Welcome to the Bits Session

After the long epic plunge yesterday, I am not even close to being done.  I call this session the hammer round because its non stop bits and dives into various subjects, fleeting and introspective while laying down the stiff news.  Here we go.  Let the St. Louis sports cocktail begin.

• The Rams take care of one hole and signed Quintin Mekkel to a 4 year, 28 million dollar deal that guarantees 14 million.   Mekkel is the top safety on the market, and the Rams pulled him in.  A required move after the loss of Oshimingo Atogwe right before the lockout.   Mekkel has 88 tackles and 3 interceptions for the Eagles last season, is young, and a great leader.   With James Laurenitas leading the linebacking crew and Chris Long on the line, Mekkel will bring order to the secondary.   Good first move out of the gate for the Rams.
• The Cards beat the Astros 3-1 on solid pitching, timely hitting and a couple bombs.  Here are various points on the proceedings.
• David Freese has amazing opposite field power, a key trait for a hitter.  Nothing scares a pitcher more than a guy who can hit to the opposite field for power.  It limits the pitch selection.   This makes him a threat.  His 5th home run last night was also his 5th to the opposite field.  Impressive.  This is the guy we got in the Jim Edmonds trade.  Freese is turning into a cheap necessity at third base.
• Jake Westbrook is quietly 9-4 after last night’s 6 inning performance.   Since the All Star break, Westbrook has been dialed in and won 2 of his 3 starts.   In his last two starts, Westbrook is 2-0 in 14 innings with only two runs allowed and 1 walk.   If his pitches are down, the sinker is working and ground balls happen.  Known as a second half pitcher, Westbrook’s success comes right in time when early season faves like Kyle Lohse and Kyle McClellan are starting to recede.
• Ryan Theriot can’t hit lead off because since July 17th, he is 2-35, and one of those singles he was picked off first.  Combine it with bad defense, no power and a decreasing ability to get on base and you have a dead player.
• Brief Football Note-Donovan McNabb is going to the Vikings if all talks are finalized.   McNabb is a good fit for Minnesota because they have the offensive tools there to give him the help to get back to the playoffs.  D.Nab is a player who is talented yet needs help in reaching a goal.  Without players like Westbrook, Maclin and Owens, he faltered in Washington.   Matt Hasselback is going to the Titans, which is also a good place for him and gives Tennesee a chance to ease Jake Locker into the role.   With Mekkel out of Philly, they will trade Kevin Kolb to Arizona for Antonio Cromartie.  That’s all for football news.

The Latest on Cards Trade Deadline Activity-

If all things go as planned this afternoon, the Cardinals just upgraded their team and cut some dead weight.  The Cards are trading Colby Rasmus, Brian Tallet, Trevor Miller and Pj Walters to the Blue Jays for Edwin Jackson, Octavio Dotel, Mark Rzepczynski and Corey Patterson.   I like this deal for various reasons.  Here we go down the list.  In one trade, the Cards nearly fixed every problem they had.

-Colby Rasmus, a problem child is finally dealt.  The final nail in the coffin of Rasmus, full of potential yet carrying no staying power, was bringing his father, Tony Rasmus, into the Busch Stadium facility and using him as a coach.   For a control freak like Tony La Russa, that’s a bad idea.   Add in Rasmus’ bad attitude, regression and you have a goner.  I don’t need to sit here and name the reasons why Raz needs to go.  With Jon Jay and Allen Craig in reserve and Holliday and Berkman powering the outfield up, Rasmus was expendable and he will fit into the swing happy bunch in Toronto.  Bye Bye.

-In Edwin Jackson, the Cards get a good 4th-5th starter capable of winning 13-15 games, giving 200 innings and doing a solid job.  This allows Kyle McClellan to go back to the bullpen, where he is better suited in the long run for this ballclub.  Jackson wasn’t going to be enough by himself, but he will help the rotation stability and his contract runs out after this season, so the ties are cut dry until next notice.  Jackson will help.

-Octavio Dotel is a loose cannon hard throwing righthander who can offer another option in the pen to this team.  This is a bonus piece of the trade that is a no lose situation.  Dotel can be great or be bad.   His contract is also up after 2011.

-Mark Rzepczynski is another required piece.  If you unload Tallet and Miller, the Cards needed a lefty in this trade and they got a good one.   Lefthanders are only hitting .159 against  this LHP in 2011 and he is an effective young lefthander who can instantly strengthen the bullpen.

-Corey Patterson is another bonus piece who can add depth to the outfield.   Patterson gives you speed, base stealing ability and a backup to the young talent on this team.  At the very least, he plays a great centerfield and can be a fast set of legs off the bench.  Patterson is an ex Cub who was having a decent season in Toronto as a reserve.  He hits National League pitching well and fits here.

What did the Cards lose in the deal?  Except for Rasmus, the Cards cut dead minor and major league weight.  It doesn’t matter if Trevor Miller or Brian Tallet didn’t fully implode in 2011, because if La Russa isn’t going to use them in pressure situations, they are no good to this ballclub.  Miller isn’t having a good season, Tallet is injury prone and both were dead weight.   You cut two and added one, and got stronger.   Pj Walters was a player who couldn’t stay on a major league roster and didn’t rise above the “band aid” status of minor league talent.  Walters didn’t fit here and will get a chance in Toronto with a fresh set of eyes.

Rasmus followers will say the Cards simply got rid of him and that isn’t true.  Rasmus was a problem child here, carried some value, wasn’t producing at his normal capacity and needed to be moved out of town.  In return, the Cards got a starter, a speedy bench bat, a quality lefty in the pen and an additional heat arm from the right side.   We dropped baggage and got stronger here.  Read over the stats and I am backed up here.

In one trade(if all goes as planned, the Cards corrected a lot of mistakes and holes on their roster.   Jackson pushes McClellan to the bullpen.  Dotel helps the young Boggs and Motte in depth.  Patterson add speed and defense while Rypenski gives La Russa an arm he can use in the pressure spots during the game.   All in all, a good trade for each team.

If Rasmus goes on to hit 30 home runs, drive in 100 and hit .290, good for him and the Blue Jays.  I will tell you this.  He wasn’t going to do it here, wore out his welcome and punched his own ticket when his attitude trumped his game.  Goodbye Colby.  Pack up the farm animals, hay and cornbread and start watching hockey.  All good will reserved, I am glad we were able to get a good return here.  Jackson wasn’t going to be enough, and the Cards added to the deal.  A strong deal from John Mozelaik to get equal value here.

ESPN writer Bill Simmons writes that he loves Rzepczynski and adds that Jackson has been sneaky good in 2011, hoping his Red Sox could of pulled one of them in.  Having read Simmons for a year, I can tell you the man knows his language and that his approval means a lot.

When examined from outside the Cards emotional radius, the trade works very well in a number of ways.   The trade is designed as a “win now” move, but with the Cards farm system producing quality talent like Jay and Allen Craig, a move is possible.  We could walk a mile and discuss Rasmus’ potential but the end will be finalized when the production comes into question.   Its simple when examined.  Rasmus is regressing as a once promising All Star talent, and carries only so much value.   The Cards struck while the iron was hot.

Juice Note-Edwin Jackson pitched a no hitter last year for the Diamondbacks, albeit with 8 walks included.  He has 97 strikeouts and 31 walks in 2011, an impressive 3-1 ratio which is good for any league.  He also carries a workman like 3.92 ERA, good for the AL.  Jackson is a contact pitcher who is enjoying a very good second half and slots in as the Cards 5th starter.

Jackson and Rzepczynski are the key components of this deal, while Dotel(3.68 ERA, 30 K) and Patterson are the potential bonus pieces.  In the end, this is a risky yet successful and required trade.

Bottom Line-While people around baseball consider this a great deal for the Blue Jays, I can easily question that analysis.   What we have here is a question of value.  A need for value.  No one can sit in a sober state and say Colby Rasmus will be a great player in St. Louis if he had stayed here for a few more seasons.   A conflicted player of massive complexity and stoned faced acknowledgement, Rasmus refused to work with Cards coaches, requested a trade in 2010 and obviously wasn’t happy here.  This would of led to more subpar play and means he had to go.  In return, we get a variety of weapons.  In Jackson, The Cards get an innings eater who is only 27 years old and is in a contract year.   In Rzepcynski, the Cards fix their #1 need in bullpen help from the left side.  In Patterson and Dotel, they get depth and insurance to the young players on their roster.  This is a good deal for a Cardinals team trying to win a division in a four team race.  If they sat around and gave Colby time to grow and he didn’t, the widespread talk would be that they didn’t strike while the iron was hot.  Rasmus can come into his own in Toronto and help the Blue Jays battle the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays for the toughest division in baseball.  The Cardinals get stronger as well and can make this trade because it allows them to move Kyle McClellan back to the bullpen, gives them the flexibility of moving Motte or Boggs after bringing in Dotel, and Patterson gives the bench a speed threat with pop and a player who can steal bases.  Looking at the little things, the deal works and while it carries risk in St. Louis, the alarm isn’t scary on this end.  The hardcore reality is this.  La Russa isn’t going anywhere, so Rasmus had to move.  My true feeling is he wouldn’t of been able to do well here because A.)he wasn’t happy, B.)Carried the pressure of a highly touted first round draft pick and C.)had better players breathing down his neck.   Rasmus didn’t have the drive to call off Matt Holliday in the outfield for a fly ball, much less rise to the occasion.   This deal worked for the Cardinals because Colby Rasmus wasn’t going to work in La Russa’s system, and love or hate the skipper, that’s just the way it is.

