cardsfan

Last year when the Twins won 101 games they were 7 below .500 against teams who were above .500. Shouldn't this have been an opportunity last offseason to say you know you keep those players that do well against winning teams and trade those who do not to see what we can get. Why because you have to face those teams from other divisions that are beating up bad Central division teams. I'm not sure, also, the love for Maeda. First half very good in his career second half bullpen pitcher. The Dodgers aren't stupid. Looks like Garver has little trade value now. Nelson Cruz my favourite player of yours who could have caught a game tying triple in the 2011 World Series makes me wonder if he returned to the juice. Josh Donaldson is always a rupture away from a career ending season. Minor league pitching ddevelopment emphasis. Homer Bailey I expected that. Rich Hill well he will be 41. I would get you pitching from Maeda with that contract. Oh, well my team has young pitching with arm surgeries every year. Keep bringing up more. I'm surprised Berrios isn't hurt ever in this era.

18 games in a row. Thats hard to believe as my team has nationwide announcers believing the Padres with no good pitching left are the eventual WS winners. Developing pitching every year. Good pitching almost always stops good hitting.

Talking baseball history here of the original teams since 1920. No expansion team is above .500 lifetime and that is 60 years of expansion baseball. Someone do the AL rankings since the Twins are one of the original 8. I'm a NLer as the AL dominates in the WS, i.e. the Yankees. 1920 on in the live ball era: 1. Cardinals though "In the regular season the Dodgers" especially since integration. The Cardinals didn't win until they got some HOF black and Hispanic players in the 1960's. 11 WS wins since 1926 and many second place finishes. Why the droughts in the 1950's, 1970's, and 1990's? Ownership as Gussie and son of the beer family had issues at times. Current ownership has had pennant races ever year in the 2000's. The Cards have won the last game of the regular season in a do or go home more than anyone else and several last do or die games in the postseason like the last two WS games in 1982 and 2011. No HOF pitcher since the traded Carlton over $5000 though he agreed on his way to the park, but, trade was already made. 2. The Dodgers won 1 out 9 WS in Brooklyn. The Dodgers are 1-4 when the season was tied after 154 or 162 losing to the Giants in the bottom of the 9th twice. Vin Scully has seen more great baseball history as a non-player or non-coach than any other person. The hapless Dodgers since 1988 have lost the last game of the postseason 12 or 13 times. Dodger pitching is the best in NL since integration. But, how would you like to lose than many postseason series and 1-4 extra regular season series. In 36 years from 1946-1981 the Dodgers lost 4 times after season was tied. And many WS. 3. SF Giants. Until they won 3 WS in 5 years with Madbum they had won just 1 in the previous 77 years or 1933. Moving to SF and playing in an awful park didn't help. .535 lifetime percentage. 4. Cincinnati Reds not great since the Big Red Machine though they won in 1990. Bad ownership. Never great pitching even in the 1970's. The next 3 are hard though the hapless Braves are 7th and Phillies 8th. 5. Pittsburgh Pirates have won more WS than the Cubs, but, have been doormats mainly since 1979 with a losing record for over 20 years after Bonds left. 6. Chicago Cubs were 2-10 or something like that before winning game 7 after 108 years of no WS titles. The Cubs until recently hadn't won 90 games in consecutive season since the late 1920's. No wonder half of Illinois residents outside Chicago are Cardinals fans. 7. The Braves won 14 pennants in a row though the Expos would have in the strike season of 1994. I can't imagine only winning only one last game of the postseason for those 15 years. 8. When expansion teams have as many WS titles as your team you are bad. The Phillies have had some good teams in the first decade of this century, but, only one title in 40 years. They are the doormats. Ruly Carpenter as owner? Just awful.

Trout, Pujols, Ohtani and that great fiielding SS and one playoff appearance and no wins in that playoff appearance.

154-162 games. For baseball records.

