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So here I sit at the airport reflecting on the final week of Spring Training.

First the weather was great for all the games and for the entire time we were here. Let me recap the area first and then some baseball will come in my post tomorrow.

Roger Dean Stadium is clean and I suspect is a bit above the middle of the road type of venue. They charge $7 for parking in their vacant lot but across from Gate B is a public parking garage that is FREE. That was a good lesson learned early. The gates open 1.5 hrs before the game and they move quickly. Don’t take any red licorice in as the confiscate it and tel you that anytime you wish to come back down and eat some of it you may do that before the end of the first inning and then they throw it away. Hmmph.

We tried all ticket prices to get a feel for the stadium. My wife liked the berm better than the bleacher as long as you can sit and lean against the wall. I didn’t like get up and down from the ground. The bleachers were nice and clean and comfortable but there are always people talking loud and giving a story that explains how much they know and how important their lived are.

The box seats are standard like any other stadium. We got stuck in the middle of a long row and in the middle. I felt like singing hte song from Steeler’s Wheel. One thing about Roger Dean Stadium is the sound system doesn’t carry very far. Hard to catch what isd being said.

During the middle of the trip we went to Space Coast Stadium in Viera Florida to see the Nationals and Cardinals. the stadium was out in the edge of town and was easily accessible from the interstate. The made us park a bit far from the game and we were early enough  that shouldn’t happen.

We stayed at Comfort Suites which is easy access to the stadium and is about 3-4 miles from it. I recommend it or next door the Fairfield Inn. The easy drive either down Indiantown Road for more scenery or out on the interstate for quicker  drive, either will do.

I would like to do this again but an alternative to this is driving up and down the coast and catching games at all 14 stadiums in Florida. Let me end where I started. The weather was 82-90 degrees and very nice. As I typed this I get a text from home, in Illinois, that just simply said, “snowing”. That is not nice and I intend to bring this weather back with me so that I may attend a warmer Opening Day in St Louis.

Tomorrow I will talk baseball and the teams and players we saw.

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Ok, just left the pool area of the Comfort Suites after chatting with some great Cardinal fans from Cape Girardeau area.

That’s another win today but more importantly no one appeared to get hurt this late in the Spring Training. Kyle Mc Clellan looked good today and appears ready to start the season. He may be a real key for us without Waino. I have to give new found respect for Allen Craig as I have seen 2 home runs down here from him and his bat is ready. David Freese has the ball popping off the bat also.

It appears to me that Nick Stavinoha may be the odd man out and not make the club when they venture north. Friday he played a routine fly ball into an adventure and was not prepared to throw the ball home as the runner tagged up. He took two steps back to catch it.

Tyler Greene was mildly impressive at shortstop and actually played a really good center field earlier in the week. Laird filling in for Molina has not been… well, Yadi-like, but who is?

For the Mets today I came away impressed with the zip on the pitch of Taylor Buchholz. He threw well as did Jason Isringhausen, who I wish nothing but the best for him.

One more game for us as we head north on Tuesday and then down to Busch Stadium for the Opener on Thursday and return on Sunday for the Blogger’s Day.

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It means nothing as far a who wins the games. It means a great deal to the players. When they make a diving catch or backhand a ball in the hole… or conversely throw off the wrong foot or play a ground ball to the side. Maybe they were peppered with hits and can’t stop the barrage. Theses things mean something to them.

I heard fans complaining as they left Viera, Florida that the Cardinals had lost and things did’t look good for 2011. First of all the game was played much differently than a regular season game. Almost all of the regulars were out of the game after the 5th inning of a tied game. That is not regular season managing. TLR left Tyler Greene in center for more experience. Late in aseason game he probably comes out for defensive reasons.

What did I see? Well, a few of the negatives in my view come from the Cardinals were taking a whole lot of pitches Friday night against the Nationals. Nick Stavinoha was in no position to throw a runner out (which proved to be the tying run) at the plate. A routine fly ball that he had to take 2 steps back at the last moment to catch it and wasn’t coming forward to make the throw.

Looking good was Tyler Greene in the first inning with a diving catch in front of him to start the game. He looked comfortable out there and will be ok when needed. David Freese receives new found respect from me. His bat is alive and well and it pops coming off of it. Lance Berkman can play the outfield and is a decent runner. Theriot has a very good glove and I think we are going to be excited he is in our infield.

