Just not anything in the past we care to talk about.
Mark McGwire has basically kept himself out of the limelight ever since leaving baseball in 2001, with his infamous appearance at the Congressional hearings on steroids being the lone exception. Well this coming Monday will be the ten year anniversary of the night that Big Mac hit his 62nd home run of the 1998 season...
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They haven't been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, but after losing six of their last eight games, the Cardinals are quickly falling out of it. They have no real hope of winning their division, as they currently trail the Cubs by ten games, and their wild card hopes are fading as well with Milwaukee sporting a nice five-game cushion.
So if members of the Cardinals start looking toward next season, you can't really blame them. One of the big questions about the Cardinals in 2009 has been Tony LaRussa...
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I've never been that big a fan of Bruce Springsteen. I don't hate him or anything, but I never go out of my way to listen to him. Sure, there are a few tunes of his I can get down to, but for each one of those there are four that I have absolutely no interest in.
Though it appears I'm somewhat alone in this stance. There are a lot of people out there who do enjoy The Boss, as he's still playing sold out shows across the country every year and will even be performing at halftime of next year's Super Bowl...
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Do you remember last year when the Milwaukee Brewers jumped out to a big lead in the NL Central, but then began fading as the season wore on? A lot of the blame for this collapse was placed on the front office not making any moves at the trade deadline by the team's fans. So as a response to such criticism last season, the Brewers went out and made a couple of moves this season.
The biggest one (both literally and figuratively) of course being the addition of CC Sabathia to the starting rotation.
Well, they may have a new philosophy, but unfortunately for the citizens of Milwaukee, they're still the same old Brewers...
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Since the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs are the two teams in the NL Central making all the moves, most people have begun writing off the St. Louis Cardinals as division contenders. It's pretty hard to blame anyone for feeling this way. After all, in recent weeks the Brewers have added an ace to their starting rotation in CC Sabathia, and just yesterday they added some infield depth when they picked up Ray Durham from the Giants.
I don't expect the Durham trade to be Milwaukee's last play, either.
Meanwhile, the Cubs have added Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin to their pitching staff, and there's talk they're thinking of adding someone like A.J. Burnett to the rotation, and Brian Fuentes or Huston Street to the bullpen...
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With both the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs adding top of the rotation pitchers this week, it made you wonder what, if any, response the St. Louis Cardinals would have. After all, they're sandwiched between both teams right now in the NL Central and are currently atop the Wild Card standings. Well, even so, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak has come out and said he doesn't think the Redbirds need to make any additions to their current roster.
Mozeliak is of the opinion that when Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright both return in August, it will have the same effect as adding a pitcher through a trade would on the team. It's too bad that his manager Tony LaRussa is of a completely different opinion...
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So in the last 48 hours the Milwaukee Brewers have added CC Sabathia to their rotation, and the Chicago Cubs picked up Rich Harden to add to theirs. All the Phillies have managed to do in during that span was lose two games in the standings.
The Phillies have now lost four in a row, and unfortunately for them their losing streak directly coincides with a four-game win streak by the New York Mets. Now both the Mets and Marlins sit only a game and a half behind the Phillies. So the pressure is on the Phillies to add an arm of their own to the rotation.
If you look around the National League right now, things aren't set up too well for Philadelphia...
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Remember not too long ago when Pedro Martinez was the most dominant pitcher in baseball? His rise started way back in 1997, in his last season in Montreal, but where he really took off was in Beantown.
The seven seasons Pedro spent pitching for the Red Sox in Boston were pretty amazing. He went 117-37 while there, and aside from his 3.90 ERA in 2004, he never had an ERA over 2.89. Think about that for a second, and while you're doing that make sure you remind yourself that Pedro only missed a significant amount of time once in his time in Boston, making only 18 starts in 2001 (and going 7-3 with a 2.39 ERA in those starts).
How many other pitchers have been dominant over that length of time? Bob Gibson from 1963-70? Sandy Koufax? Sandy had some good seasons while with the Dodgers, but I would only say he dominated in his final four years there...
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I tried to put an end to it yesterday by mentioning it in the On Deck, but apparently the On Deck Curse is only effective when I lead the post with it. So today, now that the Minnesota Twins have climbed within a half-game of the White Sox and won their last eight games, the Twinkies are getting the star treatment.
As I've already explained in recent days, I have no idea how the Twins are winning so much this season, yet here they are. Earlier this month the Twins were three games under .500 and 6.5 games behind the White Sox, and I thought their record then was a lot more indicative of the type of team they had.
