Author: D. Buffa

A regular guy who feels a journalistic hunger to tell the news. I blog because its wired into my brain to write what I think in print. I offer an opinion. A solo tour here. Take regular stories and offer my spin on them. Sports, film, television, music, fatherhood, culture, food, and so on. Commentary on everything. A St. Louis native and Little Rock resident who wants to write just to keep the hands fresh and ready.

Cards get last laugh with mad Wrigley escape

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(In case you missed it on KSDK Sports this morning)

The game of baseball will smack you around many times throughout the 162 game season. Heartache follows the brutal losses and mad elation follows the thrilling wins. After engaging in a unintentional vigilante bean ball war brought to you folks by Tony Soprano over the first two games at Wrigley Field, the Cardinals stole the finale on Sunday and gave fans a sense of calm. Well, sort of.

The pitching was good for the most part. Carlos Martinez quieted the mighty bats of the Cubs down over 6.2 innings, allowing just two runs and striking out six batters in a frenzied environment. Right when you think this 24 year has impressed us to the tilt, he blows you away again. After a shaky stretch of starts that started midway through August, Martinez has fired off a pair of brilliant starts in a row on the road against division opponents.

The bullpen bent but didn’t break. Kevin Siegrist put out a fire and started another. Jonathan Broxton walked a couple guys, evoking painful memories of Chris Perez from years ago. Seth Maness came on and got the most unlikely double play before Trevor Rosenthal threw 6+ pitches at 100 mph or more for his 46th save. After a walk heavy season where K/BB ratio was 2-1, in 2015 Rosenthal has improved that ratio to 4 to 1. Impressive for a guy with a newborn at home. Can you imagine his daughter when she grows up? “When I was born, my dad was throwing 100 mph fastballs.”

The lineup did just enough. Young guns Tommy Pham and Stephen Piscotty provided all the offense the Birds would need with a pair of early two run home runs before Cubs pitcher Jon Lester settled down. Pham’s was a true shot, flying high out of Wrigley. It was the rookie’s fourth home run on the road trip.

The defensive came in the form of Jason Heyward and Tony Cruz. Maness induced a flyball with the bases loaded in the 8th inning and Heyward caught it in shallow right center field and fired a strike to Yadier Molina at homeplate to nail Anthony Rizzo and keep the game in the Cardinals favor. Heyward, according to Fangraphs, has saved 19 runs above average in right field this season and is arguably the defensive rightfielder in the game. He also leads the team in batting averages and stolen bases. Worth every penny. He will only get better as the years go by.

With the win, the Cards slipped out of Wrigley with a little dignity and kept the hard charging Cubs in check. The lead over Chicago is now six games and the Pirates are still four games out with 13 games left in the regular season. The final homestand includes three games with the Cincinnati Reds and four games with the Milwaukee Brewers before the Pirates get one final three game shot and then the Birds finish in Atlanta.

The Cards have clinched a wildcard game spot at the very least, but now aim to seal their lock on the division this week at Busch Stadium. If the Cards go at least 7-6(finishing with 100 wins), the Pirates would have to go 11-2 to tie them. That’s just one of the scenarios. Time is on the Cards side as the final stretch of 2015 unfolds. It may not have seemed like it(wait, it really did), but Sunday’s was huge to come home on a high note and to get the last laugh in Wrigley during the regular season.

What do you think the Cards’ record will be after the action on October 4th wraps up?

Gearing up for NBC’s Blindspot

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A naked woman covered in tattoos is found in Times Square with your name across the middle of her back? If you are FBI agent Kurt Weller(Sullivan Stapleton), this is a problem, a clue, and a potential storm of confusion wrapped into one. It doesn’t help that the Jane Doe comes in the form of the beautiful Jaime Alexander(Thor). This is the basis of the new NBC series Blindspot, a show hoping to do big things for the network as the new shows start to unfold this fall.

The discovery of Alexander’s woman in the streets sets off a web of conspiracies and a hunt that will culminate in a connection back to Weller. Why is his name on her back? Who put it there? Who put her in New York? Is there a terrorist attack planned? The good thing about a new series with very little clues is that it remains unpredictable. This will extend the series past other more functional and safe shows. Creator Martin Gero has executive produced short run series like Dark Matter, The L.A. Complex, and Bored to Death. Blindspot is his baby and hopefully a chance to get a full season of episodes.

The show co-stars Audrey Esparza and Rob Brown, but appears to be a show centered around Alexander and Stapleton. You’ll know him from the Cinemax series Strikeback and the 300 sequel, Rise of An Empire. You’ll know Alexander from her role in the Thor films, The Last Stand and a number of TV series including Showtime’s Nurse Jackie and HBO’s The Brink. Here is a show that combines all the easy juicy elements of entertaining television. Thriller plotted storylines involving terrorism. Beautiful women. Men with just the right amount of facial hair and good action. Are you in?

If you want a serious thriller with some mystery and juice hanging off the end, give Blindspot a shot. Come back here for a weekly recap of each episode.

Talking coffee with Maplewood’s La Cosecha

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When it comes to coffee, some people just want a hot cup of something in the morning. It doesn’t matter what it is. What are you drinking, exactly? Who knows? Then there are the fanatics who like a little something extra with their morning cuppa joe. Something with a taste to be remembered.

