? Okay, we get it. We don't have a coast. We're stuck in the middle of the country with our cows and our "dirt for sale" and our well insulated mid-sections. That doesn't mean we don't have some good players and competitive teams, but much like your weather, Southern California, some things never change.
- I predict:
- 1. CLE Indians. A-Rey will lead them to the promised land. Plus, they made a few notable acquisitions this off-season, although I can't seem to think of one right now. 2. MIN Twins. I wasn't going to rank them this high, but then I saw Slowey pitch. I had to give them props just for having him in the rotation. 3. CHI White Sox. I can't say anything bad about the Sox, partly because I get a kick out of Guillén, and partly because the black unis scare me. Unfortunately for the South-siders, they're going to come up short again this year. 4. KC Royals. Getting better every year. 5. DET Tigers. Getting worse every year.
- AL West.
- Really, I don't have much to say about the division that could just as easily be called "Angels 'n stuff". Oh, right, the A's picked up Matt Holliday. That should turn things around for them.... *rolling my eyes*
- I predict:
- 1. LA Angels of Anaheim. They lost K-Rod but picked up Fuentes. Honestly, even without Rodríguez, I think they could have sleep-walked across the finish line last year. 2. TEX Rangers. Ehh. They're in this spot mostly for the sake of argument. Stranger things have happened, you know. 3. OAK Athletics. Oh, and Springer. 4. (white space) Reserved for the Astros* whenever baseball figures out how to divide 30 by six. 5. SEA Mariners. They aren't just going to lie on the floor of the basement of the division anymore, they're going to force MLB to contract the construction of a sub-basement. Mark my words, somehow the Mariners will finish fifth in a four-team race.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
always comes too late
Friday, March 27, 2009
I missed pitching tuesday
embirded (adj.) adorned or decorated with birds or images of birds. «The Cardinals wear embirded uniforms; The Cardinals' jerseys are embirded; Which ones are the Cardinals? The embirded ones.»
You're right, it's not that impressive. But it will save me precious seconds that I would normally have wasted saying things like, "Their jerseys are adorned or decorated with birds or images of birds," and "The Cardinals are the ones with jerseys adorned or decorated with birds or images of birds." So you see, it's all in the spirit of time management. Feel free to use it and save yourself some time.
In other news, Troy Glaus sailed out to LA yesterday to have a "routine" examination of his recently surgically "repaired" shoulder. At least that's what we've been told. If you'll recall, we were told lots of fantastical things about his health in the recent past, and then he went and needed surgery. I take everything coming out of Cardinals camp with a big ol' grain of salt, and I'd advise you to do the same.
We're getting closer and closer to the end of Spring and the beginning of the regular season, and while not everything has gone exactly as hoped (or planned) this Spring, things could definitely be worse (knock on wood). To recap, we replaced some of the left-handed parts, cleaned out the entire middle infield (more or less), and re-hauled some broken down arms. Matthew Leach may be a closet Cubs fans, but I'm looking forward to a very competitive season from the embirded ones.
Fantasy Alert: I'm checking every day for Izzy to make the Rays' major league roster so I can add him to my team. I'll let you know how that goes.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
a few (more) bits
a few bits
Troy Glaus finally came to terms with the fact that playing in a Grapefruit League game is just not realistic for him. His surgery wasn't that long ago, after all, and while there was some small part of me hoping he would heal at super-human speeds (like Albert always seems to do), I was never counting on him to be ready to go on opening day. If he's ready (and healthy and free from complications) by my birthday (May 26), I'll require no other gifts.
Have you noticed that every time anyone in Cardinal Nation types or speaks the words "Chris Carpenter" they are immediately followed by the words "knock on wood"? Think we're just the tiniest bit terrified out of our minds that something is going to go wrong and all our hopes will be dashed before they even see the light of day? I think it's entirely possible that I won't actually breathe until I see him pitch a full day's work and then leave the mound smiling. Knock on wood.
