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July 3, 2009

Good Guys vs GNats

Filed under: fanhome | by diceman @ 4:11 pm
Not sure where to get lineups. This is the best I can do for now:

Atlanta Braves vs. Washington Nationals - Live MLB GameTrax - FOX Sports on MSN

Halfway mark

Filed under: fanhome | by vegasjim @ 3:05 pm
observations:

1. Weird 1st half - a lot of disappointment with: injuries, quality of the hitting, several players underperforming.
2. Yet the Cards are tied for 1st place
3. the farm system have provided umpteen players to fill in for injuries and play important roles in season to date
4. at the same time it seems like the fan base expectation of these rookies are unrealistic, many getting the perception that they are not ready or not as good as billed. Note to fan base, not every rookie is going to hit the show like #5 did.

for as ugly as things have looked at times in the 1st half, if you look at this as glass 1/2 full, you would thing the second half should be better and bring more than an additional 43 wins achieved in the 1st half.

From the AJC Braves Vent section

Filed under: fanhome | by diceman @ 12:17 pm
Comments from readers:

- Playing the players that are hot and benching the ones that are not...what a concept!


- Frenchy's contribution to the Phillies series - he wore his turkey underwear.


- Cox plays Prado, Blanco and Diaz and then pinch hits for Turkey Pants and we sweep the Phils. Is anybody noticing this?


- Bobby, let me put it this way: Diaz can't drive in runs if he's sitting on the bench. Frenchy can't drive in runs if he's at the plate.


- Please. Enough with the turkey underwear already.


The first thing I thought when I heard about Hack talking about his "lucky" undies was that he's trying anything to make himself seem valuable to the team. Maybe if he improved as a hitter---nah, that would make too much sense. He better stick with the turkey pants.

Giving Wagner Mateo a Nickname

Filed under: fanhome | by RockintheRed @ 10:10 am
On the newly-signed Wagner Mateo and a need for a nickname.

A lot of traffic has been driven here on the aftermath of the July 2nd international free agent signing period, including our own signing of 16-year-old Wagner Mateo of the Dominican Republic. I thought I'd revisit the subject with some more comments.

Personally, I love this signing, as it is a testament to our growing outreach into international markets. I'm a big proponent of looking beyond the MLB Draft for farm system material, and Latin America is a place teeming with talent - we have to look no further than our very own first baseman to know that. Mateo looks like he has the tools to at least show potential to be a big league player. It'll be a long, long time before we see him get close to a call-up, but he already has the frame and swing of an athlete much older than 16. It's too early to throw out predictions for Mateo, but I wouldn't be surprised if he developed into Colby Rasmus-like potential, minus the defense.

For now, it's time to make up some nicknames for the kid. Wagner Mateo is a name that has an old school ambiance to it, so any recent pop culture references should be ruled out. I hate those nicknames anyways.

There are different kinds of nicknames out there. You have nicknames like Stan "The Man" Musial, that use the name to rhyme, and then you have nicknames like Albert Pujols "The Machine" and "Hollywood" Jim Edmonds that use a player's characteristics or roots in them. And then you have "Big Papi" David Ortiz, that just doesn't make much sense at all.

"Honus" Wagner Mateo - It's a nice play on the everlasting great, but, eh, it's too obvious. Honus Wagner actually had his own nickname, The Flying Dutchman. Let's keep looking for something closer to that.

"Bingo" Mateo - No clear reason for this one; I just like the name for a baseball player. It sounds a little too much like a dog's name though.

Wagner "El Niño" Mateo - El Niño is Spanish for... The Niño. The name combines a characteristic of Mateo - Niño is Spanish for kid or child - and also plays off Albert's other nickname "El Hombre". Since both are native Dominicanos, it makes sense.

I like Wagner "El Niño" Mateo. Short, sweet, to the point. Plays off Albert's nickname and off Mateo's young age. Viva El Niño!


More...

Game Thread # 82 - STL @ CIN - Friday; 7/3/09

Filed under: fanhome | by Coop @ 8:42 am
Our Cards are at Cincinnati Reds @ 6PM.