With more on this soon, Im moving on to more bits.

-With Theriot going downhill, Skip Schumacher has stepped up his production.  Since July 16th, Skip has raised his average from .262 to .288, signaling a turnaround for the transitional player.  After hitting .300 for two seasons with a .350 plus on base percentage, Skip had a rough 2010 season.   His defense worsened, which put more stress on his hitting approach, causing the downhill collapse.  In 2011, his defense has improved and his bat is following suit.  He needs to split time with Descalso and Jay in the leadoff role.

-Albert Pujols’ two run homer was up for debate last night as the ball struck the top of the center field wall, causing an instant replay and a debate from the Astros dugout.  In my opinion, the ball wasn’t a home run, but the umpires ruled for Albert.  If you’re a Cardinal fan, you keep your mouth shut and like it.  If you have a problem with instant replay on home runs, file it with the judge.  If MLB wants to improve their system of replays, go to the war room where several sets of eyes can see the replay and lay down a ruling.  This is the format in the NHL, where refs will call up to the Toronto war room, where all games are monitored and get a ruling.  Leave it to human error or add another set or two of eyes.   Complaining about it does no good.

-A Brief Mention for A Beer taking care of me in the summer.  Consider this a commercial break.   Ladies and gents, after you replenish your needs with a wheat beer of any kind, settle down at night and crack open a bottle of thick delicious Trader Joe’s Stockyard Stout.   This isn’t a stout season, but real beer lovers can dive into any brew at any time, so make the plunge.  Carrying a deep rich taste that contains barley, chocolate and coffee afterthoughts, Stockyard delivers the goods for any Stout fan.  Recommended by a good friend, I bought a 6 pack and have drank a bottle per night.  One bottle of Stout satisfies the soul and finishes the day off perfect.  This is a beer that puts hair on your chest and peace in your mind.  For the ladies, the hair is held back but the genius factor is included.  Give it a shot.

-Cards fans, Don’t worry about Lance Berkman.  Remember the Neil Young song.  “Old Man/take a look at my life/it’s a lot like you.”  Berkman is getting old, will miss games here and there yet deliver when in the lineup.  Last night, he took two at bats, didn’t feel right and pulled himself out of the lineup.   If Berkman plays 130-135 games in 2011, that’s good news.   The key is to keep those knees fresh and ready for September and use the bench in order to keep the Puma ready for big time action.   Look at his stats right now and he is better than 2009 or 2010.   .286 BA, 27 HR, 69 RBI, 66 Runs scored.   Give me a break and him while you are at it.  He is an MVP candidate who needs rest.

-The Cards are hot and have won 5 of 6 by taking care of business.  After taking a game against the Mets, we took care of the Pirates and are beating a bad team in the Astros.  Keep it up and the record gets padded before the next week begins.  This is how the 2011 team succeeds and the 2010 falters.

-The Reds traded Jonny Gomes to the Nationals to insert power and relieve the Reds of attitude trouble and dead weight.   Gomes is a clown who has worn out his welcome and will add marginal power to the Nats, who are suffering with 22 million dollar boy Jayson Werth hanging low iwith Gomes like numbers, .217 BA, 11 HR, and 35 RBI.  That’s called a solo project that’s sank in the water.   Werth is sinking under pressure without the firepower of Ryan Howard and Chase Utley behind him.   He makes Matt Holliday look like a bargain contract.

-King Felix Hernandez is staying put.  The Mariners are a horrible team without offense and depth, but they aren’t stupid.  They won’t trade their Cy Young award winning centerpiece in Felix and risk their future.  If you take away the centerpiece, the table collapses.  Bad idea.  Keep Felix, sign some power hitting and regroup for next season.   Anybody who thinks or dreams King Felix is leaving needs a reminder that the ground they walk on belongs to reality.

In Entertainment news-

-Looking forward to an indie film premiering at the Toronto Film Festival called, Ides of March, starring George Clooney and Ryan Gosling. A political drama about a presidential candidate(Clooney) who runs into a brick wall while on a campaign, due to a scandal involving his assistant(Gosling).   Clooney is directing, and his track record is pretty solid behind the camera as he makes classy politically ambitious films, the best being Goodnight and Good Luck, about radio voice Edward Morrow’s stand against Joseph McCarthy in the Communism struggle.   With Clooney, there’s juice to spare and the supporting cast is littered with talent like Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti.  A film to look forward to.

-For all the True Blood fans, I’m heavily awaiting the Bill-Eric bash kickass fest this Sunday. In a show about vamps and humans co-existing, the thrill has always been the raging sexcapades and the interesting characters and unpredictable nature.  This is Rome with vamps and staged in the south.  Season 4 has seen Bill thrust into higher power and Eric into stupidville, so Im glad a change is coming.  Since he lost his memory, Eric has gone flat for me.  Since I carry two thumbs and like the ladies, his looks don’t interest me. As played by Alexander Saarsgard, Eric’s allure has been the little things.  His attitude, ability and way of handling business has always been the thrill for Mr. Northman in this house on the male end.  From the moment he came on screen in Season 1 at the bar in the king’s chair, we knew he was dangerous and wouldn’t be denied screen time.  I haven’t read the books in the series, but these vamps intrigue me and chief among the instigators is Eric and his “give it to me now” way of acting, so after he runs into Bill with 2 fingers and a member deep into the centerpiece, Sookie(the lovely Anna Paquin),  hopefully Eric gets his mojo back.  Season 4 is entertaining but missing the key element of Eric Northman’s dangerous persona.  The loser puppy routine is growing old.  If you don’t watch the show, this paragraph will seem like spanish.

-Since I am not a Seinfeld fan and don’t watch Curb Your Enthusiasm, seeing Larry David on the cover of Rolling Stone carries zero interest to me.  RS ranks among the top in entertainment journalism and quality cover piece writing, but this issue I will pass.  David is Woody Allen’s nervous brother when it comes to interviews, so no thanks.  A No Go.  I’m sure he is a comic genius who spurned a classic series and went on to star in a quirky one of his own, but right here it gets a slow…mehhhhhh.

-Look up Hugo’s cool alternative rock album, Old Tyme Religion, for a fresh take on various genres in music.  His folky spin on sound and his bluesy cool vocals produce entertaining cool tunes.   Hugo is doing things different and we’re better for it.

That’s all I have for now.  A  baseball blood soaked rant here with bullets of Cardinals persuasion mixed with entertainment and free speech.   Just another collection of words from my head to your eyes.   Time for me to exit stage left.  All I have is what I’m going after, so for now I am giving it a rest.

Goodnight,

Dan L. Buffa

“L” stands for Larry

 

The time has come once again to tell you who I am and what I do here.   Every hour of every day, I feel a need to inform people of my opinion.   Paid writers hate guys like me because I have a ying for every yang they publish.   I call stories exactly as I see them, with no filter required.  I carry no editors in my house, and nor do I ever want one to look in.   It’s my show here.  Ask me about anything and I will give you a point of view is that is unbias, direct and of the moment.   My words hurt people and yes I have made people cry from ther result of using brutal honesty in my blogs.   There is no need to sugar coat anything in life because it delays the inevitable.  The honest to the heart truth.  What you get here is 100 percent me.  Up to the minute thoughts and the mind drippings of a simple man who feels a journalistic hunger to tell people the news.

Let’s get into the Cardinals weekly rampage of exhausted hunting for meaning in a team

When it comes to the Rogues in red, you take so many twists and turns that there isn’t an end in sight.  There is only the next round of material to discuss about this team, which is what I am running into right now.

The Cards started the second half with a 4-5 road trip through Cincinnati, New York, and Pittsburgh, the last stop yielding a series victory but an unfortunate close.

The Mets are better than their record, sport decent pitching, and the return of Jose Reyes and emergence of Carlos Beltran as the trading deadline nears sparked the Mets to take the first two games of last week’s series.   The Mets won in convincing style on Tuesday and walked off on Wednesday, giving the Cards their 9th defeat in game winning fashion.   There isn’t much use to dive into the rougher cuts of that series because its a week old but I will say this.  A couple things became apparent in that series that fully explained the Cards needs at the trading deadline on July 31st.

-Kyle Mania is dipping to an all new low as the months pass by.  Lohse and McClellan aren’t the same pitchers from May and June.  The last 7 starts by these two don’t mirror the first 10, where K-Mac went 6-1 and Lohse was also 6-1.   Since then, Lohse has only won two games and lost 6, and McClellan hasn’t won in his past 7 starts.   Lohse and McClellan pitched average in New York and didn’t give their team a chance to win.   Each labored through 6 innings and allowed 4 earned runs.  There is zero quality in those starts.   This is why the Cards need starting pitching.  McClellan is hitting an innings wall and regressing, while Lohse is straigtening out into a 4th arm capable of giving up 4 or 5 runs per start.  Is this surprising?  NO.  McClellan is a first year starter better suited for bullpen work, where he spent all of his first 4 seasons doing well.  Lohse is a starter with one great year in an otherwise unnoteworthy career.  This guy isn’t surprised at all about the downfall of the Kyle’s.  We have approached the collison of ability and reality, otherwise known as late July.  McClellan needs to go back to the bullpen to better serve this team.  His two starts this week against the Astros and Cubs are his last chances.

