14-7 on the road? 

Yup. That'll do. roughly 1/4 of the way through the season away from Busch, the Cardinals are pacing for a record-breaking road record. And when you win on the road, you go to the playoffs. It really is that simple. 

I don't know about you guys, but I'm starting to get the feeling that this team could (COULD) be one of the best in franchise history. We're heading into mid-May and there have been 3 games that the Cardinals didn't have a chance at all to win. 

Three.

Out of thirty three.

Even the powerhouse 2004 team that went for 105 wins were out of games more often. Further, the young prized prospects are coming into their own. Carlos Martinez is throwing fastballs through our hearts. Shelby Miller is looking like 20 year old Andy Benes' wet dreams. 

Hell, Jake Westbrook for Cy Young!

Maybe it's Friday. Maybe it's the half-decent weather for the first time in weeks... but this Cardinals team has the makings of a super-freaking-power. And if they start taking care of business at home? 

Yikes. Watch out.

Now, the Friday Links...

Marketers at work. LINK HERE

Printing at the office. LINK HERE

Bad ad placement. LINK HERE

The world's best circle drawer. LINK HERE

Ladies Night. LINK HERE

Celebrity prom photos. LINK HERE

That's it, that's the week. Hopefully the Blues can pull out a GM 6 miracle of their own right tonight. Probably not. Since they're the Blues and you don't get a nickname like that and do awesome things. Although, I am more than willing to be proven wrong.

That no matter how bad the Cardinals are doing, and no matter how down and out you feel about your team, at least you don't have to wake up every single morning and deal with:

+ Articles on Y! Sports like: THIS

+ Drama about your stadium like: THIS

+ Questions about your star player like: THIS

+ Standings like: THIS

+ Faces like: THIS

+ T-shirts like: THIS

Nope.

You're a Cardinal fan. You listen to THIS. And you get lots of these:

Our friends over at Big League Stew had a nice little post about a new product that Topps (yes, the same company that makes ball cards) has created: LINK HERE

They're called 'Minis' and they're pretty... stinking... cool.

2.5" vinyl figurines of my favorite Cardinals? Put a couple in the office. Maybe give a few as gifts. The possibilities are endless. I'm going to get a Wainwright and a Holliday and a Beltran and probably a Carlos Martinez if they have one... where's the list?

Um. What?

No Cardinals? Not one? 

Makes sense, because Cardinal fans don't go out and buy anything that has the Cardinals logo on it. (VERRRRRY SARCASTIC LINK HERE) And not to lump Cub fan in with purebreds like us, but no Cubs either?

Is it an NL Central bias? A conscience effort to prop up Joey Votto into the spotlight because it's hard to appreciate Alan Craig? 

We deserve answers, Topps. As BLS points out, Brian Wilson doesn't, you know, play baseball anymore.

Do you like psychic readings? Do you like St. Louis Cardinal baseball? 

Buckle up, then. Because this is your lucky day.

A couple of weeks ago, Hollywood Psychics reached out to Cards Diaspora and asked if we've post readings for noteworthy Cardinal players. We could pick whoever we wanted a reading from, and they'd do all the, you know, psychic stuff.

Below are the results. I haven't edited anything they wrote, besides adding in a link to their site... so this is straight from the psychic to you.

Full disclosure:

This post is all in good fun. We don't have a business partnership with this site, just something we thought you'd like. Hopefully we were right. 

So enjoy...

The St. Louis Cardinals have been a dominant force in major league baseball for some time. The team’s current roster appears to take its cue from perhaps the greatest Cardinal of all time, Stan Musial, taking up Musial’s mantle of humble sportsmanship and a commitment to excellence on the field. Further buoyed by strong, city-wide fan support, this stellar group of athletes is consistently a force to be reckoned with on the diamond year after year. 

The term “stellar” applies to the Cardinals in more ways than one. Not only does it nod to their star-studded team of athletes, but it can also refer to their astrological compatibility as teammates. 

Let’s take a look at the zodiac signs of several of noteworthy Cardinals and see what makes them tick, as well as how their sense of team camaraderie is written in the stars. 

Mike Matheny - Manager (Virgo)

Born under the sign of Virgo, Cards’ manager Mike Matheny’s pragmatism is astrologically ingrained in him. Known for their meticulous eye for detail and mapping out strategies to the letter, Matheny’s Virgoan tendencies are evident in both his tenure as a manager and his distinction as one of the greatest Golden Glove catchers of his era as an active player. A consummate perfectionist, Virgo also has an extremely caring side, evident by his willingness to go to bat (pardon the pun) for his team -- going so far as to be ejected from a game against the Chicago Cubs for arguing a call with the umpire.

