2 of 3 in the series.

The Cardinals would be the darkhorse in the NL Central this year, and I haven't looked at the preseason publications but assume they are probably picked 3rd or 4th in most of them. Starting pitching is a problem after Matt Morris and Woody Williams. If they find another reasonably priced starter, or a couple emerge from the group of Carpenter, Journell, Simontacchi, Marquis, Kiko Calero, and Haren, then they could go far. Suppan at number 3 is solid but not spectacular, and doesn't match up well with the number 3 Astros and Cubs.

No doubt that they have a very good offense with Pujols, Rolen, Renteria, and Edmonds. Reggie Sanders should put up decent numbers as well, especially with this lineup. Mark Quinn could come back and take the left field spot, which appears to be up for grabs with Kerry Robinson and So Taguchi penciled in now; neither is better than a fourth/fifth OF.

If Isringhausen stays healthy, then the bullpen won't be a mess. Kline, Eldred, King, Tavarez, and the non-starters should be able to form a decent but not outstanding bullpen. The starters need to go deeper into games, instead of relying on Morris every 5th day to give them rest until he breaks down 2/3 of the way through the season.

Thoughts? Anything I missed? Any other Cardinals fans?

[ February 25, 2004, 09:37 PM: Message edited by: MSUBulldog ]

BLAH. I love the Cardinals about as much as I love .... um ..... um ...... something REALLY bad. But then again I'm the same way with the Rams and Blues.

Then visit another thread!

Um, no ... one of my favorite hobbies is raining on the parades of the St. Louis homers.

Hey, if you can keep the thread lively go for it!

This thread is where my beloved Scott Rolen resides this year.

I'm with you...though it's not as much fun with J.D. Drew, aka the Second Coming, off to Atlanta. wink

Who cares about Drew? It's all about Albert PUJOLS!!!

The Cardinals are going to have a tough fight this year, especially given how strong the Cubs and Astros are.

[ March 03, 2004, 08:15 AM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

I think the Cards like being the underdog this year. Just remember the last two seasons, they fought hard even though they didn't look like the best team on paper.

I know Drew was a right fielder (sometimes center) for the Cards, but left field is now their biggest hole with the acquisition of Reggie Sanders. Last I heard, one of 11 players could get that position. Kerry Robinson seems to have a place in LaRussa's heart, but we'll see who wins the job.

I'm a Cardinals fan (and the Reds, so go figure) but I don't see anyone other than the Cubs or Astros battling it out for the division title. I hope I'm wrong...

I'm watching the Cardinals right now playing a spring training game against the Mets. I can't help notice how slim and trim Albert Pujols has become all of a sudden. Is he another one of those who may have been a buyer of steroids?
I am still not a believer in Pujols. They just posted his homerun totals alongside Joe DiMaggio's but there's no way they should compare players of today with players of yesteryear.

[ March 13, 2004, 10:23 AM: Message edited by: amazin12 ]

Two words: stop hatin'!
Two more: Albert Pujols!

The season is not even a week old and Tony Larussa is apparently already so worried about his worn out bullpen that backup CATCHER Cody McKay PITCHED the 8th AND 9th innings of today's 11-5 loss to the Brewers....the good news is that McKay (who is the son of Cardinal first base coach Dave McKay) gave up NO hits and only walked one batter during his inaugural two innings on the mound....considering the three "professional" pitchers who preceded him gave up 15 hits and 11 runs in 7 innings maybe Cody should be added to the St. Louis staff.

Were it not for Albert Pujols' two HR's and 4 RBI (giving him a league leading 7 RBI) the embarrassment would have been even worse -- not that losing 3 out of your first 4 games at HOME to the Brewers is a good sign, of course....anyone want to start a pool on the number of days before LaRussa (whose contract is due to expire at the end of this season and should have been let go by St. Louis years ago) is the first manager of 2004 to be fired?

Unlikely that LaRussa will be fired; the St. Louis Cardinals have the BEST RECORD in the NL!

