Redbird Report

March 20, 2007
St. Louis 13, Los Angeles 0
Winning pitcher - Anthony Reyes (3-0)
HR: Chris Duncan (5), Yadier Molina (1)

March 22, 2007
Florida 2, St. Louis 1
Losing pitcher - Chris Carpenter (0-1)

March 23, 2007
St. Louis 1, N.Y. Mets 2
Losing pitcher - Ryan Franklin (1-1)

March 24, 2007
St. Louis 4, Washington 2
Winning pitcher - Josh Hancock (1-0)
SV - Kelvin Jimenez (2)

March 25, 2007
Baltimore 6, St. Louis 5
Losing pitcher - Russ Springer (0-1)

March 26, 2007
St. Louis 3, Florida 1
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (3-2)
SV - Brad Thompson (1)

Busch Stadium is now smoke-free.

UNLV's head basketball coach Lon Kruger was recently in St, Louis for the NCAA Tournament. Turns out that he used to play baseball.

Kruger, 54, can't wait to get to St. Louis and watch UNLV practice this afternoon.

"We've always enjoyed St. Louis," he said of his family, which includes son Kevin, a starting guard for the Rebs. "I have some former teammates (mostly baseball ones) and a lot of friends there."

Kruger grew up in Kansas, but he had a soft spot in his heart for the St. Louis Cardinals. After all, they signed him to a Class A contract in 1974. Kruger chose to play basketball in Israel and his baseball career fizzled.

Yet the next phase of his basketball career was just beginning. Good thing, too

"I was a Cardinals and Royals fan," said Kruger, a pitcher. "But after the Cardinals signed me, I didn't get back in time for spring training because I was playing basketball overseas."

The Cards didn't lose any sleep over Kruger's absence and he surmised it was time to get serious about basketball. He began to wonder if coaching suited him.

Cardinals Roundup

When the season starts, I hope to have more frequent posts. However, with the opening of the season coinciding with Passover, it won't be all that easy to do.

Here's recaps from spring training games since my last post.

March 12, 2007
Atlanta 1, St. Louis 3
Winning pitcher - Ryan Franklin (1-0)
SV - Dennis Dove (1)
HR: Rick Ankiel (1)

March 13, 2007
St. Louis 2, Minnesota 5
Losing pitcher - Ricardo Rincon (0-1)

March 14, 2007
St. Louis 2, Washington 2
HR: Scott Rolen (1)

March 15, 2007
Los Angeles 3, St. Louis 2
Losing pitcher - Adam Wainwright (2-1)
HR: Chris Duncan (3)

March 16, 2007
St. Louis 6, Atlanta 6
HR: Chris Duncan 4, Edgar Gonzalez (3)

March 17, 2007
St. Louis 9, Atlanta 5
Winning pitcher - Brian Falkenborg (2-0)
HR: Scott Spiezio (2)

March 18, 2007
N.Y. Mets 4, St. Louis 5
Winning pitcher - Andy Cavazos (1-0)
SV - Randy Flores (1)

Dennis Dove is enjoying his experience in spring training so far.

Jim Edmonds and Juan Encarnacion will likely be on the DL when the season begins.

Adam Kennedy is expected to be the starter at 2B for most of the season.

La Russa is happy with Braden Looper's outings during spring training.

The Cardinals sent Rick Ankiel and Randy Keisler down to Memphis.

2007 Awards and Championship Predictions

It's that time of year to predict who I believe will take home some extra gear at the end of the 2007 season. Some of my choices were very hard, especially when it comes to the AL Rookie of the Year award.

First, the awards.

National League
Rookie of the Year: Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies
There are plenty of quality rookies out there that are expected to make the opening day roster. I like what I see in the prior stats of Troy Tulowitzki, Mike Pelfrey, and Chris B. Young. Factor in the Colorado air and I think that Troy Tulowitzki will put up some very great rookie numbers. Tulowitzki is compared a lot to the 2004 AL ROY Bobby Crosby. Pelfrey is my second choice as it's not yet known as to whether or not he will make the opening day roster for the New York Mets but when you add on all the other stuff, he's a top candidate for the award.