-Tony La Russa carries zero faith in his lefthanders in the bullpen.   This explains why Fernando Salas was pitching against Angel Pagan in the 10th inning of a tied game on Wednesday.  Pagan hit a game winning home run off a Salas fastball that once again didn’t get inside enough.   Salas had already pitched the 9th inning, and La Russa sent him back out there.   For what reason?  With Pagan, Beltran and Reyes approaching, there was no need to stretch your closer 2 extra innings.  With Trevor Miller and Raul Valdes in the pen, La Russa had options that he didn’t to turn to.  This means only one thing.  La Russa has lost complete faith in his lefties.  Get him new arms.  Release Miller and send Valdes back to Memphis because they are worthless if La Russa can’t use them in pressurized situations.

Those are the two things that popped into the head during the lost series.   Two holes on this team.  Rotational wear and tear, lefthanded bullpen help and a closer who can shut down a team 1-2-3 in the ninth inning and not be stretched past a single frame.  The bullpen is pitching extra innings, getting beaten more because the starters aren’t pitching deep into games any longer.   Lohse and McClellan can rarely pitch past the 6th inning, and except for Thursday’s gem, Jake Westbrook doesn’t go more than 5.2 innings.  When the starters tire, the bullpen weakens.  Along with a very average defense that is committing errors twice a game, those are the needs on this club.

Other Things to Consider from New York-

Jason Motte is having a decent season, has been wrongly saddled with more than a few situations(bases loaded, 0 outs) and has good numbers.  However, Motte isn’t pitching well with runners on base.   His inherited runners allowed is bad this season, hanging a cloud on his impressive K-BB and ERA.

Jason Isringhausen, a long time favorite of mine, collected a save and a win in last week’s series, causing me to get nostalgic about his Cardinal days and become a tad bit angry.  Izzy worked 3 scoreless innings for the Mets against the heart of the Cards order.  He struck out AP and Freese on high fastballs.  He got Holliday and Berkman to reach twice each.  In short, Izzy looked too good for his crisp old age of 37, causing me to complain, when was the last time Izzy pitched 3 scoreless innings in a row for the Cards?  You have to go back to 2007 to find it.  Here is the realization.  Izzy is pitching without pressure in NY, serving most of the season as a 1 inning bullpen hand and doing well.  In St. Louis, near the end, Izzy felt the weight of the world on his shoulders and pitched with boulders sitting on each arm.  His hip was rotting away and his shoulder wasn’t healthy.  He pitched bad in his 2 of his final 3 seasons in St. Louis, years after leading the league in saves(47) in 2005.   If he came back to St. Louis this season or next, he would immediately feel the pressure from his closing duties here.  Whether or not he closed, the “best fans in baseball” would let him have it and be relentless with their assaults.  It wouldn’t work out here because Izzy carries too much baggage.  If he faltered, he would be slaughtered.  That’s the life of a closer.  You are only as good as your last outing, and so far in 2011, Izzy is well liked in New York, the mother of pressure cookers.  Who could of written this script?   Last night against the Reds, Izzy struck out Brandon Phillips with the bases loaded to seal another win for the Mets and his 297th save.  Wonder how those bases got loaded in the first place?  Izzy put them there, as Bob Gibson would tell Tim McCarver back in the 1960s.  That’s the thing about being a fan of Izzy.  He has put plenty of gray hair on my face and head, but to this day, I pull for him to do well.   Its called loyalty.

Give credit to Jake Westbrook.  In a supreme time of desolate need, he pitched 8 innings in a 6-2 getaway win that salvaged a game and pushed the Cards into Pittsburgh in a healthy mood.   Westbrook has been up and down, pushed to the side all season, and roughed up and locked in all in a week.  He is a pitcher looking for solid ground and on Thursday, found it, used a Albert Pujols homer to stake himself and collected his 8th win.  His ERA is high but Westbrook is 6-2 since early June, thanks to run support and timely pitching.   He is a 5th starter through and through, but he is coming up big this season in big spots.   Its been one year since Westbrook came over in a trade for Ryan Ludwick, and Jake has answered the call and fulfilled expectations.   He will never be called an ace, like he was dubbed in Cleveland, but he gets the job done and gives you a gritty 5-6 innings.

On to  the Pittsburgh series, where the Cards took 2 of 3 in a huge series but dropped the finale in devastating and embarrassing fashion.

Quick Recap of Friday and Saturday-Carpenter dominates, gets stronger as the innings go by, goes 8 strong, yields 4, and rides three Cards homers to a 6-4 victory closed down by Salas for his 18th save.  On Saturday, the Cards romp, winning 9-1 and Jaime Garcia collects his 10th win, going 7.1 innings and giving a single run.   Carpenter is 5-0 in his last 6 starts, with a 2.95 ERA, and the Cards have won every game he has pitched.  Garcia deserves 13-14 wins but sits with 10 wins again, eliminating doubters with every start and trimming his ERA back to under 3.00 while pitching fine baseball.   The two Aces of the rotation did the heavy lifting on Friday and Saturday.

Sunday’s game was a disaster because once again, the Cards shot themselves in the foot, didn’t capitilize on key chances, and beat themselves.  The Cards blew 3 leads, left runners on and played horrible defense, falling 4-3 in 10 innings.   A good friend of mine argued that the Sunday loss eliminated the previous two wins and made the series a downer.  While I disagreed, his point has to be examined.  Every time the Cards have a chance to truly rise to the top of the NL, get into the upper ranks, step on their divisional competiton, they falter and lose.  They lost a chance to sweep the Reds two weeks ago at home.  They blew the first game after the All Star break in Cincy, allowing the Reds to stay in the NL hunt.  They allowed the Mets to walk off with a series win after blowing a 4-0 lead.  On Sunday, the Cards couldn’t finish off the Pirates, slow them down and take over the division.   Imagine what a sweep may of done to the Central power system.   The Cardinals walked into Pittsburgh and did the right thing.  They reminded the Pirates that the king of the division will not go down and told them who has dominated this division for 10 years.   Yesterday, they passed up a chance to be great, instead falling back down to good and credible.  Why?  A lot of reasons.  Lets dip into that pie.

-Any time you leave 11 baserunners stranded, commit three errors and blow 3 different leads in a one run game, you are going to lose.  Period.

-Ryan Theriot’s bat is eroding and his defense is still bad.   He committed two errors and allowed two late throws from the catcher on base stealing attempts to get past him and into center field.  The second pass was crucial, setting up the game winning run for the Pirates in the 10th inning.  Theriot is an average talent and always has been.  He hit his peak in 2008 and 2009, had a bad 2010 season and started hot this year only to slowly fizzle out.  Theriot went 1-6 in yesterday’s game lowering his average to .271.  He is hitting .209 in July and has lost 25 points on his batting average in 12 days.  His defense is horrible.  He makes routine plays close and can’t make a good play.   Theriot isn’t a leadoff hitter and has stopped getting on base, meaning he will be dropped to the bottom of the order.   Here is the problem.  Skip Schumacher isn’t a better leadoff hitter.  The Cards don’t have a good leadoff hitter.   The idea of hitting Jon Jay leadoff has to spring into La Russa’s mind.  If not, Theriot will continue to rot.  He is like a flower who gets pulled out of water and laid on the ground to die.  As the season goes on, he gets worse.

-Gerald Laird can’t throw his mother out at second base.  3 stolen bases allowed in a game isn’t a good sign for a catcher.

-Kyle Lohse only pitches 5 innings and throws 64 pitches.   Asking your bullpen to get you 12 outs with a starter doing well is stupid.  Lohse blew two one run leads but was looking sharp when he left.   I don’t care if his finger wasn’t 100 percent ready.  If he makes the start, he has to throw at least 85 pitches.  A bad move by La Russa to remove Lohse in a close game, no matter the situation.   Tony Cruz came up to pinch hit and struck out.

-If I were Tony, which I play 10 times per game because of my success rate, I would of pinch hit Yady for Laird and stopped two more stolen bases from happening.   Molina getting rest is nice and all, but the best catcher has to play in big games.   Sitting Yady on Sunday was bad news.  If you are playing Houston and Chicago this week, there is plenty of time to rest Molina.  A potential sweep contest was a bad choice.

-Hitting Skip in the sixth spot doesn’t scare any pitcher or manager in the major leagues.   Another La Russa fuckup.

-In the end, the Cards lost a heartbreaker.   The last two runs the Pirates scored came on a double play grounder and a sacrifice fly.   That’s how close and painful the game was.   Rotten display of play does put a slight damper on the previous two wins.

