Baseball College

If you haven’t seen this 4 minute video on YouTube, I suggest you check it out immediately and laugh until you hurt.

Jason Schmidt is a Dodger - let’s just accept that and move on to someone else, shall we?

Barry Bonds damn sure better not become a Cardinal, and not because of the whole cloud that follows him wherever he goes.  I’m a firm believer of pitching being the part of the game that wins the most championships, and if we spend our money on more offense, our pitching will suffer, a lot.  I understand that we didn’t exactly have the greatest staff this year and we won the World Series, but we have to remember that we backed our way into the playoffs by playing the season at five games over 500.  Unfortunately, the regular season is a journey, not a race, and with other teams in the Central spending money, we can’t expect to win a division by playing 5 games over 500.  Let’s go get some pitching.

It sounds like we’re making a strong push for Miguel Batista, and I’m fine with that.  I’d also really like to see Dotel in a Cardinal uni as well.  It looks like a trade for pitching may be more of a possibility with each passing day.  Matthew Leach seems to think so, anyway.

I’m still celebrating the World Series Championship, but I’d really like to repeat in 2007, and we still have quite a bit of work to do.  I think Walt’s done a fantastic job so far, and I think he’ll continue to do so.

First off, the MVP race.  Ryan Howard won the 2006 MVP award, but a lot of people, including myself, think it should have gone to one Albert Pujols.  However, it didn’t, and we must move on - I’m sure Albert already has.  He’s the one that’s always saying in interviews, “I just tryeeng to hell my teen win a chanpionsheep.”  He did that this year, and I think that he could give two craps about the 2006 MVP.  I think if Albert hadn’t missed that chunk of the season this year he would’ve won the MVP without much of a debate, but kudos to Howard for staying healthy and helping his team get closer to the playoffs than they may have without him.  Albert’s consistent excellence makes him more valuable to his team year in and year out than any other player in the bigs right now, and I don’t need him to win an award to solidify my opinion on that.

Anyway, moving on to the Soriano signing.  7 years, 136 million, 18 million a year.  In my opinion, the Cubs should focus their attention first and foremost to pitching.  We saw what happens when a pitching staff has a stellar ERA in the playoffs - they win the World Series.  The Cardinals’ offense was nothing to write home about, but they still went 11-5 in the posteseason because of their pitching.  Soriano is a great bat, and the Cubs are going to have a nasty offense next year, but as of right now, they’re going to have to score a TON of runs to win a majority of their games.  Let’s be honest though, any pitcher the Cubs bring in that isn’t a freak of nature will be hurt by midseason anyway; that’s just the way it works.

We Cardinal fans can worry about the Cubs all we want, and most of the time before the season starts, we do, but recently we’re almost always on top in the end.   The Cubs are making a serious push to be contenders again, and for that I give them credit, but unless they get some pitching help, they’ll be completely useless by September in 2007 as well.

I promised you a debate topic yesterday, and here it is. What is the most important pitch a pitcher carries in his arsenal?

There are a lot of pitches out there, and the right pitchers can make all of them deadly, but personally, I think the changeup is the most lethal pitch in baseball. Unlike a curve ball, the change up has generally the same spin as a fastball, thus making it impossible for a batter to pick up the “spin” of the ball and adjust accordingly. If the change in speeds between the fastball and the changeup are great enough, the location doesn’t really even matter because the batter will have no choice but to assume fastball, and thus swing early. If a pitcher hangs a curve ball, or puts a slider/cutter over the fat part of the plate, it may get hammered.

Obviously there are a lot of other pitches to choose from: splitter (which is probably number two on my list), cutter, two seamer, slider, curve, knuckleball, etc.

Again, different pitchers execute different pitches better than others, but for this debate, assume that all pitches and pitchers are equal. Which pitch do you put the most value in, the one you think is the most deadly?

After a long hiatus, we at the Cards Deck are back.  One of us has been coaching baseball, the other has been taking the CPA exam.  Either way, it’s time for another post, a general baseball post.  Are there some things that happen regularly on a baseball diamond that just piss you off?  I’ve decided to name my top five on-field baseball pet peeves and see what kind of agreement (or disagreement) I get from everyone else.  Feel free to input your pet peeves in the comment box!

1.  Squaring to bunt and then pulling back (on a strike) - I don’t know why this bothers me so much, but it does.  I can see the strategy every once in awhile - but most of the time, you see the batter try to lay the bunt down on the next pitch as well.  Why not just bunt the ball the first time when the pitch is right down the middle?

