Show-Me Kings

On April 16th, the Cardinals finished the night with a record of .500. Back then, Americans still had one more day to legally file their income taxes for 2006.

That night at the ballpark in St. Louis, the temperature was 70 degrees.

And Josh Hancock was still alive. He pitched the final two innings that evening in a 3-2 loss against the Pirates.

April 16th was a long time ago. (more)

On Monday afternoon, the Houston Astros fired manager Phil Garner and GM Tim Purpura. Much was made of the Astros recent slide to last place after making it to the World Series just two seasons ago. What a difference a game can make.

The Astros and Cardinals have acted like identical twins the last few seasons, acting in tandem as the dominators of the NL Central. (more)

Sort of.

At least when it comes to their three-game series against Milwaukee. Here’s why.

After being swept by the last place Giants over the weekend, The Brewers are in a freefall. The last thing Cardinals’ fans need is for Milwaukee to sweep Chicago or take two of three and start to believe in themselves again.

It’s time to eliminate some competition. The division race becomes easier when you’re chasing one team instead of two. Right now, it’s clear the weakest link is Milwaukee. (more)

Quote of the day: Manager Tony La Russa on the health of Scott Rolen. “When he gets to the park tomorrow, we’ll see how he feels. If he needs to bang one, we’ll give him one.”

OK.

Of all the numbers following the Cardinals 6-4 victory over the Cubs on Monday, it’s this one that stands out to me. St. Louis is looking at playing 35 games in the season’s last 34 days (that would include a makeup of Sunday’s game against Chicago).

With such a brutal schedule, that creates a need in the starting rotation. As good as Looper, Pineiro, Reyes, Wainwright and Wells have been in recent weeks, they’re going to need some help in the final month.

How soon does Mark Mulder get a start in the big leagues? (more)

When Carlos Zambrano signed his five-year, $91.5 million contract on Friday, Albert Pujols had to be a happy man.

With an average annual salary of $18.3 million for Zambrano, there are only four higher paydays in all of baseball.

Average Salary

The Cardinals pound the Brewers and the Cubs lose again. St. Louis is still four games under .500 but only three back (on the loss side) in the standings. Welcome to pennant race baseball, National League Central style.

On a night when the Brewers honored their 1982 American League champion team, the Milwaukee writer says last night’s performance by the Cardinals (19 hits), may have reminded the former players of Game 6 of the World Series that year — a 13-1 spanking at the hands of the Redbirds.

Behold the power of those baby blue uniforms. (more)

The Milwaukee Brewers have lost 15 of their last 22 games. Before Thursday night’s victory against Colorado, the Chicago Cubs had lost four straight and seven of their last 10. The Brewers have lost pitcher Ben Sheets until September and infielder Tony Graffanino for the season. An injury to outfielder Alfonso Soriano has Cubs fans singing the blues.

All this agony and despair at the top of the division hasn’t gone without notice. Even down in Houston, where the Astros are 8 ½ games back, optimistic thoughts are beginning to stir.

Things are getting interesting in the NL Central. And nowhere are they more interesting right now than in St. Louis. (more)

So how did the Cardinals brass spend the last hours before Tuesday’s trade deadline? By attempting to acquire pitcher Matt Morris. But the San Francisco Giants had other plans and shipped him off to Baseball Siberia, otherwise known as Pittsburgh.

Thank goodness for unanswered prayers. (more)

Back on June 20, I made the case why there is still hope for the Cardinals by pointing out the advantages of the schedule. Interleague play had ended, there were plenty of games left in the division and St. Louis was anticipating the return of pitcher Chris Carpenter, among others.

While Carpenter won’t be back — a huge blow to any chances of a comeback — the other two factors are still in play. (more)

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is angry over media reports. This time, the skipper was “irritated by media descriptions of the club’s treatment of injured players.” It doesn’t take a genius to solve this riddle. (more)