5 Things From Buffa

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Random fire style here in a quick blunt dose of thought.  My hands are hot right now.  I wrote up an interview piece with Virginia Madsen, wrote a review of her film, posted a Red 2 screening giveaway and come to you now with a few bullets left in the chamber.  

 
1.  Cardinals Clicks.  The Cards regained equilibrium and took their season back.  After a June month spent spiraling out of control and into second place, the Birds have won 4 in a row on their home stand and aim to make it 5 tonight.   Over the weekend, we swept the Marlins, beating them in walkoff fashion, a beatdown on Friday and a close edge on Sunday.   Facing Houston last night, Waino went to 12-5 with a brilliant performance and the offense romped for 9 runs.  
 
Mitchell Boggs was traded to Colorado for international slot money(aka 200,000 dollars in draft cash) so that loose end is cut.  Marc Rzepcyzski is next.  Ty Wiggington’s stay with the Cards was cut short with Mozelaik cramming 4.5 million down the team’s throat and making a proper cut.  The loose fat is being taken off the team because rookie phenoms like Trevor Rosenthal, Kevin Siegrist and veterans like Edward Mujica are giving more than expected right now.  A playoff team has to make changes and stay sharp.  
 
The team is back to 54-34 and in sole possession of first place with 5 games against soft competition(Cubs and Wrigley for 4 games will be treacherous especially with the Cubs playing great ball) remaining.   That’s baseball for you.  Down one moment and up the next.  
 
I am okay with Pete Kozma at shortstop as long as Daniel Descalso platoons with him.  DD’s bat is sharper yet Kozma gives you the better defense.  Each will hit .230 over a long stretch of time so they can’t be exposed.  Matt Holliday is heating up after a rest in LA.  He is cranking those tailing low line drive home runs and hasn’t hit into as many DP’s lately.   
 
If Carlos Beltran wants to stay for another year, give him a 15 million dollar 2014 contract.  If he wants 2 years, you part ways.  Those knees won’t hold up for that long. 
 
Allen Craig continues to spit out run producing hits.  He has 71 RBI with 5 games left before the break.  Beltran has 52.  Holliday is nearly at 45.  Freese isn’t far behind.  Yadi is still hitting in the .340’s.   This team can be ridiculously multi-dimensional when they are all firing on every cylinder.   I still think we have the edge in the division.
 
Wainwright not pitching in All Star Game is fine by me.  I don’t want our players hurt in that game.  It decides home field advantage but you must get there first.  I love Waino wanting to give his spot to Mujica, who was more than deserving.   People want to see Aromis Chapman(20 saves and lot more blown chances than Eddie) throw 100 mph so he made the list over Chief.  Waino knows thats top rank baby back bullshit.  He’s first class.  
 
Loved Bernie Miklasz’s video this morning talking about the courageous fight of Chris Duncan.   Baby Dunc lost his lovely mother to cancer last month and is fighting brain cancer himself, doing chemo once a month.  He had a playing career cut short by injury but has made a transition into a radio and TV analyst.  The man is true grit personified. Breakfast With Bernie airs weekly around 9am on stltoday.com.  I am a Miklasz honk.  I have read his words since I was 6 years old.  He inspired my writing.  Love or hate his take, he inspired this guy to write and put his mental thoughts into motion.
 
2. DMB hits STL tonight.  Love or hate their music, the boys of summer always put on a show for their fans at Riverport.  They play for 3 hours, incorporate old hits, unknown gems, do a few covers and play some new material.  Rae asked me if they had anything new coming out and I said no.  This band loves to tour and play in front of their fans.  They don’t need a new album to support.  They do just fine making the rounds and they sell out every time.  Their fanbase isn’t all frat boys and pot heads.  I have gone to 5 shows and see a wide range in the age of the fans in their seats and shaking their asses to the music.   Dave Matthews and his crew just know how to put on a show.  The haters hate.  The admirers get their money’s worth.  The end.  It’s not scientific.  It’s music.  
 