They're doing it with thin but effective pitching, run-generating production from Pujols, Rolen, Edmonds, Renteria, and the outfield-by-committee, and decent fielding. They also are benefitting from being in the most competitive NL division; their chief competition keeps taking each other out (and they lost 3 straight to the NL Central bottom dwellers, the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have since won 10 straight).

I hope they can hold on, and think they will, especially if Kerry Wood doesn't come back. Even LaRussa can't screw them up.

The Cards now hold a 9.5 game lead over the Reds and 10 over the Cubs after beating the Cubs today. I wish I had seen the game since this was the last Cards-Cubs game this season. Cards and the Reds still have three series to go but I don't see the Reds as able to hang in there. But I could be wrong. I figured the Cubs and Astros would have left everyone behind at this point.

Wow! A two-game series with beanballs, warnings, and ejections! The Cubs whined left and right about everything, blaming everybody but themselves for their implosion.

What a bunch of frickin' babies--and their spoiled, bratty fans, too!

The Cards got Larry Walker from Colorado for a minor league pitcher and two players to be named later. The rich get richer.

Just as long as they stay well ahead of the Cubs.

I'm not sure about the "rich getting richer"; Walker is 38 years old, he's been injured this year, and while he still can hit, the Cardinals could really use some insurance with their pitching staff. They already have the top lineup in the National League, and one of the best trios in all of baseball (Pujols, Rolen and Edmonds). The outfield hole simply wasn't as problematic as the pitching, especially for a playoff run.

The starting pitching has been consistently among the best in the NL, but it's still shaky. Morris is giving up too many home runs and is either very good or horrendous; Carpenter has never won more than 12 games in a year and is a year on from arm surgery; Marquis has given up more hits than innings and batters are teeing at .287 off him; Suppan is at best a #4 pitcher; and Woody Williams is having his worst year as a Cardinal, reverting to pre-2001 form. Also, Isringhausen has been off-on, and Kline's a flake. The Cardinals couldn't hurt themselves by picking up a proven starter who can carry innings, like Liván Hernández or a young, talented pitcher like Dewon Brazelton. I think they'll go all the way this year, but the pitching is the spottiest point.

Also, given that the Cardinals were picked to finish third at best, I don't think of them as "rich," but as really working hard this year to turn what could have been a mediocre season into a spectacular. Remember, they have a manager who in the past has found ways to lose. On more than one occasion he's skirted the edges of charlatanry.

My hope is that they meet the Yankees in the World Series. The Bronx Bombers have a great lineup too, but equally shaky pitching--at least in recent months.

[ August 07, 2004, 11:30 AM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

Yeah, I wouldn't call this a case of the "rich getting richer." (Randy Johnson going to the Yankees would be more in that vein.)

It's a great deal for the Cardinals, adding strength to their already potent lineup.

True, Walker is old and injury prone (only twice in his career has he had over 500 ABs), but he's a solid, all-around player, and the Rockies are picking up a significant part of his salary (reported between $7 and $9 million).

This deal reminds me of deals when the Oakland A's picked up veterans Willie McGee and Harold Baines; or when the Jays picked up Ricky Henderson, and David Cone. Even leading teams know you sometimes need that something extra--usually in the form of a veteran--to push you over the top.

Indeed. In the big games he has been very adept at snatching a loss from the jaws of victory.

Not "the rich get richer" in the Yankee sense, but they're way ahead in the division and they still went out and got a good player who can help them for seemingly very little (and even got cash from Colorado in the deal).

True, though, I won't be too surprised if the Cards' pitching staff comes completely back to earth. Yet they can still outslug a lot of teams.

[ August 07, 2004, 01:20 PM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

The pitching has looked exceptional these past few games. Tonight Suppan, Kline and Isringhausen pitched a shutout, with Suppan surrendering only 2 hits! Over their last 7 games, they've given up only 13 runs, and Morris and Carpenter account for most of those. Really amazing.

