***OFFICIAL*** 2013 STL Cardinals Thread

[BigRedChief]

From Bernie's column:

People have asked me why we’re not more emotional,” Matheny said in his office after Sunday’s game. “They say that we look subdued, always intense. That our actions are methodical, robotic at times. That’s what got us here. This isn’t the time to change it.”

It’s hard to argue with the manager’s assessment. The Cardinals finished with 97 victories, most by a Cards team since 2005, and tied with Boston for No. 1 in the majors this year.


Their 54-27 showing at Busch Stadium matches the 1985 team for the best single-season home winning percentage (.667) by the Cardinals since 1944.

A postseason theme has emerged, and it echoes the mantra that surfaced before the start of 2013: remember the fall of 2012. Remember falling to San Francisco in the NLCS.


The Cardinals’ veterans still haven’t forgotten. They still aren’t over it. It’s why Matheny resists GM John Mozeliak’s urgings to smile and put on a happier face.


Here's the most impressive aspect of the Cardinals' division championship: they prevailed over two other outstanding teams, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.



The 97-win Cardinals were better this year (regular season) than they were in 2011, when they won 90 games, and 2012, when they won 88.
Here are a few numbers that help put the Cardinals' Central title and No. 1 NL seed in perspective:



* Since MLB switched to a three-division format in each league in 1994, this was only the sixth time that a division had three 90-plus win teams. St. Louis won 97, Pittsburgh 94, and Cincinnati 90.
* Since the format change, this was only the second time that an NL division had three 90-win teams. In 2002 the NL West had Arizona (98 wins), San Francisco (95) and Los Angeles (92).
* The 2013 Cardinals faced more esteemed and difficult competition at the top of the division than any of the division-winning teams managed by Tony La Russa.

The Pirates were hardly pushovers; the Cardinals had to work like mad and kick in with a strong finish to put the division away, and didn't clinch until Game No. 160.



The Cardinals went 9-10 against Pittsburgh this season and were 11-8 vs. Cincinnati.


The Cardinals won only three of 10 games at PNC Park in Pittsburgh and split the 10 games at Cincinnati. The Cardinals were 6-3 against both teams at Busch Stadium.


The Cardinals (1st), Pirates (3rd) and Reds (5th) ranked among the top five in wins in the NL. The three teams were among the top 11 in wins in MLB. All three teams finished in the top five in the majors for best overall ERA, and each were in the top five MLB for best starting-pitching ERA.


The original purpose to this piece was to point out that the Cardinals managed to finish with the league's best record while competing in a division that had three 90-win teams for only the second time in the last 19 years of National League baseball.



The Cardinals really earned this.
Thanks for reading ...
— Bernie

[Pepe Silvia]

Kozma is our Chris Getz even though hes better than getz. lol.

Hamas I'm afraid you're correct about Wacha.

[O.city]

He needs to be in Memphis learning.

[O.city]

Of course if there is a better place to learn a curveball than from Adam wainwright, I don't know where that would be

[O.city]

Is there a rule I missed somewhere that states cardinal hitters can't square up a hanging breaking pitch right now?

Two straight to carp and yadi and two outs

['Hamas' Jenkins]

When the Astros were teaching Johan Santana how to throw the changeup they would have him go out in his minor league starts and throw nothing but changeups. I know it sounds crazy, but if I were the Cardinals I'd seriously consider being honest with Wacha about the absolute necessity to learn a curve.

Then, I'd tell him that we're sending you down to high A, where you'll throw nothing but curves for 2-3 starts, then up to AA where he throws about 50% curves, 30% fastballs, and 20% changeups, then to AAA where he throws the curve at least 30% of the time until he masters the feel of the pitch.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by O.city

He needs to be in Memphis learning.

Lyons goes to the pen and Westbrook starts Friday. If Wacha continues to struggle with location, I could see him getting the hook when Martinez is stretched out.

But as you saw between innings, having Wainwright as a mentor/coach in the dugout and locker room has value also.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Lyons goes to the pen and Westbrook starts Friday. If Wacha continues to struggle with location, I could see him getting the hook when Martinez is stretched out.

But as you saw between innings, having Wainwright as a mentor/coach in the dugout and locker room has value also.

Lyons has pitched well. He's earned the right to continue pitching as a starter. He's also the only lefty starter we have healthy, and with Siegrist and Scroate both in the pen Lyons becomes redundant unless he's the long man.

At this point Wacha is fourth on the totem pole to be the #5 starter:

1) Lyons
2) Kelly
3) Gast
4) Wacha

['Hamas' Jenkins]

How the **** did Craig not get to second? N/M not hustling out of the box + nice defensive play.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Lyons has pitched well. He's earned the right to continue pitching as a starter. He's also the only lefty starter we have healthy, and with Siegrist and Scroate both in the pen Lyons becomes redundant unless he's the long man.

At this point Wacha is fourth on the totem pole to be the #5 starter:

1) Lyons
2) Kelly
3) Gast
4) Wacha

I wasn't saying that as my opinion or what should happen, but reading the tea leaves as to what is going to happen. Westbrook is going to start on Friday. Thats Lyons turn.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

I wasn't saying that as my opinion or what should happen, but reading the tea leaves as to what is going to happen. Westbrook is going to start on Friday. Thats Lyons turn.

Which allows you to give Lyons extra rest by having him go in Wacha's spot.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Two swings, three outs. One because Craig didn't sprint out of the box, one because we are first-pitch hacking, again.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Another high change gets smacked.

[Mi_chief_fan]

Overall, Wacha's been painful to watch tonight, but has been better the last 2 innings. Whole team looks flat tonight.

[BigRedChief]

SI Verducci: Cardinals have a chance to be a "Superteam"

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb...?sct=uk_t11_a5


So good are Molina's Cardinals, with nearly 40 percent of the season played, they are worthy of a question rarely asked these days in the democratic baseball world of Bud Selig where so many teams have "hope and faith:" Are the Cardinals a rare, throwback superteam?


What is a superteam? A team that wins 100 games and the World Series. Once upon a time we came to expect our world champions to fit those criteria. From 1975 through 1978, all four world champs won at least 100 games (1975 and 1976 Reds and 1977 and 1978 Yankees.) But we've had just as many superteams in the 34 years since then (1984 Tigers, 1986 Mets, 1998 Yankees and 2009 Yankees) as we had in those four years.


The expanded postseason format makes navigating October trickier for even the best teams in baseball. But something else must be in play -- especially a better distribution of talent -- because fewer teams are even reaching the first hurdle to be a superteam: the 100-win mark.
Take a look at this: the number of 100-win teams in the past seven years compared to such teams in the seven years prior to this stretch:

Years AL 100-win teams NL 100-win teams Total 2006-2012 2 1 3 1999-2005 6 7 13

They just don't make 100-win teams the way they used to; the 2011 Phillies are the only National League team in the past seven years to win 100 games, and they lost in the Division Series to th eventual world champion Cardinals. The last NL team to win 100 games and the World Series was the 1986 Mets -- more than a quarter of a century ago. And the last non-New York franchise to be such a superteam was the 1984 Tigers. Now you get an idea of just how rare it is for this Cardinals team to even be considered for that kind of company.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Damn. Hustle play by Buck keeps Jay from taking second. Mets are playing good baseball tonight.