Recapping the last month of the season...

I've been busy as of late and with the Jewish new year starting at sundown, I'm going through this as quick as I can.

September 5, 2008
Florida 4, St. Louis 1
Losing pitcher - Ryan Franklin (5-6)

September 6, 2008
Florida 3, St. Louis 5
Winning pitcher - Todd Wellemeyer (12-6)
SV - Ryan Franklin (15)
STL HR - Albert Pujols (31)

September 7, 2008
Florida 1, St. Louis 3
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (9-3)
SV - Chris Perez (7)
STL HR - Albert Pujols (32)

September 9, 2008
Chi. Cubs 3, St. Louis 4
Winning pitcher - Chris Perez (3-2)
STL HR - Albert Pujols (33)

September 10, 2008
Chi. Cubs 4, St. Louis 3
Losing pitcher - Braden Looper (12-12)
STL HR - Ryan Ludwick (33)

September 11, 2008
Chi. Cubs 3, St. Louis 2
Losing pitcher - Todd Wellemeyer (12-7)

September 12, 2008
St. Louis 2, Pittsburgh 10
Losing pitcher - Joel Pineiro (6-6)

September 13, 2008
St. Louis 6, Pittsburgh 7
Losing pitcher - Chris Perez (3-3)
STL HR - Felipe Lopez (5)

September 14, 2008
St. Louis 2, Pittsburgh 7
Losing pitcher - Brad Thompson (5-3)

September 16, 2008
St. Louis 2, Cincinnati 7
Losing pitcher - Braden Looper (12-13)
STL HR - Troy Glaus (24), Aaron Miles (4)

September 17, 2008
St. Louis 0, Cincinnati 3
Losing pitcher - Todd Wellemeyer (12-8)

September 18, 2008
St. Louis 5, Cincinnati 4
Winning pitcher - Kyle Lohse (14-6)
SV - Jason Motte (1)
STL HR - Albert Pujols (34)

September 19, 2008
St. Louis 12, Chi. Cubs 6
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (10-3)
STL HR - Adam Kennedy (2), Ryan Ludwick (34)

September 20, 2008
St. Louis 4, Chi. Cubs 5
Losing pitcher - Joel Pineiro (6-7)
STL HR - Troy Glaus (25)

September 21, 2008
St. Louis 1, Chi. Cubs 5
Losing pitcher - Braden Looper (12-14)

September 22, 2008
Arizona 4, St. Louis 2
Losing pitcher - Todd Wellemeyer (12-9)

September 23, 2008
Arizona 4, St. Louis 7
Winning pitcher - Kyle Lohse (15-6)
SV - Ryan Franklin (16)
STL HR - Ryan Ludwick (35)

September 24, 2008
Arizona 2, St. Louis 4
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (11-3)
SV - Ryan Franklin (17)

September 25, 2008
Arizona 3, St. Louis 12
Winning pitcher - Joel Pineiro (7-7)
STL HR - Ryan Ludwick (36), Albert Pujols (35)

September 26, 2008
Cincinnati 6, St. Louis 7
Winning pitcher - Ryan Franklin (6-6)
STL HR - Albert Pujols (36)

September 27, 2008
Cincinnati 5, St. Louis 8
Winning pitcher - Todd Wellemeyer (13-9)
STL HR - Troy Glaus (26), Felipe Lopez (6), Albert Pujols (37)

September 28, 2008
Cincinnati 4, St. Louis 11
Winning pitcher - Brad Thompson (6-3)
STL HR - Troy Glaus (27), Ryan Ludwick (37)

The Cardinals finish the 2008 season with a final record of 86-76.

A Nation Remembers

A poem written by Jack Buck

Since this nation was founded under God
More than 200 years ago

We've been the bastion of freedom...

The light that keeps the free world aglow.
We do not covet the possessions of others,
We are blessed with the bounty we share.

