Making like the Jeffersons

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Cardinals Caravan rolls toward #spfldil; town says, “Who?”

The Cardinals Caravan, which annualy sends players and alumni to the far-flung reaches of Cardinal Nation, is making a stop in Springfield on Monday, presumably to celebrate Martin Luther King Day.

On the docket for the event at the Prairie Capital Convention Center are Jason Motte, Tyler Greene, Jaime Garcia and Adam Ottavino and alumni Ken Reitz, Glenn Brummer and John Costello. *cough* That’s not exactly a Murderer’s Row of names. Heck, it’s barely an Improper Lane User’s Row. In fact, to an average fan, those players may as well be on the Springfield Sliders.

No matter; I still plan on going. Last year’s event was fun, when David Freese (pre car accident) was among the players on the trip. I asked him what I thought was a hilarious question:

Since you’re from St. Louis, did your buddies give you a hard time for being the guy that got Jim Edmonds sent out of town?

I don’t think he thought it was all that hilarious, but he politely answered with a non-answer, something about being happy to be here and giving 110 percent one game at a time.

Anyway, we here at 5iveclock aim to educate. So in case you haven’t the foggiest who these players are, read on:

Jason Motte: Surely you know of this guy: Former light-hitting catcher turned fireballing reliever. He was the de facto closer going into last season but was sacked after one game. Maybe I can ask him if he’s finally developed that breaking ball.

Tyler Greene: Toolsy McShortstop is a very intruiging player. He’s got a bit of thump in his bat and is an excellent base-stealer; his career minor-league SB percentage is 88 percent, well above the break-even point. Dude needs to learn to take a few more pitches, though. He struck out 32 times against just four walks in 116 plate appearances with the big club.

Jaime Garcia: This is the guy to watch during spring training. Drafted in 2005, Garcia was considered a top pitching prospect before his obligatory Tommy John surgery late in the 2008 season. He came back midway through 2009 and seemed to hit the ground running. His combination of a high strikeout rate (career minor-league rate of 8.3 K/9IP) and a high-groundball rate bodes well for future success. I’d like to think he’s first in line for the No. 5 slot in the 2010 rotation.

Adam Ottavino: A first-round pick in 2006, Ottavino seemed at the time a “safe” pick: a high-floor, low-ceiling college pitcher. His numbers since then have borne that assumption out: He hasn’t been bad, but he hasn’t set the world on fire, either. With guys like Garcia, Blake Hawksworth and Kyle McClellan ahead of him for the Cardinals’ rotation, Ottavino stands to spend another year in Memphis.

McGwire admits to steroid use; also (Funny Obvious Thing X)

In case you spent today under a rock, erstwhile Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire is finally ready to talk about the past:

“I used steroids during my playing career and I apologize,” McGwire said in the statement released by the Cardinals to media outlets around the country.

Commence slow clap. This “revelation” comes about five years too late, but I’m happy that he finally acknowledged what everyone with a functioning brain believed anyway. I recall the morning of St. Patrick’s Day 2005, before the grandstanding on Capitol Hill began, ready to believe and accept (and forgive if necessary, although he owes me nothing) what he said, one way or another.

After McGwire’s cowardly testimony, though, I came away feeling let down and a little bit disgusted and embittered toward him. At my previous Cardinals blog, I climbed on my Burwellian high horse once or twice.

But the passage of time has a way of softening stances (to coin a phrase), and eventually I (only recently, though) came to accept that PED usage was Part of the Game™. Just as racism was until the 1940s. Just as amphetamine usage was in the 1960s and ’70s. I’m not endorsing any of that behavior by any means, but humans are imperfect creatures.

Surely, a steroid-fueled Big Mac hit some dingers off some equally steroid-fueled pitcher during his time. It’s impossible to know how many players were juicing, and it’s impossible to know to what extent the PEDs bolstered the numbers of players who used them.

In essence, now that he’s acknowledged it, we all kind of have to get over it.

Clearing out the cobwebs

If it’s the dead of winter, it must be time for me to get back into baseball blogging!

I started my first blog during the 2005 Winter Meetings, and this one was started when the calendar turned to 2009. But it can be difficult for me to maintain a regular posting schedule, given my time constraints and my general lack of original or interesting ideas to write about.*

*Seriously, there are so many baseball bloggers out there who are so much smarter/funnier/better writers than I, and it’s difficult keeping up with even just some of them. I’m even stealing this bit from the brilliant Joe Posnanski.

My baseball blogging tends to get ranty, so to kick off 2010 I’d like to unburden myself of a few things about the recent Hall of Fame vote.*

*See? I can’t even post about things in a timely fashion.

