If the fact that I created a website devoted to baseball wasn't proof enough, let it be said that I am a very big baseball fan. Another thing I've been a fan of for basically as long is The Simpsons, a highly influential animated sitcom which satirizes American culture as poignantly and hilariously as anything I…
The 2010s have been, in the grand scheme of things, a glorious decade for the St. Louis Cardinals. The team won a World Series to start a franchise-record run of five consecutive postseason appearances. The team has had winning seasons in all nine of its concluded campaigns, and it is projected by most outlets to…
Although Martinez has been the best Cardinals pitcher over the last several years, some believe he would be better suited as a relief pitcher.
It is February 7, and despite teams not seeming to realize it with regards to free agency, baseball season is less than two months away (no, it isn't "baseball season" once the Super Bowl ends--watch basketball or hockey or soccer or NASCAR or something, guys). And what better time than now for Major League Baseball…
I’ve actually been sitting on the idea for this article since the St. Louis Cardinals acquired elite first baseman Paul Goldschmidt just before the Winter Meetings. My point was a pretty simple one: despite the addition of Goldschmidt, the Cardinals should still aggressively pursue Bryce Harper in free agency. He would perfectly fill an area…
On Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots will square off in Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta. As has been recalled repeatedly in the last few days, locally and nationally, living argument for a 100% estate tax Stan Kroenke illegally bought the then-St. Louis Rams in 2010, lied vociferously about his intent…
Major League Baseball goes through different stages of what is considered a player's peak. Usually, it falls somewhere in a player's late twenties, though in the late 1990s through early 2000s, when older baseball players such as Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds were Simply Working Harder Than Everybody Else Out There (after all, they were…
In the modern Online culture, we tend to grade viral social media moments on a curve. If a comedian writes a funny tweet, that's swell, but that is expected. But if Ted Cruz, very much not a professional comedian, replies to Deadspin soliciting requests for pictures of him playing basketball (I don't remember the reason--it…
A widely-stated, probably not entirely true but spiritually mostly valid tagline for the mostly dormant 2018-19 offseason is something along the lines of "Every team could sign Bryce Harper or Manny Machado if they wanted." Baseball teams, after all, are extremely lucrative businesses, and while team owners have been more than willing to publicize the…
The collective fan angst this winter has surrounded the Cardinals unwillingness to pursue Bryce Harper. But what about the other top tier free agent?
Chris Duncan made his St. Louis Cardinals debut on September 10, 2005, and he was almost immediately my least favorite Cardinals player. The reasons behind this were largely circumstantial. Duncan debuted not too terribly long after I began my first job, one which I hated, and one at which I was constantly tormented by the…
Bryce Harper was born on October 16, 1992, which means he was in first grade when Nelly’s breakthrough debut single “Country Grammar” was released. Speaking from my own experiences, I didn’t really know the popular songs released when I was in first grade at the time. I do remember “Macarena”-mania arriving the next summer and…
On Thursday night, the St. Louis Cardinals signed Andrew Miller to a still yet-to-be-announced contract (though KSDK's Frank Cusumano has reported that it is a two-year deal with a third-year vesting option). Like Brett Cecil, whom the Cardinals signed to a four-year, $30.5 million contract in the 2016-17 off-season, Andrew Miller is a lefty relief…
On October 9, 2015, the St. Louis Cardinals hosted the Chicago Cubs in the postseason for the first time. It was the peak of a century-plus old series of matchups between what were, for decades, the National League's two westernmost franchises. Throughout most of their respective histories, one team (usually, though not always, the Cardinals)…
There is a veteran outfielder available this off-season who, in 2018, had a .253 batting average, a .341 on-base percentage, and a .370 slugging percentage. His .712 OPS (a point higher than adding his OBP and SLG due to rounding errors) is just ahead of Kevin Pillar, who had an OPS+ of 93 at a…
When news broke of a major blockbuster trade on Wednesday afternoon, one which sent six-time All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for pitcher Luke Weaver, catcher Carson Kelly, minor league infielder Andy Young, and one of the competitive balance draft picks that the Cardinals are frequently mocked for receiving…
There will desire to immediately find the negatives in the Cardinals' trade for Paul Goldschmidt. We should ignore it.
