Central Booking: ROCK FLAG AND EAGLE!

by Andy Paschen

Cubs – Pirates: Postponed. I had tickets to go to this athletic contest and I actually took the two-stop El ride to Wrigley to catch the game. But alas, I simply stood in the Wrigley concourse for an hour or so instead, watching super bad-ass jet fighters scream overhead because Chicago’s Air & Water Show was going on. There’s nothing more patriotic than an F/A-18 Hornet soaring a few thousand feet in the air to remind North Korea who has bigger military balls. That’s what the red, white and blue is all about people.

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Central Booking: Thank God for interns

by Andy Paschen

Programming note for all of you playing at home. We got an intern at Midwest Swing yesterday, and he’s going to write his first post, today’s Central Booking. His name is Kyle, he’s from the North Shore of Chicago, but he wants to be a hype man for a rapper when he grows up. Just warning you. That’s his dream, not mine. Anyway, let’s welcome him with an open mind and an open heart. 
 

Hey KC: Stick your BBQ up your A-S-S

YOU BLEW IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Josh Mosley

I’m not a Missouri supremacist. I mean, why would I? It’s not like I call the state’s best city (St. Louis) my home. I don’t throw the Chiefs or the Royals in the face of Kansas City people whenever they want to step up about who rules the Show-Me State. So for the last time I don’t not think that St. Louis is better than Kansas City. There. Let’s be peaceful. Hip hop hugs and handshakes.

Cubs Series Recap vs. Cardinals: Where no lead is safe

by Andy Paschen

Lot of late inning heroics here by both teams, but fortunately for this guy (two thumbs right here!) the Cubs eeked out more wins than losses in the series. Let’s jump into the nitty gritty.

Cubs win the series (technically it was a four game series, but mother Earth decided to change it to three): L-W-W
Cubs Series Record: 3-0-1 (7-4 overall)

Notes:

• What Milton Bradley game was Milton Bradley? Thursday: Operation. Home plate umpire Larry Vanover tried to delicately call Bradley out on strikes when he pinch hit in the 7th. But Vanover must have touched the side when trying to remove Bradley’s angry bone, because the call sent Uncle Milty into a fury, and he huffed and puffed until Vanover kindly asked him to leave the game via ejecxt message.

• Coming to Barnes and Noble near you: Derrek Lee and the Deathly Fastballs. In the bottom of the ninth on Saturday against Ryan Franklin, Franklin threw fastball after fastball after fastball in Lee’s AB. Derrek Lee in 2005 would have ended the game then and there, but 2009 Derrek Lee wasn’t fast enough to turn on the 88-92 mph offerings Franklin was serving up with no 2nd pitch. Derrek Lee and Carlos Zambrano (there will be a post about this later in the week), your suns look to be beginning to set.

• “You just made the biggest mistake of your life.” — Alfonso Soriano’s arm is  In the top of the 10th on Saturday Fonzi doubled up Chris Duncan at second with a lightning fast throw. It’s a good thing Duncan can hit, because he is just useless as a baseball player otherwise. And say what you will about Soriano’s outfield play, but do not test the man’s arm. Unless you want to have a post on FAIL blog.

• The Cubs were lucky to take two of three in the series. But the Cardinals were lucky not to get swept. Confused? The games this weekend we so close that really either team could have swept or gotten swept. Furthermore, the Cubs and Cardinals look like mirror images of each other: good hitting lineups that sock a lot of dingers, good starting pitching and not so good relief.

Bullpen Grade:
Thursday: D. Aaron Heilman blew the lead first, then David Patton promptly failed to keep the game tied for a combine line of 1.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB. Angel Guzman (El Pobrecito!) got tagged for a run in the 8th to quell and hope of a comeback.
Friday: A. Aaron Heilman did his job. Carlos Marmol made it interesting, but both of them left the game unscathed. Marmol closed the game out. Me thinks Piniella was scared of Kevin Gregg vs. Pujols with the game on the line.
Saturday: B+. Yes, Marmol did give up the lead when Yadier Molina raked a double down the line with a man on second in the 8th inning, but 5 innings of one-run ball against your hated rival with a number of big bats is worth a higher grade. Plus, the gutsy two inning outing by Kevin Gregg was his best outing of the year thus far.

