A Night Out at the Ballpark: Braves @ Cards in St. Louis (29 Jun 18)

Was able to get out to my first baseball game of the year and see my Braves beat the Cardinals 5-1 Friday night.  The game was at Busch Stadium. It was a thousand degrees but I made sure I hydrated and survived.  Busch Stadium is a great place to see a game.  Our seats were in right field and other than staring into the sun for the first 2 1/2 innings I was really pleased.  As is normally the case with my buddy whom I attended he wanted to head over to Ballpark Village in the fifth inning.  I did not complain.  Ballpark Village is a great venue with plenty of restaurants and bars, not to mention a hundred giant screen TVs.  It makes for a relaxing way to enjoy the game amongst a sea of baseball fans either doing the same as us or who bypassed the stadium altogether.  It really is a wonderful compliment to an already nice stadium.    

  The game saw Atlanta win 5-1 with rookie Johan Camargo hitting a key two-run double in the 8th inning.  The Braves also got six shutout innings from inconsistent Julio Teheran which nice to see.  This was a great game to watch as St. Louis was held in check and it just seemed like Atlanta's offense would break through against the Cardinals who are struggling somewhat this year.  I really enjoyed being at the ballpark.  From watching the game, to the stadium and friends I couldn't ask for much more.  Truly a good time.  It's exciting to see Atlanta be relevant in July and who woulda thunk they'd have the best record in the National League?  They have such great young talent and I'm really hoping they can strike while the iron is hot.  They need bullpen help and I'd love to see them pick up a quality starter but I'm not sure what the front office is ready to do.  Can't wait to see how this plays out.  

League Championship Series Matchups

I've been out of town for almost two weeks and saw only 9 innings worth of the baseball playoffs.  Luckily it was the first 9 innings of the thrilling Kansas City - Oakland wildcard game.  And what a start to the playoffs it was.  I didn't expect either of the upcoming championship series matchups but here I go:

Royals - Orioles - Let's get this out of the way - I'm all in on the Royals' bandwagon.  Hopefully they can pull off the miracle and get to the world series.  It was one thing to beat Oakland in a one game series but they swept who I thought was the best team in the majors - the Angels.  How the heck did that happen?  I didn't get to see the games and the recaps and boxscores don't do it justice.  This was a huge upset.  Now how good are they and can they keep it going?  I think they are good enough to win against Baltimore.  The talent is there.  Still they'll need to play at the top of their game every game for any chance at advancing to the World Series.  Again I love this team and want to see them win but no matter how good they've played to this point it is hard to see them getting past a superior Orioles team.  Of course I would have said that a week ago prior to the Angels series had I had a chance to post my thoughts...  Still I'd love to see them in the World Series and even better to see them kick the Cardinals butt in a rematch of their last playoff/World Series appearance in 1985. 

Baltimore has flown under the radar most of the year.  About the only thing their offense didn't excel at was anything involving speed.  Their power numbers were near the top while also being 5th in the AL in average.  The pitching was 3rd in the AL in ERA though their starters (Chris Tillman, Wei-Yin Chen, Bud Norris, Ubaldo Jimenez, Kevin Gausman) probably don't strike fear in most fans when they hear their names.  Still they and their bullpen helped this team win 96 games while no one outside Baltimore paid attention.  They have a good offense that can win with the long ball.  I think this is the better team.  Kansas City should give them a good series assuming they don't wake up and remember they are the Royals.  I think Baltimore wins in 6 games and think it would be a great story considering the Orioles haven't been to the Series since defeating the Phillies in the '83 Fall Classic.

Giants-Cardinals - I really thought we'd see the Nationals in the championship series.  That said the Giants are a good team and have experience plus two of the last four World Series championships.  Good starting pitching here led by Madison Bumgarner and I can't wait to see the game 1 matchup versus Adam Wainwright.  I'm not sure I can quantify how but I think the Giants are the better team.  Look at the records of their starters and two have losing records.  Go figure.  Jake Peavy has been a great pickup as a starter and their bullpen has been very good sans some bumps in the road at closer.  Buster Posey, Hunter Pence and Joe Panik lead a good offense that doesn't have a 30 homerun guy but many in the lineup can hit a homer at anytime.  I like the balance here on offense and in their pitching but I see a hard fought series that goes 7 games.  Bruce Bochy is one of the best managers going and I think that will help the Giants win this tough series.      