Last year I grew to hate Ryan Franklin. I feel a little bit bad about this, because it wasn't really his fault. He was thrown into situations that weren't suited for him, and he probably did the best he could. As a matter of fact, I've scolded other people for giving Izzy grief over performing poorly when the circumstances were stacked against him, and then I went and did the same thing to Frankie. As of this moment, he has a clean slate with me. That is not to say that I want to see him closing out games again (for as long as I live), but if he happens to find himself in that role (heaven forbid), I will support him and encourage him to the best of my abilities. That being said, I'd much prefer to see him as a set-up man.
More later.
Monday, March 23, 2009
nothing much
Yeah, I watched the WBC. I didn't concentrate on it real hard, though, so blame me for the loss if you need to. Seriously, though, it's probably not exaggerating to say that it was a miracle the US made it as far as they did. And judging by the RD flag(s) in the stands, I'd say los dominicanos agree with me. Korea and Japan in the finals? I'll take Korea.
No, I'm not watching NCAA BB. If you're following me on twitter, you know why.
Spring Training is going well for the Cardinals so far (knock on wood). No, it doesn't mean anything, but if they're clicking, they're clicking, and it makes me feel a lot better about the regular season possibilities. Khalil Greene has impressed me as much as anyone. He's obviously fielding well, but he's also looking good at the plate. (By that, I mean he's hitting the ball well. He still needs a haircut. Speaking of which, when did Joe Mather turn into a Malibu Ken doll? Wow.)
All right, so Curt Schilling is retiring. And he has a blog?! Why didn't anyone tell me?!
Fantasy alert: if you don't want to read about my team, turn back now.
I traded Penny for Pettitte (because I started worrying about the shoulder) and Giles for Scutaro (because I realized that I had drafted Brian Giles). I am officially happy with my roster.
¡Saludos!
Friday, March 20, 2009
the 850-thousand dollar man
Have you ever seen those commercials where it starts as a black screen and then there's kind of a pulse feeling, as it brightens on certain scenes just long enough for you to see what's going on, then darkens again? Dark...scene...dark...scene... you get it? I can't think of a specific example right now, but if I do, I'll let you know.
In my Play Like a Cardinal commercial (if only I had access to Duncan and a studio where I could put this together), it would pulse in and out to show scenes of Chris doing different baseball-related things, and then.... well, here. Just read.
(Disclaimer: I did not steal any of this from anywhere, and I don't even know who Lee Majors is.)
Starts dark.
Brightens to scene of Duncan in a brightly lit operating room, lying on metal table as doctors and scientists wearing surgical gowns and masks stand over him... then darkens again.
Brightens to scene of Duncan in a gym benching weights... darkens again.
Brightens to scene of the operating room again, close-up of monitors showing vital signs... darkens again.
Brightens to scene of Duncan fielding fly balls... darkens again.
Brightens to scene of the operating room again, close-up of robotic prosthetics, tools, metal rods, and various nuts and bolts on tables covered with blue surgical linens; lots of activity, people working on Duncan... darkens again.
Brightens to scene of Duncan swinging away in the batting cage... darkens again.
Brightens to scene of the operating room again, close-up of nurses wiping sweat off the surgeon/mechanic's forehead as he leans over Duncan with some sort of power tool... darkens again.
Brightens to scene of Duncan in front of his locker buttoning his jersey... darkens again.
Brightens to scene of the operating room again, start on Duncan's face as he's smiling, pan out to show the hectic room from ceiling view, as doctors race to fix him, monitors are flashing... darkens again.
Brightens to scene of Duncan taking the field with crowd cheering and stadium lights on... darkens again to show STLCardinals.com logo.
-----------------------------------------
Get it? It's Duncan being turned into a cyborg! Or something. They're not actually operating on him, but rather replacing his human parts with titanium parts. See, because he has a titanium disc in his cervical spine. I knew you'd catch on.
I'm not really a producer, so it may need some tweaking. Suggestions?