The moment I tasted the fresh brew from Maplewood’s La Cosecha Coffee, I knew it wasn’t your ordinary java. Tasty, multi-cultural and layered, the independent coffee shop’s flavors run the gauntlet of expectations. Unlike Starbucks, the commercial Goliath of coffee consumption, La Cosecha roasts their own coffee in house and adds a personal touch to the connection of supplier and receiver. It’s not just a transaction but a feeling that a face is being registered and appreciated. In order to fully get the scoop on what makes La Cosecha special and what the idea behind the name is, I asked co-founder Jamie Jeschke a few questions.
First off, what does La Cosecha mean and why was that the name that stuck?

Jamie Jeschke-La Cosecha is Spanish for “The Harvest”. As you know, there is a lot of coffee grown in Spanish speaking countries. Many of the large jute bags list the year of “La Cosecha”. We all speak Spanish & really like how so much joy comes from the harvest after months of hardwork.

When did the obsession with coffee and opening a shop take place? Did you wake up one day, taste some coffee, and think “I can do better”?

Jeschke-Gio Sparks (co-founder) was home-roasting as a hobbby. He got me hooked on fresh roasted coffee. He is an IT guy with a strong technical knowledge & I have a background in international sales. Back in 2006, I approached him with this crazy idea. We roasted coffee for 7 yrs to wholesale accounts before taking the big step of opeining our own coffee bar & roastery in 2013. Really, the driving force was to get to know our customers and show them the roasting process in the same location. Maplewood has been very good to us.

How was that first batch of coffee you roasted? Must have been an experience.

Jeschke-Thrilling! Let’s just say there was smoke, and where there’s smoke…… Seriously, there is a lot to learn to find the optimal roast level for each origin and crop.

The top of your website reads, “Only the finest, freshly roasted organic fair trade coffee”. Explain that a bit to people who may not know what they are drinking.

Jeschke-We want to connect the coffee drinker to the coffee farmer by offering fresh roasted coffee grown in a sustainable manner where the farmer was given a fair price. Hence the tag line, “From the Harvest to your cup”

What’s a normal day at the coffee shop?

Jeschke-We have our usual tasks depending on the day. Sometimes we are roasting coffee or talking to new customers. Amazingly, weather has a lot to do with the flow of a coffee business. We just try to be prepared for whatever comes our way.

Where do you get your coffee beans from and what makes them unique? Or does that come in the roasting process?

Jeschke-We currently buy our beans from several importers, so we can get a variety of coffee from different countries around the world. All are either Fair Trade or Direct Trade coffees where the farmer was given a fair price. Many carry other certifications, such as organic, rainforest alliance, bird friendly, Utz, etc… The uniqueness of a cup of coffee comes from the origin & the roasting process.

What is La Cosecha’s long term goal? Ideas on the horizon….One shop in Maplewood or more? What is happening in the future?

Jeschke-Our long term goal is to continue to develop relationships with our customer in the STL community & coffee farmers in other countries. One location is sufficient.

This seems like a passion project met a career. A rare thing in life. Is that what La Cosecha is for you, Jamie?
Jeschke-Yep. It is cool to see so many areas of interest in your life come together, such as La Cosecha has done for us.

Why should people come to La Cosecha? What’s the hook?
Jeschke-We roast, we brew, we breathe coffee. No bells & whistles, just a tasty cup of coffee.

The minute I tasted your coffee, Starbucks immediately fell down to the bottom, like right next to four hour hold gas station body shop coffee. Do you and the others carry some pride in snagging a particular clientele away from the big coffee chains? Or is it just make good coffee and let the rest sort itself out?

Jeschke-Ha. We like the fact that we don’t have a “drive-thru” window. If you want to know where the heck Burundi or Flores is located, let’s talk about it over a cup of coffee.

Jamie added that adding Gregory Lowe, a retail specialist who managed a coffee shop in St. Louis for five years before joining La Cosecha, was a huge key to the success of their coffee bar.

There’s something about consistently good coffee shops. The cups where you taste it and think, “This is seriously good and not just good enough.” When you drink La Cosecha, that is the feeling you get. Then you talk to the people working there and it becomes something more. A personal experience.

Do yourself a favor and stop by La Cosecha in Maplewood. They redefine what good coffee should taste like. When you are there, grab a fresh pastry from Great Harvest bread company on the other side of the room. Sit down and relax while some music plays in the background. La Cosecha Coffee is an independent coffee shop to treasure.

Nick Foles makes a grand entrance with Rams

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The mark of a great quarterback is refusing to give in when the stakes are set high against your team and the momentum isn’t pointed in your direction. The great ones create their own momentum and bring their team back against adversity. On Sunday in front of a fiery St. Louis crowd begging for something to hang their pride on, Nick Foles brought the Rams back, steering them towards a 34-31 upset victory over the NFC champion Seattle Seahawks.

Instead of taking to Twitter to promise victory like Russell Wilson did, Foles just went to work when the whistle blew. After a few hiccups early including a sack strip and fumble return for a touchdown and a few ill-advised throws, Foles was dynamic in the second half in reversing another fate that would have been labeled “Second Half dooms Rams again.”

For years, that has been the Rams motto. Start fast and deflate quicker. Foles wasn’t going to have any of that Sunday. He went 18-27 for 297 yards, throwing the game tying touchdown to Lance Kendricks late in the 4th quarter and also rushing for a touchdown earlier in the game. He completed 66 % of his passes and didn’t think twice about the Seahawks aggressive defense. Some young players may have let the early troubles get to them and mentally shut down, but it seems like the harder the situation became Sunday, the tighter the focus Foles showed.

