***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

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Rams Fan

Meanwhile, Scrabble was traded for a Single A SS from the Tribe.

Juan Herrera:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/mi...d=herrer004jua

Seems semi-interesting

Wow. We traded him for a 20 year old Kozma with a worse glove.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

I'd trade Martinez and Wong for Lee. Or Martinez and Freese for Lee.

**** no. Cliff Lee offers you no surplus value, bloats your payroll by $25 million, and costs you an elite prospect plus another very, very good one? Pass.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

I am on the mother **** you Holliday bandwagon now. JFC dude.

JFC, from the STL today chat

I would like to introduce you to a player. Perhaps you don't know him as
well as you think you do, and perhaps some of you are going to meet him
for the first time here. This season -- and he's having a down season to
be sure --

• this gentleman has the fourth-highest OPS at his position(.794),
• the third-highest on-base percentage (.349) and thesixth-highest slugging percentage (.449). All are below his careervnorms, but not too far off from his peers, still.
• Since July 24, 2009, this player, who you don't seem to know, has the 14th-highest slugging percentage in the majors at .516. That wedges him right between two $200-million first baseman -- Albert Pujols (.536) and Prince Fielder(.515).
• This player, who you'll meet in a minute, has the 10th-higheston-base percentage of any hitter in the majors since July 2009, the dayhe first put on a Cardinals jersey. He has a .384 average.
• Four players ahead of him signed four of the richest contracts in baseball history.Ryan Braun, apparently with all the help designer chemistry can provide,has a .383 OBP in that stretch. He's right behind this player. Do you know him yet?

No, it's not Jayson Werth.
No, it's not Carl Crawford.

It's Matt Holliday. I am perplexed by this notion that he has somehow not "earned his paycheck." I invite you to look up the "paychecks" of the aforementioned left fielders and see how they've done during the length of their very similar deals.

Tell me what he has to do to win your favor because there are a lot of
teams out there who would like him to just be Matt Holliday in the
middle of their lineup.

Apparently, unless he homers in every plate appearance, plays shortstop, and fights crime downtown as Captain Cardinal in his free time, he can never win with a minority of fans

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

**** no. Cliff Lee offers you no surplus value, bloats your payroll by $25 million, and costs you an elite prospect plus another very, very good one? Pass.

I'm assuming Philly eats a lot of that contract.

Besides, haven't you read the stuff being put out by the "unnamed sources" on the Cardinals that are saying Baby Pedro won't make it as a long term starter. He's too small for the long term.

I sure would like to know the real reason they are putting out that type of information. They got a trade in mind?

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Wow. We traded him for a 20 year old Kozma with a worse glove.

Read that the Cardinal coaches hates Zep. He wouldn't follow their instructions during the game, wouldn't work on pitches and was insubordinate. Thats the real reason he was sent down and kept down there. Who knows if that shit is true.

[Mi_chief_fan]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Wow. We traded him for a 20 year old Kozma with a worse glove.

At 20, he has room to improve; scrabble has been garbage for the better part of 2 seasons.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Mi_chief_fan

At 20, he has room to improve; scrabble has been garbage for the better part of 2 seasons.

Better to have a maybe/long shot than a never will.

[Mi_chief_fan]

@DannyKnoblerCBS: Cardinals have been in contact with Angels about Erick Aybar. http://t.co/x3O2CBDi9P

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Mother****ing Matheny is just a dumbass. Leaves Kozma up in the biggest AB of the game for the second straight day. He should have PH Freese there, moving Descalso to short.

Almost ****ed us over times two.

[Rams Fan]

Originally Posted by Mi_chief_fan

@DannyKnoblerCBS: Cardinals have been in contact with Angels about Erick Aybar. http://t.co/x3O2CBDi9P

Would be interested, but that salary is hella high.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

I'm assuming Philly eats a lot of that contract.

Besides, haven't you read the stuff being put out by the "unnamed sources" on the Cardinals that are saying Baby Pedro won't make it as a long term starter. He's too small for the long term.

I sure would like to know the real reason they are putting out that type of information. They got a trade in mind?

You would never say that if you want to trade someone unless you're Tony LaRussa.

Philly is eating none of that contract. They want 3-4 premium prospects plus the team to take all of Lee's salary. They are completely unreasonable demands foisted upon teams by an incompetent dumbass of a GM, and they should be completely ignored.

Martinez's ability to hold up as a starter with his body type is always a valid question, but Oswalt, Pedro, and many others survived with that body type for 10+ years.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

****. Holliday up in an absolute must AB. Odds of him swinging at a bad pitch?

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Rams Fan

Would be interested, but that salary is hella high.

$8 million/year is a damn good price. Plus, he can hit leadoff and let Carpenter hit second while Holliday drops to the five hole.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOU HOLLIDAY. GET ****ING DEAD.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

****. Holliday up in an absolute must AB. Odds of him swinging at a bad pitch?

Or worse.