boo-YAH

The Cardinals and Yadier Molina have agreed to terms on a one-year contract to keep him in Cardinal Red through next season.

The face of the franchise.

The Arm.

The Captain.

The glue that holds this whole crazy thing together.

Going on 18 seasons and still a force to be reckoned with. Yadi has grown up so much since starting with the big club in 2004. He has worked/played with some of the biggest names in baseball. He trained under one of the best catchers in the world. Our pitchers and coaches regularly exalt his name and praise his contributions. 

There's not much to say that hasn't already been said. 

I'll just leave you with this...

Molina’s Legendary Career Began With 2004 World Series Altercation

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – Major League Baseball learned of Yadier Molina’s greatness during the first postseason start of his career, in the 2004 World Series versus the Boston Red Sox.

The St. Louis Cardinals were down three games to none, and catcher Mike Matheny was benched for Game 4 in St. Louis. A rookie, Molina had played in only 51 games that season.

But early in Game 4, he came to Matheny for advice, after he noticed Boston slugger Manny Ramirez relaying signs to David Ortiz at the plate about which pitch was coming.

“I said, ‘When he comes up, make sure he knows that you’re on to it,’” Matheny said according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I didn’t know that he was going to take his mask off and get in (Ramirez’s) face. I was sitting over there saying, ‘That’s probably not what I would have done … but that will work.”

Molina met Ramirez at home plate in the top of the fourth, and had no problem standing up to that season’s American League home-run champ.

Boston manager Terry Francona came out to squash the chances of the altercation becoming physical, and talked about the incident in his memoir “Francona: The Red Sox Years.”

When Francona heard what Molina was accusing Ramirez of, he turned toward plate umpire Chuck Meriweather: “Chuck, Manny doesn’t even know our signs.”

Francona then asked Ramirez, “You don’t know our signs, do you, Manny?”

Ramirez replied, “No.”

That’s just a hilarious “Manny-being-Manny” side note to the main story, that Molina demanded respect from his first moments in the big leagues. Ramirez had more home runs, than Yadi had hits in the 2004 season. And remember, this was before the steroid rumors surrounded Ramirez’s career.

Molina was 21-years-old, but wouldn’t let Ramirez, 32, break one of baseball’s unwritten rules.

Molina’s dedication to protecting his sport will certainly be remembered after his Hall-of-Fame career comes to a close.

baseball is back

First, a question. What in the hell is in Yadi's mouth?

Okay, I know. You don't know. You're probably even thinking, "Huh?" Or, "What?" Seriously, though. It was not your run-of-the-mill mouth guard. Is he wearing a retainer?

What a beautiful day for baseball. Be sure to sit outside and soak up some vitamin D, sports fans.

Now, on to the game. (How exciting is it that we finally have real baseball to talk about?)

Good things about the 2010 Opening Day in Cincinnati:

• Yadi in the lineup (and, maybe more importantly, behind the plate).
• A-Rey, Jr. rocking the stirrups.
• The Best Player In Baseball. AB: 1. HR:1.
• The Wood-smith on the mound. "Screaming at Votto down the line." 
• Scott Rolen on deck. 
• End of the first, Cards up 1-0.
• Scott Rolen flying out to left field.
• Raspberry Tart going deep in the fourth.
• Lug-nut's base hit to left.
• The Penguin's RBI single.
• Rolen bobbling the ball, allowing Yadi to go to third.
• The Wood-smith's bunting stance.
• Carp powering through the fourth and keeping the lead intact.
• End of the fourth, Cards up 3-2.
• TBPIB now 2 for 3 with a single in the fifth.
• The Captain sliding cleats-first into the 2Bman.
• "The ball gets away and Pujols will score!" 
• End of the fifth, Cards up 4-2.
• Molina beating Rolen's throw to first.
• Raspberry Tart climbing the wall and taking a homerun away from Rolen.
• Realizing (during the interview) that my respect for Moze has grown exponentially since his start.
• TBPIB adding on 2 more with his second HR of the season/game following a Boog single.
• The Captain collecting his first hit with a single in the seventh.
• Carp leaving with a decent line. 6IP, 5H, 2ER, 3K, 0BB.
• End of the seventh, Cards up 6-3.
• End of the eighth, Cards up 6-4.
• YADI TAKING ONE YARD FOR A GRAND SLAM!!!
• "The Redbirds have pulled out the power sack." -Mike Shannon
• Cards win the first game of 2010 by a score of 11-6.