Bullpen season GPA: 2.9 (B/B-) in 11 games. Thursday’s debacle cost the team any chance to make the deans list for the season.

Thursday’s Goat: David Patton. Walks’ll get ya, and Patton’s two base-on-balls lead to the winning runs crossing home plate for the Dirty Birds.
Friday’s Hero: Alfonso Soriano love going 0-3 with 3 Ks and then socking the go ahead dinger.
Saturday’s Hero: Aramis Ramirez was 0-5 coming into the 11th. But 1-6 with the game winner means he wears the hero’s crown.
Sunday’s Goat: Tlaloc, the Aztec rain god. Sunday night’s prime time game was washed out, ruthless punishment handed down from the mighty Tlaloc due to the recent lack of human sacrifice on his altar. Might I suggest an offering?

Hero/Goat season leaders:
Hero Squad: Finally, the logjam atop my subjective MVP calculator has been cleared. Soriano for MVP! – 2
Fontenot, Fukudome, Johnson, Lilly,  Zambrano, Ramirez – 1
Goat Bastards: Still, I’m surprised that no one has stepped up to claim top spot in the LVP race. Neifi Perez would have locked this thing up last week. Bradley, Cotts, Fontenot, Gregg, Harden, Patton – 1

On Tap: Cincinnati (6-5) comes to town on Tuesday.

2009 Cardinals Bats: the guys who build the leads that the bullpen blows

By Josh Mosley

If there was one thing not lacking with the 2008 St. Louis Cardinals, it was offense. As a team they batted .281 last year. And with shocking offense from guys like Ryan Ludwick and Rick Ankiel, it seemed like St. Louis finally didn’t have to live and die on the untainted bat of Albert Pujols. (If a positive test for A-Rod shows up, then one will pop up for Pujols if there is one, Mr. Paschen.) And with a couple of key additions that could easily make a big dent or a be about as hurtful as an anorexic jumping on a car hood, the Cardinals offense could be as big a bag of tricks as the pitching staff. Let’s check them out.

INFIELD:

Skip Schumaker: You know how USC sometimes has an abundance of talent at certain positions? To the point where some of them have to transfer to other schools to play? Yeah, the Cards had the opposite of that when it came to second base. Thus, you have Skip at second base. But for what it’s worth, the guy can knock the ball around as someone who will hit for average. He might be the most consistent bat that STL has had at second base in a long time.

Khalil Greene:While his first name sounds like Superman’s given alien name Kal-El (NERD ALERT), Greene’s offense was anything heroic in 2008, as he batted .217 for the Padres last season. Maybe the change of scenery will help him return to the form where he jacked 27 home runs in 2007. Or maybe he’ll fail miserably. Like Kevin Garnett, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!

Albert Pujols:Not sure what I can say about this guy. Won MVP last year. Best hitter in baseball for now until otherwise noted. Oh yeah, I got something: when Cards fans aren’t hoping that our economy shapes the hell up, they’ll be praying that Pujols’ surgically repaired elbow. God save St. Louis if that blasted tendon snaps again.

Yadier Molina:It’s already been noted that running Yadi Molina can be about as calculated a risk as wearing white after Labor Day. I mean honestly, who ACTUALLY dares to do that??? But now, Molina has shaped up his hitting game, batting a career-high .304 in 2008 despite throwing out a career-low of 35 percent from behind the plate.

David Freese:The stars could be aligning for Freese, a homegrown St. Louis boy, to step in at third for Troy Glaus and just take the majors by storm. Note the sarcasm in my writers voice and you’ll understand that the jury is indeed still out on this guy. As much as Tony La Russa LOVES playing young bucks (again sarcasm) you have to think he saw something in Freese that made him peg him as the starter. Now if we can just figure out what that something was.

OUTFIELDERS:

Ryan Ludwick:So this guy kind of came out of nowhere last year, right? Well 37 home runs and 113 RBI’s can feel that way. And although Ludwick is technically in his eight season in the league, any drop off this year would have to be deemed a sophomore slump. He’s the Cards next best bet for a clutch hit outside of Pujols so his numbers are going to have to drop. But if they don’t drop off the face of the earth, that can be considered a moral victory.

