Wednesday, June 1, 2011—Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants (7:15 p.m.)

·  ESPN: Tonight’s game has been selected by ESPN to be televised nationally outside of the local St. Louis television market. Fans in the St. Louis market will be able to watch the game on Fox Sports Midwest.

·  Ice Mountain Autograph Night: Fans ages 20 and under can get current players autographs before the game from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., immediately following all fans can get autographs from Cardinals alumni from 6:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.

·  KMOX/United Way Check Presentation: The Cardinals and KMOX will present the United Way with a check in a special pre-game ceremony to assist the relief efforts of area tornado victims. On Wednesday, May 4, The Cardinals teamed up with their CBS radio partners to host a collection drive pre-game outside Busch Stadium.

Joplin, Missouri Check Presentation: The Cardinals will present Hal Donaldson, CEO of Convoy of Hope, with a check for $25,000 to assist in the relief efforts of the recent tornado disaster in Joplin, Mo.

MLBPAA Auctions: The Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association will conduct a baseball-themed silent auction inside Gate 3 from the time gates open (4:05 p.m.) thurough the seventh inning. All proceeds will benefit the Players Alumni Association, a non-profit group that strives to preserve the game of baseball and support a variety of charities and the association has also committed a portion of this season’s sales to Cardinals Care.

·  Mike and John are in the Club: Mike Shannon and John Rooney will be doing tonight’s radio broadcast live from the Champion’s Club located on the second level of the stadium.

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Tuesday, May 31, 2011—Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants (6:09 p.m.)

·     Game Time Change: Tonight’s game was originally scheduled for a 7:15 p.m. start, but the first pitch has been moved to 6:09 p.m.

·         Twitter Tuesday: The Cardinals will meet fans at Yo My Goodness’ Hilton at the Ballpark (1 South Broadway) location today and give away 50 pairs of tickets for an upcoming game this homestand. The Twitter Tuesday promotion is a unique way for the Cardinals to reward fans that follow the team on their social media sites.

·         Heroes in the Classroom: The Cardinals teamed up with the Missouri Lottery to recognize one educator a month, in a pre-game ceremony, who has demonstrated excellence in education. This month’s outstanding educator is Katie Dalton, a seventh grade teacher from Sperreng Middle School in the Lindberg, Missouri school district.

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The St. Louis Cardinals are 14-10 at home this season and the San Francisco Giants are 16-16 on the road this season. This is a close match-up with both teams having a 45 to 55 percent chance of winning based on 10,000 game simulations generated one play at a time by the askthebookie Simulation Supercomputer. Both starters have a good chance of having a quality start. Chris Carpenter has a 63% chance of a QS and Ryan Vogelsong a 59% chance. If Chris Carpenter has a quality start the Cardinals has a 67% chance of winning. His simulated strikeout to walk ratio is 7.1 and he has a 56% chance of having a 5 to 1 K/BB ratio. When he has a 5/1 ratio the Cardinals win 56%. If Ryan Vogelsong has a quality start the Giants has a 58% chance of winning. His simulated strikeout to walk ratio is 3.6 and he has a 34% chance of having a 5 to 1 K/BB ratio. When he has a 5/1 ratio the Giants win 53%.

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The St. Louis Cardinals are 14-9 at home this season and are heavy favorites to beat the San Francisco Giants who are 15-16 on the road this season. The Cardinals have a better than 60% chance of winning based on 10,000 game simulations generated one play at a time by the askthebookie Simulation Supercomputer.

Cardinals’ starter Kyle McClellan is forecasted to have a better game than Giants’ starter Madison Bumgarner. Kyle McClellan has a 66% chance of having a Quality Start (QS) while Madison Bumgarner has a 47% chance of a QS. If Kyle McClellan has a quality start the Cardinals has a 77% chance of winning. His simulated strikeout to walk ratio is 3.7 and he has a 27% chance of having a 5 to 1 K/BB ratio. When he has a 5/1 ratio the Cardinals win 74%. In Madison Bumgarner quality starts the Giants win 45%. He has a 22% chance of having a 5 to 1 K/BB ratio and if he does his team wins 45% of simulations.

In simulations we tracked the batter for each team that was most productive based his average hits, walks and RBI per simulation. The most productive batter for the St. Louis Cardinals is Matt Holliday who averaged 2.25 hits+walks+RBI. He has a 38% chance of having a big game with 3+ Hits, Walks, RBI and if he has a big game the Cardinals have a 78% chance of winning. The most productive batter for the San Francisco Giants is Freddy Sanchez who averaged 1.78 hits+walks+RBI. He has a 27% chance of having a big game with 3+ Hits, Walks, RBI and if he has a big game the Giants have a 51% chance of winning.

courtesy of Ask the Bookie

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The Cardinals are 12-1-1 in the last 14 series they have played. If they win today it will be their first SWEEP of the year.

It is very important to win games but to win a series is really the key to a successful season.

So with that in mind we usually see Tony LaRussa trot out as many subs and players that get the least amount of time when he knows he has already won a series.

Does that bother you? Would you just as soon will every game as they come available or is this method a good way to go?

What’s your thoughts?

I believe TLR is one of the best in keeping his bench players sharp because he gives them opportunities throughout the season.

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How much fun is it to watch Daniel Descalso, Pete Kozma and Tony Cruz play in the majors and see them succeed?

Gotta Love It!

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Mitchell Boggs gets sent out to the minor leagues to make room for Skip Schumaker.

