It's now June 1st. We're two months into the season already. What are the big stories?

The New York Yankees Meltdown

At 22-29 the Yankees are 13.5 games behind the Red Sox and tied with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. It's been an incredible combination of poor pitching, injuries, and bad luck that has kept the highest paid team in baseball on the ropes all year.

Although the Yanks are getting great seasons from Alex Rodriguez (19 home runs), Jorge Posada (.357), and Derek Jeter (.343) it hasn't been enough. The rest of the team's hitters are under performing in particular Bobby Abreu who is hitting just .228 and even worse he has a pathetic .289 slugging percentage.

Johnny Damon is hitting just .264 and Jason Giambi has a .436 slugging percentage. A lot of Yankees fans expected a lot from young Melky Cabrera but he has a .590 OPS thus far, which puts him below even the light hitting Doug Mientkiewicz who has a .661 OPS. Robinson Cano has been a disappointment as well best shown by his .298 OBP (last year he was at .365)

Speaking of Cano does any regular player in the big leagues walk less than this guy? 42 career walks vs 1197 career at bats. That's insane.

As much as most of their hitters have struggled (other than A Rod, Posada, and Jeter) it's their pitching that has been their real down fall. Perhaps most indicative of their problems is that only Andy Pettitte has enough innings to qualify for the ERA title as of now. The Yankees starters have been plagued by injuries and by just awful performances. Pettitte has been the only real exception with his 2.51 ERA and 9 Quality Starts in 11 games started. I'm sure that if before the season you said Pettitte would have a 2.51 ERA through 11 starts you'd expect him to have 7, 8, or even 9 wins already but he's got just 3 (his record is 3-4.)

Yankees Pitching Problems:
Much hyped rookie Phil Hughes was pitching a no hitter in his second big league start when he went down with an injury. He is expected back later this season.

Long time lights out closer Mariano Rivera has been having an awful season and currently has a 5.50 ERA.

Mike Musina has struggled with injuries and his game. He's got a 5.86 ERA and 2 QS in 7 GS.

Kei Igawa has been horrendous (ignore his 2-1 record, a great example of how meaningless W-L records are: Igawa vs Pettitte!) He has had just 1 QS in 5 GS and has a 7.63 ERA.

The Yanks are now hoping that Roger Clemens can come in to save the day. Which leads me to my next big story of the season to date.

Roger Clemens chooses the Yankees

Clemens is scheduled to pitch his first game for the Yankees on Monday, June 4th. They'll need him pitching up to his standards of his last couple of years in Houston to solidify their pitching rotation.

Looking at the records now can you imagine if Clemens has chosen the Red Sox?

I find it amazing how Clemens is so greatly respected by most baseball fans as a "living legend" of the game (which I do not argue, he is one of the greatest pitchers of all time) while a similar living legend is playing left field out in San Francisco is receiving far less respect from the media and from fans.

There's just as much circumstantial evidence against Clemens for performance enhancing drug use as their is against Bonds. Clemens was mentioned in the Grimsley affidavit (Pettitte was named too) and similarly to Bonds had a late career surge, posting some of his best seasons statistically after age 40. Clemens will be turning 45 this August. Also recall that Clemens had some pretty so-so seasons with the Yankees, in 1999 his ERA was actually higher than the league average and in 2002 he barely avoided it. Something helped him turn it around. The last few years he's put up some of the best seasons of his career all while past age 40. If you're going to claim that PEDs helped Barry Bonds hit home runs then I'm going to claim they helped (and probably still help) Roger Clemens pitch strikeouts.

And to go off on a rant here a bit: How can people be so incredibly hypocritical? I live in New York and during the rare times when Yankee fans or sports radio people aren't talking about the Yankees they say very nasty things about one Mr. Barry Bonds. Yet they are ecstatic over their own PED users like Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. I just find the focus on JUST Barry Bonds to be incredibly ridiculous. It's as if baseball fans all want to blame just one player so they can pretend everyone else is a savior? So they can pretend all of the players on their team never touched the stuff? Give me a break. It's especially hilarious when this sort of BS comes from Yankees fans considering how important players like Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Gary Sheffield, and Jason Giambi have been to their team.

Barry Bonds Home Run Chase

Of course Barry Bonds closing in on the all time home run record has been a major story all year. Bonds has been struggling recently and this has slowed him down considerably. Before the year I predicted he would break the record in the last game before the all star game. I didn't actually check if that game was at home or not and it's not. As many have said I think the Giants would prefer Bonds breaks the record at home from a PR stand point but I don't know if they would actually go the step of sitting Bonds when he's at 755 on the road. I don't think they'd do that. Bonds is the best hitter on the team and they are trying to make the playoffs (not trying hard enough, but that's another story.)