Most Valuable Player: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
Pujols is the best player in baseball and he's a player who will rank in the top three for average, home runs, and RBI's. At the end of the season, it will be the Cardinals and not the Phillies playing in the postseason.

Cy Young Award: Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals
Carpenter will finish this season with stats similar to or better than he performed in 2005, and much better than 2006. Carp would have had better numbers, win-wise, in 2006 had Isringhausen not been injured.

Manager of the Year: Tony La Russa, St. Louis Cardinals
There's no Joe Girardi to compete but La Russa will find a way to get the National League to win the All-Star Game.

American League
Rookie of the Year: Alex Gordon, Kansas City Royals
This was a hard decision for me in choosing between Gordon and Delmon Young. Here's a look at Sportsline for their stats in 2006. Look at the stats alone in Double A for Alex Gordon in 130 games: .325-29 HR-101 RBI -111 R-22 SB(.427 OBP-.588 SLG). Sportsline calls him the left-handed David Wright. They also say that he can put up numbers similar to that of Albert Pujols, and I agree. Believe me when I say that Alex Gordon is the player that Kansas City needs to build around. He's on all my fantasy baseball teams as he is the real deal. Look for a great season out of him this season. KC was wise to let him wait to this season to make the majors and move Mark Teahen to the outfield.

Most Valuable Player: Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins
This, too, was a tough decision as there are so many MVP-caliber players out there like Morneau, Jeter, Ortiz, Mauer. I think that Morneau will repeat here.

Cy Young Award: Johan Santana, Minnesota Twins
'Nuff said. This guy is the best pitcher in the American League right now although Roy Halladay ranks up there as well. Halladay would be my runner up choice.

Manager of the Year: Ron Gardenhire, Minnesota Twins
I don't know why but I just got this feeling that it's gonna be a breakout year for the Twins again.

All-Star Game: National League
They will find a way to win.

National League Division Champions:
East: New York Mets
Central: St. Louis Cardinals
West: San Diego Padres
Wild Card: Los Angeles Dodgers

American League Division Champions:
East: Toronto Blue Jays
Central: Minnesota Twins
West: Oakland Athletics
Wild Card: Kansas City Royals

World Series: St. Louis over Minnesota in 5 games

Cards roundup

My apologies for no posts in about half a month. I was on spring break last week or I would have been posting more frequently.

Let's start out with the results of all the Cards spring training games.

February 28, 2007
St. Louis 6, Florida 3
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (1-0)

March 1, 2007
N.Y. Mets 4, St. Louis 3
Losing pitcher - Tyler Johnson (0-1)
HR: Chris Duncan (1), Edgar Gonzalez (1), Scott Spiezio (1)

March 2, 2007
N.Y. Mets 6, St. Louis 5
Losing pitcher - Josh Kinney (0-1)

March 3, 2007
St. Louis 8, Florida 1
Winning pitcher - Troy Cate (1-0)

March 4, 2007
St. Louis 12, Florida 3
Winning pitcher - Anthony Reyes (1-0)

March 5, 2007
Houston 5, St. Louis 0
Losing pitcher - Mike Smith (0-1)

March 7, 2007
St. Louis 11, Los Angeles 1
Winning pitcher - Braden Looper (1-0)
HR: Chris Duncan (2), Edgar Gonzalez (2), John Rodriguez (1), Skip Schumaker 2 (2)

March 8, 2007
St. Louis 2, Minnesota 1
Winning pitcher - Brian Falkenborg (1-0)
SV - Kelvin Jimenez (1)

March 9, 2007
St. Louis 4, Florida 1
Winning pitcher - Anthony Reyes (2-0)

March 11, 2007
Atlanta 6, St. Louis 3
Losing pitcher - Tyler Johnson (0-2)

St. Louis is currently 7-4 in spring training play.

