Hot STL Cards Topics

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Hot off my radio stint, which you can hear tonight from 8-11pm on http://www.redwolfrollcall.com streaming on their home page.  My first sports radio shot and it was a 25 minute blast talking with Rob Butler and Aaron Russell, who I met through a friend on twitter and took off.  In less than 12 hours, I talked to Rob on Twitter and was on his show the next day.  That is how 24/7 media runs these days.  Quick and blunt, like me.  I will be doing a weekly baseball/movies shot at 4pm on Wednesdays.  As long as I can or until I find a real job.  I promoted my website and my own writing.  Which I will unfold a little here.

As I type, Allen Craig is being scratched from the lineup for an unspecified reason.  Not sure if he has a hangnail, broken toe, fever or a case of the greatness disease, but this means Matt Adams’ hot bat goes back into the lineup and Beltran will definitely play(and not bunt) in right field.  Onward..

*Beltran and the Bunting Saga.  PUT TO REST HERE.  Beltran acknowledged it was him who ordered the bunt on Monday night.  Why do managers and athletes have a hard time understanding the notion that informing the media is the quickest route to burying a topic.  Tale of the tape is simple.  Beltran bunted Monday night to move runners over instead of swinging away to knock them home.  Matheny didn’t order it but wouldn’t tell all after the game.  He could have kept his close relationship with his players afloat by simply saying certain players have a freedom at the plate, and whether its good or bad it is apparent at all times.  Bad choice in my opinion because a man with a .300 BA and 19 HR shouldn’t be giving away outs, esp with runners on base.

*Cardinals’ Memphis rotation.   Good problems to have are having an entire rotation of arms ready to pitch in the majors next season.  With Carlos Martinez, Michael Wacha, John Gast and Tyler Lyons, the Cards have that. This will make up for the loss of Jake Westbrook and Chris Carpenter, and create competition with Joe Kelly and Jaime Garcia.  You will have a boatload of rotation hopefuls which is why I see a trade happening for a SS coming in the offseason.

*David Freese and Jon Jay need to finish well or they may find themselves out of a job next season.   Kolten Wong and Oscar Taveras will be on this team sooner rather than later, and Freese is the guy who may not return.  Freese is putting up Jay like numbers this year and that is not good.  Stiff decline from his 2012 campaign.  We all know he is the hometown hero and the new face of IMOS Pizza but when facts come to stats, you have to produce.  Carp can play third base and Wong’s position is 2nd base.  This is another great issue for the team to have.  Pay Freese 3-5 million in 2014 or let him walk and roll the dice.

*Slow game, long season, lots of heartbreak for diehard fans.  It’s hard to not get romantic about this game.  It gets its own spotlight for 3-5 months per year in the summer and the games was calculating and slow moving.  Baseball fans, in my opinion, really have to EARN IT.

*Allen Craig’s emergence as an RBI machine quiets the Pujols loyalists and offers another smooth transition at a big position.  Now that he could be hurt, that idea gets a little brittle.  Hold on until the news is fresh on Craig’s absence.  He may be delivering pizzas for Freese’s IMOS.  Who knows?

*Jaime Garcia coming back? Don’t hold your breath.  I am sure Joe Kelly loves the news.

*Speaking of Joe, the guy keeps pumping out laborious tough outings that give the Cards a chance to win.  He’s waited his turn.  Let him run with it until it gets ugly.

*Cards stand at 66-46 and 2 games behind the Pirates and 4 games ahead of the Reds.  We play 2 more against the Dodgers, followed by 3 games against the Cubs and finish the homestand against the Pirates.   We started August with a 13-0 revenge fueled beating of the Pirates in Pittsburgh and tortured fans don’t have to wait long for our return to the East.  We finish August in Pittsburgh.  Lots of games in August at home and against teams with a winning record and that has been the Cards kryptonite this year.  Winning against good teams and winning games decided by 2 runs or less.

*Maness, Rosenthal, Siegrist, Mujica.   Long way from Mujica-Boggs-Motte.  This just goes to show how deep and impressive the Cards system has become.  The Cards are holding serve on every team in the league.

That’s it.  Quick and blunt.  Time to run.

-DLB

 

The Daily Dose on The Cards

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CARDS BEAT KERSHAW AGAIN, EVEN SERIES
*They didn’t bust up Clayton, who is now 4-5 against us lifetime, but we did just enough and got a couple timely hits.  We manufactured some runs tonight early on and nicked the kid for 2 runs in 6 IP.  He doesn’t have a sub 2.00 ERA for nothing.  He’s really good and would have 15 wins right now if not for terrible run support in April and May.  I said get a win against either Kershaw or Greinke and we did, so the rest of the series is open season to win or pull out even.
 
*Joe Kelly matched Kershaw and held the Dodgers to less damage in 5.1 innings.  He required defensive help and labored like Jake Westbrook but got the job done.  He outdid Kershaw for long enough and got another win.  He validated to the home crowd that he deserves to be in the rotation from here on out.  In 24 starts, he has pitched decent in 75 percent of them.  
 
*The Cards got some great defense.  Jon Jay ran to the wall and tracked down a deep fly from Mark Ellis.  We turned 4 double plays, including the 12th from Seth Maness.  Sometimes it’s like he types “DP on this pitch” into his Predator arm band and just gets it.  Tony Cruz threw out a runner at third on a failed sacrifice attempt.  Edward Mujica stoppped a line drive and fell to his back before firing a strike to Craig in the 9th inning.  
 
*The Pirates won so we remain a couple games out, but there is time and this was a close win.  This season, we are only a game over .500 in 1 run games.  Those kind happen a ton in the postseason and we must get better.  The one thing the Cards don’t do is come back late or win in extra innings.  In August and September, close wins are gritty and stress inducing but frequent.  
 
*Yasiel Puig is a marvel and a fun kid to watch.  He swings with majestic pride, has a cannon in right, and includes a little flair that implies, “I’m good so deal with it”.  He doesn’t approach Bryce Harper arrogance or Ryan Braun snark and is a player to watch and be in awe of.  He is hitting .376 and can big time power.  I’d like to contain him for two more games and worry about him in October.  
 
*Hat tip to Don Mattingley.  His job was under fire in May and now his team is in first place by 4 games.  Good for him.  The team came together, Puig came by and the season has taken off.  They are tough.  They hit well, field good and pitch great.  We aren’t seeing them with the .361 hitting Hanley Rameriz either.  Be glad.
 
*My take on the Carlos Beltran bunting crappola from Monday.  He did it on his own.  So what?  It’s still a bad move.  He has 20 HR after tonight, hitting above .300 and is capable of changing a game with one swing.  He told the media that he bunted in the 7th inning and moved the runners over.  Why give away an out?  If it’s a one run game, I can maybe see it but still not with Beltran.  It comes down to using your head.  You have 2 runners on, zero outs, a 2 run deficit and you give Zach Greinke an out.  He needs to swing the bat.  There’s no place for excessive bunting in winning baseball.  It’s not just bad baseball.  It’s stupid logic.  And Mike Matheny bunts way too much. The Cards rank 5th in the league in bunts attempted and are 3rd worst in execution.  Basically, they suck at it yet try it a ton.  Unless Matheny wants to make them practice more in BP and do it against splitters and cutters, then stop attempting so many easy outs.  I don’t get it.  Also, Mike can be more candid with the media about it.  If you feel so avid about it man, then back it up and discuss it.  Quite little league for Matheny to go all Tony La Russa on the media when asked about Beltran’s bunt.  He gave away three outs in Monday’s ONE RUN Game.  It’s the media’s job to ask questions Mikey so be nice and answer them or we will ask you about your real estate investments again.
 