Bonds is currently at 746 homes. He needs 9 to tie and 10 to break the record.

The St. Louis Cardinals are also 22-29

The defending champion St. Louis Cardinals have the same poor record as the Yanks at 22-29. Luckily for the Cards there is no team anywhere near as good as the Boston Red Sox in their division and they are only 6.5 games out of first.

Albert Pujols hasn't been as awesome as usual but he has shown some signs of getting it together. He hit .340 in May. While his OPS is at a career low (.876) it's still leading the Cardinals this year. That's probably the real bad news for the Cards.

The New York Mets are rolling through the NL

I thought before the year began that the Mets were the best team in the NL and they are making me look like a wizard. They are 34-18 and even more impressively they are a 18-7 on the road.

And just like the other team in New York they will be adding one of the best pitchers of all time to their team at some point this year. If Pedro Martinez can pitch at something close to his peak level the Mets will be deadly.

Labels: Barry Bonds, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Roger Clemens, St. Louis Cardinals

One important aspect of being a baseball fan is the realization that fans of other teams are stupid and misguided. While one could make a horrible joke about Cardinal’s pitchers and Denver Broncos’ life expectancies, I’ll go the nicer route. By nicer I mean talking about how stupid your GM’s are compared to mine. Also, I’m only making fun of the other writers for now so we can get a nice rivalry going and bicker, like people are supposed to do on the internet. Wait, isn’t the internet for porn? Oh well…

Cardinals:
Mulder Trade:
FROM A’s:
SP Mark Mulder (Despite the fact that his stats were dropping, and he was frequently injured in the last year on the A’s due to a fault in his mechanics, he had the most talent of any of the A’s vaunted “Big Three,” Cardinals fan’s might remember this SEE: Body explodes)
FROM Cardinals:
SP Dan Haren (Sweet, our opening day starter)
RP Kiko Calero (Awesome, set up man)
1b/c (He’s gonna be a DH) Daric Barton. (Your best prospect)

From A’s: (2002)
CL Jason Isringhausen
From Cardinals:
1st Round, 30th Pick (SP Ben Fritz) Up and down, dependant on if his arm explodes, Doing well in AA right now
1st Round, 39th Pick (Sandwich Pick) (3b Mark Teahen) Traded in Carlos Beltran deal 3 way for Octovial Dotel

Red Sox:
From A’s: (2004)
CL Keith Foulke (Uhm, yeah)
From Red Sox:
1st Round 24h Pick (Landon Powell C) Injured but has recovered, good prospect behind Suzaki who is in AAA right now. BY KENDALL *waves*
1st Round 36th Pick (Danny Putnam OF) Playing in the majors since the A’s OF is a Triage Unit.

From A’s: (2002)
CF Johnny Damon
From Red Sox:
1st Round 16th Pick (Nick Swisher RF/CF/LF/1B) How’s Coco Crisp working out? Oh, Sorry 
!st Round 37th Pick (Steve Obenchain SP) Ok he sucks, everyone gets one. Injured and possibly dead of a Crystal Meth Overdose.

Jay Payton OF, Traded for a broken Chad Bradford (Arm Explosion) when you pissed him off.

San Francisco
FROM A’s: (2003)
Ray Durham (Taken from White Sox GM Kenny Williams for shiny beads (Jon Adkins), played on the A’s for 3 months) Helped A’s get to playoffs.
FROM Giants:
1st Round, 26th pick in 2003 MLB Draft (Brian Snyder 3B) Now a second basemen, had a good first year in 04, struggled last two years and back up to AA this year.
1st Round 33rd pick (Sandwich pick) (2B/SS Omar Quintanilla) Traded with OF Eric Byrnes to Colorado in the 2005 Season for SP/RP Joe Kennedy, and RP Jay Witasick. The point of this trade being that Beane jumped the trade market by a month and took relievers off the market one month before the non-waiver trading deadline. (Both still on the A’s, Kennedy has started and been a reliever since, Witasick out of the bullpen)

I don't want to hear anything about some McGwire trade from the Cardinals, Beane wasn't incharge for that thing. Nor any Jimmy Foxx, Lefty Grove to the Sox, or the explosion of Charles Finley in the 70's. No one is allowed to mention the Tim Hudson trade either. Jerks.

Labels: Billy Beane, Boston Red Sox, Moneyball, Oakland A's, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, YOU GOT SERVED.

The St. Louis Cardinals haven't got off to a very good defense of their 2006 world series title. They lost to the New York Mets in a rematch of last year's NL championship tonight 6 to 1. Future Hall of Famer Tom Glavine got his 291st win for the Mets while the Cards ace Chris Carpenter allowed 9 hits and 5 runs in 6 innings.