Adam Wainwright plans to make a smooth transition into the pitching rotation.

Tony La Russa and Scott Rolen have made their peace.

While currently sticking to a one year deal for much of the young players, the Cardinals plan to lock in Yadier Molina for a long term deal.

David Eckstein has definitely made it. He went from being a walk-on at the University of Florida to the World Series MVP.

The Cardinals reached agreements with 18 players.

Among the notables to agree on Tuesday were catcher Yadier Molina, outfielders Chris Duncan and John Rodriguez and right-handers Adam Wainwright, Anthony Reyes, Josh Hancock, Josh Kinney and Brad Thompson and lefty Tyler Johnson.

All 18 players have yet to reach the required service time to be eligible for arbitration. That puts them in a category where the club has the option to renew the player's contract at an assigned amount. However, all 18 signings represented agreed-on deals between player and club -- no one was renewed.[...]

The complete list included pitchers Troy Cate, Andy Cavazos, Dennis Dove, Brian Falkenborg, Blake Hawksworth, Hancock, Johnson, Kinney, Chris Narveson, Reyes, Thompson and Wainwright, as well as Duncan, Molina, Rodriguez, outfielders Cody Haerther and Skip Schumaker and infielder Brendan Ryan.

"It's always a little tougher to reach a quick agreement after you've won a championship," Jocketty said. "But I think everything went well. Mo [assistant general manager John Mozeliak] did the majority of them, and I thought he got it done well."

Jocketty said that the club holds some interest in signing Molina to a long-term deal, but that no imminent action is expected on that front.

I'd like to take this time to remember a Cardinals fan who recently passed away: former Missouri Senator Thomas Eagleton. Eagleton was the Democratic VP candidate for all of a few days.

McGovern and Eagleton shared more than the same liberal political bent. Both were passionate followers of the St. Louis Cardinals. McGovern said he would often travel to St. Louis and stay with the Eagletons, usually taking in a Cardinals game or two.

If this keeps up, it's the beginning of the end for Jason Isringhausen.

Josh Kinney is out for the season. What a shame.

MLB still does not get it, do they?

Hall of Fame Veterans Committee votes no one...

This is embarassing for the sake of the Veterans' Committee. Apparently, no one is good enough to get admitted into the Hall of Fame.

Ron Santo came the closest to the required 75% of the votes.

Ron Santo, Jim Kaat and all the other candidates were left out Tuesday when the Veterans Committee admitted no new members for the third straight election.

Gil Hodges, umpire Doug Harvey and union leader Marvin Miller also fell short of the 62 votes needed for Cooperstown.

Santo came the closest to the required 75 percent -- the former Cubs third baseman was picked on 57 of 82 ballots (70 percent).

Kaat, who was strongly backed by Hall member Mike Schmidt, and Harvey each drew 52 votes. Miller showed a strong increase in getting 51, followed by Hodges with 50 and Tony Oliva at 47.

The vets panel was revamped after charges of cronyism when it elected Bill Mazeroski in 2001. Expanded from 15 members to include all living Hall of Famers, the new committee has voted every other year starting in 2003.

"The process was not designed with the goal to necessarily elect someone," Hall chairman Jane Forbes Clark said.[...]

The 84 eligible voters on the vets committee included 61 Hall members, 14 broadcasters, eight writers and one holdover from the previous panel.

Embarrassing.

Scout.com's Top 40

Scout.com has been busy looking at the top 40 players of all-time that played for St. Louis.