Adam Wainwright - Pitcher (Virgo)

Another Virgo, Adam Wainwright shares much in common with his manager, Matheny. As a Virgo, his yearning for perfection makes a great deal of sense with respect to Wainwright constantly tweaking and improving his pitching repertoire, hurling cutters and curveballs in excess of 90 mph from the pitcher’s mound. Although generally known as a kind, affable player, Wainwright’s demand for excellence from himself and others extends even into the realm of barbeque. 

Yadier Molina - Catcher (Cancer)

The protective nature of Cancer the Crab is clear when presented with Yadi’s status as one of major league baseball’s greatest defensive catchers in the game today. Born under the sign of the crab, Molina possesses all of the sign’s intuition and emotion, as this particular zodiac sign is governed by the moon and its effects on shifting tides. Some of Yadi’s greatest plays have demonstrated his Cancerian sense of instinct to be precisely where his team needs him to be on the field at exactly the right moment. 

David Freese - Third Base (Taurus)

Typical of his sign, third baseman David Freese charges forward like Taurus the bull and never looks back. The World Series MVP and Babe Ruth Award-winner is viewed not only as a high-powered baseman, but one of the Cards’ best hitters. Taurus is patient, yet persistent -- two traits which are hallmarks of Freese’s career. Also in-line with his astrological sign, Freese has been on the list of injured players quite a bit. This is interesting to note given that (along with Aries, Pisces and Cancer) Taurus is one of the zodiac signs most prone to injury. 

How The Signs -- and Cardinals Players -- Relate To Each Other

Virgo and Taurus are earth signs that get along extremely well with one another. Taurus has a calming, reassuring effect on anxious Virgo. While Matheny may agonize over the perfect play, Taurean Freese is able to calm their nerves and assure them that even a play run afoul can be salvaged with a solid hit and a few runs. On the flipside, Taurus feeds off of Virgo’s goal-driven attitude with the signs bringing the best out of each other.

Virgo and Cancer have a mutual admiration for one another. Remember who was the first to hug Adam Wainwright after he pitched a complete game shutout? Oh, yeah! That was Yadi!  Cancer may not always grasp Virgo’s drive for perfection, and prefer to take a more laid back approach to things, but the two have a strong amount of respect for each other’s talents.

On the other side of the fence, Taurus and Cancer are two of the most compatible signs of the zodiac and consistently “get” one another. Taurus can be somewhat needy, but Cancer is one of those signs that likes to feel needed. They share similar goals and are both driven by money, but also crave security. Contract negotiations for both Yadi and Freese in recent years indicate their strong loyalty to the Cardinals while still ensuring they’re well-paid for their talents.  

Overall, the Cardinals’ team dynamic is one of the most harmonious in baseball. It’s little wonder that they are consistently in the race for the pennant. Here’s to a winning 2013 season!

If you’d like to get some insight into your own life, talk with a Hollywood Psychics’ psychic today via this link: LINK HERE

Mike Matheny has a Mitchell Boggs problem.

It's good to be Jon Hamm.

The internet is in love with you privates. Magazines write articles about how you're more than just your privates. And then when you go on TV and people try to avoid talking about your privates, you shut them down with some St. Louis Cardinals smack talk.

And by 'them', I mean Jon Stewart. 

Awesome.

h/t RFT for catching this yesteday

I'd like to think I could focus in and write about a big Cardinals win against Reds that re-claimed 1st place in the NL Central. 

Can't.

Need to watch this all day.

So the Cardinals had their annual 'Blogger Event' this past Sunday.

A) That's Bill DeWitt III

He told us that Ballpark Village should have steel showing in the next 3-4 weeks and that the project is on pace to open Phase 1 by Opening Day 2014. He's working on getting better phone/internet in the stadium. And his two kids are sitting on the floor to the right of him, just in case you thought bloggers couldn't sit in chairs.

B) That's John Mozeliak.

He told us that that guys like Wacha and Oscar are ready for the pros now, but the Cardinals don't have room for them. He's working on the draft and knows that SS is an area of weakness. He seemed to be bullish on Carlos Martinez and didn't take a joke about Ty Wigginton as well as the asker would have liked. 

