So last night looked like it was going to be an amazing come from behind victory. Then it rained. And then it wasn't. But, it's time to get back up on the horse and play again today! Austin Gomber faces off against Gio Gonzalez (whom I did not know was a member of the Milwaukee…
The Marcell Ozuna trade is still good even if Christian Yelich is better
Marcell Ozuna's first few months as a St. Louis Cardinal were disappointing. He didn't hit well and he made a few ugly, high-profile defensive lapses which tarnished the reputation that comes with being a defending Gold Glove winner. But particularly in the second half of the season, Ozuna has come around. He has been an…
ALL I WANTED WAS FOR THE CARDINALS TO GO 6-0 TO END THE SEASON: An edited recap from 9/24.
Author's Note: As I thought about last night's recap, I regretted some of my more strident, and at times frankly Trump-like, characterizations of personalities and events from the game. I know that you fine consumers of baseball information have a number of options from which to choose when seeking Cardinals information and analysis, and I'm…
SMASH THE MILWAUKEE BREWERS INTO A MILLION PIECES–a series preview
I find series previews to be simultaneously timely and unnecessary, and I've always had an uneasy relationship with writing them. I don't think that's that much to be said about matchups, and particularly once the season has developed, any fan who cares enough to read a series preview knows generally what the St. Louis Cardinals…
Take time out of your day to hail the Lizard King–a Cardinals/Giants recap
After besting Madison Bumgarner and Dereck Rodriguez with, on paper, inferior starting pitchers on Friday and Saturday, Sunday afternoon's battle between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants seems like an easy win. But this is baseball, a very stupid sport, so nothing could be assured. Here were the starting lineups. https://twitter.com/SFGiants/status/1043898666795204609 https://twitter.com/Cardinals/status/1043892834141720576 I've been…
Cards Win a Nail-Biter in Extras, 5-4
Good Waino is still a thing, Tyler O'Neill is a bad, bad man.
The Cardinals are facing the Giants and honestly what could possibly go wrong? A series preview
In the 1987, the St. Louis Cardinals faced the San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series, and in seven games, they emerged victorious. This is surely a treasured memory for Cardinals fans who remember it, particularly given how the other three postseason series featuring the Cardinals and Giants have gone. In 2002, 2012,…
Battle of the 3-1 collapses: 1996 NLCS vs. 2012 NLCS
I have learned now that while those who speak about one's miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more. -Dmitri Young, possibly Here’s the thing when your favorite baseball team blows a 3-1 playoff series lead: You can feel it happening, in fact you KNOW it’s happening well ahead of time. Usually just a…
9/19/18 Recap: Cardinals Drop Way Too Early Series Finale to Braves 7-3
Today, the St. Louis Cardinals played the Atlanta Braves in a game that began at 11:10 a.m. St. Louis time. Normally, I'm all for daytime baseball if it's on a weekend or a day when I have no prior commitments, but...today is Wednesday. I can't really watch baseball at my job, especially when the game…
The most deGrom-like pitchers in Cardinals history
New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is having one of the best seasons in Major League Baseball this year. He is a strong candidate for the National League Cy Young Award on the merits of his Wins Above Replacement marks; by the WAR measure used by FanGraphs, deGrom is the single-best pitcher in baseball this…
*Smiley face with sunglasses emoji* -a 9/18 recap
The Cardinals are riding a two game win streak coming into tonight's matchup with the Braves. Austin Gomber is on the mound as he looks for redemption after an early exit in his last start. Lineups https://twitter.com/Cardinals/status/1042165168678096903 https://twitter.com/Braves/status/1042131750439346176 Game Notes Only one hit for both sides through the first three innings. Gomber and Anibal Sanchez…