Here's the results:
40. Edgar Renteria
39. Chick Hafey
38. Jason Isringhausen
37. Chris Carpenter
36. Bill Sherdel
35. Julian Javier
34. Bill White
33. Steve Carlton
32. Pepper Martin
31. Scott Rolen
30. Terry Moore
29. John Tudor
28. Joe Torre
27. Mort Cooper
26. Keith Hernandez
25. Bob Forsch
24. Marty Marion
23. Willie McGee
22. Mark McGwire
21. Harry Brecheen
20. Ray Lankford
19. Curt Flood
18. Johnny Mize
17. Frankie Frisch
16. Jesse Haines
15. Bruce Sutter
14. Jim Edmonds
13. Jim Bottomley
12. Joe Medwick
11. Ted Simmons
10. Red Schoendienst
9. Ken Boyer
8. Enos Slaughter
7. Dizzy Dean
6. Albert Pujols
5. Ozzie Smith
4. Rogers Hornsby
3. Lou Brock
2. Bob Gibson
1. Stan Musial

Not a bad list at all. David Eckstein, I hope, will earn a spot in that list later on down the road.

Of Brian Walton's list, only Lee Smith and Bill Doak did not make the cut.

Of Ray Mileur's list, several players didn't make the list: Vince Coleman, Todd Worrell, Bill Doak, Lee Smith, and Roger Maris.

2007 Ford Frick Award

Royals broadcaster Denny Matthews has won the 2007 Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasters.

Speaking of broadcasting, here is some good news regarding the MLB Extra Innings package.

The government is investigating a proposed deal between Major League Baseball and DirecTV Inc. that has had fans in a tizzy.

MLB reportedly seeks to strike an exclusive deal with the satellite television provider to offer its "Extra Innings" baseball package. Disclosure of the Federal Communications Commission's investigation of any such deal came in a letter from FCC chairman Kevin Martin that Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., released Thursday[...]

Kerry had asked Martin to investigate the "proposed $700 million television deal that could deny many consumers the ability to watch their favorite teams."

Martin, in reply, wrote Kerry: "I share your concerns regarding this proposed deal."

Jimmy Edmonds will be laying low for the first few weeks of spring training. We wish him well as he recovers.

Carp wants change

Chris Carpenter, the ace of the St. Louis Cardinals rotation wants change.

After two seasons and one Cy Young Award as one of the elite starting pitchers in the National League, Carpenter isn't content to just dispose of hitters with his cutter-curve combo. He wants a change. Carpenter said he had a changeup, lost it and plans to spend this spring regaining it.[...]

Carpenter, like most of the pitchers who threw Monday, did not have the sharpest command. It's early, pitching coach Dave Duncan said. But that didn't prevent Carpenter from being miffed about his new old pitch.

"Carp wants to leave spring training with a changeup he has confidence in," Duncan said. "It's a pitch that would be a real valuable pitch for him. He just hasn't had the feel and command of it that he had at one time."

As a younger pitcher in the minors and with Toronto, Carpenter said, his changeup was his second-best pitch, behind his curve. As a Cardinal, Carpenter has leaned on his curve and cut fastball to complement his four-seam fastball. The changeup would give him an offspeed pitch to lefties and supplement his curve. He had been experimenting with grips on his changeup for several seasons before settling on one late last year.

Juan Encarnacion appears to be recovering just fine. In the meantime, the Cardinals appear to have several prime candidates should he be placed on the DL.

Could this year finally be the year that Rick Ankiel is healthy enough to play in the majors?

If Ankiel still was a member of the Cardinals' pitching staff, he would be older than all but four pitchers. But because he is an outfielder, Skip Schumaker and Cody Haerther are the only younger outfielders on the 40-man roster.

"I'm still pretty young. I'm only 27," Ankiel said after Monday's workout. "It seems a lot of guys are making it to the big leagues when they're 26 or 27. I already have 3 1/2 years in. I don't think my window's closing. That's me. Now, it might be closing if I think I'm going to get 16 years in."

With camp's first full-squad workout scheduled this morning, Ankiel is given a strong chance of opening the season at Memphis or, at worst, a brief layover at Class AA Springfield. Offseason surgeries will slow center fielder Jim Edmonds and right fielder Juan Encarnacion until at least mid-March. Despite an outfield crush, Ankiel will be a visible figure.

"He'll get opportunities," manager Tony La Russa said. "He's an exciting talent. We all know that, and we all want to see it."