3. The Blues are dumping David Perron off at the Oilers for an unknown and a draft pick.  That’s salary release right there.  One of them had to go.  Oshie or Perron.  The group had to be broken up.  Perron has the high end of maybe scoring 30 goals but he was too enigmatic to ever reach his potential.  Oshie has the 5 year deal no one wants.  Perron is a talented young Frenchman who may make Edmonton very happy but I just didn’t see it happening here.  Berglund has the upside of a big body and a potential wing man goal producer who doesn’t go blank in the playoffs.  Perron got on my nerves almost as often as Oshie because he just didn’t produce for a week at a time.  Doug Armstrong is trying to get Pietro, Stewart and Allen signed and under the cap.  
 
I approve of the Derek Roy move.  If healthy, he could be better than Andy McDonald and minus the concussion factor.   He is a playmaker who put together great years in Buffalo.  Max Lapierre is a talent as well.  The team needed new centers and Armstrong delivered.  
 
I don’t like the Jordan Leopold signing.  To me, he disappeared in the playoffs and played horrible defense at the big time.  Jay Bouwmeester is a great pickup.  Leopold was an average player and we keep him over the cheaper scrappier Kris Russell.  Strikeout.
 
I still think a goaltender is being moved.  I don’t see this team entering camp with three starting able goalies.  While I have contempt for Halak’s health, I’d keep him over Elliot because I think he is the better goalie when healthy and is better in the playoffs.  Armstrong says 3 is fine but I think not. 
 
4. Music to Listen to.  Simple listing of 3 tunes to grab, listen to and digest properly.
The National-Start a war
The Fossil Collective-The Magpie
The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club-The Toll
 
5.  Watched a hell of a documentary on public defenders on HBO called Gideon’s Army.  In 1961, the Supreme Court decided every arrested soul deserved the right to council and created the spot for lawyers to be assigned free practice.  These are true renegade lawyers who work long hours, have 100 cases at a time and most of the 15,000 members of Gideon’s Army give a shit.  Travis Johnson, down in Gainesville, Florida, wears his cases like a badge of honor.  He puts the winners on a bulletin board in his office.  He gets the cases that he lost and should have won imprinted on his body.  The last name of an inmate he lost a case for gets tattooed on his back as a reminder.  Every convict has to enter a guilty plea because that’s the way the system is designed. It’s the public defender’s job to prove to the jury that the innocence is there or basically show up and watch a guilty man get put away.  They defend the scum and the rest and get dirty in the process.  Watch the doc and get a dose of their life.  I have a newfound respect for these people.  
 
That’s all I got.  I have more to write but I’m out of time.  I’ve withheld from listening to a lot of DMB over the past few months in preparation for this show tonight.  It’s time to get the kid up from his nap and get the night rolling.  
 
Thanks for reading and see you next time in the Buffa Nerve Center,
 
Buffa 

5 Takes From Buffa

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The kid is asleep so I am firing out a dose today that entails everything but the Cards.  I promised more single subject rants/blogs but today is a few different things.   5 takes from me starting with…

 
1. Blues and Free Agency
There’s part of me that wants to be naive and think owner Tom Stillman has a load of cash stuffed in his backyard like Tony Soprano and he can fund a big move or acquisition but in the end reality shows us that the Blues don’t have the revenue.   As Bernie Miklasz writes in his daily bytes, “They need an infusion of corporate dollars on luxury suites and sponsorships.  Stillman knew what he was getting into.  Buying into a franchise with short money concession and TV deals negotiated by prior ownership.”   In basic terms, the Blues don’t have the hidden Swiss vault full of TV money and the team doesn’t make enough annually to be consistent in adding pieces.  They have built up a youthful bunch of players that have underachieved and have to boost their attack with a forward.   
 
As much as I cried out yesterday for the team to look at Jarome Iginla on a short term deal, they would have had to pay him a high ceiling salary of 6 million on 1 year.  Unless they move Halak and/or Perron/Oshie, they simply don’t have the money to match an offer from the Bruins or Red Wings.  The Blues not only have to reacquire the influx of local dollars and fan support but they also have to convince top tier players to come here over more competitive franchises.  We are a midwest low market team with little lottery cash.   Sure, we have a great record the past two seasons but still exist as a risk for any veteran scoring talent.  Iginla, simply put, would have been the difference making winger who can deposit 30-40 goals when healthy.   He did it with Calgary, a horrible team, so having him here would have benefited both sides.  However, The Bruins have held the cup in recent years and were in the finals last year, so the 36 year old star went there.  
 
