Ok guys and gals, I know I’ve said this before but I really am going to start updating this more often. I have received renewed interest in the site and also have more time on my hands. I think I’ll start my renewed posting by posting some pictures of me at a recent game. Enjoy!

Well thats all for now. I’m sure there will be more to follow!

It seems that Albert Pujols does everything with flair. Not only did he tie Todd Helton for the second quickest player to 1,000 hits, he did it by hitting his MLB leading 11th home run of the season. Yeah, he’s pretty good. Pujols’ first inning homer staked the Cards to a two run lead and set the stage for what quickly became a trouncing. In the second, four different Cardinals combined to drive in 5 runs as Pujols drove in his third and fourth run of the game and MLB leading 24th of the season. Did I mention he’s good? The seven run lead was good enough for Mulder as he coasted to his way to his second win of the season. As if that weren’t good enough, the win came against the Cubs who had seemed to have the Cardinals’ number recently, continuing the troubling trend from last year. Here’s to hoping that’s all behind us now.

Other notes from the game…

So the Brit went to the game tonight, much to my dismay. I asked him for his take on tonight’s game. Here’s what he said (cut him some slack, he’s British and you shouldn’t expect too much).

Albert’s a machine this year. I mean everyone in the place felt he was going to hit it out every time he stepped to the plate.

Mulder was interesting. He’s basically throwing junk. 86MPH fastball and a 65MPH knuckle curve by the looks of things.
But… the differential in speed is causing hitters nightmares.

The HR [Mulder gave up] was an overthrown 89MPH fastball that he left up in the zone… not a good thing to do to Michael Barrett. [You taking notes Izzy?]

It’s early but we look a much better ballclub with J-Rod batting in the 2 slot and Juan Encarnacion in the 6 slot [or maybe on the bench? Just a suggestion].

Well Brit, I’m crazy jealous that you were there but if your gonna rub it in, thanks for at least giving us your take on things.

Wow… what a way to start off the season. Both the Cards and Cubs started things off right with big wins. The Cardinals pounded the Phillies 13 to 5 while the Cubs hammered the Reds 16 to 7. Of course the Cubs started last year with a 16 run effort and still ended up missing the playoffs. Opening day had plenty of good signs for both teams. The Cards got homeruns from Albert (two of them) and Scott Rolen. Rolen’s shot (a grand slam) certainly helped to calm some of the fears about his lingering health problems. As has been said here before, Scotty Ballgame could be the key to the Cardinals’ success this year. It certainly looks good to see him jump off to a good start.

Another big question mark in the Cardinals lineup entering the season was second base. Those questions may have been answered in a single game. Aaron Miles went 4 for 5 with two RBI’s starting at second base while previously projected starter, Junior Spivey, was optioned to Memphis. Whether Miles retains the job or Spivey ends up returning, let’s hope the offensive production continues.

The Cardinals weren’t the only ones who got a great performance from players who were question marks a week ago. New leadoff hitter Juan Pierre went 3 for 6 with an RBI and scored three times. Todd Walker, the subject of recent trade speculation, drove in 3 runs on 3 hits and scored twice himself.

As my pops said, “One game does not a season make” but hey… every marathon starts with a single step right?

Wow…. where does the time go? I can’t believe I went this long without blogging. Well to make up for it I will do a fast-forward version of recent events (forgive me if they are out of order… this is more of a stream of consciousness type thing). Here we go:

• Mark Prior, Kerry Wood and Wade Miller are all starting the season on the DL. (Saying I told you so would be overkill here I think…. I told you so!)
• The Cubs’ projected opening day starter is from DOUBLE A. You may now laugh and point.
• Pujols hit three home runs against the Mets this past week. One against Pedro and two against Victor Zambrano… back to back MVP? I think so.
• It looks like Hector Luna might not even make the ball club. That would be a shame what with his incredible skill and natural ability.
• Aaron Miles seems to have won the starting second base job at least for now. At least thats what Stltoday says. (click the picture on the right for the full story)
• Sidney Ponson will be the Cardinals 5th starter and Reyes has been optioned back down to Tripple A. This will allow Reyes to continue get the innings in he needs to progress. (as mentioned earlier on this blog, I’d be surprised if we don’t see Jockety deal from our depth at starting pitching.)
• Adam Wainright will pitch out of the bullpen as a long reliever. I have no idea whether that means he gets the first shot as a backup starter or not. I kind of doubt it but hey, at least Wainright is healthy enough to make the club. (I think AW would be one of the first names mentioned in any significant trade made by the Cardinals. Keeping him in the majors most likely ups his value.)
• John Rodriquez looked to have the starting LF job sewn up until injuring his shoulder yesterday. No word yet on who will start opening day. (again, click the picture on the left for the full story).
• There appears to be little truth to the rumor that the Cardinals were trying to trade for former Redbird, Miquel Cairo.
• All of ESPN.com’s experts are predicting the Cardinals will win the Central this year… I’m not sure I like that.
• Both Jim Hendry and Dusty Baker are entering the last year on their contracts. Somehow I don’t think having Wood, Prior and Miller on the shelf to start will help either of them much.
• I predict there are exactly 153 days until Carlos Zambrano’s arm falls off while he is standing on the mound. It will replay on Sports Center rought 4,305 times and each time roughly 3 million Cubs fans will curse the name of Dusty Baker.
• Bud Selig has started an independent investigation into the steroids problem. This book was apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back…. I guess the other 3,478 pieces of evidence could have all been a coincidence but this… this must be legit… we should investigate. (Bud continues to miss the point and only respond when the fans are outraged enough to force his hand. Keep protecting that legacy, Bud, its not like the game will suffer.)