My mind is so boggled by the Baseball Writers Association of America that I don’t even know where to begin. After thinking they might have turned the corner somewhat with their Cy Young vote several weeks ago, they go and shit the bed with the 2010 Hall of Fame vote.

As I said, I don’t know where to begin. The vote was a cluster on several levels:

Andre Dawson isn’t really a Hall of Famer.

Yes, he was a great all-around player during his years in Montreal, and he did win the MVP award in 1987 with the Cubs. But it can be argued that the MVP award that year was undeserved. Tony Gwynn and Dawson teammate Tim Raines are but two of the players that had better years.

During his career, Dawson simply did not get on base often enough. His career on-base percentage of .323 is by far the lowest of any Hall-of-Fame outfielder and actually is lower than all but four members, all of whom were voted in based on their freakiness with the leather. And while people might rightly say that OBP wasn’t worshiped in his era like it is today, there never was a time when making outs was a good thing. Dawson simply made too many outs.

Alomar, Martinez, Raines denied, Blyleven gets the shaft. Again.

Roberto Alomar is the best second baseman since Joe Morgan, better than Ryne Sandberg. And Bert Blyleven… sheesh. What more can possibly be said to argue on his behalf? Fifth all-time in strikeouts. Ninth all-time in shutouts. Fourteenth all-time in innings pitched. And eight of Blyleven’s most comparable players are in the Hall. Which leads to…

Dumb sportswriters and their dumber reasons for voting.

For their N.L. Cy Young votes, SI.com writer Jon Heyman called out Keith Law and Will Carroll via Twitter using the “#dumbsportswriters” hashtag. And yet Heyman still relies on outdated methods for evaluating pitchers:

[U]ntil wins don’t decide who’s in the playoffs and who’s out, who makes the World Series and who doesn’t, I will continue to view them as important.

He’s not acknowledging the difference between team wins and Pitcher Wins. The former is necessary for standings and the playoffs and the World Series and stuff. The latter, though, essentially is a glorified accounting trick.

Pitcher Wins (and their equally useless counterpart, Losses) are too dependent on the run support a pitcher’s teammates might give (or not give) on offense and is something the pitcher can’t control. It makes no sense to  evaluate pitchers based on something out of their hands.

Meanwhile, writers like Howard Bryant still trot out the canard that because players like Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx or Springfield’s own Robin Roberts weren’t elected on the first ballot that guys like Alomar or Edgar Martinez shouldn’t either.

Why? A player either is a Hall of Famer or he isn’t. What is a player like Alomar or Martinez or whoever going to do to improve his Hall of Fame candidacy? His numbers are going to be the exactly the same next year as they are this year. Holding a player off the ballot because you judge him unworthy of the first ballot (but still Hall-worthy nonetheless) or don’t believe in unanimous selections is purely mental masturbation.

And finally, we have the High Horse Cowboys like Marty Noble of MLB.com. I saw him on the MLB Network a few days ago, and his moralizing about why he “couldn’t” vote for Alomar about made me reach for the nearest rusty screwdriver with which to perforate my eardrums.

Noble said he refused to vote for Alomar (even though he admitted that Alomar is Hall-worthy) because of the infamous Hirschbeck Incident, in which Alomar, during an argument, spit on umpire John Hirschbeck.

Hirschbeck has long since forgiven Alomar for the incident, which happened in 1996. Yet more than 13 years later, Noble still can’t seem to move on from an incident he wasn’t even a part of. On the show, Harold Reynolds was hammering Noble, saying that it should be enough that Hirschbeck had forgiven Alomar. But Noble, perched firmly in the saddle of his Moralizing High Horse, refused to concede, repeating, “It’s just not right” in so haughty a tone that Prince Charles would roll his eyes.

Alomar also apparently had the nerve to suck while Noble was covering him during Alomar’s short stint with the New York Mets. I guess the lesson is: If you expect to get to the Hall of Fame, don’t suck while playing in New York, even if you might be in your mid-30s and were worse for your subsequent teams.

Ahhh… that felt good. I still got it!*

*No, I don’t.

Check the index card in your back pocket next time, Tony

Ugh. Friday’s tilt against the Cubs was a stomach-churner: We’re down, we’re up, we’re down, we’re up, we’re… done.

While the estimable Matthew Leach charitably wrote that the loss wasn’t just one person’s fault, I’m going to have to go ahead and disagree with him about that.

For me, this loss falls squarely on the shoulders of Tony F. La Russa. For someone who’s seemingly a slave to matchups, leaving Trever Miller in to face the Cubs’ three most dangerous right-handed batters is inexcusable. For his career, Miller has allowed right-handers to hit .294/.382/.447, a split that has gotten more pronounced during the past few seasons.