Here’s the thing.  The Blues didn’t even get involved, instead vying for the services of Stephen Weiss(Detroit) and Vilpi Filppula(Tampa Bay).  They lost out there, unable to match the money or be the lucrative city for a star player to want.  There are other fish out there, but the scoring talent is lean and mean.  
 
In a nut shell folks, the Blues could be screwed unless they find a buyer for Halak and can get some talent in return.  We could see the same bunch, with a few low hanging fruit acquisitions(2 guys yesterday I can’t even name) being our main catch.  It is early and I trust GM Doug Armstrong almost as much as I trust the Cards GM Mozelaik.  These are the times I wish Armie had Mo’s money to play with.
 
2. Rams and their future
The Rams proposal to renovate the Ed Dome was rejected by the Convention Center committee so both sides go back to the drawing table.  This match is in the early stages, so there won’t be much movement or a winner soon.  I’ve researched it and done my homework and can say the team isn’t going anywhere.  Some deal will be worked out and the lease will be renewed.  I do have some fresh thoughts and perspective.   Starting with, the proposal being a 700 million dollar fix.  For that much money, why not build a new stadium in St. Louis County all together.  It makes little sense to renovate a dead sack joint like the Dome if you ask for that dough.  The Rams were a little dumb there.  The CVC will agree to less money(prob 400-500 million) and the fixes will be done.  I maintain that the thought of a new stadium needs to be discussed at least.  An outdoor stadium would do wonders for the team and puncture a serious market of revenue in St. Charles or Earth City.  That’s a bit dreamy yet still my own.  
 
The team isn’t going anywhere and that’s a good thing.  LA wants an expansion team and has already owned the Rams once.  Jacksonville is going to London some day so the Rams are in STL.  My thing is Stan Kroenke showing more interest and involvement to get something done.  He waited 15 years to own the team himself and doesn’t seem to be getting involved.  The man has had a piece of 3 different sports franchises so he knows business and getting stuff done.  Stan is a quiet mild mannered poker faced suit so I don’t think he will roll up his sleeves.  I do expect him to  open his wallet and mind and show real interest in finding a way to fix the Dome or make a plan for a new home in the STL area.  Jay Nixon wants to help and if Stan and the Governor get together, a deal can be hashed out.  Don’t expect any of this to happen in the near future.  Just parlor room talk.  
 
3. My Desire for the Rams
I want the team to stay for obvious reasons.  Fisher Ball has injected a sense of optimism and pride into Rams football here in St. Louis.  Les Snead and Fisher have sharply redirected this franchise’s path and made them a possible contender inside a year.  Two years ago when we were in the hazardous area of Spag’s pillars and boring stigma, any Rams fan would have passed the bill to kick the team out of the city and invest the money in an NBA or more specifically a soccer team.   Now, with Jeff Fisher building this team from the inside out, I want them to stay put and become something.   They had a great draft in April.  Tavon Austin looks like moneyball magic.  Jake Long will be protecting Sam Bradford, who also has a new toy in TE Jared Bell and growing WR targets like Brian Quick and Chris Givens.  The defense is back and stronger than ever with a new strong safety to team up with corners Cortland Finnegan and Janoris Jenkins.  The running back group will be a battle between young hungry ballers.  Fisher has a chance to overthrow the rule of the 49ers and the Seahawks in the coming seasons if he maintains course.  The bottom line is this team needs to stay put.  
 
4. Banshee and Newsroom
If you want a new TV series to dive into that has a full season under its belt, choose between the greatness of Aaron Sorkin storytelling with HBO’s Newsroom(new season debuts this month) or Cinemax’s gritty pulpy dish called Banshee(new season comes out on DVD this month, 2nd season comes in January).   Both shows are juicy treats and offer different things.   Newsroom is the golden goose of Sorkin’s political rebel spirit, taking on real news stories from 2011 and giving his take on them.   Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterson and Emily Mortimer are terrific and the writing is superb.  Banshee is all action and hardcore dirty romance with a secret weapon lying in the middle and that’s a multi-layered plot involving two old thieves meeting up in a crazy town called Banshee and getting into serious trouble.  One of them takes over the identity of the sheriff while the other reforms herself with a new family.   The acting is great and the in your face brutality of the fight scenes are memorable.  Check them out while they are young and growing.  
 