2.  Lack of Hustle - At every level of baseball, whether it be tee ball or the bigs, I hate it when players don’t hustle.  I appreciate Eck, Speiz, J-Rod and the like that much more for running hard on every ground ball they hit.

3.  The DH - It takes out the strategy of having to negotiate around a pitcher in your lineup, period.

4.  Walking the pitcher - No description necessary.
4A.  Working from behind in the count consistently - These guys are getting paid millions to do what they do, and throwing strikes shouldn’t be as difficult for pitchers as it sometimes is.  It’s frustrating to watch, and it really lulls the defense to sleep - opening up the possibility for an error as well.

5.  The Fake to third fake to first - You all know what I’m talking about - in a 1st and 3rd situation, the pitcher will fake a pickoff throw to the third baseman and then whirl and throw (or fake) to first.  I’m sure it’s worked at some point, but I’ve never seen it work, and it seems like a colossal waste of time and energy in my opinion.

There you have it, the things about the game that make me angry.  It’s a very short list, because not much about this great game upsets me, but at times, even the greatest game in the world can be less than perfect.

I thought that now was a perfect time to put this article into the blog, as the Cubs really got worked this weekend against the Brew crew. It is a bit outdated, but you get the idea anyway. Enjoy! ( I got this through an email forward, so I have no idea who wrote it - whoever did sure gave me a laugh, however.)

Dusty Baker Not Worried About Cubs’ Hot Start

April 13, 2006

CHICAGO-Despite their impressive 4-2 start and the fact that their pitching and offense appears to be clicking on all cylinders, Cubs manager Dusty Baker said Wednesday that he has “no doubt” that his team will be able to turn things around in time to miss the playoffs.

“I know things look good right now, and you hate to see Cubs fans get encouraged early, but I’m certain that things will straighten themselves out and we’ll be in third place by early May,” Baker said at a press conference Wednesday. “With the talent and drive we lack, it’s foolish to think that this team can continue playing at this rate all year.”

“If it’s September and we’re still atop the division standings? Then we’ll start panicking,” Baker added.

In their disappointing series sweep of the rival Cardinals last weekend, the Cubs did all the little things right, winning ballgames with a combination of solid pitching, good defense, and timely hitting-fundamentals that Baker says his team will eventually ignore as the season goes on.

“The guys are in a bit of a groove right now, but they’ll snap out of it,” Baker said. “It’s early yet. There’s still plenty of time to get back off track and give the fans the kind of season they’ve come to know and expect.”

“I’d love to go out there and lose all 162 games for this city, but both the players and the fans know that’s not possible no matter how bad you are,” he added.

Longtime Cubs fans have echoed Baker’s sentiments, saying that, despite the emergence of Derrek Lee as a triple-crown threat and the acquisition of a top leadoff hitter in Juan Pierre, they still have complete faith that the Cubs have what it takes to make it all the way to October without ever factoring into the playoff picture.

“Sure, other teams may look just as awful on paper, but the Cubs have all the intangibles-the inability to play as a cohesive unit, management that always seems to make the wrong moves, a storied history of crushing, tragic defeats despite favorable odds,” said Chicago-area resident Matt Grant. “No winning streak can get that lose-at-any-cost mentality out of our Cubbies’ heads.”

“This is the year,” Grant added. “This is the year we extend our World Series drought to 98 years.”

Baker cited several other reasons he thinks the Cubs will work into a slump and quickly get back under .500, including his inexperienced pitching staff returning to their usual form, his plan to rush injured stars Mark Prior and Kerry Wood back to action in time to inflame their injuries and cause enough arm damage to make them miss the entire season, and the fact that his son Darren is now older and larger than he was in the 2002 playoffs, and therefore capable of more effectively obstructing the basepaths while his team is trying to score.

Although his harshest critics say that the Cubs appear to be doing everything right so far, Baker points to Tuesday’s 9-2 drubbing at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds as a clear indication that his team is moving in the right direction.

“Tuesday’s loss was a prime example of the kind of baseball this team is capable of playing on a regular basis,” Baker said of the game in which the Cubs managed to score only two runs while leaving 15 men on base and allowing six home runs. “The key is that this was a balanced attack against us. Any team can allow a big inning-as we did in the five-run sixth that featured a grand slam-but the Reds also scored a run in each of the first four frames. If we can consistently take that kind of well-rounded beating-and if any team can do it, it’s us-I truly think we can lose 90 games.”