 
 
 

Midnight Dose of Buffa

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Settle in because I am going to fire at will here.  Why mess around when time is money and it isn’t waiting for the slow people?  I have to get here and lay it out and get on with the daily walk.  I am not Kane but I will have to do some work tomorrow that doesn’t include unplugging here and going full steam ahead on my normal range of topics.  Feel free to send me topics to rant about.  I can do anything.  Chinese Ping Pong Strategy.  Iraqi Freedom Fighter outlook.   Washington DC watercooler talk.  I will look it up, get a perspective and fire at will.  Let’s get on with it.

 
CARDS BEAT KERSHAW AGAIN, EVEN SERIES
*They didn’t bust up Clayton, who is now 4-5 against us lifetime, but we did just enough and got a couple timely hits.  We manufactured some runs tonight early on and nicked the kid for 2 runs in 6 IP.  He doesn’t have a sub 2.00 ERA for nothing.  He’s really good and would have 15 wins right now if not for terrible run support in April and May.  I said get a win against either Kershaw or Greinke and we did, so the rest of the series is open season to win or pull out even.
 
*Joe Kelly matched Kershaw and held the Dodgers to less damage in 5.1 innings.  He required defensive help and labored like Jake Westbrook but got the job done.  He outdid Kershaw for long enough and got another win.  He validated to the home crowd that he deserves to be in the rotation from here on out.  In 24 starts, he has pitched decent in 75 percent of them.  
 
*The Cards got some great defense.  Jon Jay ran to the wall and tracked down a deep fly from Mark Ellis.  We turned 4 double plays, including the 12th from Seth Maness.  Sometimes it’s like he types “DP on this pitch” into his Predator arm band and just gets it.  Tony Cruz threw out a runner at third on a failed sacrifice attempt.  Edward Mujica stoppped a line drive and fell to his back before firing a strike to Craig in the 9th inning.  
 
*The Pirates won so we remain a couple games out, but there is time and this was a close win.  This season, we are only a game over .500 in 1 run games.  Those kind happen a ton in the postseason and we must get better.  The one thing the Cards don’t do is come back late or win in extra innings.  In August and September, close wins are gritty and stress inducing but frequent.  
 
*Yasiel Puig is a marvel and a fun kid to watch.  He swings with majestic pride, has a cannon in right, and includes a little flair that implies, “I’m good so deal with it”.  He doesn’t approach Bryce Harper arrogance or Ryan Braun snark and is a player to watch and be in awe of.  He is hitting .376 and can big time power.  I’d like to contain him for two more games and worry about him in October.  
 
*Hat tip to Don Mattingley.  His job was under fire in May and now his team is in first place by 4 games.  Good for him.  The team came together, Puig came by and the season has taken off.  They are tough.  They hit well, field good and pitch great.  We aren’t seeing them with the .361 hitting Hanley Rameriz either.  Be glad.
 
*My take on the Carlos Beltran bunting crappola from Monday.  He did it on his own.  So what?  It’s still a bad move.  He has 20 HR after tonight, hitting above .300 and is capable of changing a game with one swing.  He told the media that he bunted in the 7th inning and moved the runners over.  Why give away an out?  If it’s a one run game, I can maybe see it but still not with Beltran.  It comes down to using your head.  You have 2 runners on, zero outs, a 2 run deficit and you give Zach Greinke an out.  He needs to swing the bat.  There’s no place for excessive bunting in winning baseball.  It’s not just bad baseball.  It’s stupid logic.  And Mike Matheny bunts way too much. The Cards rank 5th in the league in bunts attempted and are 3rd worst in execution.  Basically, they suck at it yet try it a ton.  Unless Matheny wants to make them practice more in BP and do it against splitters and cutters, then stop attempting so many easy outs.  I don’t get it.  Also, Mike can be more candid with the media about it.  If you feel so avid about it man, then back it up and discuss it.  Quite little league for Matheny to go all Tony La Russa on the media when asked about Beltran’s bunt.  He gave away three outs in Monday’s ONE RUN Game.  It’s the media’s job to ask questions Mikey so be nice and answer them or we will ask you about your real estate investments again.  
 
Yes I went there.  And yes the font color of this blog changed a bit.  Instead of a thick bold, it’s grayish.  Call it a mistake in trying to copy and paste from another window.  Don’t do it.  
 
What else?
 
Movies-
*Rent The Place Beyond The Pines or Mud.  Both are quality films with good stories and acting.  Pass up Oblivion unless that is where you want your mind to end up.  
*The Spectacular Now is a gem.  Watched it yesterday morning(it comes out August 23rd).  Coming of age tale with some real teeth and grave honesty about transitioning from high school to “do something with your life” arena.  Miles Teller is a breakout talent and he will break your heart in the third act.  You heard it here first.
*Go see Fruitvale Station.  Pass up 2 Guns.
*Looking forward to Elysium, the new Matt Damon Sci-fi action thriller.  Damon shaved his head for the role, which is funny.  When actors want to look badass, they shave their head.  I shave mine every week.  That’s why I’m a BAMF!\
*Ever feel like catching an oldie?  Watch the classic Midnight Run.  DeNiro, Grodin, Farina, and Kotto.  Great comedy.
TV-
*Ray Donovan would be a shitty NBC crime show without its superb cast. Watch it now.
*Rent Banshee on DVD and soak up that ridiculously fun first season.
*True Blood is retarded and I watch it merely for the nudity these days.  Yeah, I do.  
*I fully expect a quality Entourage movie.  It’s coming in 2014.  Doug Ellin has a chance for a home run here with 90-120 minutes so don’t waste them.  Focus more on Jeremy Piven and Kevin Dillion and not the duller than dogshit actors who play Vince and Turtle.  I think they do adequate in their roles but Adrian Grenier and Jerry Ferrera aren’t worth a lot of minutes.
*Sopranos could have done a movie but then James Gandolfini died.  Oh well.
*I’ll be watching the Low Winter Sun on AMC this month. Why?  It has Mark Strong, the gifted British character actor, in the lead.  Done.
 
Miscellaneous-
*I could bitch about traffic and other drivers but then I would have no time left in the day.
*Shaw’s Coffee on the Hill has the best coffee in St. Louis.
*If I don’t get this Mark Strong interview this week, there will be blood in the water.  When I interview C-List directors, I would like my shot at the B-List and A-List actors.  Thanks.
*Watching Lee Daniel’s The Butler on Monday, which has the best cast ever assembled for a film.
*I love lamp.  Very much.  Only film-addicts will get that one.
 
Goodnight,
 
Dan L. Buffa

Opening Statement for the Week

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Good morning soldiers,

 
As you crank up the work week, I am here to enlighten you a little.  My job is basically giving my side of a story.  I don’t bore you with a popular propaganda dance off here.  I dish it straight and blunt.  Whiskey without the ice to water out the floating sensation.  Let’s get into it.  
 