5. Mark Strong Film-Addict Piece
I posted a character actor spotlight on http://www.film-addict.com about the great, versatile and underrated talent, Mark Strong.  He’s been in Sherlock Holmes, Body of Lies, Zero Dark Thirty, Rocknrolla, Robin Hood, Kickass, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Revolver.  He is the face you know but the name you don’t so allow me to connect the dots.  He steals scenes from the movie stars and is quite superb.  Read up at the link below.  
 
That’s all I got today.  Watching The Cards and Marlins do battle. You may see a blog on them later or it may come tomorrow or Monday.  I truly have no gauge these days.  Being out of work, I can barely keep track of what day it is.  
 
Have a good weekend,
 
Buffa

Buffa Dose #1

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A Few Pointers From Last Night’s Painful Loss-
 
Disclaimer-I didn’t any of it.  I was at a fireworks carnival in Webster Groves and only had updates on the phone.  I did read up, watch highlights and gave it a few minutes to suck it all in.  Simple blown save had some legs to it.  By the way, it’s not cool forgetting where you park at a festival and coming back to your car later to see your side mirror smashed and pulled off.  Someone just hit my car and ran.  One of those times where you get a serious homicidal rage flowing your bones.  Anyway…
 
*Adam Wainwright pitched a helluva game.  He pitched into the 9th inning, and was given a chance to finish it.  Albert Pujols saved his one hit of the series for a good time and flared a single for a rally starter.  Matheny pulled Waino and inserted the extremely rusty Edward Mujica.   At 104 pitches and looking sharp(12 of last 14 retired and hitting 92mph), Waino was good to go.  He had a two run lead and could have continued.  I understand Matheny wanting to go to his bullpen to a certain degree, but agree with other sources that Randy Choate was an option.   Yes, yes, I know its a save situation and I usual sit in the party of closer first because he is your last line of defense.  Well, Choate is on this team to get out lefties and Josh Hamilton is pitiful against lefties with a good slider.  In my mind, if you are ever going to do the multiple reliever shuffle, that is the time.  See what Choate can do with Hamilton and bring in Mujica for the rest.  It may not have worked that way but that is the better plan if you pull Waino.   Just a thought.  Adam is your ace and wanted to finish it.  Matheny pulled Waino 10 days ago against the Rangers in a close game and the bullpen burned a lead.  With better luck, Waino could easily be 13-5.  That’s baseball.
 
*Mike Matheny has made great moves this year.   Inserting Mujica as the closer.  Putting Matt Carpenter Jr. in at the leadoff spot.  Going to the Memphis well many times for internal solutions. He has also had some bumps.  Staying with Mitchell Boggs too long.  Staying with starters in games too long or pulling them too quick.  Managing is a tough gig but who ever said it was going to be any different.  It’s the big leagues and not the California Penal League.  His managing skills will be tested in close games.  At least we didn’t see Holliday or Freese double switched out of the game in the 7th inning but the AL park saved them here.
 
*Be easy on Mujica.  This was his first blown save in 22 tries.  Read that again.  22 chances and only 1 blown game.  That’s a 95 percent conversion rate for the people who don’t have calculators.  I didn’t think the guy would have an 80 percent rate when he started, so this blown save was simply bad timing but expected.  We can’t expect a journeyman reliever to be aces all season long.  That’s crazy mang.  He hasn’t closed since June 19th.  LONG layoff.  That’s the Cards recent struggles mixed in with a few blowout victories.  He threw a meaningless inning on Tuesday but climbing the mound for a save is a different beast.  Closers need to close or work in close ballgames to stay fresh.  We’ve seen it with a number of pitchers.  Rust is real.  
 
***Movie Recommendation break-Speaking of rust, the beautifully powerful drama Rust and Bone is now on cable on Starz.  It’s a movie full of fantastic performances and a real gut punching end.  It’s got a pair of French actors and they are great.  Give it a look.  A quiet indie gem and one of my top 10 from 2012.
 