However, the Cards walked into Pittsy and took the series.  A recovery from a rough road trip and a chance to come home and do damage.  With the Astros and Cubs coming into town sporting bad records and dismal futures, the Cardinals need to get out the big sticks and put a beating on these teams.  No retreat, no surrender.  If the Cards can’t beat these team, they don’t deserve to contend for a playoff spot and should recede towards the bottom of the division.  This week is huge because bad teams need to be taken care of, and this is brightest flaw from last season’s collapse.  If we lose to Houston, the Pirates series victory does mean nothing.

Two ways you beat the Astros lineup-Keep Michael Bourn off the bases and throw Hunter Pence outside breaking pitches.  Their rotation, bullpen and depth aren’t pretty and there is a reason they are the worst team in baseball.   They do few things well.  The Cards will face Bud Norris but have hit him better recently.

When you lose, lessons come out of the fire.   Losing to the Reds, Mets and Pirates reminded the Cards of their needs at the deadline.

-Starting pitching

-Lefthanded bullpen help

-A closer fill in

Fernando Salas has saved 18 games in 21 chances but is getting more hittable with each appearance.   The Cards can’t afford to blow any more games this season and they lead the league in blown saves.   Salas is decent yet getting hit hard lately.  He is resembling Ryan Franklin with each appearance.  The hitters are collecting more contact against him and Salas hasn’t recorded a 1-2-3 9th inning in over a month.  Out of his 18 saves, 15 of them have included baserunners.   He isn’t a shutdown closer, was never groomed to be one, and is overused by La Russa.  A replacement is going to be needed unless La Russa treats Salas like a true closer.

Colby Rasmus is trade bait, but can’t be moved for a low end return.   The rumors of a trade sending Rasmus to The Chicago White Sox for starter Edwin Jackson wouldn’t make for an even deal.   Rasmus carries too much value to be traded for a downhill treading arm like Jackson.   Here is the question.  Is Jackson a lot better than McClellan or Westbrook?  No way.   He is an innings eater and sports a 4.00 ERA and 6 wins, but isn’t a fair deal for Rasmus.   Rasmus leads the team in walks and is 2nd in runs scored, and is only 24 years old.  He is also cheap and still carries potential.   This is stated because fans need to remember you don’t trade a player for a lesser product.  Unless the White Sox throw in lefty reliever Scott Thornton or Chris Sale, the deal doesn’t work to me.

Albert Pujols is accumulating strong power stats but failing to put 2-3 games together where he destroys pitching.  After going 4-5 on Friday and reaching .280 again, AP finished off the series 1-9 with an RBI single.   He has 22 home runs and 60 RBI, second on the team to Lance Berkman.   Albert is getting closer, crushing the baseball but hasn’t reached solid land yet.  According to Pujols standards, AP 2011 is still behind.

Here is what irritates me about Tony’s way.  Why do you sit Matt Holliday, David Freese and Yady Molina on a Sunday where you have a chance to sweep your division upstart Pirates?   It is plain stupid.   Save the rest dates for this week when you face teams that are 10-20 games out of first place and worthless.   In make or break games, the lineup has to feature the core talent.  Big miss by La Russa.   His managing will be called impressive this season because of the reliable resilient performance by the Cards in the face of deadly injury, but he is irritating me every game with his subpar choices.

Idea of the week.   Bat Jon Jay leadoff.   He hits .300, gets on base in a variety of ways, and is CONSISTENT.  He is a more reliable hitter than Ryan Theriot right now.  Make the move.   Follow Jay with David Freese or Nick Punto, who has to start cutting into Theriot’s playing time.   Winning teams go with the hotter hand, and right now its Jon Jay.

This week I am going to three games at Busch Stadium, so I will get a close look at this team before they hit the trading deadline on Sunday.  Expect action this week to heat up in the league as teams make improvements for the stretch run.   John Mozelaik is known for his post deadline waiver moves, but he will make a trade this year of some variety.   I will get the chance to see McClellan’s next two starts against two division foes.  I will see Garcia on Thursday.   After this week, I will be able to tell you what is right and wrong with this team, which will lead to make or break moves.  The Cards are 1-2 moves from being a very good baseball team.  The question is…will those moves be made or not?

Moving onto other topics while the Cards prepare to battle the Astros in 2 hours.   Updates on the team to follow as we roll along here.

Update-Cards beat the Astros 10-5 on Monday night, a successful night for many, including these players.

-Kyle McClellan pitches 7 strong innings, striking out 5 and allowing only a 1 run on 6 hits.   A solid performance that keeps K-Mac in the rotation.  Pitching against a poor lineup, Kyle had to be sharp and rose to the occasion.

-Colby Rasmus goes 1-3 with a walk, smashing a 2 run 420 foot bomb in the 5th inning, continuing his trend of hitting home runs inside several bad at bats.  Rasmus can hit homers, we know that, but can he hit consistently and get on base game to game.

-Pujols goes 1-5 with a single.  Pujols is close yet not there with his timing.  With him, its all timing.

-Pj Walters comes into a 8-1 game and allows a grand slam to Carlos Lee.   Why is Walters on this team again? Walters hadn’t pitched in three weeks, came into a blow out game, and allowed the Astros to get back into the contest with a 4 run 8th inning.   Walters is a career Memphis arm who only makes appearances here when the team is in need.  Right now, the roster includes 14 pitchers, more than enough help for a July finish.

-Ryan Theriot goes 0-5 and drops below .270.   Theriot is becoming a worthless leadoff bat and doesn’t help with his defense.   His playing time needs to be cut short.  The Cards knew what they were getting in RT, so the time has come to shove him to the side, play Punto or Descalso and make a run for it with Theriot on the bench as a pinch hitter/part time starter.  La Russa needs to realize this like he realized Miguel Batista and Ryan Franklin were only hurting the bullpen every time they pitched.  Tough but required step for all managers.  Recognize a player going through a career sealing rough streak.

Captain America Review

The latest Marvel summer action film arrival is exactly what you want and a little more.  Unlike decent if forgettable guilty pleasures like Transformers 3 or Green Lantern, Captain America has a full blooded story and a iconic hero in Steve Rogers, the little skinny guy who only wanted to help his country fight the Germans in World War II.   The film is peppered with pure action exhilaration while retaining a thoughtful soul carried out here by Chris Evans, giving an energetic if understated performance as Rogers.   Director Joe Johnston borrows here from early America comics by mixing the plot up with the WWII struggle between The USA and the Nazis, here led by the evil Red Skull(Hugo Weaving), a man who simply wants to take over the world and kill off the competition.   Right as he sets aim on the USA, Rogers joins the army and gets selected by a military scientist for a secret experiment.   What the military soon finds out about Rogers is that while he only weigh 100 pounds, his heart and hunger to do good outweighs half the men in the army.   He is selected to be the first human to be transformed into “a super soldier”, a heroic super strength and fast moving evil fighting machine.  Red Skull was given a similiar procedure, but the effects didn’t completely take and he is left only disfigured and full of hate.  Rogers comes out a living breathing superhero, and the fight between Captain America and Red Skull begins.  Throw in an old fashioned love story between Rogers and a british officer(Hayley Atwell) assisting the US, and the film is classic good vs. bad delight.  Its a simple pleasure being crafted here, a film that will please both the longtime comic fans and the summer crowd looking for an action film with true American bite.  Evans is perfect in the lead role, resisting the urge to overplay the heroic drama and simply let his look and movements cast the biggest growth in his performance.   Weaving makes for a  perfect adversary, cold and evil to the core.  Another reason this film is so strong is because it speaks to the many people in our country who aren’t genetically gifted yet carry a willpower and hunger to do the right thing.  All they need is a chance.  Rogers gets that chance in this movie, as his character is a symbol for every undersized man in the world.  Marvel fans get their fill here, with expected cameos from Nick Fury and a supporting role from Howard Stark as the chief builder of Captain America’s suit and shield.  After the credits, there is a very well put together trailer for next year’s Avengers.  Look, Captain America is for comic book hounds but also appeals to filmgoers looking for a summer action film that gives more than guns blazing and bad guys falling.  A superhero story with a bit of old school romance thrown into a World War II plot makes for a good time at the movies.

Other things to Like here-

-The Attention to detail.   Die hard fans will recognize small links to the old comics in the dialogue and in the costumes.  Well done here by the designers.

-Hayley Atwell makes for a fine female counterpoint to Evans in the lead role.  A young british beauty, Atwell takes a second rate role and makes her own.

-The patience in the storytelling is appreciated.   Moviegoers get to see Rogers make the slow transformation from nobody to hero.   Its a 30 minute transformation that defies the usual superhero tale, where filmmakers feel like the running time is a race and skip past all the juicy parts of the hero going from man to supernatural.   While some get impatient, I appreciated the slow boil of the plot here.  In a story of simple good against evil, the script needs to be strong.