Living near St. Louis, and not being a Cardinals fan, I have Cardinals fatigue.  It is fun needling my buddies when the Cards struggle but that hasn't been much this year.  From about the mid point of the season St. Louis hit it's stride and look as good as anyone coming out of the National League.  Not a star studded offense and a relatively young starting staff this team is easily overlooked.  Still Wainwright and John Lackey help steady this staff along with stud catcher Yadier Molina.  The offense struggled mightily at one point this year but caught their second wind and while not sexy are scrappy, if not productive.  Mike Matheny is young and is questioned often here locally but this is his third straight championship series so he is doing something right.  Again I like the Giants here but St. Louis has home field advantage and should push them to the limit.  Should be a great series no matter how it comes out. 

Dissecting The 2013 Game 3 World Series Obstruction Call

Jayson Stark posted a great article on ESPN.com going through the details with all the key players of the game three obstruction call that gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 2-1 series lead in the 2013 World Series.  The play, so unique, took on a life of it's own due to the grand stage, the fact that it ended the game and the fact that the umpires handed it so well. 

I watched it live in my buddies man cave.  He a Cardinals fan and me a Red Sox fan.  It was a great game that came down to the 9th inning.  What more could you ask for?  I was the guy who jumped up and yelled "what" at the screen after the play unfolded.  Not understanding what had happened in the immediate aftermath.  My friend understood quicker than me but I'm not sure I wanted to understand.  As he and the announcers explained it the reality set in.  Ugh.  After watching Yadier Molina thrown out at home on the play, the throw from home to third go awry and what seemed like a sure double play ending to a whacky play I had been so excited...and then it went downhill from there.  The ruling, the confusion, the ongoing explanations, the interviews...  As I drove the 60 miles back to my home I listened to the local sports radio station again going over and over that last play.  It didn't help my mood.  Losing is tough enough, much less when it seemed like the baseball gods had suddenly decided your team was destined to lose the Series.

It was the right call but it didn't make it easy to stomach.  It just seemed so random.  Something out of the player's control.  The fact the Sox won the Series in six games took most of the sting out of that play.  Still, it is one I'll never forget.  It was already a great night sharing good natured ribbing with my buddy all night but to be able to see that game, that play, that ending, in that setting was something I'll never forget.  The fact that he had a 1,000 inch TV was also a big plus.  He is also a smart fan and didn't rub it in (I only did that a little bit after the Red Sox won it all).  Take a look at the article Jayson Stark wrote.  It is a great recounting of all the action with tons of details added.    Even non-Red Sox and Cardinals fans should enjoy. 

Red Sox Beat Cardinals in 6 Games to Win 2013 World Series

 

Boston won the 2013 World Series 4 games to 2 over St. Louis.  And Big Papi starred when the majority of Red Sox bats went silent.  The stats can be found here but the highlights for Ortiz are a .688 batting average, 2 homers, 8 ribbies, 8 walks, only 1 strikeout, .760 on base percentage, and 1.188 slugging percentage.  Wow.  He has always been a huge leader on this team and they needed him this series as no other Red Sox player hit above .250 and six players with 13 or more at bats batted under .190.  Considering the zoo the Red Sox were last year when they lost 93 games, to the bombings during the Boston Marathon this year, winning 96 games and taking the championship in six games it has been a heck of a ride.  See the speech heard round the world here when Papi said "This is our f******* city".  I don't doubt he used some colorful language during his dugout pep speeches that got so much attention. 

