Baseball Prospectus | Articles | Prospectus Matchups: Jim's Up To Something: "Conversely, the Cardinals' most burdensome starter has not been that much of a burden. In spite of being the weak link in the Cardinal rotation, one cannot picture Matt Morris not getting a start come playoff time."
Baseball Prospectus | Articles | Teams: A Critical Guide: In Which A Myth is Shattered: "The rest of the starters combined to go 5-0, 3.00. Imagine that in a postseason series."
Royalties & Cardinalate: "The highlight of my Sunday baseball viewing was seeing what Rick Ankiel had done in his AAA start earlier in the evening. During the late part of Baseball Tonight the spine-tingling words scrolled by in the fine print on the bottom of the screen. It gave me chills. Ricky went six innings and allowed 0 walks and 0 runs. But what sent me into a state of ecstasy was later learning that Ankiel threw just 53 pitches, 44 of which were strikes. He allowed no balls out of the infield. Seems too good to be true; this adds yet another reason to not miss a single September game."
ESPN.com - Gammons: Wacky AL race: "This is the Cardinals' worst nightmare: The Twins have home-field advantage if they make it to the World Series."
Baseball Prospectus | Articles | Under The Knife: Thirty Games Left: "Losing a starter doesn't help any team, but the Cubs are better positioned to deal with an injury than most. Matt Clement left Sunday's game with what has been described as a back or neck strain. The injury is of unknown severity, but seems to be muscular in nature. Depending on how long it takes to interrupt the pain/spasm cycle, and Clement's response to treatment, he could miss as little as one start. Glendon Rusch is the likely fill-in on a short- or long-term basis."
Glendon Rusch? That's better than most? Are other teams holding lottery's and letting fans pitch if a starter goes down?
Redbird Nation: "RBN: I would be able to let it go if it weren't for Stinkhat.
MLB: Who's Stinkhat?
RBN: Steve Kline. Krazy Kliner. Says he won't wear his greasecap now for fear of getting busted by the boys upstairs.
MLB: So what?
RBN: That cap's like Samson's hair, man. It gives Kline power and courage. If he gives up a salami to Derrek Lee in the NLCS, I'm blaming you.
MLB: Jesus, I gotta go..."
McClendon responds to La Russa - PittsburghLIVE.com: "McClendon said several of his players complained that Tavarez was throwing a 90 mph pitch that had the movement of a knuckleball. Two players yesterday confirmed yesterday that Tavarez's pitches had unusual movement. They added that his pitches continued to flutter suspiciously in the two games he pitched against the Pirates following his ejection."
Musings of a Philosophical Scrivener....: "Charlie Lea, noting that since Calero is on a rehab assignment, is trying to stress that Calero shoudn't worry about his stats. Quoth Charlie: 'From the point of view of the Cardinals, Calero should be in no rush. The Cardinals are set to enter the postseason, they're playing great baseball, and they're doing it without him.'
That would just have to make Kiko feel good about himself if he were in a position to hear it.... "
Baseball Prospectus | Articles | Rational Exuberance: A Better Way to Build a Baseball Team: "Once again, we can reserve a lot of the blame for a damaging trend to Tony La Russa."
ESPN.com - MLB - Dirty misdeed: Tavarez suspended 10 days: "CINCINNATI -- St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Julian Tavarez was suspended for 10 days Tuesday for applying a foreign substance to balls while pitching last week.
Tavarez was ejected during the opener of Friday's doubleheader against Pittsburgh after umpire crew chief Joe West inspected the pitcher's grimy hat. West said Tavarez and Cardinals and manager Tony La Russa 'as much admitted' it was pine tar on his cap."
The Cardinals' Birdhouse, Home of the Fans: "One method, endorsed by Major League Baseball is to take the number of games remaining for the division leaders, add 1, then subtract the difference in the number of losses between the leaders and the second place team. In other words:
M = G1 1 - ( L2 - L1 ) "
I'm implementing a string search algorithm: Does Major League Baseball endorse any particular one?
Baseball Prospectus | Articles | Prospectus Triple Play: Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers: "Sorry, Cards fans, but the MVP is still in San Francisco. But the postseason run that your team is primed for should more than make up for it."