It was only a matter of time before the suddenly resurgent Tigers and maybe even the Indians passed them by, and the Twins became merely a footnote in the 2008 season. All they've done since then is win, win, and win some more...
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You know how when you're watching a game on television, whether it's football, baseball, or anything, and the game is being played by two rival teams that the announcer tells you to "throw their records out the window!" You know what I'm talking about? I hate that. That's one of the stupidest things that announcers can say.
Why should we throw the records out the window? I mean, if one of the teams is 12-1 and the other is 2-10 I don't care how long they've been rivals, I'm pretty sure that 12-1 team is going to steamroll the other one. So no, I will not throw that record out the window.
Now this afternoon, for the first time ever, the White Sox and Cubs will be meeting head-to-head in the regular season while both are currently holding down first place in their division. Still, the two teams are moving in opposite directions right now. The White Sox just scored 37 runs in a three-game sweep of the Pirates, and the Cubs are limping home after losing three in a row for the first time this season down in Tampa.
Of course, when these two teams meet, it doesn't matter who is playing well and who isn't. In fact, you can throw their records right out the window (son of a...)!
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When Hank Steinbrenner came out earlier this season and basically demanded that Joba Chamberlain stopped being used out of the bullpen, and placed into the starting rotation, his general manager and manager kind of just ignored him. Hank was just doing anything in his power to try to be like his dad, and after dealing with George for all those years, Brian Cashman had become pretty adept at tuning his boss out.
Besides, the Yankees starters were just off to a rough start to the 2008 season, and things would turn around soon enough. Only they never did, as Phil Hughes struggled, Ian Kennedy got sent down, and Mike Mussina looked like a shell of a shell of his former self. So eventually Cashman and Joe Girardi had to cave, and move Joba into the starting rotation (and now that Chien-Ming Wang is out they're lucky they did).
His first start didn't go very well, but in the two starts since, Joba has improved each time out. This afternoon he'll be making his fourth start of the season, but will he finally pick up his first victory as a starter?
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Now that Willie Randolph has finally be freed by the evil, classless, New York Mets, his replacement Jerry Manuel gets his first shot at pissing off Mets fans everywhere tonight. Will Jerry make it through 7AM Wednesday morning, or will he be dispatched in the middle of the night?
I mean, the Mets actually won last night, and they still fired Willie in the middle of the night. What would have happened had they lost? Would he have been publicly flogged in Times Square?
Besides, is Jerry Manuel really going to be any better? I had the "honor" of watching him manage my White Sox for five years, and although he won the manager of the year award in 2000, the rest of his tenure was basically known for being extremely boring. Though, maybe that's what Omar Minaya wants.
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As much of a disappointment as the 2008 season has been for the San Diego Padres, looking at the big picture, things aren't nearly as bad as they seem. They've won five of their last six games, and even though they're still nine games under .500, they play in the NL West so they're still alive.
The Diamondbacks have plummeted back to earth after starting out so hot this season, and the Friars find themselves only 6.5 games out of first place. If San Diego's offense could ever manage to consistently score some runs, the Padres could find themselves right back in the thick of things.
Of course, it's entirely possible they could do it without their offense as they get their ace back on the mound this afternoon. Will Jake Peavy's return be the spark the Pads need?
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Generally when looking for the lead game in the On Deck, I try to look for teams that are playing well, or for games that feature a great pitching matchup, or just for a game with a good backstory. It's very rare that I reward a team that's been struggling with such an honor, unless that team has taken losing to an extreme level.
Today is one of those rare days.
While some teams choose to spend their time trying to achieve success, the Royals have spent the last week and a half perfecting the art of losing, and they've been doing a very good job of it...
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Remember a few days ago when I told you about the debate we had in the FanHouse Google threads about which two players we would all want to start our own baseball franchise with? Well, Silvio and I were the only two who picked Albert Pujols, and we chose him because he's the greatest hitter alive right now.
Another reason I'd want him on my team? Because he will take out everybody on the other team if given time. Albert took out the entire Padres battery last night. He got Chris Young with a line drive to the dome, and then make sure you keep watching the video to see him take catcher Josh Bard out as well (around the 3:17 mark).
It's been a few weeks since the Blue Jays cut themselves loose of slugger Frank Thomas because he just wasn't contributing anything on offense for them. Since that move, the Blue Jays still haven't scored very many runs, pushing only 37 runners across the plate in the 14 post-Thomas era games. Generally when you're only scoring 2.6 runs a game, you aren't going to win much, and the Blue Jays haven't going 6-8 in those games.
Over the last few days, though, Toronto has figured out how to win without scoring runs, and that's just not letting your opponent score any either.