*We face the Marlins tonight and I seriously hope the bats stay alive and the pitching is there because I want this team to improve at home.  We are 22-16 at Busch, and that’s just not good enough.  I don’t care if Miami is 13-6 since they took a series from us.  I want us to beat this team or at least win the series and get back on track.   We haven’t won a series since we took 3 of 4 from the Cubs at Busch 8 days ago.  We split with the Astros, and lost 2 of 3 to Oakland and LA.   Two of those clubs are average to bad teams.   No way.  We face the phenom Jose Fernandez on Sunday so I suggest taking the first two but they won’t be easy.  We face a young lefthander Nathan Eovaldi tomorrow.  The Marlins are not in contention but they can be the irritating bunch that nags good teams.   Let’s take care of business.  That starts with keeping the starting pitching primed and the bats moving.  
 
*Daniel Descalso getting more starts at SS is a good plan.  He is hot right now at the plate and plays solid defense even at short.  Pete Kozma needs a break to take his mind off his struggles and can come off the bench.  DD is a streaky bat and you have to ride that horse when it’s going.
 
*I am in favor of a save chance for Chief tonight.  Let Eddie Mujica clear the cobwebs from his arm and take the weight off his shoulders quick and get back in the saddle.  The worst time to blow a save is on the last day of a road trip where you have the whole plan ride to think about it.  I hope Eddie got some good food down today, did a shot of whiskey at noon, and cleared his head.  Tonight, he can make amends.  
 
*Jake Westbrook starts tonight and it’s huge.  Since returning from elbow soreness, Jake has been cold and rough.  After being sharp in April and May before going down, Westbrook hasn’t pitched well or deep into games at all lately.   Tonight is huge because if he struggles you have to reconsider the fact that his elbow isn’t 100 percent and you may have to call Memphis again. There’s no time to waste.
 
*Where is the Chris Carpenter update?  Is he rehabbing in Siberia?  Nothing on twitter or STLToday.  
 
*Carlos Beltran may stay put next year in STL and you may see Jon Jay get bumped in a trade or relegated to the 4th OF spot.  Oscar Taveras is coming up next year and Jay is hitting .246 right now and hanging around that mark.  His defense is down and his bat isn’t .300 sharp anymore.  If Beltran wants to play another year in the NL(still a long shot because he could easily get a 3 year deal at DH in the AL).    Just something think about.  
 
*Overall consensus.  Pete Kozma and Jon Jay need to platoon and Shane Robinson and Ty Wiggington aren’t scaring anybody.   The bench needs a boost at the deadline and I wouldn’t rule out Mo making a stab in center field(on a 2013 loan only) or at shortstop.   When it comes to this crafty Cards front office, anything is possible, even insanity.
 
*Albert Pujols went 1-11 in the series with a walk.  Barely a dent from the one legged slugger but he made his one hit count.  He started a 3 run ninth inning rally last night that let his team win the series.  Reminded me of his Game 6 2011 WS leadoff single in the 9th before Freese made history.  Only this time…well..for the other team.  The guy looks hurt and hopefully gets a little down time soon.  That probably won’t happen since the team is hot right now.  I just think Pujols’ right leg is going to completely snap off soon.  However, that’s not our problem anymore.
 
That’s it.  Hope to see a good start from Westbrook and some decent offense against the St. Louis kid Jacob Turner tonight.  Some action from Super Smoke Tank(aka Rosenthal) and Chief.  
 
Later tonight, as I watch the Cards, I will blog about the Blues and then the Rams and the Convention Center’s decision to not put forth the 700 million needed to renovate the Ed Dome for the Rams and what that means.(Still don’t think they are leaving but we’ll see as I try to breakdown Kroneke’s poker face.  
 
Thanks for taking this in and hopefully you return later.
 