Redbird Nation: "I liked the curtain call for Renteria in the first, and the one for Walker in the 8th was nice too, and the three last night weren't bad either. But I sorta hope these curtain calls don't become too much of a 'thing' at Busch. They strike me as sorta self-congratulatory (if not autoerotic), and I'd prefer if we doled 'em out more sparingly."
Second.
The Transaction Guy: Cardinals Option Haren, Purchase Reyes
"At this point, all of the Cardinals starters could self-destruct (the way I’ve been expecting them to all year), and I think they’d still be the World Series favorites."
From a Cubs fan no less.
STLtoday.com :: View topic - Cardinals' notes after Game 1 and Game 2 lineups: "And this is the best part: after he got ejected, Tavarez walked to his clubhouse, grabbed several of his caps, marched down the hall to the Pirates clubhouse and put the hats on McCledon's desk. 'You want hats? I give them hats,' he said. "
Random Redbird Reasoning: Starting Left Fielder (Part II): "Finally, I used http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/stats/ to find the defensive win shares that each player has posted this season. Win shares stats had only been updated through August 12th, and do not differentiate between outfield positions, but the information should still give us some insight into who may be the better fielder.
Mabry - 0.8 win shares through 281 outfield innings
Taguchi - 0.9 win shares through 322 outfield innings
In other words - Mabry comes out on top again!"
Baseball Prospectus | Events | Chat with Rany Jazayerli: "Rany Jazayerli: Chaim Bloom and Keith Woolner have already covered this, but the *heart* of the Cardinals' lineup - the murderer's row of Walker-Rolen-Pujols-Edmonds - is among the best ever.
But the team as a whole is sixth in the majors in runs scored. The Giants, playing in a great pitcher's park, have scored just four fewer runs. There's nothing historic about that. "
STL Outsider: Tonight's Game: "At least the Cardinals lost a one-run game, which improves their post-season chances."
Sports - theworldlink.com - Serving the Great South Coast of Oregon: "Larry Walker has learned quickly that St. Louis Cardinals' fans know how to celebrate."
Baseball Prospectus | Articles | Can Of Corn: With A Bullet: "At this writing, Alex Sanchez, So Taguchi and Brandon Inge lead the majors in productive-outs percentage, the regrettable and largely useless product of idle hands and consistent decline at ESPN.com. When the answer is Alex Sanchez, are you really asking the right question?"
Hey, he's a league leader at something.
ESPN.com - MLB - Recap: "'We're not the only ones, they beat up on everybody,' Graves said. 'They've got the best team in baseball in my eyes. That lineup never ends.'"
Redbird Nation: "Last Saturday my brother and I posed a few trivia questions about the '82 Cardinals. Here are the answers:"
St. Louis Cardinals History: "The St. Louis Cardinals have won more World Series Championships than any other National League team, nine."
Baseball Prospectus | Articles | Under The Knife: Back From the Big Apple: "Albert Pujols has figured out how to get past his foot injury: just hit homers. "
The Business of Baseball website: "WELCOME!
My name is Maury Brown, and I want to welcome you to The Business of Baseball website. As a member of SABR (Society for American Baseball Research), the goal of this site is to provide research tools for those wishing to learn more about the business end of professional baseball."
STL Outsider: Wachovia Ad: "Tony Womack is a human being and not a stock, so you don't just dump him on the street at the first sign of trouble. Beyond the ethical issues, there's always sample size to consider. But the Cardinals are a business and they need some limits in place. In particular they needed to ask themselves how long they would let a slump continue before they look for solutions elsewhere."
BravesBuzz: Braves 9, Cardinals 7: "St. Louis took the lead the next half inning (is it just me, or do they seem to score every inning?)."
CourierPress: Lifestyle: "A short street near the Little League field on the south side has been named Scott Rolen Drive. On it is Kimball Kids, a daycare facility where employee Amy Traylor described how her son, Devon, 9, 'idolizes and wants to be Scott Rolen.'
"
Baseball Prospectus | Articles | Under The Knife: The Final Tear?: "The change in diagnosis, if true, doesn't affect Pujols in the short term, but seeing McGwire on Pujols' PECOTA list can't make Cards fans feel good about that long term-deal."
Will Carroll: Cubs fan to the core.
Redbird Nation: "But we're no longer competing with the rest of our division so much as we're competing with an ideal of perfection, with the ghosts of Cardinals past. It's simply thrilling to see how good this team can be."