Rant: Why do fans have to be so cruel. Two guys picked on Mitchell Boggs every thime he walked by by yelling he “stinks” and he is “terrible”. MB ignored it until after the game then he turned around a blew them a kiss. Then they fan with two little kids kept yelling at Jose Oquendo to come down the line during the game to sign his kids Oquendo rookie card. He kept after it and it was during the game. Jose finally turned around a gave a weak smile and a wave. Leave them alone, man!

That’s all for now still have a few more games to attend this week then back for the home OPENER and again for the Sunday game.

Go Cardinals!

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I attended Spring Training for one game about 5-6 years ago. One game. Now that I have retired I made it my mission to attend it again for a week. Now that I have retired from teaching i am here.

We will be attending today’s game and then travel up the coast to see the Cardinals play this Friday night vs. the Nationals. Remember they had a brawl last time. I expect that to be a non issue this time.

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The United Cardinal bloggers are doing their project this month by having each blogger give their projections for each division. Today we are doing the ENTIRE American League. Here are my projections along with the number of wins and losses for each team. Be sure to give your opinions on how close you think I came to your thoughts.

American League East

Red Sox               97 -65

Yankees              93- 69

Rays                     84 -78

Blue Jays            77- 85

Orioles                 75- 87

American League Central

Twins                    88-77

White Sox           83-79

Tigers                   81- 81

Royals                 68-92

Indians               65-96

American League West

Rangers            92-70

Angels               86-76

Athletics           79-83

Mariners          70-92

That’s it for the American League.

Tomorrow I depart for Jupiter Florida for Spring Training. I have plans to attend 5 games while hanging out in the 80 degree weather.

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The Mets released Luis Castillo today. He is now free to sign for the league minimum for another team. He has one year left on his contract. Would it be a good gamble for the Cardinals to sign him as the primary/back-up second baseman for 2011? Castillo hit .235/.337/.267 in 299 plate appearances last year.

To add to that, maybe the Phillies would accept a trade of John Jay, whom we hear they are interested in, and Skip Schumaker for a pitcher or prospect for Castillo to play. Would this kind of move be helpful to the team or are we better off playing Descalso in that role?

LaRussa has the propensity to play veterans so this may happen. What’s your thoughts on this?

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Let’s look at the pitching prospects of Rick Ankiel and Ian Snell and try to get a feel for what may be going wrong.

Rick Ankiel is a pitcher of such immense talent that one baseball executive described him as simply “one of the best left-handers I’ve ever seen.” In 1997, USA Today named him the High School Player of the Year. Shortly after that, he signed with the Cardinals for a $2.5 million bonus, the fifth highest ever given to an amateur. In 1999, USA Today and Baseball America named him the Minor League Player of the Year, and by the summer of 2000, his first full season with the Cardinals, he was arguably the team’s best pitcher, with an 11-7 won-lost record. He went 4-0, with a 1.97 earned run average, over the last month of the season and was picked by his manager, Tony La Russa, to start the first game of the National League division series against the Atlanta Braves.

Before that first playoff game, Rick Ankiel, 21, was being compared with another Cardinal left-hander, Steve Carlton, who is in the Hall of Fame. Like Carlton, Ankiel has a smooth, seemingly effortless delivery, an exploding fastball and a sharp curveball. Carlton, however, was widely seen as an arrogant, ignorant and self-absorbed man. Ankiel is a sensitive, intelligent and considerate young man. He is nothing like Carlton.

In fact, his career and his nature more closely parallel that of a more distant Cards pitcher, named Max Von McDaniel. In 1957, at the age of 18, Von McDaniel signed with the Cardinals for a $50,000 bonus on the strength of his smooth, seemingly effortless delivery, his exploding fastball and his sharp curveball. He was described by all who met him as a sensitive, intelligent and religious youth. The Cardinals brought him directly from high school to the major leagues, where he won his first four games. McDaniel pitched 19 consecutive scoreless innings, including a one-hitter, a two-hitter and a perfect game for six innings. He finished the year at 7-5 with a 3.22 E.R.A. and — with the exception of two disastrous innings in 1958, during which he walked seven batters — never pitched again in the major leagues.

McDaniel’s sudden failure had nothing to do with physical injury. What happened to him is the stuff of Greek tragedy. Despite his blinding talent, there was something in his nature that fated him to fail for reasons neither he nor anyone else has ever been able to explain.

The same thing happened to Rick Ankiel in the 2000 playoffs. In two starts and one relief appearance, first against the Braves and then against the Mets, he walked 11 batters in four innings and threw nine wild pitches, most of which sailed 10 feet over the batters’ heads. He broke a record for wild pitches in an inning that had stood since 1890. His once-classic delivery was riddled with the flaws of a Little Leaguer. He looked like a pitcher who, in a single moment, forgot how to pitch. Ankiel seemed to be suffering a physical and psychic breakdown reminiscent of the one McDaniel suffered in the spring of 1958.

