A Brief Look At The Cardinals
by Eric Stephen on Oct 5, 2009 6:01 AM PDT
in Opponents
Email
Print| NLDS: Cardinals vs. Dodgers | |||
| Game 1 | Wed | Dodger Stadium |
6:37pm |
| Game 2 | Thu | Dodger Stadium | likely 3:07pm |
| Game 3 | Sat | Busch Stadium | 3:07pm |
| Game 4* | Sun | Busch Stadium | TBD |
| Game 5* |
Oct 13 |
Dodger Stadium | TBD |
| *if necessary | All times Pacific | ||
| All games televised on TBS | |||
Here is a brief first impression of the St. Louis Cardinals, who will travel to Dodger Stadium to start the division series on Wednesday.
The Cardinals can't hit left-handed pitching
On the season, the Cardinals had the worst OPS in all of baseball against southpaws, hitting .234/.312/.363. However, back in July they bolstered their roster by adding right-handed hitters Matt Holliday, Mark DeRosa, and Julio Lugo. They have helped, but this is still a weakness to exploit. July 24 was Holliday's first game in Cardinal Red, and from that day forward, the club hit .250/.324/.374 against lefties.
With Randy Wolf and Clayton Kershaw starting in the first two games of the series, and Hong-Chih Kuo and George Sherrill waiting to drop the hammer in the later innings, look for the Dodger lefties make a huge impact in this series.
Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright are really, really good
Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, who will likely each finish in the top three in National League Cy Young voting, have started a total of 62 games. The Cardinals have won 41 of those games. Carpenter led the National League in ERA with a 2.24 mark, and Wainwright wasn't far behind at 2.63. They were sixth and seventh in the NL in x-FIP, at 3.46 and 3.45, respectively. Both were in the top ten in baseball in innings per start, at 6.9 each.
Carpenter has pitched seven innings or longer in 18 of 28 starts, and gave up more than three runs in a game just three times all season. He's also a control artist, having walked more than two batters only thrice this year. Wainwright pitched seven innings or more in 21 of 34 starts, and allowed more than three runs only seven times.
Don't forget about Joel Pineiro
Cardinals' pitching coach Dave Duncan should bottle whatever magic potion he used on Joel Pineiro, because Pineiro has turned in the finest season of his career. Pineiro doesn't strike out anyone -- his 4.3 strikeouts per nine innings is 86th among 87 MLB pitchers who qualified for the ERA title -- but he does just about everything else well.
Pineiro led baseball with an absurdly low 1.12 walks per nine innings, and his rate of 0.43 home runs per nine is second in baseball. Bad news for Dodger fans is that number one in homers allowed per nine innings is Carpenter, at 0.33. I would really love to explain Pineiro's success as luck or a fluke, but his x-FIP is an impressive 3.73, good for 10th in the National League, giving the Cardinals three starters with a better x-FIP than the Dodger-best 3.94 of Clayton Kershaw.
Outside of the big two, this lineup can be pitched to
Albert Pujols is the best player in baseball, and will provide a steady dose of anxiety for Dodger fans this entire series. Matt Holliday has been superb since coming back to the National League. These two we know about, with their .451 and .421 wOBA, respectively. However, the rest of the lineup features no real threat. Nobody else features an OPS+ above 105, and the next highest wOBA on the team are Julio Lugo at .347 (he's at .339 on the season including his Boston numbers), and Yadier Molina and Ryan Ludwick at .337 each, barely above league average. I realize the same can be said about the Dodger lineup, but color me unimpressed by anyone outside the 3-4 spots in red. If the situation comes up again where Hong Chih-Kuo or another Dodger pitcher needs to walk both Pujols and Holliday to retire an inferior hitter, sign me up for another strikeout of Ludwick or Rick Ankiel, or someone similar.
