Show-Me Kings

Sports Illustrated writer Jon Heyman recently ripped St. Louis Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt, Jr. No surprise there. The formula is pretty straightforward. Team performs poorly. Columnist rips owner. But this has tale has another twist. The owner fired back. DeWitt called Heyman after the May 10th article in which the SI writer pointed fingers at the owner for the team’s poor start.

As you might imagine, DeWitt and Heyman don’t exactly see eye-to-eye.

There’s a good reason for that. (more)

Here’s a sobering statistic. ESPN’s Jayson Stark asks if the Cardinals are done. “Of the 96 playoff teams in the wild-card era, only one — the 2005 Astros (19-32) — headed into June as many games under .500 as the Cardinals are now.”

Let’s compare. Those 2005 Astros had Clemens, Pettite, and Oswalt. The 2007 Cardinals have Looper, Thompson, and Wellemeyer. Like their chances? (more)

Roger Clemens made his minor league debut this season on Friday, May 18th. He’ll make his major league debut with the New York Yankees on Monday, June 4th.

The entire process, from first minor league game to big league opener, will take all of 15 days. (more)

I find the Michael Vick dog fighting story both repulsive and fascinating. The fascinating part is the exposure of a world that I didn’t really know existed — at least not to this level of detail. (more)

Greetings from St. Louis where I spent the last couple of days enjoying Cardinals baseball at Busch Stadium. And I do mean enjoying. Sure, it’s just the Pirates, but solid pitching and timely hitting have produced three straight victories. This team, in this division - that’s something to celebrate.

But just when you think the action on the field is starting to get interesting, a bombshell drops away from it. (more)

Time Warner generates about $45 billion a year in revenue, good enough for 48th place on the Fortune 500. This corporate behemoth makes a lot of money in a lot of areas; movies, cable tv, magazines, online services, etc.

But here’s a business where Time Warner couldn’t make money — Major League Baseball. (more)

New York Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi has done something so awful, so heinous, so detrimental to the game of baseball, that his team may try to terminate his contract. (more)

Bernie Miklasz builds on the palace intrigue in the St. Louis Cardinals front office started by Ken Rosenthal last week. With friction in the front office, a slumping team on the field, and after a dozen years in St. Louis, is this Tony La Russa’s last year with the Cardinals? (more)

Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling ripped Barry Bonds in a radio interview today. (entire interview here - the riff on Bonds starts around the 12 minute mark) (more)

It’s Monday night at Busch Stadium, seventh inning stretch of the game between the Cardinals and Rockies. Public address announcer John Ulett directs everyone’s attention to a private box behind home plate. With microphone in hand, Roger Clemens addresses Cardinals Nation. (more)