Not-so-good things:

• On 3-0, Matt Holliday lining out to Aaron Harang.
• Yadi hit by a pitch in the fourth. Holliday in the fifth.
• Stranding 2 in the fourth.
• Votto's solo shot in the fourth.
• Rolen's solo shot in the fourth.
• Batman booting an easy grounder.
• The Reds' circus act in the sixth to get Carp at first.
• Jason Motte.
• The ball through the legs of The Penguin.
• "That was stolen off McClellan."
• Ryan Franklin

Well, at any rate, there is one thing we can all agree on: the Cardinals are back.

Oh, and the Cubs are losing lost. *smile*

Ahhh, baseball. It's going to be a great year.

10 NDD points for Yadi. For his FIRST GRAND SLAM EVER.

um... duh.

Yadi is hurt. I'm sure I'm only the latest person to mention this, but it bears repeating. He strained his oblique on the basepaths and may very well miss opening day.

*blink*

Do I sound calmer than you would've thought I'd be? Worry not. I'm currently chewing on the keyboardcxzCVSCz FSXCDC SXWsxzcdcvSXZDSXAzXZ SCX CS X

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WHAT WILL WE DO WITHOUT YADI?!?!?!

Oh, sure, Jason LaRue is a great back-up, but he's no Yadi! No one is Yadi! He's, he's... YADI!!!

TLR said this about his catcher:

I don't think there's anybody on our team more important than Yadier. There's others that are as important, but Yadi is right there tied for first.

Aaauuuuggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Good gods, what will we do?

it's spriiiii-iiiing

The awesomely talented photog over at stltoday.com is back in Spring action, and the boys in red are back at work. Pitchers and catchers reported today for the St Louis Cardinals (although evidence suggests a variety of position players showed up), and Jupiter is once again the best place on earth. (And believe me, as I stare out the window at another sunny yet snow-covered day in the Midwest, I'd much rather be in Florida.)

Of course, nothing is as important as the arrival of hitting coach Mark McGwire to camp (at least if you judge importance by the amount of ESPN coverage dedicated to something). Derrick Goold even got to speak on SportsCenter about the colossal and world-altering event. He described it as "mooted".

The most fitting definition I could find goes something like this: Of no practical importance; irrelevant.

Never mind me, I'll just be enjoying the pictures.

no hay que preocuparse

When I heard that Ryan Ludwick was the July NL Player of the Month, my first reaction was, well, what?

He was described as having quietly earned the honor, but considering the noise being made by Matt Holliday since his arrival with the club, Luddy could've been screaming at the top of his lungs and still gone unheard. In fact, he kind of did. ESPN shows his July line as pretty "quietly" spectacular.

(R)18 (H)34 (2B)5 (3B)0 (HR)6 (RBI)28 (BB)10 (SO)21 (SB)1 (CS)0 (OBP).396 (SLG).570 (OPS).966 (AVG).340

Of course, if you were able to pay attention to anything other than Holliday's .600+ average or DeRosa's 7 home runs, then you already knew how successful Ryan was in July. The point is, it's nice to see him get recognized for something that might easily have gone unnoticed by the rest of the NL.

What didn't go unnoticed for the last few games was Pujols' "slump". (And yes, I use quotation marks when referring to Albert's temporary return to planet earth.) Honestly, if he didn't hit a slow patch every now and again, we'd have nothing to remind us of just how truly extraordinary he is and how lucky we are to see history being made in our own backyard. As for me, I've learned not to worry about the big guy. No matter what it is, he'll figure it out. It's nice to have a man like that in my life. (smile)

Other notables:

Joel Piñeiro, while not stellar last night, has been very good most of the year. I'd almost like to see the front office bring him back next year.