Thursday, March 19, 2009
a is for anchor
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
fantasizing
Last night, way, way past my bedtime, was the draft for my fantasy baseball league. A live draft, for those of you who haven't done this sort of thing before, is fairly fast-paced. It's through Yahoo! Sports, and so there's also a lot of flashing flash and bright colors. For a newbie like me, it required quite a bit of concentration. Remarkably, I ended up with most of my top picks (although if you're in my fantasy league, you may be thinking to yourself, "remarkably, eh?" with a smirk on your face).
See, I had a strategy, and it was working beautifully for a while. The higher rated players were going first, and so my lower-ranked picks went unchallenged for a good portion of the time. However, as the draftees were thinned out, managers started focusing on position-specific selections, and at that point, even players further down the list were getting picked up. I had not anticipated that, and it forced me to change my strategy a little. In retrospect, I probably should not have picked Chris Duncan in the 7th round. (Go ahead, laugh it up.)
The players I missed out on that I would have liked to have acquired were Ryan Ludwick, Kyle Lohse, Pat Burrell, and Ramón Hernández. I completely forgot about A-Rey (please don't bother, I'm already chastising myself) until another manager grabbed him up, and I never had any real expectation of getting Adam Wainwright, although he was around longer than I would have thought he'd be. Between keeping tabs on what the rest of the managers were doing and queueing up my picks, I didn't have much time for thinking beyond the occasional, "well, [expletive]."
Anyway, wanna know whom I picked for my "dream team"? (Am I allowed to tell? Do I care?)
- My #1 overall pick was Yadier Molina. This should surprise no one. Actually, when I was setting up my pre-draft list (in case I fell asleep), it went something like this:
- 1. Yadier Molina
2. Albert Pujols
3-25. a bunch of other Cardinals with some random back-ups thrown in. (Oh, and I played favorites with los puertorriqueños.)
Yadier Molina (StL - C)
Chase Utley (Phi - 2B)
Rick Ankiel (StL - OF)
Aaron Miles* (ChC - 2B,3B,SS)
Josh Johnson (Fla - SP)
Brad Lidge (Phi - RP)
Chris Duncan (StL - 1B,OF)
Russ Springer (Oak - RP)
Troy Glaus (StL - 3B)
Skip Schumaker (StL - OF)
Carlos Delgado (NYM - 1B)
Mike Aviles (KC - 2B,SS)
Todd Wellemeyer (StL - SP)
Brett Myers (Phi - SP)
Felipe López (Ari - 2B,3B,SS,OF)
Brian Giles (SD - OF)
Khalil Greene (StL - SS)
Jonathan Sánchez (SF - SP)
Brendan Ryan (StL - 2B,SS)
Ian Snell (Pit - SP)
Kyle McClellan (StL - RP)
Luke Scott (Bal - OF)
Eric Bruntlett (Phi - 3B,SS,OF)
Mark Buehrle (CWS - SP)
Brad Penny (Bos - SP)
Iván Rodríguez (Hou - C)
I'm probably not going to win this league.
It's okay, though, because I like my team on a deeper level than performance statistics. My league-mates are probably all shaking their heads and/or rolling their eyes, and fantasy-philes around the world are sensing a disturbance in the force.
Well, maybe I don't have a real appreciation for the essence of fantasy baseball, but I'm having bunches of fun already and I anticipate a lot more before the season is over. I plan to give the rest of the managers a run for their money.
One thing I noticed when I was looking over my team after the draft was that I seem to be well-stocked on infielders, particularly middle infielders. I guess the current middle infield situation in Jupiter has me subconsciously squirreling away every extra guy I can find. It's been a hard winter.
*I wasn't going to allow any Cubs on my team, but I made an exception for Super-Miles.
Oh yeah. The WBC.
I guess I should say something about Puerto Rico's (insert colorful adjective here) loss to the good ol' US of A, but I don't really know what that would be. It was disappointing, and I'm a little bit glad I didn't get to see it. I despise David Wright anyway, so that particular fire didn't need any more fuel.