What’s up with that? Clearly to everyone on the planet he has out-pitched Miguel Batista and Ryan Franklin this season….even Trever Miller has had a great deal of suckitude but he’s a lefty.

They say it is options… he still had options…. so what? If he is one of your top 25 players he should be on the roster. In every pitching category he has pitched better than several others.

I do see the point about not sending a position player down as long as Matt Holliday is gimpy and doubtful…. makes sense.

LaRussa will not mess with the psyche of the veteran players in most cases, but he needs to send Franklin or Batista packing with a release so they can hook on with someone else.

This move smack of stupid.

What do you think?

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Short and to the point.

Did the Cardinals and TLR play the third game of the series just a bit too casual?

When Garcia was taken out did he expect the team to cruise?

The game was almost lost because of this attitude…..  in my opinion.

What’s your thoughts on that?

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The Dave Clark 5 sang a song in the 60′s titled, “Bits and Pieces” and the ending went like this:

Nothin’ seems to ever go right
I’m in pieces, bits and pieces
‘Cause night is day and day is night

The Cardinals are using the bits and pieces approach to get them through in 2011. Last night Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman left the game with injuries. The day before Nick Punto went on the disabled list. Colby Rasmus is nursing a ribcage injury. To replace them they put together bit parts to piece one together.

Last week LaRussa was gone and he was replaced. It is a continual cycle but the Cardinals are handling it well. Can they prolong success with Pete Kozma and Tyler Greene on the middle infield? What about Greene in rightfield and the best pitcher that shags fly balls in batting practice patrolling the outfield?

When they are all healthy, look out. By the way, I don’t mind following the Reds for awhile and just stay close and allow the other NLC teams to fade away. I am confident we can nab them before the end of the season.

Congratulations to Peter Kozma on his first major league hit and RBI. Nice work.

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Observations from my seat in Section 170 from last night;

Have you ever gone to Wrigley Field to a baseball game? I have and what they do their is appalling to say the  least. They do not watch the game. They are there as a party with a game as a sidenote. It is a chance to drink and drink and get drunk. It is a chance to parage around and be noticed. Be sure to look good when going to Wrigley… people notice. They aren’t watching the game they are people watching, doing the WAVE, singing stupid songs  and ordering more drinks. They are in the building and tavern outside the game and just not too interested in the game.

Now on to Busch Stadium last night. What I saw bothered me. People near me were in and out of their seat 5-8 times during the game. Get the nachos, get more beer and watch me strut. During the bottom of the second inning 7 girls got to their seats in front of me for the first time that game. They each had their bottle of beer and made a loud and obnoxious entrance so that all noticed them. They sat down and 5 of them pulled out their cell phones and took picture. No, not of the game or the stadium but of themselves with one of the other fiends, Probably facebook material. In the bottom of the third inning one of them needed to have a smoke so she needed her tickets and the gal on the other end was the keeper of the tickets so that was a scene in front of all of us.

They did hear the music because they just HAD to dance with every walk up song played and never knew who was up to bat or made a cheer for action on the field. The game was not important to them and they made it clear to all around them it was time for another beer to two throughout the game.

Now for the most disgusting event of the night. Bottom of the 9th inning and the game is tied and a guy from the section over to the right of me gets in front of both sections and wants to orchestrate the WAVE. The WAVE! It is a TIED game in the 9th inning and he is the cheerleader. Several people, including our friend Bill Ivie of Ive League Productions, chant back at the guy, “watch the game, watch the game” and after 3 unsuccessful attempts the WAVE dies out and he sat down. People booed the cheerleader.

This is not Chicago, people. We are not the Cubs. We don’t want to be them. We are the Cardinals and our success is indirectly tied to the fan base and their knowledge. Let’s keep it that way.

If you go to the game, pay attention, please. Don’t bother the other fans.

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The Cardinals start 2 series this week and they are each 2 game series.

What’s up with that? The cost of transportation needs to see a trend where the MLB goes to 4 or 5 game series the next time a schedule gets made.

Instead of Philadelphia coming into St Louis two times a year, get those done at at once. It is time for MLB go get with the environment and the energy kick and attempt to save some gas and some money.

Let’s at least investigate some ideas to cut down on the travelling each team does.

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The Reds swept the series and now take over first place. We swept them last year so all in all not a surprise. We are fast approaching 25% of the season so it is a marathon not a sprint.

For the record I bought into most of what Cordero said after the game except for his “disrespect” of Gerald Laird, for that he needs to apologize.

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Now that the first Cubs/Cardinals series is over and we took 2 out of 3, it is time to turn our attention to the Cincinnati Reds.

Some standard questions?

1. Will Brandon Phillips pop off to the media during the series?

2. Will Colby Rasmus own up to his quote on stealing shirts?

3. Do you think Yadier Molina will bet booed?

4. Will Mike Leake go after Rasmus the first time he pitches to him?

5. Can Chris Carpenter control his emotions?

6. Is it possible for Johnny Cueto to pitch as if nothing as ever happened?

7. Will it be just a media frenzy and no fireworks through the entire series?

8. Will Joe Pettini get ejected?

9. Will Dave Duncan get tossed?

10. How many dollars in fines will come out of this weekend?

11. Lastly, will it just be a continual war of words?

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Should be an interesting series this weekend and the Saturday start of Cueto will be the most entertaining.

Cards take 2 out of 3 in this series!

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