Hopefully the Cards celebrated their 15-2 club bashing of the Reds on Sunday on their flight home.  They ended the 3-8 road trip by scoring 41 runs in their final 4 games.  Not bad for a team declared dead on Wednesday.  Starting today, they face a red hot Dodgers team that has won 14 straight on the road.  That’s like beating down the monsters from within only to rest in a bed full of snakes.  LA has turned their season around, winning 31 of their past 38 games and looking like the contender every paper magazine chalked them up to be.  They are doing this while dangling Andre Ethier off the trade corner and without Matt “Gimp” Kemp.  They have rock solid pitching and a potent lineup which has been energized by Yasiel Puig, the type of young player the Cards can only dream Oscar Taveras turns out to be.  Puig hurt himself over the weekend but I doubt he will miss time against the Cards.  The Dodgers greet us with Zach Greinke and Clayton Kershaw the first two games of a four game set.  As noted earlier, home field advantage doesn’t matter when you are facing a crew of road warriors.  
 
Adam Wainwright needs to make a statement tonight.  Climb the mound, pitch like an ace and walk tall damn it.  He produced two shitty starts on a pivotal road trip.  He got outpitched by Joe Kelly in back to back starts.  No offense to Joe but Waino is a Cy Young hopeful and the general of this rotation.  He wears the badge and he knows it.  He can’t walk out there tomorrow, toss hangers and cutters that don’t slice.  He has to halt the LA bangers and give us a chance.  Fuck what he has done up to this point.  Now we enter the stretch run.  Get your fanny packs off and put on the hard hats because it’s time to bang.  
 
David Freese and Matt Holliday have woken up since Yadi Molina went down.  That is what big gamers do.  They rise out of the slumpy ashes when most needed.  Holliday has been hitting everything hard for a week and Freese had a huge weekend in Cincinnati.  Sitting back in his comfortable cleanup spot(where he hit with AP here), Holliday is bashing liners and knocking guys in.  Allen Craig has settled into the 3rd spot and Freese is either in the 5th or 6th spot.  If Freese is on, this lineup looks deadly and can overcome the short term loss of Molina.  Good timing Imos boy. The nice deluxe is on me surfer!
 
Anyone seen Edward Mujica lately?  Chief pitched 2 damn innings on the 11 game trip.  If the Cards can learn to create a save situation again, we need to get our rusty closer back out there.  August isn’t the time to have him ride the bench.  This isn’t a rally cry against 10 run deficit destruction.  Just saying Mujica needs to work.  Him and Trevor Rosenthal are playing too much blackjack down there.
 
Matt Adams can hit but he will strike out the more he plays.  He had a big 2 hit day on Sunday, including a long 2 run HR in the first inning.  He can play.  He is a deadly bench bat/occasional starter.  As a full time player, he is showing weaknesses yet may improve with more time.  This plays into the whole bring back Beltran or don’t bring back Beltran idea.  Beltran stays and Craig plays a lot of first base.  If you move Jay, you are doing it for Oscar Taveras.  The only way Matt Adams plays every day here is if Beltran departs.  The man is still young so be patient.  
 
Matt Garza needs to stop using twitter to attack players and their wives.  His treatment of a Oakland A’s player and his wife on Saturday was simply unprofessional.  Grow up Garzy or I will shave the squirrel off your face.
 
Busy week ahead for Film-Addict honcho here.  I have a screening tomorrow at 11am of a widely praised indie called The Spectacular Now, and a screening of the sci-fi action thriller Elysium on Tuesday.  I also have two screeners to watch and a possible interview with the Brit Mark Strong.  4 movies, 1 interview and a lot of typing.  I made need an injection by Thursday.  This is not a complaint.  I am able to send Vinny to his daycare 2 days a weeks so I can get FA duties and writing/job applying done without reckless noise in my background.  Some weeks are busier than others.  One day this will be all I have to do.
 
I haven’t contacted a good friend about a job fair opportunity and I feel pretty shitty about it.  Said person must not take that personally because I will be calling this week.  Amazing how quick time flies.  
 
I drove a party bus for my neighbor on Saturday and didn’t mind the experience.  It was a wedding and the group wanted to hit Ted Drewes and Kiener Plaza.  No big deal.  The groom was a Marine and was sweating profusely while his new bride took about 600 shots in 80 degree heat.  You drive them around, listen to them get drunk and listen to horrible music and try to create celebration by screaming “WooooHoooo” 45 times in a 30 minute ride.  It’s basically listening to children slowly become adults.  I didn’t get to use my cool driver transporter Jason Statham accent once.  I nearly played that role.
 
Aaron Sorkin is a great writer.  He writes dialogue like the ideas are bubbling up in his head and coming in at a clip of 45 million per second and under the notion that his hands will tire before his mind. He writes like a mind without a stop watch.  All passion and no limitation.  It’s a thing of beauty to watch and makes his HBO show, The Newsroom, a joy to watch.  You find yourself going back and listening to dialogue again because there is so much packed in there.  
You want a cool under the radar gem to revisit.  Watch Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.  That was the real beginning of Robert Downey Jr.’s comeback.
 
Ray Donovan promises a dark ride through Hollywood and a family of Boston gangsters playing pinball against the past.  I will be writing a piece for Film-Addict on this bright young show with plenty of legs. We do TV spotlights on occasion, especially the shows that resemble “cinematic television”.
 
I can be as excited about the 2013 Rams as anyone and it doesn’t mean shit.  I need to see Jake Long protect Sam Bradford in a game.  I need to see Sam fire a pass into the chest of Jared Cook or Tavon Austin under pressure in a game before I declare the Sooner QB the second coming of Kurt Warner.  The 49ers and Seahawks are getting hit hard with injury and Fisher ball is a exciting, but games need to be played.  Don’t make the mistake of getting on the ride before it starts to move.  We are all fans.  If you love the team, it’s okay to watch things play out.
 
The Blues made a fantastic move in signing midseason trade acquisition Jay Bouwmeester to a 5 year extension.  After they sign Alex Pietrangelo to a long term extension, that gives the St. Louis Blues a strong tandem on defense for years to come.  No matter what happens with Oshie and Berglund, the team tosses an anchor in the water with Jay Bo and Pietro.  It’s been a long time since Pronger and Big Mac roamed the blue line.  Now we have another pair worthy of that hype.  Younger too.  Jay Bo is tall, has a fast skate and can thread the needle on an outlet pass.  He occupies space and knows what to do with it. The team signing Jake Allen(future #1 goalie) and solidifying the defensive core is Doug Armstrong hard at work.  Ken Hitchcock’s first full year will be interesting.
 
Jeff Daniels isn’t just great on the Newsroom.  He’s sensational. Give him the Emmy for next year’s ceremony.  Get the engraver ready.  Without great actors, fine writing is just words on a piece of paper.  The right actors can make that material sing.  Daniels’ Will McAvoy is Sorkin’s alter ego taking center stage on every political and human issue.  Daniels makes it sing.
 
Song of the Day-“Heroes” by Peter Gabriel
 
What else do I got?  
 
I can’t stand coffee with cream in it.  Why not pour sugar and ice cream in and make a fucking shake out of it?  The more people pour sugar and cream into coffee it loses its wonderfully creative flame.  They wonder why it doesn’t wake them up.  It won’t if you drown it in bullshit.
 