On the bright side, Yadi and Cheíto get to re-join the rest of the team for camp, and the fact that they made it as far as they did is nothing to sneeze at. They should be proud. I know I am.
Monday, March 16, 2009
¿por qué no te callas?
Why don't you just be quiet?
Sure, baseball players can be political. Sure, fans can boo them for it. But do we have to hear about it for 10 minutes? (Besides which, his hair is much in need of some discussion and yet no one ever seems to notice it.) Come to think of it, you probably don't want to read about it either.
Moving on.
Anybody else really hate Bobby Abreu? I mean really really? Huh. (Yeah, keep chicken-walking, you... something-or-other. What? It's late.)
I'd also like to take this opportunity to congratulate baseball on an amazingly disastrous new rule. Pardon me for a minute, I'll be yelling.
What a FABULOUS WAY to disrupt the FLOW of a GAME!!!
What a BRILLIANT METHOD to make the UMPIRES the focus of ALL THE ATTENTION instead of THE PLAYERS and--good grief!--THE GAME!!!
Players get to SIT ON THEIR THUMBS for a FULL FIVE MINUTES while the officials DISAPPEAR FROM THE FIELD!!! Pitchers get to LOSE THEIR RHYTHM and let their ARMS COOL DOWN!!!
I CANNOT BELIEVE they didn't think of this NONSENSE SOONER!!!
If I wanted to watch a game dictated by TECHNOLOGY and INSTANT REPLAY, I'D WATCH FOOTBALL!!!
Umpires should blend into the background. They should be invisible. They are there to quietly guide the game and nothing else. When they take center stage and have the entire stadium waiting and watching them, something is terribly, horribly wrong. I was against this idea from the start, but now that I've seen the thing in all its depravity, I can't believe there isn't more outrage.
Seriously folks, we've seen the BEAST, and it is video review. What a mockery.
Am I just bitter because of the loss? No. In fact, I wrote most of this in my head while it was actually happening, which is to say before PR lost so dreadfully to Venezuela.
Here's what else:
The runner (whoever the heck he was) was out when Yadi threw to second. You know what I'm talking about, don't act like you don't.
Henry Blanco is a freak.
Puerto Rico may turn out some great catchers, but Venezuela has the pitching market all locked up.
I'm happy about Yadi's at-bat in the ninth. It was a little scary to see him up first against K-Rod in such a serious situation, but I knew he wouldn't strike out and he didn't. He continues to amaze me with his patience and composure at the plate. 10 WBC points
I'm going to bed now (instead of watching the Mexico-Cuba game) to cry myself to sleep because I don't get to watch the PR-US game.
Oh, and I invented a word. I'll bust it out for you in the near future.
UCB Roundtable: The next to be honored
We all know (and have discussed) the rich history and tradition that the Cardinals have. A lot of the greatest Cardinals have had their numbers retired and have been immortalized on the wall in Busch Stadium. Who should be next?
And speaking of jersey numbers, how soon can numbers like 32 and 57 (that is if you didn't choose one of them as the next to be retired) be put back into circulation, if ever?
Saturday, March 14, 2009
I refuse to call him "li'l dunc"
This was my favorite quote. It's from a fan nicknamed "easy". (The bolding is mine.)
This is an excellent summation of the Dunc-inator's appeal.I’m torn I love to watch Dunc play. Even the outfield adventures are exciting. He never gets cheated at the plate, works hard all game, chews tobacco, has guts, doesn’t shave and just looks like a guy I’d get along with. Problem is he’s just not a very valuable player, at least for us, and he may be in the way of some better ones if he stays the next couple of years. for the latter reasons I have to rate him lower than I want.
On the field, he never slows down or slacks off. He's always giving 110% and he works hard to improve his defense. He has a lot of talent with the bat, and when he's healthy, he has the potential to lead a offense. He's young, and has his whole future ahead of him.
