May 24, 2007
Some Old Friends
The turnover in baseball these days is at its highest rate it's ever been - taking the Cards as an example, we don't have but five guys who were on the roster before Yadier Molina was called up almost three years to the day ago, in June 2004: Edmonds, Pujols, Isringhausen, Rolen (Taguchi, Kennedy, and even Ankiel have been on the 25-man and either back down to the minors or traded and returned, so they don't count). So there's tons of guys out there who've donned the Birds on the Bat for a few seasons here or there recently, some of whom were quite popular during their times in St. Louis. Take the Washington Nationals, for instance: watching them play last Friday night, I came face-to-face with three guys who'd worn Cardinal uniforms since that fateful day three years ago, but had already moved on. Since they're coming to St. Louis this weekend, here's a preview of the familiar faces to be seen at Busch:
Ronnie Belliard will get his ring this weekend as the Nats come to St. Louis - he was lucky enough to wear the BoB at just the right time, from August to October 2006. He didn't really do much as a Cardinal outside of a great Division Series performance, but he's on the list nonetheless. We will never forget the 'Fro. Ronnie signed with the Nats for a remarkably cheap $750,000 in the offseason.
This season, Ronnie got off to a hot start - hitting .309/.343/.392 as recently as April 29 - but since then, he's managed just 6 singles and 4 walks in 45 PA, and been stuck in a quasi-platoon with Felipe Lopez and the triple machine that is Cristian Guzman. Against the Orioles at RFK on Friday, he came into the game in the bottom of the ninth inning with the tying run on first base (then second, after a stolen base), and struck out.
Ray King was a Cardinal in 2004 and 2005, pitching two of the better seasons of his career in St. Louis. As a situational lefty, he held opposing left-handed hitters to a .150/.236/.168 line in 2004. He regressed a bit the next year, however, and while he didn't post that terrible of an ERA in his second season, his peripherals were much worse, dropping to a lefty/righty OPS split of .673/.981 in '05 after a .404/.688 in '04. That 2005 season ended poorly, as Ray was not used in the postseason and bad-mouthed Cardinal management thereafter. He was soon traded to the Rockies for Aaron Miles and Larry Bigbie.
Ray had a mediocre season as a Rockie in 2006; his strikeout rate dropped for the fifth consecutive season, and he posted a 4.43 ERA. As a National this season, Ray has struggled, posting a 6.55 ERA coming into the weekend series in St. Louis with a 5/5 K/BB ratio and 4 HR allowed in 11 innings. On Friday, he came in to start the top of the 7th inning to face the top of the O's lineup; he gave up a double to Brian Roberts before retiring Nick Markakis on a groundout. He was relieved by Winston Abreu and Roberts was stranded at second base.
And then there's Get Up Baby favorite Jason Simontacchi. Simo came up with the Cards in May 2002 when the starting rotation was decimated by injuries. He stuck by going 7-1 in his first 10 starts with the big club, posting a 2.77 ERA despite only a 26/17 K/BB in 61 2/3 IP in those starts. His ERA caught up to his peripherals in later starts, however, and he ended up at 4.02 for the season. Simo struggled out of the gate in 2003, but still made 16 starts before being demoted to the bullpen in early July. There, he proved a reliable long man, posting a 3.60 ERA with a 29/12 K/BB in 45 IP, which included one spot start late in the year. Despite his preference to start, he was slotted for that role in 2004 coming out of spring training, but gave up runs in his first four appearances and was demoted to Memphis. He was sent down and called up several times throughout the '04 season, and in those major-league appearances he only gave up 3 ER in 10 IP, but couldn't consistely crack what was a strong 'pen on that 105-win team.
After leaving the Cards after the 2004 season, Simo disappeared. Seriously. Perhaps Dan at GUB might've tracked him better and would know, but I can't find any record of him playing baseball in 2005. In '06, Simo emerged from his hiding and surfaced with the Bridgeport Bluefish of the independent Atlantic League. He pitched on a staff which included several former Cardinals: T.J. Mathews, Jimmy Journell, Luther Hackman, Donovan Osborne (ugh), and Pedro Borbon Jr. (yikes!). In 2007, Simo showed up in spring training with the Nats - a wise choice given the fact that only one slot in their starting rotation was set (John Patterson), and even he was injury-prone - and made two uninspiring starts in Columbus before being called up to make his first major league appearance since October 2, 2004 on May 8. Simo has actually pitched well in a Nats uniform, getting his second win in his fourth start in Cincinnati on Wednesday, and posting a 4.37 ERA with a 16/7 K/BB in 22 2/3 IP. On Friday against the O's, he gave the Nats a quality start, giving up 3 ER in 6 IP with 6 K/1 BB. Given the state of the Nats' rotation, he should stick if he continues to put up numbers that are anywhere decent.
