2019 St Louis Cardinals

[jimmyjazz 46990]

Yeah, but Cardinals fans suck and don't know shit about baseball or respect or anything.  SO overrated.

[jimmyjazz 46990]

Race is tightening up again . . . 1 game behind the Cubs.

As a fan, I'm not sure I'd be inclined to actually ask for a curtain call, but that's what happened after Pujols homered today:

 

[pops 7123]

15 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Race is tightening up again . . . 1 game behind the Cubs.

As a fan, I'm not sure I'd be inclined to actually ask for a curtain call, but that's what happened after Pujols homered today:

 

First couple of years after he left, maybe not, but by now?  Shit...we got the best of him and the Angels did us a favor. Those 11 years were some of the best ever and I don't care that he chased the money in a league where he doesn't have to play every day. 

It was a pretty cool sight. 

[jimmyjazz 46990]

I have no problem with Pujols . . . I'm just not gung ho about a curtain call for an opponent who drew his team within 3 runs in the top of the 7th.

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2779]

It’s the Cardinal Way.

[jimmyjazz 46990]

It will be a Wong time before you see another DP this sweet:

 

[You don't know me 1163]

Given the circumstances, I'd have cheered a Pujols homer.  The guy just does so much for the city even now.  He has said on several occasions "I work in Southern California, but I live in Saint Louis".

And yeah, that Wong DP was amazing.

[oSuJeff97 3438]

So I was at the Friday and Saturday games.... man... SO glad I went... it was really special.

I can't tell you how electric the stadium was for those two games... the build up to his first at bat on Friday was amazing... you could just feel the stadium buzzing and then before he was even announced the whole stadium came to their collective feet and erupted... and then after what seemed like a 2-minute standing ovation, the stadium erupted even louder when Yadi and Pujols hugged.  Just amazing.

THEN... on Saturday... he was still getting standing ovations for every at bat... and when he came to bat in the 7th, for what seemed like it might be his last AB of the day with the Cards leading 4-0 the ovation was extended a little longer... and then.... BOOM.  The Home Run.  I was sitting down the third base line just on the outfield side of the dugout and when he hit it, it as a no-doubter and the FUCKING STADIUM EXPLODED.  It was so bizarre to hear the stadium ROAR for an opposing player's home run, but there we were.  And then the curtain call... 

What an amazing weekend and I'm SO glad I got to see it in person.

Edited June 24, 2019 by oSuJeff97

[jimmyjazz 46990]

1 hour ago, You don't know me said:

Given the circumstances, I'd have cheered a Pujols homer. 

As would I.  It was just the curtain call . . . to me it seemed like a bit much.  I'm not going to reject the organization or anything, it just seemed a little "Cardinals fans insisting upon themselves".

Whatever.  It's an inconsequential point.

[pops 7123]

I'm a fan of this Tommy Edman kid. Dude has balls. 

[jimmyjazz 46990]

Well, that was a stellar effort up to the All-Star break.  Good thing the division sucks.

This has probably been posted elsewhere, but I don't care:  in the 5 divisions not named "NL Central", the closest 2nd place team is 5.5 games behind the divisional leader (Cleveland behind Minnesota).  In the NL Central, the last place team is 4.5 games behind the divisional leader.

[You don't know me 1163]

They're still shitty.

[Capn81 396]

On 7/8/2019 at 10:08 AM, jimmyjazz said:

Well, that was a stellar effort up to the All-Star break.  Good thing the division sucks.

This has probably been posted elsewhere, but I don't care:  in the 5 divisions not named "NL Central", the closest 2nd place team is 5.5 games behind the divisional leader (Cleveland behind Minnesota).  In the NL Central, the last place team is 4.5 games behind the divisional leader.

It is going to be an interesting second half of the season.  I still think we are shitty, and will finish in 3rd place in the NL Central, but I am not sure that the other teams are truly any better.  

