***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]

Lights out was a poor choice of words because he did have his struggles but he was pretty good.

Another note, If they don't resume can we win this game 2-1? Is that really right?

[Rams Fan]

WTF Matheny?

You put Boggs in instead of Mujica. WTF

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Rams Fan

WTF Matheny?

You put Boggs in instead of Mujica. WTF

This has to be the end of Boggs. The anger and disgust from the home crowd was as bad as I've ever seen it. He has no place on this team.

If Matheny had determined to give him one more chance, he's done it and has his answer.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by frazod

This has to be the end of Boggs. The anger and disgust from the home crowd was as bad as I've ever seen it. He has no place on this team.

If Matheny had determined to give him one more chance, he's done it and has his answer.

At this point Boggs needs to go somewhere else for his own mental wellness. Going to be hard to rehabilitate in Stl.

Man that has to be tough, being part of a WS team to this in 1 and 1/3rd seasons.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

At this point Boggs needs to go somewhere else for his own mental wellness. Going to be hard to rehabilitate in Stl.

Man that has to be tough, being part of a WS team to this in 1 and 1/3rd seasons.

Send him to the Mets, he can platoon in center with Ankiel.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Man I am so pissed at Matheny. Putting Boggs in there was unforgivable. We all saw that coming. Hope that a pitcher can turn it around in a one run game. He hasn't pitch well at all. Took away a win for wacha. Damn thats the worst move I've seen him make.

I have not cooled down at all. I know its one game. But, we have been through this too many times as Cardinal fans. Seperate out the person from the job performance. just like every business in the world is forced to so.

I think Matheny is doing a great job. One of his strengths is standing up and supporting his players. like most human beings his strength is also his weakness.

He put his support of one player over his support of the team. How can he continue to do this and not lose the locker room? And just where the **** is the evidence that Boggs deserves chance after chance?

Here's some stats from Bernie's column today:
In 38 plate appearances against Boggs in "close and late," scenarios, hitters have:
- Gone 13 for 25 with three doubles, three homers, and 12 RBIs.
- Drawn 11 unintentional walks… and also a hit-by-pitch.
- Batted .520 with a .658 onbase percentage and .1000 slugging percentage.


Mercy.



With that stark evidence available to him, why in the world would Matheny think it’s a good idea to use Boggs in high-leverage situations?


By the way, this isn't all on Matheny.


Why in the world did Mozeliak call Boggs up from Memphis? Boggs had a 5.06 ERA at Memphis after being sent to Triple A to get himself right.
Did I miss something?


In his last Triple A appearance Boggs pitched walked three, gave up two hits, allowed three runs, and retired one batter. And the Cardinals, so inspired by this, immediately PROMOTED HIM.

Really?


I'm sorry, was Esteban Yan unavailable?

In 18 games this year, Boggs has an 11.05 ERA. He’s given up 21 hits, 14 walks and hit a batter in 14.2 innings. He’s blown three saves in five chances. He’s been mugged for a .339 batting average, a .475 onbase percentage, and a .500 slugging percentage.


Boggs has appeared in nine games lost by the Cardinals this season, and in those nine appearances he has a 22.09 ERA.


And many of the nine games were flat-out winnable _ or should have been won:
* April 3 at Arizona: Cardinals take a 9-8 lead in the top of the 12th, Boggs enters, gives up a run, blows the save and the Diamondbacks win 10-9 in 16 innings.
* April 8 vs. Cincinnati: Game is tied 4-4 when Boggs takes over in the top of the ninth. He retires one batter and gives up six earned runs and the Reds go onto win 13-4.
* April 14 vs. Milwaukee: Boggs inherits a 3-2 lead as he takes the mound in the top of the ninth. Allows a run, blown save, Brewers win 4-3 in 10.
* April 21 at Philadelphia: Game is tied 4-4 in the eighth, Boggs enters, retires one batter, gives up four earned runs, and the Cardinals lose 7-3.
* April 27, vs. Pittsburgh: Cardinals lose 5-3. Boggs wasn’t a negative factor; he pitched a scoreless ninth.
* May 20, at San Diego: The Cardinals are losing 3-2 and still have a chance when Boggs gets the call to open the bottom of the seventh. Moments later, they have less of a chance after Will Venable homers off Boggs to give the Padres a 4-2 lead.
* May 25, at Los Angeles: The Cardinals trail 4-3 in the eighth, and Boggs is ripped for an RBI double that puts the Dodgers up 5-3.
* May 30, vs. Kansas City: Rookie Michael Wacha pitches seven wonderful innings in his MLB debut and the Cardinals cling to a 2-1 lead as the ninth begins with Boggs on the mound. Jeff Francoeur homers to tie it. Boggs walks Alex Gordon and is pulled. Royals win 4-2.

[Pepe Silvia]

Here's some stats from Bernie's column today:
In 38 plate appearances against Boggs in "close and late," scenarios, hitters have:
- Gone 13 for 25 with three doubles, three homers, and 12 RBIs.
- Drawn 11 unintentional walks… and also a hit-by-pitch.
- Batted .520 with a .658 onbase percentage and .1000 slugging percentage.

