genghiskhan

No. But the Cubs could catch Houston, if they can get offense out of anybody besides Lee and Ramirez. How many games do they have left?

Yes. The outfield, anyway. Bullpen doesn't concern me as much b/c bullpen pitchers are fungible. But the aging outfield is and has been a concern. Would love to see the Cardinals get a young outfielder. Are the Cubs tired of Corey Patterson yet? :wink: Addressing other topics in this thread--EastonBlues is correct. After a while you have to assume it isn't a coincidence. I believe that players like Abraham Nunez and David Eckstein pick up their game in St. Louis b/c the Cardinals are a very well-run outfit with one of the best coaching staffs around. It's rather nice, actually. And as far as Molina goes, his stats are skewed by his horrific start. Dude was 1 for his first 29 and finished April with a .162 average and .197 OBP. But the Cards stuck with him (there's that good coaching again) and he responded with OPS of .777 in May and .788 in June. So he isn't Johnny Bench or anything but he was holding his own with the bat. Plus, he is absolutely fantastic defensively. I don't know what the Cardinal record is for pickoffs by a catcher but Molina has done it more often than I've seen any other catcher do it. And he excels at throwing basestealers out. His replacements, Diaz and Mahoney, range from mediocre offensively and defensively (Diaz) to horrible offensively and good defensively (Mahoney). Mahoney has been sacrificing ahead of the pitcher lately, and not just for Jason Marquis. So it will be a lift to the team when Molina comes back.

Such as the one by Kenny Rogers that gave the 1999 pennant to the Braves. To my knowledge, "walk-off" has always referred to the home team winning in the bottom of the 9th and extras, as defined above.

18-10 since July 1, with the roster racked with injuries. We get Sanders and Molina back for the postseason, we'll be fine. Given that Rolen and Walker have contributed just about zero this season, any production from them will be gravy.

No.

Well, that was an immensely satisfying win.

Carlos Zambrano usually has St. Louis's number, the July 19 matchup in Wrigley last year being a notable exception. But then again, Chris Carpenter has been the best pitcher in baseball over June and July. Cards probably need to make Z throw a lot of pitches and keep it close until they can get into the Cub bullpen.

Very poor, 50/50, 50/50, poor.

Why? Because he's a rental, and the team that trades for him has no guarantee of retaining his services beyond 2005.

What happened is that the National League figured out that Bo Hart can't hit a breaking pitch.

That might have made some sense if Clemens didn't start last year with Piazza catching. Why does that second comment make any difference? Tony LaRussa wasn't managing the team last year. And the second comment, about Piazza's poor catching skills, has to do with Carpenter and his superior ability to hold runners on--only 1 SB allowed as a Cardinal. But, again, it really doesn't make much difference. Given that Carpenter and Clemens were both going to pitch, what does it matter when? That's why Rob Neyer's comment is so remarkably stupid.

Yeah, I know, which probably makes him even MORE bitter. But he used to talk up the A's an awful lot when they were winning and all the "Moneyball" hosannas were pouring in for Beane and the statheads. I still think Carpenter was a perfectly logical choice, given the Clemens/Piazza feud and Piazza's inability to throw out a baserunner.

It'll be a game of chicken, like what so many of these trades are. And after Jocketty ripped him off so badly in the Rolen trade, Wade might want to deal with someone else. We'll see. I would still rather the Cardinals get an outfielder, perhaps Aubrey Huff, but Wagner would make an already very good bullpen unearthly.

Not Rob Neyer's most acute analysis, by far. Carpenter and Clemens both pitched and both managed scoreless innings, which is a lot better than most of the other starting pitchers managed, including Mr. Dontrelle "I am not really this good and will come back to earth" Willis. Perhaps Rob is just bitter that the Athletics aren't very good.

Wagner is a free agent, so he won't be as expensive as one might think. But still, good Lord would that be a great bullpen if the Cardinals could sign Wagner. It's actually a great bullpen already--2.97 bullpen ERA--but add Billy Wagner? The mind boggles.

Yes. But Wood and Prior will have to both 1) be healthy for the entire second half and 2) actually pitch well. And Wood, at least, has not had an extended stretch of effective starts for some time. And, as Catman points out, the Nationals will have to play well below .500.

The situations in 1998 and 2005 are pretty much exactly equivalent. If it was OK for Sosa to win the MVP over McGwire in 1998 b/c the Cubs made the playoffs (finishing six games ahead of STL, IIRC) and the Cardinals didn't, it'll be OK this year for Pujols to win when the Cards win 100 games and the Cubs miss the playoffs. And that's assuming Derrek Lee finishes the season with numbers approximating what he has at the break. Pujols is pretty much hitting around his career averages, while Lee is hitting well over his.

OK, I stand corrected. Sorry about that. I remember Vince Coleman many years ago getting picked off first base and then trying to swat the ball out of the first baseman's glove...that was ugly...

I can read, so there's no need to reprint your own post. And since you admit in that reprinted post that Jennings was not fielding a batted ball, but taking a throw from another fielder, your reprinted post is not relevant. I await your explanation on why it wasn't OK for Walker to shove Jennings if it is OK for a runner to bowl over a catcher on a play at the plate on what is essentially the exact same situation.

Isn't it interesting that so many rivers of ink have been spilled over the Cubs and their "curse" for not having won the WS since 1908, while nobody talks about how the White Sox are "cursed" for not having won since 1917? Heard some radio nitwit a while back talking about how the Cubs are now alone in being "cursed" after the Red Sox finally won. You'd think people would remember Shoeless Joe, Chick Gandil, and the gang.

I'm pretty sure the fielder is entitlted to the basepath as long as he is fielding the ball. I didn't see the play, so I can't really judge in this case, but I don't think a runner has a right to knock a fielder out of the way that is fielding a throw, regardless of where they are in the basepath. Well, then what about a catcher blocking home plate? Nobody ever calls the runner coming from home out for interference when he plows the catcher over. The runner is entitled to the basepath, right? As long as he does not deliberately deflect the ball or pull an A-Rod and attempt to swat the ball out of the fielder's glove, I think giving a shove to a fielder as you run to first base is legal.

This is the explanation, I think. Perhaps if it were Lo Duca or Ramon Hernandez as the starting catcher, we see Clemens. But LaRussa is playing this game to win, and if he thinks he needs to put Carpenter on the mound while rag-arm Mike Piazza is out there as the starting catcher, that's what he'll do. Plus, it doesn't freaking matter. They'll both pitch anyway.

The Dodgers are terrible. That whole division is bad.

Really? Sweet. I'd be very content with Carpenter and Morris as the core of the Cardinal staff for the next few seasons. Keep them, and try and find an outfielder who isn't pushing 40.

If it were me, I wouldn't want my rival to keep a pitcher who's got a career 97-53 record, 1.25 WHIP, and 3.50 ERA, and is still only 30 years old.