Rick Ankiel:The first full season of the Ankiel experiment in the outfield was a moderate success. He had more than a few Web Gem catches while also hitting for equal parts power and average. But like his predecessor in center, one James Edmonds, the strikeouts were a little high. He went down on K’s one out of every four times he was at bat. The object of the game is to hit the ball, Rick. Just keep that in mind, playboy.

Chris Duncan:Not a lot of clock for Mr. Duncan last season. However, he’s back to full strength this season and looking to reassert himself as a dangerous hitter and the team leader in amount of tobacco he can stick in his jaw at one time. Seriously, it’s remarkable.

Well that’s it for the Cards. Let’s see what they do.

Cardinals in the WBC: First Round Results

By Josh Mosley
Although the Birds were not greatly represented in numbers in the WBC first round, we’re still going to take a look at what exactly they did on the field in this, the United Nations conference, of baseball tournaments.

Yadier Molina, catcher: Yadi has only managed to get into one game so far this tournament but he at least made the most of his time. The big guy went 1-for-4 in his only game, with a two-run double in the bottom of the eighth to help the Rico’s to a 3-1 win over that pesky team from the Netherlands. I guess it proves once again that anything American affiliated is awesome. The Netherlands couldn’t pull that off. Hats off to the youngest Molina.

Arquimedes Nieto, pitcher: Nieto has only made one appearance, allowing one hit and striking out two. Like Molina, he seems to be making the most of brief playing time in the classic. Should get him nice and ready for some quality time in minor league ball.

Adam Ottavino, pitcher: Ottavino got a starting nod in the first round against Venezuela, allowing one hit over three innings and no runs. The 30th overall pick in 2006 couldn’t power the Eye-talians to a trip to the second round but it’s safe to say that the Birds have to be encouraged by his international play. Bellisima.

Curt Smith, infielder: While the Dutch have been partaking in a tourney’s worth of “We shocked the world” ballerness, Curt Smith has been relegated to riding the pine pony for most of the Netherlands run. Smith hasn’t done much of anything yet in the Dutch’s improbable run.

Bird Doggin’: Cardinals in the 2009 WBC

Official WBC rosters came out last week and a handful of N.L. Central players made their country’s respective cut. Midwest Swing takes a deeper look into the lives of N.L. Central players battling for world supremacy.

Raise your hand if you can ID anyone representing the Cardinals in the World Baseball Classic outside of Yadier Molina … LIARS. But seriously, the Redbirds lack of star power in baseball’s version of the Geneva Conference is apparent. Albert Pujols has insurance issues that won’t cover him if he re-aggravates his elbow. And Ryan Ludwick and Joel Piniero sipped on some cosmos and decided if they don’t start, that their respective teams can stuff it. Diva, much?

Yadier Molina, Puerto Rico – C
2008 stats: He batted .304 with 7 HR’s and 56 RBI in 2008 (124 games); threw out 55 runners in 2008
Just how native is he- He lives in Puerto Rico during the offseason and Caseyville, Illinois during the season (safe to say that Caseyville saps all the foreign street cred out of him during the season so he’s probably off and on).
Fun fact: Youngest of Molina brothers who all play catcher in MLB (Bengie and Jose are the oldest); all three have WS rings; it’s as if they saw what happens when you attach the name “Stoudamaire” to a basketball player.

Arquimedes Nieto, Panama – SP
2008 stats: Went 6-1 with 2.95 ERA for Batavia Muckdogs in 2008
Fun fact: At 19 years old, he is the second youngest member of Panama team. If anyone doubts this, send thank you cards to Tejada, Miguel.

Adam Ottavino, Italy – SP
2008 stats: Went 3-7 with 1.60 ERA in AA Springfield (first round draft pick of Cardinals in 2006; 30th overall)
Just how native is he? He was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY but chose to compete for Italy; so he’s dead to us here in America.

Curt Smith, Netherlands – 1B
2008 stats: Smith batted .403 for the University of Maine in 2008 leading American East Conference in average and had 11 HRs.
Just how native is he? He was born in Netherlands..and since I can’t name five Dutch baseball players, that should tell you how slim the pickings might be … rock on, Curt Smith.