If you weren't aware (because maybe you like to start reading at the end), Big-D is my newest project. He's one of my favorite players, and because of some of the criticism he gets, I decided to make it my business to defend and/or promote him. (Don't worry, you'll understand once the regular season starts.)
So I'm off to a healthy start at least. And ba-Dunc-a-dunc's performance this Spring isn't hurting the cause, that's for sure. Maybe he really is fixed and will be able to contribute up to his potential this year. It would make my job a lot easier.
Friday, March 13, 2009
a little world baseball
This Cardinals blog I came across recently made me wish I'd been paying closer attention. Somehow I missed the update from Cardinals Best News Links (and just as an aside, if you're ever looking for Cardinals news and you're not looking there, you're looking too hard--he finds everything, and it is an awesome resource), although part of me wishes I could just erase it from my mind.
Apparently, in a disastrous 16-4 loss to Cuba (as if having to play Cuba isn't bad enough), Reyes showed his less impressive side.
In the 7th inning, with Mexico down 7-4, Dennys came in and faced 5 batters, did not record a single out, gave up 3 hits and 5 runs (all of them earned), walked one and beaned one. I believe there's a word for an outing like that, I'm just not going to type it because I'm trying to keep from using those kinds of words in the blog (anymore).
Yikes.
Hopefully he can get himself back on track in time to join the Cardinals in camp. Otherwise, this wonderful late-Spring signing is going to look pretty regrettable.
unas quejas
Thursday, March 12, 2009
over-thinking again
Follow-up question: Does the need for a 2Bman now take precedence over the need for a "sixth" starter, and if we have trade bait, do we use it to bring in a middle infielder?
Related question: What about Mike Avilés? I wasn't familiar with this guy until seeing his performance in the WBC, but he seems like a good SS, and has spent some time at second. Think we have anything the Royals need?
I'll try to figure all this out as I listen to the game on the radio this afternoon.
Albert has made news again, sort of, as he is the focus of an article in Sports Illustrated written by sports writer extraordinaire Joe Posnanski. (He's the kind of writer who makes me look at my own blog and wonder, sometimes aloud, "why do I bother writing when there are people out there doing it so much better?") It's a wonderful examination of Albert's unique situation, and I highly recommend it to anybody who really loves baseball.
I had this whole shpiel planned in which I would announce that I respectfully disagree with anyone who retains even a shred of doubt about Albert or his integrity, and then defer to other bloggers who have summed up the situation nicely. Then I started typing and, well, things happened. I realized I feel more strongly about this than I thought, and so I decided I owe it some (more) time.
1. I hate to be stubborn, but you will never, ever convince me that I'm wrong about this. There are a lot of things that I will give in to, and a lot of arguments that I can be persuaded to change my mind about, but this is not one of them. Albert is a special kind of player and person in my eyes, and you may call it "blind faith" but it's faith nonetheless, and I don't need test results or empirical evidence of any sort to affirm my beliefs.
2. No amount of testing is going to change anything. I was having a hard time putting this into words, but then I read C70's latest post and found that he had already done so quite well. The fact is, even if Albert were tested every day from now until he retired, people would still doubt him. There is no way to go back in time and prove him innocent for all those seasons that are over, and as C70 said (regarding people's insistence that he have himself independently tested),
3. Albert should not have to prove his innocence. There is a reason the justice system doesn't work that way and never will. Something about a town called Salem and some poor women being burned alive because they couldn't prove they weren't witches. Something about a Senator named McCarthy and a Red Scare. Something about basic human rights and fear of persecution. It's a terrible shame that he plays in this era with the weight of suspicion hanging over everyone who takes the field, but it is not his fault that others have tainted the reputation of America's past time, and it should not be his cross to bear.Taking a test will only have people saying, "Well, yeah, he passed, because he chose when to take it. All a publicity stunt, if you ask me."