[jimmyjazz 46990]

Probably need to play 0.600 ball from here on out to make the playoffs.  I don't see that happening without at least a moderate infusion of additional talent by the trade deadline.

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2779]

Oh they’re still playing?
That’s swell.

[phdhorn 6225]

On 7/10/2019 at 9:04 PM, Capn81 said:

It is going to be an interesting second half of the season.  I still think we are shitty, and will finish in 3rd place in the NL Central, but I am not sure that the other teams are truly any better.  

Yeah, our best hope is the general shittasticness of the Central.  .500 might be the watermark for the title.

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2779]

Maybe they can repeat the magic of ‘06

[jimmyjazz 46990]

Well, damn.  Bob Gibson is battling pancreatic cancer:

Gibby

[jimmyjazz 46990]

Win 2 of 3, fall a game back.

 

[Beau Vine 55839]

Big winning streak underway.  I feel it.

[oSuJeff97 3438]

I seriously can't believe that (A) this team was 10 games over .500 on May 1 and (B) that if they had just played .500 baseball since then, they would be in first place by 1 game today.

[jimmyjazz 46990]

On 7/15/2019 at 10:52 PM, Beau Vine said:

Big winning streak underway.  I feel it.

Post more.

[Capn81 396]

Post more.

Yeah, and if you have any good feelings/GIFs that would send the Brewers and Cubs into a tailspin, feel free to post those as well.

[pops 7123]

Not that it matters, but what a fucking game. 

[Beau Vine 55839]

That was interesting.

[jimmyjazz 46990]

What's not to love about a juiced-ball opposite field pop slam to take a 4-run lead in the 10th?

Things are about to get a lot more interesting -- 3 each against Houston and the Cubs after this Pittsburgh series.

[oSuJeff97 3438]

Yeah what a weird team and a weird season.  I feel like this team has mostly sucked since May 1, and yet here we are on July 23, just 1.5 games out of first.  

 

[Beau Vine 55839]

Has a team ever lost a game in which they hit a grand slam in extra innings?  I was terrified that was about to happen last night.

[jimmyjazz 46990]

Nice job (6-1) on the road against the bottom of the division . . . one more and then back home.

[jimmyjazz 46990]

Oh, snap.  That's gonna leave a mark.  Heading home after a 7-1 road trip with Goldschmidt homering in 4 straight and DeJong getting 3 dingers yesterday.

So, the Astros.

[BrickHorn 18426]

First place, bitches. 

[phdhorn 6225]

6 hours ago, BrickHorn said:

First place, bitches. 

Yeah, WTF is going on here?

The bad news:  some good teams coming up.
The good news:  79-83 could win the division (LOL!).

Astros should really give me the scoop on relly how good (or not) we are now.

[pops 7123]

And doing it all without carp, yadi and ozuna. 

[jimmyjazz 46990]

Posting for no reason other than Stan & Red (and it's probably on a big thread somewhere anyway) . . .

75 YO Luke Appling takes Warren Spahn deep with a home run in an Old Timer game.  Probably a short fence, but who cares?

 

[pops 7123]

Mike Shannon is a national treasure. That is all. 

I will probably never leave TMobile as long as they keep giving free mlb.tv to every line in the account. I'll sometimes stop down for the colortini but 95% of the time the kmox broadcast is on in the background. 

[phdhorn 6225]

Nice comeback win tonight. Goldie is hitting the shit outta the ball right now.

[pops 7123]

No one could have predicted solo first in late July for this band of misfits. 

And fuck you Houston for being in the Jr circuit. That's like women's volleyball or some shit. 

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2779]

I’m amazed at how bad the Cubs are on the road.

[jimmyjazz 46990]

11 hours ago, pops said:

Mike Shannon is a national treasure. That is all. 

My favorite Shannonism happened sometime in the late 80's.  He was broadcasting an extra innings game with Jack Buck, and things had dragged on to the point everyone just wanted to go home.

