The team is battling for first place and they look stale and lethargic. That shouldn’t happen. That shouldn’t be allowed to happen. Why would that happen?

There are a myriad of ideas but the last two days the Cardinals have looked blah. Does it relate in some way to the trade of Colby Rasmus? Maybe. I did see where Tony Rasmus and Colby Rasmus did not get a hit last night. Are the Cardinal players playing scared that they are next to be shipped out? Look at the turnover this season and it has been extensive. The number of pitchers in and out of the roster is lengthy.

Maybe it is not Rasmus, maybe it is Miller or Tallet or Walters. It doesn’t matter as the Astros walked through the last two games against the Cardinals. There was no fire, no energy. These are the games we must win. The Cubs and Astros back-to-back and we need to win five of them. Well, we need a streak.

I hear we are battling through tons of injuries but that is expected in major league baseball. Berkman has a bad shoulder and then last night three players get hurt in the same game. Let’s remember this is the Major Leagues and we are fighting for a PENNANT.

We can do this but we can not afford to lose our FOCUS.

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Should be fun to see Edwin Jackson pitch in a Cardinals uniform. I hope they don’t put a minor league defense on the field to support him.

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Good or bad or whatever you want to feel, Colby Rasmus is gone and that’s a fact. Let’s move on and chat about what we so have and what we need.

The Cardinals shored up the starting rotation but adding Edwin Jackson and moving McClellan to the bullpen. That is a good move for the team right now. Forget Jackson is a rental, I am talking this season. With Dotel serviceable against right handers and Rcepcynski now in to handle lefties, we are looking good for now. So why would we want to add Heath Bell? That stumps me to no end. What is he adding to the mix that is a noticeable difference? Maybe GM John Mozeliak has a plan.

The outfield is only as good as Lance Berkman is healthy. If his shoulder is an issue, we need some help. It could come from the farm with Andrew Brown or Shane Robinson, I suppose. Holliday, Jay, Berkman, Patterson and now add Schumaker back tot he outfield more often and that is it. One more is needed unless….

Unless a second baseman is added to the team by trade or maybe Allen Craig coming back is to man that spot. A lot of eggs in that basket coming off the DL. We have about 4 two-sackers on the roster so we again may be ok there.

We may be fine but the outfield and/or mid infield concerns me at this time for the stretch run. Being healthy is always the key and that is a “for sure” for the Cardinals.

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Can we count out the Reds for this season? Probably, they are 4 games under and looking up at three teams.

Are the Pirates for real? Must be. They keep winning and winning.

Can the Brewers win it all? Yes, but it may depend now on the injury to Rickie Weeks.

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Dear Tony Rasmus,

One of the hardest things to do as a parent to know when to allow our own kids to make decisions. I suppose we never give them up by slipping in our thoughts here and their. In personal things that happens often. But when it comes to how they do their job, we need to cut that tie almost immediately at the time they secure it. They have people at their work to handle that. They are getting paid by someone else, therefore, they should handle it they way the bosses want it done. We can give them moral support and such by should never meddle into their work affairs with their management.

We, as parents, still suffer when they suffer, still hurt when they hurt. Sometimes maybe they are not being treated fairly but that is the growing up that they must do. They must handle it on their own and see where it takes them. Parents that get in the way are not teafhing them the lessons of life but only the phrase, “my dad will see you about that.”

From all that is written about Colby he is a fine young man but has the inability to take criticism (constructive or not) from other people and especially those in authority towards him. Now is the time, with this recent job of work status, for Colby to understand that it in his best interest to accept the things that come his way and his parents are not going to meddle in it.

I wish Colby Rasmus the best of luck and hope he has a bright and glorious career wherever he ends up. If it is Toronto, then so be it. But let’s not look at this as LaRussa won but let’s consider it is an opportunity that has opened up for Colby to get better at this craft in a new location and free from inside meddling.

Sincerely,

CardinalsGM.com

(for those reading, I am not the real  Cardinals GM and have no association with them)

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Baseball is just as popular in 2011 as it was in 2010. Around the country there are tons of articles stating that the game of baseball is in a downward spiral. Are we talking about thousands upon thousands of fans not going to the games? At the end of the 2010 season ESPN reported that attendance was down 1% from the year before. Yes, 1% is miniscule when you are comparing over 73 million fans going to game.

According to a report it said that recently over 50% of American males have placed a bet on a sporting event in the last year. It stated that those that pay attention to the game of baseball can, if they are judicious, make money on baseball betting. They need to constantly check the baseball odds at BetUS for the latest before they place their bet.

Let’s look at the attendance for 2011 through July 1, 2011. Nine of the 30 teams have seen a rise in attendance from a comparable point last year. Now that sounds horrible, right? The dip in attendance across the entire major leagues is only 337 less attending games this year than last year. For more on that figures check out the figures for yourself from Baseball Reference.

Before I end this article allow me to tell you about my trip to the Field of Dreams in Dyersburg, Iowa.

Remember the words of Terence Mann in the movie?

Ray, people will come, Ray. They’ll come to Iowa for reasons they can’t even fathom. They’ll turn up your driveway, not knowing for sure why they’re doing it. They’ll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. “Of course, we won’t mind if you have a look around,” you’ll say. “It’s only twenty dollars per person.” They’ll pass over the money without even thinking about it; for it is money they have and peace they lack.

And they’ll walk out to the bleachers, and sit in shirt-sleeves on a perfect afternoon. They’ll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they’ll watch the game, and it’ll be as if they’d dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick, they’ll have to brush them away from their faces.

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again. Ohhhhhhhh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.

I drove to Iowa which is about 3-4 hours from my home. I felt compelled to go. They “they will come” line just kept creeping into my head. So one day one of my sons and I went there. On the day we went, we were the only one in attendance. It was in April and the corn was not in the fields and the place looked like what I built on my 20 acres years ago. A backstop, some bleachers and a whole lot of open area is what I made for my kids while they were growing up.