I've mailed the previous commissioner about this format for the season making the last 7 or 8 regular season games sold as a package before the season very relevant. This will work well with 8 divisions of 4. At the end of 154 or 155 games the number 1 in the division plays number 2. Number 3 plays other number 3 in the same league. Number 4 does the same as they are the worse team and can bring up their minor leaguers for the last 7 or 8 games. Only 1st place teams make playoffs. If tie then game 163. Ok if 7 games left in season think of this scenario the 1st place team is ahead 3 games and plays number 2. If the second place team wins 5 out of 7 game 163 is played. The last 7 games are real pennant races with division winners going to the playoffs. Now if Number 3 is say 2 games behind number 1 after 154 or 155 games it is possible to still win or tie for division title. Number 2 team wins four out of seven while the number 3 team wins 5 out of 7 and catches number 1. Could number 4 win all 7 games and tie for division? Then for the playoffs the best division winner plays the worst division winner in first round giving incentives for home field advantage. Home field advantage in the second round to best record until the World Series where it alternates, but, if a World Series winner from the previous season is heading back to the World Series that team gets 4 home games if series goes 7. Last 7 or 8 count as regular season games, but, can be differentiated as the final two weekends of hectic baseball. Its possible if number one is leading division by 5 games that number 2 wins 6 out of 7 we have a tie. Same if number 1 is leading by 7 and is swept all 7 games. Very few will read this as my forum in St. Louis is dominated by trolls in a clique and just provoke responses with several probably using more than one alias with mental health problems. Here is moderated, but, I don't think baseball is your top love like in St. Louis or Chicago or L.A. or Boston or New York or at times Cincinnati. With a moderated Other Baseball you should be attracting fans from generations. I've been to 41 major leagues parks and need 5 more and am interested in a Monterrey, Mexico out of the country park when a team plays there since I've driven or ridden in a car 4 times 100's of miles in the country with the last in 2006. You need more baseball fans especially after football is becoming or approaching a touch football league.

As Molina had his 2000 hit last night who are the hit leaders when appearing as a catcher? This is what someone posted. Ivan Rodriguez - 2749 Jason Kendall - 2160 Carlton Fisk - 2145 Yadier Molina - 1978 AJ Pierzynski - 1971 Ted Simmons - 1908 Gary Carter - 1907 Mike Piazza - 1906 Bill Dickey - 1896 Yogi Berra - 1765 Gaby Hartner - 1738 Johnny Bench - 1646 Joe Mauer - 1118 I don't think Mauer gets in the HOF for several years with that number of hits because others like Madlock won 3 or more batting titles. Can Molina get 183 hits to be number 2 in hits for catchers? The catcher is the middle linebacker of the defense though he can't run very well. He will be back next year. Never forgot his HR in Game 7 in New York in the 9th inning that broke a tie in the 2006 NLCS which led to a WS title and in the bottom of the 9th called for an unhittable curve ball striking out Beltran with the bases loaded.

Rule V. He was polished after being acquired and became one of the top pitchers for a while until the Mets ruined him.