Gas prices are holding steady.  Back to the worthless news desk.
 
Politicians are full of shit.  CNN is like their own form of open play.  Watch the babies spit up on each other and play with big toys.
 
Barack Obama is a good guy I think.  He roots for the White Sox, likes basketball and can really really give a great speech.  What he stands for…I have no fucking clue.  
 
Look up the band Black Rebel Motorcycle Club(BRMC for those with short attention spans).  They are a true under the radar rock band and their album, Baby 81, is a classic rock n’ roll clashing of drums, steel, guitar and the blues infused with a punk rock spice.  Yeah, I’m aroused too.  If you like them, buy a ticket to their September 27th show at the Pageant.
 
I’m done.  Thanks for reading friends.  Good morning.
 
-DLB
I’m saving my creatively spiked ending for another rant…

A Quick Weekend Dose of Buffa Bits

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Hello readers,

 
The last time I wrote you came on the eve of the Cards snapping of the 7 game losing streak.  In case you haven’t read my blog or know me well, I associate everything in my life with sports or movies. My last blog was bleak and nervy and while this blog won’t reach the stars, it’s not as bitchy as the last.  
 
The Cards didn’t break out of their hitting slump. They barged out of it.  They beat the Pirates down so bad on Thursday that I nearly saw a tear coming down Andrew McCutcheon’s eye after the 13th run came across the plate.  In a 13-0 assault, the Cards didn’t hit a home run but returned to their usual hitting with RISP proneness.  They bashed singles, mixed in a few doubles and completely shut down the Pirates.  Joe Kelly pitched shutout ball for 6 innings and the bullpen fired 3 scoreless frames.  The comeback included an 8 run 7th inning that silenced the Pittsburgh crowd and more than anything, sent a message to the first place Bucs that they got the early laughs but we got the last long sleep inducing chuckle.  
 
Give credit to Kelly.  He pitched very well and really deserves the 5th spot.  The Cards used Kelly in the rotation in 2012 when Lance Lynn went soft and Kelly pitched a lot better than his record.  He was 5-7 yet carried a 3.53 ERA and was a quality start machine.  He didn’t blow people away and will never win a Cy Young, but Kelly is a fantastic 5th guy to have.  He went long relief in the playoffs and when he came to camp in 2013, he had to battle Shelby Miller for a spot in the rotation.  That fight was over before it even began.  Kelly lost out, got shoved into a long relief bullpen role that saw him work every once in a while, usual in mop up duty.  When Jaime Garcia went down, the Cards overlooked Kelly for younger hurlers in Tyler Lyons, John Gast and Michael Wacha.  Kelly usually had to come in and mop up for those starters when they couldn’t finish a game.  Finally, after the team deemed Wacha not ready for the load, lost Gast to injury, lost Lyons to inefficiency, and couldn’t figure out how to use Martinez, they turned back to Kelly.  He has made spot starts before getting the 5th spot 2 weeks ago and he has pitched well.  His two starts on this very important road trip have been a lot better than Adam Wainwright.  Kelly has started 23 games for the Cards and delivered a quality start in 17 of them.  He only has 7 wins to show for it but the man has been a pure soldier for this team.  Since we didn’t find a worthy match on the trade market and can’t find an internal option ready for the late push, let’s stick with Joe.  We can let Lyons come up and get blasted again if that is fun.  Let’s not do that.  Let’s give Kelly the ball.  He might just shock the world and pitch decent.
 
Last night, the bats didn’t slow and pummeled the Reds 13-3.  We jumped on Bronson Arroyo’s soft pitches for 5 runs and chased him before he could pitch 4 innings and jumped on a rookie reliever afterwards.  The Cards are back in assault mode.  We are hurting teams and pushing them to the limits.  The Cubs are no longer a viable rival and the Brewers went sour two years ago, so the real rival in the division is still the Reds.  Dusty Baker is still there and Walt Jocketty still dreams of stepping on the Cards throats.  There is fire there, even without Tony La Russa around to spice it up.  Brandon Phillips isn’t the supreme villain that Cards fans treat him like when he comes to Busch(best fans in baseball my ass) but he is still a guy I LOVE to beat.  When we were scoring run after run, Phillips face gave all the answers that I needed.  Depression, awe and shock.  It’s always fun to make Baker chew harder on those toothpicks and make Phillips sweat.  It’s a rivalry and we made a statement last night.  
 
The Cards sent a message in the past 48 hours.  We reminded our NL Central foes that we are still king and need to be feared.  After scoring 9 runs in our 7 losses, we blasted them with 26 runs in 2 games.  Allen Craig came back to life.  We blasted 3 home runs last night(our first non Molina blasts since at Wrigley before the break) and Daniel Descalso had two of them.  We are heating up again and other teams won’t like it.
 
Shelby Miller only pitched 5 innings last night but it was shutout ball and he struck out 8 guys.  Miller is a rookie and still learning how to pitch and be durable in this league.  I’ll take 5-6 innings if they are efficient.  I compare him to MU alum and current Cy Young candidate Max Scherzer of the Tigers.  When he first came up and was starting in Arizona, Max was only throwing 5-6 innings.  He was striking out a bunch and needed time to develop an arsenal and approach.  He had a heater and a nasty slider so he worked those in.  I have a feeling when Miller develops a curveball that he trusts, things will improve.  He is 11-7 in his rookie campaign.  I’ll take it.
 
Tonight, Jake Westbrook takes the mound and tries to keep the good times rolling.  The Pirates lost last night so we are only a half game out of first place.  Tony Cingrani, a Reds rookie, opposes the Cards.  He is a reliever turned starter and is a lefthander with a 4-1 record and 2.90 ERA.  He has a 3-1 K/BB ratio and will be tough.  We made quick work of All Star lefthander Jeff Locke on Thursday so I have mixed expectations on how we will approach and do against this lefty.
 
Matt Adams is striking out a lot.  He is basically working through the exposure phase to pitchers and will return in fine form.  This could be a time for Brock Petersen to get a couple starts.  He drove in nearly 70 runs down at AAA and can hit.  
 
Non Baseball Notes-The Rundown
 
*I have fallen behind on True Blood and laugh at the episodes I tend to catch.  How far this show has fallen is quite humorous.  The vampire thing is getting very old.
 
*The Bourne Legacy getting a sequel with Jeremy Renner back in the saddle is good news.  If you haven’t seen Bourne Legacy, check it out.  It’s a very smart and fast paced action film.  Matt Damon has chosen to sit a couple films out and Renner was a great fit for Aaron Cross, a man from the same program as Bourne and whose story takes off right after Bourne’s story comes to a close.  I can only hope Tony Gilroy returns to write or direct.  He is responsible for all the Bourne scripts and never fails to deliver.  Legacy wasn’t just a clone of the previous films.  It attacked the side of the story that was affected by Bourne’s action and how they had an effect on Cross’ story while explaining what made these soldiers so advanced in the first place.  
 
*Robert Downey Jr. can sing as well as act.  He released an album in 2006 and climbed on stage to play with Sting at the singer’s 60th birthday party.  Any time Sting doesn’t get to sing is good news to me.  RDJ can rock it!
 
