Rotation scenarios

I blame Will at Deadspin!! No, seriously, it's the fault of the weather.

If it rains tomorrow and postpones game 4 again, games 4 and 5 would be on friday and saturday. If the weather's that ugly on Friday, games 4 and 5 would be in St. Louis on Saturday sunday. Here's some rotation scenarios:

Thursday: Suppan
Friday: Reyes or Weaver

Thursday: PPD
Friday: Suppan
Saturday: Reyes/Weaver

Thursday and Friday: PPD
Sat: Suppan
Sun: Carp

Your thoughts?

In the mean time, I'm keeping the game 4 post where it is since I fear that we could have more than one rainout this week.

World Series: Cardinals vs. Tigers - Game 3

FOX Broadcasting Team:
Play-by-Play: Joe Buck
Analysts: Tim McCarver
Reporter: Chris Meyers, Ken Rosenthal

Trace Adkins will be singing the National Anthem and Jo Dee Messina will sing "G-d Bless America" during game 3. For Game 4, it's Billy Ray Cyrus (with his daughter, Miley) and Sugarland, respectively. All this per Tim McKernan.

Lineups
Cardinals
David Eckstein SS
Preston Wilson LF
Albert Pujols 1B
Scott Rolen 3B
Ronnie Belliard 2B
Jim Edmonds CF
Yadier Molina C
So Taguchi RF
Carpenter P
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Chris Carpenter

Tigers
Curtis Granderson CF
Craig Monroe LF
Placido Polanco 2B
Magglio Ordonez RF
Carlos Guillen SS
Ivan Rodriguez C
Sean Casey 1B
Brandon Inge 3B
Nate Robertson P
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Nate Robertson

Chris Carpenter takes on Nate Robertson in the first of three games to be played at Busch Stadium during the World Series. Carpenter is 3-4 in 11 starts against the Detroit Tigers with a 7.03 ERA. I'd wager to say that most of those starts were while he was with the Blue Jays. Fungoes has the career OPS records against each pitcher. Nate Robertson has never faced the Cardinals although he has faced David Eckstein, Preston Wilson, and Ronnie Belliard in prior years. Preston Wilson will likely start in the game today given his numbers against Robertson (5-5 with two home runs).

Tiger hitters vs. Carpenter:
Pudge Rodriguez 9-26
Magglio Ordonez 5-18
Neifi Perez 3-14
Sean Casey 6-13
Carlos Guillen 3-11
Placido Polanco 2-7
Brandon Inge 3-5
Curtis Granderson 2-4
Craig Monroe 1-3
Marcus Thames 1-3
Vance Wilson 1-2

Carp has to be the most careful with Pudge, Mags, and Casey.

That's a winner and the St. Louis Cardinals take a 2-1 series lead as Chris Carpenter and Braden Looper combine shut out the Tigers 5-0, thanks to some bad defense on the Tigers part.

We'll see you tomorrow night!

How we scored tonight:
In the bottom of the fourth, Jim Edmonds doubled to right, scoring both Scott Rolen and Albert Pujols scored.
In the bottom of the seventh, Albert Pujols reached on a fielder's choice but Joel Zumaya bad a bad throw to third, scoring both David Eckstein and Preston Wilson.
In the bottom of the eighth, with bases loaded for Albert Pujols, So Taguchi scored on a wild pitch.

We've managed to shut down Curtis Granderson (0-13), Pudge Rodriguez (0-11) and Placido Polanco (0-10) during the World Series. Carp was dealing, going 8 strong innings, fanning 6, and giving up 3 hits and no runs. Carp only through 82 pitches the whole game.

In the World Series, Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen have brought their bats with them and are batting a combined .429 through three games. Rolen has an 8 game hitting streak. Jimmy Hollywood's career is definitely winding down and it would be sad to see him retire after this season, or sign with another team. I'd like to see another season or two from Jim Edmonds as a Cardinal but check out this article from Yahoo.

Jim Edmonds' nickname is "Hollywood," a reference to the 36-year-old center fielder's uncanny knack for coming through when everybody is watching.

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa surely had that in mind when he kept putting Edmonds in the lineup against lefties this year, despite a puny .156 batting average against them.

Sure enough, facing Detroit Tigers southpaw Nate Robertson in Game 3 of the World Series, Edmonds put his name in lights yet again.

The St. Louis Cardinals' elder statesman, prone more to musing about retirement in a season plagued with injury and struggles at the plate, lined a key double down the first-base line off Robertson in the fourth inning Tuesday night for the first runs in St. Louis' 5-0 victory.

Here's a line from his press conference after the game: "I knew it might be one of the last times I played here."