This is a quarterback driven league and every team treats their QB like a general, rather they are a star or not. The defense can play a great game, but if the quarterback can’t do something with the ball in their hands it all goes to waste. The offense needs him to guide them down the field. Be their navigator at all times. If the QB fails, the operation is finished. Forget the flags, the coaches, the head sets and the practice.

It hasn’t been easy for Foles. He was set up behind Michael Vick in Philadelphia and had to wait for his opportunity to shine. When he did in 2013, winning 8 games and throwing for 27 touchdowns, the credit was given to Chip Kelly’s offense and not Foles. He came into his first game with St. Louis with a 15-9 record but little respect and credit given. He was looked at as injury prone for damage taken to his shoulder in 2014. Any Rams fan that had reservations about the trade for Foles isn’t holding them today. The 26 year old has turned heads with his performance.

Sure, it’s only one game. It’s just a blip on the schedule for most NFL teams. For the Rams, it was oxygen to the brain and blood flow to the heart. The fans needed this. His teammates needed him to be sharp. Foles’ unsung hero work in the second half against the Seahawks may not make the Sportscenter highlight reel or get a four minute speech from Jon Gruden about mental toughness, but it will be remembered by anybody who was in attendance Sunday. Along with a stout defense that stopped Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson when it mattered, Foles was the X-factor in the Rams first win.

His postgame Twitter comments was more team oriented.

The rest of the schedule won’t be easy but the Rams have all the confidence in the world at the moment. To them, the possibilities are endless. That is the power of a huge Week 1 victory. The fanbase is energized and the rest of the schedule doesn’t look at tough. Nick Foles will probably have a few bad games and rough moments with the Rams. It’s a team pre-requisite to suffer through harsh times. However, Sunday’s play showed a taste of what the man brings to this team and why the Rams extended him before the first snap.

Nick Foles has something to prove and that is he can produce results in any offensive system and with any team. He’s off to a good start in St. Louis.

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What the return of Randal Grichuk means to the Cardinals

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You hear that? The roller coaster is getting put back on the tracks. Ladies and gents, Randal Grichuk has returned after an 18 game absence. Suddenly, from the shadows of doubt, disbelief and an unknown rehab schedule, the Rosenberg, Texas product is stable again. I couldn’t have been more surprised looking down at my phone and seeing the press release. Where was the timetable? The elbow strain that was combustible for weeks but now is back in session. What does Grichuk mean to this team when healthy? Randal’s impact to this Cardinals’ lineup when healthy is comparable to a new ride opening at Six Flags. Just watch and admire.

Randal ExperienceAnother smoking gun waiting for his chance in what is expected to be a closely contested game at Busch Stadium. He is one of the few players on this team that can’t make the starting lineup yet still linger just as deadly. Clint Hurdle will be thinking about Grichuk the entire night. That’s the Grichuk effect in a nutshell. An oncoming storm that you must prepare for in advance. The kid can fail to get the sweet spot of the barrel on the ball and still hit out to right center field for a home run. That’s how good he is.

What was he doing before his elbow barked on August 16th? Have you seen the movie, Action Jackson?!!!? Grichuk was among the top rookies in baseball with 15 home runs, 44 RBI, and a .561 slugging percentage. In 289 at bats, Grichuk had an unreal 43 extra base hits. With a full slate of 550 at bats, Grichuk would end up with 75-80 extra base hits. He’s a special kind of lethal.

The drawbacks aren’t hard to recognize. His 97 strikeouts in the same low number of at bats(34 percent) signal a kid still getting to know the strike zone. A student with a few credit hours to go before he graduates from the Sombrero watch. It’s also important to remember the ripe young age of Grichuk(24 years old). With only 399 at bats to date, Grichuk has plenty of time to cut down on the strikeouts but here’s the fun part. The explosive bat will not go away any time soon. He’s learning to take outside heaters to right field and lay at least one slider per four sent to the plate. If this is a learning curve, what does the finished product look like next year?

Matt Holliday and Matt Adams are also expected back this month, but Grichuk’s bat brings the most excitement. The Cardinals have plenty of on base specialists. They need the cannon inserted into the middle of the sparklers to ignite everything. That’s Grichuk in a nutshell. Ignition.

What’s my lineup when Grichuk is ready? Matt Carpenter, Stephen Piscotty, Jhonny Peralta, Jason Heyward, Randal Grichuk, Yadier Molina, Matt Adams, and Kolten Wong. That’s a layered explosive device that will be set off at Busch before the homestand is over.

The Cardinals offense has found its way in the past two weeks but could use a boost. Now with Grichuk back, the run production should only increase. Sitting with 92 wins, the best team in baseball is only going to get stronger in the next few weeks. How hard it must be to witness from the outside of The Lou?

The appeal of Grichuk is universal and even appeals to the casual baseball fan, like my wife. When I asked her where Grichuk should hit, her response was simple. “4th because he’s hot and he can clean up.” Unlike most Cardinals who people have a hard time remembering, Randal Grichuk isn’t easy to forget. He may strike out, hit a 410 foot home run or whiz a single past the pitcher’s ear. All in one night. He’s an experience.

