"Official" 2011 St. Louis Cardinals Thread

[BigRedChief]

This is so unreal. We were dead. No hope. A season over. Somehow, someway we find some team chemistry and squeak into the playoffs on the last day of the season.

Only to find us facing one of the best pitching staffs assembled in years with home field advantage. We somehow, someway find a way to beat the best pitcher in baseball on the road in an elimination game.

We have to go on the road and beat the team with the best home record in baseball. A team who mortgaged their future to make this run .We somehow, someway find a way to beat them on the road and make our 18th World series trip.

We take game 1, we give away game 2 and home field advantage. Albert goes off for probably the best performance in World Series history and we take game 3 easily. Games 4 & 5 our bats fall asleep, Phone gate happens and its not looking too good.

Game 6, one of the best baseball games of all time and it takes place in a season ending go home game. Cardinals are down 2 runs in their final chance on the season, twice. They are down to their final strike of the season, twice. They give up a 2 run homer in extra innings. In the bottom of the inning their final 3 batters are a combined 3-26 in the Playoffs and a pitcher because the bench is empty. Somehow, someway they get some runners on and the comeback player of the year drives in the tying run. Mr. Freese hits the walk off home run. We will see you tommorrow night.

Game 7, With our bulldog on the mound pitching on 3 days rest he is able to give us 6 good innings and get us to within 9 outs of our 11 World series title. Texas meltsdown, probably left over from last nights game and its over.

The underdog, come back team who had no business even being in the playoffs wins a World championship. They make movies about events like this in life. Events that you remember even if your not a fan of the sport or team for the rest of your life.

When it is your team.......Priceless


.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Colby is locked in. I don't care what they say about his dad, hire him as a consultant and let him and him only work on his kid's swing.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Nice footwork, dumbass.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Awesome job.

Laird, Theriot, and Motte, FTMFL

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Nice footwork, dumbass.

Figures.

Maybe Albert could've actually thrown the ball to 1b instead of floating it there.

That was every bit as much on Pujols as it was Motte, but as you've never missed a chance to slam Motte, it doesn't surprise me.

Oh, and Rasmus still throws like a ****ing girl.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

You knew this game was as good as lost when Motte came in. No one is as anti-clutch as that worthless mother****er. Goddamned idiot didn't even know where the first base bag was.

A special assist to Laird for a baserunning blunder and a throwing error, and to Theriot, who couldn't pick up an iron nail with a junkyard magnet.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Figures.

Maybe Albert could've actually thrown the ball to 1b instead of floating it there.

That was every bit as much on Pujols as it was Motte, but as you've never missed a chance to slam Motte, it doesn't surprise me.

Oh, and Rasmus still throws like a ****ing girl.

Bullshit from the king of irony, who never misses a chance to hate on either Pujols or Rasmus, despite the fact that they're actually able to contribute to a major league baseball team, and one of them is having the best first ten years anyone has ever had in the game.

WRT: Motte, It's not like you have a lot of chances to miss, the guy is a goddamned abortion. He missed the bag by tippy-toeing in with his left foot and slowing down rather than extending his right foot and sprinting all the way.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Bullshit from the king of irony, who never misses a chance to hate on either Pujols or Rasmus, despite the fact that they're actually able to contribute to a major league baseball team, and one of them is having the best first ten years anyone has ever had in the game.

WRT: Motte, It's not like you have a lot of chances to miss, the guy is a goddamned abortion. He missed the bag by tippy-toeing in with his left foot and slowing down rather than extending his right foot and sprinting all the way.

He had to stutter step to wait for the ball to get there.

Motte ****ed up - so did Albert.

But you always look to slam Motte. Meanwhile Albert had 2 balls today that he could've legged out had he tried (only to watch Paul do it right in front of him).

You blaming Motte for this loss is like LaRussa blaming Ryan for last August/September. His role was fairly nominal in the grand scheme of things.

P.S. You're full of shit on Rasmus - I've defended that kid most of the year. Hell, I'm still defending him (I think hellickson is too low a return for him). Try reading any number of posts I've had on this thread regarding his value to the squad. At least try to keep track of who you're talking about when making things up.

But that's okay, just keep telling us all how awful Jaime Garcia is.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

He had to stutter step to wait for the ball to get there.

Motte ****ed up - so did Albert.

But you always look to slam Motte. Meanwhile Albert had 2 balls today that he could've legged out had he tried (only to watch Paul do it right in front of him).

You blaming Motte for this loss is like LaRussa blaming Ryan for last August/September. His role was fairly nominal in the grand scheme of things.

If I was solely blaming Motte this would make more sense, but I wasn't. You don't have to stutter step, he's running to a position. It was a lazy throw, but it was compounded by another Motte mistake.

This was, as I sadly predicted before, a punt game, and it was played with that kind of intensity.

Lohse's inability to get a pitcher to K or not advance a runner when on 0-2, Laird getting picked off of 2nd, Theriot's continually horrible defense, and Motte's two left feet all contributed.

Ryan Theriot is Roger Dorn without a hitting stroke. The guy is afraid of the ball.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

That guys a bum, looks old and can't catch up to the fastball anymore.
/DJ Nut

This is the 3rd time you've said it and the 3rd time you've been full of shit.

I said hitters like Albert Pujols will show decline in their BA well before they show decline in their power. History tells us that its their average that you follow when trying to spot the start of their decline.

{looks at Alberts BA...}

Yeah, I think I'm gonna go ahead and stand behind that. I've been dead-ass accurate with everything I've said about Pujols this season. He had a nice game yesterday; and he had a shit one today. He'll have more nice games this season and he'll have plenty of shit ones as well.