Baker said that, although the box scores show that the Cubs won four of the first six games, in reality, they had the opportunity to lose “any or all of them.”

“Unfortunately, we just happened to get some lucky breaks, some good bounces, and had some calls go our way-over the course of a long season, that’s gonna happen to any team a few times,” Baker said. “We’ll be fine, though.”

He added: “Talk to me in June.”

Man, we musta picked up a David Eckstein clone to be our bat boy this year, or is that actually David? I can’t really tell, can you?

Game 1 recap of the Phils series below - find out why I’m nervous about Carpenter and find out 10 great things that happened during the game that caught Jake’s eye.

Just a little bit of fun before we get down to business next Monday - I had a friend of mine forward this to me.

Secondly, ESPN’s headline today looked a little something like this. Interesting topic, but let’s get realistic here.

Finally, I’m not much of a sports bettor, but here are one site’s odds of the NL Central champions:

Astros: 6-1
Brewers: 6-1
Cardinals: 1-2
Cubs: 15-4
Pirates: 15-1
Reds: 28-1

Looks like we’re the overwhelming favorite here, but I think a little too much credit is given to the Cubbies. I think the Brewers will finish second, and if brokearm mountain can’t put it together, I don’t even know if the Cubs will finish 3rd.

Joe posted his Opening Day lineup a few weeks ago, and now, with about 3 weeks left before the Cards open up in Philly, I’ll unveil mine (I have an advantage here, watching a few weeks of camp to handicap some positional battles)..

This lineup is assuming Jon Leiber starts on the bump opening day…

1. SS, Eckstein, David: Not much more you can say about this spot. He’ll be permanently entrenched here again this year provided he doesn’t go into a Corey Patterson-like slump (which isn’t going to happen). You know what you’re getting with Eck offensively and defensively, and I will guarantee you right now he will have another moment this year like he did last year that Sunday afternoon against Atlanta (walk off granny anyone?)
2. LF, Bigbie, Larry: There are a few guys that have had a better spring then Bigbie (Chris Duncan, Scott Spezio, Brian Daubach) but I think with Bigbie’s ability to hit left-handed and hit out of the 2 spot will probably give him the start on opening day (if the Phillies were starting a lefty, Taguchi would pretty much be a guarantee to start). I like Bigbie here because when healthy he can get on base and see a lot of good pitches ahead of Pujols…key phrase there being “when healthy.”
3. 1B, Pujols, Albert: I’m not even going to explain.
4. CF, Edmonds, Jim: Keeping with the righty, lefty, righty, lefty theme, I really like Edmonds in the 4 hole. La Russa might go with Rolen at 4 and Edmonds at 5, but I would like the righty/lefty scenario better only because it creates matchup problems late in games for managers facing 1-5. I would be willing to stake some dough that Edmonds returns to form this year and hits right around .285 (no more of this .260 garbage)…his power numbers will be there as usual.
5. 3B, Rolen, Scott: When healthy, the best 3B in the NL and the best defensive player in either league at any position (yea, I said it). I don’t think Rolen’s power numbers will be like normal because I just don’t know if he’ll have his power stroke back from that shoulder, but he’s having a fairly good start to spring (albeit a late one) and it looks like he’s seeing the ball very well. No HR’s yet but I have seen him just miss a few…might be a reflection of the shoulder surgery…we’ll have to wait and see…the success of this team rides on Rolen’s shoulder.
6. RF, Encarnacion, Juan: He’ll be here all year, so get used to it. I’ve already heard Cards fans complaining about his lack of effort and being a defensive liability in the WBC for the DR, but it IS Spring Training, so, I’m going to hold off on my judgements for a few weeks. I think, hitting in this lineup, with these professional hitters, that he’ll have a breakout year offensively. I think he’ll be more selective at the plate as well (cross my fingers).
7. C, Molina, Yadier: Most people don’t realize yet how excited I am about this kid. He was hitting the daylights out of the ball before he left for the WBC (where he hasn’t seen a whole lot of PT playing behind Pudge, but he’ll be returning to camp sometime this week, thankfully) and his defense speaks for itself. These pitchers trust the hell outta Yadi and he’s only going to make the #5 starter (sounds like Ponson) better and more comfortable when he comes back this week. Look for him to have a career high in most offensive categories (staying healthy the key).
8. 2B, Spivey, Junior: He had the job going into camp, and he’ll have the job going out of camp. No one else has impressed at the position (Luna has 5 errors I think this spring..yikes…but Luna will still make this club, his versatility and speed are much needed) and Spivey is a former All-Star and veteran, two characteristics Tony has got to love. Aaron Miles started out smoking at the plate but got hurt and hasn’t seen hardly any AB’s since the first week of camp, which has hurt his stock considerably. Spezio has played 2B in the past but hasn’t played there in a few years (no way do I put him at 2B)….Spivey will be riding around in the convertible as the opening day 2B when new Busch opens…and when they open the season in Philly. I like him hitting here behind Molina because it gives Tony more options to run, bunt and run, hit and run, etc. with Spivey here then if Molina was here…that, and Molina is probably the better hitter..he’s just slow as dirt.
9. P, Carpenter, Chris: There’s been talk that Chris shouldn’t pitch in the first series and be saved for the weekend series against the Cubs, there’s been talk that he shouldn’t pitch in the Cubs series so he can pitch opening day @ Busch..but I’m sorry, the reigning Cy Young award winner is your opening day starter…..period.