I've meant to say something about Yadi's latest hairstyle for a while now. Every time I see him on the screen, I wonder if he knows what that mohawk/faux-hawk really looks like. Not that it's that bad (certainly better than the blonde), but it's just not him. Si lees esto Yadi, creo que ya es hora de probarte algo diferente.

imagining a memory

Okay, so eaaaaasing my way back into this thing, I thought I'd tell you about the game last night. First of all, I didn't actually see the game. I know, I know. Chastise me if you must, but it was unavoidable. (They will re-air it today at noon, so it's not the end of the world, people.) My kids, however, did see the game, in person. (in persons?)

My son, a member of the local high school marching band, performed with the marching band on the warning track before the game and got to stay and watch the game for free. My parents decided to go and watch as well (mostly the performance, but also the game), and they took my daughter along for her first ball game. Yes, it was disappointing that I had to miss the whole thing--the band performance, the memories, and the Cardinals win--but I guess it's bound to happen now and then.

When I asked how it went, I got two different responses.

~~~

Me: So, how did it go?

Dad: Good game. Cards won. Beautiful weather.

~~~

Me: So, how did it go?

Mom: Oh, the band played very well, and Claire had a great time, but there weren't as many people from the school there as there were last year. The weather was beautiful.

~~~

The most amusing/wonderful/gratifying part was that my 4-year old daughter spent the entire game cheering for Molina. "Yay Yadi!" she would yell (or so I'm told) every time his name was announced (or even merely mentioned in passing). "To the point of being quite annoying," my father added. She clapped and screamed and sang his praises, and to be honest, I've never been more proud.

Overall, I'd say it was a success. Next year I'll be there.

bad news bullpen

Two things that I'm thinking about: (1) Jason Motte does not interview well. Good thing he has that fastball. (2) I hope Yadi's teammates are making fun of his hair. That may sound mean, but por el amor de Dios, Yadi! Ay.

Anyway, you want to talk about a bad bullpen? Atlanta was on top of the Phillies 10-3 going into the Phillies' half of the 7th, then FOUR bases-loaded walks and a bunch of other nonsense later the Phils take an 11-10 lead IN ONE INNING. (clears throat) IN ONE INNING.

Here's Yahoo!'s play-by-play of the bottom of the seventh in Philly:

- E. O'Flaherty relieved G. Norton

- S. Victorino grounded out to third

- C. Utley singled to center

- R. Howard hit by pitch, C. Utley to second

- P. Moylan relieved E. O'Flaherty

- J. Werth walked, C. Utley to third, R. Howard to second

- R. Ibanez singled to left, C. Utley scored, R. Howard to third, J. Werth to second

- P. Feliz singled to center, R. Howard scored, J. Werth to third, R. Ibanez to second

- M. Stairs hit for C. Ruiz

- M. Stairs walked, J. Werth scored, R. Ibanez to third, P. Feliz to second

- B. Boyer relieved P. Moylan

- C. Coste hit for C. Condrey

- C. Coste walked, R. Ibanez scored, P. Feliz to third, M. Stairs to second

- J. Rollins walked, P. Feliz scored, M. Stairs to third, C. Coste to second

- J. Campillo relieved J. Campillo

- S. Victorino singled to right, M. Stairs scored, C. Coste to third, J. Rollins to second

- C. Utley walked, C. Coste scored, J. Rollins to third, S. Victorino to second

- R. Howard grounded out to first, J. Rollins scored, S. Victorino to third, C. Utley to second

- J. Werth flied out to right

That's... sad.

Loooooooouuu . . .

That's right, they weren't booing Motte, the fans were simply acknowledging the legendary Lou Brock, who, for some reason, was suddenly at the front of their minds. Glad we got that all cleared up. 

Yesterday renewed my enthusiasm for the season. Albert homered, ba-Dunc-a-dunc homered, and Yadi homered and tripled. The Cardinals put Ian Dávila-Snell through the ringer (and yes, I'll accept your gratitude) to the tune of 12 hits and 9 runs. It was really my favorite kind of game (ie, the kind where the Cards win). 

Deciding on the novio del día was tough. I admire C70's choice of Yadier for his hero. I considered Yadi along with Lohse and Duncan and, of course, Albert (who is hitting something like .740 to start the season, uh huh). There were home runs, triples (I still can't stop smiling), and a lot of good pitching (from start to finish) to sort through. Ultimately, though, I went with my gut. 