Baseball Prospectus | Articles | Under The Knife: Luck: "# The cushion that the Cardinals have built is starting to pay off. Chris Carpenter left Wednesday's game with back spasms as his catcher, Mike Matheny, saved him from further damage. Matheny saw that Carpenter's mechanics were changing and brought the trainer out. According to Matthew Leach at MLB.com, Carpenter doesn't have a history of back problems."
Mike Matheny: Earning his check?
Get Up, Baby!: "Cal Eldred, since June 1: 30 1/3 ip, 24 K, 3 BB, 6 ER, 1.78 ERA
Mysterious Competitor, same time period: 30 ip, 24 K, 6 BB, 7 ER, 2.10 ERA
One is $900,000 long-relief man, the other is Mariano Rivera. Hm... "
Baseball Prospectus | Articles | Murderer's Row: "So even as we watch Barry Bonds hit, and prepare stories for our grandchildren like the ones we were told about Babe Ruth, we should make time for the 2004 Cardinals. Even Babe Ruth never saw a lineup like this."
The New York Times > Sports > Baseball > Very Different Birds of a Feather: "Asked about the feat, he sounded like Barry Bonds, minus the sense of humor. 'I don't care,' Pujols said, puffing his chest. 'I can do it every year.'"
SJ-R.COM - House of Cards: "The 83-year-old Smith has been a season-ticket holder for more than 45 years, but his love affair with Cardinals baseball dates back to 1931 when he was 10 and watched the Gas House Gang's antics at Sportsman's Park."
Blissful Knowledge: ORGANIZATIONAL EFFICIENCY? Archives: "The last manager I can think of who really changed the game was Tony LaRussa, who bequeathed us the hyper-specialized, overloaded bullpen."
Baseball Cards from 1887 to 1914: "This collection presents a Library of Congress treasure -- 2,100 early baseball cards dating from 1887 to 1914. The cards show such legendary figures as Ty Cobb stealing third base for Detroit, Tris Speaker batting for Boston, and pitcher Cy Young posing formally in his Cleveland uniform. Other notable players include Connie Mack, Walter Johnson, King Kelly, and Christy Mathewson."
The Cardinal Nation - News: "Burch, a 21st round pick in 2003 out of the University of Nebraska, was the Chiefs closer at the end of 2003 and for all of 2004. This season Burch saved 21 games for the Chiefs while posting a 5-5 record and a 3.61 ERA. In 44 games the right-hander tossed 52 1/3 innings striking out 60 and walking 24."
STLtoday - Sports - Cardinals: "A team riding its seventh win streak of at least five games since the start of June, the Cardinals outscored the Mets 14-7 without a home run in the series. "
ESPN.com - Gammons: No more 'NomarGate': "There were a lot of us who picked the Cubs to win the World Series back in March. And while the Cardinals are clearly the best team in the National League and the Braves are doing what the Braves have done every year, if Kerry Wood and Mark Prior are in form in October, the Cubs have a lot better chance of making it to the World Series with Nomar Garciaparra than without him."
Get Up, Baby, Get Up!
"Monthly trends for Matt Morris, putting June and July together for larger sample size purposes:
BAA K/9 HR/9
Apr .217 4.23 2.38
May .233 4.78 1.45
Ju* .316 6.55 1.39
So what does that mean? Well, I'm not totally sure. That he's become more hittable while simultaneously striking out more batters and allowing fewer home runs is a little bizarre. Anyone care to try and interpret that?
"
Get Up, Baby, Get Up!
"Look, Walt, I've praised your shrewd moves on countless occasions, even devoted entire articles to them, but there comes a time to realize that you signed a total zero to a three year contract, and playing him in the majors ahead of superior players doesn't do anything to change that. Cut bait with Taguchi, or send him down; just don't waive one of the best players in Cardinals history because you were duped into signing him. "
The Cardinal Nation: "I think the Rockies have already chosen who they want: Chris Narveson and John Gall. "
Info about how PTBNL work as well.
FOXSports.com - Lankford mulling option, release: "St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Ray Lankford was not with the team on Sunday while mulling whether to accept an option to the minor leagues or be released."