*I couldn’t afford a treadmill(I prefer outdoors anyway) so I bought a boxing heavy bag.  70 pounds and ready to be hit.  There is nothing better on this earth than standing and releasing stress by punching a bag as hard as you can.  It’s a great workout and will make you feel better.  Relatively cheap purchase.  70 dollars for the bag and 30 for the mitts.  
 
*2 GUNS is mindless Hollywood summer action drivel and can be passed up.  Denzel and Wahlberg are better than this.  See Fruitvale Station instead.
 
*My interview with Mark Strong is this week.  I can’t wait to interview the very talented British actor.  He is one of my faves.  I will be tested in keeping my movie lover boner down and remaining professional.
 
That’s all I got.  Quick and painful.  Goodnight.
 
-DLB 

Quick Take on Things

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Cards fans, don’t panic.  After digesting and contemplating the long term effects of a 7 game losing streak for the past 18 hours, I can tell you that doom hasn’t settled over the team YET.  

 
Things to remember…
 
*We are losing to 2 of the best teams in baseball.  The Braves and Pirates are stocked with good young pitching and play very well at home. This isn’t an excuse but only a reminder when you think this 62-44 team is inching closer to their death.  Scratch that.  There is time and we aren’t done yet.  Sometimes when you lose so many in a row you forget who the opposition is.  
 
*This bad bad streak is happening with 2 months left.  Better now than late September.  A playoff savvy team has to be playing their best baseball in a tight division race.  The timing of this streak isn’t sweet yet not that bitter either.  If this happens at the end of June the team is probably barely above .500 and more than 2.5 games behind the Pirates.  It happened this past week, and took the pep out of our step but we still only sit a few games back and have tonight’s game to inch closer.  The Cards could be a totally different team in late August and September and show a few new members.  Don’t sweat this streak for long.
 
*One win can change everything.  Overall mindset. Outlook.  When we staked Adam Wainwright to a 2-0 lead last night, I really thought we were going to snap the streak and climb back in.  However, as Mike Shannon said last night via Twitter(yes that just happened), “they never said it was going to be easy”.  Waino was sloppy and the team blew it.  That’s life and that’s baseball.  The good thing about this is that the Cards get another shot tonight.  The turnaround in baseball is quick and that can be good or bad.  
 
The game of baseball can age a man.  I say this because I am a die hard baseball fan and am obsessed with the game and the Cards, as you probably discovered here.  It’s so hard to not get romantic and passionate about sports if you step too close for a long time.  This is why I whispered into Vinny’s ear last night that its okay to not be obsessed with sports and to actually get there and live a little.  This game will take pieces of your soul and sanity away little by little.  The more you give, the more the team will take when they plummet and suffer.  Cards baseball is the only sport in town that can drain my senses and control my mood.  I’ve watched the Blues since a young age but I can shake off their defeat and it’s even less with the Rams(playoffs not included).  The reason for me is baseball is such a slow diabolical game and it will wear you down.  It contains the most games in a single season and the games are very frequent.  It isn’t like in the NFL where you have 1 game per week and that is it.  Win or lose, you can recover in time for the next one.  In hockey, they play 2-3 times a week but the action happens so fast it can roll in and out of your system quicker.  In baseball, it’s a slow bleed and a painful boil inside your soul and mind.  It can kill you.  All the little inner mind games going on and the intellectual madness and despair involved in the decision making.   As fans, we take it all in and its dangerous.  For me, with baseball, I see all the signs and the lanes of opportunity.  Like last night when Matheny didn’t pinch hit for DD with Adams and Carpenter on the bench.  That one decision.  This game is truly a game of inches.  Inches that can decide a huge number of games.  As a fan this can be painful.  
 
Example.  When the Cards lost game 1 of the doubleheader on Tuesday, I was about to walk into a movie.  I watched the ball bounce off Kevin Siegrist’s glove and into left field for the winning hit and I walked into the theater and literally told my poor wife, “This movie better be fucking good!”.   I give a lot of credit to my wife for putting up with my sports and movie obsession.  It’s not always easy seeing your husband watch a movie for the 15th time or seeing him wallow with a team when they struggle.  She gets extra points for that.  I can say without hesitation that sports obsessions have ended plenty of relationships but the Buffa’s got it together.  She knows I have a mistress that is the Cardinals from February until November.  She accepts that and that’s why I’m lucky.  Most women would shake their heads(unless they were die hard fans too) and walk out the door.
 
So tune in tonight and don’t hold your breath for a victory but I wouldn’t rule out success at the same time.  They may crush our spirits again but we can at least keep in mind that they will do it again on Friday. Take the field, pitch to win, hit to succeed and try to make enough plays and smart decisions to come up with a win.   Also, the people who want Mike Matheny fired are stupid, ridiculously inept sad excuses for a baseball fan.  Probably a member of the best fans in baseball who desperately want Tony La Russa triple guessing decisions and perplexing strategy back.  
 
Alright, non baseball shit-
 
*The Bourne Legacy is nearly as good as the previous three entries.  Without Matt Damon, Jeremy Renner stepped into the role of Aaron Cross, a fellow Bourne like agent, and knocked it out of the park.  Together with a cast including Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton, the writer of the original three Bourne films, Tony Gilroy(along with his brother Dan) crafted a highly entertaining and intelligent film.  The same tense action and thrills and gutsy performances.  Check it out on HBO or DVD.  
 
*I have acquired my copy of the first season of Cinemax’s underrated and addicting new series, Banshee.  I have written two articles about it on my website.  The show is delicious and worth a look.  The entire season is only 25 dollars on DVD.  Check it out.  
 
*The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are coming to St. Louis on September 27th and I will be there.  One of the most underrated unknown rock bands return to a place they have piloted before and the walls and floor will be shaking.  Smooth old fashioned punk rock n’ roll.  Swirling guitars.  Heavy vocals.  Plenty of hits.  Tickets go on sale tomorrow and they are cheap.  Need a taste. Here it is.
 
*Trailer Spotlight-Peter Berg’s latest, based on a true story.  
Title-Lone Survivor
Check it out…
 
That is all I got for you right now.  Until next time, stay healthy.
 
-DLB

STL CARDS Recap

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As I step over the dead body of another Cards loss, let me break it down QUICK. Bullet points used.