 

While Papi will get all the accolades the pitching staff deserves their own praise.  Overall they excelled with a 1.84 ERA while walking only 11.  Jon Lester was marvelous in two starts going 15 1/3 innings and giving up only one run while winning both games.  John Lackey was also very good in his two starts winning one while giving up four earned runs in 14 innings.  Clay Buchholz added another good start and Jake Peavy kept them in the game in his start.  In the bullpen, Junichi Tazawa, Koji Euhara (2 saves), and Brandon Workman gave up zero earned runs in a combined 10 plus innings.  Felix Doubront gave Boston much needed innings in relief of Peavy's and Buchholz's short stints as starters, and did it well registering a 1.93 ERA in 4 2/3 innings.  To me the pitching staff as a whole deserves huge kudos for what they were able to do against a very good St. Louis Cardinals offense.

While the St. Louis offense did have a tough time against Red Sox pitching they actually had their chances but couldn't come up with the timely hits that Boston did.  One thing that stood out about St. Louis was their young pitching.  They seem primed to continue to be a power house in the National League as long as they can figure out the shortstop position and maybe add another bat.  Michael Wacha, Trevor Rosenthal, Carlos Martinez, Kevin Siegrist, and Joe Kelly all played well and again make the future for the Cardinals look bright. 

 

Being a Red Sox fan in the St. Louis area this was really fun.  Talking games every morning was a great experience no matter who won.  The Cards fans here show their pride in mass and I take my hat off to them.  I was even able to catch a game with a buddy of mine whose a St. Louis fan.  It was game three so the ending was a heart breaker but I really enjoyed.  It doesn't get much better than that. 

 

I don't want to forget manager John Farrell.  The team he was handed was no slouch but they weren't picked by anyone not a Red Sox homer to win the World Series.  He made some mistakes in game two but that didn't take him off his game and he made the right lineup changes when needed and kept his team up to the task.  Good job. 

 

That's all I got.  It was a great World Series with tons of good pitching.  How could you complain?  Well, assuming you aren't a Card's fan.  I've already received my World Series Champs shirt, a World Series shirt and I'm thinking of picking up the beards shirt.  This is awesome.  I'll enjoy for the next few months until spring training starts up.  Great stuff.  GO BOSOX!

The facial thing isn't new but it was really worked well in Boston during their run to the title. 

 

 

 

 

 

 



2013 World Series: Boston and St. Louis Tied at One

After Boston took game one of the World Series St. Louis wins game two behind another pitching gem from rookie Michael Wacha.  In game one Boston took advantage of some sloppy fielding by the Cards as well as jumping on Adam Wainwright early on their way to a 8-1 win.  This was a great start for the Red Sox.  Their offense, defense, and pitching all looked great.  I thought this gave them an edge going into game two. 

 

Boy I was wrong.    Michael Wacha continued his great postseason run.  His ERA did go up to 1.00 but earned his fourth postseason win (matches his regular season total) in this, his rookie season.  Amazing.  Other than Papi's homerun the Red Sox really had no answer for the stellar rookie.  Again this guy is a rookie who hasn't even pitched 100 combined regular and postseason innings.  I'll stop gushing now but WOW.  This was my worst case scenario.  The young Cardinal pitchers have forgotten how inexperienced they are and continue pitching well.  I really thought the Boston offense could wear them down with their ability to work the counts.  Didn't happen as Wacha, Carlos Martinez and Trevor Rosenthal just mowed them down. 

 

Now Boston starter Clay Buchholz says he "may have one more game" in him.  That is not what you want to hear from your expected third starter as he battles a vague "fatigue" issue.  Now his game three start has been pushed back to game four.  Still everyone's confidence level in Buchholz has just sunk to an all-time low.  Greaaaat.  Boston is probably wishing they had another crack at setting their World Series roster...without Buchholz on it.  So Jake Peavy is now the Boston game three starter.  Shaky in three of his last four starts and after being hit hard by Detroit you have to wonder what he'll give them.  I really like Peavy and hope he can channel some of his past National League success in game three.  The Cards throw another youngster in Joe Kelly at the Red Sox so hopefully the offense can learn from game two and give a better showing tomorrow night. 