“Oh, my gosh, the same thing happened to my brother,” says Lindy McDaniel, 65, who himself pitched for many years in the major leagues. “He lost his coordination and his mechanics. There was no real explanation. Some people thought it was psychological. But who knew about those things then? They sent Von down to the minors, but he couldn’t get anyone out. He kept sinking further and further until he couldn’t pitch anymore. It depressed him for years after he left baseball. But he couldn’t talk about it.”

What happened to Rick Ankiel and Von McDaniel has befallen a number of major league pitchers over the years, most notably Herb Score of the Cleveland Indians in the 1950′s, Steve Blass of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1970′s and Mark Wohlers of the Atlanta Braves in the 1990′s. They had a lot in common: blinding youthful talent, sudden success, thoughtful and intelligent natures. They were all nice guys, humble men, who somehow never trusted their success. It came too quickly. They didn’t deserve it. What if they lost it? Indeed, Von McDaniel once said that “maybe things came too easily.”Lindy’s recollections are not entirely accurate. When Von “mysteriously lost his rhythm and control,” according to a 1961 Sporting News article, he drifted all the way down to the lowest, Class D, league. But there, in 1960, Von McDaniel “began to throw smoothly again.” In the sleepy anonymity of the Florida State League, Von fashioned a 13-5 record. The following season, the Cards brought him to spring training amid great expectations but, once again, he lost what The Sporting News called “his magic touch.” He would never regain it.

Pitchers who forget how to pitch seem to fear not failure but success. They don’t want to face the pressure of the expectations of their success. So they rebel, self-destructing in a way that puts them beyond blame. The reason for their failure, their fear, is so deeply rooted that neither they nor anyone else can ever drag it to the surface to make them confront it. It’s all a mystery. But the only way they can ever overcome their apparently inexplicable collapse is to admit that it’s no mystery, that it is their fault. They are afraid.

What are they afraid of, anyway? Throwing a baseball? They have been doing that since childhood. Somewhere along the way, though, they realize that it makes them special. After that, a simple act takes on mythic importance. They begin to think about it, the mystery of their gift, and they get lost. They stand on the mound, their minds filled with discordant thoughts. Sometimes they replay their pitching mechanics over and over until they begin their motion and, unbelievably, it all flies out of their heads like a bird loosed from a cage. In midmotion, they remember nothing, move as if in a dream, weightless, until they release the ball and come back to where they were — on the mound, waiting for the catcher to retrieve their latest wild pitch. Now, too late, they remember everything.

Thought is their enemy. They either remember too much or forget everything. Both cause their failure. All they really need to do is perform an enormous act of will not to think. All they really need to do is what one of Rick’s minor league pitching coaches once told him: “Just throw, man. Just throw.”

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————- I always considered Ian Snell and up and coming star in the Major Leagues. Let’s face it, he had moderated success for the Pittsburgh Pirates which has been a bottom feeder for several years. When the Cardinals got him I thought that to be a decent acquisition for pitching coach Dave Duncan and the Cardinals. Now he has failed in Spring Training and is said to be retiring from baseball.

Young athletes begin competing seriously at younger ages. From pre-teen sluggers going on weight training programs to little league pitchers throwing curveballs as young as 8 or 9, the race is on to be the next rising star.

But along with trying to win that race comes danger. Major League relief pitcher Todd Jones wrote about the dangers that young pitchers face, especially when attempting to use breaking balls, which require a different arm motion than does a fastball. The arm motion required to throw a breaking ball puts more stress on the elbow and shoulder which, at a young age, can cause significant injury.

“These kids may be risking their baseball futures by using breaking balls to help their team with the Little League World Series,” Jones said.

The theory that breaking balls are dangerous to young pitchers is one that Atlanta Braves pitcher Tim Hudson fully believes in.

“If you’re a young kid, you want to try to limit the breaking balls you throw,” he said.

Tara Bruno wrote in Science World that because “throwing a pitch is not a natural arm motion, over-pitching can result in a torn ulnar collateral ligament (a main ligament in the elbow). Surgery to replace this piece of tissue, which holds together the ulna and humerus arm bones at the elbow, has been on the rise of high-school pitchers over the last 12 years.”

Bruno goes on to add that “pitchers (who) overuse their arm are 36 times more likely to need surgery later in life.”