In the post season, Carp was 2-1 with 3.70 ERA and 17 K. I'll have the stats updated tomorrow on here to reflect the new numbers.

St. Louis 5, Detroit 0
Winning pitcher - Chris Carpenter (1-0)

The last World Series shutout by Cardinal pitching was 1985's Game 4 against the Royals. Gibson shut 'em out in 1968 and Dizzy Dean did so in 1934.

We can win this thing. I know it. You know it. Cardinal Nation mot definitely knows it. Especially with the defense of the Tigers, or lack there of.

Letterman: Top Ten Signs A Baseball Player is Cheating

This is the top ten from Monday's Late Show with David Letterman
Top Ten Signs A Baseball Player Is Cheating

10. Tested positive for uranium
9. Always asking fans for clean urine
8. After each win, receives congratulatory phone call from Balco founder Victor Conte
7. Name on back of his uniform is "Bonds"
6. You can find him in the club house corking himself
5. Distracts opponents by throwing out the frozen head of Ted Williams
4. Somehow got 3 RBI's during the seventh-inning stretch
3. You haven't seen someone with that much Vaseline on them since the last Paris Hilton video
2. Pete Rose called him a disgrace to the game
1. His nickname is "Needle @$$"

On Dan Patrick

TLR was ready to order Jose Oquendo to have the umpires search KR and that in the end, he said no. Some of it may have had to do with his friendship with Jim Leyland.

DP: "How do you protect the integrity of the game when you let someone cheat during the game?"

"CSI: MLB" - Pitch it to CBS and you have another hit show!!

Whoever is on his show (Randy Cunningham?) around 1:30 believes that the umpires should be replaced or fired.

The thing is, it has to be ordered by the manager, not a bench coach. I just hope this does not come back to harm us.

The Clydesdales are coming tonight! Joe Morgan is now on and I'll summarize as best as possible.

Morgan thinks it should not be pushed under the rug. KR took advantage of Jeff Weaver as well. As to TLR, TLR did not want an uproar. From a mgr standpoint, he's to protect his players and pitchers.

DP: Did Kenny Rogers cheat?
KR: Yes

The World Series is a bigger issue than his relationship with Leyland.

Talking about Hal McRae's article in the USA Today and the scuffmarks in the same spot.

Does not think it's a coincidence about the postseason record now.

Gives Carpenter the edge but doesn't think he's the same pitcher now than he was midseason.

HItting coach Hal McRae calls KR out

USA Today:

"It was so blatant," Cardinals hitting coach Hal McRae told USA TODAY on Monday. "What was so strange about it was how obvious it was, in the World Series. It's a shame a guy would cheat in a World Series game. It hurts the integrity of the game.

"He wasn't just cheating by using pine tar; he was scuffing balls, too. We collected about five or six balls that are scuffed. He had to be using his fingernails or something."

Rogers, whose eight scoreless innings helped tie the series at one game apiece with Game 3 scheduled Tuesday at Busch Stadium, adamantly denied he cheated. Rogers, answering questions for nearly 30 minutes Monday, said he had only mud, dirt, rosin and spit on the base of his left thumb.

"Maybe it looked like pine tar; I don't know," said Rogers, who has pitched 23 scoreless innings in this postseason. "I'm skeptical of a lot of stuff (in baseball), too, but I'm not skeptical of my ability to pitch. My pitching isn't that dominant. ... I just know how to pitch."

Major League Baseball has no plan to investigate, according to spokesman Rich Levin, saying the issue was addressed Sunday night.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who said Monday, "I don't believe it was dirt, didn't look like dirt," met with his team before the workout to explain his reasoning for not having the umpire crew inspect Rogers.

"I was not going to be part of the BS where I was going to ask the umpire to go to the mound and undress the pitcher," La Russa said. "I alerted (plate umpire Alfonso Marquez). I said, 'I hope it gets fixed. If it doesn't get fixed, then I'll take the next step.' "

Kenny Rogers: You're being placed on notice

Umpire confirms it was pine tar

JxMetal makes a comment at VEB that he knows an umpire in Double A ball. The AA umpire called the home plate umpire to find out what went on last night. The umpire confirmed what everyone else has been speculating: Kenny Rogers had pine tar on his hand and only recieved a warning.

So I have a guy in my class who is an umpire. This season he was in double AA ball. To protect his privacy I guess I'll just give his first name, Mike. Anyways, he's friends with the home plate ump from last night.

So last night he called him up and asked him what was on the hand and the ump said it was definitly pinetar and told Rodgers to "f***ing clean his hand" He said this to him as Rodgers was walking off the field after the first inning. I didn't catch his whole conversation, but he didn't kick him out because he said it to Rodgers before LaRussa talked to the umpire.