For the Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca had 2 hits and 3 RBI. While lead off man David Eckstein got off to a great start for the Cards by going 3 for 4 with a double. Unfortunately for the Cards the batting order 2 through 4 went 1 for 9 for the night wasting the opportunities that Eckstein provided.

Certainly the first game of the season is always going to have amplified meaning and perhaps be taken as more important than it really is but this seems to be a strong message from the Mets that they are going to be the team to beat this year in the NL. They have the strongest lineup in the NL in my opinion. While the Dodgers certainly have a stronger pitching staff if Pedro Martinez can come back strong the Mets should have a rather solid rotation of their own by the time the playoffs come around.

Labels: New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals

One of the biggest baseball stories of this week is the arrest of Tony La Russa on DUI charges. By now, I'm sure you know the story. He was found asleep at the wheel with his foot on the brake at a stoplight. Obviously, that is a very dangerous situation in which La Russa could have injured or killed himself or other drivers.

As a fan of the Cardinals, I'm sort of split on my emotions. I have always been on the fence about La Russa as a manager. His resume and career record shows that he knows what he is doing, yet he makes some very bold and curious decisions at times. Decisions that don't always pan out, causing much scrutiny from the fans. One of my buddies even calls him "La Stupid."

But as a person, La Russa has proved throughout his career that he is a very thoughtful and caring person. He and his wife started the Animal Rescue Foundation and he is very active with that outside of baseball. And never before in his career has he been arrested, until the other day.

Obviously, drinking and driving is a very irresponsible act that unfortunately happens quite regularly. La Russa is very lucky that the consequences of his actions were just an arrest and public scorn, as opposed to something much worse, such as an accident involving other drivers. La Russa knows his mistake and he knows that it was a dumb decision. We've all made dumb decisions in our life, just like La Russa. However, we are not the third-winningest manager in major league history, as well as a two time World Champion, including the manager of the most recent championship club.

Albert Pujols spoke in public support of La Russa in today's St. Louis Post Dispatch. Pujols is known for not drinking, so for him to back his manager, that is an important move for the club to move forward. Pujols is one of the leaders of the team. It lets everyone else know that regardless of the circumstance, Pujols will not let it affect his on-field performance and that it should not let it affect anyone else's performance on the club. As the Cardinals start their title defense, the best thing Pujols could do was say what he did.

Regardless, La Russa will have to live with the legal consequences of his actions, as well as the public ridicule he will get from opposing team's fans, as well as Cardinals fans. Cardinals fans have always been split on their opinion of La Russa, and the La Russa-haters will have even more to talk about now. Sure, this was the first time La Russa has messed up in such a way off of the field, even after 28 years of managing. But the fact of the matter is, something much worse could have happened, and La Russa is a very lucky man that it didn't. The best thing for La Russa and the Cardinals is to get back out on the field and start their title defense.

Best of luck to La Russa as he deals with the legal proceedings and everything else that he will deal with in the near future.

Labels: DUI, La Russa, La Stupid, St. Louis Cardinals

The National League Central was not even close to being the best division in the NL last year. However, not only do the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals reside in this division, the last three National League Champions have called the Central Division their home (Cardinals in '04 and '06, Astros '05). Regardless of regular season results, the NL Central has put up a good showing in the playoffs in recent years.

With a new season just around the corner, a division that saw it's top four teams finish within 8.5 games of each other in 2006, could see a similarly tight race in '07. Several key offseason moves by the Cardinals and Astros, plus an insane spending spree by the Cubs make this a very intriguing division on paper. First up, the St. Louis Cardinals.


1. St. Louis Cardinals (2006 Record: 83-78; World Series Champions)
The St. Louis Cardinals pulled off an unthinkable October by knocking off the Padres and the heavily favored Mets and Tigers to win their first World Series since 1982. But this was after a regular season that saw the Cards almost blow a 13 game division lead in the last few weeks of the season, only to win the division by 1.5 games over Houston. The Cardinals also suffered numerous injuries along the way, most of them to several key contributors (Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, David Eckstein, Jason Isringhausen, and Mark Mulder all spend time on the DL).

But when it came time for October baseball, the Cardinals did what they were not able to do in six of the last seven years that they made the playoffs: they played their best ball when it mattered most. Now, after losing NLCS MVP Jeff Suppan, second basemen Ronnie Belliard, World Series Game 5 winner Jeff Weaver, and "I-Was-Left-Off-The-Postseason-Roster-And-I-Don't-Know-Why-Even-Though-My-6.00+ ERA-Might-Have-Something-To-Do-With-It" Jason Marquis, the Cardinals look to rebuild and make a run at a second title.