HaloScan.com - Comments: "He's amazing. Not a great farm developer (which is strange, b/c that's the area he came from), but there may be no GM in the history of baseball who is better at in-season deals, Beane included. He just does things that other GMs don't have the wherewithal (i.e., the networking skills or the balls) to pull off."
Brian Gunn on Walt Jocketty
MSNBC - An Entrepreneur Steps to the Plate: "For example, the user can identify the most likely pitch—inside fastball, low-and-away change-up—that Boston’s Pedro Martinez is probably going to throw at any point in the count; then, depending on the result of that pitch, what he typically throws next. Cracking this code has been one of baseball’s holy grails. “I’d like to get my hands on that,” said Alex Rodriguez, the Texas Rangers’ All-Star shortstop when he learned of Antinoja’s data service. “You always want to know everything about your opposition.” Adds New York Mets general manager Jim Duquette, whose club this season bought Tendu’s full $30,000 annual service: “This gives you a chance to validate what an advance scout is telling you, and learn trends they can’t pick up.”"
Baseball Prospectus | Articles | Under The Knife: The Dog Days: "Cards fans can hold out hope that Ankiel could finally live up to his promise, while medheads have another data point that 'Steve Blass Disease' is actually a medical condition related to proprioception in the elbow."
STLtoday - Sports - Cardinals
"The Busch name will grace the Cardinals' new stadium, just as it has at two other St. Louis ballparks over the last 50 years. "
Hooray!
Baseball Prospectus | Articles | Prospectus Matchups: Made-Up Statistical Threshold Corporation: "If the Phillies continue to flounder, though, what's to become of the possibility of Abreu's first-ever decent MVP showing? After obvious choice Barry Bonds, Cardinals Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen are definite top-fivers. If the Braves carry on as they have, J.D. Drew's stock is going to rise, as is that of Adrian Beltre of the first-place Dodgers. Jim Edmonds will also be due some large-pointed votes. Todd Helton currently has the second-highest VORP in the league and will be marginalized by voters owing to his teammates' lack of quality, but probably not to the point that he will be kept out of the top 10."
Top 10 MVP vote getters 30% percent Cardinals? It could happen.
STLtoday - Sports - Cardinals: "Lefthander Rick Ankiel threw two innings in his first rehab start for the Class A Palm Beach Cardinals in their 2-1 victory over the St. Lucie Mets in the first game of a doubheader Monday night in Jupiter, Fla.
Ankiel allowed one run on one hit with no walks and three strikeouts. Of the 33 pitches he threw, 20 were strikes. "
The Cub Reporter: August 2004 Archives: "The Wild Card isn’t clinched, the postseason is no guarantee, and it may be years before we know for sure that the Cubs “won” their trades from the past few years. But there’s no denying that this organization, under Hendry, is now playing a different ballgame. That we can now dream our usual Cubbish dreams of snatching a prize player and have that dream actualized is a sign that, no matter the outcome of this year’s race, the future of the franchise looks rosy"
Baseball Prospectus | Articles | The Evil Empire Strikes Back: "If it works--and it's worth noting that there's nothing stopping the other 29 teams from rewriting the revenue-sharing rules in the next CBA in 2006--it's a breathtaking ploy to build a stadium with other people's money, and reveals a huge loophole in baseball's revenue-sharing plan, which was designed specifically to keep the Yankees from doing stuff like this. It also helps explain some puzzling events in baseball of late.
Why the St. Louis Cardinals ownership, for example, abruptly shifted gears in 2003 and agreed to foot the bill for two-thirds of the costs of their new stadium themselves. The new revenue-sharing plan, it seems, hasn't only shifted the dynamics of the free-agent market, to the chagrin of the Brad Fullmers of the world. It's also reduced the effective cost for teams to pay for their own ballparks, since they're no longer just really expensive piles of luxury boxes but now, in essence, 'tax shelters' as well. For an owner, paying only 60 cents on the dollar can be enough to take a money-losing stadium project and shift it into the black."
Baseball Prospectus | Articles | Under The Knife: Success Under Duress: "MLB.tv has allowed me to get a good (if small) look at Matt Morris. I come away more convinced than ever that he has a progressive problem in his shoulder. I won't Houdini the thing and diagnose him, but I think that it speaks well that he's been able to have some success in spite of it. If something isn't torn, he could be rested"
