What's with the constant miss-handling of injuries down at Busch Stadium?

   I must say objectively that the Cardinals front office is good at many things. They don't have the highest payroll, yet they compete and win year after year. I like their choices in mixing veteran, winning-type players with good young talent, their sound free agent decisions (for the most part), and the handling of their coaching staff. I do think however there is one glaring, re-occurring problem, and it is the handling of injuries. They repeatedly screw up on two points, one being the injuries themselves and the second being how the injuries are relayed to the media and the fans. This didn't just begin to happen this year, it has been a chronic problem since the early 2000's. The list is long of players that were rushed back from the DL or not even put on the DL at all. Mark Mulder's situation was a train-wreck, as was J.D. Drew's, and Chris Carpenter's past and present injuries were extremely miss-handled.

  Just last week Lance Berkman tore a small piece of his calf on a triple, and stayed in the game after you could blatantly see that he pulled up between 2nd and 3rd base. He reached on a single in his next AB, and was pulled from the game. Instead of placing him on the DL, they rested him for about 6 days and in his first start back he re-aggravated the calf and is now on the DL. I just don't understand. Not only are the Cards blazing in the NL Central, but Matt Carpenter was raking in place of Berkman, another reason not to rush him back. Skip Schumacher took is place on the roster after a DL stint to heal a strained oblique, and he even said in a pregame interview that he still "felt" it. In the very first ball hit to him he miss-judged it and crashed into the wall, forcing Matheny to pull him from the game in the first (The result was an in the park home run, Lance Lynn's only run allowed in the game). Skip was shuffled back into the lineup to take the place of Jon Jay, who hit the wall a day earlier. I haven't heard if Skip re injured himself, but I did hear he only played one nine inning game in AAA before he met the big club in Pittsburgh. The entire situation could cause major complications in the Cardinals outfield for weeks to come. That is evidence of a club handling injuries poorly.

   At the beginning of Spring Training we got word that SP Chris Carpenter was going on a strict innings and start limit during the spring schedule. For any Cardinal fan or analyst that pays attention to how the Cardinals handle injuries, that was an easy red flag. The cool-aid drinkers got a glass full, as the front office made such comments as "We'll he is going on 37 years old" and "He threw over 270 innings last year including the playoffs, we are just being cautious." Cautious.....? Of what, numbness in his shoulder that is caused by neck and back problems? That is exactly what it was. He was hurt coming in. You won't hear that anywhere, I didn't have that quoted to me by anyone with the organization or anyone that would know. It is not hard to figure out if you watch the pattern that has developed over the last 10 seasons or so. Then after he announced he was hurt, they rested him, he tried throwing again, and was still hurt. Now he is back in St. Louis waiting on developing a throwing program. My honest opinion is that Carpenter (who I appreciate and respect as an honest, extremely hard working player and fierce competitor) will never pitch again. I wouldn't be surprised if he rehabs and does pitch, but to what level of capacity? I also think the Wainwright situation was rushed to a degree, considering it is obvious he is still not right, Do the radar guns not work in Jupiter? His velocity is way down, and he needs more time to build up his arm strength. Now that he has started the season in the big leagues, there isn't a move the Cards came make other than to let him keep going. Again, poorly handled. I cannot figure out if the disconnect is in the training staff, the front office, or management. I also understand to a degree that the organization can't just be straight to the fans and media about everything. They are running a business. I have to believe that these habitual injury miss-handling's can be avoided with a little patience, and a little bit of blunt honesty. Remember Mo', we are the best fans in baseball, we deserve it! Thanks for reading-Joe

Cardinals vs. Cubs: A different kind of rivalry.

    When all of us baseball fans think of rivalries, the usual suspects come to mind. Yankees vs Red Sox, Dodgers vs. Giants, and of course, the Cardinals vs. the Cubs. The rivalry probably started over 60 years ago, when KMOX echoed Cardinals games (the Western-most team in baseball for a long time) all the way to Kentucky, Iowa, Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle on a clear night, and WGN Radio powered Cubs games into Wisconsin, Indiana, and even parts of Michigan. Territories were established, and the rivalry only heightened with the Cards continued success and the Cubs continued mediocrity. Then there was the fabled "Broglio for Brock" trade, and we all knew how that panned out. Move up into modern times, and there was the Sosa vs McGwire home run race, which probably did more at any time to change the rivalry into a friendly one. The rivalry again heated up in the early 2000's, when La Russa hater Dusty Baker took the helm and the Cubs made some key acquisitions, along with the rise of super young stud pitchers Wood, Prior, and Zambrano. The rivalry was a key part of the LaRussa book "Three Nights in August", which fueled the LaRussa/Baker spat even more. The intensity of the rivalry began to recede, and Cards fans watched happily as Steve Bartman (along with at least 3 errors) ran the Cubs out of the playoffs, and Cubs players began to attack each other, even in the dugout on national television.