Colby Rasmus made his major league debut last night. He has been the talk of all Cardinal Nation for quite a while, and people have been chomping at the bit to get him to the show. I've always been a little leery. I guess I figured that with all the excitement and hype, there was no way any mere mortal could live up to the expectations, and the pressure might actually kill him. I'm not saying that all my fears have been allayed, but he sure took a big step towards making me eat my words. He played good defense, and he went 2/4 at the plate, but the thing that really impressed me was the way he ran out his grounder in the fourth and extended the inning for the big bats. No half-slack jog, no slamming down the bat in frustration, no lazy look back to see where the ball was. He just put his head down and ran, and it was the last thing I expected. Looks like I may have to reconsider my opinion of the Raz-master (huh? no?), and I'm glad to do it. Because if he's half the player he's been marketed as, he'll be a welcome addition to the team. 10 Points for the Big Cheddar (hmm?). 

Wellemeyer starts tonight against some guy I've never heard of (Ohlendorf? should I know this person?), and fair warning: Motte is rested. I suggest a nicely padded lead going into the ninth. He could still pitch, but there's no need to throw him back into the deep end all at once.

and so it begins

I was so ready to award Ryan Ludwick the first official N.D.D. points of the 2009 season, even after Motte had me pulling my hair out in the ninth, but then he went and swung through that last pitch. Luddy had a good game overall (going 2 for 5), and so did Albert (3 for 4), but it was a bitter loss and I'm having a hard time finding anything positive to say about it. 

Joe Thurston made his major league debut and looked happy enough to giggle when he came in to run for Duncan and then came around to score on Schumaker's single. 

The parade was nice, but it looked cold. The Clydesdales looked cold. The hall-of-famers looked cold. Mike Shannon looked perfectly warm. 

I'm really starting to question whether Yadi's hair is cursed. I speculated when I first saw it that it might be bad luck, but after the way he's been playing lately, I think it's highly likely something hinky is going on. Besides his 0 for 4 at the plate, he didn't look super comfortable behind the plate. Hopefully he just needs to warm up. Hopefully the whole team just needs to warm up. 

You know what? It's no use. Blah, blah, blah. Neil Patrick Harris is a cutie. (That was the sound of me changing the channel in my head.)

options

Chris Perez, our savior-I mean, saver-I mean, closer-I mean, ninth inning pitcher-I mean, pitcher... wait, what I was I talking about? 

Oh, right. Perez was optioned to Memphis today, presumably to make room for another middle infielder like, um... well, I don't know, actually. Barden? Thurston? Is Ottavino an infielder? I guess technically pitchers do work in the infield, right? 

Anyway, TLR thinks that Perez needs more, regular playing time, and he isn't going to get it at the expense of the big club unless he's really, truly ready. 

Colby Rasmus won the game for the embirded ones (eh?) after a series of stooge-like mistakes by both teams. I would've liked to see the game today, just to try and catch a glimpse of the message allgedly scrawled across Hanley Ramirez' chest in permanent marker. (Not that he normally takes off his shirt during games, don't get too excited, but maybe if the sun caught him just right and the wind was cooperating, you never know.) 

Personally, I think the whole "no jewelry/hair neatly trimmed" is a wonderful policy and I often wish the Cardinals had a similar rule. No one on our team gets too over-the-top with the bling (although the hair has started to become an issue), but I don't see the need for chains and earrings on the field, and if anything, they're an injury risk. The hair is more about appearance. I like the clean-cut, clean-shaved, jewelry-less look on my ball players. 

Speaking of hair, did you see Yadi? I Googled for "Molina blonde", "Yadier bleach", and various other combinations of words, but apparently no one is talking about it yet. Well, just so you know, Yadi has dyed his hair yellow/gold. It's awful. I was speechless when I first saw it, even with the warning I got from Al (who speculated that Yadi dyed it to match his gold glove, and you cannot imagine how desperately I hope that isn't true...), but I did manage to tweet about it a little. Or a lot. Yadi, te amo, pero este look no es para ti. 