Using my Cards as an example: The only major miss of the Cards trading young developed starters since trading both Jerry Reuss and Steve Carlton before the 1972 season was Mark Mulder for Dan Haren. Mulder though winning 16 and losing 8 in 2005, but, lost 2 games against the Astros was a shell of himself as Haren had some good success in the big leagues. The Cards last had a starter, Bob Forsch, start 30 games 5 years in a row in the late 1970's. That is a long time. We couldn't trade Lance Lynn with two more years on his contract because he needed TJ surgery by the end of season 4. Season 5 was rehab, 6 was recovery with a bad second half and 7 was worse than 6 after his FA started. He's found success in Texas. Cards couldn't trade him in time as he needs one more pitch. The Cards rehabbed Garcia to get John Gant who was 11-1 last year, but, has trouble pitching more than 5. This year Flaherty who had a 0.5 ERA in the second half last year has had one bad start and seems disgruntled because he has no leverage in salary negotiations may not want to negotiate buying out a few of his FA years which GMs like to do. Dakota Hudson has just had a arm strain who wins despite a high WHIP as a rookie last year. They traded off some young pitchers with the still developing Zac Gallen really the one we shouldn't have. Remember Bud Smith and Polanco for Scott Rolen. Or Eric Rasmussen for George Hendrick? Or the reverse JD injury proned Drew for rookie Wainwright? So how is yours after Blyleven? Santana wasn't developed by you. Did you maximize Viola or Radke? Traded them in time? Should have realized that one of your pitchers that the fans were in love with likely was going to have arm problems like the Cardinals Lance Lynn and when the injury came couldn't trade him. That is the game inside the game. Berrios doesn't get much noise outside Minnesota that I'm aware and he is approaching FA. Always wonder like sign him up for a couple of years after he could be a FA and then an arm injury happens and there goes two years of trying to nurse him back to what he was. When I think of Twins pitching I think of Kaat after he won 25 as he was like a 12-11 pitcher after that year. Blyleven started a lot his first x number of years with the Twins. The year he had 9 shutouts he still lost 17 games. If you had Koufax he wouldn't have lost 17 games or Carlton, Gibson, Seaver, Maddux etc. Nolan Ryan yes he would have. So evaluate like we should have traded this developed starter earlier or before out of baseball or we got good value in time or we had to get value because of a roster crunch and we've given him plenty of chances like the Cards up and down Marco Gonzales. You need pitching to beat the evil empire which the Cards had in 1926 with Alexander and Gibson in 1964 as the Yankees were better. Proud to beat the Yankees 3 out of 5 though they were better in 4. I hate the Yankees too. I can't imagine losing that many playoff games in a row to them. As the 1964 Mike Shannon on the radio would say, "But, we had Gibson". You had Kyle Gibson.

The Cards lucked out. They offered Pujols a big contract. David Price was going here. Heyward with his 13 Hrs had a better deal than the Cubs offerrd who won a WS in spite of his contract. Giancarlo rejected being traded here to St. Louis. Looking at stupid sabremetrics, the Cards signed Fowler for $80 million who has troubling playing 130 games in a season. Lucked out in not having to pay Seattle for Mike Leake's last year. Don't give players who are .500 pitchers or a one-time All-Star with no power or high OBP long term contracts. No extensions unless there is a likely possibility of player leaving. Thank God the Cards nursed Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright through pitching injuries as our only two power pitchers. I wonder if Wainwright can come back next year on his 3rd one year contract. Not sure. Molina a 1 year contract. Those two wouldn't come back if the team wasn't in contention which it has been the entire century. When the Cards had their one losing season in 2007 they were only one game and a half out around September 7. The key is developing pitching, finding pitching like KK from S. Korea, trades except Mulder for Dan Haren with the extension of Mulder ill-advised, rehabbed pitchers like Carpenter. Scherzer wanted to come to St. Louis, but, $210 million seemed steep.

We had some trolls saying our GM giving our catcher Molina 3 years for $60 million was a bad contract. Molina won his 10th Gold Glove two years ago and last year the Cards won 91 and the second round and there was no chance they make the playoffs with a mediocre catcher as he handles pitchers quite well. This is the last year of the contract so he will likely go year to year with incentives like Adam Wainwright. It is not coincidental that the Cardinals have won a lot of playoff rounds and games and averaged nearly 91 wins this century with only 2 catchers with 14 gold gloves with Mike Matheny having one with the Giants as Molina took over. You lost Joe Mauer for some years as he suffered from concussions and that hurt. The catcher is the quarterback in baseball. He needs to be the smartest man on the field. The Giants in decline with Posey in decline not surprising.