After taking over for starter P.J. Walters to start the fifth, Miller struck out lefty Kosuke “Welcome to the” Fukudome, allowed a single to righty Derrek Lee, struck out lefty Micah Hoffpauir, then allowed a double and single to Aramis Ramirez and Geovany Soto. Given a two-run lead, Miller left the game with the score tied all because La Russa left him in there.

To me, those two runs were the difference in Friday’s game.

Carpenter brings the hammer

First thing’s first: This corner of Cardinal Nation would like to extend condolences to the family and friends of Nick Adenhart and Angels fans everywhere.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

AP photo

Now, if Chris Carpenter can do that like 32 more times this year, everything will be aiiight.

Carpenter, the man to whom Cardinal Nation turns its hopeful eyes, turned in a start of 2004-06 vintage: Seven innings pitched, two walks, one (!) hit and seven strikeouts. He also coaxed 12 groundball outs to just four of the flyball variety (and only one of those made it to the outfield), earning the Dave Duncan Stamp of Approval.

He even carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, which ultimately was broken up by a Nyjer Morgan (who rocks the old-school stirrups very well) single. And thanks to a pair of uncharacteristic defensive lapses by Albert Pujols, the Cardinals actually were down 1-0 even though Carpenter was stifling the Pirates’ bats.

About the only negative is that my opponent this week in fantasy has Carpenter, who pretty much has sunk my team this week.

Hey, it’s Franklin…

Well, I got to watch only the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth of the St. Louis Cardinals’ opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates. And really, that’s all I needed to see.

In his first save situation of the 2009 season, Jason Motte didn’t come through, surrendering four hits and hitting another batter as he turned a two-run lead into a two-run deficit that his teammates couldn’t overcome.

I imagine Tony La Russa’s reaction will be all too predictable. Allow me to paraphrase:

“Well, it’s obvious that rookies are not capable of handling the ninth inning. Therefore, Ryan Franklin will be our closer from now on. I told you we needed that Proven Veteran Closer.”

I’m joking, of course. But only slightly. I think we obsessive Internet nerds were almost as geeked up as Motte when he came into the game, not only to get the win but also to shove it up La Russa’s [body part] that players younger than 35 can be successful major leaguers.

You win this round, Tony.

Let’s fill the roster with marginal players!

Nothing like a nonsensical trade rumor to awaken a dormant blogger…

As spring training winds down, teams are frantically working to finalize their 25-man rosters before breaking camp and heading north. For many clubs, that means finagling trades to address their rosters’ shortcomings. The St. Louis Cardinals are no different, but a rumor making the rounds is puzzling to me:

The Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals have recently discussed a trade that would send infielder/outfielder Ryan Raburn to St. Louis…

While Ryan Raburn theoretically could be useful, don’t the Cardinals already have him on their roster in the form of SkipJoe SchuMather?

Raburn has put in a .255/.306/.407 line in 349 major-league at-bats, which ain’t saying much for a guy who turns 28 in two weeks. But perhaps Tony La Russa lusts after Raburn’s vaunted versatility, as Raburn has played second base, third base and all three outfield spots during his tenure with the Tigers.

But while Raburn’s always had something of a power stroke during his ample time in the minors, Joe Mather is the classic late-bloomer, not having slugged above .500 until his seventh season in the minors  when he hit 31 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A. And though his time in the majors last season was limited, Mather put up an above-average isolated power mark of .233.

As for Skip Schumaker, well… the plug has yet to be pulled on the Great Keystone Konversion, so he’s got that going for him. Which is nice. It appears, then, that this alleged Raburn flirtation is to fill the all-important role of Tony La Russa’s Aaron Miles Memorial Pet Scrappy Hustling Grinder. But the Cardinals have three in-house candidates for that role: Joe Thurston, Brian Barden and Brendan Ryan. La Russa even said himself that Thurston has a leg up:

Thurston’s got an edge, because he is our only left-handed-hitting [utility] infielder. That’s definitely a plus for him.

That’s why this Raburn rumor is so perplexing. There are several players already on the team that satisfy La Russa’s versatility fetish. It makes no sense to pay (in terms of trading players) for what you already have plenty of.

UCB Roundtable question: What’s your take on Mark McGwire?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day all. Today is my turn to post a question to the United Cardinals Bloggers of the world:

With the recent Joe Posnanski article in SI about our Albert Pujols that put steroids back in the national conversation, what is your take on the Mark McGwire Saga? Do you think he’s a cheater (regardless of the lack of positive tests, that is)? Does it matter to you either way? How should his Cardinals legacy be handled?

