2 games into Spring Training and the fans are abuzz about Juan hitting the first pitch he saw from the Mets ace Johan Santana out of the ballpark. if he is effective then this is a tremendous help to what appears to be a problem from the right side of the plate. Lookin’ good so far!

A 3-run blast. Pujols had a couple of hits with a double and a homer. Brendan Ryan tripled for an extra base knock.

Wainwright was ok for his short stint. None of the 5 hits were extra base variety but they were timely enough to get the Mets two runs in his 3 innings of work.
Next game is back at Roger Dean vs the Marlins at 12:05 EST on March 1st.

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Spring training brings eternal hope for many teams and their players. Today is no exception.

Anthony Reyes had 3 innings of shutout ball vs the Mets.

Juan Gonzalez a couple of hits.

Colby Rasmus a perfect 3 for 3, albeit they were walks.

Schumaker a couple hits.

This stuff makes me smile. It feels good to actually talk baseball. Even if it is ST.

I AM PUMPED.

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Sensitivity training tells you that someone that has a problem is one that you should reach out to. How many times must you do that?

An arrest warrant has been issued by the Irvine Police Department for St. Louis Cardinals utilityman Scott Spiezio on six charges stemming from a crash in late December.

Spiezio

The warrant alleges driving under influence, driving under the influence with a blood alcohol content of .08 percent or more, hit and run, aggravated assault, assault and battery.

Spiezio was not in the lineup for Wednesday’s exhibition game against St. Louis University at Jupiter, Fla. Cardinals spokesman Brian Bartow said the team was not aware of the warrant.

Irvine police responded to a report of a single-car crash at 12:20 a.m. on Dec. 30 in Orange County.

Officers found a 2004 BMW registered to Spiezio had crashed into a curb and fence. The driver was seen running from the crash site, according to Lt. Rick Handfield.

Police located a neighbor of Spiezio who told officers that he was assaulted by Spiezio at their condo complex a short distance from the crash site, Handfield said.

The neighbor said Spiezio had arrived home appearing disheveled and apparently injured. Spiezio vomited in his condo and then allegedly assaulted the neighbor, causing significant injuries, Handfield said.

Police believe Spiezio was driving under the influence at the time of the crash, Handfield said.

Spiezio missed more than a month last season while receiving treatment for substance abuse.

I am sorry you have a problem, Scott. Take care of it. Get out of baseball, get out of the situations you are in and get professional help over and over again.

I believe, legally, the Cardinals problem have to send him to rehab. Not really sure of that. I believe it is time to send a message that ALL the DRUG PROBLEMS in ST LOUIS are over. At least it is time for them to be over. That means sending Spiezio packing.

Mozeliak must do it to regain control of this spiraling problem under his watch.

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What are you thinking? Some would say, What are you smokin’? …. and of course, What are you drinking?

It was reported that Tony LaRussa had asked the Cardinals to look into maybe adding Barry Bonds to the team. HUH? This team already is loaded with steroid accused players. We seem to be adding more all the time.

Now I like  Tony for the most part. But it makes we wonder if he turned a blind eye for so long to the abuse that he is now looking for ways to make it up to these accused athletes and to tell them he isnt worried about it. Yes, I know he preaches the integrity of the game but look at the list of accused under his watch. Seems to be plenty. I am more than disappointed in TLR at this moment.

Good news- Mo said NO to David Wells. didn’t he shun us a few years ago? Let him retire. Let the young guns play.

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       Time to lay it on the line. What I believe players will do this year for the Birds. These are my predictions from my very own  family secret recipe of statistics.

I start with “the Rick”

Ankiel will play in 125 games, 457 at bats,122 hits, 20 doubles, 2 triples, 27 home runs, 84 RBI’s. Rick will walk 33 times and strikeout 101 times and have 5 stolen bases.

This equates to a .267 batting average. Can you live with that as your starting CF/RF ?

I would like better but don’t think it will happen. Look for Ankiel to bat second most of the year.

NEXT up: Chris Duncan

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Ran across this little commercial. Hope Troy Glaus can smash a ball as far as he can a pinata!

