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Chris Carpenter Might Just End NHL Lockout

Written by athooks on .

If you've never been to an NHL game, you're missing out on a good time. 

It's fun. Hell, it's real fun.
 
Watching on TV is OK. The big games and the playoffs are always good, but something about being in an NHL rink on a Saturday night is electric.
 
And thanks to the boneheads that run the NHL, this is the second time in 5 years that the league is on the verge of losing a season.
 
By proxy, denying us fun.
 
Worry not, though. Because Cardinal legend Chris Carpenter has no time for this shit.
 
No sir.
 
As you can see from the picture to the right, he's been out keeping the Blues in shape. And if Donal Fehr and Gary Bettman don't get their heads out of their butts ASAP, Carp is going to go to NY and drop the gloves.
 
Is there anything this guy can't do?
 
At this point, I'm kind of expecting #29 to replace Bradford if the Rams can't get another win or two before the end of the season. At least we'd have a guy that has proven to be effective from 60 feet out...
 
HIYOOOOOOO!
 
Read the whole story over at FSN (LINK HERE) for Carps off-season workout with the Blues. And please remind yourself that the guy you see had a rib taken out this summer.
 
A rib.
 
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Lance Berkman In The Booth? Yes Please.

Written by athooks on .

So I'm trolling around some St. Louis Cards news on the Internet when I come across an article on SB Nation about Lance Berkman possibly heading back to the Houston Astros. 

Gah.

Houston? Those dirty dogs? I mean, I thought Berks got a taste of the filet and wouldn't want round steak anymore. But to each their own.

The article went on to explain that the talks were in the early stages with Houston GM (and former Cardinals front office exec) Jeff Lunhow and that this might not pan out. But if it does, he'd be a platoon DH.

Ah. Forgot that Houston was out of the NL Central in 2013. DH makes sense. 

Now full disclosure here, Dan Moore wrote this article. He's my editor for SB Nation when I write about the Rams. So when I say that his throw away line he ended with was one of the best ideas I've heard this offseason, I'm only exaggerating by a little bit... but you can understand.

Dan:

Berkman can clearly still hit, and he's clearly still a fan-favorite everywhere he's ever been. If he can clearly walk come March, the Astros would be remiss if they didn't pursue something like this, much as I'd love to see Berkman slide in, say, to the Cardinals' TV color analyst chair...

BING-FUKING-O!

Lance Berkman as the new color guy. Love it. LOVE it. 

Let's face it, Berkman is destined to be a baseball color guy. He knows baseball. He played baseball. He seems like a guy you'd want to have a beer with. He can be entertaining during blowouts. He can be thoughtful when needed. He's not NOT going to be a baseball color guy.
 
And here in STL, it looks like Danny Mac has finally got his drinking under control. So we're hopefully going to move to him being the announcer 100% of the games in 2013. But that also means that Al and Ricky Horton are going to still be on the color commentary. 
 
Ugh.
 
The Cardinals are one of the top rated local telecasts in the nation. It's a real boon to be a Cardinals announcer. But somehow, FSN treats their booth as if they owe it to Al to be in there because he always has been and to Ricky because he's super nice.
 
Don't fire the guys. Let them fill in when needed. Let them do the studio shows. Maybe some on-field reporting. They're are some smart people at FSN... they'll figure out how to use them.
 
In the meantime, you're grooming Berkman to become one of the future Cardinals broadcasting legends.
 
I don't know what Lance has in store for 2013... but if he doesn't play, then do like Dan says and put him in the booth.
 
Please.
 
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Big Mac Lets St. Louis Down Again

Written by athooks on .

Big Make has, once again, left the yard. 

After refusing the Cardinals contract tender, Mark McGwire is headed to Los Angeles to join the Dodgers as their hitting coach. 
 
This will be the first time since 1997 that McGwire will wear another uniform other than the Cardinals.
 
Ok, ok. From 2002 through 2009, McGwire didn't technically wear any uniform, but when he came back to baseball in 2010, he did so as a Cardinal.
 
