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Ratsbuddy…I’m going to flip the numbers and conservatively go with 3-2 at Wrigley next week. Best I can tell, Hudson’s slated for the opener of the 5 games and I’m going to hope for a DH sweep with Wainwright and Monte in line for those two games. I’ll hope for a split in the final two. I’ll also say I find it odd that all 5 of those games are being played during the work week. I don’t guess that the schedule guys are aware that not too many things are better than a weekend Redbirds/Cubs match-up on a beautiful sunny day at Wrigley.
I would think the Padres have an insurance policy on the Tatis contract, so they can recoup some of the lost production time cash-wise. I believe all standard contracts have that “conduct” clause in them, where the Pads could void the agreement if they so choose. But my guess is they will wait to see what they have in Tatis.
Still, you wonder how much of his greatness is chemically induced, and how much is talent.
As for the ‘82 Cardinals, great question on the position player MVP. It was truly a team effort, with Whitey doing a masterful job in the dugout. From recollection, LSmith really sparked that club early on and was the MVP over the first half or so, but seems like he tailed off some later on. About that time Willie McGee picked up the slack.
You could make a case for Keith Hernandez and George Hendrick, who were steady all year. If you go by WAR, the top five in descending order were LSmith, Joaquin, OSmith, Hernandez, Herr.
UCCONN…I understand precisely what you’re driving at, but not sure it applies to Tatis Jr. I’d say he was already in the driver’s seat insofar as capitalizing on his skill set and talent to the tune of $340M. The pallet loaded with currecncy was presented to him not only prior to yesterday’s events, but also before he injured his wrist while astride a full on, super sport, litre bike. Pretty sure he collected every penny of his guaranteed salary while recovering from the motorcycle mishap. Also pretty sure he won’t collect a solitary penny of his salary while serving the 80 game susp.
And to echo 1TD comments about being young and stupid, I too am so fortunate and blessed to be where I am today. I lived in LA for a couple of years at age 21-23, and there were many times that there was no way I should have been driving. I knew that when I was doing it and would be extra careful, but still, dumb, dumb and more dumb.
As for Waino, glad he stops and smells the roses. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our day-to-day hustle and bustle, that we do not take time to really look around. There is an old song called “Look Around” that was done by Sergio Mendez and Brazil ‘66 among others. It basically says that very thing – take time to enjoy your surroundings and where you are, because it won’t always be this way.
Speaking of this game…Burnes will be a tough one to solve, but perhaps Waino will channel some big game moxie and match him. This is a huge opportunity, obviously. To beat their ace with a mediocre lefty coming up would be really nice. I feel like Nolan Gorman is due for a multi HF game sometime in the next week or so.
And speaking of LSmith and OSmith, why don’t teams put the first initial on the back of the jersey for guys with the same last name anymore? To venture a guess to my own question, I imagine it costs a little extra to add that extra letter so it is not done, and management figures fans can figure out which one it is by the uniform number.
Still I always like the initial. Made it unique.
BikeMike…Yeah, Skates placed 2nd in that year’s NL MVP voting behind Murphy. Hernandez and Hendrick were my two favorite Redbird position players at that time. It was Ozzie’s first year as a Redbird and he hadn’t yet cemented himself as a fan favorite. At least in my case. Insofar as pitchers, yeah, Sutter was the guy who put eveything into place, but as you may expect, my personal favorite was none other than ‘walkingunderwear’…Not only because he could out and out pitch, but also because he was a self-proclaimed, ‘powerheater’ in the batter’s box. Incidentally, I was the guy who inquired about thoughts on that season’s Cardinal MVP. I was surprised I didn’t get more feedback. Guess everyone’s cutting the grass…
BikeMike…Yeah the initial before the last name thing makes sense, but In Ozzie’s case the #1 was pretty easy to figure out. And if that didn’t do it, the back-flips were a subtle hint. Even I could figure that out…
Even though Cleveland’s supplanted the Twins in 1st place in the ALC for more than a week now, every time I see the name ‘Guardians’ I think to myself, “Who?” For a split second, I think MLB may have expanded again and I simply hadn’t kept up with the latest news. I sure hope my favorite bird never takes offense to the term, ‘Redbird.’ Somehow I’d feel silly screaming at the top of my lungs from my seat in the upper deck, “GO ARCHIES!”
1TD,
I wasn’t referring to Tatis Jr, only the first few sentences of the Wainwright article that appears to equate any player “of great magnitude” not remaining with their original team to “money, greed & ego”. How dare they chase the filthy lucre.Anyway, I don’t have a strong opinion re Tatis Jr except that we’re all flawed and most of us think we’d make stellar choices in situations we’re not likely to encounter… 🙂
A belated Welcome, by the way. I enjoy your posts. Glad you’re here.
1. Lars Nootbaar (L) RF
2. Brendan Donovan (L) LF
3. P. Goldschmidt (R) 1B
4. Nolan Arenado (R) 3B
5. Nolan Gorman (L) DH
6. Paul DeJong (R) SS
7. Dylan Carlson (S) CF
8. Yadier Molina (R) C
9. Tommy Edman (S) 2BBling…Sounds like TLR. He sometimes treated the line-up card as if he were employed by the NSA and the card was a highly sensitive document lifted straight out of the inner workings of the State Dept. It sometimes seemed as though the HPU would barely see them in time. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he filled them out in some sort of special intelligence code…In any event, I recall sometimes not being able to find a Cardinal line-up anywhere on the world wide web until an hour or so prior to first pitch when he was the Redbird Mgr.
Ollie has been getting them posted pretty early. I guess an 80 OPS+ is earning O’Neill some pine time.
Nootbaar has been on fire, and Donovan still sports a .397 OBP, so hopefully we can light up the scoreboard today.
BikeMike, my vote for’82 Cardinal MVP would definitely be Lonnie Smith. He really set the tone and was fearless right on top of the plate.
Second place for me would be Bruce Sutter. It wasn’t uncommon for him to get a five or six out save.
UCONN…I too don’t understand how anyone could resent or gripe too much about a player seeking the best return on the talent and services he provides for a team. When I was still working, I was attached for the entire 30 years to a collective bargaining system that paid the precise amount of an hourly salary rate to everyone in that particular trade that worked in roughly a 100 mile radius of the StL. area, so money was never an issue. But if I ever felt that the contractor I was employed with was subpar or I wasn’t crazy about a particular job or job-site, I simply got on the phone and called around to different contractors and offered up my craft or obtained different employment through my local. It’s the way it worked and no one had a problem with it. For all intents and purposes, once I served an apprenticeship I was a free agent for the entire 30 years. I always worked where I thought was best for myself and my family.
Though the lineup was already posted, this is a cool graphic for tonight.
Let's party like it's 1982! pic.twitter.com/6vGmucRPL9
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 13, 2022
gscottar…Or 7 or 8 or 9. Some may remember the story of Bruce Sutter’s minor league career during a stint with a Cubs affiliate. He suffered an arm injury at the age of 19 that required surgery. He had the surgery performed. At his own expense…Once healed, he learned to work to hitters with a new pitch that compensated for his lost velocity. The rest is, as they say, history. Sutter was money in the bank.
BW…Nice! I always liked the look of that logo featuring the scowling Redbird holding the bat up high. Looks kind of like Pujols…
Man, these ’82 highlights are something to behold. Nobody, and I mean nobody turned two like Ozzie, Tommy and Keith.
I see an 0-4 coming for DeJong tonight.
I see at least two strikeouts coming for Norman Gorman tonight.
It would have been great to see Ozzie fake a back flip during the walk from truck to the line. 🙂 🙂 🙂
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