LaRussa isn't negotiating his contract right now. I say let him get to the Series, and then once the season's done, start afresh. He's toyed with Cardinals fans for too long. But this appears to be our year and he can't screw it up. With Whitey Herzog at the helm, there'd be no question this team would be facing its AL opponent in October. With LaRussa...I'm knocking on wood!

Rolen looks more and more like the NL MVP, though if Pujols surpasses him in RBIs, he could take it. Edmonds has also been superb so far.

[ August 11, 2004, 09:12 PM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

Whoo hoo! Walker has fit in beautifully! He's hitting .370 in his 9 games with the Cardinals and slugged a homer tonight.

Rolen has achieved 100 RBIs for the third straight year, and is now at .330, while Pujols has 101 runs and is on his way to 101 RBIs with 37 HRs and a .324 BA.

Morris, meanwhile, didn't surrender a homer for a change. I still think the Cards could benefit from one more top-flight pitcher just in case (is Liván Hernandez looking for a new home?), but so far, the starters have been unbelievable. If Williams wins tomorrow, they'll have all five starters with 10+ wins.

Overall, the Cards have their largest divisional lead, 15 games, since 1968, when they won the NL and played Detroit in the World Series (and Gibson pitched one of the greatest World Series games of all time).

As well as the Cards "unknown" pitchers have continued to perform of late (Carpenter, Suppan, and Marquis in particular) if they were able to acquire Livan Hernandez by the end of August (not that I expect that to happen, of course) then you could engrave the Cardinals name on the championship trophy right then and there IMHO....if Livan had been on virtually any other team this season and didn't have a bullpen that blew nearly half of his late inning leads, he'd be a genuine NL Cy Young candidate.

As others have already mentioned, though, I'm still not convinced that LaRussa won't find a way to cost the Cards a series in the postseason....it's not like he hasn't done it before (in both St. Louis AND Oakland)....if Augie Busch and company hadn't fired Joe Torre back in the mid-90s I believe that the Gateway city would already have another world championship by now -- instead of waiting 40 years since their last title.

Barring any unexpected major injuries to one of their key offensive players if LaRussa doesn't lead the Cards to the World Series this October I would surprised if he was offered a new contract for 2005 (or beyond)....as always, time will tell of course.

~Joe

[ August 18, 2004, 09:58 PM: Message edited by: gamecock ]

The Cards last won the World Series in 1982, which is only 22 years ago.

Thanks for the correction, fantomas....how could I have forgotten about that team (with Bruce Sutter, Willie McGee, Tommy Herr, Darrell Porter, et al) that knocked off the Brew Crew of Yount, Molitor and company?....my bad ....St. Louis also made it to the series against the Twins, of course, in '87 before losing in a raucous game 7 in the Metrodome.

For some reason I temporarily had a brain freeze, completely forgot about the Whitey Herzog era and thought that the last time they made it to the fall classic was in '64 against the Yanks....which, for the record, I believe was the last time that a manager was not retained after taking his team to the World Series (and ironically Johnny Keane was hired by the Yanks in '65 to manage the team that he had just defeated in the '64 series).

Does anyone think it's possible that LaRussa could face the same fate this fall, regardless of the Cards outcome in the postseason?....perhaps some St. Louis area Outsporters could shed some light on whether the local media has speculated on that being a possibility or not.

~Joe

[ August 18, 2004, 10:45 PM: Message edited by: gamecock ]

That 80s run by the Cardinals is indelible for me; they went to the World Series in 1982, 1985 and 1987, and all three series were against Midwestern teams--Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Minnesota. Whitey Herzog was an amazing manager, because comparatively his lineups were weaker than the competition, and certainly weaker than the Cardinals of 2004.

LaRussa really does have to get to the World Series this year to keep his job. He's got the team to win it all and the team has proved repeatedly that it can defeat any of the other challengers in the NL.

I just pray that he doesn't fall back into his usual screwups (questionable calls, pitching changes or failures to remove pitchers in trouble, etc.) in the playoffs and end up once again falling out instead of using the Cardinals' talents this year to their fullest.