THE NFL LOCKOUT IS OVER

After 132 days of deal making, pausing, and torment in the circles of the rich, the NFLPA and The Owners agreed on a new 10 year labor agreement. The NFL is alive again and open for business.  Anybody surprised by this needs a reality check and be reminded this is all about money and not about football.  Its chess, not checkers my friends. The wait is over, and the fans will get their football fix this fall and winter.   First thing, fans have nothing to whine about.   Except for the useless HOF game in Canton, the fans aren’t missing out on anything.   The four preseason games will go on, and the 16 game regular season trek is planned as well. When people call fans the victims, they are out of line and sound quite stupid.  The coaches are paid top dollar to get athletes into game shape, so 40 days is more than enough time to get ready to play football.   All in all, the game didn’t lose much muster and only found itself with a couple mini camps.  The smart players will stay in shape and the dumb ones will get injured.  The two sides weren’t dumb enough to waste the millions made in the preseason and came to an agreement that makes each side content, if not happy.  In the beginning, it was going to be a real act of stupidity to miss any preseason or regular season games.  Money rules here.  Its hard to side with either group here because each contributed to the greedy pack.   The players didn’t want to hand over part of their share for the owners to sort out their revenue sharing system, so the owners locked them out.  The players laid down their terms, filed suit, and the owners remained adamant about splitting the pie and adding a billion on top of the sharing.  The players and owners went to court and battled.  Each side remained stubborn enough for one STL radio voice to claim football would be cut short in 2011.  In the end, the players accepted the owners revised CBA, and we are back in business.

The Rams Outlook

The Rams are opening camp on Friday, and GM Billy Devaney, Steve Spagnuolo and Stan Kroneke need to get to work and attack the free agent market.   The Rams are 2-3 players from making the playoffs.  An outside linebacker,  a backup running back, a cornerback/safety and a big play wide receiver to mix in with the B pack bunch on the roster.  Sidney Rice, Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards are expensive options at WR.   Plaxico Burress is a cheaper look for the Rams.   Its easy to sit here and say what the team needs but these are the facts.  Last year, when the Rams suffered injuries, the passing game took a hit and the team struggled to put points on the board in the red zone.  Struggles in the red zone come back to wide receiving playmakers.   Since I can’t have Larry Fitzgerald, one must look to the open market.  Look, there are good things to say about Danny Amendola, Brendan Gibson, Danario Alexander, Donnie Avery and Mark Clayton, but they are all supporting players and not playmaking #1 threats.  You keep 3-4 from the bunch and add a real stat monster who can run and catch.   Sam Bradford is a great leader but he needs a toy.   A big toy to play with on offense.  The Rams need to find him one.   On defense, an outside linebacker to accompany James Laurenitas and a cornerback/safety to replace Oshimingo Atogwe would be preferrable.  The Rams have an intriguing team yet carry holes.

Also on the list is a backup running back.   A smaller speedy type who can complement Steven Jackson’s bash and slash style of power running.   Darren Sproles would work very well here.  Brian Westbrook is perfect, with his running and catching abilities.   Marion Barber was released by the Cowboys.  He could fill in behind SJ39 but they are built from the same cloth.   Jackson needs help because he is gaining years along with the yardage and takes a beating in his style of play.  A backup with real juice heightens the abilities of the running game.  Cut them with a speedy second man, and allow SJ to finish them off.

The story of the Rams is simple.   Spags handles the defense, creating a pass rush heavy attack that helped the Rams lead the NFC in sacks last year yet left them vulnerable to the running game and a big passing play.  On offense, Josh McDaniels takes over the book and will reinvent this attack.  One reason I am content with the group in a small way is that McDaniels will suck every bit of talent from the roster and is built from the Mike Martz school of 4 down territory.  Run and gun, and slam the ball down the defenses throat.  The success rate hinges on the amount of  holes Devaney can fill with Stan’s cash.  Get it done. The Rams fans are back in the seats, so now the idea is to keep them there.  Let’s not be like the Blues and make zero moves on the roster for 3 years(what happened to the note before the past season).   Lets find flaws and fix them.

Amy Winehouse Died this past weekend.   The brutally talented jazzy pop artist passed to unknown causes, yet I am can guess with a clear mind that drugs were involved.  This death is no big surprise to anybody who pays attention to pop culture and the music industry.  Before Saturday, mention Winehouse and you see people briefly smile and nod before taking a dark swing into a mixed up expression.  Amy was gifted yet addicted.  Her biggest album was named Back to Black and her biggest hit was called Rehab, which carried an addictive spell of its own on a listener.  Listening to her, you knew there was talent there, but the fight here is the same as it was with Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.  Would the talent outrun the drug addiction?  In the end, for Amy, the addiction won.   She was a cold blooded musician, a prodigy who couldn’t stay out of the press for drug/boyfriend/disturbance issues.   While drug addiction and alcoholism isn’t a real disease, the issue is a definite reality in several people’s lives.  A problem that is created within a person’s space and company.  Winehouse could of been guarded with an army of sober people but would find a way to use.  Whether she was off or on, accidentally drugged or purposefully high, Winehouse was 100 percent authentic.  That’s what I’ll remember about her.  Her talent and her real world.  She didn’t fake a thing and gave it all in person.   You can’t fix death, but you can remember someone despite their problems.  I’ll remember Winehouse real cut attitude.  Since her death, her album sales have rose.  This is also no surprise, as we have understood from Hendrix, Cobain, Tupac and Marley’s modern day effect.   When an artist dies early, their music reaches another level.  Rehab was great, but my favorite Winehouse song was bittersweet and perfectly explained her demise.  The song is called, “You know I’m No Good”.  Here it is. Take one look at Winehouse and she had a “guess what I’m going to do next” expression on her face.

http://youtu.be/b-I2s5zRbHg

The Tragedy in Norway is simply horrible and something that I struggle to explain to people or to myself.   Terrorists are led by religious duties, but we always forget to throw gunmen into that group.   What led a single man to kill 92 people on vacation in Norway?  What went through the man’s head?  He posed as a police officer, set a building on fire, gathered innocent people around him, and begin to pick them off, one by one with an automactic weapon.  ONE MAN nearly killed 100 people inside a single day.  How do you react to that?  You make sure he is dead, find out his origin, and what led him to the act, but what happens after?  Its inexplainable.   There is nothing one can do but appreciate the ground you walk on isn’t joined by a gunmen looking to end life for no real reason.   According to Henry Rollins, Norway is a peaceful loving place full of good people.   In one day’s time, a man changed that.  Who the fuck cares what his name is?  I don’t need it here.

Leave Daniel Craig alone.  Reading two interviews and each time Craig blasts the writer for stepping into uncharted territory.  While I appreciate a movie star’s requirement to give insight and a writer’s job to probe, I can understand if Craig doesn’t want to release the details of his wedding and marriage to the lovely Rachel Weisz.   Movie stars are the commodity but there are borders and limits to an interview.  Talk about the movie. That is what they are selling.   Their work in film, not at home.  I may give more if I were in Craig’s shoes, but that’s me and not him.   I happen to like Craig’s rebel attitude to say “that’s off limits”.  In a land of robots, Craig can stand up and say that’s enough.  Ask him what makes his James Bond tick, what leads him to parts, what he likes about movies, but stop asking about his personal life.  Every time a writer steps over a boundary set by a human being, its annoying.

Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde and Sam Rockwell star in Cowboys and Aliens, released this weekend.   This is a movie you hear about and instantly know your reaction to it.  My opinion is that this makes for the perfect summer movie.   What did we dream about or play with when we were kids?  Cowboys and indians battles.   Mix in aliens and the game is set.   Take the two most iconic things in our history. The coolest and the unknown, throw them together with a good cast and I am in.   Ask Craig or Ford why they took the film and they will tell you, “for fun”.   Jon Faverau turned down Iron Man 3 and took this job instead, and Favs makes fun movies.  That’s what summer is all about.  Make entertaining movies that stimulates our senses and teases the mind.   Craig is a mysterious cowboy, dropped into a town by unknown sources with a powerful bracelot that shoots bolts of lightning generated power out of it.   Ford is the lawman who wants to put Craig in jail.  Wilde is the mystery woman, Rockwell is the bartender, and all is set to collide before aliens invade.  Cue the questions, mystery reveals and action and romance.   Cowboys and Aliens won’t win an award but it will get two hours of my time.   I like movies that take a worn out topic and spin a fresh look on it.

Speaking of fresh spins, here is a reloaded version of Jay Z’s famous “99 Problems” by folky artist Hugo.   If you like artists taking a popular song into their studio, tossing it at their playbook like a misdirected son and coming back with something completely different, Hugo’s bluesy twist is for you.  Set aside your opinion of Jay Z and listen to this song.

Hugo-“99 Problems”

http://youtu.be/LloIp0HMJjc

Daddy Blog Post-Diapers are like runs in a softball game.  You can’t have enough.  This weekend, I am getting friends together for a Cards-Cubs game at Busch and a night of drinking and fun at Sports Zone in Kenrick.   Each person brings a pack of diapers as a gift.  Its a testosterone filled baby shower.   A chance to have good times and collect “baby shit briefs”.    Ask any parent and they will tell you.  Load up on diapers because babies shit themselves hourly.   Since there is no possible way to prepare for a bad load, I am going to accumulate as many as I can so I can practice.   The phrases “runny”, “ass rash” and “nonstop” will carry new meanings  this fall.

Random Bits as I roll past the 6,100 words typed mark here in an epic blast of Buffa Explosion.

-Tiger Woods drops to 21st in the golf rankings.  How the mighty have fallen?  That’s how the truth feels, Tiger.  Along with a career full of denial in injuries.