Yelich will be fine. Somehow he became a power hitter after the 90+ games of the first half of 2018 in which he hit just 11. Just like several Brewers hitting 30 over the 2017-2019 seasons that came out of nowhere. But, Braun no longer with 30+ Hrs as he is another bad long-term contract. Got caught twice. Giancarlo Stanton is a bad LT contract because he is always injured with just 14 games this year. The Cardinals had a deal for him which he rejected so we traded for and signed Goldschmidt and extended him for 5 years costing the Cards Zac Gallen. Three really bad contracts with the Cards offering Jay Hey with his 13 Hrs more money than the Cubs and he rejected us, boo hoo. And the Cardinals after winning 2011 with no DH in the NL and knowing Pujols is likely 2 years older after saying he faced Octavio Dotel in the DR almost matched that awful owner in Anaheim's offer of 10 year. Price rejected the Cardinals for the Red Sox for 7 years. Scherzer wanted to come to his home town, but, the staff here seemed set as you take a big risk with pitchers. Mark Buehrle years earlier the same as he retired at 36 with a 15-8 record in 2015. Goldschmidt has 4 more years left, but, he is looking good this year and his defense saves infielders' errors. No division title and second round appearance last year without his defense at first as Luke Voit was a failure in St. Louis. The contract looks better now for Goldie after hitting just .260 and going over 60 ABs without an RBI still ended up with 97. Could cut down on the strikeouts 10% would get a lot of votes for MVP at his age. $216 million guaranteed left on Giancarlo's contract with the $10 million buyout. I'm sure he might be comeback player of the year one year, but...

I see that Yelich is still effected by a broken kneecap from last year and has a longterm contract now through 2028. It always raised an eyebrow that he had 11 HR before the break in 2018 and then was in contention for the triple crown. Cabrera of the Tigers contract is a disaster. He had a chance of 2 triple crowns in a row then his tail off at 34. What a way to get into the HOF as $180 million wasted on a washed up player. Albert Pujols: From one interview when he said he faced Octavio Dotel it seemed like he admitted without saying it that he was 2 years older than listed. Thank God the Angels thought he would lead them to the promise land with one playoff appearance. I'm not such a homer to realize who his trainer was or that his head seemed bigger than when he was a rookie. I know he hit 660, but, he had 449 HRs through 2011 when he was slipping. Joey Votto: Just turned 37. The Reds didn't learn with the Griffey contract. $82 million left counting the $7 million buyout. Votto after 2011 doesn't scare any pitchers as he strikeouts out a lot as well as walking. There is no way at age 37 he should be voted in the HOF with 1031 runs and 958 RBIs regardless of his OBP. You are talking about the poster boy for how bad modern stats can bring about a huge contract when the bottom line is scoring and driving in runs and saving runs. Griffey was injury proned, but, Votto is laughable. Then there is Robinson Cano. Others still active?

I came over since you are playing my team and saddened by my childhood favourite ballplayer, Lou Brock, dying. Eddie Rosario reminds me of Moustakas. I thought he was on his way of being groomed as your second baseman someday, but, obviously his defense or another player put him back in the OF. Last year he received an MVP vote like who would DFAd him after 45 games or at the end of this whacky season? His OPS is around .800 though I don't believe it would be as high in the NL because we have some ballparks that are are fair to pitchers as Yankee stadium is a joke and the AL Central last year was awful with the Tigers, Royals and White Sox. One more year or some prospects that will pan out or a QO after next season. But, like several FAs he may go all out and have a .880+ OPS season instead of a .780-.800 season and you wonder what is he going to command on the open market when he declines your Qualifying Offer. Look at the Moose's start with Cincinnati. They gave him a big contract to play in that HR happy park and I'm sure the fans will likely stay frustrated. If Rosario had the intensity like Pete Rose, who does as Rose drank a lot of leaded coffee which is why he ran down to first base when he walked in the old days, he would definitely get higher MVP votes. His boneheaded plays get pointed out by fans which is what lack of focus or intensity? Rose is a bad example, but, he was the most intense player in his day. My Lou Brock when he stole 118 in 1974 at age 35 when I was 9 was the most intense and intimidating player that year as Rose had a slight offseason before leading the Big Red Machine to 2 titles. Intensity, Eddie. You can make a lot of money. Rose didn't know when to let up as his outside life caught up to him. No way is he DFAd or if you trade him you will have seller's regrets. Those awful long term contracts might bite too.

34 year old 4 year $92 million sure looks good now.

And the 2-3 Cardinals are cancelled again tonight. What a joke. Other teams will cancel games.

I told you.

You can joke. That runner on second to start an extra inning makes the game a comedy.