What else... Glaus was officially placed on the 15-day DL, and I put him on my fantasy DL also. Oh, and the UCB is centralized now. We have a homepage/main site where links will be posted to all the participating blogs for each project, as well as a twitter roll and a blog roll for the member blogs. PHE set it all up, so stop by and have a look around. And be sure to check out all the 2009 predictions.

fantasizing

I've been told that "no one talks about their fantasy team." Well, as I'm not one to stand on ceremony, and don't really care what "everyone else" does, I'm going to talk about my fantasy team. Over and over again.

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.)

I did not get Albert because I picked ninth/third. He went second overall. Here's who I did get (in order by round):

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.

¿por qué no te callas?

Yes, I just made an Hugo Chávez reference. (Actually, I guess it's more a Juan Carlos I reference. Ha ha!) At any rate, it's really just a reaction to the announcers spending Magglio Ordoñez' entire first plate appearance talking about the fact that the Venezuelan fans hate him because he has recently publicly endorsed the middlingly unpopular president of Venezuela (and his ambitions).

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.

loyalties

At some point, anyone reading this blog might start to question my loyalties. 

"Are you a Cardinals fan or a Yadier Molina fan?" they might ask. 

Ha ha! Good question! 

 Okay, I'm just kidding. I'm both, obviously. But I'm not a Yadi fan just because he plays for the Cards, and conversely, I'm not a Cards fan just because Yadi plays for them. 

"So if Yadi's PR team was playing (televised) at the same time the Cardinals were playing (televised)--and in this metaphorical universe it wasn't a Spring Training game because strange things like that are possible--which game would you watch?" 

Well that's just silly. 

"So?" 

(clears throat) Um... 

"No tivo." 

(laughs nervously) 

Anyway, I just wanted to reassure you of my allegiances before I told you this: YADI DROVE IN THE GAME-WINNING RBIs IN THE EIGHTH ON A BASES-LOADED DOUBLE INTO LEFT!!!! 

Ol' Ned's pitchers had done a pretty decent job of keeping the boricua hitters in check (and were ahead 1-0) until the 7th when PR had the bags full. Unfortunately, they left them that way. But in the 8th, Yadi came through, driving in two before getting called out in a play at the plate when he tried to add on another run after Feliciano singled and drove in Avilés. 

Puerto Rico won 3-1. 

ESPN's recap included video of Yadi pointing to the sky and obviously sharing the moment with his father who passed late last year. It's those moments, isn't it? So I hope you can understand my predicament. I just can't choose between them. Lucky for me, it's never come down to one or the other. Let's hope it never does. 

Oh, and be sure to check out the latest round of the UCB Roundtable over at Whiteyball.

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.

béisbol puertorriqueño

The reigning champions, los Gigantes de Carolina (the puertorrican team for which Yadi plays and which Oquendo manages) were officially eliminated from contention Friday. They played two games in a row, on Friday and then Saturday, against los Criollos, and needed to win both of them in order to have any chance at climbing back into fourth place. They lost Friday, cementing their place in the basement, but won Saturday and (as good spoilers are wont to do) ensured that los Criollos would have to play (and beat) the first-place Leones in order to stay in the postseason mix.

No one on los Gigantes played particularly good baseball this season, including our Yadi, who ended up with a .190 average. The GM, Enrique Cruz, said that there will be changes made before next winter, though he made no specific mention of Oquendo in particular. Cheíto (Oquendo) said that he wants to return, but realizes it is up to management. He puts some of the blame for the disappointing season on the fact that some players who had committed to playing never showed up.

Contábamos con unos muchachos desde el principio, que no estuvieron, y lo que conseguimos (en reemplazo) no fue lo que esperábamos.

We counted on some guys from the beginning, who weren't there, and what we got (in replacement) was not what we were expecting.

The link to the roster is here, and you can see for yourself how dismal the numbers were. Not hitting needs no translation.

UCB top five stories of 2008