Jack:  "Well Mike, it looks like we're down to two slices of pizza and two frosty cold Budweisers."

Mike:  (long pause) "You take the pizza, I'll take the beer."

[phdhorn 6225]

I guess I'm old enough to remember him like this:

Shannon  Maxvill  Javier Cepeda

rather than on the radio, as I never got to hear him much due to geography.

But oh, what an infield that was.

[jimmyjazz 46990]

In grad school at UT I shared an apartment with a buddy I've known since we were 2 years old.  He's as big a Cardinals fan as I -- we used to drive a couple of hours each way to StL and grab bleacher seats for $2 many many times each summer.

Once we arrived in Austin, we obviously couldn't go to games except for the rare road trip to Houston, and there were no TV broadcasts.  BUT, we had one radio that could pull in KMOX.  Unfortunately, it was in his 1979 Toyota pickup truck.  So, we'd buy a 12-pack of beer, head to the parking lot and listen to Jack & Mike broadcast the games.  50,000 watts of AM signal transmits a LONG way.

[You don't know me 1163]

45 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

In grad school at UT I shared an apartment with a buddy I've known since we were 2 years old.  He's as big a Cardinals fan as I -- we used to drive a couple of hours each way to StL and grab bleacher seats for $2 many many times each summer.

Once we arrived in Austin, we obviously couldn't go to games except for the rare road trip to Houston, and there were no TV broadcasts.  BUT, we had one radio that could pull in KMOX.  Unfortunately, it was in his 1979 Toyota pickup truck.  So, we'd buy a 12-pack of beer, head to the parking lot and listen to Jack & Mike broadcast the games.  50,000 watts of AM signal transmits a LONG way.

When I was a kid some of my best memories are driving from Chicago down to Tupelo. We could listen to the entire game on KMOX. Then when we moved to St Louis I would keep my transistor radio under my pillow and listen to all the games after I was sent to bed.  While living in STL my dad and I would go to at least 1 game every home stand. Some of my fondest memories involve Cardinals baseball. Simpler times for sure.

[You don't know me 1163]

More stories...

My family is all from North East Mississippi. That is Cardinals Country. At least it was until TBS was in every house. When I was a kid we moved around a lot, but the Cardinals were always around thanks to KMOX. When we lived in Chicago I was 8-10 years old. While there, there was a player from the Cubs that lived pretty close, was also from North East MS, and was looking for someone to help his wife during the day (they had a couple of young boys). One day we get a call at the house from him. He had asked folks back home if anyone knew folks in Chicago and we came up. Anyway, my sister started going over to their house pretty much every day to babysit and jus help out. His neighbor was also a Cubs player. As an added bonus for me, he would come over to our house, pick my sister and me (plus a friend) up and then head back over to his house. My sister would stay and he and his neighbor would bring me and my friend to Wrigley. This was virtually every home game during the summer. I did root for the Cubs when going, but it wasn’t enough to make me a fan. 

My dad also played American Legion ball with Don Blasingame when he was a kid. Dad also played some semi pro ball. The old man was just an athlete. Boy do I miss him. Getting a bit dusty in here.

[jimmyjazz 46990]

14 minutes ago, You don't know me said:

When I was a kid some of my best memories are driving from Chicago down to Tupelo. We could listen to the entire game on KMOX. Then when we moved to St Louis I would keep my transistor radio under my pillow and listen to all the games after I was sent to bed.  While living in STL my dad and I would go to at least 1 game every home stand. Some of my fondest memories involve Cardinals baseball. Simpler times for sure.