Ankiel literally has grown up within the only organization he has known since being made the 72nd overall pick of the 1997 draft.

Twice he was the Cardinals' minor league pitcher of the year, and he made his major league debut after only 52 minor league appearances, shortly after his 20th birthday.

He won 11 games at age 21. Before he turned 22, a loss of command made Ankiel a national curiosity.

Before he turned 24, several injuries complicated his return to the mound. A left elbow sprain suffered in camp five years ago cost him the 2002 season. Ligament transplant surgery cost him the second half of 2003.

Remarkably, Ankiel returned to the major leagues in September 2004 after only six starts at three minor league levels that produced a 2-1 record and 0.76 ERA.[...]

Time, which once was his ally, now looms as a challenge. Because Ankiel is out of options, the club retained him this winter by non-tendering him, then re-signing him as a free agent. His chances for a midseason call-up are complicated further by the Cardinals' inability to return him to the minor leagues without first passing him through waivers. In a best-case scenario, the Cardinals hope his health and production at Memphis merit a promotion in September and a spot on the 40-man roster next winter.

Rotation problems not yet solved

We're a couple of days into spring training and the question still remains as to who will be in the rotation and who will not. Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan are already offering differing viewpoints regarding the situation.

Manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan can typically finish each other's sentences. But La Russa took minor exception Sunday to Duncan's recent characterization of five defined front-runners for the starting rotation with free-agent import Ryan Franklin as an extra.

Duncan cited ace Chris Carpenter, Kip Wells, Adam Wainwright, Anthony Reyes and Braden Looper as the "five guys that will get the priority."

La Russa said Sunday at Roger Dean Stadium, "Had I been asked that question before Dave, I would have said we have Carp and we have six or seven guys for four spots."

La Russa is typically reluctant to handicap competition this early in camp and is sensitive to the rotation since Wainwright and Looper have yet to make a major league start.

"He wanted to say it, and if you stop and think about the sense in that ... I think it's sending the right message to Anthony Reyes, to Braden Looper, to Adam Wainwright," La Russa said. "I think what he's saying is, 'You guys have the best shot to be in the five.'"

Narveson, Thompson, and Franklin are all considered as sleeper picks for the rotation.

Troy Cate's story is very unique and for those reasons, it's a must read.

Mark Mulder believes that all his problems can be traced to the 2004 season with the Oakland Athletics.

"I guess I could look back at the end of '04 as when things started to change," recalled Mulder, who cost the Cardinals three players — starting pitcher Dan Haren, reliever Kiko Calero and prized catching prospect Daric Barton.

"I can look at that June as when things started to change. I didn't think anything was wrong at the time. I thought things were different."

A stress fracture near his right hip abbreviated Mulder's 2003 season. He won 17 games in 2004 but endured a difficult second half, leading to rumors that he was pitching hurt. Mulder, however, says that he felt "completely normal" in 2004 and that any connection now is mere "second-guessing."

Mulder, 29, began a series of alterations to his delivery that prevented him from achieving consistency. By the time he landed on the disabled list for the first time last May, Mulder described himself as "slinging" the ball with an abbreviated arm action completely different from his form at the beginning of his final season in Oakland.

"I wasn't throwing correctly, but I never would have imagined needing surgery," said Mulder, who avoided surgery for his first seven professional seasons. "My entire career has been about 'whatever I'm feeling, I'll get over it.' But when a couple surgeons tell you that you need surgery, it's a weird feeling. You don't know what to expect."

Mulder improvised to a 16-8 record and 3.64 ERA in 2005 as rival scouts increasingly speculated he was pitching hurt. Mulder denied those suggestions and won five of his first six decisions last season before a jagged start against the San Diego Padres in late May began an irreversible spiral.

"It didn't necessarily hurt to pitch. It felt weak," Mulder said.

Disabled from June 22 to Aug. 22, Mulder returned from a three-game rehab to make two abortive starts in which he allowed 14 earned runs in 4 2/3 total innings. He allowed the New York Mets nine earned runs in three innings in his first start.