The 2008 season was a fun one. There were ups. There were downs. The NL Central went from being the underachievers to the enforcers. The Cubs dominated baseball for most of the year, then dropped a big, steaming pile at the division series (which is as much fun as anything for us). The Brewers and Astros made us all seasick with their rollercoaster-like movement through the standings. The Pirates and Reds played their usual role as spoilers, and somehow still put fans in the seats (as usual). The Cardinals played hard (and even found themselves on top for a while) and fought hard, but in the end, couldn't sustain the success. They did finish at 10 games over .500 and with a lot of dignity (winning the last six of the season), and made us all proud in a year that was predicted early to be a nightmare. We spent six months playing the "what-if" game, speculating about the bullpen, the offense, and the injuries. Though, after all is said and done, we are still lucky enough to be fans of the best team in baseball, and lucky enough to have witnessed a lot of history. And the really amazing thing is, we never forget that.

On a personal note, this was my first season blogging about the 'Birds, and I thoroughly enjoyed exchanging ideas and opinions with the other bloggers, and can't wait for the '09 season to get started. Bring on Spring Training, already!

The latest UCB project is a list of the Top 5 Stories (per individual interpretation) of the 2008 Cardinals season. Hereafter lies the list I have compiled. (For everyone else's, head over to C70.) Please enjoy! (And cheers to 2008!)

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1. Yadier Molina

I gotta tell ya, as soon as I saw the topic, I knew exactly what my first story would be. 2008 was a break-out year for Yadi offensively. He batted .304 overall, with 7 homeruns, 56 RBI and 56 runs created, and struck-out only 29 times. (In fact, he was one of the toughest Ks in baseball.) He also kept up his defensive specs (although not quite as spectacularly as his '06 season) and finally received that most coveted of defensive awards, the Rawlings Gold Glove (for which he was overlooked in '06 and '07, although I am loathe to mention it). He was able to guide his pitchers through tough innings and tough at-bats. He was run over at the plate, suffered a concussion, and still held on to the ball for the out. He shed his equipment in the batter's box in protest of some questionable umpiring. He hit a double to the wall and then came around to score on a wild throw/error. Okay, I could go on and on about the toughness and talent that Molina showed this past season (and for as long as we've known him), but you all know what I'm talking about. He's our Yadi.

P.S. - After that infamous collision with Bruntlett at the plate, Bernie Miklasz basically summed up the whole season for the Cards in one line, and I feel like this line (as it says) says it all about Yadi and the Cardinals.

And when Molina wouldn't budge, that was the play of the summer, the play that told you all you needed to know about what drives the 2008 Cardinals.

2. The Rolen-Glaus trade

Another easy choice. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, in Cardinal Nation was skeptical about how this was going to turn out. Jays fans were elated, Cards fans were leery. I mean sure, Scott was a malcontent who couldn't get along with the manager or stay healthy for two minutes at a time, but he was like greased lightning with a glove at third base. He had range, reach, and athleticism. (And he could hit a little bit, too.) And here was coming Troy Glaus from Toronto, another malcontent with bad knees and a reportedly average glove. He had shown moments of greatness throughout his career, but had been declining of late (offensively and defensively). Our cautiousness was far from optimistic.

And yet, as pessimistic as we were, Cardinals fans (as is our way) didn't hestitate to give Glaus a chance to prove himself, and we were far from disappointed. Troy Glaus was not merely an adequate replacement, he was pretty damn good with the glove (narrowly missing out on the Gold Glove award--at least as far as the voters were concerned), and got plenty done at the plate (allergies and streakiness notwithstanding), racking up 27 HR (an appropriate number, no?), 99 RBI, and a .270 (hmmm....) average. Rolen, on the other hand... well, nevermind. It worked out for STL, at any rate.

3. The disintigration of the bullpen

This wasn't an easy choice so much as a given. No one who watched even a handful of innings from the 2008 season could argue that the bad news bullpen was problem number one and cost us more than a few games. I believe the blown saves totalled 30, and the late-innings meltdowns were innumerable.