   I was always a Cubs hater to say the least, getting great joy in watching them spiral downward as a result of bad contracts, poor management, and general malaise on the field. Any chance I got to smear a Cubs fan, I did gladly. It began to change for me when I got the pleasure of taking a nice trip to Wrigley for a Cubs/Cards weekend series in late July, 2010. I spent time before and after the game walking around enjoying the scenery and merits of Wrigleyville, and being in baseball heaven urinating in trough, drinking lots of Old Style (on draught of course), riding a train to and from the game, and soaking up a generally amazing baseball atmosphere. The Cubs were in the cellar or close to it, and of course as I proudly wore my 80's vintage powder blue Cards jersey, watched the Cards drop the Friday and Saturday games. Wrigley exploded after each final pitch like they had just won a World Series. I was expecting horrible, ego-bruising verbal abuse after the game, but I was surprised. The same fans I sat next to and chatted aimlessly with for two days didn't do any more than give me a general laugh. Many cocktails were exchanged, along with 20 years of baseball stories between fans a 4 hour distance apart on I-55, who had to automatically hate each other because of who's jersey they wore. It gave me a different outlook to say the least. Nothing, and I mean nothing, irritates me more than a fair-weather fan, which in all fairness, are not Cubs fans. They cheer for their team regardless of record, standings, and/or performance. I respect that tons. That's a fan. I am contemplating a trip back to Wrigley to soak up some of the best baseball atmosphere, period, enjoy a giant Wrigley hot dog, sip on some Old Styler draught, and proudly wear the "Birds on the Bat" as  stroll through Wrigleyville. So to my friends and followers who think I am losing it, I am still Cards to the bone, and Busch is the one true "Baseball Heaven". Just remember, unless he or she deserves otherwise (some do), be nice to a Cubs fan. Thanks for reading-Joe

Cards will regret Furcal deal, why?

   At first, I was excited to see the Redbirds grab up Rafael Furcal. His defense bailed out the Cardinals down the stretch in 2011, and he had some huge hits in some very big games. Maybe it was the typical World Series hangover that made me not dive deeper in to the Furcal signing. The Cards do have a bit of a history with some bad post-championship deals, (Adam Kennedy comes to mind first) but overall have began to cleanse themselves of a bad stretch of deals over the last 7 seasons or so. Just when we think a lot of bigger paying deals go off of the books (Lohse, Westbrook, next), the Cards will again be stuck with a bad contract. At 34 years old, Furcal has began to show decline (especially on offense), and the fact that he just can't stay healthy makes him a bad choice for a deal worth that kind of money. I could have understood a 1 yr/4-5 mill deal or a 2 yr/8 mill deal (on the high side), but 2 yrs/14 mill? Come on Mo', really? A 34 year old shortstop who has had only 797 plate appearances in the last two seasons combined, a .332 OBP over the same two seasons, and a .266 BA? And you signed him with the intention of making him your everyday, lead-off shortstop? It seems like maybe a hasty decision was made, and some close to the organization have stated that the shortstop market was very shallow (BTW, I am not condoning 18 mill a year on Reyes either), which expedited the Furcal signing.
  
   Well, here we are, opening day is in two days for the Cards, and Furcal has just came off of a putrid .192/.222/.260 spring. It is the consensus that Tyler Greene will get his shot somewhere on the infield, and Furcal is slated to start in Miami and bat eighth. Ironically, Daniel Descalso (.283/.411/.433) had a great spring at the plate, and we know the value of his defense anywhere on the infield. What about him? He makes quite a bit less than Furcal, is reliable, and is a gamer without a doubt. But wait, Furcal has a 2 yr/14 mill deal. You can see already where this is heading without the merits of a crystal ball. If we are lucky they will find a way to platoon Descalso, and we will be stuck with an over-the-hill, mediocre, once talented veteran who will get playing time solely based on what he makes. While visions of Tino Martinez and Adam Kennedy dance in my head, I will prepare for opening day, and hope Furcal can turn it around our Descalso can hit his way into an everyday job. I will bank on the latter. Thanks for reading-Joe.