Rick Ankiel is Jeff Francoeur with a better backstory
I liked Rick Ankiel the pitcher. I was sad when he lost the ability to throw strikes. I loved the fact that he was able to make it back to the majors as a position player. It was a great, feel good story for a while. But it's over. Ankiel is hitting .231/.283/.387 this season. Rookie Colby Rasmus, meanwhile, is hitting .253/.308/.411. Plus/minus rates them about even defensively (-1 for Ankiel, -2 for Rasmus in about double the innings), while Ultimate Zone Rating shows a wider gap (Rasmus at +11.2 UZR/150, Ankiel at -10.1). St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz was a guest on Sunday's postgame DodgerTalk on KABC, and he mentioned the Cardinals might consider starting Ankiel against the Dodgers' two lefty starting pitchers in the first two games (both Ankiel and Rasmus bat from the left side), because the club feels Ankiel hits lefties better. A closer look at the numbers reveals a reason:
| Player | PA | BA/OBP/SLG | BABIP |
| Ankiel | 98 | .234/.265/.298 | .338 |
| Rasmus | 113 | .163/.223/.260 | .189 |
It seems to me the difference in their performance against lefties can be explained by luck, as Rasmus' batting average on balls in play is remarkably low. The bottom line is that Ankiel is a replacement level player (at 0.0 Wins Above Replacement), and any time he takes away from Rasmus this series is great news for the Dodgers.
**********
Rosters don't have to be submitted until 10am on Wednesday, but it appears the Cardinals will carry 12 pitchers, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Viva El Birdos is the Cardinals' blog on SB Nation. Be sure to check their site for in-depth analysis of the Cardinals. For instance, here is a thorough review by chuckb of the most valuable Cardinals in 2009.
This series will be close, and as we have seen in previous years, the results of the series can change at the drop of a hat. A grand slam here, a throwing error there, and the series changes direction in a heartbeat.
75 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Cards Fan here
Pretty spot on assessment. How do your hitters handle off speed stuff? Both Wainwright and Carpenter have absolutely filthy off speed stuff to both sides of the plate. Pineiro throws everything in the bottom third of the plate with his 2 seamer. We are a very groundball dominant pitching staff outside of Smoltz who is more of a power fly ball pitcher.
With us being such a groundball team it hurts us when when we have to play against a lefty. That means Lugo is replacing Schumaker at 2nd base. This is Schumakers first year at 2B. He was horrible in the beginning of the year but has been quite good in the 2nd half. His UZR/150 doesn’t tell the true story. While Lugo has a stone glove. Speaking of gloves you will get to see one of the best defensive short stops in the game in Brendan Ryan. He is a treat to watch.
I this series will come down to the bullpen. I think you guys have a better bullpen but a more used one also. You guys rank near the top in baseball in innings pitched by the bullpen. While the Cardinals relievers have thrown the least in baseball. We are hoping that fatigue sets in with you guys. Our bullpen has been everything from horrible to dominant this year. Our LOOGY’s are pretty good which means Either will be shut down in the later innings.
Looking over the Dodger splits it looks like you guys are at your best against left handed pitching. We have no LH starters so I see that as a disadvantage to you. But we can’t hit LH pitching so that is advantage to you. As good as Carp/Waino have been it seems to be nullified by how bad we have been against LHP this year. So this series really could come down to our 3rd and 4th starters.
(Raises Glass)
Here’s to a good series
Thanks for the insight
Brendan Ryan was a subject of much scorn during the seven games played between the two teams this season. If the Cardinals wanted to, they could play four outfielders, because Ryan would probably cover two positions worth of ground in the infield!
Dodger hitters hit fastballs and split-fingered pitches well, but off speed pitches give us trouble. Perusing Fangraphs, Ethier is our best curve ball hitter, while Manny and Kemp do the best against sliders.
I agree that the bullpen will play a huge role. Since Sherrill came aboard July 30, the back three of Kuo, Sherrill, and Broxton have been dominant. One thing to consider regarding the total number of bullpen innings is that for a large chunk of the season, the Dodgers carried 13 pitchers, so those league-leading IP totals were spread over 1-2 more pitchers than most teams,
Should be a good series.
Do you think Smoltz will start in game four, or will he be more utilized out of the pen? I guess it could be both, if he’s available in the pen in game 1 and maybe 2, then can start Sunday.
Tony said Lohse AND Smoltz were both available out of the pen
So we have no clue yet to who will be the 4th game starter. I personally would prefer Smoltz out of the bullpen. Since he can still rack up the strikeouts and doesn’t walk many guys. Lohse should be good enough for the 4th game starter.
We do throw plenty of Curveballs between Carp and Waino. Not a lot of sliders though. Lots and Lots of two seamer fastballs. We really do pitch to contact as a team.