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None of them will be available to pitch opening day. My how far the mighty have fallen. From World Series two years ago to a team PECOTA predicts will win 72 games.

More on Clement.

Cardinals starter Matt Clement, more than a year removed from shoulder surgery, will alter his throwing program in the coming days and is not expected to be ready for opening day, as previously planned.“I will be surprised if he’s ready for opening day,” pitching coach Dave Duncan said Sunday. “Even if he is ready, it’s likely we’ll have him compete somewhere else just to get him in the swing of things.”

We just keep getting blown out by the signings. Hope Clement is just missing a few starts.

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Roger Clemens gets called a liar by a politician. How low is that? That is funny, I don’t care who you are! (apologies to Larry the Cable Guy).

Somebody, though, is lying. Clemens is sweating like a stuck pig while he resembles a man with Alzheimer’s disease as he can’t remember if he attended a party with teammates or not. His wife has her life in shambles now because she took the drug once without the knowledge of her husband. Gimme a break.

McNamee is his own worst enemy because he has more lies than a politician running for a big political office. One after another keep popping up. But at least he appears cool, calm and collected.

And now Roger is worried his reputation will always be tarnished. No duh! Should have thought of that earlier when you popped of in the late 90’s to people like Pettite about usage. Roger needs to get Bill Clinton to offer him some good lying communication skills advice.

Simply for me, Roger is lying.

I hope Congress decides( this is a joke people) to make all the games free for this year until this mess is cleaned up.

Think about this, I haven’t gotten into the John Rocker talk about Selig knowing. I can’t wait to ride the #7 train this summer when I go to the Cards/Mets game in July. I can see for myself what Rocker was saying.

My rant.

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Joe Mather. How good is he? Can he bring some power to the outfield as a right handed hitter? We have Schumaker, Ankiel, Duncan all from the left side. Barton and Juan Gone from the right. Barton probably has the upper hand as a Rule 5 player.

Let’s look at what Future Redbirds write about his abilities:

•  Mather’s greatest strength is his power. His ability to hit for average is average based on his contact rates (around 83%) but he really broke out in AA, with contact rate of 88.5%. While he has only hit .254 over his career, some of that was overcoming the learning curve, some of that you can blame on ballpark, some of that has been low BABIPs, ie tough luck. He seems like a .270, .280ish type of hitter to me. His plate discipline was outstanding in AA with a 1.10 BB/K ratio, but when you look at the big picture he’s been so-so, with a .40 BB/K rate. Scouting reports I’ve read state that his arm is decent and he can play acceptably enough in the corners, though he’s not going to win any gold gloves.

I think he has some ability that we could use. Joe attended the Cardinal Caravan this winter and came across as a good guy that plans to work hard.

Let’s go Joe!

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I love spring training.

Well, not really.

If you think about it, spring training is rather dull, and the exhibition games are meaningless.

Who has had the best spring training record the last three years?

Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Baltimore, of course.

Pointless.

What makes spring training so lovable is it means baseball season is almost here (this week!). The hardest time for any baseball fan is the off-season.

Why is spring training so great?

Here are some reasons why:

• Optimism – It’s illegal to be pessimistic in spring training.

No matter who you are a fan of, you can’t be pessimistic.

Every spring brings new hope. Hey, on opening day, they’ll be tied for first. And anything can happen in baseball.

Reasons for fans of traditionally bad teams to be excited:

New managers for some teams means new optimism.

• Position battles.

Every year, the rosters on most teams are pretty set, but every team – good or bad – has a position or two that players are battling for.

• Daily reports during the dead time in sports.

Why every baseball fan truly loves spring training. After a four-month off-season (five for non-playoff teams), it’s good to hear about baseball in the news again.

Hey, it’s hard to fill SportsCenter with Spurs/Suns highlights.

• Contract disputes.

While this might not be an enjoyable part of baseball, it certainly is interesting.

• Rookies. They give every fan hope.

Ranging from rookies who have shown their potential who will be counted on for their teams to compete..

• New faces in new places – arguably the best reason of all.

I love spring training. But not as much as opening day.  I can’t wait.

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