Finally, I have to mention the former Cardinal broadcaster Bob Carpenter, who is in his second season as the Nats' play-by-play guy for the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network after spending over ten years with the Cards. Bob's been doing an excellent job, as always, with the Nats, and I'm sure those in St. Louis who remember him as fondly as yours truly does will be glad to see him back in town - just like the rest of these guys.
May 06, 2007
Catching Up
So much has happened since I last posted... I'm going to have to do bullets.
• Josh Hancock. Wow. There isn't anything I can say about the guy that hasn't been said already, but I'll probably do it anyway. The story broke while I was on the road last Sunday; I'd planned on watching the Sunday night game from my hotel room, only to arrive and hear the news of Hancock's death. After hearing the details and seeing the footage on Sportscenter that night, the first thought that I had was: "he must've been drunk." After all, how else do you fail to avoid a tow truck with its lights flashing on a clear night? Sadly, that presumption turned out to be the truth, as Hancock's blood-alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit at 0.157 - and accident reconstruction crews have determined that he was talking on his cell phone at the time of the accident, in addition to having a small amount of marijuana in the car.
In the aftermath, the Cards have banned alcohol from the clubhouse. Frankly, what good does that do? After all, Hancock had been drinking at Shannon's, and possibly elsewhere. If these guys that want to drink can't do it in the clubhouse, they'll find someplace they can. After all, quite a few of professional baseball players are young, single and make a lot of money. Guys like that don't sit at home and do jigsaw puzzles - they go out and have a good time. The more appropriate course of action for the club to take, if they so chose, would be to provide transportation for these guys if they choose to go out drinking after games. While that may be a complicated proposition financially and/or logistically, clubs might be forced to make this sort of business decision in order to avoid tragedies such as the one involving Hancock.
• Chris Carpenter is out for "at least three months" with arthroscopic elbow surgery. We're waiting for Will Carroll's further input, but it's basically been determined that Carp's been pitching with bone spurs in his elbow for the better part of his tenure in the Cardinal organization. According to Carroll, the contract extension that Carp signed in the offseason was offered to him with that knowledge. So, perhaps the organization is taking its medicine with Carp for this season in the hopes that he can recover to at least his 2004 level in 2008-2011. As for this season, it's been rumored that Brad Thompson will take Carp's slot in the rotation for the moment. One slightly crazy option further down the road is a déja vu reunion with Jeff Weaver, who is quite possibly on the verge of being released mid-season once again by Seattle. With Mark Mulder due back by the All-Star break or so, however, this rotation slot is likely only a two-month job.
• David Eckstein, for the first time in his Cardinal career, has been removed from the leadoff spot. I guess it's a reasonable move, as Eckstein had a .280 OBP with no power and only 6 walks in 109 PA. The problem is twofold, however: 1) if Eck's not getting on base around a .350 clip, as he did in 2006, he's rather useless anywhere you put him in the lineup, and 2) who else is going to bat leadoff? Here's a list of those who've batted in the #1 slot since Eck's demotion (Eck included), with BA and OBP listed:
Preston Wilson, .219/.265
Aaron Miles, .235/.259
Skip Schumaker, .238/.267
David Eckstein, .216/.280
So Taguchi, .263/.333
Scott Spiezio, .226/.339
This isn't a good group (understatement of the month), but if it's not gonna be Eck, why not keep trying Spiezio up there? Even while not hitting for average, he's at least displayed the ability to take a walk - and with Chris Duncan and Albert Pujols the only two players on the roster even remotely hitting well, the Cards need all the baserunners they can get in front of those two guys. And with Wilson on the disabled list, Spiezio presumably will be getting more starts in right field.
• The Milwaukee Brewers seem poised to run away and hide in the NL Central. Going into Sunday's games, the Crew was ten games over .500, with a five game lead in the division - and an eight-game lead over the last-place Cardinals. With the rest of the teams in the Central showing their obvious flaws, the Brewers taking such a lead with what appears to be, on paper, the most complete team in the division could mean a very long summer for the Cards and their second-division counterparts.