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I think May and Romero are the most obvious “low hanging fruit” that will be gone in a couple of weeks or so. Stanek too if we can get a bucket of balls and maybe a free ticket to that buffet Rats goes to every week with a plethora of items.
Crooks or Pages are possibilities – Pages might be perfect for a contender needing a good part-time to 3/4 time receiver. Crooks to another rebuilder that is weak at catching prospects – more of a “my prospect for your prospect” deal.
Nootbaar is an interesting player. Seems to be a great teammate, and plays hard. Does a lot of good things, and he comes across to me as one of those guys that is more valuable than the stat sheet would indicate. But then if you can get some potential for him, then his intangibles are probably not going to keep you from taking the plunge.
Yeah Gags, I was the same way. Riveted while watching that last round and his run of six straight. I did a fist pump when he hit that last one.
Had it not been a Cardinal I still would have enjoyed it, but I think it being our guy, and to top it off a guy who has struggled so after being hyped as practically the “second coming”, it just made it all real special.
I liked your comment that maybe we saw Walker’s composure as maturity more so than as a predictor.
One other comment. Being a baseball history buff, I can’t help wondering what stories we would have today had the event started back in say the mid-1920s. I read something a few years ago about what I believe was an actual home run contest between Rogers Hornsby and Babe Ruth. My memory is a bit dim about it, but it seems like it was before a season and was conducted in New Orleans. I will see if I can find anything on it.
I too liked Koperniak and there were times I thought he should have been given a go at the big club, above Siani at one point. But alas it never happened. Like others, I hope he hangs in there and keeps plugging away.
Savacool is a great name and for that reason I wish he had gone further. Could have done a lot of creative writing with that name.
Based on team results the NL should be quite a bit better than the Junior Circuit.
So I am going to say that is too obvious and the AL wins tonight 6-3.
Seems about right. I think we will finish somewhere in the 80-85 win area. But then who knows what we do in a couple of weeks. Take May, Stanek, and Romero off the pitching staff and we might fall back some.
But hey, way back in ‘67 (as Steely Dan said) most thought that when Bob Gibson went out with a broken ankle we would fall back, and instead we got better.
We all try to predict what will happen in baseball, but the game will humble you quite often.
Interesting thought on Baez, stlcard25. Will be fun to see how he develops.
I had picked Cameniero (sp?), the guy for Tampa before the event. And when Walker went up against him in the semi’s I figured he would be out. But again, he just was so focused and relaxed.
A guy I would have liked to see is James Wood. He’s kind of a left handed Walker, and a little more mature than Junior. I think he participated last year, but as I mentioned I had not watched the event for years until last night.
Loved it! Man, that was a fun HR derby! I enjoyed that as much as seeing a Cardinal walk-off thriller win.
Real happy for Walker that things are coming together. He looked great last night – real calm, focused and confident. Now obviously he was hitting balls grooved in the hitting zone and not 95 MPH sliders on the outside corner. But it was thrilling to see him focus like that with the crowd against him for the most part.
There is a chance the Cardinals have two of the best stars of the game the next 10 years in Walker and Wetherholt, should both stay healthy and continue to hone their skills.
Let’s hope the derby is the next step for Walker and not something that messes up his swing. In my opinion, and this is not how I felt before the derby, this is going to help him as he showed so much maturity in handling the big moment. I think he can keep that mentality going in game situatons as well.
…for you younger fans, Junior Walker and the All Stars was a music group. They had a couple of big hits in the ‘60s, “Shotgun” and “What Does It Take (to win your love for me)”
Haven’t watched the home run derby in years as it was always on ESPN, which I have not had since 2017. But this year it’s on Netflix and we have a sub to it, so will check it out some and see if our own Junior Walker can be the best of the All Stars.
This year’s NL team is truly Junior Walker and the All Stars.
Surprised Herrera is an All Star as he has not exactly been a force. I think he will have better seasons ahead – maybe even finish strong this year. But he has not been a difference maker, which is what you think of when looking at an All-Star.
Crooks not showing a lot at the big league level, but guys have started that way before and made great strides their second time around.
Tough to lose on an error. But Winn will save a lot more runs than give away. He’s the biggest single key to our defense – just makes so many great plays and throws. 50-45 at the 95 game mark. Better than most of us expected.
I think this will end up being a team friendly deal, but we will see. Now I wonder what they do with Walker, Herrera, Winn and possibly McGreevy.
Whoa, this guy challenges Stanek for the longest hair on our club.
Why is it only pitchers have the hippie hair? You never see a position player with it. Maybe it just does not work for position players, whereas for pitchers the way it flies out when pitching can be sort of dramatic – maybe a little intimidating.
I still like the game and watch it. But it was better when the leagues were autonomous. Now with MLB one big league, the game does not have the sense of “our league is better than yours” like it once had. I still have a vivid mental image of my mom’s parents visiting us in the summer of 1970, and me, my dad and my grandpa all watching the game. Pete Rose bowling over Ray Fosse…man, that was classic. Real hard-nosed baseball.
But I tell ya, I liked that game last year where they had the three guys square off in a home run contest to decide it. Real rogue, but I thought it was cool.
I don’t want Walker in the home run derby. He just seems like a guy whose mechanics are still a work in progress, and the derby would mess him up.
Maybe I am wrong on that. Who knows, maybe it would help him as he would need to focus on contact and launching the ball.
But my gut instinct is don’t mess with him. Maybe in a year or two he can participate, but not now.
Din-din here are fabulous fish tacos. We took breaded fish sticks, and Cole slaw, guacamole, and mango salsa and set it out. Fill up soft corn tortillas and squeeze some lime juice on and you got a refreshing tasty din-din! Tortilla chips to round things out.
I grabbed a cold, frosty one to wash it down.
…and we have Burly. An interesting situation as his value is real high right now, and he still has two years of team control. I think he is a big part of our team’s chemistry as well. But then he is kind of a platoon player. If we could get a haul for him, or a highly touted youngster he would be a guy I would not be afraid to let go.
Pretty sure May won’t be a Cardinal in August; and Stanek won’t stand in our pen at that point either. And we will likely see Jo Jo get back to Philly, or some other location not named St. Louis.
The mathematical possibility is still there for post season, but you get the sense that we are so far inferior to the top teams that we would be a quick 2 and out in a post season opening series. The watered down playoffs do give more-or-less average teams that hope though.
Well as was said on yesterday’s game thread, the hopes for a surprise run at a post season berth this year are likely dashed. Still a lot of great moments over the first half, although we were benefiting from our share of good fortune.
A lot of baseball left to be played and theee will be some fun times ahead. But overall it will be more of an audition for future success than a work towards this year’s prize.
You have to hand it to the Brewers organization. They have really put together a great club, with a terrific manager. I hope they can get past the Big Blue juggernaut this year and get to their first World Series since we knocked them off in ‘82.