A look back at the trades the Cardinals made (and didn’t make) at the deadline
There are, if you want to be literal and frankly very obnoxious about it, thousands of trades that the St. Louis Cardinals did not make at this season's non-waiver trade deadline. They did not trade Luke Weaver for Mike Trout. They did not trade Greg Garcia for Mike Trout. They did not trade a player…
Cardinals face off with rebuilt Braves: a series preview
When I was a kid, the Atlanta Braves were a juggernaut. Yes, they only won one World Series during that time, and I don't even remember it (it is the most recent World Series I do not remember at all), but every year, they were in contention. In 1990, the Braves finished in last place,…
Adam Wainwright impresses as Cardinals salvage final game of Dodgers series
All right, Adam Wainwright is pitching, Matt Vasgersian is announcing, and I'm admittedly not super excited about this game at all. Not gonna get drunk like during yesterday's game, but gonna be grumpy probably. Buckle up! Here are the lineups. https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/1041435555265896449 https://twitter.com/Cardinals/status/1041446672830787584 Wainwright retired Joc Pederson (I guess in light of what happened with Vontae…
Dodgers push Cardinals out of playoff position as local recapper day-drinks his way through it all
So I wasn't originally supposed to recap this game. I was supposed to sit in my apartment, laying low and probably having my fair share of adult beverages because all I have to do today is attend a wedding this evening and I'm getting a ride for it. As it turns out, I'm recapping, but…
Meet the Large Adult Sons of the Cardinals Farm System
Although baseball is a game where players come in many shapes and sizes, we can admit that when we think of baseball players, we think of certain molds. Tall, lanky pitchers, statuesque outfielders, small, scrappy infielders, and stocky catchers- these are the typical archetypes we fall back on, and by in large, these archetypes tend…
9/13/18 Recap: Tyson Ross Takes Kershaw Deep in 9-7 Loss To Dodgers
The Cardinals begin a critical four game series late in the season against the Dodgers tonight. Currently the Dodgers are the most imminent threat to the Cardinals' playoff hopes, sitting two games behind in the wild card standings. A dominant series by the Cards could put them back even further. Tonight we will see a…
The five greatest moments of the Cardinals owning the Dodgers: a series preview
The Los Angeles Dodgers have had a relatively shaky season in 2018 (if you're looking for an actual analysis of the 2018 Dodgers, I did it a few weeks ago), but they are generally a very successful franchise. They haven't won a World Series in thirty years but they have, with only sporadic intermissions, been…
9/12/18 Recap: Missed Opportunities Abound for Cards in 4-3 Loss to Pirates
At this point in the year, the St. Louis Cardinals will take any series win they can find as they try to scratch and claw their way into the postseason. Taking 2 of 3 from a divisional foe is certainly better than the alternative. Still, the nature of today's 4-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates…
Does Adam Wainwright deserve another start?
Adam Wainwright was given another start after mixed results against the Pirates. We looked closer at his game to see what we could find.
Mikolas’ pitching, late offense carry Cardinals in blowout of Buccos- a 9/11 recap
Big City brought the Cardinals back from the dead last night on a eighth inning bomb and Paul DeJong sealed the deal in the ninth to give the Cardinals a win. Miles Mikolas is on the mound against the Pirates as the Cardinals go for the series victory. Follow along! Lineups https://twitter.com/Pirates/status/1039642269295501313 https://twitter.com/Cardinals/status/1039619642829037568 Game…
Why does (did?) Francisco Pena keep starting at catcher?