The only consolation is that if Chicago makes it to playoffs, Dusty Baker often turns just as incompetent--though his players usually tend to like him a lot more than LaRussa's.

[ September 02, 2004, 06:33 AM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

This is the year!

Cardinals are World Series bound!

One interesting thing about the Cardinals' great year is that the team has three legitimate MVP candidates--Albert Pujols (my favorite), Scott Rolen, and Jim Edmonds--who probably are going to cancel each other out among the sportswriters, allowing either Adrian Béltre or Barry Bonds to pick up the prize. Béltre admitted has been outstanding for the Dodgers, and Bonds once again is turning in one of the greatest performances of all time. But Pujol's, Rolen's and Edmonds's numbers also are excellent, and Edmonds in particular has really turned on the jets since the All Star game. At this point, does anyone even recall when Pujols, earlier in the season, was in a bit of a slump, and some of the sportswriters (even in the Lou) were talking about how he would be able to live up to his billing? What crapola! He is the REAL DEAL! (And has the looks to match.)

I can't wait till Ankiel hits the rubber. If he pitches half as well as he did in the minors, the Cardinals have an powerful backup weapon against any of their competitors come October.

Any chance we could get you Cards to lie down for us for a few games, so we Astros could grab the wild card rather than the Cubs, Marlins or Giants?

Well, they're trying. Houston won again today, defeating Cincinnati (what is this--12 in a row??) and the Padres defeated the Cardinals.

~Adam

Well, I meant when we go head to head during six games in the next month. We actually needed you to beat the Padres.

I'll hold down Rolen - any volunteers to hold down the rest of the team? wink

I post this just because it's hot.

But why isn't Pujols in the center? He swings the biggest bat!

I am certainly willing to "hold down" Rick Ankiel. I have always had a thing for him. Do I have to use my hands?

THEY MADE IT TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!!

GO SAINT LOUIS CARDINALS!!!

Hail, Cardinals!

I'll be rooting for these guys. LaRussa is the second best manager in baseball, and it's great to see guys like Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen, who are both so classy and play the game the way it should be played, finally make it to the World Series. Go, Cards!

Well, congratulations to the Cardinals for the NLCS win.

I think it will be a very interesting and entertaining World Series.

And he's THE best at choking when it comes to the big one. Look for the BoSox to win the Series. Hey, Tony, don't put away your Heimlich Manuever cheat sheet away just yet.

Just a few random factoids to share, for what they are worth:

Last April, Sports Illustrated predicted the Cubs over the Yankees in the World Series this year, and Sporting News picked the Red Sox over the Phillies. Neither magazine (nor myself) thought the Cardinals would even make it to the post-season, let alone the World Series.

This is the third consecutive year in which a wild-card team will be represented in the World Series (of course, in '02 both wild card teams were in it). However, I suppose there are still a few 'purists' around who think only the six division winners should qualify.

The Cardinals, the team with the best record in baseball this year (105-57), received only 36 posts on this thread throughout the regular season.

Although I didn't see every game of the NLCS, it was an entertaining series, with St Louis and Houston dead-even in several categories going into tonight's game. I don't dislike either team (apart from Julian Tavarez) and I would have been just as happy for the Astros if they had won it, considering how they were almost written off as a playoff contender and came back with all those wins late in the season.

Congratulations to the Cardinals! I truly believe that they have been the best, most consistent team this season.

Once again I speaketh the truth. Never doubt my prognosticating abilities. Ever.

I'm not sure how it's LaRussa's fault that the heart of the batting order can't hit in the World Series. I'm not a LaRussa worshipper, but he deserves respect taking a team that should have finished third in their division to the World Series.

I am not a huge Tony LaRussa fan, either. However, he will deservedly win NL Manager of the Year. I agree that it has been a bit unfair to criticize the guy when most so-called experts either picked the Cubs or the Astros to win the division. In fact, Sports Illustrated actually picked the Cubs to win the World Series this year. The Cardinals were nowhere on the radar. As for their loss to the Red Sox, I don't know if any other National League team could have done any better against a team that was so hot in the playoffs.