great moments

Hi again! Miss me? Hope everyone had a long weekend for the holiday, and that it was a good one. I don't particularly enjoy holidays, and this was no exception, but for the most part, it wasn't that bad. It's over, anyway, and I'm happy about that. 

Of course, I missed most (i.e., all but about 3 outs) of Lohse's complete game, but Sportscenter and Baseball Tonight were nice enough to provide some lovely little snippets of the high points, including Schumaker's remarkable jump-and-catch. Somehow it didn't make the top 10 plays (and not even the top 10 baseball plays and I can't quite figure out why not, um... hello?), but for a guy who's learning the position, he sure makes it looks good. 

I'm not sure how well I'm doing keeping up with my N.D.D. stuff, but I figure as long as I go back and update things every so often, it'll work itself out. Don't check the board until at least tomorrow for updated points, but here are the novios for the last few games (not in order, by the way): 

First, you can't have a guy like Albert Pujols on the team and ignore him for the whole season, even if you are completely used to his particularly phenomenal style of play. So when he's hitting above .700 to start the season and still doesn't make the N.D.D. list, you know that it's only a matter of time before he does something that can put even that amazing stat to shame. I think two home runs and 7 RBI in one game is that thing. Albert gets novio del día points for doing what he does. 

Next up, Joel Piñeiro and Kyle McClellan split the points for the game one started and the other finished. I was rooting for Motte (more or less) to really break out in the closer's role and prove to everyone that he was the obvious choice, but he's having some growing pains as he learns the job. Fortunately, Tony took my advice and didn't just leave him out there (for any reason). That's when Mac came in, picked up the ball, and said, "Easy there, rookie, let me show you how it's done," with a twinkle in his eye. That was fun to watch. I'll jump on the bandwagon, thank you. McClellan for closer. 

 Of course, Kyle Lohse decided to reward the bullpen with a day off yesterday, and even though I didn't see it first-hand, every report gave me faith that Kyle is to going to prove to be an asset to the team (knock on wood). I believe one astute reporter called his contribution "quiet" because while he may not be freezing hitters at the plate with his curveball, he gets the most out of the defense behind him (and retires 24 in a row, wow). Kyle gets N.D.D. points and big smile for his 3-hitter shut-out. 

Carpenter is still in the lead on the N.D.D. board, mostly because after his amazing one-hitter through seven the other day, I decided that the 10 points I've been allotting (so that it's easier to split them up if the occasion arises) just weren't enough for that start. After all, a game like that means a lot more to the team than just one win. (knock on wood) 

Speaking of complete games (and no, I'm not going to mention Harang), how great is Josh Johnson? He's still on my wish list, if anybody cares. Oh, and he is on my fantasy team, which makes me feel pretty darn happy. 

My favorite Mike quote of the game (from the few minutes I got to hear yesterday): "Great play. Here, watch this play...," on the RADIO. To his credit, he did then describe the play (using actual words) instead of just the silence I was expecting.

priorities

I was kind of in and out of my brain this weekend, but hopefully everything's back in working order this morning. 

Last night, my daughter (who will be 4 next month) asked me (without any prodding or provocation at all), "do you miss 'Addy'?" And no, she didn't mean Daddy, she meant Yadi. 

We were watching the USA-Venezuela game, and she very astutely recognized that (1) it was baseball (okay, maybe that's not so miraculous), and (2) Yadi wasn't playing. Maybe that was because she knows what color uniform Yadi wears, or maybe it was because she inherited my ability to sense Yadi's presence without any corporeal clues. 

"Yes, I do miss Yadi," I answered. 

"When will he be back?" 

"Soon!" I told her. "The Cardinals start playing in about a month, and in fact, he'll be playing for Puerto Rico tomorrow." 

Then she said, "I miss him, too." I'm going to go ahead and give Yadi 25 points for that. 

Things in the WBC are going as well as we could hope for. The US team beat Canada and Venezuela, and PR won against Panama. RD is 1-1 (but since Albert isn't playing, I don't really care so much about that). As fate would have it, I won't get to see the PR game tonight because I don't get ESPN deportes or the MLB Network. (Thhhhbbbbppppt.) That's okay though, because Cardinals television coverage of ST will begin this weekend on a channel I do get. KSDK (channel 5) will have the Saturday game against the Braves. (Yay!) 

In case I haven't mentioned it, Erik (of Future Redbirds fame) announced that he's retiring from the blogging game (although he'll still be contributing ocassionally over at BtB). Chances are, if you follow the Cardinals, you're familiar with his site, and if you follow Cardinals blogs, you read it like a bible. He kept everyone (even those of us not so farm-conscious) well informed. He'll be missed. 