Our bullpen like I said has looked great and bad this season. Franklin was unhittable till Sept. Motte has look great at times and horrible at times. He is a fastball pitcher only. Our LOOGY’s are solid. Miller has been amazing this year. Reyes is not bad for a 2nd LOOGY. Our bullpen is young and we are not sure what to expect. We still remember 2006 playoffs when our young bullpen became unhittable in October.
by FlimtotheFlam on Oct 5, 2009 8:21 AM PDT up reply actions
More on bullpen fatigue
Sherrill and Kuo arriving in the same week really solidified the pen, and lessened th workload on Belisario and Troncoso. Over the final two months (plus four days in October), here are the bullpen innings among our top 5:
Broxton 28.1
Sherrill 26.2
Kuo 22.0
Belisario 22.1
Troncoso 20.1
The 28.1 innings for Broxton might seem like a lot, but remember this two month period is actually 65 days. Broxton basically pitched as often as he has all season over those last two months.
Considering the info
posted about the Cardinals struggles against LHP, I would think its a lock that Elbert is making the post-season roster.
Then again, it is a weird situation. The only LHB the Cardinals will likely have are Schumaker, Ankiel, and Rasmus. I think a lot of the Cards’ problem against LHP is that their RHB have trouble hitting them too. I don’t think Torre would use Elbert to specifically get outs against RHB, regardless of their performance vs LHP.
I think Elbert would have been more likely against the Phillies to be brought in to face the one LHB, whether it be Howard, Utley, Ibanez, Dobbs, or Stairs.
Good point
by the way, Torre having Kuo walk the bases loaded to face Ankiel and promplty striking out Ankiel on 3 pitches is one of my favorite moments of the season.
by Michael White on Oct 5, 2009 8:48 AM PDT up reply actions 3 recs
That only works
if you leave Thome off the roster too. You can’t have fewer bench players available and then have 1 who can’t play the field in a pinch. If Loretta were to be left off, you would need to replace him with a utility man like Dewitt (IMO.)
by Michael White on Oct 5, 2009 8:46 AM PDT up reply actions
According to pythagorean w/l
the Dodgers are unlucky by FOUR games. I hope that means our luck turns around for the postseason.
Brendan Ryan
scares the crap out of me. I hate a SS who turn hits into outs over and over. The Cardinal big three really match up against us. All of these games should be low scoring and we have to hope our bullpen completely shuts the door down while we try to scrape up a few runs against the Cardinal bullpen.
We are wondering if Weaver, McDonald, Mota, Elbert, or such are on the roster. If we have to use any of these guys in a game it is probably a game we will lose. We need Wolf and Kershaw to give at least six while giving up two runs or less to get the game to Kuo/Sherrill/Belisario/Broxton. If not the game will be lost because I doubt our offense can manage more then three runs per game against their starting pitching. Carpenter and Wainwright are horses who can pitch on three days rest so if they are in a corner they can bring them back. If they are a head they can throw Smoltz at us in game four and give Carpenter his normal rest. I expect a game five with Carpenter/Wolf going at it. Smoltz in the bullpen scares me more then Smoltz in the rotation.
This series reminds me of the 1996 1st round against the Braves. We had a good team but Smoltz, Maddux, and Glavine beat us in three very hard fought pitching battles which could have gone either way. Our offense is better as we are not dependent on a tired catcher for the majority of the offense, while our bullpen is better suited to handle the Cardinal offense, but the 96 team had a better rotation.
i can't see the Cardinals using Wainwright or Carp on short rest
Neither one of them has ever done it before
by FlimtotheFlam on Oct 5, 2009 9:17 AM PDT up reply actions
You think if you are down
two games to one they would still stay with the four man rotation? You should know but I’m not sure having never done it before counts in the playoffs. There is no need in the regular season to ever do it.
Besides,
don’t ever put any dumb idea past LaRussa especially in the playoffs. LaRussa is the man who had Mark McGwire BUNT in the bottom of the ninth of a tie game in the ’92 ALCS.
by Seanny Rotten on Oct 5, 2009 12:54 PM PDT up reply actions
This is
essentially my essessment of the series as well what you have posited. I think a big part of it will come down to who between Pujols and Manny has the most big time at-bats and comes through. This is the kind of series where Manny Ramirez needs to lead the hitting attack, at least in my opinion.
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Mozart
by Ian Capilouto on Oct 5, 2009 10:11 AM PDT up reply actions
It will
be great defense and great pitching on both sides. I just hope the Dodgers get a couple of breaks at home.
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Mozart
by Ian Capilouto on Oct 5, 2009 10:13 AM PDT up reply actions
Who let John Kruk in?
Seriously he angrily said that after Manny didn’t get a hit his first game back w/ the club in July. He pounded his fat fist on the Baseball Tonight desk and said pretty much exactly what you said. The Dodgers won a ton without Manny, stayed in first and did pretty well with barely a replacement level player in left during that span.