When Yadier Molina became the full-time starting catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2005, the organization initially lined him up with somewhat typical backup catchers. They weren't stars, by any means, but backup catchers rarely are. So the likes of Einar Diaz, Gary Bennett, and Jason LaRue were brought around to back up Molina,…
WAINO BACK
Adam Wainwright is a central part of our shared experience as St. Louis Cardinals fans. He and Yadier Molina are the two most tenured members of the team by nearly six years. There is something comforting about Adam Wainwright on the mound, even when he's bad. But I like it better when he's good. Tonight,…
Wainwright is back: A Cardinals/Pirates series preview
Adam Wainwright gets the ball tonight in St. Louis against the Pittsburgh Pirates, his first start since May. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to see Wainwright ever start a game for the Cardinals again, and certainly not while the team is making a postseason push, no less. The very thought is equally exciting and terrifying, but…
Cardinals salvage final game of Tigers series, ought to do better next series
As a fan of the late St. Louis Rams, I am used to being wildly disappointed at noon on the first NFL Sunday of the year, and thus am ready to hate what I see at Comerica Park this afternoon. Here are the lineups, which for some reason include Yairo Munoz playing center field. https://twitter.com/Cardinals/status/1038811799209082880…
9/8 Recap: Tough Pill to Swallow
Pregame: The Brewers keep winning and the Cardinals are trying to keep up in the wild card race. The Dodgers and Diamondbacks are right on their heels. I'm eager to see a victory after a tough loss last night. The Tigers are celebrating their 1968 World Series title over the Cardinals by wearing throwback uniforms,…
Why number 62 mattered
In spite of the last six weeks, there still stands a decent chance that the Cardinals won’t make the postseason this year. That would mean three straight seasons without the playoffs, the first time that’s happened in these parts since 1997 to 1999. Those were some mediocre years. Those teams averaged 79 wins per season,…
A musical look at the Detroit Tigers–a series preview
This weekend, the St. Louis Cardinals will play three games against the Detroit Tigers, a team they have not played since 2015, when the Tigers won two of three games at Busch Stadium. I attended the Saturday and Sunday games. In one of the games, the Tigers needed extra innings for Peak David Price to…
Giving and accepting blame for MLB’s service time problem
Entering the 2018 season, third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays system was among the top prospects in baseball. He was considered a future superstar, having torn the cover off the ball in 2017 while splitting time between A and high-A ball. But MLB Opening Day 2018 was less than two weeks…
Cardinals create one-series winning streak with 7-6 victory over Nationals
The St. Louis Cardinals entered tonight's game against the Washington Nationals with a one-series losing streak that they hoped to reverse by defeating a Nationals team running out the clock on the Bryce Harper era. Here were the lineups. https://twitter.com/Cardinals/status/1037437751208144897 https://twitter.com/Nationals/status/1037419763302064130 While one could easily have made the case that the Cardinals lineup did not…
Examining the Risks of the Mike Shildt Hire
I’ll be honest: when the St. Louis Cardinals named Mike Shildt interim manager following Mike Matheny’s firing in July, I didn’t really give much thought to the long-term implications of the move. I figured that Shildt would get the team to the end of the season with no playoffs, Bill DeWitt would thank him for…
9/4/18 Recap: Cardinals hit Five Home Runs, Beat Nationals 11-8
Fresh off two of their most frustrating losses of the year, the St. Louis Cardinals needed to get back on track tonight in game two of their series with the Washington Nationals. It took a little longer than this blogger would've liked, but tonight went a lot better than the last few games, as the…
Belated Recap 9/3/18: Walks, Bryce Harper conspire to ruin perfectly acceptable ballgame
As my mom always says, better late than never... After stumbling to drop the last two games of our homestand, losing our third consecutive series against the Reds and our first overall series since July, the Cardinals needed to get off on the right foot in Washington, D.C. against the formerly formidable Nationals. The pitching…
Adam Wainwright deserves a chance to start
The idea that a baseball player is entitled to anything beyond the salary which he has been promised from a baseball team has never been a notion that made much sense to me. And I say this as somebody who is generally fiercely pro-labor: when Adam Wainwright signed his current five-year, $97.5 million contract which…
Natitude! Sunglasses! A Cardinals-Nationals series preview
It's the end of the Washington Nationals' pseudo-dynastic hold on the NL East as we know it and I feel...partially guilty on behalf of the St. Louis Cardinals. The beginning of this run, whether we truly grasped it at the time, was in 2009, when the Nationals drafted San Diego State starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg…