4. You are free to disagree with me, and I'm sure there are those who will. I just hope there are no hard feelings.
Now, back to baseball. The Cardinals just finished taking care of the BoSox down in Jupiter (thank you, KTRS 550), courtesy of a Joe Mather 2-run (walk-off) home run. Picture me smiling.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
various and sundry items
To begin with, after all the stupid and/or ridiculous things I write on a pretty regular basis, I'm impressed that anyone was able to pluck out that one gem.
Second, maybe I did understate his performance. I won't say I was blown away, but I'm willing to concede that he did as well as you could ask any pitcher to do in that position. And considering his age and experience level, I guess maybe I should have been more generous with my praise.
Anyway, thanks to "anonymous" for reading and commenting. It's always nice to hear from other baseball fans.
I hope you're keeping up with the UCB Roundtable. The latest discussion is up over at Cardinals Diaspora, and if you need to catch up, C70 at the bat has the complete listing. Also make sure you listen tonight as the UCB do their weekly radio show to discuss all things Cardinals. I'm still working on my speaker situation (and if you couldn't tell, I'm resisting having to buy new speakers), but I'll be there in spirit.
Just to keep things interesting, and because I care, I thought I'd let you know that St. Louis has been named the 6th manliest city in the U.S. (based on very real and scientific-like data collected by people working for a snack food company).
Yeah! How's that for civic pride? As a matter of fact, Missouri has two of the top 10 manliest cities in the nation.If you're in the Midwest and looking to enjoy a game with a cold beverage, look no farther than St. Louis, which has the highest concentration of sports bars in the country.
Check out the entire 50-city list to see if your city was included (and find out the standards by which cities were judged).1. Nashville, Tenn.
2. Charlotte, N.C.
3. Oklahoma City, Okla.
4. Cincinnati, Ohio
5. Denver, Colo.
6. St. Louis, Mo.
7. Columbus, Ohio
8. Kansas City, Mo.
9. Indianapolis, Ind.
10. Toledo, Ohio
Chris Duncan earned himself 5 ST points* yesterday with his second home run. I can't wait for his turn in C70's Cardinals approval ratings. Yes, I know it will probably be ugly, but maybe my vote will help to balance it just a little.
*In case you were worried about how few points I've been handing out, let me ease your mind. This is just Spring Training, and much like camp for players, I'm using this time to warm up and get a little practice in before the real season starts. Once they're playing games that count, the points will be awarded on a game-ly basis (and much more fairly, I assure you).
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
venting my frustrations
Monday, March 9, 2009
loyalties
priorities
Thursday, March 5, 2009
with a name like Reyes . . .
aclarando las cosas
- Thanks to ML for today's lineup against la República Dominicana:
- 1. Schumaker 2B
2. Mather 3B
3. Ankiel DH
4. Ludwick RF
5. Duncan 1B
6. K.Greene SS
7. Jay LF
8. LaRue C
9. Rasmus CF
Now on to more important matters, namely, determination of novios and novios del día. Sorry to keep you waiting. (You were waiting, right?)
What is a novio? As is the tradition, a novio is the player for whom you stand and clap when he steps up to bat (even when you're in your own living room). He's the player whose jersey you wear faithfully and whose autograph you covet. He's the player for whom you argue when the umpires are being stupid, and who can do no wrong. Maybe you highlight his name on the scorecard. Maybe you whisper a little prayer when he's on deck. Maybe you know his stats by heart (going back to his high school ball days). Maybe you celebrate his birthday or the anniversary of his first big league home run. You cry when he gets hurt. You cheer when he gets a hit. You know in your heart of hearts that if he were to get traded or somehow end up on another team, you might just have to become a fan of that team. When he's struggling, you defend him. When he's hot, you beam with pride. In some ways, on some level, he is the team in your eyes.
Who can have a novio? Anyone can have a novio, and most of you probably do if you think real hard. Women, men, and everyone in-between can have a Cardinals novio. Whether you prefer to call him that, well, that's another story.