To be honest, not much really needs to be said, save this: That "what-if" game I referenced earlier applies no more emphatically to any area of the team than it does the 'pen. The problem with that game, though, is that it traps you in time. It traps you in the past, and the longer you muck around, the more difficult it is to escape. Therefore, I'm done blaming the relievers for the disappointing losses and the missed playoffs. I'm tired of mucking around. Time to move on.

4. The departure of Anthony Reyes

The Cardinals front office did the only thing that could be done for A-Rey. They traded him for a double-A pitcher from a struggling organization. Then they salted the earth so nothing else would grow.

Throughout his career with the Cardinals, Anthony was never viewed as more than a fill-in for a tired arm in the rotation. His pitching, while commanding at Memphis (and even rarely at Busch) did not mesh with Dave Duncan's demands. His high fastballs, intended to get fly-outs, went against the basic mores of the LaDunc regime. (I say this, of course, with all respect due Tony and Dave, because no one respects those two more than I do. However, I never agreed with the way they handled this situation, and I don't feel a bit bad for mentioning it.) Besides that, Anthony always seemed to be the hard-luck pitcher for the Cards. He threw a complete game one-hitter against the White Sox and got the loss. He picked up a loss against the Mets in a game that was called after five innings because of a little rain. He certainly paid his dues.

Luis Perdomo, the pitcher acquired in the trade, was with the club for four and a-half months (and pitched exactly 18 double-A innings) before being swiped by the Giants in the Rule-V draft (even though the roster was not full and he could easily have been protected). The whole business was stinky and ugly, but at least Anthony is now with a club where he'll get a fair shot at starting and maybe even surprise everyone by leading the Indians to a World Championship (you never know).

5. The rocket launcher attached to Rick Ankiel's left shoulder

Rick Ankiel fell apart on the mound. He completely lost his control and was forced to reconsider his career path. He put down the ball and picked up a bat. He worked hard and gave himself over to the transition, never questioning the choice (by his own account) to overhaul his dreams and take up an outfield glove. His inspiring, emotional story leads the league when it comes to inspiring, emotional baseball stories. But to be honest, it's old news. It's been said, it's been written (far more eloquently than I could ever put it), and it's been rehashed to the point of saturation. Therefore, it isn't on my list.

What is on my list is the unbelievable... no, incredible... no, i-n-d-e-s-c-r-i-b-a-b-l-e outfield assists he made from center to third on May 7 of this year against the Colorado Rockies. Yes, indescribable. Too extraordinary for description. I absolutely cannot put into words how amazing those throws were. Far, fast, accurate, and just plain sick. You know what I mean. You were thinking the same thing. I still get goosebumps.

Throw #1: Helton hit a long, deep fly ball to center, and Taveras (one of the faster runners in the game) tagged up at second to try and make it to third. Ankiel camped under the ball, came up throwing, and pitched a strike to Glaus at third. Taveras was out.

Throw #2: Quintanilla got one to hit the ground in left center, and after chasing it all the way to the wall, Ankiel spun around and lasered another missile in to Glaus, and Quintanilla was out. (I think my favorite part of the whole sequence on that one was watching Glaus stand there like a statue, giving absolutely no indication that he was expecting a throw, and then applying the tag like the guy never had a chance.)

After the game, Hurdle remarked that even though it wasn't fun being on the receiving end of those outs, they sure were fun to watch.

Honorable Mention: The surprising Kyle Lohse

A late addition to the team, Lohse was supposed to come in and provide a little protection for the rotation that featured some young guys and hoped to see its two aces come back from injuries (and never really did). What he did went above and beyond what anyone expected. He led the team in wins. He led the team in innings pitched. He posted a 3.78 ERA. He was rewarded with a four-year contract extension on the last day of the regular season. In a word, he rocked.

Honorable Mention: Albert Pujols' 2008 season

Albert hit career home run number 300.
Albert was an All-Star.
Albert competed for the batting title and finished with a .357 average.
Albert finished his eighth consecutive season with 30+ homeruns and 100+ RBI.
Albert won his second NL MVP.