Which is actually four questions, but whatever. The responses:

Sorta liveblog: St. Louis Cardinals at Detroit Tigers

Having the day off is a good thing, especially when there is Cardinals baseball on TV. Gonna give liveblogging the Cardinals spring training game a try. DVR makes the experience a bit easier. So, here goes:

12:07 – Cardinals lineup:

1. Skip “Jared” Schumaker, 2b
2. Rick Ankiel, DH
3. Albert Pujols 1b
4. Chris Duncan, LF
5. Ryan Ludwick, RF
6. Khalil Greene, SS
7. Joe Thurston, 3b
8. Jason Larue, C
9. Colby Rasmus, CF

Looks a bit like a potential regular-season lineup.

Top 1: Schumaker doinks one into center. Line drive in the box score, as the saying goes. Ankiel rips one into center on a hit-and-run. First and third for the Big Fella, who promptly singles home Schumaker. 1-0 Cardinals. Dig the red hats with the road unis, btw. Duncan looks at strike three right in his gonko. Tigers pitcher Zach Miner doing a good job of keeping the ball down. Ludwick walks to load the bases for Greene, who drills a double down the left-field line to clear the bases. 4-0 good guys! Thurston pops out to short. Larue up. It’s a shame he shaved his bitchin’ Fu Manchu. Larue flails at a changeup out of the zone. Still 4-0 Cardinals.

Bottom 1: This is my first time seeing the Cardinals this spring. Hope Schumaker gets a lot of action. Todd Wellemeyer on the bump for the Cards. Old friend Timo Perez leads off for the Tigers. Why? Oh, that’s why. Perez’s leadoff homer puts the score at 4-1. Old friend Placido Polanco pops out to Schumaker on the first pitch. Ball four to Gary Sheffield, who nearly gets picked off first base. Old friend Andy Van Slyke coaching first for the Tigers. Jeff Larish crushes one to right, but Ludwick snares it and doubles off Sheffield, who was off with the pitch. 4-1 Cardinals.

Top 2: It’s the Rasmus boy to lead off. Get a haircut, hippie. And a whiff on another pitch out of the zone. Schumaker grounds out to first, where Larish bobbles it 42 times before the putout. Ankiel walks on four pitches. Good to see. If he continues to improve his walk rate, dude is going to be rich after this season. Pujols also draws a walk. I hope Al Hrabosky will explain what it means to “trust your hands.” Polanco makes a tough play to retire Duncan. 4-1 Cardinals.

Bottom 2: Duncan looks not terrible snaring a first-pitch liner near the track. Wellemeyer whiffs Gerald Laird. He’s been hitting 92-93 thus far. Brent Clevlen then takes Wellemeyer deep to left-center. 4-2 Cardinals. Brandon Inge, first-pitch swinging, pops out in foul ground to Pujols. 4-2 Cardinals.

Top 3: Ludwick pops out to right to lead off. Greene rips a liner to left for a single. Al just used the phrase “three second basemans.” Already in midseason form. Thurston retired on a foul pop to Inge, who holds a special place in Cardinals lore. Larue whiffs again. 4-2 Cardinals. Already sick of the Dustin Pedroia commercial for “MLB 2K9.”

Bottom 3: Adam Everett leads off for the Tigers. Batting .207 in spring training.  He, too, already in midseason form. Thurston makes slick dive but whiffs on Everett’s grounder. Everett beats Greene’s throw. Overheard on press-box mic: “C’mon… let’s get a double play.” Brilliant idea, sir. WTF: Perez triples home Everett. 4-3 Cardinals. Polanco’s sac fly to center ties the score, and Sheff now on with a Texas Leaguer. Jebus… Sheff more than halfway to second by the time Larue gets the pitch. Stolen off the pitcher. Nice play by Schumaker on a nubber to retire Larish. Wellemyer whiffs Cory Ryan Raburn but not before allowing the Tigers to tie, 4-4.

Top 4: Freddy Dolsi on to pitch for Tigers. Rasmus boy leads off again, and rips a double to the right-field gap on a fastball right in his gonko. Nice. Schumaker follows suit in the left-field gap to score Rasmus. 5-4 Cardinals. Ankiel grounds to short; Schumaker advances. Paging Joe Morgan… Pujols grounds into the teeth of the defense, Schumaker stays put, Morgan sheds a tear. Duncan grounds to second to end the inning. 5-4 Cardinals.