So long as Wolf gives us 6 or 7 quality innings and Kershaw’s magical left arm* is able to just stay healthy the Dodgers are going to do fine. All the kids played last year, and played pretty well too.
* I cannot take credit for the phrace “Kershaw’s magical left arm”. I think Eric Stephen said it first.
by Seanny Rotten on Oct 5, 2009 1:01 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Torre
Should really consider a 3 man rotation to take advantage of the lefty situation.
Having Kersh and Wolf pitch 4/5 would really neutralize the starting pitching.
Won't happen
Wolf has pitched on 3 days rest just one time in his career. In 2006, he gave up three runs (including two HR) in 5.2 innings on short rest.
Wolf already has a career high in innings, he has a long injury history, and missed a start with a hyper-extended elbow within the last month. I don’t think they will push Wolf.
And for all the talk about pitching on 3 days rest
Historically, certainly since the playoff format change in 1995, it has not worked out very well.
You're right.
With the exception of Randy Johnson, it never works too well.
by Seanny Rotten on Oct 5, 2009 1:02 PM PDT up reply actions
Hey I aws out of the loop for a fwe days....
What happened to Kuroda? I was looking for him to come up money for this series?
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Mozart
So who do you guys think your Game 4 starter will be?
Garland or Padilla?
by FlimtotheFlam on Oct 5, 2009 10:21 AM PDT up reply actions
It really could go either way, but I think it depends how much weight is put on yesterday’s post-clinch outing by Padilla (he had 10 K in 5 IP). I give a slight edge to Padilla, but wouldn’t be surprised if Garland gets the call.
by Eric Stephen on Oct 5, 2009 10:24 AM PDT up reply actions
It is really hard to say.....
Billingsley pitched ok in his last start and I think would give them 5-6 innings of 3-4 run ball probably which would keep them in the game. Padilla is fierce and the fact that Torre started him yesterday would indicate to me he is giving him serious consideration.
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Mozart
by Ian Capilouto on Oct 5, 2009 10:25 AM PDT up reply actions
Rotation
Wolf
Kershaw
Billingsley
Padilla
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Mozart
by Ian Capilouto on Oct 5, 2009 10:27 AM PDT up reply actions
was* few*
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Mozart
A “small herniation of his cervical spine.”
http://www.truebluela.com/2009/10/2/1066947/hiroki-kuroda-out-for-nlds
How did that happen?
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Mozart
He felt a pain while running in San Diego.
by Eric Stephen on Oct 5, 2009 10:04 AM PDT up reply actions
Not officialy decided just yet
Won’t be official until one hour after tomorrow’s Twins/Tigers game.
If you look at that link, it shows two scenarios based on what the Yankees will pick.
It is highly likely the Yanks will start Wednesday, which will push Game 2 at Dodger Stadium to 3:07pm (Angels/Sox will be the late game).
by Eric Stephen on Oct 5, 2009 10:27 AM PDT up reply actions
Anyone going to the game will
then need to leave work by 12:00 to get there on time. Not much work going to get done by TBLA commentatiors on Thursday afternoon.
Thanks
Why the hell do the Yankees have the power over the productivity of LA on Thursday?
This needs to change.
Best record in the league that wins the all-star game gets to choose which division series they play. This year it just happens to be the Yankees, and their opponent by a scheduling quirk won’t be decided until Tuesday. That’s why the wait is so long.
The Angels got to choose last year.
If anything, I blame Brett Favre :)
by Eric Stephen on Oct 5, 2009 10:39 AM PDT up reply actions
There was an article last night...
on MLB.com, though I don’t have the link to it, and it is not up any longer. It stated that the Yankmees (or Skankees, your choice) had chosen the Wednesday/Friday set up, so the game would be at 5 PDT on Thursday.
Rotation
I’m still thinking using Kersh or Wolf only once is a waste of LHP. I’d rather see Torre full on use Kersh/Wolf this series and even if they started G3 and G4 for the NLCS, they could still pitch two games each (G6 and G7).
Torre need to be a little bold here to help the odds. Being 45/55 for the game 1 home opener is not an ideal situation. Remember they only have to get through the 5th before going to the bullpen.
I can be see being cautious with Kersh (Mr. Franchise), but we need to use Wolf to win this year. Wolf is never going to have a better chance anyway.
