mccannta Sports

Enough Already! Cardinals Should Dump Kip Wells

Reading the minds of Major League Baseball's managers and general managers is a normally a different task. However, this year, everyone can determine the state of mind in the Cardinals front office: resignation. Walt Jocketty and company have seemingly given up on the team for this year by not making any moves to remedy their anemic starting pitching. The best example of this decision to do nothing is the fact that Kip Wells still has a Cardinal uniform.

How much longer will the franchise continue to invest in a player that shows no growth or determination to improve. Can he pitch? Does he have talent? Clearly yes. But this talent can not be counted on as he shows no discernible signs of consistency. He gets behind in the count against so many batters that he is always digging himself and the team out of a bind. Once down, he has the talent to come back and deliver some good pitches but these cannot be counted on.

More generally though, this begs the question: If he can throw good stuff 3-0 why can't he throw those pitches to begin the at-bat? Kip Wells just doesn't seem to take his talent and responsibility as a Major League pitcher on a defending World Champion team seriously. Kip Wells seems like a recent manifestation of J.D. Drew, a fantastic talent but no dedication.

Finally, a comment from Cardinal television broadcaster Dan McLaughlin seems to sum up the sentiment surrounding the disappointing Kip Wells. "Where is the rain?" When Wells is on the mound for St. Louis, fans of the Cardinals hope for a rain-out. How sad for the proud fans of one the most revered teams in Major League Baseball. By the fourth inning on Friday evening, Wells had given up 7 earned runs by the fourth inning. With a performance like that, who wasn't wondering "Where is the rain?"

Game 4 Rainout and Other Cardinal Blogs

Wednesday's night's Game 4 was a rainout in St. Louis. A cold and rainy night is forcast for Thursday night as well. I don't know if a day off is good or bad news for the Cardinals or if benefits either team at all. The Tigers don't need anymore rest, all they have been doing is resting lately. They certainly aren't pulling any muscles running the bases. In Game 3, batters 1 through 6 were a combined 0 for 18!

The rainout tonight gave me the opportunity to find some good St. Louis Cardinal blogs run by true fans. Check these out, they are well written and not lacking in heartfelt passion.

• Viva el Birdos In-depth writing and a huge readership. Eeex-cellent.
• Deadspin - A full sports site but lately, focused mainly on StL.
• CardNilly - Local site with good writing
• Bellyitcher - She got to go to the StL World Series party. Luck-eee
• The Birdwatch
• Get Up Baby
• Tigers Live - A Tigers blog from DFP reporter Bill McGraw.
• The Daily Fungo - Tigers MLB blog
• MLB World Series
• ESPN World Series - Da da-da, da da-da!
• Yahoo! World Series
• Fox Sports World Series
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch
• The Sporting News
• Sports Illustrated - Good writing with the best sports pics around

These are great resources for getting to know the game behind the game. From Kenny Rogers to miscalibrated radar guns to what the NLCS '06 ring looks like, these blogs and sites are excellent and worth a read.

Cardinals Not Lucky, They Are Good

An interesting phenomena is happening now that the Cardinals are up 2-1 in the World Series. Myriad sports writers and on-air commentators who, in lazy lock-step fashion announced the inevitable demise of the Cardinals, are now turning angry. Pressed to explain themselves and their simplistic predictions which are turning out dead wrong, they are now framing the World Series story line not in terms of the Cardinals great pitching or patient offense or veteran leadership from La Russa but in terms of the Tigers not executing or them being rusty from the long break (hmm, that sounds familiar...). Writer for Viva el Birdos, Larry Borowsky, writes in Slate about the major annoyance that St. Louis is even in the World Series, much less, leading the series two games to one.

How wrong were they? Consider the following examples of bravado and arrogance from USAToday. Writing a scouting report before Game 1, Bob Nightengale wrote of Detroit:

Placido Polanco is the Mr. October of middle infielders this postseason. He's batting .471 with a .514 on-base percentage...Curtis Granderson has been huge in the postseason, hitting three homers with seven RBI.

Nightengale topped-off the article by predicting the winner of the World Series. That he picked the Tigers is not important, it is how he picked the Tigers:

The Detroit Tigers' biggest obstacle to a championship will be keeping a straight face. The Tigers in three. (OK, make it four.)