Cardinals lose stupid baseball game against Reds
I want a holiday in the sun, and this fine Sunday is a De Facto Saturday. I want to see some history, in the form of a franchise-record 11th consecutive series victory. These are Sex Pistols references. The St. Louis Cardinals are playing the Cincinnati Reds at Busch Stadium and I am going to let…
Cardinals Can’t Muster Any Offense in 4-0 Loss to Reds
The Cardinals enter play today very much in the hunt, both for the Division and the Wild Card. Going 8-2 in their last 10 games hasn't allowed the team to gain much ground, however; the Cubs have also gone 8-2, while the Brewers have gone 7-3. The Cardinals are four games back of the division…
Whiteyball vs. The Big Red Machine–a Cardinals/Reds preview
Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto is back, but despite the Reds offense suddenly looking a lot more competent ahead of this weekend's series against the St. Louis Cardinals, this ain't exactly The Big Red Machine. The Big Red Machine, the nickname given to the Cincinnati Reds (particularly its offense) in the 1970s, peaked in…
8/30/18 Recap: Gant Does It All, Cards Win 10th Straight Series
The Cards play the Pirates in an ultimate showdown of pitchers entering the game with ERA's of 3.56. We shall see who will win tonight's ERA wars. Tonight you have O'Neill, Bader, and Martinez in the outfield, while Carpenter, Dejong, G. Garcia, and Adams line the infield. A win will keep the streak of series'…
Matt Carpenter and the coexistence of the old school and new school
Aesthetically, Matt Carpenter has checked every possible box for the label of "fan favorite" for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is a classic overachiever--he was drafted in the 13th round at age 23 out of Texas Christian University, signing for a famously low bonus of $1,000 (this has much more to do with his lack…
8/29/18 Recap: Cardinals Offense Shut Down by Pirates, Nausea
Despite facing a reeling Pittsburgh Pirates team with a chance to gain some separation in the wild card race, the St. Louis Cardinals managed just five hits on the night were shut out tonight for the first time since July 11. Miles Mikolas got off to a rough start that was aided in part by…
Who should make the Cardinals postseason rotation, which is definitely going to eventually exist?
A month ago, arranging a pitching staff for a St. Louis Cardinals postseason run was nothing more than a framing device for an article. It certainly wasn't based in any sort of reality--it was just a way of asking for the best four starting pitchers on the Cardinals. But a lot has chanaged in the…
Mike Shildt wins first game as i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶i̶m̶ manager of the St. Louis Cardinals- an 8/28 recap
Hey, did you hear! The Cardinals hired Mike Shildt as their full-time manager today! Now that we got that whole coach thing figured out, let's go win a ball game! Woo! Jack Flaherty is on the mound tonight and oh boy has he been hot! The Cardinals kick-off a six game homestead tonight with the…
The Cardinals have been better than the Pirates for a very long time (a series preview)
Over the last 20 years, the Cardinals have been a very good baseball team while the Pittsburgh Pirates generally have not. This once well-known sports fact has sort of faded from consciousness because the Pirates strung together several very good seasons and a few trips to the postseason, but they finished below .500 for 20…
Daniel Murphy, Bud Norris, and how we know when to root for our teams
In 2015, when Bud Norris played for the San Diego Padres, comments made by the veteran pitcher to USA Today's Jorge L. Ortiz raised many eyebrows and have followed Norris for the next three years, and will likely continue to follow him beyond that. In an article exploring that the majority of baseball brawls involve…
8/26 Recap: Cards Rock Rockies, Win 9th Straight Series
The Cardinals enter today's game having won All The Games lately. Except last night, you know. But there's at least one school of thought that last night was just one big collective hallucination, and hey, I'm on board for it. The pitching matchup today is less than inspiring, featuring the Rox' peripheral-outperforming Tyler Anderson versus…
8/25 Recap: Bullpen gets Rocked
Tonight we have more altitude, players weekend jerseys and nicknames. Facing former teammates is always fun. Let's play ball at Coors Field. Recap and game summary In the second inning, Kolten Wong came up limping after running out a ground ball. He was removed from the game with a left hamstring strain, the team announced. Greg…
Cardinals pay visit to Matt Holliday and 24 other Rockies I don’t care about–a series preview
This is, technically, a series preview of the upcoming three game set at Coors Field between the St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies. The Cardinals, as most of you are well aware, have been red-hot under interim manager Mike Shildt and currently hold the National League's top Wild Card spot. The Rockies are just 1/2…
