Radio Ga Ga

Everybody knows somebody like this, and all of us have probably been this person at one time or another. The person wants to be part of a group, really wants it, and once they become part of it, they display lots of effort trying to show they belong. That's what I always thought when I listened to Wayne Hagin broadcast Cardinals games. I'm not saying he did a poor job. It just sounded to me like the man was trying too hard.

Following a legend like Jack Buck couldn't have been easy. Reports/rumors of friction with broadcast partner Mike Shannon certainly didn't help him. The Todd Helton thing was a mis-step, to put it charitably. And it takes a long time for someone who's not from St. Louis to be accepted as a St. Louisan (unless you move to town in late July / early August and hit 24 home runs the rest of the season, but that's a different story).

The story reads much like this: "Wayne was a nice guy. Wayne was a professional. Wayne did everything with class. But we had a chance to replace him with somebody even better, and we're gonna do it."

I suspect that Wayne rubbed the folks at KTRS the way he rubbed me -- he called an OK game, but it just didn't sound quite right. Too many words at times where a few would do, not enough at times when more were needed.

Speaking of KTRS, I'm anxiously awaiting news of whether my local station will remain a Cardinals network station this year. WDWS in Champaign, IL is the flagship University of Illinois Fighting Illini station, and is balking at the new network requirement of carrying all of the spring training games. U of I baseball has always taken precedence in the spring -- it's part of the "price" WDWS pays for being the hub of U of I football and basketball games. If not, I'm hoping that WSOY out of Decatur or WJBC out of Bloomington remain on the network, but even then, those are a little far for me to pull in regularly. I'll miss the mighty MOX as my fall-back signal.

TSF

FREED!

No, not Roger Freed, the act of being set free. With the latest addition to a rapidly-growing disabled list, John Gall will join the big club for the series in San Diego. How many OFs we got left in Memphis, Len?

TSF

TSF Morning Observations 06-08-05

Hi all. TSF (TedSimmonsFan) here. My first article for the Birdwatch has been a long time in coming, but I had two observations this morning that couldn't wait, regarding the Cardinals' home and away records and a couple of the interleague matchups taking place this week.

(1) As of last night's 9-2 victory over Boston, our guys are sporting identical 19-10 records at home and on the road. This prompted me to look at 2004, where the Birds were 53-28 at home, 52-29 on the road. I thought they had been more dominant at home and less so on the road last season, but the numbers don't lie, and they demonstrate a consistency that has been established on this team, even through injuries (Carpenter in '04, Izzy and Rolen in '04 and '05, etc.).

The businesslike approach of this team has been hashed out in many venues, but I see this as just another effect of that approach. As a side note, I'm glad TLR came back this year -- since taking the team to the World Series, there's been very little TLR griping here and in parts like this, which has pleased me. I credit TLR for the team's businesslike approach, and the subsequent results. I think the only thing that TLR could be hassled for thus far in 2005 is that he has allowed Roger Cedeno to take up a roster spot for as long as he did, and the (cough, cough) hamstring injury took care of that.

(2) Which do you think Dusty Baker thinks is more unfair?

(A) The imbalance of the early interleague matchups that pitted his poor Cubs against the mighty White Sox while the Cardinals drew the relative walk in the park in Kansas City against the Royals

-OR-

(B) The Cardinals' ability to take the first two from the defending World Series champion Red Sox while the Cubs were subsequently wilting under the oppressive might of the Toronto Blue Jays

Discuss amongst yourselves. :-)

Later,
TSF

Welcome to the Birdwatch

birdwatch (v) - To watch and study birds in their natural habitat

By birds, we mean redbirds, or Cardinals, and of course by natural habitat, we mean a baseball diamond. More specifically, we are a group of Cardinal fans who love to watch the games, analyze the moves and the stats, and just plain love the game. We've all been faithful readers of other Cardinals blogs, and some of us have even written for them, but now we're combining our efforts to maximize the value for you, the reader. So welcome fellow birdwatchers. We hope to be your guides through the ups and downs of the baseball season (and off-season). Enjoy the ride.