That is insane, no more chances for that worthless excuse of a pitcher.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by frazod

This has to be the end of Boggs. The anger and disgust from the home crowd was as bad as I've ever seen it. He has no place on this team.

If Matheny had determined to give him one more chance, he's done it and has his answer.

The anger started when people saw him warming up.

I remember when Busch turned on Tino a few years ago and that wasn't nearly as bad as this.

Here's the thing, though - if you ask most people in that stadium, they weren't booking Boggs, they were booing Matheny.

Boggs has been a great soldier that's done nothing but work on his game and do anything the team asked of him. He's certainly had great moments in his Cardinals career and he's well liked by his teammates. There's no reason to hate Boggs here.

But Matheny...jesus christ man, WTF? Boggs may/may not be done, I don't know. What I do know and what 40,000 people knew is that he had no business on that mound last night.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

The anger started when people saw him warming up.

I remember when Busch turned on Tino a few years ago and that wasn't nearly as bad as this.

Here's the thing, though - if you ask most people in that stadium, they weren't booking Boggs, they were booing Matheny.

Boggs has been a great soldier that's done nothing but work on his game and do anything the team asked of him. He's certainly had great moments in his Cardinals career and he's well liked by his teammates. There's no reason to hate Boggs here.

But Matheny...jesus christ man, WTF? Boggs may/may not be done, I don't know. What I do know and what 40,000 people knew is that he had no business on that mound last night.

Were you in the stands? There is no way that booing wasn't for Boggs or Matheny for pitching boggs. I have seen no evidence that the Cardinal fan base has turned on Matheny. He keeps running out Boggs.....the gloves will come off.

Boggs like Franklin, Izzy and all the rest of the relievers that lost the ability to get batters out worked hard to try to get it back together but sometimes its cut bait time.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Were you in the stands? There is no way that booing wasn't for Boggs or Matheny for pitching boggs. I have seen no evidence that the Cardinal fan base has turned on Matheny. He keeps running out Boggs.....the gloves will come off.

Boggs like Franklin, Izzy and all the rest of the relievers that lost the ability to get batters out worked hard to try to get it back together but sometimes its cut bait time.

Yup.

There was far more "Matheny, WTF?" than there were people piling on Boggs. Boggs walked out of there like a whipped dog - the fans know he isn't confident in himself.

"Turning on Matheny" is strong, but the sentiment was overwhelmingly against Matheny for doing something that everyone in that stadium knew was doomed to fail.

[DJ's left nut]

Keith Butler recalled.

Boggs back to Memphis.

I expect that's the last we'll see of him. I don't see him recovering in this organization. He and Scrabble have burned up their good will and relievers are just too volatile/fungible.

On the flip side, Butler's an intriguing late-inning arm. I really really wish Swagerty were healthy right now.

EDIT: Short article on Butler from last year:

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseb...67879ce5e.html

Looking at his numbers, it honestly makes me wonder why the !@#$ Boggs ever got recalled in the first place.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Why do you think they're reticent to bring up Siegrist?

Matheny built up a lot of good will from me. He squandered a lot of it last night. He put Boggs over the rest of the team.

But it's not just that.

I guess that Rosenthal was unavailable because he'd warmed up five straight days.

Matheny has to get better control on his bullpen management, lest he turn into the Grim Reaper of arms, like Dusty Baker and Joe Torre.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Keith Butler recalled.

Boggs back to Memphis.

I expect that's the last we'll see of him. I don't see him recovering in this organization. He and Scrabble have burned up their good will and relievers are just too volatile/fungible.

I don't think Scrabble is hated by the fans. Boggs on the other hand.............He can never pitch again without being booed coming out of the pen.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

I don't think Scrabble is hated by the fans. Boggs on the other hand.............He can never pitch again without being booed coming out of the pen.

Scrabble's only useful as a meat shield in a bank shootout. He stinks, and I hate him.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Why do you think they're reticent to bring up Siegrist?

Matheny built up a lot of good will from me. He squandered a lot of it last night. He put Boggs over the rest of the team.

But it's not just that.

I guess that Rosenthal was unavailable because he'd warmed up five straight days.

Matheny has to get better control on his bullpen management, lest he turn into the Grim Reaper of arms, like Dusty Baker and Joe Torre.

Yeah, I'd have preferred he say "Rosenthal wasn't available because **** You, that's why."

Being used twice but being warmed up 5 straight !@#$ing days is just as stupid as using Boggs in his stead. Then later on he doubled down on stupid by trying to say "We held Boggs in reserve because the 9th is tough if you haven't done it before"...AS THOUGH BOGGS HAS ANY KIND OF TRACK RECORD OF ACTUALLY 'DOING IT' BEFORE.

Yeah, Matheny's never really been my favorite and I really rode his ass for his bullpen management last year. He's done nothing to win me over in that regard.

His players may love playing for him, but that only lasts for as long as you're winning. If this team starts to lose, Mike Matheny's buddy/buddy shit and inept bullpen management starts to look Ned Yost in a godddamn hurry.

I still can't believe how last night went down and his justifications for same just makes things worse.