As a general rule, I tend to want my sports teams to focus more on the future than the present. I don’t think this is an inherently right or wrong point of view—it’s a reflection of my own arbitrary tastes and preferences. But this year, I think I’m right. And I invite all temporary bandwagoners…
A Cardinals fan’s guide to watching the Blues since they’re actually playing this weekend
As of right now, the St. Louis Cardinals are scheduled to play their sixth and seventh games of the 2020 season on Saturday. But, given recent events, at the very least, it is probably time to plan for contingencies. On each of the last two Fridays, Cardinals games in the coming weekend were cancelled, and,…
Rob Manfred isn’t the problem, and that’s the problem
What a year that weekend was. There was already plenty of reason for pessimism in baseball, with the waves of positive tests that had already effectively shut down the Miami Marlins. And then on Friday, news broke that multiple St. Louis Cardinals had tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the cancellation of the team's Friday game…
Jack Flaherty ain’t going away
I think the Tommy Pham trade broke us. Tommy Pham was a rarity for the St. Louis Cardinals—an outspoken player. And then, at the trade deadline in 2018, he was traded. And we collectively assumed the two were related. That the St. Louis Cardinals, assumed to be a particularly small-c conservative organization even by the…
The best-case scenario of a 60-game St. Louis Cardinals season
The Los Angeles Dodgers will probably lose some games this season. The Baltimore Orioles will probably win some games this season. But an undefeated or winless season is more on the table than it ever has been before. The odds of either of these things happening are in the one in a trillion range, but…
So it’s come to this–a 2020 MLB season preview
Uh, I guess we’re doing this? The idea that baseball is going to happen is weird. I’ve been clear about the fact that I’m not convinced it should happen. Even aside from the ethical questions of devoting so many resources to a recreational activity that puts its participants at risk during a global pandemic in…
Just cancel the season already
This weekend, three St. Louis Cardinals players were revealed to have tested positive for COVID-19. I hesitate to limit this to three; hopefully I'll remember to update this post in the event that this number increases. It seems like there is a decent chance of that. Of the three players who have tested positive, two…
The Cardinals’ All-Alphabet Team
There are twenty-six letters of the alphabet. There are twenty-six players on a Major League Baseball active roster. So I had an idea. How good of a baseball team could I compile in which every player’s last name begins with a different letter? It’s pretty simple—I get one guy whose last name begins with A.…
St. Louis Bullpen is having a St. Louis-themed e-trivia night. Come play with us.
On Tuesday, June 30, 2020, at 7 p.m., the finest minds in the St. Louis area will be gathering to engage in a trivia contest to determine who has supreme knowledge of St. Louis sports. And those of us who weren't invited to that are gonna have a trivia night of our own. Sign up…
The New All-Century Team
In 1999, Major League Baseball unveiled its All-Century Team to commemorate the best players of the 20th century. This was a watershed moment in baseball analysis for me—in an era where balloting was done by paper and submitted via mail, my dad was insistent that the ballot be taken seriously, and thus I, a ten-year old,…