 
  • The Cards managed to fire up some offense tonight.  The grill was working tonight as the Cards scored 2 runs in the first inning and added on individual tallies.  Like a young kid slowly coming out of his shell, there was no eruption tonight.  Just stringing some singles together.  The team jumped a good pitcher, Jeff Locke, for 4 runs and 12 hits.  They gave Waino a lead.
  • Waino didn’t hold it.  His pitches weren’t sharp.  He didn’t have a 1-2-3 inning and wasn’t good overall.  He went 7 innings but didn’t hold a 2-0, 3-1, or 4-2 lead.  Unfortunate that your ace loses the first game of a road trip and then lets you down when you most need it.  Waino is 13-6 this year and rarely messes up but recently he has been rough.   Bad luck and timing
  • Trevor Rosenthal is slowly cracking in the 8th inning.  He allowed the go ahead run.  Made it 5-4.  Rosenthal has been one of the best setup men in baseball but hasn’t been too sharp recently.  He is allowing baserunners and getting beat on his heater.  No matter how hard you throw a MLB professional can time it and hit it hard.  Plain old rules there.  
  • The pitching wasn’t what we needed it to be.  
  • In the 9th inning, with 2 outs and the Cards down by a run and a bench full of power and capability, Mike Matheny didn’t go to Matt Adams or Matt Carpenter.  No excuse there.  You don’t let Daniel Descalso, who had an RBI hit early in the game, hit there.  You have to take your best shot.  Put your best bat up there.  Adams can tie it with one swing.  Carpenter can pinch hit and take over Descalso’s spot at 2B.  NO EXCUSE.  One run game in a must win situation.   DD can’t hit there.  DAMN!  Mike Matheny has shown plenty of veteran savvy so far in his managerial career.  He has also shown plenty of cracks in his rookie skipper facade.  
  • The Cards suffer from bad luck.  Line Drives caught.  A mis-call at first base that led to winning run.  Good hitting and bad pitching.  But this affects every club.  So no need to dwell here.
  • This isn’t the end of the world but it’s close.  The Cards were 25 games over .500.  Now they are 18 games over .500 and 2.5 games out of first place.  Things change quick in baseball and that is why you play 162 games.  Long summers burn certain teams.  How will the Cards rebound?  What will happen with Joe Kelly on the mound tomorrow?  Questions that ride my soul tonight.  
  • The trade deadline came and went.  One of the weakest impact days of my baseball life.  Nothing out there worth giving the future away for.  Waiver deals are common and Mozelaik will do something I believe.  Teams, like the Cards, don’t want to give up young prospects for 2 month rental fixes and instead keep their young talent and save money.  It’s the new way.  You will see less gambling because this game is getting younger.  Look at the age of the best players in the game.  YOUNGER.
  • The Cards need a move.  Their lineup is exposed and weak looking.   Weak spots right now are CF, SS, and C.  No offense to Cruz but he needs to play a little while before his bat convinces me it can walk and talk.  Jon Jay is weak hitting.  Pete Kozma is just plain weak.  David Freese aka FACE OF IMOS is getting close very close to becoming weak.  The Cards can’t excuse Kozma anymore because another weak spot lies in the catcher’s hole.  
  • Yes, the Cards big hitters need to hit.  We all know that.  Thanks Bernie Miklasz.  Matt Holliday, ridiculed by the little minds that still critique his defense, collected 3 hits and 2 RBI today.  He has 3 of the Cards last 5 RBI in the past 3 games.  He plays a shitty LF but finds a way to keep his errors down and has been hitting.  Move on haters.
  • What happens tomorrow?  No fucking clue.  What happens now?  I am going to the gym.  
Stay tuned for a job search operation update.  A good friend of mine, on this blogging list, is going to team up with me and set up a small personal job fair in STL this coming month.  A way to promote me, find me a job, get together, maybe promote Film-Addict and do something a little unconventional.  I still want to WRITE for a living but have 8 years of experience in the warehouse industry to fall back on.  Yeah baby.  
 
Goodnight,
 
Buffa

Fire In The Hole

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Let me just begin by saying that being a baseball fan ages a man.  You feel older than your birth certificate says you are.  You feel mistreated, hurt, and abused.  Right when your team has you feeling pretty good for donating so much fucking time to their work, they stab you in the back.   Case in point.  The past 6 games from my St. Louis Cardinals.  THIS ENTIRE BLOG will be about the Cards.  If you like Real Housewives or So You Think You Can Dance and Retarded, please delete now.  Alright ladies and gents…fire in the HOLE!

 
The Cards got swept today in the doubleheader at Pittsburgh and after getting off the bus on Monday with a 1.5 game lead over the Pirates, the team rests tonight with a 1.5 game deficit in the division.   Six straight losses.  6 runs scored in the 6 losses.  2 shutouts.  Pitching hasn’t been great.  Bullpen has been dented.  The lineup and bench has been a complete missing link.  No big hits.  No ambush of baserunners. No oxygen on the basepaths.  We are dead, shitty, rotten, fish in the water.  
 
The Cards picked a bad time to be bad.  This is the trade deadline and you are playing your main competition this entire week.  This is not the time to lay down.  After a weak 3 week in July, the Cards are finding out a harsh reality.  We aren’t good against good teams.  Make that record 14-22.  To put it mildly, which means minus a lot of blood, the Cards suck right now.  We have went from being 25 games over .500 and 2.5 games out in front of the Pirates to 20 games 19 games over .500 and 1.5 games back.  That just made me dirty saying that.  
 
What happened? The lineup stopped producing. I don’t need STATS genius thinkers to tell me that.  Starting in a 4-1 loss on Friday in Atlanta and ending tonight in a pitiful 6-0 defeat, the bats are colder than ice and a little unlucky.  When you aren’t scoring runs, you tend to not get the lucky bounces or gap extra base knocks.  Your line drives are caught.  You hit it down the line right to the first basemen.  You smoke deep warning track fly balls.  You hit very hard double play balls. If your name is David Freese or Matt Holliday, you hit several double play balls.  
 
I don’t mean to jump on The Face of IMOS Pizza and the Muscle head here but man these two guys hit into double plays like we drink water.  There has to be a line in Vegas on Holliday and Freese’s double play odds.  Give or take a one hop.  Hold the action on the 3 part putout.  I love Holliday’s hustle and Freese’s heroics but these guys need to stop dropping down suicide bunts or swing the bat like a damn golf club.  I nearly threw something through a window today when Holliday bounced into one late in Game 1.  I almost did.  I always wonder what stops me from doing that.  Probably the fact that I am not that handy and hate being a part of HANDY MAN WORK.
 
This team needs a jolt.  Unfortunately, Oscar Taveras is hurt and Kolten Wong can’t play CF.  The free agent market is thin for big RH bats that can make our bench a fearful area for opposing bullpens in late tight games.  The Cards need a Larry Walker or Will Clark like slap across the face.  Something to get us going.  We weren’t exactly lighting up Philly last week but we were winning games.  Faced against an equal or greater opponent, the Cards have folded big time.  Their bats aren’t giving the arms any support.  Adam Wainwright takes the mound tomorrow and we can only hope the bats give him some runs in the top of the 1st inning.  Or else he will carry that horrible 100 pound burden of keeping the game at 0-0 because dare he give up a run or two, the deficit may seem like 20-0 instead of 2-0.  Right now, that is how this team is playing.  Close, ugly, and excruciating to watch baseball.  
 
Jon Jay is regressing horribly.  He has gotten a few scratch singles lately, but he can afford to ride the bench more in favor of the slightly better at the moment Shane Robinson.  David Freese better start hitting because his defense does him few favors.  Allen Craig has come back down to earth at the wrong time(maybe some good old fashioned inside pitching).  Holliday needs to produce more with runners on base because his average there is slipping.  He had an RBI and 2 hits in game 1 but still fails to get that monstrous hit. Carlos Beltran is stuck in a horrible 3-30 slump.  Pete Kozma, unless he gets a scrappy hit, is an automatic out.  Daniel Descalso’s defense has gotten ugly in 2013.  Matt Adams played more games and pitchers figured him out a little.  Overall, the lineup needs a jolt from within or outside, but I don’t see a move coming.  
 
