Since we last got together in this space, the Cardinals have played five games. They’ve won three, they’ve lost two. What they haven’t done, really? Hit. The Cardinals have a .222/.267/.329 batting line over that span and that includes the 15 single attack (back in my day, that was just called an album but the [...]
If you can say nothing else about this Cardinals team, you can say that they play with a passion. When your leader is Nolan Arenado, I don’t think you have much choice. There are many things to love about Mr. Arenado. There’s the fact that he’s currently first in the National League and second only [...]
For the first time this season, though probably not the last, the Cardinals provided a heartbreaking example of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. There are going to be losses that hurt more because of the stakes and how important they are, but for the fact that this was a game in the first [...]
There are a lot of nights when something goes wrong. Not every night has the offense click, the pitching sparkle, and the defense take care of anything hit. Some nights you win 10-9, for instance, or 2-0. Some nights a misplay is the difference between a win and a loss. It’s tough to have every [...]
Around the seventh inning last night, I said to myself, “I’m not sure who will get the Hero tomorrow, but I’m pretty sure Nolan will be the Goat.” He’d just struck out for the third time and in a night that looked like whichever team scored first was going to win, those strikeouts hurt, most [...]
When I wrote the series preview post over at the Substack, I noted that the Marlins as a whole weren’t great at striking out others while the Cardinals hitters were very good at making contact. That combination would seem to indicate good things for St. Louis and the early returns are bearing that out. Jesus [...]
After handling Pittsburgh and Kansas City, at least before the rains came in both series, the Cardinals got their first chance this weekend to see how they’d stack up against what should be the class of the NL Central. They leave Milwaukee on their way to Miami knowing that, at least right now, the Brewers [...]
Oakland wasn’t in town last night but boy, did the As come to play. First there was, as there has been every game so far, Nolan Arenado. Arenado wasted no time getting what turned out to be a rich #bombsaway game started by crushing a two-run homer in the first inning. That gives him three [...]
In 2017, Dexter Fowler started off his Cardinal career by hitting .132 with 16 strikeouts and only one extra base hit in his first 13 games. While Fowler rebounded after that (he had a .920 OPS the rest of the season), the slow start coupled with the fact that many fans weren’t excited about the [...]
Opening Day in St. Louis is always more of an event than a game. Legends don red jackets, Clydesdales circle the field ahead of cars bearing Cardinals old and new, and everyone comes together to celebrate a winter being over and a new season lying ahead. The game at times can be an afterthought and [...]
The start of the season is always a joyous thing. Today downtown St. Louis will be full of people excitedly looking forward to another six months of baseball season. After a 2020 season almost entirely wiped out by a pandemic, a 2021 season that started with the stadium at much less than capacity, and a [...]
It was a winter extended by the cold realities of a lockout, but the 2022 baseball season is rapidly approaching. Given the vagaries of the scheduling and how rapidly everything has to happen, it would be easy to let some traditions go by the wayside. Not in this space! Playing Pepper returns for its 14th [...]