This offseason was a typical St. Louis Cardinals offseason. They let their overpriced free agents walk. Team management then told local media and fans that they were making a play for some of the bigger free agents on the market, when in reality, no way would their contract offers match up to the teams that were throwing money around like crazy. So the Cardinals re-signed injured started Mark Mulder and Kip Wells for their rotation. Jim Edmonds was brought back for two more years. They brought in second basemen and former Cardinal Adam Kennedy (who was traded for Jim Edmonds) to pair up with his former double play mate David Eckstein. They re-signed the majority of their bench which included Scott Spiezio, Preston Wilson, and Gary Bennett.

What that adds up to is the least amount of offseason turnover the Cardinals offense has experienced in the last few years. They only lost one position player, and he was only there for the last 1/4 of the season. Same goes for the bullpen where pretty much everyone returns from a bullpen that had a fantastic postseason run. However, what stability the offense and bullpen gained is what the rotation lost. Suppan, Marquis, and Weaver are out and Anthony Reyes, Adam Wainwright (playoff closer extraordinaire), Kip Wells, and Braden Looper/Brad Thompson/Ryan Franklin are in.

Obviously, the rotation is the big question. Beyond former Cy Young Award Winner Chris Carpenter, who will step up and win some games? Reyes proved that he can win big games with his masterful performance in Game One of the World Series where he shut the Detroit Tigers down and set the tone for the series. However, he is very streaky and can get very rattled if he is knocked around early. Adam Wainwright proved he can pitch in pressure situations by being on the mound each time the Cardinals clinched a series victory. The question with these two is whether they can parlay each of their successes into a solid campaign as a starting pitcher in the Major League.

Kip Wells has only finished over .500 once in his career and even that year he went 10-9. But what people forget is that Jeff Suppan had a similarly unflattering career record (62-75) until he came to St. Louis, where he transformed into a big game picture who went 44-26 with the Cardinals. Kip Wells, like Suppan before he became a Cardinal, has never really pitched for a good team. He has suffered some injuries, but working with Dave Duncan could help him as much as it helped Suppan. Add the run support and defense that the Cardinals are known for with the help of Duncan, and Kip Wells could become a very solid starter for the Cardinals. And if that happens, once Mulder gets back, the top 3 rotation spots for the Cardinals will be locked up. Until then, the Cardinals will determine their 5th starter in camp. If Franklin, Looper, or Thompson (whoever gets penciled into that slot) can keep the Cardinals in games, this team will be well on its way to another division title.

Like the Atlanta Braves in the NL East for years, the Cardinals will remain my pick to win the NL Central until a team knocks them off of that pedestal. While their reign may be the most vulnerable as it has been since 2000, I think the Cardinals have enough firepower to bring home their 4th straight division title.

Labels: St. Louis Cardinals

Hello everybody and welcome to my first of many posts here on Big Show Baseball. I am happy to have the opportunity to blog about the greatest sport ever created. I hope you all enjoy the site.

Now, I am going to get something out of the way right off the bat so there is no confusion. I am a St. Louis Cardinals fan. That means that from time to time, I may get a little excited about another Albert Pujols walk off home run or a Chris Carpenter trip to the mound that turned into a ten strikeout, complete game masterpiece. But I am not going to go Bill Simmons on you and write about the Cardinals every single post. On top of that, when in an argument, I usually do not let the Cardinal red blind me to numbers and facts.

For instance, I am not one of those Cardinals fans that think Albert Pujols was completely robbed in the MVP voting last year. That vote could have gone either way and I believe Ryan Howard deserved it just as much as Albert Pujols. Besides, as a fan, I'll take a World Series championship over Albert Pujols winning an MVP any day.

But enough about the Cardinals. The upcoming baseball season is going to be a great one. The Barry Bonds home run chase is probably the most anticipated event of the summer for some and the least anticipated event of the summer for others. The arrival of Daisuke Matsuzaka and his famous (and possibly not even real) gyroball to Boston has been one of the hottest offseason topics and promises to be one of the biggest stories of 2007. As usual, the national media will focus a very trained eye on New York and Alex Rodriguez and his struggles. Will the Cardinals be able to repeat as champions and become the first team to win two titles in this decade? And of course, where will the steroid scandal lead us next?

The answers to these questions and many others can only be answered throughout the season. We hope you enjoy following the 2007 Major League Baseball season here at Big Show Baseball. Here is to another great season of baseball.

--Ryan Reynolds

Labels: Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Chris Carpenter, Daisuke Matsuzaka, gyroball, Ryan Howard, St. Louis Cardinals, steroids