I bet he thought he was really cute and creative in his prediction. In the real world, his Tigers are not quite the team he predicted they would be. Polanco, Granderson and catcher Ivan Rodriguez are a combined 0-34 going into Game 4. Pudge himself is 0 for his last 22. Bill McGraw noted that the top six hitters for Detroit went 0-18 in Game 3.

ESPN's analysts have shown no better talent at World Series divination. Consider the graphic to the right listing their combined predictions for the series. Only Ravech has the Cardinals winning. One wonders if he actually believed this or was there pressure from mgmt. for at least someone to pick the lowly Cardinals. Either way, I think he will end up being the smartest one (or the luckiest) of the whole bunch.

I guess with the attitude of fair and balanced, Nightengale also wrote scouting report for St. Louis:

The Cardinals' rotation is awfully weak for a World Series team, but hey, it at least was better than the Mets'. But Chris Carpenter has to pitch like Bob Gibson if the Cardinals are going to have any chance.

Nice segue, Mr. Nightengale. In fact, Chris Carpenter did pitch like Bob Gibson last night but that wasn't a flash-in-the-pan outing. His ERA at Busch this year was 1.81 and he is the reigning National League Cy Young winner. The New Hampshire native was masterful in Game 3 and affirmed in many minds that he is the preeminent National League pitcher. Tigers manager Jim Leyland, in an interview before Game 3 would not know how true his comments would turn out to be concerning Carpenter:

"Obviously he's one of the best pitchers in baseball," Leyland said. "He's a Cy Young winner. I have the utmost respect for him. ... Chris Carpenter is at the head of the class. He's an outstanding young man. He's a tremendous pitcher and tremendous competitor, and obviously we'll have our hands full."

How good was Carpenter? Bob Verducci wrote that it was "eight of the most efficient innings you'll ever find this time of year." Stan McNeil of TSN reports that "Carpenter never went to a three ball count with any of the 26 hitters he faced. ...He pitched six three-up, three-down innings and never threw more than 13 pitches in an inning."

As the media look to justify their botched predictions, why don't they concede that the Cardinals are a good baseball team and give them the respect they're due. They need to remember that the stumbling end-of-the-year Cardinals are also the Cardinals of late July. Their starting pitching is exceptional. Carpenter, Suppan and Weaver have been fantastic in the postseason and Anthony Reyes' win in Game 1 was astounding. ESPN writer Jayson Stark agrees: "In this World Series...the Cardinals pitchers have been the ones dictating how [the Tigers'] at-bats unfold. And nobody has confused the AL champs more than Chris Carpenter." The Cardinal bats are hitting now as well with offense coming from all through the lineup. The Cardinal bench, which has not had to be called upon is strong as well with Chris Duncan, Scott Spezio, Aaron Miles and So Taguchi.

Some writers are coming around and I applaud them for it. ESPN staff writer Gene Wojciechowski wrote yesterday evening that the same writers that never gave the Cardinals a chance now agree that they will win. He writes:

The Tigers should be winning this World Series. But the Cardinals are winning it because they remembered what they're good at, while the Tigers have been stricken by a memory lapse.

...The Cardinals aren't supposed to be in command, but then again, rookie starter Anthony Reyes wasn't supposed to win Game 1 for St. Louis. But he did. Then Carpenter won Game 3. Now, if Suppan wins Wednesday night, La Russa could keep the house money he won with Reyes, and pitch the more experienced Jeff Weaver on three days' rest for the potential Game 5 clincher.

UPDATE: More stories are reflecting the Cardinal turn of the tide. Amont others, see Ken Rosenthal's at Fox Sports and Mark Pesavento's at Yahoo!.

Cardinals Not World Series Underdogs

Conventional Wisdom has unanimously decided the St. Louis Cardinals don't have an American made automobile's chance to win the World Series. I'm not so sure.

For the sake of accountability I should admit that I am a life-long Cardinal fan, though a ex-patriot now residing in Southern California. But before you write this off as mindless ravings of a die-hard fan, consider my arguments for a fairly-balanced World Series.

