St. Louis Cardinals

By Josh Martin 2. Chris needs to play everyday if he is going to fix his game. And how do you bench Skip Schumaker, Rick Ankiel, or especially Ryan Ludwick? The answer is…you don’t. I understand that La Russa likes the platoon thing, but a .252 hitter with no power that strikes out WAY too much is no match for any o...

By Josh Martin All in all, I love the Cardinals outfield this season. Skip Schumaker and Ryan Ludwick have become critical components of the offense and Rick Ankiel has become even more important to the team. He is making plays that even Edmonds didn’t make, and trust me, that is high praise. Ankiel threw ou...

By Josh Martin 1. The Memphis Mafia - The guys from Memphis came through again. Schumaker, Ludwick, and Perez all had great days Sunday. Schumaker was 2 for 5 on the day and is hitting .286. I still think this guy is our lead-off hitter for years to come. I love the way he plays the game. Since Jimmy is gone, Skip and Ri...

By Josh Martin The loss puts the Cardinals at 24-20, in third place, and 3 games out of first. Tomorrow, we send “Waino” to the hill in game two of the series with the Rays. Game # 44 Fri. May 16, 2008 Rays 3 Cardinals 1 With Jason Isringhausen “injured” and on the 15 day disabled list, the Cardinals purchased the...

By Josh Martin All in all, this is an upgrade for the Cardinals.  And despite his pride being hurt, this is the best thing for Anthony Reyes as well.  He is loaded with talent.  Now it is time to realize some of that potential and improve on his mistakes.  I am hoping he can get back what he looked to have for a brief...

By Josh Martin Friday, the rivalry between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs resumed. For most of Cardinal Nation, it is the biggest rivalry for St. Louis. Me personally, I prefer the Cardinals/Astros rivalry. I do not enjoy the Cub games as much. I don’t like the Cubs and I love to see them lose. Well Fr...

By Josh Martin Todd Wellemeyer struggled, allowing 4 earned runs on 7 hits in 6 innings.  It should have been 3 earned runs, due to a Chris Duncan misplay that was not called an error.  Offensively, the heart of the order produced for the Cardinals.  But as usual they just left too many runners on base to win.  H...

By Josh Martin The win puts the Redbirds at 15-10 on the year, in 2nd place in the NL Central, and 1 1/2 games behind Chicago.  Tomorrow is the rubber game of the series as Kyle Lohse gets the nod for the good guys. Game # 25 Sat. April 26, 2008 Cardinals 4 Astros 3 Adam Wainwright pitched the full nine innings for S...

By Josh Martin The win puts the Cardinals at 14-9, 1 1/2 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central. Friday, the Cardinals return home to Busch to face the Astros. I always love the series with the Astros, it is some of the best baseball you will see. Game # 23 Thur. April 24, 2008 Cardinals 6 Pirates 2 The play that Joe...

By Josh Martin The loss puts the Cardinals at 13-8 on the season, and as of the writing of this post, 1 1/2 games behind the Cubs. Tomorrow Todd Wellemeyer takes to the hill in search of his 3rd win of the year. Let’s get back on track and get back into first place this week, guys. Game # 21 Tue. April 22, 2008 Cardina...

By Josh Martin The win puts the Cardinals at 11-4, 1 1/2 games in first place in the NL Central, and looking to sweep the Brew Crew tomorrow. Kyle Lohse will take his 2-0 record and 1.04 ERA to the mound as the Cardinals go for the sweep. Game # 15 Wed. April 16, 2008 Cardinals 5 Brewers 4 The game Tuesday between the...

By Josh Martin The win puts the Cardinals at 10-4, tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the best record in all of baseball. The Cardinals are in first place in the NL Central. Tomorrow, we send Wainwright to the hill in game 2 of the series. Game # 14 Tue. April 15, 2008 Cardinals 6 Brewers 1 Tuesday, the Cardin...

By Josh Martin The win puts the Cardinals at 9-3, good for first place in the NL Central.  Tomorrow, Joel Pineiro will make his first start.  While I like Pineiro’s stuff a lot, I am a little bit afraid to “disturb the groove.” I do think that Pineiro’s return is a good thing though. Game # 12 4/12/08 Cardinals 8 G...

By Josh Martin The win puts the Cardinals at 4-1, tied for 1st place, and set to finish up with Washington tomorrow.  Kyle Lohse gets the start for the Cards as he will attempt to keep the rotation undefeated.  And by the way, the Cardinals’ starters have yet to allow an earned run in the first three innings al...

By Josh Martin Cardinals 5 Nationals 4 Performance of the Game: Rick Ankiel The win puts the Cardinals at 3-1 and in a tie for 1st place with Milwaukee. The Cardinals send Adam Wainwright to the mound tomorrow to face the Nationals in a 12:10 PM contest.

By Josh Martin Offensively, the Cardinals plated three runs and that would be enough, as they went on to a 3-0 shutout behind the pitching of Thompson, Vilone, Reyes, and Izzy.  With the shutout Thursday, the Cardinals’ collective ERA is at 1.00 through the first three games.  I have been VERY pleased with...

By Josh Martin The win evens the Cardinals record this year at 1-1.  Tomorrow, Brad Thompson gets the start, in what should be a very wet and cold Thursday afternoon. Game # 2      4/2/08 Cardinals 8    Rockies 3 Everyone knows that the 2008 St. Louis Cardinals are a younger team than they were a year ago.  But I...

By Josh Martin Rockies 2 Cardinals 1 2. Ryan Franklin - He just didn’t have it. He was hit hard. I still would rather have the Cardinals bullpen than any bullpen in baseball, but Franklin simply didn’t get the job done Tuesday night. He loaded the bases with no outs and it was all downhill from there.

4. Ryan Ludwick - This guy has perhaps (and I say perhaps) the most power on the team. I saw him hit a few home runs last year that left even Pujols scratching his head. Ludwick has gone from propect, to journeyman, to a bad knee, to finally coming into his own. And I think he is a better option right no...

By Josh Martin Among the many changes that the Cardinals made this past off-season, perhaps none were bigger than the acquisition of Troy Glaus to take over for Scott Rolen at the Hot Corner. Rolen’s inability to get along with Tony LaRussa made it almost a necessity for the Cardinals to deal him. The probl...

By Josh Martin January in Memphis hardly seems like baseball weather. And that is even more so the case in St. Louis. Yet every January, I make my annual trek downtown to Autozone Park in Memphis to kick off my baseball season. Yep, It’s Cardinal Caravan Time! The gang came through Memphis this past Sunday, an...

By Josh Martin And it is true he is coming off shoulder surgery. But the Cardinals are reporting that he will be able to report to spring training with no limitations. So “IF” he is healthy and back to 100%, we have have us quite a pitcher. He has post-season experience both with the Cubs and Red Sox. He has a good f...

By Josh Martin The St. Louis Cardinals are checking into the Gaylord Opryland Hotel this afternoon in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a grand stage for what should be a busy off-season. But what is on our “to do list” for the Cardinals? And will our needs be met via free agency or a trade? One thing is for sure, John...

By Josh Martin Many would consider this signing a risky move on the part of the Tamp Bay Devil Rays.  Signing a 38 year old, once retired, injury prone closer to a two year deal is far from a guarantee.  But having watched him in both Memphis and St. Louis last year, I think he still has plenty of gas left in his tan...

By Josh Martin That’s all I have to say about that… I haven’t been this upset at the St. Louis Cardinals in a LONG time. Come to think of it, I don’t think I have been this mad since we signed an overweight guy named Bob Horner to play first base several years ago. I cannot believe that the Cardinals took the cheap w...