It's hard to remember now, but that spring training was the first of a still ongoing string of dramatic story lines that have ushered in a new season. See: McGwire '10, Pujols '11, Wainwright's Arm '11, Defending Champs '12...
 
He was the steroid era poster boy. Ripped out of his mind. Crushing balls into places Busch Stadium II never had seen before so much so he started a promotion that still endures today (Big Mac Land). 
 
And his re-entry into baseball after becoming the first of the 500 HR club to get rejected for a Hall of Fame entry pass was a national story. He did a full mea culpa with Bob Costas. He met ESPN behind the batting cage to apologize some more. He was contrite, but confident.
 
He led the '10 Birds to a .263 average. They finished 5 games in the rear of the Reds for 1st in the NL Central.
 
But the traveling circus that many (yours included) predicted would greet Mark along the road never materialized. Instead, America shrugged. And Big Mac worked hard to become a better coach in '11.
 
Ended up winning the World Series. Damn near made it again in '12. 
 
What part of that success can be attributed to McGwire's coaching is up for debate. He helped develop young hitters like Allen Craig, David Freese and others into MLB caliber. He also was blamed for prolonged slumps that plagued the Cardinals chances of doing more in the past three years.
 
The Cardinals will find a replacement. And that replacement won't hold 1/10th of the gravitas that Big Mac does.
 
That's OK.
 
The Cardinals will be OK.
 
I guess the bigger question here is how are we supposed to feel? We being Cardinal fans. After all, we were the ones that got roped into 1998. We were the ones that believed that bottle of Andro was nothing more than supplement advice gone astray. We were the ones that had to swallow deep and admit were were a bit naive after he admitted he dopped. We were the ones that welcomed him back into baseball when no other fan base slash ball club would.
 
Now he's moving on.
 
You can't begrudge a guy wanting to be close to his family. Then again, his wife is from St. Louis and he's worked here on an off for the better part of the past 15 years. Or almost 1/3 of Mark's life.
 
You can't get miffed at a guy getting a better job. Then again, the Dodgers didn't make the 2012 playoffs, didn't win the 2011 World Series and don't have same level of passionate fan base the Cardinals do.
 
You can't be steamed at a guy making more money, Then again, whatever Mark's raise may or may not be, can't be more than the interest on the money he banked from being the most high profile star in baseball during the late 90's when contracts were exploding.
 
Point is... I'm not sure how much of a loss this is for the Cardinals, but I'm kind of pissed. 
 
Can't explain it fully. Not yet, at least.
 
But it feels like we've nursed a wounded man back to health, only to see that loyalty isn't cutting both ways. (Yes, he took less to stay with the Cardinals in his last playing contract. Yes, he walked away from guaranteed $ in lieu of playing sub-par his final 2 seasons. Then again, he did cheat...)
 
Maybe all this will become clearer as we move away from it. 
 
Right now, it feels like Mark McGwire has let us down.
 
Again.
 
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Ernie Hays: Working Blue

Written by athooks on .

Ernie Hayes passed away earlier this week at the age of 77. 

If you went to a Cardinals game in Busch Stadium from 1971 to 2010, you've heard Ernie. He was the organist for the Cardinals (one of the few left in MLB stadiums when he retired) and was proud of his work, including making "Here Come The King" a staple during the 8th inning in St. Louis.
 
In 2005, before this website existed, one of the biggest bombshell articles I've ever read materialized. 
 
Have you ever been so sure of something in your head, so clear of what something is, that when that thing gets called into question, it really is disorienting? Well Ernie Hays was my Tiger Woods.
 
If you haven't read this RFT article by Chad Garrison, you're in for a wild ride. LINK HERE
 
And that's not to say, I don't enjoy working blue. I think it was just more stunning to me that the guy I thought was Mr. Rogers was more Mr. Dice-Clay. 
 
So upon his passing, let's raise a glass to another Cardinal legend that's passing on to that big diamond in the sky. If I had to put a dollar on it, it was probably Gangnam Style that let Ernie know it was time to go.
 