And that experience has returned.

Have a good night and thanks for stopping by.

-@buffa82

Are the Cardinals really “vigilantes”?

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So the Cubs beat the Cardinals Friday and Saturday but wait, there’s more.

Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Friday, in the 5th inning, Matt Holliday was hit in the head by a Dan Haren breaking pitch that got away from the veteran starter. The pitch bounced off Holliday’s helmet, and tempers barely rose. Holliday slowly walked down the line, touched the base and exited. Remember, this was always the plan. Holliday was never going to stay in the game. He’s still got a gimpy leg. The effect of this HBP would reverberate throughout the game. Like the night you are lazy and eat McDonald’s because there’s nothing else open but you feel it right afterwards. Part of me wanted Holliday to pull an Avengers and hulk slam Haren like the big green fella did Loki, but that’s just the movie addict in me.

This came after Tyler Lyons hit Anthony Rizzo in the fourth inning. Clearly not intentional and Rizzo hovers the plate anyway. However…

In the 8th inning, Cards pitcher Matt Belisle threw a pitch behind Anthony Rizzo that barely brushed his calf, but the young first baseman reacted differently than Holliday and took a step towards the mound. This is baseball, land of the shoving contests and hard stares, so there was never going to be a real fight. Belisle was kicked out due to the warnings given by umpires after the Holliday HBP, and Mike Matheny was also sent packing. Enough, right? No, after the game Joe Maddon unleashed a tirade that included rewriting books on late game strategy and noted that the Cards “started this but we will finish it”. I really think Joe likes to hear himself talk but that’s just me.

Lost control or not, Haren hit Holliday in the head. As Tony La Russa would say, get better control of your pitches or go play softball. Rizzo gets grazed in the leg and he’s mad about it. Please. I am surprised Rizzo actually got out of the way of a pitch because if it helps his on base percentage, it’ll let anything touch him. Point being, whether the pitch was on purpose, there’s no reason to get up in a frenzy about it. It’s baseball folks. That’s all. The Cards retaliated in the least harmful way possible. Was it right? No. Did Maddon need to treat this game like the Art of War declaration? No.

In Saturday’s game, three Cardinal batters were hit. Kolten Wong was hit twice, one on a pitch up and in. Joe Maddon and his pitcher were ejected in the 9th inning. After Maddon’s big speech on Friday evening after the game, how does he justify his pitchers plunking three Cardinals the next day. Were the HBP on purpose? No. Will we ever know for sure? No. Pitchers are paid to throw baseball at a high velocity towards the plate and establish a zone that hitters have a hard time touching. Faulty results are common. This weekend has proved not only has the rivalry returned but foolhardy hijinks have followed as well. It’s all kind of unneeded.

For all the Matheny haters and critics out there, have you seen how cool and collected he has been while Maddon has acted like a hungry child? Take notes if you will.

Here’s what I don’t like. The umpires warning the benches so early after supposed unintentional hit by pitch incidents. If it was clearly not on purpose, why warn them? The rest of the game, each team is put on edge and anything inside becomes suspect to ejection of players and cool tempers. It’s comical. The Holliday head shot was unfortunate and 99% unintentional, but why issue a warning? Nothing is more ridiculous in baseball than the under-cooked bench warnings.

This sets up a hot and contested finale on Sunday that was already carrying juice Friday morning. At the very least, this sets the burner on this previously dead rivalry to medium high. The Cubs haven’t had someone that was this outspoken since Dusty Baker and we all know how those Septembers played out. While the Maddon speech was a bit over the top, it did signify that these two teams don’t like each other all that much and this historically prevalent rivalry has got its legs back.

You know what they say about Wrigley action in September? To quote the late and great Joaquin Andujar, “you never know”. Welcome to the end of a long tired season. You can act like a manager whose team has looked up at the Cardinals for 5 straight seasons or you can stay calm and cool like Matheny and know that as long as the Cards avoid a sweep Sunday, the series wasn’t botched.

Where do you stand on this HBP infused rivalry?

In Defense of Mike Matheny

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There isn’t a more popular trend on Twitter during St. Louis Cardinals games than throwing manager Mike Matheny on a white hot grill and dissecting his moves. Every fan base does it, but in St. Louis it’s an extreme activity. Win or lose, it’s all about what did Matheny do wrong.

There should be a new stat for the Matheny critics called Wins Above Matheny. WAM instead of WAR or WIN. When I decided to defend Matheny last month for a controversial move, I was riddled with comments and feedback that saw people questioning my judgement and soberness. You would think I was defending a coach managing a team in last place with 40 more losses than wins.

The situation. Washington Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman came to the plate in the 8th inning with first base open. He had scolded the Cardinals and the National League for the past week. He cranked two home runs Wednesday and four during the series. The consensus of Twitter wanted Matheny to walk Zimmerman and pitch to Yunel Escobar, who is a fine hitter with a .320 average off right-handed pitchers. Jonathan Broxton had walked a guy to begin the inning. He had a 3-1 strikeouts to walks ratio and was holding right-handed hitters to a .214 average.

I didn’t have a problem with Matheny allowing Brox to be careful or pitch to Zimmerman. Ryan hit an outside pitch down the right field line for a go ahead double. The Cardinals didn’t sweep and therefore fell to a rougher 39 games over .500. People immediately blamed the skipper for allowing Brox to pitch to Zimmerman, aka Mickey Mantle. They didn’t point out the weak offense that managed three runs on 13 hits or Brox for failing to get the man out. This is a usual activity for fans after a loss. How can we blame Matheny?