My Mom was raised in a Clayton duplex (8002 Davis Drive, holla) and the landlord lived in the other half -- that was Dizzy Dean.  My grandfather was insane over the Cardinals.  He used to get half in the bag on scotch and THEN drive me to Busch Stadium in his Plymouth Duster.  We'd sit in the mezzanine where he would use his attorney lungs to scream at the umpires.  I distinctly remember one day when he went on a particularly long tirade past the point where the general stadium animosity had faded.  Granddad was still going strong.  Eventually, the home plate ump called time, turned to face us, and gave the universal outstretched arm signal for "what the fuck, dude".  I was mortified but still laughing my 6 YO ass off.

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2779]

I came to love the Cards in the ‘82 Series. After that Series I was 8 living in Columbus MS at the time and baseball was life. I was out in the sticks so no cable.

Only time I got to see them was NBC’s game of the week. Watching Ozzie come out and do his flip captivated me. After cartoons I’d turn it on and watch. Been a fan ever since.

[jimmyjazz 46990]

I'm so old I remember when Ozzie's $1M contract was considered outrageous.

[You don't know me 1163]

1 hour ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

I came to love the Cards in the ‘82 Series. After that Series I was 8 living in Columbus MS at the time and baseball was life. I was out in the sticks so no cable.

Only time I got to see them was NBC’s game of the week. Watching Ozzie come out and do his flip captivated me. After cartoons I’d turn it on and watch. Been a fan ever since.

I was 13 during the 82 Series and living in STL. My mom was able to get 2 tickets to a home Series game. She was the only woman in the pool. The men took earlier games so that they would have a guaranteed game to attend. Mom got game 7. I watched that game at home while my parents went. I was a little jealous.

Dad and I went to quite a few games that year.We would walk up to the ticket window and Dad would ask for best 2 together. Normally we would get just behind the dugout behind third. I remember being in attendance and seeing Willie hitting an inside the park homerun once that year. It was amazing seeing that man round third at full speed. We were so close that I could hear his feet hitting the ground. Maybe I didn’t, but I definitely thought I could. That was such an amazing year.

[jimmyjazz 46990]

I think Willie lived with Ozzie for quite a while.  It started when Ozzie learned that Willie was mailing his dirty laundry home to his mom.  Eventually Ozzie had to tell him that he was making enough $ to get his own place.

[pops 7123]

I have no reason to be a cards fan.  Geographically there were maybe 5 cards games on a year growing up, and zero at my house because we lived in the sticks with no cable. Just an antenna. Dad and Grandpa were dodgers fans. All my friends were either Cubs or braves fans (wgn, tbs).

But I remember being at my grandparents for my 6th birthday party during the 82 series. Out comes Ozzie doing his flip and I was hooked.

Then in like 1st or 2nd grade we were supposed to write a letter to someone famous. Most picked the president or governor or whatever. Somehow my teacher found the address for the cards clubhouse (thanks Mr. Spendlove) and I wrote to Ozzie. About a month later I get a care package in the mail. Included a signed letter from Ozzie, I think a poster with the schedule, a pen, some stickers, etc.  Yeah, it was probably just some secretary that typed up the letter and signed it but I didn't know any better at that was it. Cards fan for life. 

[phdhorn 6225]

I became a St. Louis fan since the mid-1960's.  My mom took me with her on a shopping trip to downtown Harrisburg, PA (don't ask).  At a small department store called Pomeroy's, they had a big bin full of shit.  I was looking at it and pulled out a kid's St. Louis ball cap (the OLD ones that were blue with red stripes).  I thought the StL was the fucking coolest thing I had ever seen and my mom told me who it belonged to, who they were.  They had just won the World Series against the Yankees and so I started following them in the paper.  Back then of course there was very, very little news about them outside of the local paper's daily MLB boxes and writeups.  I also subscribed to The Sporting News 99% to read more about the Cardinals.  I got to see their good years and of course the 2 World Series appearances in ;67 and '68.  Those are two complete short stories in themselves.

Anyway, my six-decade bromance with the Cards, by a kid who on his best day was about 900 miles from St. Louis and never got anywhere near there until the 1980's, began with a hat in a bin in a Pennsylvania department store.