All told, his 400 plate appearances this season are more demonstrative than the 4 he had yesterday.

But keep making up strawmen if they'll give you a chance to prattle on about how you'd do anything just to see Albert swing for a few more years. The rest of us actually give a damn about winning ballgames.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Here's the thing:

Let's assume Paul gets on anyway. Even if he is able to steal, Yadi probably doesn't throw that into center, and even if Laird is still in there, Descalso isn't afraid to stop that ball if it is near him.

It was definitely a systemic breakdown, but it's not a coincidence that every time Jason Motte is in a high leverage situation, he fails.

LaRussa should have never started that lineup, and he should have gone with Salas in that inning.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

If I was solely blaming Motte this would make more sense, but I wasn't. You don't have to stutter step, he's running to a position. It was a lazy throw, but it was compounded by another Motte mistake.

This was, as I sadly predicted before, a punt game, and it was played with that kind of intensity.

Lohse's inability to get a pitcher to K or not advance a runner when on 0-2, Laird getting picked off of 2nd, Theriot's continually horrible defense, and Motte's two left feet all contributed.

Ryan Theriot is Roger Dorn without a hitting stroke. The guy is afraid of the ball.

When you're running at that angle from the mound, it's actually very similar to a QB throwing to a WR. If the throw comes in soft, it will throw off the timing off the whole play. I think it was Paris that just mentioned it in the post-game (I was in the other room), but Motte got handcuffed by that floater.

As to their attitude, it just seemed like they started playing like the game was over anytime they had the lead, especially offensively.

The defense...**** it, I'm exhausted by even talking about it. Its obvious that this front office doesn't care. I mean we're actually talking about moving Rasmus for Edwin Jackson and a LHRP when Kenny Williams has openly discussed trading Gordon Beckham. Skip's the starter at 2b until LaRussa is gone and obviously Theriot has become his new Miles, he's here as well. It's the most braindead !@#$ing thing I've ever seen, but it is what it is.

Bottom line is that this is not a good baseball team and it's obvious that Mozeliak is not going to do anything to make it better (for now or the future). He's incompetent, LaRussa's insane and I'm just sick of this damn club.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

This is the 3rd time you've said it and the 3rd time you've been full of shit.

I said hitters like Albert Pujols will show decline in their BA well before they show decline in their power. History tells us that its their average that you follow when trying to spot the start of their decline.

{looks at Alberts BA...}

Yeah, I think I'm gonna go ahead and stand behind that. I've been dead-ass accurate with everything I've said about Pujols this season. He had a nice game yesterday; and he had a shit one today. He'll have more nice games this season and he'll have plenty of shit ones as well.

All told, his 400 plate appearances this season are more demonstrative than the 4 he had yesterday.

But keep making up strawmen if they'll give you a chance to prattle on about how you'd do anything just to see Albert swing for a few more years. The rest of us actually give a damn about winning ballgames.

His BABIP is down 50 points from last year and his ISO is the same as it was in 2007. His LD% is slightly below his career average, but higher than it was two years ago, for example. His biggest problem, that is hurting his BABIP and his average, is that his groundball percentage is up. He's not having a problem catching up to pitches, his K-rate is near a career low.

He's been a touch unlucky and a touch undisciplined, but you are also using a 375 AB sample to justify a decline of a player with 7000+ career PAs

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

When you're running at that angle from the mound, it's actually very similar to a QB throwing to a WR. If the throw comes in soft, it will throw off the timing off the whole play. I think it was Paris that just mentioned it in the post-game (I was in the other room), but Motte got handcuffed by that floater.

As to their attitude, it just seemed like they started playing like the game was over anytime they had the lead, especially offensively.

The defense...**** it, I'm exhausted by even talking about it. Its obvious that this front office doesn't care. I mean we're actually talking about moving Rasmus for Edwin Jackson and a LHRP when Kenny Williams has openly discussed trading Gordon Beckham. Skip's the starter at 2b until LaRussa is gone and obviously Theriot has become his new Miles, he's here as well. It's the most braindead !@#$ing thing I've ever seen, but it is what it is.

Bottom line is that this is not a good baseball team and it's obvious that Mozeliak is not going to do anything to make it better (for now or the future). He's incompetent, LaRussa's insane and I'm just sick of this damn club.

It's similar to a QB throwing to a WR on a quick hitch, the QB is throwing to a spot. A harder throw gets it there earlier, but he's still throwing to a spot, and the WR has to get there.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

His BABIP is down 50 points from last year and his ISO is the same as it was in 2007. His LD% is slightly below his career average, but higher than it was two years ago, for example. His biggest problem, that is hurting his BABIP and his average, is that his groundball percentage is up. He's not having a problem catching up to pitches, his K-rate is near a career low.

He's been a touch unlucky and a touch undisciplined, but you are also using a 375 AB sample to justify a decline of a player with 7000+ career PAs

No, I'm using his birthday to suggest it may happen and those 375 PAs to support the possibility.

If he were 27, I'd never even consider it. But the man is 31; time makes fools of us all. He's being fooled more than he ever has. He's hitting more 'weak contact' balls than he's ever hit. There are just more games like todays than we've seen in a long time - essentially lost days in a very close game.

I'm simply saying that it has to be looked at as a legitimate possibility.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Well of course it's a possibility, but he is 31, not 37. Look at the guy whose body type you comped him to before the season and the year he is having.

Could it be a decline? Of course. There's also much more evidence to suggest a small sample size and a slight down year, similiar to what he had in '02 and '07.