Pitching matchup
STL: RHP Joel Pineiro (6-9, 3.44 ERA)
If there's a hard-luck pitcher anywhere in baseball this year, it's Pineiro, who has been far better than his nine losses would suggest. He's allowed three earned runs or fewer in five straight starts but has gone 1-4 in that span. Pineiro has allowed one home run since May 2, and in seven of his last 12 starts, he has not walked a batter. He's keeping the ball on the ground and throwing strikes, usually a recipe for success. Now he just needs some help from his offense and defense.

CIN: RHP Homer Bailey (1-0, 8.68 ERA)
Bailey struggled to find the strike zone in a 7-3 win over the Indians on Saturday. He pitched five innings, giving up three hits and three runs while striking out two and walking a career-high seven hitters. The 23-year-old right-hander has now walked 13 batters in 9 1/3 innings. Bailey will try to find the strike zone more often against the Cardinals, against whom he is 0-2 with a 14.73 ERA in two career starts.

Tough trip
Cards face tough road to end first half | stlcardinals.com: News

FSN home
MLB News, Videos, Scores, Standings, Stats, Teams, Players - FOX Sports on MSN

Welle
Wellemeyer rebounds in 5-2 win over Giants - STLtoday.com
Wellemeyer shines as Cardinals top Giants | stlcardinals.com: News
Photo
St. Louis Post Dispatch & STLtoday.com newspaper photos & reprint pages

Brendan Ryan [ I am liking Brendan. ]
Brendan Ryan hits his stride - STLtoday.com

Yahoo boxscores
MLB - Scores & Schedule Friday July 3, 2009 - Yahoo! Sports

MLB boxscores
Live Major League Baseball Scores | MLB.com: Scoreboard

Standings
Regular Season Standings | MLB.com: Standings

Cardinal Beat
Cardinal Beat | STLtoday

Cardinals Best News Links

Additions and corrections are appreciated.
Thank you to everybody that posts.

Minor league games thread - Friday; July 3

Filed under: fanhome | by Coop @ 7:29 am
Affiliates
Minor League Affiliates | stlcardinals.com: Minors

Our Memphis Redbirds are at Round Rock Express @ 7PM.
Redbirds RHP Adam Ottavino (0-9, 5.30) at Albuquerque Giancarlo Alvarado (5-6 3.62), 8 p.m. CDT, WHBQ-AM (560)
Website
Memphis Redbirds: Home
Radio
AM 560 Sports 56 WHBQ - The Voice of the Fan!
CA
Redbirds : Memphis Commercial Appeal

The Frisco Rough Riders are at Springfield Cardinals @ 7PM.
Springfield (3-4 second half, 41-36 overall) sends Ryan Kulik (2-5) to the mound against Frisco right-hander Blake Beavan (0-1) on Friday night.
Springfield Cardinals: Home
Radio
JOCK 98.7 FM
Baker Blog
News-Leader.com | Springfield Blogs - Cardinals Corner | Springfield News-Leader

The Burlington Bees are at Quad Cities River Bandits @ 6PM
Probables: Casey (4-7, 3.67), Cardenas (5-4, 4.33)
Quad Cities website
Quad Cities River Bandits: Home

Florida St. boxscores ( 6PM )
Probables: Additon (2-2, 3.22), Villanueva (6-6, 3.78)
Florida State League: Scoreboard: Scoreboard

Our Batavia Muckdogs are at Jamestown Jammers @ 6PM.
Batavia Muckdogs: Home

Our Johnson City Cardinals are at Bristol Sox @ 6PM.
Johnson City Cardinals: Home

VSL Cardinals @ VSL Mariners
Minor League Baseball: Clubs: VSL Cardinals

DSL Athletics @ DSL Cardinals
Minor League Baseball: Clubs: DSL Cardinals

GCL Marlins @ GCL Cardinals
Minor League Baseball: Clubs: GCL Cardinals

MiLB standings
Minor League Baseball: Standings: Standings

Future Redbirds

Additions and corrections are appreciated.
Thank you to everybody that posts.