There ya go, because Tony La Russa did not come off the bench sooner, Kenny stays in and we don't have a bullpen game for game two.

Around the Horn Coverage of Smudgegate

Due to a night class, I won't be able to focus on coverage on Pardon the Interruption unless it's in the first five minutes of that show.

On Around the Horn today is J.J. Adande, Tim Cowlishaw, Woody Paige, and Jay Marriotti. According to Jay, Obama flies coach.

The Rogers story leads off. The arguments:
Jay - Accuses MLB of covering up the story and brings up ESPN's coverage. Credits McCarver and wants to know why TLR let it go. Wonders whether we can trust baseball again. Where's Bud Selig in all of this?

Cowlishaw - Not calling it cover up. Doesn't know if it is dirt. Not a huge scandal. Gaylord Perry.

Adande - Have to ask why is cheating a part of baseball. Throw out all the players in the HOF who violated any rule. Says we shouldn't be so upset. Says he should have been ejected and that baseball is hypocritical.

Woody - Hid the pine tar, which is sticky, and when he held the rosin bag, it stuck to the hands, so he had to wash it off. He was cheating. Woody even illustrates the thing.

On PTI:
They start off with Kenny Rogers so it looks like it's dinner after this. Wilbon says it should have been important since it's the World Series and that Tony La Russa should get into his head.

Tony Kornheiser says to check his hat and glove. He says to get into Kenny Rogers' head.

Wilbon says it doesn't help that it was discovered in the second inning.

The day after...

There's no doubt in my mind that Kenny Rogers was cheating.

ESPN is making a story out of this. MLB is covering up the issue.

I wish that TLR would have gone out there to argue during the inning AS SOON as Tim McCarver had mentioned it during the broadcast. For all the flack that McCarver gets from viewers, he gets major kudos for noticing this case.

I hate that Bernie is making this a non-issue. It's an issue that won't go away. The Cards will clinch at Busch on Thursday with three straight wins.

As hot as Yadier's bat has been lately, I would have pinch hit for him in hopes of getting two runs to tie the game and go to extra innings.

In other news, anyone remember this play where Albert Pujols tagged out Chris Burke, yet Burke was called safe?

Kenny Rogers caught with Pine Tar

Photo provided by Hardcore Legend at VEB.

MLB better do something about this since the umpires should have ejected him.

Postgame updates:
Kenny Rogers is clearly a liar that's gotten in trouble once and when he gets in trouble again, he gets away with it. He states that it was just a "clump of dirt."

Any foreign substance should have been cause for ejection. Why, oh umpires, why did you not eject Kenny Rogers when he CLEARLY cheated it not 1, not 2, but 3 series now!!

When all that is Steve Phillips states that this was a missed opportunity by the Cardinals, you know something is up. I'm surprised that Tony La Russa did not make any charges of the pine tar during the press conference after the game.

Here's an article from ESPN on the issue of whether or not it was pine tar.

"It was a big clump of dirt," Rogers said after the game. "I didn't know it was there. They told me about, but it was no big deal."

When asked how he could have a big clump of dirt on his hand, Rogers replied, "It was dirt and rosin put together. That's what happens when you rub it up. … I just went and wiped if off. I didn't think it was an issue. After the first inning, it was fine. I felt I was pretty comfortable after that."[...]

After the substance was noticed, ESPN reviewed tapes of Rogers' pitching performances earlier in the postseason. The tapes revealed that, in starts against both the Yankees and Athletics, a similar-looking brown substance was spotted on Rogers' hand.

It's most likely pine tar and not a clump of dirt as the lying Rogers states.

MLB Rule 8.02
(b) Have on his person, or in his possession, any foreign substance. For such infraction of this section (b) the penalty shall be immediate ejection from the game. In addition, the pitcher shall be suspended automatically for 10 games.

Kenny's post-game press conference:
Reporter: What was it on your hand in the first inning? How did you take it off? And, why?

Rogers: It was a big clump of dirt. And, I went and wiped it off after the first. I didn't know that it was there until afterwards. And, then they told me, and I took it off. No big deal.

Reporter: Did somebody complain?

Rogers: No. I just saw it. No. I saw it. I didn't it was there until after the inning. And, then I went and took it off. And, it was good.

Reporter: So the umpire didn't mention it all to you?

Rogers: No

Reporter: Kenny, you say you had a clump of dirt on your hand. How can you have a clump of dirt on your hand?

Rogers: Well, it's dirt and rosin and all that stuff. Whatever is put together. So, when it's moist out there, you're going to rub up the baseballs, and it left on my hand when I rubbed them up.

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