Worse news tonight is Yadi Molina going down with a right knee strain.  Apparently, the knee has gotten worse. You can see it in his decreasing average and lesser power strokes(remarkably he owns the Cards last 2 HR in the last 14 games played).   Yadi is going back to STL tomorrow to have it examined and it will keep him out at least 2 weeks.  Rough news.  This only makes the lineup weaker.  Puts more emphasis on poor light hitting Kozma and Jay.  This may actually force Mozelaik to pull off a trade and get the team a bat.  Since the team has regressed with a 6 games losing streak at the wrong time and lost Molina in the process, Cards GM John Mozelaik have may to make a move he didn’t want to on Thursday.  Mo’s hand has been forced.  
 
Well, that’s all I got.  I have a movie review to type(shit one, 2 Guns, shitty movie) and I better get to it before it suddenly becomes midnight and tomorrow starts running away on me.
 
Thanks for reading and goodnight,
 
DLB
 
PS-Bright spot today is the Cards no longer own Marc Rzepcynzski and Lance Lynn pitched well for a second time in a row.  Good news is good news.

Buffa’s Daily Dose

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Settle in because I have some explaining to do.  

 
What sucks?  Applying for jobs.  Online apps.  You try to put into words how much you could mean to a company and hopefully they get that.  In 2013, this is the way you can do it.  If you show up in person, all you do is hand over your resume and look desperate.  Applying online is the new game and its tough work.  You attach your resume yet they still want you to list out where you have worked.  It’s like they are testing your own knowledge and NO I don’t know the exact dates I started certain things.  It sucks.  Unemployment sucks because sooner or later I will get a call about a robotic warehouse job that I don’t want to do.  I will have to take it because I have a family and I can’t be choosy.  It’s amazing how hard it is to do what you love for a living and get paid for it.  
 
What’s even worse?  Weeding your baby off the pacifier.  It’s time for Vinny to lose his mouthpiece and this set off all kind of alarms last night.  Telling him he had to go to bed without it for the first time in months was about as mentally draining as it gets.  For being so short and small, the kid can hold a power over you unlike any other.  He likes to hurt himself by bashing his head into wooden doors and floors.  He dares you to yell at him while running and catching his propelling body at the same time.  Getting a kid off the bink is like getting an alcoholic off the sauce.  Withdrawals to follow.  Is there a rehab place for this yet?
 
Openers are over.  Let’s talk meaty topics and that starts and ends with the Cardinals.  I get random complaints about my overaggressive Cards discussion and I have a few words for you.   Go away.  Ask for this email to not be sent to you.  This is the heat of the summer and this is my team.  Movies, hockey and football are grand, but Baseball is king.  It always has been since my younger years.  My passion shocked and made my parents do a double take.  I watched and played so much baseball when I was young I could have went pro before the age of 8.  I am INTO IT.  It isn’t a game like it is to casual pussy whipped fans.  I run at this game head first and dare the consequences.  The Cards have an ability to mess up my nights and drive me crazy.  I let them do this.  I could turn the TV off at any time.  I could put the phone down.  However, it’s an addition and so I am hooked.  This is my blog and a place where I vent.  If 5 people get the email or 20 people get it, I really don’t care.  I crave exposure for my words but not the kind that will hinder the content for which I am suited to produce.   So when people whine about the lack of this passion when the Rams or Blues play, I have this to say.  I love those teams and feel a sense of anger when they lose(esp the Blues), but I don’t let them control my life the way the Cards do.  It’s just my team.  Everybody has one.  There it is.  
 
The Cards suffered their 4th loss in a row last night, and that is a season high streak.  They lost to the Pirates in ugly fashion.  9-1 being the final tally, but in my mind the game ended in the first inning when they Bucs scored 4 runs and started to pull the rug out from under us.  Jake Westbrook apparently can’t solve the riddle that is PNC Park and here is how his first few batters fared.  Walk, HBP, single, home run.   4-0 Pirates.   Cards killer Pedro Alvarez(Bud Norris with a bat in his hand) hammered home the nail right there.  Afterwards, Francisco Liriano shut down our bats to the tone of 1 run on 4 hits.  This a sudden disturbing trend developing here.  We won four straight at home and now have lost four straight on the road, where we were once very good.  How can the team with the best record in baseball play such contrasting brands of ball?  I will tell you why.  This offense can be shut down by good pitching and our pitching can be tromped by the right lineup.  We have collected 5 hits or less in 3 of our last 4 games.  After facing a soft July schedule up until this weekend, the Cards are running into very good teams.  The Pirates are nearly as good as them and dominated us last night.  Apparently having difficulty scoring runs didn’t appear to slow down the Bucs last night.  They pummeled our bullpen for an additional 5 runs.  Quick side note.
 
Name one reason why Fernando Salas pitches in close games.   He took over a 4-1 game with runners on base last night and gave up 3 runs.  Granted, Marc Rzepcynzski accounted for 2 runs and left guys on base but Salas poured gasoline on a burning fire.  He isn’t good anymore.  When he was gone, the bullpen stabilized and improved.  Whenever he pitched in meaningful games, the game instantly becomes hard to watch.  Everything about Salas freaks me out.  He climbs the rubber, gets the ball, rolls it out around into that split fingered grip and tries to do his job.  He is a wounded soldier.  I think his right arm is dead.  It was worn down in 2011 and never came back alive.  He is the victim of Kyle McClellan over usage.  His pitches are flat and straight and lack zip.  His breaking pitches hang.  He is hittable.  He turns winnable games into easy routes.  
 
Rzep isn’t much better.  He is good for one inning and one only.  He pitched into the 7th last night after a scoreless 6th and started to fall apart.  He didn’t spend 2 months in Memphis for nothing.  I’d dump him for a one way ticket to Branson right now.  
 
Today, the Birds play a crucial double header.   Look, my twitter feed was bombed with end of the world Cards tweets last night and I was one of them.   This team is on a big big road trip and falling behind in a bad way.  How do we expect to last into October playing baseball like this?  After getting to 25 games over .500 and embarking on a big 11 game road trip, the Cards were shut down in every way in Atlanta and sleepwalked into Pittsburgh last night.  This has to stop.  With this series ending in early August and the chance to surge ahead being now, the Cards can’t waste these games.  I won’t compare this to a 5 game series in Wrigley in 2003, but the significance is still there.  The team has to play better and win these games.  After the Pirates, we play 3 against the Reds in Cincy.  The time is now to reverse this losing trend.  The Cards are 14-20 currently against teams with a winning record.  We are facing some good teams now and ahead in the schedule.  They can be our ultimate demise or we can rediscover our winning ways.  
Quick update.  The Cards just made a series of roster moves.  They optioned previously named shitty veterans Rzep and Salas back to Memphis and recalled fresh righthanded arms in Michael Blazek, Keith Butler and Tyler Lyons, who is starting today’s nightcap.  Good moves.  Blazek and Butler are upgrades and are fresh and I am ready to see what Lyons learned down in AAA.  
 