The same thing happened Friday st Wrigley. The Cards get beat by Joe Maddon’s Cubs and it is all Matheny’s fault. Please.

Let me state that Matheny isn’t perfect. Far from it. Which manager is perfect? He has an attachment with certain players even when they clearly aren’t doing their job or are not healthy(Allen Craig in 2014, Jon Jay in 2015). He does make questionable calls during games. He can be outmanaged by a fellow manager like Bruce Bochy but also runs circles around other player turned managers like Don Mattingley and Matt Williams.

Matheny’s tutelage and ability as a tactician is a great subject for ridicule but it’s also something that is still being honed. Ask any fanbase if they love all the in game moves by their manager and the list will be very short. St. Louis fans just don’t experience this because they are too busy chopping down Matheny. He is not without his faults but he is also doing something impressive with the roster this season.

Anyone who can’t appreciate Matheny’s work this year will probably never appreciate his work. The 2015 Cardinals have been hit with a variety of injuries and setbacks. They lost their ace starting pitcher, their left fielder, their first baseman, their setup man, and their versatile outfield bat in Jon Jay for a huge part of the season. Jaime Garcia went missing for a stretch. Their bullpen has also lost Matt Belisle for half a season. Nothing has gone right. Hot bat Randal Grichuk has been out for two weeks. Still, for the fourth year in a row, the Cardinals are right among the top teams in the National League. They are a remarkable 92-55 with a 5 lead over Pittsburgh.

How does credit not find Mike Matheny for his work with a roster that has been made up of AAA hands for fair portions of the season? How does he not deserve a decent amount of consideration for Manager of the Year when he lost three starters in the first three months of the season? When people have to reference a World Series mistake from 2013 in their criticism of Matheny, isn’t that telling you something? The man has improved dramatically this year.

Many pointed to his usage of Trevor Rosenthal last year as horrible. This year, he has went to Kevin Siegrist for saves throughout the season and even used Rosenthal in non save chances. His usage of his closer has improved this year and the results are there on display. The closer is getting results and looks a lot sharper this year as a result of Matheny’s adjustment.

Matheny has leaned on rookies like Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty in the absence of veteran starters. He only starts Pete Kozma once every two weeks and Tony Cruz once a week. He isn’t calling for as many bunts as he has in the past. The improvements are there while the results are still overwhelmingly positive. Did anybody see this team in this position when Waino went down in late April? The answer is no. If you ask the majority of Cardinal nation on social media, the credit belongs to a pitching staff and not Matheny.

How many seasons does this guy have to win in order to gain more respect from his fans? If we go off the great football coach Bill Parcells’ saying that you are as good as your record, then Matheny is very very good. When managers are fired in baseball, the fans and media point to their record. In St. Louis, it just doesn’t matter how good Matheny’s teams are, he doesn’t deserve the credit. Hey look at what Clint Hurdle is doing in Pittsburgh! Look at Terry Collins in New York! Joe Maddon’s Cubs are great!

Hey, neither of those teams are as good as the Cardinals and neither of those teams have dealt with the amount of injuries Matheny has been forced to juggle in St. Louis. Doesn’t that apply when assessing a manager? How else do you assess a coach or manager in sports?

Mike Matheny has 20 playoff wins in 39 career postseason games, but people will point to his losses to the Giants and Red Sox(eventual World Series winners) as his downfall. Well, of course. That doesn’t make him a bad manager. It just doesn’t make sense.

Matheny’s record as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals is 367-266. Matheny has done that with numerous injuries and breakdowns. Give a roster to Matheny and he wins. Weak bench or not, he wins. Every year. For some people, that’s not enough. The Cardinals can win 8 of 10 games here to finish August and start September, but the loss to the Nationals will be nitpicked. He gets all the blame for the losses and little credit for the wins. Sounds like a losing argument to me.

Matheny can win a World Series and people will complain. That’s a bet. Some managers and coaches can’t escape blame. If Randy Choate comes in and doesn’t do his job once, Matheny is blamed for using him. When Choate does it, it was just Choate making a pitch. When Seth Maness coaxes double plays like a magician, it’s not Matheny knowing when it use him or not, it’s just Seth magic. When pitchers fail, it’s Matheny’s fault. If Brox gets Zimmerman out, nothing happens or at least, Brox bailed out Matheny. If Zimmerman walks and Escobar cranks an RBI hit, Matheny is blamed for pitching around Zimmerman. Win or lose, the narrative on Matheny never changes.

I think he is the right man to manage this team. When Ryne Sandberg was canned in Philadelphia, Jimmy Rollins pointed to some guys not feeling 100% convinced Sandberg was the man for the job in 2014. They talked about not playing all out or go for broke for their manager. You NEVER hear that in St. Louis. The players on this roster would go through walls for their manager. His connection with these players and their trust and belief in him can’t be quantified by a stat on Fangraphs or Baseball Reference, but it’s a real thing that beats throughout his clubhouse. Matheny is the right man for this team, which is why I was happy with John Mozeliak hiring him after the 2011 season. There isn’t a manager out there who could elicit a better performance from this team. Sorry Terry Francona fans.