As he might say: "Ahh, HORSESHIT!"
 
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The Ozzie Smith We Weren't Supposed To See

Written by athooks on .

Ozzie Smith is auctioning off his Gold Gloves, World Series rings and other memorabilia: LINK HERE

PI

Growing up we all had our 'guys'.

I wasn't original in tapping Ozzie Smith as mine. After all, by the time I really started loving baseball in the early 90s, he was headed towards the twilight of his career and had long established himself as the best defensive player of his generation. I was hopping on a bandwagon before I really knew what that meant.

In 1992, maybe 1993, my buddy SJ found out that ANYBODY to go to the public access channel in our hometown and use it. And if the crap shot was any good (read: anything), they'd put it on air.

We wanted a show. Bad. And because SJs grandpa knew someone over at the Cardinals, they hooked us up with press passes to go on the field before a game against the Phillies. I've told this story before, so I won't bore you with all the details, but the thing that sigularly sticks out in my mind about this whole whirlwind of a experience for a 12 year old was Ozzie.

Ozzie did our interview. And as we were breaking down equipment, he called SJ and I over to the dugout.

THE CARDINALS DUGOUT?!

He sat us down on the bench and started asking us questions about what we were up to, where our show would air, etc al. He then told us that he really admired what we were doing and to keep up the good work.

Mind you, this is a Hall of Fame player at this point. The most famous Cardinal of the 80s and early 90s. A certified superstar. And he's taking the time out from his pre-game prep to give 2 kids a pep talk.

The best.

I'll have that memory forever.

PII

Sunday night at the gym I was having a conversation with my friend and I admitted that I totally whiffed on the story that came out a week earlier about Ozzie selling all his awards at auction.

Working in the news business, you might not know of all the news stories, but the big ones you at least have a tangential idea of what's going on and some bit of context about how important they are. I just didn't see this story.

I was sad.

And not because Ozzie needs the money (we all could use more money), but because a part of me remembers the agony of seeing which NL shortstop was going to win the Gold Glove in the early 90s. I mean, the team sucked, so I had to root for things like All-Stars and Gold Gloves. It's not much, but like I said, Ozzie was MY GUY. If Barry Larkin though he was going to step up, he was WRONG.

Those moments of my childhood were kind of tucked away. A happy place that I suppose I could tap into if the situation was right. But now this auction had kind of cast a pall over them.

If Ozzie doesn't really care about the Gold Gloves, then why the hell did I care so much?

Because I was a stupid little kid that didn't know any better, that's why. Still, it's not fun to see the guys that you thought were immortal become so. And do it in a way that's more sad than anything. A big part of me knows that the 'family planning' line is all BS, after all, his downtown restaurant was a spectacular fail,  but my first inclination was to defend Smith against the Internet comments that were harshing his decision.

Shit, I actually thought about if I could help him in some way.

PIII

Ozzie is going to stick with the line that he wants to set his family up and that he'll still have the memories of all those awards. That's fine. I'm sure that this whole ordeal is embarassing for him.

And because the Wizzard is my guy, I'll hope that whatever need he has is filled through this estate sale.

But maybe, just one day, Ozzie can come out and tell us he didn't really want to do this. And that things were worse than he let on. Because even though his gold gloves are going on the auction block soon, I can't really square the guy that cared about 2 knucklehead 12 year olds and their journey with the guy that would sell his awards for cash.

It may be 20 years on, but Ozzie Smith is still my guy. He'll get through this stretch. And he can set the record straight.

Right now we're seeing the Ozzie we weren't supposed to see.

PIV

In April of 2011, Cards Diaspora got the chance to interview Ozzie Smith: LISTEN HERE

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A Week On? Not Better.

Written by athooks on .

It's been a week.
 
A little under a week, actually. But as the Giants look to close out the week with their 7th straight win and their second World Series win in three years, do we differently about what happened to the Cardinals?
 
Yes. But mostly no.
 
