Rain Delays Make My Head Wander

Yesterday's Cardinals Rain Delay prompted FSN Midwest to play replays from last season and interviews with players. One of these replays was the brawl between the Reds, sparked by loud-mouth Brandon Phillips.

While a lot can be said about Yadi's not so welcome greeting, or Phillips' inappropriate generalization, (and the awesomeness of Yadi's solo home-run that I think, pretty much shut Phillips' up for good), what I was drawn to was LaRussa's reaction after the game.

LaRussa, a man I am convinced will never smile, walked into the press conference with his usual scowl, growing angrier with the press for insisting on discussing the 1st inning fight. Tony's only real comment was "I want to talk baseball. That was not baseball."

We forget sometimes that fights are not always sport. While baseball has been criticized for being the weaker of the American sports, slower and less physical than football, it still presents a stage for physical and aggressive behaviors to outlet themselves.

So I understand LaRussa's frustration, and I understand why the press is so apt to push the issue. Its interesting, but it's not baseball.

But isn't it? What would the Gas-House Gang or John McGraw say about the fight? To them, and many baseball legends, cleats-up, in your face, everyone off the bench, out of the bull-pen, brawls wasn't so frowned upon. Isn't that the nature of Cardinals' history to begin with? Rough and Tumble? Since when does baseball have to be so damn classy?

Player Biases

As writers, even as fans, we all have player biases. We like some more than others, and for whatever reason, we can't always tell why. Admittedly, they are often completely unrelated to their abilities as a player, or their season stats. We like a player because he donated to a certain charity, or because he gave a killer interview...

Like most heterosexual female Cardinal fans, I, for a long time, loved Skip Shumaker. He's got a sparkling eyes, and a jaw line that could slice cheese. Sure, go ahead, judge. But find another 20-something female baseball fan who disagrees with me.

My torrid love for Skippy died last season. His under-300 batting average and his tendency to err in the infield left me feeling more disappointed than that guy that never calls and leaves before breakfast.

When we traded Brendan Ryan our far better infield player for a RHP, I just kept thinking "Why Ryan? Why haven't we released Skippy?!" Why do we continue to weaken our infield when its been riddled with injuries and problems?

Entering this season, unsure with Pujols and his possible "contract distraction", curious about Theriot, and now, FURIOUS about Skippy and his three straight season under-performance, I find I am pleasantly surprised. He's consistently reached base and has zero errors. More importantly, however is his RBIs. He's tied for second on the team with 3, only behind the four-way tie for first, at 4 RBIs each.

Maybe, Skippers is finally out of his slump. Maybe there's something I hadn't seen before.

The Poetry of Baseball

Jane Leavy has this awesome quote in the intro to her biography of Sandy Kaufax. She says, (and I'm paraphrasing here since I don't have the book any more) she longed for the company of people who "didn't confuse the poetry of baseball with iambic pentameter."

I feel like that a lot. Not only for baseball fans, but for baseball fans with a divine appreciation for the art of it, not just the sport of it.

But there IS a subtle poetry to baseball. And it's a kind of poetry that's hard to appreciate at times, especially for people who think that baseball is just "too slow." But there's something remarkable about a well executed 6-4-3; the way the ball floats almost seamlessly from one glove to another. There's something majestic about the quickness of the cut-off man and the tension that builds during those moments in anticipation of the next pitch. There's most certainly nothing like hearing the crack of wood on cork and leather and knowing that it's gone.

Like Shakespeare, there's nothing like it. At least, not that I've seen. It has a way of keeping score that allows us to recount and visually recreate every play, from where a ball was caught, to how someone grounded out. It's not a linear progression, like all other American sports. You don't bounce back and forth from one goal-line or basket to another. You start and end at HOME. It has its own complete language of non-verbal communications. Managers signaling from dug-outs with ear-tugs and cap-swipes. Catchers holding up deuces for pitchers. Base-coaches waving arms saying stop! or go home! There are no headphones, no play-books or names, and absolutely no instant replay. A call is a call. (Just don't call the ump a cock-sucker.)

Auburn Boosters

I'm having a hard time deciding how I feel about the Tigers' Booster situation. Truth be told, I'm an Alabama Fan, in terms of SEC, and anything that hints of cheating sends a little spurge of joy through my body. Be that as it may, coaches and players seem to have little control over what financial supporters do.

And lets be honest, whose to say this isn't happening in colleges all over the country? Its a universal problem, kind of like steroids, I guess, some colleges just get singled out...

My take: College Kids are broke. Especially kids who grew up with next to nothing, and are only attending college because of an athletic scholarship. If someone slipped $500 to you for getting an A on a test, would you turn them down? Would you tell your professors?

Auburn's coach, or players aren't the problem. Self-righteous boosters, who think the rules don't apply to them, are.

And here we go.

So, I'm really new to this whole blogging thing, but I figure it's worth a shot.
I'm just a college girl who loves sports and reading, so why not create a blog thats a combination of both?

It's opening day for MLB, and I faithfully watched all of the Cardinals/Padres game, all eleven innings, while creating a powerpoint for one of my education classes. Somewhere between innings six and nine I started really thinking about the Cardinals line-up. We have Theriot, Rasmus, Pujols, Holiday and Berkman in our first 5 slots.

I'll be honest here. I, caught up in the junior year haze of papers and standardized tests and having a St. Louis football team coming close to a winning season, did not pay as nearly as much attention to the off-season trades as I should have. Looking strictly at names, and recent stats. The first half of our line-up looks pretty damn impressive. Too good to be true, actually. We have Theriot, who always seemed like an ominous threat for Cards when he played for Pinella in ChicagoLand; Rasmus, our home-grown favorite, making more and more plate appearances as he matures in a Cards uniform; Pujols, who is undoubtably one of the greatest players in the game; Holiday, a solid investment (with three hits today, I might add); and Berkman. Berkman, whose name I know, but not much else. Berkman is where I get skeptical, past his prime? Only time will tell.

I'll save Skip Shumaker, bating 8th as of right now, for another time. He's either been in a slump, or he needed to go instead of Ryan.