I’m not certain that Wolf on three days rest is any better than a well-rested Padilla or Garland anyway.
by Eric Stephen on Oct 5, 2009 10:56 AM PDT up reply actions
Are there really that many unemployed baseball fans
who watch EVERY playoff game who have purchasing power to buy the stuff advertisers hawk?
Seems stupid to me. 6PM start time works for LA and St Louis and will have the highest ratings from people who have a job who can actually buy stuff.
I guess it could be worse like Phil-Col, but that is a total joke.
The only thing certain from a network perspective is that they want the Yankees at 6pm on the East Coast for their first game. That is the coveted time slot for something like 70% of the viewers in the country, and the Yankees have the strongest national appeal of any team.
That’s why we wait.
by Eric Stephen on Oct 5, 2009 10:58 AM PDT up reply actions
I get it now, they don't want anything competing with the Yankee game on TV to get a national audience.
I suppose a few Dodger – St. Louis fans will watch the Yankees now. Still seems stupid. Why not go with the 9PM (12ET) start time at least? Who cares about St. Louis?:)
and dont forget our hitting needs to show up
against Carp/Wainwright, were going to get very few chances to score
they should also try work the pitch count more and draw walks when you can
we used this strategy against lincecum and when we did get hits we were able to score….and if we are successful we will get to their bullpen which isnt that great…
and also we have to be able to come up with those clutch hits especially when we have RISP
and the pitching has got to keep those walks to a minimum
we cant afford to be giving up 3-4 runs in 1 inning against their starting pitching…
and the starting pitching must go at least 6 innings so we can turn it over to Kuo/Sherrill/Brox
Because when I think of Boris Diaw, I think of Beethoven and the age of Romanticism....
I am with you on this post.
It would be great to see Manny really stoke up the fire. That might relax the rest of the lineup a little bit against Carpwright. Keeping Cardinals off the bases will minimize the damage that Pujols will do, so that is a key.
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Mozart
by Ian Capilouto on Oct 5, 2009 11:22 AM PDT up reply actions
Like a two run homer in game 1 for Manny off of Carpenter
would really relax the guys and keep things loose.
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Mozart
by Ian Capilouto on Oct 5, 2009 11:23 AM PDT up reply actions
yes
of all people that must start hitting its manny
when hes hitting everyone else around him benefits…we just cannot afford to have him and our lineup stay cold against pujols and holliday….
Because when I think of Boris Diaw, I think of Beethoven and the age of Romanticism....
The hitting hasn't shown up all year against dominant pitching
We’ve knocked out a few good pitchers, but the opposition pitchers then seemed to be struggling finding the strike zone (which can always happen this series too).
We can have some hope with the Ethier-Manny-Kemp middle line up, but I doubt we are going to have too many 5 run 1st innings or two out rallys like we have all year.
I think absolutely our hitters have to be patient and make the starters make their pitches. Have to not waste any at bats. Kersh should not be even swinging his bat. Make them throw as many pitches as possible.
Then pound the relievers as we have all year long.
That’s why every game plan includes having the starters keeping us in the game. I’m almost convincing myself that Padilla-Garland will be better than Bills here because they have had better consistency (Bills has been good or imploding).
I can see the Dodgers knocking out the Cardinals pitching in fact.
They made the Cardinal pitchers work a lot this year and had very little in return for it. Maybe this series it evens out.
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Mozart
by Ian Capilouto on Oct 5, 2009 11:35 AM PDT up reply actions
I am trying on my baseball pundit hat today.
With my posts today. I am feeling very broad and general.
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Mozart
this series will come down to kneesocks
i’d feel a little more comfortable if juan tried to out-stripe brendan in that dept
Anything to help. Maybe a little prayer to Jobu. I wouldn't mind if the Dodgers sacrificed a
chicken.
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Mozart
by Ian Capilouto on Oct 5, 2009 11:31 AM PDT up reply actions
Ridiculously small samples sizes
but against St. Louis he has been Road Loney:
vs. STL .357 .419 .429 .848
Bright spot?