For whatever reason (probably not Hunter Pence), the Baseball Gods have tapped the Giants on the shoulder and guided them through multiple deep deficits to crown them champs. We didn't know last Friday when we packed Busch Stadium and bars all over to reveal in back-to-back NL Pennants.
 
It's clear now that the Giants had the 'it' factor. Not many people were aware when they went down 0-2 to the Reds. 
 
Still, its hard to not see how low the bar was for entry into the Fall Classic and get pissed all over again that we're all sitting on our thumbs while the Giants eviscerate the Tigers. 
 
Just avoid a three game sweep. That's it. Doesn't matter how. Just get one of three. 
 
Couldn't do it.
 
We're in the midst of a true golden age for the Cardinals. The trouble with golden ages is that they don't last. The 60's turned into the 70's for the Cardinals. The 80's into the 90's. Feasts, followed by famine. And while the Cardinals don't look to hit a fallow period next year or the year after, it's still more likely than not that the ebb and flow of baseball will knock them down a peg.
 
See Boston, circa 2012.
 
Forgive the hackneyed cliche, but tomorrow is never promised. And when opportunities for greatness present themselves, you simply have to take them. The regret stings now, but will only grow with time.
 
It's going to be really easy when the Giants officially win the World series to dismiss the Cardinals choke as something pre-destined. And that's will probably make many of us feel better for a while. 
 
History, though, isn't letting go that easy. The further we get away from the chance the Cardinals had in 2012, the more bitter it will taste.
 
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First Todd Akin, Now This?

Written by athooks on .

Guys.

Let's huddle up for a second. Because we need to cover a couple of things.

1) Don't be a homophobe. It's not a good look. Even if it's against your religious beliefs, keep it to yourself, not out on Twitter.

2) Twitter. Other people see this, you know this right? 

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Kleenex, You're NOT Funny

Written by athooks on .

Serious.

This arrived in my inbox today.

Not cool. 

 

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Choose Your Talking Points Carefully

Written by athooks on .

Nope.

Not feeling better about Game 7 today. Not in the least. Hard to turn on SportsCenter this AM and hear them talk about... well, a shitty Monday Night Football game. But STILL. They COULD have talked about Game 7 and that would have been the PITTS.
 
Listen, before we become fully entrenched in our talking points over the next couple of days, let's talk about this nasty little habit we're getting into about "next year". I hate to pick on BJ Rains, because so many other people already do, but his Tweets last night were pretty typical of ones I saw that weren't bashing the Cardinals in some way:
 
 
To paraphrase: Good year, disappointed now, but the Cardinals will be back and better in 2013.
 
Ok, I totally get why people would feel that way. The emergence of players like Shelby Miller, Trevor Rosenthal, Edward Mujica and Joe Kelly... plus the anticipation of Oscar Tavares and Tyrell Jenkins, I think the Cardinals could be set up for an extended run.
 
COULD BE.
 
I was thinking of the most apropos example of how this type of thinking can be off, and it happened that Mr. Tim McKernan thought of it first:
 
"I recall standing on the sidelines of the Rams-Panthers’ playoff game in January 2004. The Rams had been in the playoffs in 1999, 2000, 2001, and now here they were again in the 2003 season.
 
NFL Playoffs were becoming a regular and expected occurrence around here…and a fan base that had either suffered through the Big Red or no NFL at all was starting to expect success.
 
The Rams were down big to the Carolina Panthers…and they had come back and were driving down the field with a chance to win the game. A field goal would tie.
 
A touchdown would win.
 
And then, in a clutch moment…in a high-pressure moment, Mike Martz does something he hadn’t done since becoming offensive coordinator and head coach: he sat on the ball…went conservative…and kicked a field goal to tie and send it to overtime.
 
About a half-hour later, The Dome was emptying out as Steve Smith celebrated a game-winning touchdown…and Jason Sehorn’s jockstrap was blazed into the turf at The Dome.
 
At the time, it hurt. No question.
 
But, also at the time, after all of the success that had come in 1999, 2000, 2001, and the regular season of 2003, I think fans expected the team to bounce back and deliver more of the same in 2004.
 