-Where will Kevin Kolb land in free agency?  Arizona or San Francisco.   Donovan McNabb will drop in Minnesota or Cincinnati.  Brett Favre, hopefully, will watch it from his home.   Unless your offensive line is made out of a steel wall, there is no need for Favre to risk serious life threatening injury.  Ask him who he wants to be.   Troy Aikman or Kurt Warner.  Do you want to walk off the field or be carried off?  I understand a hunger to play, but enough is enough cowboy.

-Cam Janssen going back to New Jersey sets up February 9th as the first round of Ryan Reaves VS. Janssen battle in the enforcer’s post Blues career.  Eureka native Janssen played 4 years of solid 4th line fighting duty for his hometown team, and that’s all an aging bruiser or fan can ask for.   Janssen was everything you wanted in a cheap tough guy.  A protector of his teammates, an entertaining fighter and a man with a compulsion to throw his weight around on the ice.   So long, Cam.  My money is on Reaves taking the fight after Cam lands a couple right hands.

-Blues News.  For the crowd wondering where the Blues news is, tell me what there is to talk about and I will answer.   Unless you are Jeremy Rutherford or Andy Strickland covering this team for a job, there is no real news.   Here is what I have heard.   Dave Checketts HAD three promising buyers lined up.  That was 3 weeks ago, so who knows what strings are being pulled there.  David Perron has all of a sudden been cleared to practice in August and Davis Payne said he will be ready for October.  I will believe that when I see it.   Reaves will have to fight for a roster spot with Jamie Langerbrunner and Jason Arnott filling the 3rd and 4th line on this team.  My feelings are every team needs at least one solid enforcer.  Sit Bj Crombeen and get Reaves in there.  Other than that, the needs for this team have been halfway met.   A mixture of young and old talent will hopefully be turned into a successful season but any real Blues fan knows that the result will be determined by Jaroslav Halak’s play in goal.   If he falters, gets hurt, starts hot and goes cold again, the Blues will suffer.  This team depends highly on their goaltender’s play.  Its been the same way for the past 5 years.  Chris Mason carried this team to the playoffs.  Halak will have to do the same if this team suffers injuries on it’s front end again.  Until there is fresh blood, that is all in Blues News.

-A good loyal cologne is hard to come by these days my friends.   The only kind I care to use is Hugo Boss, because it’s elegant, smells good but doesn’t overpower and is consistent.  It smells good 12 hours after you put it on, which is key for an expensive cologne.   Good cologne is also hard to fall in love with, because of the changing weather, but Hugo Boss is my preferred smell and one of the best.  My defense against the stinky nature of the heat.

Once again, I’ll take the winter over the summer because the human body can deal with the cold in a way far better than it deals with the heat.  When it’s cold, you put another layer on to stay warm.  When its deadly hot and humid, you take layers off but still feel sick, empty and worn out.   In my eyes, the heat is the most deadliest form of natural weather.  And it makes a working man smell quite bad at the end of the day, which is why I need a good shower and cologne like Hugo Boss to protect against it.

Speaking of pure stink, its about time I put an end to this near 7,000 word count batch of Buffa madness and exit the stage.   There is a time to stop and I passed it two days ago, so I will quit while I am still struggling to make up time.

Until next time, do something with your life, find new great music, see a good movie, speak your mind and stand by it, and stay cool in this deadly heat wave.   Thanks for reading.

Goodnight and good luck,

Dan L. Buffa

 

Go Cards!

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it comes to ranting like a maniac, there is no real end in sight.  You go on and on, and only stop when you sleep, but in all actuality, stats are being counted, ideas are being born and the world keeps moving as you sleep.  That’s the way my mind works.  When something happens that gets my attention, there’s a need inside me to speak my point of view on it.  Call it crazy, purposeful but please respect a man with a keyboard with guns in his hands.  Here we go. 

It’s been 4 hours since my last post.   Since then….

Jason Isringhausen saved a game for the Mets against my team and his former team, The St. Louis Cardinals.   Ironic and fitting to see an old hand deal the Cards a slap on the second leg of this road trip.  Izzy takes over the role for the Mets after the team traded Francisco Rodriguez(23 saves) to Milwaukee to set up for John Axford.   Izzy has 294 saves, and rather or not some think its credible, that is the benchmark for closers to reach and feel satisfied.   After three years toying with retirement, getting healthy and slowly making his way back to respectability, Izzy gets his first save in 3 years.  The last year he closed games for St. Louis, 2008, Izzy collected 12 saves in a doom filled season that saw him and Ryan Franklin share duties in an off year for the team.  Remember?  Izzy starting the season by blowing 3 saves in the first week of the season, sounds familiar to actions seen in 2011.   With K-Rod gone, Izzy is inserted into the pressure cooker known as Citi Field in Mets land.   Tonight, he looked sharper than ever, the best since 2007, and made the middle of our order look like a Double A grunge band.  Matt Holliday reached for a curve and grounded out.  Lance Berkman reached for curve and grounded out.   David Freese struck out on a checked swing and before 15 pitches were thrown, Izzy had his first save of the season.  Let me tell you why this means something to me.  Izzy was my favorite Cardinal for 4 seasons.   As I have marched through my years as a Cardinal die hard follower, I’ve taken plenty of shots to the chest for Isringhausen.   When his hip blew up, his saves disappeared and my need for a bullet proof vest at my old job, on the Manual Scoreboard at old Busch Stadium, became increasingly apparent and required practice.   When Izzy fell, my job started as non profit counsel for Izzy’s former estate as a better than average closer.  Izzy was a thrilling guy to watch in the 9th inning because he made things interesting, hung every pitch on our shoulders and took every beating like a pro.  That’s why its good to see Izzy back in the saddle again.  He has earned it.  When he crashed, Izzy burned.   No one in the major leagues has worked harder, acted so selfless, taken the abuse on the chin, kept his head high and been as patient for his last chance than Isringhausen.  When I see him climb the hill like a former gunslinger who retrieved his lost gun(the deadly curve) and shut down my team, the death didn’t hurt as bad as when Francisco Cordero closes the door two nights before.  In short, for one night, it was alright to see Jason Isringhausen find his closing touch, gain save #294, and find a piece of his dignity lost three years ago at Busch Stadium.   A guy whose wife had to take their daughter out of Busch Stadium because the “best fans in baseball” screamed every possible negative one liner at Izzy as he walked off the field after a blown save.   A guy who has gone through 2 shoulder surgeries, one elbow surgery, 2 hip surgeries and various other injuries in his career to remain throwing 93 mph tonight.   If anyone has earned a second chance, its Jason Isringhausen.  Move over John Franco.  There’s a new aging closer in Queens. 

The Cards lose to the Mets because they couldn’t score more than 2 runs off a rookie pitcher, David Gee, that they never faced before or saw pitch at all.   A common trend for this team is to lose to rookie pitchers, so tonight wasn’t a surprise.  One must crawl over this dead body, sign off on the autopsy(no hitting, average performance from Kyle Lohse, efficient pitching and timely hitting NYM) and prepare for Game 2.   There’s bad news in this series.  Chris Carpenter and Jaime Garcia will not pitch.  There’s good news in this series.  David Wright isn’t playing but David Murphy can hit cleanup and bash deep fly balls over our drawn in outfield’s head.  The story of tonight’s game was Murphy crushing a 0-2 pitch from Raul Valdes with 2 outs over Jon Jay’s head in center.  If Jay is playing at normal depth, the deep fly ball is caught and the inning is over, leaving the score at 2-1 Mets.   Why is an outfielder playing so shallow with 2 outs and the cleanup hitter at the plate?  A horrible decision by Tony La Russa(probable cause) or a rare mistake from Jay(least likely).   Either way, the 2 run double makes the score 4-1 and the game is sealed. 

The worst thing about a defeat is the aftermath and effect.  With the loss, the Cards drop to 2 games out of first place and fall into third place behind the Pirates and Brewers.   Guess what the Pirates did for the second night in a row?  The Bucs shut out the Reds, 1-0, marking 18 innings of scoreless Reds offense.   John Hanrahan locked down his 28th save, the Pirates needed only 1 run, and they won again. After breaking the Cards hearts and taking 2 of 3 from us over the weekend, the Reds can’t produce 1 single run in 18 innings against Pittsburgh.   Do I take back my theory that the Pirates won’t hold up?  I will not do such a thing. Does the awareness of this weekend’s three game set between the Cards and Pittsburgh up East gain significance?  Yes indeed.  I am no expert at all folks, but I don’t like the Pirates one bit right now. 

Small bits on the Cards.  