Much too much has been made of the week's rest the Tigers are enjoying since their ALCS win over the Oakland Athletics last Saturday. Nearly everywhere on radio and TV and newspapers, commentators have trumpeted this as an obvious benefit. But in baseball, being well-rested from time off is not an advantage, it's a liability. The baseball season is long and teams play on average between 5 and 6 games a week. Players are used to playing every day. Over a 161-game season, players get used to this regularity and time off, though welcome to sore bones, is disruptive.

Extended time off screws with players timing defensively and at the plate. Batting practice can help batters stay sharp but BP pitching is not game-time pitching. Look for the Tigers to be a little rusty on defense and offense in the first two games.

Another casualty of this extended time off for Detroit will be the loss of momentum. The Tigers players and fans were riding high after their pummeling of Minnesota and Oakland. All the euphoria of last Saturday when the Tigers won the pennant has been squandered over the last 7 days. By contrast, St. Louis is still riding high on their exciting Game 7 NLCS victory Thursday night.

Extended time off for pitchers is also not good news. Pitchers are also used to pitching in a rotation and when they get out of that rhythm, their control is at risk. Time off for pitchers usually translates into pitches higher in the strike zone. It is tougher for rested pitchers to keep the ball low. When Tigers game 3 starter Nate Robertson takes the mound on Tuesday night in St. Louis, it will be his first start in 2 weeks. Good news for Cardinal sluggers Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds. Unquestionably, one benefit the Tigers have with their time off is that they can choose their desired pitching rotation. This will allow Justin Verlander and Kenny Rogers to pitch twice, if needed.

Contrary to the media chorus reporting in unison the inevitable demise of the Cardinals, I think there are good reasons for picking a Cardinal win in the series. The Achilles heel for Cardinals for years, and even more so this season, has been their starting pitching.  Cardinals ace and last year's Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter has been good at 15-8 but not the 21 game winner of 2005. Jeff Suppan has also been better so-so in 2006 with his 12-7 record this year. Also the timely loss of veteran Mark Mulder, out with a left-shoulder injury and closer Jason Isringhausen for the rest of the season with a hip injury are not easy holes to fill.

Even so, the Cardinals are not the near-meltdown team that backed their way into the playoffs. They are hitting on all cylinders now and their shaky starting pitching has been solid, very solid. Jeff Weaver's two outings in the NLCS looked great. Though he lost game 1, he only threw one wrong pitch, a 2 run home-run to Carlos Beltran in the sixth, he looked good and in game 5, was phenomenal. With Carpenter and NLCS MVP Jeff Suppan and Jeff Weaver as starters and closer  was superb.  in the NLCS and even the shaky-to-say-the-least bullpen has been nearly unhittable (except for the NLCS game 4 rout).

The Cardinals are also a veteran team that has good post-season experience. Many of the foundational Cardinal players that went to the World Series in 2004 are back in 2006 (La Russa, Pujols, Rolen, Edmonds, Carpenter, Suppan, Molina). The momentum of the Cardinals is strong and marquis players Pujols, Rolen and Edmonds are hitting well as well as unsung players like Spezio and Molina are producing as well. Home field advantage resides with Detroit as games 1 & 2 and 6 & 7, if necessary, being played at Comerica Park in Detroit. Though the Cardinals only have to win one of the first two in Detroit to steal home field advantage as games 3, 4 & 5 are in the baseball crazy city of St. Louis in the inaugural season of the new Busch Stadium. Detroit fans are hungry for a World Series win but playing 3 straight games in Baseball City, USA will be a tough experience.

The Detroit Tigers are a very good team and will be difficult to beat. Verlander and Kenny Rogers are very tough but the Cardinals are just as good. With their pitching, great hitting, strong momentum and rabid fans, I predict the St. Louis Cardinals will win the 2006 World Series in 6 games. Though I stand virtually alone, only Deadspin, umpbump, and Dan Patrick from ESPN agree, I am sticking to my prediction. I can't wait...