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Toronto Blue Jays 4 Chicago White Sox 3
You know, I could just blame this loss on a missed call in the third inning if I wanted to. If I wanted to, I could tell you that after the Jays put runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out, David Eckstein hit a grounder to short. As Orlando Cabrera fielded the ball, Alex Rios ran into him as he was trying to get back to 2nd base, and Cabrera tagged him on the knee before throwing Eckstein out at first. Though what should have been two outs was only called as one as Dale Scott called Rios safe at second since he never saw the tag. Scott Rolen then lined out to Joe Crede for what should have been the 3rd out of the inning, but was only the 2nd. Then Matt Stairs doubled in the two runs, and Vernon Wells knocked him in with a single. So the Blue Jays got three runs they never should have had. I could tell you all about that if I wanted to, but really, it wouldn't changed the fact that the White Sox just suck right now, and probably aren't going to get any better.
St. Louis Cardinals 5 Chicago Cubs 3
In Albert Pujols' entire career, he'd never had much success against Cubs starter Jason Marquis. After going 0-2 in his first two at-bats on Sunday, Pujols was hitting only .250 against Marquis in 16 at bats, and had never even had an extra-base hit. Unfortunately, no matter how much success you've had against Albert, he's going to get you eventually, and he did just that in his 17th attempt against Marquis. Pujols lined a double down the third-base line in the 4th inning that gave the Cardinals a 4-2 lead and provided St. Louis with the only cushion they'd need as they took two of three from the Cubs this weekend. "I fell behind in the count too many times," Marquis said. "And I let the one guy in the lineup beat me that I shouldn't have."
Minnesota Twins 7 Detroit Tigers 6
Seriously, when will we learn? When!? Every damn season everybody says that this is the year the Twins finally just won't be able to hang in the AL Central. Then, they usually win the division or at least contend. Well, this year you figured after losing both Johan Santana and Torii Hunter, you could finally put that nail in the Minnesota coffin. Instead they come back from 6-0 deficits in the first inning to beat the Tigers, and are now in 1st place in the division. What the hell? "I think that's huge for our pitching staff, to show that we're still going to go out there and try to put up runs for 'em," Mauer said.
AL
Chicago Cubs 7 New York Mets 1
It's very rare that your humble Foul Balls editor takes a trip inside the walls of Wrigley Field, but as you can see from the picture I took with my cell phone last night, I had some gooooood seats. And they were free to boot. (Thank you, Budweiser.) It was from those seats that Silvio and I got to see Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run homer, Ronny Cedeno hit a two-run single, and Felix Pie break it open with a three-run homer to propel the Cubs to another victory. I also got to stare at third base coach Mike Quade's ass a lot, and that was nice. Of course, Carlos Zambrano didn't have a bad night either, going seven innings and allowing only one run.
St. Louis Cardinals 4 Milwaukee Brewers 3
While at the Cubs game last night, I did take time out to watch Aramis Ramirez to see if he was doing any scoreboard watching since he's already so concerned with what the Cardinals and Brewers are up to this season. I never saw him look once, but if he had, he would have seen that the Cubs didn't gain any ground on the Cardinals in the NL Central as they beat the Brewers on Monday night. Skip Shumaker hit the go-ahead single for the Cardinals in the 9th inning off of Derrick Turnbow, and the Cardinals got their 10th win in their last 12 games against the Brewers. "I was fortunate enough to get the barrel on it," said Schumaker, who uncharacteristically showed emotion at second base. "It was just a little clap to the hands, I think. I don't try to show too emotion on the field. Yeah, I was happy."
AL
As the end of spring training draws near, I figure it's about time I got off my ass and started with the Foul Balls 2008 season previews. Each day I'll preview a separate division followed by individual previews for the White Sox and Cubs. Expect expert analysis bad jokes.
Today we look at the red headed stepchild of baseball's divisions, the National League Central.
2007 Finish
St. Louis Cardinals - How the mighty have fallen. The Cardinals followed up their World Series title with an injury plagued season that saw them finish below .500 last year. I don't see things being much different this year, only worse. Chris Carpenter is still out, and Albert Pujols' elbow is going to detonate at some point. I don't know why the Cardinals don't just tell Albert to undergo the surgery he's going to have to have eventually right now. This team isn't going anywhere this season anyway, so why delay Albert's health for nothing? If there's a worse starting rotation in baseball right now than the one the Cardinals call their own, I haven't seen it yet. INTERESTING FACT: The only area of life this Cardinals team can compete with anybody in is most appearances on a police blotter. They're quickly becoming the Cincinnati Bengals of baseball.
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