While the narrative will support Collins and Maddon for the award, I think Matheny deserves serious consideration for the Manager of the Year award. The injuries, expectations and hurdles he has faced this year may have gotten the best of a lot of young managers, but not Matheny. There has to be a value in there. A value to go with his 361 regular season wins and 20 playoff wins.

It’s easy to throw blame on Matheny. The crowd is huge for that. While I will complain about some of his tactics, that’s par for the course in this game. Maddon, Hurdle, and Collins all get grilled by their fanbase just as hard. I can recognize an improvement in Matheny’s managerial performance this season. He’s growing as a manager while being the best leader in any clubhouse in baseball. No players trust their leader like the Cards trust Matheny. The results are there. The little things are catching up fast.

While he is far from the people’s favorite, Mike Matheny is the man for the job in St. Louis. His record and improvement in a treacherous season have earned him serious consideration for the Manager of the Year award. Have they not?

What is your take on the manager?

Tom Pelphrey: The New Badge in Banshee

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There are certain guys in Banshee who exude toughness and authority without a lot of dialogue. Meet Tom Pelphrey, the New Jersey born actor who inhabits the tortured soul that is Kurt Bunker on the Cinemax series. As season 4 preps for launch, I revisit my chat with Pelphrey from after Season 3 in March.

Bunker comes from a dark past that involves Nazi White Supremacy and enough guilt to fill a river with. He enlisted at the Cadi to become a deputy and has proved himself quite useful. Pelphrey put on a performance in the Season 3 finale Friday night that will live on for months. A Hall of Fame no holds barred achievement for any actor may have been just the tip of the iceberg for Bunker on Banshee. I reached out to Pelphrey to talk about those final scenes of the season and how he channels the rage inside the character.

Dan Buffa-The finale featured loads of action and resolution, but the most soulful poignant story(stoked with some raw firepower) is Bunker’s past colliding with his present. How has it been pulling the layers off this classic tough guy character?  

Tom Pelphrey-Well it’s the kind of role that any actor would be excited about.  What makes it really great is that the writers have allowed for the layers to be exposed and peeled away over time; perhaps more importantly we learn more about Bunker in situations where learning more about Bunker arises naturally from the given circumstances in the storytelling.  For example in Episode 5… Bunker tells Alison about his past and what led him down the road he traveled.  All hell has broken loose, the stakes are very high, and quite naturally Alison is afraid and unsettled… and she’s in the basement with a dude who’s covered in swastikas and carrying an automatic weapon!!  And so telling her about my past comes from the desire to help her understand so that I can calm her down and make her realize she is safe with me… otherwise you just have an expositional monologue.  The writers were really smart.  It’s been very exciting for me to explore the character.  Someone who would cover their body with such hateful images has a lot of pain, anger, and confusion… as we see in episode 10 there is so much going on that Bunker himself can barely articulate it.  A lot of shame, regret, rage, and self hatred… and yet he’s trying to do the right thing, turn his life around and seek redemption.  It’s all very compelling stuff and the kind of material that I live for.

DB–I feel like Bunker’s a boiling pot of water that finally popped off these final two episodes. A man holding a lot of rage inside and eventually, those things boil over in Banshee. Is that an accurate description?  

TB-Totally accurate.  Again, someone who would go SO FAR as to cover themselves in tattoos of swastikas and hateful images is operating from a place of a lot of pain.  Even when that person chooses to turn their life around and make different choices, that pain doesn’t just go away.  The question becomes can Bunker learn how to work through it and channel it in a positive way?  Can he find redemption and healing for himself?

DB-Bunker’s past provided him with quite a few tattoos. Did you and Geno challenge each other for time in a makeup chair?  

TP-Hahaha!!!  I think we were pretty even.  A lot of Geno’s tattoos are much larger pieces which means you have to be very careful when you place them… I have more tattoos but they are smaller and not connected so you end up with 6 of one and a half dozen of the other.

DB-In my opinion, your scene with Servitto towards the end of the finale was the best of the episode, the season and quite possibly the series. So powerful and emotionally bare. Actors have to channel that rage somewhere. Where did you go to for that scene and how long did it take to prepare? All of that can’t be on the page. Was it method or just getting into a role?  

TP-Well I’m not sure that I know exactly where I went for that; and I’m not sure that I would tell you if I did know.  : )  I’m never sure what people mean when they say ‘method’… it’s used by so many different people in so many different ways that to me it has become an ambiguous dirty word! haha.  For me what’s important is being able to identify what the character is going through and understand it intellectually.  Once I have that I try and break it down to it’s most fundamental essence, and understand that for myself emotionally.  If you lay the foundation correctly you then sit back and let your imagination take over.  The emotional access gets easier from years of training and performing and learning.  To me it’s a muscle that gets stronger over time with repetition; so it’s much easier to go there now then it was ten years ago.  All of that aside; I show up on the day and say “Fuck it” and work off of my partner to the best of my ability.  And as I’m sure you’ve noticed, I have a plethora of beautiful talented partners who would make any actor look better!  Servitto is a PRO and made that scene so easy for me.

DB-Speaking of Servitto, this cast is a group of true pros. How has it been mixing it up with Antony and company?  