• Albert Pujols grounded into his 20th and 21st double play tonight, and in a two run loss those failed opportunities are huge.  AP is slowly arriving but his average can’t get past .283 and his double play tendencies are alive and well.   If he is going to stay around slugger weight(.270 BA, 20 HR, 55 RBI) he has to run out those grounders harder, especially on double plays. 
• Nick Punto took grounders from shortstop and third base to prove to the team that his unintentionally funny lolly pop throw in Cincy was a fluke and that his elbow isn’t in two pieces right now.   Punto is vital to the Cards defense and bench, so if he sticks around and avoids his third DL stay of the year, its a positive development for this team. 
• Colby Rasmus sits down again, holding his bad batting average and low hanging power stats in check for one night.  Colby saw zero action tonight.  No pinch hitting or wakeup calls.   Message, farmboy.  Start hitting quick because Tony La Russa gets his way in this town and that means bad news for young hot shot talent trains that derail easily.  Colby’s laidback demeanor doesn’t bother me too much.  His lack of production is the thorn in the side of my dick every time he strikes out in a crucial moment and homers in a useless at bat.  4 of Colby’s last 5 hits have been home runs.   Too bad I am talking about a 3 week period.  Colby, get well or be gone.  You have two weeks to wake up. 
• If the Cards deal Rasmus, I will be surprised.   That’s all.   This isn’t a supporting statement for Colby or a presser on the Cards front office, just a know well hunch.  This is me saying the ego of the Cardinals front office and suits section is as big as 5 football fields.  They want to be right.  These are high powered businessmen with law degrees and money.  Are you surprised?
• Put a gun to a GM’s head and ask him how much he likes a certain player and how much he really likes a veteran manager.  Don’t cock the trigger.  Just hold it and ask him.  I am curious.
• Lance Berkman homered again tonight, bringing his season total to 26, almost twice the amount Puma collected last season in two different uniforms.   There are three things to consider here.  First, Lance Berkman isn’t done putting up big seasons in the majors.   Second, the Cards would be wise to negotiate an extension for 2012 now rather than at the end of the year when he has 42 HR and 110 RBI.  Third, this is what healthy knees, a repaired psyche and new digs can do for a veteran slugger who hid under the radar for 8 seasons.
• How much can a fan trust the Cardinals bullpen right now?  Allow me to compare the situation to a person leaving his stove on low heat while he or she ran to the grocery store for a missing ingredient.   That’s about right. 

That is enough for now about this team that constantly wishes to drive me insane.   How many things in your life do you passionate about that you can’t control?  Please don’t tell me it is just a sport or a game.  Those who think that never played it or really got into it.   What we take seriously in life has to do with a truth inside us that can’t be explained.  This is the same reason I don’t frown on people who care two shits about baseball yet live and die over who some ugly lady on The Bacholorette picks to be her 1 year husband in training on live television.  We all have our passions. This is mine.

Movie Idea of The Week-In Time, starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfrield and directed by Andrew Niccol(Lord of War, Gattaca)

Imagine a world that took the phrase, “Time is money”, seriously?   In Niccol’s new film, societies aren’t cut up into separate pieces of geography yet decided by wealth and poverty.   The wealthy groups wear long button down shirts and waste time.  The poor wear zip up clothing(faster to assemble and wear) and must rush to work, through life and home in order to stay alive?  What if one day, you were told your time was up and you had to make it to work on time in order to “buy more time”.   That is Timberlake’s character’s predicament.   Please don’t knock JT.  The man is supremely talented and versatile.  He has taken several supporting roles in film and knocked all of them out(Alpha Dog, Social Network, Black Snake Mamba, Bad Teacher) while selling platinum records, killing on SNL and having sex with Jessica Biel.   Multi tasker who finally gets a movie of his own here.   This is a film that gets me excited because A)It isn’t an adaptation, sequel, or superhero CGI fest.  B)The script is fresh, the concept is smart and the cast is versatile and perfectly calibrated.  C)Andrew Niccol, director of visionary future world plots such as Gattaca and brilliant films lik Lord of War, is guiding the ship.  Imagine a world where you had to buy time.  A world where wasting time on a couch is seen as a crime and punishable by death.  Every moment is high stakes poker.   This is a film I am interested in.  Comes out in the fall, when the true heavy hitters start to arrive.

Secondary television isn’t advertised but it happens because unless you work 60 hours a week, drink like a fish, read a lot,  go to school and work full time or study plants or have a kid you have time on your hands at night.   When I watch MasterChef, Weeds, and Big C all in one night, I am in need of something to do with my time.   Secondary television can be seen as a guilty pleasure or as an ambitious kick in the head.   One of the good things with a kid arriving is time will have to be earned and not wasted on secondary television.  Here is an example.

First Rate Must Watch TV-Rescue Me, Dexter, Californication, Entourage, Wire, Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy

Secondary Television-Weeds, Big C, MasterChef, Royal Pains, Chopped

In the middle-Entourage, Man VS. Wild, Sons of Guns

Entourage is in there twice because depending on the season and the writing of Doug Ellin, Entourage can be a must watch or a show stuck in the middle of guilty pleasures and a waste of time.  

Speaking of the Boys from Queens attempt to make it big in Hollywood HBO series, the last season starts on Sunday.   An 8th and shortened final season and look at Vincent Chase and his band of theives from home.  The rock of the show still belongs to super agent Ari Gold, played like a bullet fired out of a glock by Jeremy Piven.  Piven gets the best lines, scenes, setup, leeway room in ad libbing and guides the best moments.   Aside from that, the appeal for this show for me is this.  The appealing nature of friendship.   The fun part is watching this group of friends take the hits and keep on coming.  Sure, they drive Aston Martin’s and live in Mansions, but they are regular guys at the core and in that divide lies bare boned appeal and intrigue.   Here’s to 4 more hours of Ari Gold zingers, good times with the boys and a halfway happy ending for the star crossed movie mini god Vinny Chase. 

Preview Ari Gold Zinger-“You don’t want Vinny mistaking your pale round head for a crack rock, Eric.”

If Doug Ellin(creator and head writer) did one thing well, it was expand Piven’s role on this show into a role that has earned Piven two Emmy awards and several nominations.  As Gold would advice, put on your armor, get your sunblock, because we’re going to hell and back. 

Song of the Day-Reaching into my U2 vault here and pulling out an old goodie, “Running to Stand Still”, from their finest achievement in making a complete album, the Joshua Tree.  This is a slow burner that needs to be listened to in the quiet of the morning or the deep hours of the night.  Either now or in 7 hours.

http://youtu.be/kioyUGaABjA

What else is there to talk about?  Follow me as I make my way down the rest of the list.

-If you want to know how older rock bands keep their mojo, listen to U2’s last two albums, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and No Line on the Horizon.

-After seeing the 90 second first preview in theaters and watching it three times in a row online,  Christopher Nolan’s epic conclusion to his Dark Knight trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, is the ultimate must see film of 2012.   That’s right.  One year before its release date(July 20th, 2012), a teaser is released.  Welcome to the 21st century ladies and gents.   Here’s why it is the most anticipated film with 365 days left to wait.  Nolan’s genius.  He picked up a dead franchise and inserted new life into it.  He did the unthinkable and combined a blockbuster superhero film with a hardcore drama and created a Best Picture nominee at the Oscars and provided Heath Ledger with the role of a lifetime(his swan song) and a supporting Oscar to share in his grave.  Look at the 90 second spot and its details.   The Liam Neeson voiceover from Batman Begins starts things off here.

“If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, than you become something else entirely, you became a legend, Mr. Wayne, a legend. “

That’s what I tell myself in the morning, but after that we see Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon staring down a person we know to see Batman while stricken with an unknown illness in a hospital bed.   Gordon is telling Batman that Gotham needs him back and that evil has rised up in his absence.  At the end of the last Nolan entry, The Dark Knight, The Joker had turned the city against Batman, leading to the dark hero taking the blame for Harvey Dent’s death and was casted out as a fugitive and rode off on his Batpod with Gordon smashing the bat signal.  This final film marks the return of the Caped Crusader to bring down justice on very bad guys like Bane(played by tough Brit/Nolan alum, Tom Hardy).  Look at the rest of the cast.  Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Oldman, Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon Levitt.   Stellar casting marks every Nolan production.  If you haven’t dipped into Nolan’s Batman universe, do so right now.  Put down the remote, go buy Batman Begins and The Dark Knight and get educated on film appreciation.  You have one year.  Here is the trailer.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/07/18/the-dark-knight-rises-trailer-video/

To run or not run at this late hour in South St. Louis City?  I am not sure.

On Sunday, I took in the small film known to many as Harry Potter.   The final chapter came out on Friday and I took the wife(who read all seven books in stealth mode) to see it with friends.   My report.  The Potthead was who I thought he was.  It wasn’t bad or great, and exactly as I predicted.  A good time, full of adventure, little boys with little sticks, dealing with dark lords, angry witches, mysterious creatures and 2.25 hours of it.   Do I want to read all the books?  No.  Do I want to go back and watch every film?  No.  Will I admit the films are a tad bit enjoyable and slightly addictive to watch when in the seat?  Yes.   That is all.  There is no need for further review on Harry Potter.   He is good.  Another is bad.  Only one wins.  Go see for yourself.

Also in front of Harry Potter came the first trailer for Sherlock Holmes 2: Game of Shadows, the second Guy Ritchie-Robert Downey Jr.-Jude Law exercise in the famous detective story.   The first film, released on Christmas of 2009, was a highly enjoyable, rewatchable filmmaking treat that showed Downey at his peak and Law in fine form.   The key love fact on Ritchie’s take on Holmes is the way he turns him into a thinking man’s action hero with brains and wit to spare.  While the action is good and story is strong enough, the make or break factor is the chemistry between Downey’s Holmes and Law’s Watson.   Greatness.  Here is a clip.

http://youtu.be/bHBHMtl9YWw

One Reason to Want to see The Changeup, despite its body switching plot revisiting.  