We have rushed to help other nations...
Anything...anytime...anywhere

War is just not our nature...we won't start
But we will end the fight.
If we are involved we shall be resolved to
Protect what we know is right.

We have been challenged by a cowardly foe
Who strikes and then hides from our view.

With one voice we say, "There's no choice
Today, there is only one thing to do"

Everyone is saying the same thing
And praying that we end these senseless
Moments we are living.

As our fathers did before, we shall win
This unwanted war

And our children will enjoy the future,
We'll be giving.

Written by Jack Buck
September 14, 2001

Today in Cardinals History - 1998

Ten years ago today, Mark McGwire hit the 62nd home run of the season to break Roger Maris' single season home run record.

Cards Recap over the past few weeks

I moved to Chicago recently so I've been very busy as of late and just now have some time to update this blog.

Cardinals vs. Braves
August 22, 2008
Atlanta 3, St. Louis 18
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (7-3)
SV - Joel Pineiro (1)

18 runs on 26 hits and would you believe that not a single hit went over the fence?

August 23, 2008
Atlanta 8, St. Louis 4
Losing pitcher - Kyle McClellan (2-6)
HR: Albert Pujols (27)

August 24, 2008
Atlanta 3, St. Louis 6
Winning pitcher - Braden Looper (12-10)
SV - Chris Perez (5)
STL HR - A. Pujols (28)

St. Louis finished the series against Atlanta with a 73-59 record.

Cardinals vs. Brewers
August 26, 2008
Milwaukee 12, St. Louis 0
Losing pitcher - Todd Wellemeyer (11-5)

August 27, 2008
Milwaukee 3, St. Louis 5
Winning pitcher - Ryan Franklin (5-5)
SV - Chris Perez (6)
HR: Ryan Ludwick (32)

St. Louis split the series against the Brewers, when we needed to sweep, and moves to a 74-60 record.

Cardinals vs. Astros
August 29, 2008
St. Louis 2, Houston 3
Losing pitcher - Russ Springer (2-1)

August 30, 2008
St. Louis 5, Houston 8
Losing pitcher - Braden Looper (12-11)
HR: Rick Ankiel (25), Albert Pujols (29)

August 31, 2008
St. Louis 0, Houston 3
Losing pitcher - Todd Wellemeyer (11-6)

The Cardinals were swept and move to a 74-63 record.

Cardinals vs. Diamondbacks
September 1, 2008
St. Louis 6, Arizona 8
Losing pitcher - Kyle McClellan (2-7)
HR: Felipe Lopez (3), Joe Mather (8), Yadier Molina (6), Albert Pujols (30)

September 2, 2008
St. Louis 8, Arizona 2
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (8-3)
HR: Troy Glaus (22), Felipe Lopez (4), Yadier Molina (7)

September 3, 2008
St. Louis 3, Arizona 4
Losing pitcher - Chris Perez (2-2)
HR: Troy Glaus (23)

The Cards finish the series with a 75-65 record.

It's interesting to note Yadier Molina's statistics this season. Currently, he has a .307 average with 7 home runs, 37 runs, and 55 RBI with a SLG% of .398 and OBP of .350. As for his career statistics, he has career highs in everything but 3B (1 in 2005) and home runs (8 in 2005). He is 4 walks shy of tying his career record of 34 in 2007. Great read by Matt Ritter.

Yadier Molina's defense has spoken for itself throughout his five-year career. This season, however, Molina has proven that there is more to him than just being one of the best defensive catchers in baseball.

Molina owned a .310 batting average entering play Wednesday afternoon, placing him seventh overall in the National League. That's almost unprecedented for someone who owned a career batting average of .248 before this season. In 2006, Molina hit .216, the lowest among all starting catchers in the Majors.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said Molina has always had the right approach at the plate, but this season Molina has heeded more advice from a teammate with pretty impressive offensive credentials of his own.

"He's smart enough to listen to Albert," La Russa said, referring to Molina's fellow Dominican teammate, Albert Pujols.