That is what baseball does to you. It gets you excited to see it and hear it and smell it and …..

I see no problem with major league baseball and an attendance problem. Many people are attending games, listening on radio, catching them on HD TV and check the baseball odds America’s Bookie for the latest. The game is not in a downhill spiral. No way, Jose.

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Almost all teams come back from All Star break and have their best pitcher ready to start the second half of the season. Not the Cardinals. LaRussa has tabbed Jake Westbrook to begin on Friday against the Cincinnati Reds in a bitter match-up.

Why Westbrook? Why not Garcia or Carpenter?

LaRussa explains that he has structured the rotation so that Garcia only gets one game on the road and more starts at hime due to his record at Busch Stadium.

That’s a bunch of crap.

Westbrook has been less than mediocre and yet we throw him into this fray and give him ore starts. Carpenter last pitched over the weekend and could have been leading us off. It is important to get going and keep going and I don’t see this move as a good one.

Hope it works out but not optimistic against Johnny “Cleats” Cueto.

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PHOENIX (AP) – Shelby Miller’s joy at being a part of Sunday’s All-Star Futures game was tainted by the sorrow of the tragic death of a friend.

Shannon Stone, who fell to his death Thursday night at Rangers Ballpark while trying to catch a ball tossed into the stands last week, was a fellow firefighter and close friend of Miller’s father Mitch in Brownwood, Texas.

Shelby said he was speechless when he heard the news and had a hard time preventing it from affecting him as he prepared for his role for the U.S. team in Sunday’s Futures Game, which features the game’s leading minor league prospects.

“I can’t weep over it or do anything that’s going to keep me from performing well or something like that,” he said after his U.S. team’s 6-4 victory. “It’s definitely in the back of your mind. You think about it, and then you get down, and then you just try to forget about it and it’s not easy. It’s something I’m going to have to get through, me and my family are going to have to get through and the Stones are going to have to get through.”

Miller is a 20-year-old right-hander for Double-A Springfield, Mo., in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, has a fastball in the high 90s. St. Louis made him the 19th pick overall in the 2009 draft. He is 5-4 in 14 starts for Springfield with a 2.44 ERA, with 114 strikeouts and 28 walks.

Miller pitched a scoreless inning on Sunday, allowing one hit, striking out one and walking one. He said his parents were with the Stones family on Sunday but taped the game and planned to watch it later.

He remembered Stone as a great person and a great father to the 6-year-old boy who watched his dad fall to his death.

“We’ll get through it,” Miller said, “but right now it’s pretty tough.”

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The St. Louis Cardinals are 23-19 at home this season and are solid favorites to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks who are 24-22 on the road this season. The Cardinals have a better than 55% chance of winning based on 10,000 game simulations generated one play at a time by the askthebookie Simulation Supercomputer.

Cardinals’ starter Kyle Lohse is forecasted to have a better game than Diamondbacks’ starter Ian Kennedy. Kyle Lohse has a 67% chance of having a Quality Start (QS) while Ian Kennedy has a 56% chance of a QS. If Kyle Lohse has a quality start the Cardinals has a 73% chance of winning. His simulated strikeout to walk ratio is 5.2 and he has a 41% chance of having a 5 to 1 K/BB ratio. When he has a 5/1 ratio the Cardinals win 64%.

In Ian Kennedy quality starts the Diamondbacks win 53%. He has a 36% chance of having a 5 to 1 K/BB ratio and if he does his team wins 53% 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 2.02 hits+walks+RBI. He has a 32% chance of having a big game with 3+ Hits, Walks, RBI and if he has a big game the Cardinals have a 72% chance of winning.

The most productive batter for the Arizona Diamondbacks is Justin Upton who averaged 1.65 hits+walks+RBI. He has a 24% chance of having a big game with 3+ Hits, Walks, RBI and if he has a big game the Diamondbacks have a 56% chance of winning.

Check odds at America’s Bookie.

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Nothing says America like baseball, hot dogs and apple pie.

With the Fourth of July upon us, America’s birthday has been home to many Major League Baseball milestones, moments, and, yes, birthdays. You could say baseball has provided plenty of fireworks over the years.

Not only that, but when it comes to war and our nation anthem—two things iconic with America—MLB bleeds red, white and blue.

• 3,000 not once, but twice–You’re kidding, right? The Fourth of July is the anniversary of many MLB highlights, including the 3,000th strikeout for Nolan Ryan and Phil Niekro
• So long, Lou–Every baseball fan has read, watched or listened to a clip of Lou Gehrig’s historic “Farewell Speech.” Ah, but did you know the New York Yankees great expressed he was the “luckiest man on the face of the earth” on July 4?
• Happy birthday, George–The New York Mets and Yankees have a few ties to the Fourth of July, as well. The late George Steinbrenner grew up blowing out candles on this day.

With liberty and justice for all–The Fourth of July isn’t just about the holiday itself. No, no—it’s much more than that. It’s about celebrating the this great nation of ours, past and present.

Unlike most professional leagues, MLB has been around for well over 100 years. And unlike other professional leagues, some of the greatest players to ever play had to miss valuable time on the diamond—and not because of injury. Christy Mathewson and Bob Feller just two of numerous players who sacrificed for this country.

Major League Baseball tell the story of Americana better than any.

Happy 4th of July to Everyone!

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It’s time.

The Cardinals have released Ryan Franklin and Miguel Batista from the bullpen this season.

Now go the full nine yards and do the same for Brian Tallet…. He has horrible stats coming into this season and he has been just as bad in 2011. Release him.

Your thoughts?

I am willing to hang on to Trever Miller just a bit longer.

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