Albert The Great's 9th Inning Homer Keeps Cardinals Alive

[Originally posted: Tuesday, 18 October, 2005]

"That was the best base hit I have had in my career"
                                                                      - Albert Pujols

If I didn't see it live, I don't think I would have fully believed it. The Houston Astros were one strike away from the World Series, their first in franchise history. That is, until Albert the Great came to the plate. Alberus Magnus, batting in the ninth inning with 2 on & 2 out,  his 3 run homerun will be one of the all-time great sports memories  of my life. It ranks right up there with Ozzie Smith's homerun to beat the Dodgers in the '85 NLCS; I can still hear Jack Buck's voice, "Go crazy folks, go crazy!" The Cardinals still have 2 more games to win but this bomb by Pujols may be the impetus to get the Redbird bats going. Click the graphic below to check out the video of the ninth inning highlights below. Note two things in the video: the KMOX radio call by Mike Shannon for Pujols homerun and Andy Pettitte's ("Oh my God...") reaction in the dugout of the Pujols heart-breaker.

[ Homerun video ]	[ Analysis of Homerun Video ]

This year's NLCS has been disappointing for the Cardinals so far. The offense has been dismal and the Astros pitching has been frighteningly good. Oswaldt and Clemens have been fantastic and Pettitte was good in game 5 until he was relieved. The good news is that the Albertus Magnus bitch-slap of a homerun (was the ball still rising when it hit the wall in left field?) could be a huge momentum shift and just what the Cardinals need to get them fired up again.

There were 5 key moments in Mondays game worth noting

1. Larry Walker's 3rd inning walk - Larry Walker has been struggling at the plate during this postseason. However, his maturity as a hitter was key in hanging tough for so many pitches against Pettitte during the 3rd inning, finally resulting in a key walk. Walker is only batting .138 in the NLCS but kept his cool at the plate in the 3rd to set up Grudzielanek who followed him.
2. Mark Grudzielanek's 3rd inning 2 RBI single - Grudzielanek has also been struggling at the plate, batting only .125 in the series and 0-7 with runners in scoring position. His clutch 3rd inning hit not only drove in 2 runs but it gave Chris Carpenter the confidence to go back to the mound and pitch with a lead, something the Cardinals have rarely enjoyed during this series.
3. Lance Berkman - Player of the Game - I know it didn't look good for the Cardinals being down 2 runs with 1 out in the ninth inning but naming Lance Berkman as player of the game, before the game was over, was a major gaff. I'm no expert but I think in retrospect, Berkman may not be the unanimous choice for player of Game 5. The presumption of the FOX producer made the Pujols smackdown just that more sweet.
4. David Eckstein - Anything this guy does, he does well - Game 5 was no exception. He is all hustle, all the time. In the 3rd, he singled, stole a base and scored a run. In the 7th, he beat out an infield single and stole second base. Finally, in the 9th, he led off the Cardinal comeback with a 2 out - 2 strike single in the hole between third and short. His single brought Edmonds up who was walked. This brought Albertus Magnus up with 2 on and 2 out.
5. Albert Pujols - In 2004 and 2005 Pujols has hit 20 game winning RBIs each season. So, this is situation was not exactly foreign to him. This at bat could have been the last at-bat of the 2005 season; a season where anything less a World Series win would foil expectations. The Cardinals as a team had 39 comeback wins in 2005 and would make it 40 with Pujols' monster shot over the left field seats. When I saw him hit the 0-1 pitch, I didn't yell or scream, I just sat in disbelief at what I was seeing. The roar from the home crowd eminating from the TV grew eerily quiet. I had chills. His bomb silenced and stunned the entire crowd. A moment earlier 40,000 people were sure they were going to the World Series, now - silence, deafening silence.

Does all this mean that the St. Louis Cardinals will win the next 2 game and meet the Chicago White Sox in the World Series? I would like to think so. Pujols' homerun may be just what the Cardinals need to get their offense cranked up again. They are also returning to Busch Stadium where they are tough to beat, specially coming off such a monumental win as Monday night. Finally, the Cardinals have a legacy of winning to help pull them through. St Louis, Missouri and Busch Stadium is one, if not the best, homes of baseball in America. The old stadium will be rocking on Wednesday night. I wouldn't miss it for the world.

UPDATE-Video: NLCS Gm5 - Entire top-of-the-9th inning.[Large: 24Mb!]

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