In a study conducted by J.T. Davis and other scientists, published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers found that the most important aspect of youth pitching is mechanics. Davis wrote that “youth pitchers with better pitching mechanics generate lower rotation torque, lower elbow load and more efficiency than do those with improper mechanics. Proper pitching mechanics may help prevent shoulder and elbow injuries in youth pitchers.”

-parts reprinted from NY Times and Gainesville Times-

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In other news unrelated to baseball I purchased Washington, Florida State, Princeton in a Calcutta auction because they were cheap. Can I at least get one or two wins each?

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We have to be close to choosing the pitchers that are going North with the Big Club. Let’s see if we can identify them. The stats below are from Spring Training. Ok, lecture me on how ST stats mean nothing.

			Player		TEAM		W		L		ERA		G		GS		CG		SHO		SV		SVO		IP		H		R		ER		HR		HBP		BB		SO
			1. K Lohse		STL		2		0		1.38		3		3		0		0		0		0		13.0		8		2		2		1		0		0		9
			2. J Westbrook		STL		1		0		3.72		3		3		0		0		0		0		9.2		15		4		4		0		0		2		4
			3. J Garcia		STL		0		2		10.00		3		3		0		0		0		0		9.0		18		12		10		2		0		4		4
			4. R Franklin		STL		1		0		1.29		5		0		0		0		0		0		7.0		5		1		1		0		0		3		6
			5. L Lynn		STL		0		1		5.14		3		1		0		0		0		0		7.0		6		4		4		0		0		4		5
			6. K McClellan		STL		1		0		1.29		2		2		0		0		0		0		7.0		5		1		1		0		0		1		4
			7. F Salas		STL		0		0		0.00		6		0		0		0		2		2		7.0		1		0		0		0		0		2		5
			8. B Augenstein		STL		0		0		1.50		3		0		0		0		0		0		6.0		2		1		1		0		0		2		5
			9. B Dickson		STL		0		1		7.50		2		1		0		0		0		1		6.0		9		7		5		1		0		2		3
			10. J Motte		STL		1		0		7.50		5		0		0		0		0		0		6.0		7		5		5		0		1		2		4
			11. B Tallet		STL		0		1		1.59		4		0		0		0		0		1		5.2		7		2		1		0		1		2		7
			12. B King		STL		0		0		3.60		4		0		0		0		0		0		5.0		3		2		2		0		0		2		6
			13. R Valdes		STL		0		1		10.80		5		1		0		0		0		0		5.0		12		8		6		2		0		0		3
			14. J Gast		STL		0		0		2.08		4		0		0		0		0		0		4.1		6		1		1		0		0		4		4
			15. M Batista		STL		1		0		2.25		3		0		0		0		0		0		4.0		5		1		1		0		0		2		1
			16. M Cleto		STL		0		0		4.50		2		0		0		0		1		1		4.0		5		2		2		1		0		4		3
			17. J Kelly		STL		0		0		9.00		3		0		0		0		0		0		4.0		6		4		4		1		0		6		0
			18. T Miller		STL		0		0		0.00		5		0		0		0		0		0		4.0		1		0		0		0		0		1		3
			19. A Reifer		STL		0		0		0.00		4		0		0		0		0		0		4.0		1		0		0		0		0		3		3
			20. E Sanchez		STL		0		0		0.00		3		0		0		0		0		0		4.0		2		0		0		0		0		0		3
			21. K Thomas		STL		0		1		4.50		2		1		0		0		0		0		4.0		5		2		2		0		1		2		1
			22. C Carpenter		STL		1		0		0.00		1		1		0		0		0		0		2.2		1		0		0		0		0		1		2
			23. P Walters		STL		0		0		6.75		1		0		0		0		0		0		2.2		3		2		2		0		0		4		0
			24. F Samuel		STL		0		0		0.00		3		0		0		0		0		0		2.1		2		0		0		0		0		3		4
			25. S Miller		STL		0		0		0.00		1		0		0		0		0		0		2.0		1		0		0		0		0		0		1
			26. I Snell		STL		0		0		9.00		1		0		0		0		0		0		2.0		4		2		2		0		0		0		0
			27. M Boggs		STL		0		0		0.00		2		0		0		0		0		1		1.2		2		1		0		0		0		0		2
			28. A Ottavino		STL		0		0		0.00		1		0		0		0		0		0		1.0		0		0		0		0		0		1		0
Stats from MLB

Lohse

Westbrook

Garcia

Carpenter

McClellan

Franklin

Motte

Miller

Batista

Tallet

Salas

Walters

Boggs

The last spot or two are tough to figure….

your thoughts???

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