I want to share a screenshot from the beginning of a Youtube clip of Willie McGee making a great catch in Game 3 of the 1982 World Series. You probably know the play. As you can see, there are three infielders on our left side of second base, presumably from left to right, Ken Oberkfell,…
Later today, Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray is probably going to be announced as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy and will likely finish in the top two, along with Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. He is an exhilerating football player, and he is the kind of dual-threat quarterback that has been increasingly coveted in the…
In 2017, the Arizona Diamondbacks won 93 games and made it to the NLDS. In 2018, the Diamondbacks weren't quite as successful, but they did still finish over .500 and actually finished with a more positive run differential than the Colorado Rockies, who made it to the NLDS and finished the regular season proper with…
I am twenty-nine years old, an age which is not generally considered "old", per se, but an age at which there is a major cultural difference between me and many of you who are younger than I am, particularly if you are several years younger than I am. I spent the first decade-plus of my…
Of the thirty-five men who made the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame, six played for the St. Louis Cardinals. And all did for at least a season, at that--there are no John Smoltz scenarios here where you have to squint to the find the Cardinals tenure on his Baseball Reference page. And while…
Today at eleven, the Cardinals held a press conference at Ballpark Village, and as we all knew, no big free agent was unveiled, but the Cardinals organization made a bold move nonetheless by expanding their uniform repertoire. A hype video, and one Harrison Bader debuted the new jerseys, which will be worn as a road…
On Wednesday evening, to the surprise of nobody, New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom won the National League Cy Young Award. It was nearly unanimous, with just one voter not picking the Mets ace for the award for the league's top pitcher (and he voted for deGrom in second place). I agree wholeheartedly with…
Here is how I would have voted. For the final time (oh, man, I've done a lot of these, haven't I?), this ballot is not a prediction of how I think MVP voting will shape up but rather how I would vote if I had one. 1. Jacob deGrom--New York Mets: He isn't even a finalist,…
I wrote quite a few of these awards ballot posts, as you may have noticed. Some of them were more fun than others to write. But MVP discussions are what really matter. Everything was a precursor to this. Cy Young Awards and Rookie of the Year awards are fun discussions, but each is necessarily a…
Tonight, the awards for the best pitchers in the American and National Leagues will be conferred upon (probably) deserving candidates and perhaps one or two new men will forever be known as "former Cy Young winner", a prefix to names such as R.A. Dickey and Rick Porcello. This sounds like a joke, but you don't need…
There is something nearly impossible about evaluating the best managers in Major League Baseball, and because of that, Manager of the Year is arguably the most fun of the major awards to discuss. With Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP awards, one could just rank the top relevant players by WAR and submit…
We saw a bunch of MLB breakthroughs this season, and today, we will learn which players will join such immortals as Todd Hollandsworth and Andrew Bailey as Rookies of the Year in their respective leagues. The ballots submitted by BBWAA voters goes three names deep, and that is how long my ballot goes as well.…
Since 2012, when third baseman Josh Donaldson exhausted his rookie eligibility with the Oakland Athletics, Mike Trout has been the best player in baseball. Trout won a pair of MVP awards, deserved at least two (probably three) more, and has invited comparisons to Mickey Mantle which, if anything, underestimate Trout. With 64 Wins Above Replacement…
This morning, I detailed my picks for the Silver Slugger awards in the American League. And now I'm going through my picks in the National League. Cool? Cool. Pitcher--Michael Lorenzen, Cincinnati Reds: There are two arguments for NL pitcher Silver Slugger, and one's side depends entirely on whether or not to classify Michael Lorenzen as a…
Following the crowning of MLB's Gold Glove awards two days ago, it is now time for the Silver Sluggers. A slightly less popular award, largely because frankly the best hitters win MVP awards more often than the best fielders, the Silver Slugger honors the best hitter at each position. From a sabermetric perspective, I'm far…
With big names like Bryce Harper and Josh Donaldson on fans minds, no one is really thinking about these free agents... but maybe they should?
As it currently stands (and as is almost always the case for every team), the St. Louis Cardinals have fewer payroll commitments for 2019 than they did at the beginning of 2018. Gone are the $14 million salary of Greg Holland and $3 million salary of Bud Norris (and Greg Garcia, and whatever you want…
Following my American League rundown earlier today, here are my picks for the Gold Glove awards in the National League. Pitcher--Zack Greinke, Arizona Diamondbacks: That Greinke is the four-time defending winner of this award is probably all the evidence that is necessary to presume he will win again in 2018, but his numbers from this season…
Today, the American League and National League winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award will be announced. Here are my picks for the American League awards. I ignored the finalists and made my picks for who I believe deserves to win regardless of what The Establishment has to say. National League picks will be coming…
For thirteen days, I assumed that Adam Wainwright's final appearance in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform would be a mediocre outing on a Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field, surrendering four earned runs, including a home run (though with perfectly fine true-outcome totals of one walk and seven strikeouts), in an 8-4 loss to the hated…
October baseball is upon us once again, and for the third consecutive season, the St. Louis Cardinals are not involved. This is only the second time since the late 90s that the Cardinals have gone three straight years without a postseason berth, so it's understandable why some fans are getting a little impatient. And for…
Over a 30 day stretch within my last five weeks writing for Viva El Birdos, I wrote 46 posts. I don't know what possessed me to count the exact number. I knew it was a lot. During those thirty days, there were exactly two in which I didn't publish anything. By this point, I was…
The Los Angeles Dodgers scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning this afternoon at San Francisco's AT&T Park to defeat the San Francisco Giants 10-6, clinching at least a Wild Card berth and in turn, eliminating the St. Louis Cardinals from postseason contention in 2018. The Cardinals did their part earlier this…
Pre-game: After a four game losing streak, the Cardinals find themselves in a must-win situation. When your back is against the wall, you focus on what you can control first, which is win one game. Then pray that the Giants help you by beating the Dodgers today and tomorrow to force a game 163. It's…
One win. One stupid additional win at any point during the first 159 games of the 2018 Cardinals season and this final series with the Cubs would feel remarkably different. On the other hand, I suppose, turn one of their 87 wins into a loss and things for all intents and purposes would be finished…
Last Sunday, with the Cardinals' odds of their season extending beyond this Sunday very good (or at least the odds of it not seeming like a long shot by today being extremely good), I decided to hammer out my hypothetical playoff roster. I was attending the next three games at Busch Stadium and wouldn't have…
Heading into the final week of the regular season the St. Louis Cardinals had the luxury of controlling their own playoff destiny. If they simply took care of their own business in these remaining six games, they wouldn't have to worry about what anyone else did. But after two devastating losses to the Milwaukee Brewers…
Editor's note: A few weeks ago, an anonymous reader e-mailed me to submit this post for consideration for publication on St. Louis Bullpen. This isn't normally how our writing process works, but this was too interesting to simply ignore. Some of the information is out of date, because of when it was written. The writer…
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…
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…
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…
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…