 

Game four has Lance Lynn starting for the Cardinals.  He is also doesn't inspire much confidence in his team's fan base.  Both teams have a starter in reserve ready to go if their starters get into trouble early.  Felix Doubrount (Bos) and Shelby Miller know they could be called on early to stem the tide.  This series is no surprise outside of some of the defensive letdowns.  Now that it is in St. Louis, Boston needs to set the tone early in game three and take the advantage.  Knowing they have to face Wainright again in game five, games three and four are critical.  Waino is a tested veteran and I wouldn't count on getting to him two games in a row.  Close series which is anyone's to win and that is all you can ask for.  Well I'll ask for three more Red Sox wins as well...

2013 World Series: St. Louis Cardinals vs Boston Red Sox

I've watched a ton of Cards games and seen the Red Sox quite a bit.  I won't look at any stats this year.  Just looking at the two teams I give Boston the edge but barely.  I think the key will be the young pitchers of the Cardinals.  Starters Michael Wacha and Joe Kelly and closer Trevor Rosenthal are all young and don't have much regular season experience much less in the post season.  Wacha has excelled so far but I'm not sure how he or any of the three will respond in the World Series.  The Red Sox throw a seasoned staff at St. Louis.  Not saying they are without their issues but I like the starting staff.  The St. Louis bullpen is probably better suited for the series as opposed to their counterparts.  So tight ballgames could be a plus for St. Louis.

The Cardinals get Allen Craig back for the Series but I'm not sure it will be enough.  Their offense is very good and I think they can score against anyone so the Boston pitchers have their work cut out for them.  The Red Sox are great at being patient at the plate and they'll have to be to win the series.  The Boston offense struggled in Detroit and if it weren't for some timely grand slams we would be watching the Tigers host game 1. 

I won't be surprised if every game is very close.  I also won't be surprised if it goes seven games.  I love that this is a rematch of the 2004 World Series.  I think David Ortiz and Yadier Molina are the only players returning from that series.  Seems fitting that the two leaders of their respective teams are here again.  As I live close to St. Louis this has definitely been fun.  I only hope for a good series...well and a Boston championship.  Still no matter what we'll have fun.  Saturday I go to a St. Louis sports card show with a good friend.  Not sure yet if I'll wear one of my Red Sox jerseys.  Cards fans are great but I may wait to see how the series is going before I make that decision.  This is what it is all about.  The best teams from each league, a series that seems destined for close games and guys on both sides you can root for.  I just hope the series lives up to expectations. 

NOTE:  This was supposed to post before the start of game one but the internet was down until now.  GO BOSOX!

Attended Last Night's Braves-Cardinals Game

Last night I was able to attend the Atlanta Braves game in St. Louis against the Cardinals.  The Braves won 9-7 in 12 innings.  First the experience was great.  I live and work in Illinois.  I took the metrolink train directly from work to the stadium.  I attended with a group of friends from work and their families.  They all rooted for the Cards while I was the lone Braves fan amongst us.  I wore my Chipper Jones jersey and Braves hat but was definitely not the only Braves fan in the stadium.  The train let us off right at the stadium which was built in 2006.  I was blown away.  It looks great and I can't say I was dissapointed by anything.  Ok maybe the prices for food but that is part of the experience.  The concorse areas were very open and I never felt confined as you might in some of the older stadiums.  The game was sold out with over 45,000 in attendance.  The seats were comfy and while we were in the upper deck they would fall in the "not a bad seat in the house" category.  The fans around me were very good natured about me being a Braves fan and added to the fun. 