1.)It stars a comedy dream team in Jason Batemen and Ryan Reynolds

2.)The director of Wedding Crashers is working here.

3.)The writers of the Hangover also work here.

Calling all comedy buffs.   Batemen’s family man speech on babies acting like “mini drug addicts” gets me in the door.

Hard Part for a Dad to be-Telling the wife that he doesn’t have the patience to wait for his future son to respond to a tap on the belly with a kick back.   I feel horrible pulling away from my wife, but its frustrating when you feel nothing. 

Tomorrow’s forecast-Hot as hell with a chance for more heat.  The heat index(what it feels like) is 115.   That’s it.  Do I really need to show a radar or chart?  Why is so much time wasted on the weather in prime time bland news segments?  Useless money wasting to watch a man with a clicker move around a green screen moving his hands up and down, making 150,000 dollars a year doing it and being wrong 50 percent of the time.

The NFL Lockout comes to an end, the NBA lockout only begins and free agency arrives all in one week in July.   The NFL lockout will end, hopefully, in less than 5 months. 

Appreciate a well made cup of coffee in the morning.   Tomorrow’s wakeup call.  Cafe Sumatra Blend from Starbucks.  Delicious.

Why did I start a blog?  The chance to speak to a room of millions of instead of the hundreds.   Simple as that. 

Until next time, you know the drill. 

All Politicians lie. 

Gas Prices go up and down like stocks.

Time keeps moving.

People live and die inside 24 hour periods.

There’s nothing we can do about it except for, maybe, talking about it afterwards.

That’s life, in my opinion, a series of conversations. 

Thanks for reading and goodnight.

-Dan Buffa

 

 

More Topics-

• Cam Janssen signed a 1 year deal with the New Jersey Devils, returning to the team he started with and ending his 4 year career in St. Louis.  After coming over in  a trade for Bryce Salvador, Cam made the most of his chances and turned into a cheap effective enforcer, making 600,000 a season to run his body around the ice and take a fight when needed.    He was a local hero who gave more back to the city in community service than any athlete in town.   A St. Louis boy who was given an opportunity and seized it.  He was also a player who wouldn’t turn down a fight and often fought the biggest guy on the other team and held his own.  Up until the end of last season, Janssen was a credible fighter who won his fair share.   When Ryan Reaves arrived, Cam’s playing time was cut and his effectiveness in fights and ice time decreased.   Reaves is a hungrier fighter and a better all around player, so the move was warranted.   Cam will be remembered as the underdog city boy who gave until it was gone on the ice.   Good Luck Cam Janssen, one of my favorites.  I look forward to a Reaves-Janssen matchup in the middle of the season.  While I lament the departure of Cam, I understand it within the guidelines of this team.
• The NFL Labor Deal is coming to an end this week.  Hopefully, the millionaires have sorted out their billions and the rest of us blue collar lovers can enjoy their fall football action on time.  A CBA will be reached by Thursday, opening up free agency by Friday.   For 3 days, teams can negotiate with their own free agents until Monday, when open free agency begins.  A long annoying useless battle may be ending just in time for tackling to begin.  Expect the Rams to be busy with an owner in place.
• The 100 degree temperatures continue today and that means consistent sweating from 7am to 7pm.  There comes a time where you tell yourself that a stop point for sweating won’t come any time soon.   My work environment is a piece of scorched earth that hits you in constant waves.   Walk from office cool out into the warehouse heat and experience something the body doesn’t take a liking to.  I am not one to constantly bitch about things out of my control(heat, gas prices, politics), but when you are standing still doing next to nothing and burning up so much that you are infected with sweaty arms, the feeling is not good.  Here’s to 3 more days of this 12 hour madness. 
• Last week was Lincoln Lawyer, and this week’s DVD must have is Limitless, hitting the shelves today and in need of viewing.  Ladies and gents, Bradley Cooper’s first solo mission as a movie star was dynamite entertainment and one of the most enjoyable movies of the year.   The story involed Eddie Morro(Cooper), a struggling writer with zero energy, blinded ambition and a life that represented a ticking clock towards slackerhood.   Then, Eddie’s brother in law stops in and gives Eddie a pill that is designed to unlock all the hidden brainpower that scientists tell us exists lost in the mind.   In less than 24 hours, Eddie is cleaning up his look, finishing his book, learning different languages and making friends in high and low places.  With powers comes new responsibilities and soon Eddie finds himself a target.  The rest spins quite nicely when seen.  The power vessel of this film is the star making crackerjack performance of Cooper, free from The Hangover ensemble to chew on his own steak here.  Cooper’s wild eyed gaze and ability to throw himself into the role breaks down a wall for the viewer because if we don’t like Cooper as Morro, the rest of the film falls flat.  Robert DeNiro carries a part as a banker interested and perplexed by Eddie’s abilities.   Cooper and DeNiro carry four great scenes together, carrying the look of two diggers circling a pot of gold.  Both deserve credit for their work here  DeNiro for taking an actual role where he can give a performance and Cooper for not shrinking in the competing role.  If you have the cash and time, rent this film.   A perfect mind rush for a hot summer night.
• Every time I watch the trailer for Moneyball, Brad Pitt’s film about Billy Beane’s overhaul with the Oakland A’s in the earlier parts of the decade, I like the hints more and want to see this film.   At first glance, Pitt doesn’t seem a physical fit to play Beane, but when you make movies about real people and their stories, the look doesn’t have to be identical.  Did Russell Crowe’s beefy post Gladiator physique fit the skinny frail look of John Nash in A Beautiful Mind?  No, but Crowe was magnificient and nearly won an Oscar, losing only because Denzel blew us away with his evil nature.  Pitt carries the charm, cagey attitude and easygoing confidence to play Beane, a man who singlehandedly changed the way baseball teams were built.  Instead of relying on advanced scouting and feedback, Beane and his assistant(Jonah Hill) used sabermatrics, raw stats, and the numbers game to seek out their players.  Dealing with a small payroll and a sinking franchise, Beane changed things and turned the A’s into a playoff team.  While not liked, Beane’s actions were warranted.  Moneyball is a film worth seeing if you like true sports stories told from the inside out.   Pitt’s performance and the base of the story make this highly anticipated.
• U2 blasted Busch Stadium on Sunday evening, bringing their 360 degree tour to St. Louis for a show that few will soon forget.   If I had the money and the time, I would of been there to take in a once in a lifetime show.  U2 is a band that I have admired since I was in my teens, growing up on their legendary Joshua Tree album and savoring their hits over the years and finding time to take in their latest work. How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb and No Line On the Horizon.   While some will say U2 have abandoned their original style of music, I will argue that Bono, The Edge and company have stayed true to their roots while stretching their music inside the universe of different genres.   They can change styles of music from album to album yet retain their core sound.   There is no better way to recognize a U2 song than to hear the electric sound of The Edge’s guitar.  The thing I admire about this band is that they perform great live(based on several trusted accounts from friends) and they deliver consistently across the globe.  Bono is a great rep for World Peace and The Movement to improve Poverty and does several good deeds.   Bono is a musician/celeb who doesn’t just make promises yet fulfills them too.   This is a band that gives back as much as they receive, something they haven’t lost over the years.   While Bono’s voice has taken a hit(25 years of work will do that to a small irishman), his songwriting has remained strong on the past two albums, especially low riding hits like “All Because of You” and his shot to the heart from dealing with the passing of his dad, “Some Things You can’t do on your own”.   While some complain that their giant stages and tours aren’t needed, they have grown into that arena of rock and earned the spectacle.   I am 100 percent sure that if a fan of the band were thrown into that environment on Sunday, they would find little to complain about once the lights went out and the music got loud.   U2 are one of the few bands who hung together, still create fresh music and don’t forget about their fans, young and old. 
• A key to remembering lost good friends.  A nod to my late friend Troy Siade, because the man deserves more words than my fingers can produce.  The only way to extend a person’s legacy is to talk about them constantly.  Remember his actions, his face, his electric humor, his energy and the way he changed the makeup of a room once he entered it.  That’s the only way I’ve been able to get over his passing.   Remembering him and keeping in touch with fellow friends of the Manual Scoreboard of Old Busch Stadium.  Keep them alive in your own memories.  I never wish to make someone emotional over a retelling of Troy’s effect on me.  I bring them up because I miss them and the only way to heal is to remember what they did here.  A friend asked me the other day why I am such a die hard Cards fan.   Avoiding the usual thesis statement answer, I simply told them this.   “I have to be double die hard for this team for myself and a late friend.” 
• A key to knowing which friends of yours are the true ones.  The friends you can go to the edge with in a conversation and come right back to a common ground of fair and concentrated opinion.   Those are the keepers.  I happen to have more than one in my back pocket and it keeps me sharp. 
• Shows to Watch right now.   Rescue Me and True Blood.  If you only have one hour, make it Rescue Me. 
• Once again, I’ll take the winter over the summer because cold weather is easier to protect yourself against. 
• One more thing.   I am not an expert but I do happen to know a few things.   I don’t stand here as a god of all opinion.  Just another guy unloading his inner thoughts.