Good-bye Tyler Hansbrough. (It's harder than you'd think to be a Duke fan and a UNC fan at the same time.) Rest in peace Corey Smith, Marquis Cooper, and William Bleakley.

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

Pujols doesn't want to play against su patria, maybe out of respect, maybe not. At any rate, it means some 1B love for the Dunc-inator, and truth be told, if it's not Albert standing on the bag, I want it to be Chris.


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.

getting ready for the season

Spring sure feels good. It would feel a lot better if I could see the games, but barring my winning the lottery in the next few days (which is unlikely seeing as I don't buy tickets or ever win anything), I guess I'll just have to settle for some radio coverage from the big 550. I don't love 550, but they'll do. They're actually covering quite a few games this spring, so I guess I can give them that.

I briefly considered subscribing to MLB.tv (and am in fact still weakly considering it). I heard from several sources that it's better than it was last year (not that that means anything to me), and they've got Wellemeyer's start today against the Mets (which I would love to see), but $14.95 a month? For exhibition games? Being there in person would be one thing (and probably worth the cost), but watching on my crappy computer with no sound (because no, I still have not figured out what I did to my speakers or how to get the sound back, thank you) is not worth much to me. (Actually, I think I somehow uninstalled the sound device driver--don't think for a minute that I know what that means--and do not appear to have any CD in my current possession that contains the re-installation stuff I need.)

Someday I will get to Jupiter for some live ST action, but not this year. (Someday I will buy a computer that doesn't need its sleep and then sound like it's revving up every time I turn it on.)

Sounds like I'm going to have to start on my next lost cause project. Say what you want about Izzy (on second thought, strike that), he will forever remain one of my favorite Cardinals. He was easy to love for a while, but when things went south, people turned on him. (That whole issue is still pretty sore for me, but I admit I can understand the sentiment on an intellectual level. On an emotional level, it's a different story.)

At any rate, Izzy's gone now (sniff), and as luck would have it, there's someone else on my list of favorite Cardinals who is taking a lot of criticism. Not to give anything away, but he's the subject of the latest round in the UCB Roundtable, and based on the responses I've read so far, whatever small amount of compassion there was for him is fading fast. So, in the spirit of rooting for the underdog (and maybe just a little leftover oppositional defiant disorder from my childhood), I'm lending my full support to... well, you'll just have to wait and read the transcript of the discussion over at Redbirds Row.


Along those same lines, I've been thinking about the 2009 blogging season. I was trying to come up with a merit and/or demerit system for the players this year (kind of like C70's goats and heroes), but after dismissing several less-than-spectacular original ideas (not the minority of which involved pie), I decided to just steal an idea. (And you thought I had principles!) There's a defunct (or maybe retired is a better term) blog (BatGirl--a Twins blog) whose author awarded the titles of "boyfriend" and "boyfriend of the day" to players she felt were worthy. (There are probably other female bloggers out there using variations of the system as well.)

From the B.O.D. and Boyfriends FAQ:

What is a boyfriend? A "boyfriend" is that special Twins player that makes your heart go pitter pat. It has nothing to do with physical attraction; straight men can have Twins boyfriends as can gay women as can neutered Batkitties! Everyone can have a Twins boyfriend!

What is the Boyfriend of the Day, or B.O.D? With every Twins victory the B.O.D. Supreme High Commandress will select that... boyfriend who has most contributed to said victory.

Just replace "Twins" with "Cardinals", and it's almost like I came up with this all by myself! (In all seriousness, she was an amazing blogger and I miss her terribly. However, that will not stop me from hijacking her idea.)

I will, of course, make some minor adjustments. The first one will be to change several words into Spanish. Boyfriend will henceforth be Novio, and B.O.D. will be known as N.D.D. (novio del día). Presto! A semi-original-ish idea!

Also, for logistical reasons, the N.D.D. will not be chosen merely from the list of current novios (or singular novio), but rather from a pre-determined list of players. More details will be available later.

I will undertake the duties of the B.O.D. Supreme High Commandress, but I will not be assuming the title. You can continue to think of me as la beisbolista or Sarah-bug. Additionally, since I do not have a "team" as it were, all final decisions will be mine. If anyone is actually reading this (and not too embarrassed to contribute), I'll gladly accept suggestions in the comments section of any post.

The complete list of rules and regulations will be published shortly (before the beginning of the regular season, at least), so keep on the lookout as I know you're anxious to see how this turns out.

¡Saludos!