The Cards are playing a Spring Training game today against the Yankees and I have Tivo… I’ll try to make a few observations as I watch….

Ponson is looking good. Granted he isn’t facing the TRUE Yankee lineup but he got Sheffield and Matsui (both starters) to pop up weakly on the infield. The choice to have both Ponson and Reyes pitch today is a good one for interested fans. This will let the two be evaluated against largely the same lineup. Now certainly we fans won’t have the same perspective on that number 5 starting spot as Dave Duncan and LaRusa but it will be nice to see the two candidates side by side.

Duncan just jacked one against Randy Johnson! I think Dunc has a great chance of making the club at this pace.

Luna got a hit and stole a base in the inning as well. I still don’t understand the fascination with Luna… maybe it’s his youth?

Is it just me or does everyone still cringe when Rolen goes to field a ball while a runner is running from second to third? I can’t help but think of Alex Cintron running into him and knocking him out for the playoffs that year… I don’t even like to type those words, much less picture them happening again. Here’s to your health Scotty!

There’s another Luna hit and another stollen base. If he keeps this up, he’ll get the chance to prove whether he’s got what it takes to start in the bigs or not…. Spivey just took one off the hand… hope he’s ok. Luna may win this job just by staying healthy.

Reyes is looking good. The announcers keep talking about how “lively” his stuff is. All I know is that the ball is jumping and he has only given up one run so far. We might have the good problem of having 6 quality starting pitchers… and thats without Wainright in the picture. If Reyes and Ponson keep it up or Wainright comes on strong, the Cardinals might think about trading away Suppan or Marquis. (more on that a little later in the week). The cheeper we can go with our 3,4, and 5 pitchers, the more we can spend to resign Mulder or go out and get a stud corner outfielder (again, more about this later). I just can’t see the Cardinals sending Reyes to the pen or back to Triple A, but hey, who knows?

Juan Encarnacion, one of the Cardinals’ offseason signings, has been having a rough go of it in the WBC. Unlike Pujols, his Dominican Republic teammate, Encarnacion has been struggling mightily. After badly misplaying two balls in the field during yesterday’s game, he followed it up by going 0 for 5 at the plate today. Now I realize that Juan is probably not quite in mid-season form yet but with so many other players having great tournaments (Lee, Pujols, Beltre, Griffey Jr. etc etc) it is frustrating to watch. Encarnacion is supposed to step in and fill the shoes of Reggie Sanders both in the field and the lineup. While Encarnacion has never shown much power (16 HRs last year), he is coming off his second best season in terms of RBI (76). And, looking strictly at the numbers, he would seem to be a perfect replacement for Sanders, but there just seems to be something intangible Reggie brought to the team. Whether it was a timely homer or a key stollen base, Sanders always seemed to be clutch. That little something extra made him more valuable than just his HRs, RBIs, and batting average. Don’t get me wrong, I would love it if Encarnacion ends up being yet another rabbit out of Jockety’s hat… but I have more than a few doubts about this one. I probably should have already learned better than to doubt Wise Walt but I can’t seem to help myself. Here’s to hoping I’m wrong!

The Cardinals signed So Taguchi to a on year deal today. If you had asked me last year during Spring Training, I wouldn’t have liked this at all. In fact, I called Taguchi “So I bat my number Taguchi.” Of course, that was before So filled in for Larry Walker last year and did a great job of it. I hope the “Gooch” gets a starting job this year. If he doesnt work out, we can always make a trade for another outfielder during the year. Between So and John Rodriguez I figure one of them, if not both, has to pan out. I have to be honest; I’m not really excited about Encarnacion. I think we needed a bigger bat than he offers. No Taguchi wont hit 30 homeruns, but he brings a certain style of play to the team that I think is good for us. Basically, I really like this move by the Cards.

Manager Tony La Russa said yesterday that the starting second baseman has not yet been determined. While Junior Spivey (right) is widely considered to be the front-runner, the Cards also have Aaron Miles and Hector Luna fighting for the position. La Russa and the rest of the Cardinal staff seem to have some sort of unexplainable affection for Luna. They keep saying that if he gets the chance, he could be something special. Well I’ve watched him play too and there is a reason he isn’t getting and extra chances. I guess we’ll wait and see on this one but I would be MUCH more comfortable with Spivey or Miles at second.

In other news, it looks like Scotty Ballgame is back in action and feeling fine. Rolen went 0 for 2 at the plate but swung the bat well. The gold glover also dove for a ball in the field without incident. If the Cards are going to contend for a title this year, Scotty is going to have to stay healthy and be productive. With the retirement of Larry Walker and the loss of Reggie Sanders, the Cards are going to need someone to help Pujols drive in those runs. I am still holding out hope that one of these new outfielders turns out to be lightning in a bottle and can take some of the pressure of Scotty and Edmonds but I wouldnt count on it right now. Also, I still wouldnt rule out a trade for an outfielder later in the season but we have to be in position to contend if or when that trade happens. A lot of that is going to ride on the shoulders (and knees) of Scott Rolen.