Like I said..I had it easier then Joe because I’m doing this a lot later then he did….but I’ll throw some more names at you….quickly filling out the 25 man opening day roster (- the 9 guys I already mentioned)….Tony will carry 12 pitchers out of camp

Mulder
Ponson
Suppan
Marquis
Looper
Rincon
Isringhausen
Flores
Thompson
Reyes
T. Johnson (don’t know about carrying 3 lefties in the pen..but we’ll see…this spot might be Mateo’s considering his situation…or Wainwright’s….but I have a feeling that Wainwright gets traded before we head north for the season)

Taguchi
Luna
Bennett
J-Rod
Spezio

**I actually like our bench a lot if these are the 5 guys we go with…cept for Bennett…but we need a backup catcher..so meh

There you have it..come back in a few weeks and see how wrong I was….Go Birds!

I’m making an appearance on my blog for the first time in over a week, and I think it’s high time I write an article while I still have time in my life to do it.

I’ve been reading all kinds of fantastic information from all of the Cardinals bloggers recently (all of which you can find in my blogroll on the right). These posts have had elaborate statistics that predict the worth of the newly acquired players to the cardinals in 2006. A few bloggers have posted that with the players the Cardinals have now, we’re a 90-95 win team. While I don’t think that’s unreasonable, I myself have a hard time dropping all kinds of statistics on the reader, and here’s why:

I’m a numbers guy: I was an accounting major and a math minor in my undergrad, and am now going to graduate school for accounting. Let’s just say that numbers and I, well, we’ve met. I love numbers and I think statistics are one of the most intriguing parts of the game of baseball. Why don’t I like them to make predictions though?

I’m a firm believer in the intangibles that can’t be measured. I believe that we have the best regular season manager in the big leagues, and he alone will find a way to get the ballclub more wins than an ordinary manager would during the regular season. I think it’s hard to predict how many balls will be hit to centerfield in the top of the 9th that Jim Edmonds dives for, catches, and saves the game. Baseball is a game of inches, we’ve all heard that one before, and I think those inches can influence more than just a couple games throughout the course of a season; more than a few at bats, more than a few pitches.

How can we predict what a change of scenery and coaching will do for these new additions to the Cardinals ballclub? I had a revelation last night about new additions to the Cardinals ballclub, and I’m going to use myself as an example. As a highschooler, our baseball team wasn’t anything to write home about. I loved playing the game more than anyone on our team, but the games that I really got jacked up for were the games when hundreds of fans would come out and watch. It wasn’t about the rival team as much as it was about the atmosphere that got me ready to go. Busch Stadium will be undoubtedly packed throughout the season, and it will be rockin each and every day. That in itself should get a player at least a little pumped up.

Team chemistry is another item that can’t really be measured. Only time will tell how well this team plays as a cohesive unit. Maybe they’ll get along great, play well together, and win 105 games. Maybe Sidney Ponson will get everyone liquored up before the games and we’ll win 75. Who knows? Sure we can guess, and it’s fun to guess, but I just don’t think that statistics tell enough of the story for me to get too enthralled in them. We’ll just have to wait until April to find out what this team is really made of.

Obviously this is my opinion, and only my opinion, and I’m sure the majority of you would beg to differ.

I think there’s one thing we can all agree on though: April better not take 2 and a half months to get here, because I’m ready for baseball now. Fly High in ‘06 Birds.