Prior to the game the Cardinals retired Tony LaRussa's #10.  This was a great bonus to being at the game.  I am someone who enjoys the game in all it's glory and history and appreciate others who aren't directly related to teams I root for.  Tony is right there near the top when it comes to managers.  He's won three World Series Championships and I think the two with St. Louis really stand out as those teams won't be looked at as the most dominant in history.  Last year's title specifically was a great example as he had to deal with ace Adam Wainwright being out for the season, no defined closer for a good part of the season, injuries to Matt Holiday, and a defense that won't make anyone write a book.  The front office did a great job of bringing in players like Edwin Jackson, Rafael Furcal, Arthur Rhodes, Octavio Dotel among others which were a huge part of why they won.  Still they had an amazing September to just get into the playoffs and then won three playoff series against favored teams (Philadelphia,  Milwaukee, Texas) culminating in an exciting seven game World Series.  I know he wasn't always the most popular guy even amongst his team's fans but he was a great manager who deserves the accolades he gets.  What I enjoyed the most was seeing some of the great players he's managed over the years in attendance.  Dennis Eckersley, Dave Stewart, Tom Seaver, and opposing manager Joe Torre were the highlights for me.  Too cool!

The game itself was a great one.  Atlanta took an early 5-1 lead but the Cardinals came back powered by four homeruns, two by Carlos Beltran.  He also added a double and a triple.  What a monster night.  I really questioned why Atlanta pitched to him in the 5th with first base open and runners on second and third.  Yes Allen Craig is having a nice year but he isn't Carlos Beltran who happened to be killing you at the plate that night.  He promptly hit a triple.  The game went back an forth until the game was tied at seven after Beltran's second homer in the eighth inning.  Johnny Venters blew the save but the Braves bullpen still had a good night giving up that one run in 7 2/3 innings of relief.  Livan Hernandez made it interesting at times to include loading the bases but got the win.  Finally in the 12th inning Chipper got on with a leadoff walk.  While you love having your leadoff guy on in that situation knowing Chipper couldn't be pinch ran for and he doesn't have much speed I knew we needed some help.  That came when the next batter, Jason Heyward, hit a two run homerun putting Atlanta up for good.  Craig Kimbrel then came in for his 11th save. 

Last night was also a pleasure I was able to see Chipper play in his last season.  He received a standing ovation in his first plate appearance by Braves and Cards fans alike.  I joked by thanking my friends for the #10 that had been mowed into the outfield in honor of Chipper (maybe it was for LaRussua...).  It was even better as Chipper went 2 for 4, knocking in 1, walking twice and scoring twice.  All around as a Braves fan I couldn't have asked for much more.  It was a great game and great experience.  

Cardinals Win World Series

The St. Louis Cardinals completed a historic run to win the World Series Friday night.  The Texas Rangers on the other hand have to be disappointed as they lose their second straight World Series.   Within the last six months I've moved to Illinois, within 45 miles of St. Louis.  First it is great to be near a big city again as I'm in sports overload between the sports coverage on TV, in the papers, and on the radio.  As I'm a huge sports fan that is all a good thing.  I also work with many Cardinals fans so I've gotten to ride this wave as it has happened.  There is nothing better than being able to root for your team on the big stage and it has been fun to ride this crazy train with the local fans.  I'm happy for my buddies and for the team as it was well deserved.

Tony LaRussa as a manager is a guy who catches some grief locally for some of his moves and tendencies.  That said, three World Series trips and two World Series titles in 16 years makes it hard for any fan to beat him up too much.  I too scratched my head all year at moves he made and how he coached but through it all his team was ready to play no matter who was in the lineup. 

I love seeing guys who have been around forever get their first World Series ring and St. Louis had not shortage of those who won it all for the first time.  42 year-old Arthur Rhodes, Octavio Dotel, Rafael Furcal, and my favorite Lance Berkman were among those who had been around for many years and finally won the big one.  There was also a big contingent of those who were young and won their first ring.  Jason Motte, Jaime Garcia, hometown hero David Freese, Daniel Descalso, Jon Jay and Adron Chambers.  And then there are the guys who are at the front and center of this team - Albert Pujols, Chris Carpenter, and Yadier Molina.  These guys won their second championship in St. Louis and they were all huge in getting this team to and through the playoffs as the leaders in the clubhouse.  I know I didn't name everyone and those I've omitted all played their part.  Some smaller or bigger than the others.   

So I give props to this team and to all their fans.  Counted out in September they roared back to make the playoffs and beat the "unbeatable" Phillies, dumped the Brewers and played a great series in winning against the favored Texas Rangers.  It was fun to watch.