Well, Steve Smith’s touchdown was the last postseason NFL play we’ve seen in St. Louis.
 
Barring a miracle, the soonest we’ll see one is January 2014…10 years later."
 
The Cardinals were 1 win away from going to the World Series. All they did was have to avoid a three game sweep. But as we stand here this AM, they've now let a 3-1 lead in a best of 7 series get away from them a record 4 times. Will all the players above be able to get them that 8th playoff win and a berth in the World Series?
 
I hope. But, unlike B.J., I don't have a fucking clue if it WILL.
 
So let's not sit here and act like any of us know if this will "make them tougher" or "give them something to build on" or "fuel their fire". There have been plenty of choke jobs in sports where the the loser did in fact reach it's pinnacle during the choke and never recovered. Hell, if I wasn't so lazy, I'd look it up (the '86 Cardinals and '97 Cardinals didn't "come back stronger, that's for sure). 
 
But I'd bet the success rate isn't as great as the failure rate. Oh, and it's not as if the Phillies, Braves, Nationals, Giants, Dodgers and Reds are going to quit baseball for good. They're out there trying to get better and have lots of "fuel for their fire" too.
 
You're going to be positive about the Cardinals in 2012. I respect that. 
 
But use a question mark. Because if you're sure this was a beginning point, then you need to be doing something else with your talents.
 
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NLCS Game 7: Beat. Beaten. Battered.

Written by athooks on .

Wasn't that fun? 

It was the last game in the National League for 2012. From April 4th to October 22nd, its members played games to decide a champion. And with the brightest spotlight being shone, the Cardinals wilted.
 
In order, the Top 5 Most Awful Things About Game 7:
 
5) Allen Craig. 
 
Dude came up WAY limp in the post-season. He gave us some serious soft-serve. Guy was 6th in NL batting average, 5th in NL slugging and 9th in NL OPS during the regular season.
 
Against the Giants he only came up with 1 extra-base hit, left a small village on-base (even with his vaunted BA w/RISP) and barely cracked a .100 BA with a few dinks and dunks the past couple of games.
 
4) Peter Kozma.
 
In his defense, it is hard to play defense with wet underwear. Right?
 
The best Tweet I saw (forgive not being to find attribution): "RIP Kozmania. 2012-2012". If this wasn't his first real taste of the bigs, we'd have him at #1, since he played some absolute dog grade defense. But he'll learn from this. The Cardinals have a way of making sure playoff meltdowns don't turn into bigger problems the next season.
 
Right, Rick?
 
RIGHT?
 
3) Matt Carpenter. 
 
Not that there is any pressure in a NLCS Game 7 right? I'm sure that Matt Cain was just chomping at the bit to face a guy who's tagged him for 5 hits in his first 5 tries, including 2 HRs. Pfffft... no worries.
 
What? What's that? Oh, Carpenter didn't play. Of course you wouldn't want him in there before mop up time. Because that wouldn't be nice.
 
2) Kyle Lohse.
 
If you needed one last reminder of how we viewed that contract a couple of seasons ago, Kyle Lohse has a little parting gift for you. He'd like to have brought it over to your house and set it on your front porch before lighting it on fire, but he's in California.
 
You think he even comes back to STL to get his stuff?
 
Or just heads straight to Boras' man cave and forgets any of this even happened? A little MMQB of me after the fact, but did anyone else think he looked tired? Like he slept about none last night?
 
1) Donovan Osborne.
 
Maybe he can give Kozma a call or something later this week. I'm pretty sure that 16 years after that blown 3-1 series against Atlanta, I wouldn't be talking about the stinking DO.
 
Here we are, though, excising him from the history rankings as the the #1 post-season flop in my lifetime. 
 
Still, I had to hear about Donovan all day. You probably did too. And now, the Cardinals have beat by a million runs. Re-opening a childhood memory I've been trying to forget.
 
At least Brian McKnight remembered the words to God Bless America. We'll have to take solace in the little wins. 
 
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