C) That's Bill Ivie.

A long time ago, he wrote for Cards Diaspora. Now he's got a seat. And you can see where they put me. In the back, behind a pillar. Standing. A case for the quality of the work I've been putting out. 

You can see all the photos of the day on the Cardinals website: LINK HERE

And even though the free beer, food and nice pin they gave me were appreciated, I'm still going to have to say bad things about the Cardinals from time to time. I think they'll understand.

Doesn't mean I can say thanks to the front office. They're solid people. Forget everything we said before.

Squander. 

Definition: "To lose (as an advantage or opportunity) through negligence or inaction."

As the Cardinals contine to provide historically good starting pitching through the first month of the season, they also have given no support to said starters. Be it the #FireSquad called into "relief" or the amatuer at-bats the "hitters" have been taken, almost as many times as not, wins become loses; close games become 9-0 laffers. 

The Bucs leave STL in first place. They've won 15 games in April for the first time since 1992. And for the immediate future look like a team that is going to be more of a pest than originally forecasted.

Enter the Reds. 

In town for the second time already this season, by mid-week 6 of the 9 home games with the presumtive Central Division winners will be booked and confirmed. The opportunites to make up substantial ground in front of the warm cheers of the home crowd against these Reds will be minimal. 

It is, for lack of a more creative way of putting it, a large series.

Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran and Yadier Molina don't earn their millions beating teams like the Pirates. They earn it in games like tonight. Getting spanked by a 25 year-old rookie happens. You can recover. It's the Pirates. We've seen this story before. They'll come back to the back. They'll fall behind. 

But another goose-egg tonight? Just not an option. 

It's time for the offense to help the starting pitching. It's time for the bullpen to not give up runs. It's time to step up and see if this team is going to play for the playoffs or if they're coasting on a fluky month of freaky starting pitching and willing to spectate with the rest of us instead of lending a helping hand. 

Game time, Redbirds. You in?

If you don't like NFL Draft talk, move along to the links below. It's one of the best non-sporting sporting events of the year. 

So the Rams did a little draft day moving and shaking last night. 

1) Tavon Austin.

Want to feel good about this pick? Then read THIS article on Grantland from 2 days ago. If you're too lazy to click, it basically says that Austin is the future of how NFL skill players will look.

It isn't an article about Austin being good. Or even great for the Rams. 

No.

Austin is the prototype of how NFL skill players will look.

That's encouraging, no? 

The Rams need playmakers. They know it. We know it. Seattle and SF know it. So by going out and getting Austin, the Rams all of a sudden have a pulse on offense. He's not going to be as good as we'd like in 2013... WRs rarely are. But he's going to break some plays and get better in years 2 & 3. He's a heavy rain in the midst of a drought. 

2) Alec Ogletree. 

Big time talent. Looks like a freaking NFL player. 

But the NFL Draft is really important to players. Unlike any other pro sports league, you need to start earning right away to max out your value. Careers are short and the money is not guaranteed. 

It's alarming to me that in a 4 month period (JAN-APR) where a player is done with school and dedicated to one thing and one thing only - training- that an elite prospect can get a DUI.

I'm not here to mount a high horse.

You want to drink? Go for it. But when there are literally millions of dollars hanging in the balance, I'd like to think that most people... even you or I... would be able to take a break from the party life for 4 months to try and grab as many of those dollars as we can.

Alec didn't.

He drank, he drove, he got a DUI. This is after he had already been suspended for 4 games for failing a drug test earlier in his career.

He knew the microscope was out and didn't care. He pissed away money. And when pro athletes don't care about money, what is going to motivate them? 

I hope Alec becomes the LB that the Rams need. I hope he's a stud's stud. He has the talent.  But the fact that he had 4 months to try and keep his nose clean, he screwed up? Even Janoris Jenkins knew better.

Now, the Friday Links...

The best Venn diagram from today. LINK HERE

Picking the chosen one. LINK HERE

Unnecessary math. LINK HERE

You had one job. LINK HERE

A Lance Armstrong fan. LINK HERE

You know it's coming. Don't freak out. LINK HERE

That's it. That's the week. Weekend series with the surging Bucs should be fun, right? It's about that time of year where Pittsburgh gets 5 games over .500 and Baseball Tonight starts telling us rubes that THIS is year they finally make it over .500. So we have that to look forward to.