Trade happening this week?  I think not but am open to certain deals. While a Jake Peavy deal seemed unfitting and bad for business, acquiring Cliff Lee wouldn’t be a bad idea.  Hear me out.  The Cardinals are unloading a decent amount of salary in 2014.  Carpenter, Furcal, Westbrook, Boggs, and Rzep for starters. Maybe Carlos Beltran. Even without Carlos, the four names mentioned equal Lee’s contract. The money isn’t the issue.  It’s what Philly wants in return.  Unlike in the Peavy deal, I would be willing to part with certain prospects for a pitcher of Lee’s caliber.  He is drowning with a bad team up east and deserves a shot and named the Cards as a place he’d love to play for.  Getting out of the sandbox that is Citizens Park and into Busch would sound good to most pitchers.  Cliff Lee is expensive and risky but I would be willing to buy into that because insert him into a rotation with Wainwright and this team is unbeatable in a 5 game set.  Lee is having a great year with a team that doesn’t hit.  Imagine what he could do here.  I would be willing to part with Carlos Martinez and/or Michael Wacha along with Joe Kelly and a hitting prospect like Brock Petersen to get him.  Phillies need pitching and that is who they would target.  While I love Martinez’s upside, I know that the Cardinals farm system is ranked #1 in the majors.  If it is as deep as regarded, we will be fine.  Cliff Lee isn’t ancient and is under contract for years to come.  Yes, it’s risky to assume so much money but being placed in a pitcher’s ballpark and good offense like we got, the Lee deal isn’t too bad.  At least it wouldn’t be a rental.  I am not saying we need to make this deal.  I am saying the Cards should really consider it if the two sides can meet.  Cliff Lee could make our rotation as dangerous as our lineup.  
 
Humanity strikes.  Allen Craig has reached earth.  He is being tamed by this pitching as well and swinging at stuff he hasn’t offered at since his first 2 months on the club 2 years ago.  After being on a tear for what seemed like 3 months, Craig is suddenly struggling.  He is 0-17 in his past 5 games, including 8 strikeouts.  The kid is finding trouble and its just part of the game.  Hopefully he starts to mash soon.  
 
The Cards RISP hitting is suddenly hitting a serious wall.  They are leaving hitters on and suddenly lack the big hit.  With 2 on and a chance to get back in the game last night, Pete Kozma came to the plate instead of a big righty bat off the bench.  If Mozelaik does anything I would love a RH power bat off the bench.  Someone who can strike fear in a pitcher’s heart.  This is why I wanted Brock Petersen to stay and Robb Johnson to go back to Memphis unless Yadi’s knee was still unstable.  
 
This team kills me daily and does it slowly.  It’s a long 162 game season and every day is a chance to realign your tolerance for heartbreak.   What happens next?  Will the Birds respond and take this doubleheader and take back control of the division?  Or will we continue to fall and wake up tomorrow in second place?  Only time will tell and I can’t wait.
 
TV Quick Dose-Newsroom remains a powerful hour of sophisticated brilliantly written and acted television.  Dexter remains in a stand still as it awaits its final hours of life.  True Blood just needs to die because its getting cartoonish.  Banshee DVD/Blu Ray is available today and I strongly suggest you kick some money at it and give it a shot.  
 
Song of the Day-“I See Monsters” by Ryan Adams.  Sweet, soulful bluesy track about the deadliest of inner demons.  
 
What else?  Not much.  Right now, I am done talking.  Feel free to respond.
 
Sincerely,
 
DLB

Morning Dose

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Quick to the point and blunt as a knife, I bring to you a few things rattling around the cage.  Five Takes.

 
*The Cards failed to register a win in Atlanta and were simply out played all weekend.  The Braves starting pitching seems to be rising up after the sudden loss of Tim Hudson and blew cold air on our bats.  It’s a shame because you wanted momentum heading into Pittsburgh but this may just send us up east in a very shitty mood.  My close friend and writing colleague PJ Nolan pointed out that seeing your staff ace(Wainwright) beat on Friday didn’t bode well for the weekend and after being shut out Saturday, Sunday’s game was wrapped up in disappointment as the bullpen let one slip through.  Seth Maness and Kevin Siegrist plunged a leak in the pipe line and the Braves charged on our team.   Atlanta is a tough place to play.  When we scored the one game playoff with Atlanta last October, I was nervous because I hated playing there.  The tomahawk chop, the noise, the lineup, pitching staff and Craig Kimbrel waiting at the end.  Atlanta visits Busch in a week so we will get another shot then.  Without their ace pitcher, the Braves are a force that doesn’t forget what happened in October and they won’t go easy this time.
 
*HBO isn’t just an amazing premium cable network with fine programming, but they are also a bold risk taking documentary and original film producer.  The past month they have been firing out these documentaries every Monday.  Provocative pieces of work about a wide variety of subjects.  I wrote about Gideon’s Army two weeks ago in a post(the amazing HBO doc about public defenders) and this time I am writing about The Crash Reel, the story of snowboarding legend Kevin Pearce.  He was about ready to challenge Shawn White for supremacy back in 2009 and while training for the X-Games, Pearce had a bad accident on a half pipe strip and severely damaged his brain.  This documentary takes along for the ride of his comeback.  It also provides insight to the risks that come with snowboarding on 20 foot half pipes.  I am amazed at the level of talent, balance and skill that it takes White, Pearce and others to be able to pull off these death defying moves.  However, it is a dangerous game.  Sarah Burke was 29 years old in January of 2012 when she crashed on the exact same half pipe as Pearce and died.  Her passing and the work of these renegades is showcased here in very fine form.  The soundtrack is great and the level of commitment that the filmmakers show to Pearce, his family and his story is very personal and emotional.  I have said this before and will say it again.  It’s hard for some people to stop doing what they love even if it endangers their lives.  If you’ve walked a tightrope once and someone tells you that you can’t do it again because you may fall off, you are bound to try it anyway.  It’s the way we are wired and driven to succeed.  All Pearce wanted to do when he left the hospital was hit the slopes again.  Watching his family struggle with him and his push to give it another go is so emotionally compelling that you will question the risk or lack of risk you take in your own life.  Get HBO, watch their wonderful shows, movies, and catch these weekly documentaries.  This week, they follow a woman in her 30’s who gets pregnant without a husband and tries to raise the kid on her own.   A common tale but I’m sure it will be great.  The only thing missing in these things is the soothing powerful voice of Liev Schreiber.
 
*Here is a Film-Addict special dual review of Only God Forgives.  Landon Burris and I tackle the polarizing film.
 
*John Mozelaik is like a gunslinger walking around town deciding if he should draw his gun or not.  Make a deal or choose not to.  I still believe, even after the sweep, that this team is good to go if Mo decides to stand pat.  People can cry about Kozma at short but I think he and Descalso will do the job.  We almost made to a World Series with Kozma at shortstop last fall.  I think there is a higher likelihood of a shortstop deal being made on this team than a starting pitcher at this point but I am not sure.  Mo won’t show his cards and plays everything close to the chest.  He won’t put the future of his team in jeopardy.  No way.  I trust his thinking.
 
*Dexter is wrapping up and I can see the lead character dying, going to prison or faking his death.  In the case of his death, I can see his young son walking up to the kitchen counter, picking up a knife and looking at it as the screen fades to black.   Just a thought and quibble for you Dexter fans.  He can go to prison and that gives Showtime the ability to revisit him in a few years and show an older Dexter getting out of prison, weary and broken.   Set him up against a big bad and see if he kills again.   I am always fascinated with the way characters age and how their needs and passions live or die.  He can also die, which seems like the most fitting way since he has put plenty of people in the ground.   Good guy killer is still a killer.  Just my take.
 
Alright, I’m done.  Time to get out and run.  Day is too sweet to pass up.  Thanks for reading this.
 
-D. Buffa