How long will it be until six is a serious number?

Screw it, I just want four runs. Is that so hard?

artie_fufkin wrote:

How long will it be until the Cardinals score double-digit runs in a baseball game:

A) Memorial Day
B) Fourth of July
C) The Royal Wedding
D) Kiss is inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
E) Dorian Gray starts to age

I don't get the whining.  We went over double digits on Monday.  With today's run we're already up to 15 on the season.

Well, at least they're headed to San Francisco. Nothing like a series against that starting staff to fatten up the batting averages ...

Tone's getting a little touchy about questions from the meddlesome media about the offense:

"For everybody listening out there, do you think I am being unreasonable?" La Russa said. "It's the first week of the season. I mean I don't understand this. You are going to tell me that Yadier doesn't drive in big runs? You going to tell me Albert can't hit? You going to tell me the second baseman and shortstop haven't hit?

"David Freese, you don't think he's going to hit? You think Matt is going to hit? You think Colby is going to hit? You think Berkman is going to hit? The answer is no to all those things? I mean did you accomplish your goal? Three or four times you ask so I get excited and get upset. I mean that's not fair. It really isn't."

And as we've discussed many, many times, if this team fails it is on him. He pushed for Theriot and Berkman. He wanted Schumaker back at second base. If he stays healthy, Berkman is going to be a pretty valuable hitter, and I think Craig Allen can fill in the gaps.

But the middle infield/Freese are going to make or break the team. We know Molina is going to be a below-average hitter. If the three infielders don't perk up, that's going to be four black holes in the lineup and it will mean Pujols, Holliday, Rasmus, Berkman/Craig have to be that much better to compensate.

tkihshbt wrote:

And as we've discussed many, many times, if this team fails it is on him. He pushed for Theriot and Berkman. He wanted Schumaker back at second base. If he stays healthy, Berkman is going to be a pretty valuable hitter, and I think Craig Allen can fill in the gaps.

But the middle infield/Freese are going to make or break the team. We know Molina is going to be a below-average hitter. If the three infielders don't perk up, that's going to be four black holes in the lineup and it will mean Pujols, Holliday, Rasmus, Berkman/Craig have to be that much better to compensate.

I think that if it comes to that, TK, that Moz is in the mix for taking the fall.

forsberg_us wrote:

tkihshbt wrote:

It's a bad sign when he's blowing up after six games. The questions were pretty innocuous, too.

Just part of the playbook gentlemen.

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/article_74ee5cf2-6128-11e0-abfc-001a4bcf6878.html

I don't mind that he gets upset, and I understand his rationale. But every time he goes off like this, I think of Mags in his reclining chair, calling TLR an asshole.

"When Nick Punto comes off the DL that likely mean goodbye to someone more valueable just because Punto is a TLR type guy."

It'll be Descalso, but I'm not sure he's more valuable than Punto. Not for nuthin', but is this the whitest baseball team in about 50 years? You've got four Hispanics, and Craig could probably pass for Hispanic, and 20 guys who could have been on the East German Olympic team.

artie_fufkin wrote:

"When Nick Punto comes off the DL that likely mean goodbye to someone more valueable just because Punto is a TLR type guy."

It'll be Descalso, but I'm not sure he's more valuable than Punto. Not for nuthin', but is this the whitest baseball team in about 50 years? You've got four Hispanics, and Craig could probably pass for Hispanic, and 20 guys who could have been on the East German Olympic team.

sounds like you are accusing them of 'roidin'.

artie_fufkin wrote:

AP, as a practical issue, how does Abe Nunez rate higher than Ray Lankford?

The ranking was hard to do correctly.  First off it is hard to judge who was better then who.  What I am trying to base it off of is not who was a better player but who did more for the team in the 2000s and on.  Lankford was only on the team for a couple of years in the 200s or he would be ranked much higher.  The other problem is that when I see that I have made a mistake I have to change the whole ranking system to fix it.  It is just for fun anyway.

Max wrote:

APRTW wrote:

tkihshbt wrote:

And as we've discussed many, many times,  if this team fails it is on him.  He pushed for Theriot and Berkman . He wanted Schumaker back at second base. If he stays healthy, Berkman is going to be a pretty valuable hitter, and I think Craig Allen can fill in the gaps.

But the middle infield/Freese are going to make or break the team. We know Molina is going to be a below-average hitter. If the three infielders don't perk up, that's going to be four black holes in the lineup and it will mean Pujols, Holliday, Rasmus, Berkman/Craig have to be that much better to compensate.

No question about it.  None at all.  He could have had Orlando Carbra, Orlando Hudson or Jorge Cantu for next to nothing.  He choose to go with Theriot and Skip.  It wasnt about money.  It was about who he wanted.  those three guys in my mind would have been an upgrade over what we are currently seeing.  When Nick Punto comes off the DL that likely mean goodbye to someone more valueable just because Punto is a TLR type guy.  I am not hating on TLR but if 2011 is a failure then he is to blame because this is his hand picked team.

. . . given the budget limitations imposed by DeWitt, who in explicably cut payroll by 11% in '09 and kept it low in '10, at a time when the Phillies were expanding their budget . . . and competitiveness.  If I were judging all this from the mountaintop of the super-wealthy, I'd say that the ownership of each team made an informed risk, and the Phillies won theirs and the Cards lost.

What does that have to do with the sentence you bolded.

windwalker wrote:

APRTW wrote:

I think Craig Allen can fill in the gaps.

Am I the only one that thinks Allen Craig needs to be in the lineup every day? He reminds me of Jack Clark when he swings the bat, I think we're wasting an opportunity by not getting a look at him on a daily basis. He can play LF until Holliday gets back, then RF on the days Berkman's iffy, 3B when Freese needs a break, and CF when Hollywood 69 has a tanning appointment.

I dont think he is able to play CF.