I am almost positive that some bad or expensive contracts my team has if season is canceled benefits the team. Like one less year of Fowler, $20 million for an old Molina, Matt Carpenter hitting .226, Paul G, age 32 and 287 days now, hitting .260 and .821 OPS while getting a $130 million contract starting this year, our Miles Mikolas age 31 and 304 days getting $68 million for 4 years starting this year with a 9-14 record on a 91 win team beating out the Cubs last year, an old Andrew Miller with a high ERA won't get $11 million this year and won't meet requirements to get extension next year. Our Brett Cecil who got a 4 year contract in which he has missed all last year, 6.89 ERA in 2018 and awful in 2017 ain't getting paid for year four very much. And this is the last year of Mike Leake's contract that we had to pay Seattle $4 million to take the contract away. You think your manager got AL manager think of the contract disasters we had with no losing records since 2007. Our manager has to deal with disappointments, but, we have our young pitchers. He got NL manager of the year.

I still want 2 teams contracted like Tampa and another. Marlins would have been except for new stadium. Florida baseball should have just been in February and March.

I'm thinking of rules that won't render past statistics obsolete. Like because too many HRs are being hit because the OF walls are moved effecting HR stats have a designated OF who doesn't bat be behind the OF wall, but, not in the bleachers. CF grass behind the wall so fans can watch him catch an out and then try to keep a runner from advancing one or so bases like first to second would be ideal like in my ballpark. Then the 450 foot homer which would count as 2 runs is pretty rare, but, to see one. I've seen a couple hit in the upper deck by Pujols and a Pete Incaviglia in the old Busch Stadium. It won't effect stats like the DH did:( A 5-run walk-off HR ending the game with the winning team winning by 1 might be a once in a decade or two event. A triple is an exciting play if there is a throw to third. HRs are mostly exciting if it puts your team ahead otherwise they are boring. They're taking away the hard slide into 2nd and crashing into the catcher and umpire arguments due to replays so make a few changes that don't destroy the record book. And having a batter travel to five bases such as a wild throw after an inside the park homerun would be a rule that could haave been in the rules in 1900 and we wouldn't question. Ty Cobb would have the record for 5 basers since the OF was so big. Having 8 men bat and no DH was an idea, but, baseball is about 3's and 9's.

You do know that the mumps vaccine was the fastest to market at 4 years?

Since they are proposing starting an extra inning with a guy on 2nd I thought let us add some more rule changes. The first rule is satire. But, I like the other 3. 1. Cardboard figures in the OF. If you hit one you get a HR. 2. Any ball hit over 450 feet counts as a 2 run HR. Therefore you could drive in 5 runs on one swing. 3. Have one guy in CF bleachers mostly grass at least in my ballpark who can catch a HR ball for an out. This might make things interesting and fun. No OF bleachers well in your OF bullpen. 4. If you hit an inside ballpark home run, the run counts, but, you can, also, try to go to 1st base to see if you can get a 5 base hit. I actually think this would have been a good rule to have from 1900. We wouldn't say oh you are changing our sacred rules. Others dealing with the play on the field? The cardboard was far fetched. Not like bikini clad gals bringing baseballs to the umps.

Are there any rich owners that care for their fans as much as they do their own ego? We here renamed German street names during WW1 to other names. We are changing names of a street named after a slave trader and a school named after an obscure Confederate general. Yes, we should get rid of military base names named after traitors who left the union. Should Germany name bases after Hermann Goehring. What I found interesting was we read about in our school's history books Northern carpetbaggers coming down south as evil people trying to get political offices. What we didn't read about was over a million slaves out of 5 million died within a few years afte the Civil War. I want our Fathers to quit lying about our history. When 1 million slaves died shortly after the war that is a significant event in our history. Or why Truman desegregated the army before the 1948 election with black WW2 soldiers being spit on and attacked. The Southerners would rather wash German POW's uniforms and not black soldiers uniforms during the war. I want the history of the church's involvement in racism and not forgotten. I as a white guy was proud to support the Ferguson, MO protesters against the white power structure against many whites I know. They should have hog whipped the power structure who I'm sure some were good family man.