A few more small samples
Chris Carpenter vs. … Jim Thome: 7-for-24, 4 BB, 9 K, 2 HR
.292 BA, .393 OBP, .708 SLG
Adam Wainwright vs. … Russell Martin: 7-for-14, 1 BB, 0 K
.500 BA, .563 OBP, .643 SLG
Joel Pineiro vs. … Manny Ramirez: 14-for-33, 3 BB, 5 K, 4 HR
.424 BA, .500 OBP, .788 SLG
Ryan Franklin vs. … Casey Blake: 6-for-13, 1 K, 1 HR
.462 BA, .429 OBP, .846 SLG
4. And, the HATES TO FACE for the prominent LA pitchers set for this series:
Randy Wolf vs. … Matt Holliday: 5-for-16, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR
.313 BA, .389 OBP, .688 SLG
Clayton Kershaw vs. … Albert Pujols: 4-for-7, 4 BB, 0 K
.571 BA, .727 OBP, .857 SLG
Vincente Padilla vs. … Albert Pujols: 4-for-9, 0 BB, 0 K
.444 BA, .444 OBP, .556 SLG
Jonathan Broxton vs. … No one
by FlimtotheFlam on Oct 5, 2009 11:40 AM PDT up reply actions
except for bills and wolf
against pujols – MOST of the dodger pitching staff has an obp of =>.400 against him. brox also gave up one of his three runs at dodger stadium (and only loss of the season) to the cards. AP is also significantly better against lefties.
this alone makes bills a better starting candidate than some might think IMO.
i think bill james would be disappointed at how quickly we’ve thrown out chad’s career numbers in the past few weeks.
by stillnotah8er on Oct 5, 2009 11:49 AM PDT up reply actions
I was at that game
Some of the fans were unbelievably surly. They started chanting, “We want Sherrill!” over and over again when Broxton walked Pujols- because, of course, walking Pujols is just the worst thing that someone can do. Then, he stole second (apparently, he steals bases now), and Martin threw the ball into center field, so Pujols took 3rd. Holliday got him in on a deep sac fly, and that was that.
The plus side of that game was the boys showed some fight against Wainright, exploiting his Achilles heal- solo home runs. That was also the game that featured the blowup doll. I normally loathe activity in the stands that distracts from the game, but that, along with the radio-controlled airplane not long after, was awesome. :)
that was at the end of his horrible streak
of ten games. he had blown three in nine appearances and had given up 5 hits and 3 dingers in his previous four at that point.
by stillnotah8er on Oct 5, 2009 12:02 PM PDT up reply actions
yeah, I do remember
but I still think the reaction was over the top.
I don’t think that was the END of the streak, though- I seem to remember 1 or 2 that followed, most notably that horrible 9th against Arizona. Oh well. Water under the bridge now!
Road Loney: These splits made me smile
By Stadium OPS
Citizens x 1.275
Coors Fi x 1.199
U.S. Cel x 1.194
AT&T P x 1.04
Miller P 0.968
Great Am 0.929
Angel st 0.923
Chase F 0.843
Citi F xx 0.83
Busch Sta 0.821
Busch st 0.821
Turner F 0.786
PNC P x 0.718
PETCO P 0.711
Dodger st 0.64
Wrigley F 0.529
Dolphin st 0.462
Rangers 0.398
Minute M 0.385
Can we all start booing him at home?
LOL
It’s sort of a catch 22- we can boo him at home to make him FEEL like he’s on the road, but he might just think we’re booing him because he’s hitting like Home Loney. But if we CHEER him at home, he’ll KNOW he’s at Dodger Stadium, in which case he’ll also perform like Home Loney. So either way, we’re kinda stuck there. I just WISH this was our biggest concern! :/
In what inning do you think the announcers will declare St. Louis fans the greatest fans in baseball :)
"If your season is going well, you have walked into an ambush."
hey blame the media for relying on lazy preconceptions....
even though we are in fact the best…..
j/k……
maybe…..
I'm like a polygon, I'm edgy.
"OHHHHH!!!!!!! IT TASTES. SO. GOOD!!!!!!!!!!"
-BOOOOOOOOG
by slu on Oct 5, 2009 2:51 PM PDT up reply actions
Pre game
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Mozart
"Game three will feature the remodeled Joel Pineiro
facing the recently struggling Chad Billinsgley in St. Louis where it is going to be tough. Those fans out there all dressed in red are in thr running for best fans in the universe."
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Mozart
the*
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Mozart
Don't forget they have Tony LaRussa
I don’t know of another manager who has done less with more his entire career.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on True Blue LA
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- Eric Hosmer redefines the Baltimore chop with infield double (Video)
- College player makes impossible over the fence catch to save tournament game (Video)
- Security!: Camden Yards guard collides with Royals’ Mike Moustakas
- The Juice: Nelson Cruz matches career high eight RBIs, Pujols stays hot in Seattle
- Benches clear at Fenway as Red Sox-Rays rivalry heats up
