A quick gander at Bob Gibson's Baseball Reference page will tell you that the most similar pitchers to him were Jim Palmer, Jack Morris, and Amos Rusie. Comparing Gibson to these three is no insult--the trio are each Hall of Famers, with the most similar to Gibson, Palmer, also being a first-ballot Hall of Famer…
When it comes to evaluating a trade years in retrospect, there are two essential components to evalute--process and results. Sometimes, a trade can be good in terms of process--the underlying logic behind it is sensible--even if the trade works out poorly. Take, for a famous example, the 1987 trade in which the Detroit Tigers traded…
This afternoon, the baseball world was stunned by the announcement that Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, 27, had died suddenly while the team was in Texas to play against the Rangers. Tonight’s game was cancelled, and while articulating the pain of the death of a 27 year-old man seemingly in peak physical condition was…
Watching the 2019, and probably 2020, St. Louis Cardinals just became a lot less fun. The announcement on Monday afternoon that Cardinals relief pitcher Jordan Hicks had suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament. While no timetable was announced for his recovery, this is almost always a sign that a pitcher will miss the remainder of…
It is hard to overstate how lucky the St. Louis Cardinals were to draft Albert Pujols. Famously, Albert Pujols was not a coveted amateur prospect, and in 1999, the Cardinals drafted the pudgy amateur third baseman out of Kansas City's Maple Woods Community College with the 402nd overall pick. Every team in baseball passed on…
For years, "St. Louis is a baseball town" was used in a largely complimentary way. It was a thing that those involved in baseball said to speak highly of the passion for and knowledge of the sport in the St. Louis area. It didn't really have any tangible benefits--mostly, it meant ESPN announcers would compliment…
There is nothing like a Game 7. The finality of a winner-take-all game with a championship on the line is indescribable. My biases in favor of Game 6 of the 2011 World Series as the greatest baseball game I've ever seen aside, I think the objective answer for greatest game ever has to be a Game 7.…
Do you remember October 10, 1996? On that day, the St. Louis Cardinals evened their National League Championship Series tilt against the Atlanta Braves at one game apiece. A huge seventh inning, capped off by a Gary Gaetti grand slam, allowed the Cardinals to defeat Greg Maddux (!!!) on the strength of a strong start…
One strange element of St. Louis Cardinals fandom, to me, is pointing out how the team has won 11 World Series championships. There is, of course, the "we won 11 rings!" obnoxiousness, which implies that I, a fan, had anything to do with such jewelry acquisitions, but additionally silly is that I, and most Cardinals…
The St. Louis Cardinals are 25-24, and while most baseball markets would dream for a .510 winning percentage to be considered a devastating step back, St. Louis has certainly seen better from the Cardinals. The start to the season is made especially more disappointing given how much confidence there was in the Cardinals to start…