July 2, 2009

Killer Bees strike again

Filed under: fanhome | by bigheadache @ 10:11 pm
Un-bee-lievable: Bee swarm delays Astros' 7-2 win - MLB - Yahoo! Sports

No, not Bagwell and Biggio or even Berkman and Bourn. The real thing. A swarm of honey bees came to see the Astros beat the Padres I mean, if you're a bee, you'd have to root for the Astors even if the Killer Bs aren't quite what they used to be.

philastines vs davidspt 3 7/2/2009

Filed under: fanhome | by MikeT @ 3:45 pm

Colby Doesn’t Like to Walk, But He Does Scope for Chicks

Filed under: fanhome | by RockintheRed @ 1:00 pm
Colby Rasmus has forgotten how to walk. That's OK, I still appreciate him. Taking a look at Colby's June success and other tidbits.

In an earlier post, I made the promise that if Colby Rasmus could make it the entire month without taking a walk, while still having a June OPS over 1.000, I would devote an entire post gushing over him. Well, the numbers have come in, and, although he made it the entire month without walking, his OPS came just a little bit short, ending at .869. After last night, he deserves this post anyway.

Colby is probably going to be one of the streakiest hitters on the team, throughout his MLB career. He's not a cyborg like Pujols, who's slump is a string of 1-4's and two walks. His streaks consist of some brilliant plays and some uninspired slumps, but the end result this month was quite what we would expect in a star outfielder.

Not to say he's one yet, because he's not, by far. But if he can put together another month like June, he not only will be the ROY, he'll also start showing up on the backs of a lot more fans at Busch.

Which reminds me. What is with this Colby and his streaming locks of Georgian glory? Three out of three ladies that somewhat follow the Cardinals find him attractive, or at least like to talk about him like he's the only player on the team. The same for Yadi, to a lessened extent. Yadier Molina? Is anyone else encountering this fickle display of baseball favoritism? I think they just like to say their names. Un-believable.

Colby's June was indeed impressive. His line drive rate sat at a very healthy, Ryan Ludwick in 2008-esque 28%, bringing his season LD% up to around 20%. His isolated power dropped a bit from May (.203 vs. .235), but his overall SLG increased (.536 vs. .447). He's added 2.1 Wins Above Replacement this year and is worth $9.5 million so far this season, according to FanGraphs. His defense has been good if not great, and his overall OPS is sitting at .768 for the season. He's been darn good.

Not many people know that Colby Rasmus is the result of the botched attempt to keep Edgar Renteria in a Cardinal uni. The 28th draft pick in the 2005 draft first belonged to the Red Sox, but we received it as a compensation pick for Edgar's departure. With Renteria back in town, let's reflect on how well that non-deal has worked out for us. We get Colby, the World Series in 2006, and avoid getting stuck with a big contract that the Sox looked to get rid of one year later. Thanks for Colby, Boston!

Finally, let's end with some hilarity that is sure to get some ladies friending Colby on Facebook. From an interview with GO magazine by Evan Fisk:

Do you have a girlfriend?

I’m single.

There’s a 24-year-old girl on our staff. She wants to know if you like older women because she thinks you’re really hot.

I definitely do. (Smiles) Definitely do.

Then the follow up question is that she wants to know if you’d go on a date with her if she buys you a beer. When you’re 21, of course.

Definitely will. No doubt about it.

So how much of your time in the dugout is spent looking at the hot girls in the stands?

We look every now and then.

Have you ever asked a girl out at a game?

Um, not really. I’ve asked for numbers a couple of times after the games, but not really. I don’t do that a whole lot. But, I don’t know, it’s all good fun. If you see a good-looking girl in the stands, everybody will be taking a peek. It’s pretty funny watching everybody.

I heard he likes tankinis. At least, that's what Brendan Ryan told me.



More...

Cards Sign Latin American Player

Filed under: fanhome | by ArRedbird @ 9:51 am
Quote:

The St. Louis Cardinals have signed 16-year-old Wagner Mateo, a Dominican outfielder regarded as one of the top Latin American players in this year's free agent class, the team announced today.
The signing bonus, reportedly, is $3.1m.

Matt Baker, Springfield News-Leader
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