TP-We must be simpatico because I’m answering and referencing some of your next questions before I even read them!  The cast has been phenomenal to me.  Truly wonderful and open and very welcoming and supporting.  It makes it SO MUCH EASIER for me to do my best work when I feel like I’m in a safe and supportive environment.  I always think of a cast like a sports team… you can have some talented individuals but you really kick the shit out of a show when you have a team that works well together and supports each other.  Obviously the captain of this team (especially for my storyline) is Antony.  That is a hard working actor who really cares about the quality of the show and believes in what he does.  He’s also tough as hell because physically they put him through the ringer!  And to top it off he’s super fucking talented and very intelligent.  I’m glad he’s our lead.  Servitto is all of those things as well… and one of the most generous partners that you’re ever gonna work with.  He never lets the ball drop.  Most of my time has been spent with those guys on set… but as I’m sure you can tell we have an entire cast of hard-working, super talented, creative actors who are total fucking gamers.  Everyone is in it together.  I really am very grateful to join them.

DB-Moving forward, Bunker’s duel with the brotherhood is far from over, with the last image of Bunker showing his brother literally burning the swastika off your chest. It has to be exciting knowing the Cadi won’t be quieting down anytime soon.  

TP-I can’t wait to start reading scripts for Season 4.  They have set things up so well… high stakes and infinite possibilities!  Talk about a cliffhanger huh?  


DB-With Starr potentially moving to full time criminal, the first thought in my head was a Hood-Bunker clash. Now, we all know that fight starts out with Bunker saying, “With all due respect sir….punch…slam!! That has become the signature nice tough guy line for you.  

TP-Hahaha!!  Now that would be a brawl.  I have to say though I think it would take ALOT for Bunker to ever go after Hood.  He gave the guy a chance when no one else would.  He didn’t dismiss Bunker and he gave him a chance to prove himself and earn his trust.  I think for someone like Bunker that goes a long way.

DB-With production in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for season 4, have you been officially asked back or is that still pending or under wraps?  

TP-I’m not sure if that’s under wraps or not… but yes I have been asked back and I couldn’t say yes fast enough.

DB-What is your personal favorite moment from Season 3?  

TP-In episode 4 I thought the scene between Hood and Deva when he says he’s leaving was really well done. That could’ve been a throw away or a tough guy moment but Ant loaded it and it was very touching. In that same episode the scene with Carrie and Hood was beautiful too.  I loved when Brock shot Emily’s tires out.  Just so perfect to me I couldn’t stop laughing.  It was so crazy and yet made absolute sense.  Perfect Banshee.  I loved when the fat guy gets popped like a grape by the truck in Episode 3.  In the first episode Gordon asking Hood to leave him Deva, leave him his daughter?  So heartbreaking.  It was just so honest and pathetic.  Every scene with Sugar and Job.  I also LOVED the scene with Proctor, Burton, and Rebecca in the meat locker when she shoots the dude in the knee and then they just blast the hell out of them.  Loved the way Lili played that.  Cheered out loud when Carrie beats homeboy’s ass in the bathroom of the bar!!  I dunno I really could go on… I would be a fan of the show even if I wasn’t on it.  *I was reading this over and I remember something else that really struck me.  Epidode 3: Aside from the fact that the Burton Nola fight was EPIC, there was a quick flashback to Chayton coming to get Nola in whatever shady den she was nodding out in.  I think she mumbles to him “I don’t want to die”, and he replies, “You’re already dead.  Now I want to show you how to live.”—or something to that effect.  I’m getting chills just writing it out.  That KILLED me.  So beautiful and so fucking sad.  Which also brings me to say that before he killed Siobhan, half of me was rooting for Chayton!!  And I think that speaks to Geno’s performance.  Ok I’ll stop now.

DB-Tom, you never have to stop my sir. Keep talking. Thanks for answering the questions. Take your time sir. I’ll probably publish this weekend. I hope to stay in touch throughout the year and reconnect for a chat for Season 4. Being a 1982 soldier, I must tip my cap. Thanks again for taking the time. 

TP-Thanks so much Dan!  Great questions.  Looking forward to more!!  1982.  : )

That last part was a nod to the fact that Tom and I are both 1982 kids. I won’t put it on my resume but I share a year with Badass Bunker. Pelphrey is the latest entry to Banshee and brings the prerequisite along with him. Emotional baggage and inner torment. A certain breed of actor is required to play that. Pelphrey more than fits the description. Throughout Season 3, fanshees got a taste and in the final two episodes, they got it all. When Season 4 returns, I’ll be looking for Pelphrey to chat more Bunker.

(Photo by Gregory Shummon/Cinemax)

7 Ways Matt Holliday can make an impact

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imageedit_1_6786761481Health is finally reentering the St. Louis Cardinals clubhouse, as Matt Adams is back in the starting lineup and Matt Holliday has been activated from the disabled list. Randal Grichuk has returned and made an impact, and within a week the Cards could be fully stocked with lethal weapons in the field. With the rise of Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty, guys like Holliday have been forgotten about a bit this summer. After all, Holliday has only played in 11 games since June 8th. His value can’t be misplaced by even the casual fan, but just how important may have lingered. Here are 7 reasons Holliday can make an impact.

7. He will force weaker bats to be weeded out of the lineup. Slumping bats like Brandon Moss, Jon Jay and Peter Bourjos won’t be able to accumulate as many starts with Holliday returning to left field.