Albert won the Roberto Clemente Award, the Silver Slugger, the Fielding Bible, the TYIB Hitter of the Year, the Sporting News ML Player of the Year, the MLBPA Player of the Year, and the Oscar Charleston Legacy Award.

Why isn't this #1 on my list? Because he does it every year. I'm not saying it's less special or less important, but you have to give the other guys some credit every once in a while. Besides which, the title of the project is "top 5 stories" and Albert ceased being a "story" when he started being Albert. Kudos, big guy, on your unyielding greatness.

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So that's it. 2008 officially ends around midnight tonight (depending on where you are), and 2009 takes over. (Of course, it'll take me about 2-1/2 months to start writing '09 on my checks, but that's life, I guess.) In other news, my New Year's Eve plans involve pizza, beer, and going to bed early, although if something interesting happens, I could be persuaded to stay up. I figure I've had a whole year of '08, and '09 will still be there when I get up in the morning. There's really no need to sit in front of the clock and wait for the calendar to roll-over. And the sparkly ball lost all interest for me after I was about eight.

But nonetheless, I hope all you bloggers and fans have a great celebration. Be smart and be careful. Somebody would miss you if you were gone.

Les deseo un próspero año nuevo... Diviértense mucho... ¡Nos vemos en 2009!

team boricua, baby!

Roster aside (because nothing is official yet), I'm a PR fan through and through.
According to MLB.com, several players (including our Yadi) have indicated that they will play in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. It's shaping up to be quite a team. (Of course, it's hard to imagine rooting against los dominicanos, but having A-Rod on the team will make it a little easier. Lo siento, Albert...)

Possible Team Puerto Rico Roster:
Position	Name
P	Fernando Cabrera
P	Willie Collazo
P	Pedro Feliciano
P	Iván Maldonado
P	Joel Piñeiro
P	Saúl Rivera
P	J.C. Romero
P	Jonathan Sánchez
P	Ian Snell
P	Javier Vázquez
C	Yadier Molina
C	Geovany Soto
C	Iván Rodríguez
IF	Carlos Delgado
IF	Felipe López
IF	Rubén Gotay
IF	Ramón Vázquez
IF	Alex Cora
OF	Carlos Beltrán
OF	Alex Ríos
OF	Lou Montañez

yadi update

For those unaware, Yadier Molina is playing for his local Gigantes de Carolina (coached by Jose Oquendo) in Puerto Rico. Some cite the death of his father as the reason for his decision/desire to get back on the field, but whatever the reason, he's out there. Los Gigantes won their first (I think it was the first, anyway) game on Monday, beating the Cangrejeros de Santurce by a final score of 6-3.

Go, Yadi!

Wright is wrong

Okay, I waited as long as I could.

David Wright? Seriously? What sorts of favors is he doing for the voters? And yes, I mean that in the most vulgar sense.

(sigh)....grant me patience.

I can't even find the words to address the whole Adrian Gonzalez fiasco. If it weren't for Yadi, I'd wonder about the validity of the whole process. Of course, I have this disorder where I consider St Louis players the cream of every contest, and I have a tendency to disregard anyone from another team as a possible contender.

Joel Piñeiro fields his position better than Maddux. (Don't hate me for hating Greg Maddux.)
Our middle infield may not have been stellar, but whose was?
Ryan Ludwick is a better outfielder than Beltran, McLouth, and Victorino combined. I won't even mention Skip Schumaker and his diving grabs. Oh, and hello, Rick Ankiel. "The arm." Need I say more?

There are probably some flaws in my reasoning, but you have to at least agree that there were two major oversights in the awards this year.

I'll try to find some perspective.

National League
P, Greg Maddux, LAD
C, Yadier Molina, STL
1B, Adrian Gonzalez, SD
2B, Brandon Phillips, CIN
3B, David Wright, NYM
SS, Jimmy Rollins, PHI
OF, Carlos Beltran, NYM
OF, Nate McLouth, PIT
OF, Shane Victorino, PHI

my prayers have been answered

I don't know if it was the goat I sacrificed to the baseball gods (no, not that goat), or if someone finally realized what a complete f***-up it was to exclude Yadi last year (and the year before, but with slightly less emphasis), but YADI WON THE GOLD GLOVE. I can't even tell you how happy this makes me. Take that, Geovany Soto. Thhhbbbpppt. The only complaint I have (regarding Yadi winning) is that we shouldn't be celebrating his first gold glove, should we? Other complaints I have surround the lack of gold gloves for some other players. I'm not going to get into that mess right now, though, not during Yadi's moment. Felicidades, Yadi. Lo mereces sin duda.