What must a novio be? A player on the current Cardinals roster. You might love Keith Hernandez above all others and snuggle with your Keith Hernandez-shaped body pillow (appropriately dressed in a Keith Hernandez jersey) while you watch highlights of old games in which Keith Hernandez played, but for the purposes of this experiment, Keith Hernandez cannot be your novio. Maybe you and "Keith" can root for Khalil Greene together.
As should surprise no one, Yadier Molina is mi novio cardenalero--my Cardinals novio. (My Cardinal novio? Well, whatever.) He is my favorite player, partly because of his incredible defense, partly because of his skill guiding the pitching staff, partly because of his remarkable (and ever-improving) offense, and partly because he is just so darn adorable I could eat him up. Truth be told, one of those factors is way more important than the others, and I'll let you use your imagination to figure out which one.
Now to the daily competition...
Who can be a novio del día (N.D.D.)? Any Cardinals player can be novio del día. For each game, the player who contributed the most--offensively or defensively--will be named novio del día and get N.D.D. points. The team does not have to win the game for a novio del día to be named, but it helps. However, it's understandable that sometimes a player may perform at the N.D.D. level, but can't quite carry the whole game by himself. Under those circumstances, he would still receive the N.D.D. honors, but probably fewer (if any) points.
Points? Points will be awarded to the N.D.D. based on
[1] the importance of the game (ie, is it ST? division rival? post-season?),
[2] the value of the contribution (ie, a game-winning run? a game-saving play? just dumb luck?),
and [3] my current mood.
Basically, it's all arbitrary.
I'll keep track of points over the course of the season, and will award special "prizes" to the winner.
What if none of the players distinguishes himself in such a fashion on a particular day? If no other obvious choice is apparent, the points go to Yadi. Obviously, Yadi can be the N.D.D. just like anyone else (and if he's playing, he's got a pretty good shot), but if for whatever reason no one, including him, is the stand-out novio del día, he gets the points by default. It is my game, after all.
Got it?
And now some random things...
7. Baseball makes sense. It is logical and reasonable and understandable. Life should be more like baseball.
8. I used to insist on sitting in the left field bleachers when we would go to games because I had a crush on Ray Lankford. I've never told anyone that before.
9. The only time I ever watched American Idol was the season Nikko Smith was a contestant. No, I don't suppose that one is really about baseball, but it's related. (Ha! Get it? Related? *wink*) He was the only reason I watched and I quit after he got the boot.
More later.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
all is right with the world
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
a pitching tuesday quickie
Monday, March 2, 2009
more randomness
Adding to my "25 random things" list...
Random things about me r/t baseball
4. My foray into blogging began with Microsoft Word and a very colorful chart in which I recorded game scores, wrote important notes, and tabulated averages, saves, and various other stats. After the disappointment that was the 2004 post-season, I decided that the next time the Cardinals played in October, I wanted my own personal record of the season, and the idea for the chart was born. After the 2007 season, I decided to take it up a notch and keep track of things more emotional in nature, and since I'd recently joined facebook, I integrated the two and started writing "notes" about the games. Eventually this lead to an ongoing s*** list in which I kept track of the players who were really aggravating me (and whether they ever redeemed themselves). From there it was a short jump into the world of true blogging, and I've never looked back. (The list didn't last very long because it turned out to be more trouble than it was worth, but you can see the part I archived here, if you want. The rest is lost in inter-space somewhere.)
5. I don't just talk to the television when the game's on, I carry on entire, very involved conversations with Dan and Al. Sometimes these conversations get a little heated, but we always make good by the next first pitch. I often wonder how their wives put up with them.
6. I think there's always something new to learn about the game, and I love learning. For example, I used to graciously accept the various announcers' explanations of what makes a balk a balk whenever the subject would come up, but last year I decided I wanted to know the facts. Now that I have a better idea of what to look for, I have one more thing to yell at the tv about.
Just getting warmed up now...