6. He will bring a sense of power back to the Cardinals lineup. Sure, 2015 hasn’t been a glamorous season for Holliday bombs(4 in 207 at bats), but everybody knows the big guy’s bat gets extra hot in September and always has the capability to launch one.

5. Love or hate the stat but Holliday likes coming up with meaningful hits. He was among the league leaders in game winning hits the past two seasons. His average with runners in scoring position is .400 with a .733 slugging percentage in 45 at bats in 2015. Over the past three seasons, his average with RISP(432 at bats) is .331.

4. He’s an on base percentage machine. Before he went down this season, pitchers were having a hard time getting this Hulk out. He had a .409 on base percentage when he reinjured the quad on July 29th.

3. He will stabilize the lineup. When you put Holliday back into the 3rd spot, Jhonny Peralta can be moved down and the lineup reloads so to speak. Piscotty can stay at #2 and Peralta, Molina and Adams can shuffle lower in the order. When Holliday was healthy and thriving, this lineup was scoring big time.

2. He likes playing his rivals. From 2012-15, Holliday is hitting .310(269-866) with 38 HR and 155 RBI off his National League division opponents.

1. The effect on the team. Any time you get a well respected veteran climbs back onto the active roster, the entire roster gets a boost. Rookies want to prove their worth and the fellow vets get an extra kick in the butt. The return of Holliday should help the Cardinals in many ways physically but mentally there will be an effect as well.

The N.L. Central has gotten too close for comfort, with the lead dangling down to as low as 2 games before play started in Milwaukee Tuesday. The return of Holliday can have a positive effect on this tiring Cardinals team. Expect the Hulk of Stillwater, Oklahoma to provide some big moments down the stretch once he gets his legs back at the plate.

Why Bull Durham is my favorite baseball movie

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Great baseball films can be cherished over decades. They are steak and eggs in a saloon located in the middle of the desert. All a person needs to fall in love with the sport and its cinematic glaze. However, there are a couple of films that if I turn on cable and see them, the next 45-90 minutes are spoken for.

Bull-DurhamBull Durham is easily my favorite baseball and sports movie of all time. I’ll break it down into a variety of reasons.

Ingredient #1-Kevin Costner. The wicked Casanova of sports films. Costner stroked a 7 iron well in Tin Cup as Roy McAvoy, and played a great General Manager in Draft Day, but his sweet spot is baseball stories. Field of Dreams, Durham and For Love Of The Game. In Durham, playing the unforgettable Crash Davis, Costner got to really tear into a role and show something few other movies show. The tragic facade of a career minor league ballplayer, who is way too smart for the sport and knows his days of making it to the show are long gone. In Dreams, he was man searching for clues. Here, as the dynamic coach/catcher/master of great speeches Davis, he was a man searching for a shred of dignity and credit in a cutthroat area of the sport.

The minute he shows up at the bar challenging Tim Robbins’ clueless pitcher to throw a fastball at his chest or demanding him to be more “democratic”, Costner set the screen on fire. Men wanted to be him and women wanted to be on top of him. He was the coolest wisest man with a bat in his hands and a mask on his head. While Susan Sarandon and Robbins hold up their ends of the tripod, Costner is the heart and soul. His speech about what separates a hitter from a minor league graveyard (25 hits!!!) reverberates to this day about the common hustle of these guys making minimum wage. His speech about love, Lee Harvey Oswald, Christmas morning, and the sweet spot still plays well. Costner is an underrated actor in general and an award winning director, but he deserves a lifetime achievement award for his work in the world of sports films.

Ingredient #2-The honest depiction of the minor league struggle. I’ve always said if I had the time, I’d love to follow around a minor league team for a month. Talk to these guys waging their lives to play a game they love and get that shot. Live and die by the luck of a team need. The smells, the highs, the lows and the indie action at the ballparks. Well, Bull Durham was full of those moments. The low moments for a player on a cold streak making $15,000-$18,000 to play the game. The make shift radio broadcast. The factories behind the parks. The eccentric mascots. The big show a call away. Writer/Director Ron Shelton doesn’t pull punches with his sports films (the underrated college basketball film starring a never better Nick Nolte, Blue Chips) and here he didn’t bat an eye with his camera and direction of the Durham Bulls. Crash Davis was his muse and he sprayed the paint all over. The clothes, the depravity and the dialogue was all spot on. A film less known for its brutally honest portrayal of the minor leagues.

Ingredient #3-The Humor. The movie is full of one-liners about stewardesses, free steaks, hitting the bull, breathing through your eyelids and how to properly sing a classic rock song. Nobody handles it better than Costner. Whether he’s telling Nuke (Robbins) about not wearing disgusting flip-flops, telling him about not shaking him off and how “a ground ball with eyes” can help someone out. Oh yeah, and lollygagging. Bull Durham will make you laugh, cry and then laugh again. The script is full of different flavors but the humor is never forgotten.

Bull Durham makes me feel whole again. Watching it and listening to that saxophone powered number in the finale as Costner’s Davis drives to the next job because as Sarandon’s Annie says, “A baseball player is always looking to finish the season.” It’s such a rich experience every time. The film endures and has a quiet power that only grows more powerful as you get older and learn to appreciate the minor league part of baseball. Field of Dreams and The Natural are magical. For Love of The Game is a guilty pleasure. Eight Men Out and Cobb are brutally authentic. Major League is a riot. Bull Durham is a little of everything with Costner at his best.