Bottom 4: Joe Mather takes over in left field. Wellemeyer foul-tip whiffs Laird. I think that’s his third of the sort today. Pujols snares a liner to retire Clevlen. There’s that Gold Glove. Inge doubles down the line. Everett pops up to Greene. 5-4 Cards. Curtains for Wellemeyer?

Top 5: Inge nearly airmails the throw to first to retire Ludwick. Greene singles up the middle. Thurston bunts hard down third base line. Inge’s throw pulls Larish off the bag. Larish fires to Laird covering third to nail Greene trying to sneak over. That’s 5-3-2 to record the out at third, if you’re scoring at home. Heads-up play by Laird backing up. Larue whiffs for the third time. 5-4 Cardinals.

Bottom 5: Wellemeyer not done. Perez leads off, and he promptly pops out to short left on the first pitch. There’s the Timo we know. Nice pick by Albert on a low throw from Greene to retire Polanco. Yikes! Sheffield rips a sick-sounding liner right to Thurston for the third out. 5-4 Cardinals.

Top 6: Lots of bikini tops on the outfield berm. Bobby Seay on the mound for the Tigers. Rasmus again to lead off. Get used to it, pal. Oof. Rasmus strikes out looking. Schumaker grounds out to short. Ankiel whiffs on high cheese. Seay looks good vs. Cardinals’ lefty troika.

Bottom 6: Mitchell Boggs on in relief of Wellemeyer. And Schumaker makes nifty diving play of Larish grounder for first out. It looked like he checked his glove first to see if the ball was there. Raburn lines a single to left-center. Laird looks like a fatter Jorge Posada. Mather makes a stumbling catch of Laird’s looper for the second out. Blistering liner right to Schumaker for third. 5-4 Cardinals.

Top 7: Wow, Al sure sounds like a douche when he reads promos. Pujols to lead off. Seay to get some work vs. righties this inning. WHACK! No-doubter by The Mang to left-center. 6-4 Cardinals. Mather pops foul in his first at-bat. Ludwick whiffs on hard stuff on the corner. No. 88 Allen Craig in to pinch-hit for Greene. Craig reaches as Everett tries to Roger Dorn a sinking liner. Larue pops to right to avoid a fourth strikeout. 6-4 Cardinals.

Bottom 7: Boggs back out for a second inning. Tigers love them some first-pitch swings. Crap-ton of defensive changes for the Cardinals: Brendan Ryan at short, Matt Pagnozzi behind the dish, Craig at first, Jon Jay somewhere in the outfield… Sweet play by Ryan to range for a foul pop. Perez rips a two-out single to right. Just needs a double for the cycle. Polanco doubles home Perez. 6-5 Cards. Sheff coming up. Eep. Boggs bounces a curveball wide, pinch-runner to third. Stadium gun shows Boggs at 92-95 on a walk to Sheff. Larish chops one down first-base line to tie the score. How tall is Craig? Would Pujols have made that play? Nice block by MattyPagz to block a Chuck in the dirt. Raburn caught looking on 92-mph heat from Boggs. All the damage came with two outs. Tied at 6.

Top 8: Brandon Lyon on for the Tigers to face Ryan, who pops out by the Tigers dugout on the first pitch. He must like living in the doghouse. Rasmus flies out to right on his fists. Ouch. Schumaker shatters his bet on a Lyon cutter. <— total guess. Schumaker whiffs on curve in the dirt.

Bottom 8: Jason Motte in on relief. Looking forward to this outing. Ouch. Sardinha looks at a 86-mph slider for strike three. Sweet. Motte’s cheese at 95-96 so far. Clevlen whiffs on high 96-mph heat. Ay caramba! Motte whiffs pinch-hitter on 98-mph fastball. He’s definitely feeling it today.

Top 9: Ankiel leads off against Tigers’ version of Motte, Ryan Perry, whose slider looks better so far. Ankiel nearly runs into an out after stellar play by Tigers 2B on grounder up the middle. Jay looks at strike three on unhittable 99-mph gas on the outside corner. Mather pops foul to third. Cardinals at least connecting on Perry’s heat. Tigers couldn’t vs. Motte. Pagnozzi bounces to short to end the inning. Tied at 6.

Bottom 9: Fernando Salas takes the mound. Al and announcers riffing about how “Mexican pitchers love their breaking stuff.” Didn’t Steve Lyons get fired from Fox for such banter? Santiago’s bunt appeared to have hit him. Called safe anyway. Can Perez get his cycle? Just a solid single this time. Will Rhymes to pinch-hit. I believe he is Busta’s cousin. And Rhymes wins it with a single up the middle. 7-6 Tigers. Foo.

Oh, well. I had fun pulling my first liveblog in about three years. Thanks to Cindy and Sarah-bug for visiting.