Mulder should be able to recover fully and become the Hall of Famer that I believe he should be.

Don't boo Isringhausen

What happened last season was a result of pain in his hip and once I found that out, I stopped booing. Actually, I never was one of those that booed Isringhausen because it's not right. Now, Juan is a different story but that's another story for another day.

There is a nice article today on Isringhausen and what the boos meant to him and his family.

Pitching coach Dave Duncan has tentatively scheduled the Cardinals closer to return to game competition March 15, barring complications. There is no running in Isringhausen's spring program, and his participation in fielding practice will be restricted. No covering bases. No fielding bunts.

"We don't want to do anything that gets him sore," Duncan said.

In a perfect world, Isringhausen will recover in time from his seventh surgery ("three shoulders, two hips, two elbows") in time to close out the April 1 opener against the New York Mets.

But even if Isringhausen closes the game, takes a flip from catcher Yadier Molina and gives the game ball to a little girl behind the first-base dugout — his habit — bruises, scarring and soreness will remain.

A painful season left its mark on Isringhausen long before he was shut down Sept. 7, a Thursday on which he "celebrated" his 34th birthday during the back end of a Washington-to-Phoenix trip.

By then the Brighton, Ill., native and Edwardsville resident had become callused from booing in his home park, booing he says now prevents his wife from attending games and challenges a long-held desire to retire with the club.

"I'm still happy to be part of the Cardinals, but in a sense it has become more of a business," he said.[...]

Isringhausen explained that he pitched through the condition to allow a relatively inexperienced bullpen to stay in its assigned roles for as long as possible.

Said La Russa: "I'd like to think once the facts are in he will get the reception he deserves."

Teammates describe a player generous with advice and money. Isringhausen, who supplied the home bullpen with industrial fans last summer, also mentored a group that included two rookies and two others with less than two years' major league service.

"He's been like a second father to me," said 25-year-old lefthander Tyler Johnson, who emerged as a huge postseason factor as a rookie. "I owe a lot of what success I've had to him. It's hard for me to describe how much respect I have for him."

"In the few years I've been here, I've seen him riding unbelievably well and riding unbelievably bad. And he's the same person to those who see him every day," said Randy Flores. "You always see him answering the tough questions, facing it when things go wrong and taking responsibility."

Isringhausen's bullpen mates held to a clubhouse omerta, obliquely acknowledging his struggles but not giving him away.

Isringhausen returned on crutches to the team shortly after his Sept. 21 surgery and rode shotgun during its World Series ride. Watching Adam Wainwright close each round of the playoffs before striking out Detroit Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge to end the World Series served as a bittersweet symphony.

"I wanted to be part of the St. Louis Cardinals. I wanted to close out the World Series. I wanted to be the guy. That was the hardest part of last year. But I couldn't be more happy or prouder for Adam than anybody, except maybe his mom. And she always hugs me," Isringhausen said.

"Izzy was right there when we won and celebrated, part of it. And all of us were glad for it," Flores said. "Not everybody would have handled it like that. (Withdrawing) is a way of protecting yourself. When you're hurt, it's there every day for 24 hours. But he understands that it's part of the game. That doesn't make it any easier, but it goes to his presence as a leader."

But even the Oct. 29 celebration picked at the hurt.

"I don't like getting booed, especially loud booing. It's over now. I'm sure the first day I come out there I'll get booed again," he said. "How many people get booed at the parade?"

I thought I would take note of this excerpt right here.

He remembers being booed with the Oakland A's before coming to St. Louis. But that was different. A rabid newspaper, Internet and chat room reader, Isringhausen felt the hostility before reaching the park each day.

Now, I don't know if Jason Isringhausen reads this blog or which blogs he does read but the fact is, I didn't boo him then, I won't boo him now. I would expect that fans would give him a standing ovation on Opening Day. That's what I would do anyway.