-Buffa

Quick Hits on Independence Day

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Hey ladies and gents,

 
I’m bringing the heat on the holiday.  Ready, set, fire away…
  • STL Cards facing Joe Blanton.  This guy is as average as a diner’s coffee.  He’s 2-10, carries a 5.07 ERA, has allowed 126 hits in 97 innings and given up 17 bombs.  Basically, tee ball for the Cards tonight.  Fireworks indeed.  I know I could be throwing a jinx on our boys but if they don’t score at least 4-5 off this dope, something is rotting. Let Holliday DH, get back in there, and sit down the poorly struggling Pete Kozma for Descalso.  
  • Wrote a piece on the underrated character actor Mark Strong for Film-Addict’s character actor spotlight, which publishes Saturday.  Check out these weekly doses.  They spotlight the faces we all know yet never know the name.  Well, unless you’re a nut like me.  Strong is a very talented Brit who does fine work and likes playing bad guys.  Still fuzzy on the face.  Check the attachment.  For the soccer fans, he is a diehard Arsenal fan and was giddy to play a soccer nut in one of his films.  So there is that angle for you to pursue.  Just a notification of my website movie marvel work.  
  • I hate it when I get a 20 ounce coffee and let it go cold.  Heating it up is like placing a egg or fried rice in the microwave.  It’s never coming back the same.  From now on, this guy is getting a smaller size and smashing it. 
  • Nelson Mandela is going to leave us soon.  He is in a vegetative state and has been taken off life support.  The legendary humanitarian fought every brand of force in his day and spent a good portion of his life in a square cell and dug rock.  He came out and wanted to help others, including the ones who put him in prison.  The unstoppable force finally met an immovable object.  Truly good man.
  • I am interviewing Virginia Madsen, the sister of Reservoir Dog Michael Madsen on Monday evening for her new film.  I will be talking to her over the phone.  This is my 2nd phone interview and another cool step for Film-Addict.  
  • Watching some fireworks in Webster Groves tonight.  I don’t lose my mind over these events but my wife loves them and Vinny will surely get a kick out of colorful explosives in the sky.  
  • The Blues would be wise to deal from their 3 goalie collection.  Jaro Halak has playoff success 4 years ago but now can’t stay healthy.  Brian Elliot is a proven backup who can play for a period of games yet can’t stay strong in the playoffs for more than a series.  Jake Allen is the future but may be too raw to play 60-65 games.  Good problem to have for Doug Armstrong.  We will see.  Since Halak has the most value and him and Hitchcock are feuding, I’d trade him and let Allen and Elliot duke it out.  
  • Good to see Shelby Miller increase the velocity on his FB and pitch a solid 6 innings in LA last night.  I expect a Jaime like 6 innings every time out until he can be more sharp with his pitches and not gun for the strikeout so often.  Young pitchers wants to dominate so bad they forget about democracy.  
  • Jake Westbrook could be an arm to watch.  Since his return from elbow soreness, he has been quite rough.  If he goes down, you call up Carlos Martinez.
  • Albert Pujols is 0-8 with a walk through two games.  Just as I predicted.  I like the guy but will let him unleash his mistake power on other teams.   He looks hurt and a fraction of his previously dominant self.  He may be 33 years old on his VISA but he looks 46 years old out there right now.  The Angels would be wise to sit AP down, get some surgery done on the foot and knee and get him right for September-October or more realistically, April 2014.   He has 8 years left on a deal that I feel won’t be completed and one that he will walk away from.  Or else Arte Moreno can go buy another bat or instead play the stock market with his millions.  The Angels are building a team in the wrong way.   As Bernie Miklasz said in his column this morning, they could take a page from the Cardinals and keep some of their young talent.  They traded the AS shortstop Jean Segura for Zach Greinke last July.  They traded Tyler Skaggs and Patrick Corbin(both top rotation starters in the near future, especially Corbin) as well and handed AP and Josh Hamilton 375 million dollars.   STUPID.  
  • The Cards’ biggest contract is Matt Holliday and that only has 3 years left on it and Holliday will bring justification to it.  Waino, Yadi and Craig were signed to modest 5 and 6 year deals.  Our team isn’t giving away money(unless you count future bus driver Ty Wiggington) in huge amounts.  We are smart.  The LA Angels need to reset their clock.  It may be too late.
  • Watched last 10 minutes of Saving Private Ryan last night and as my wife pointed out, there isn’t a better film to watch before Independence Day.  She was watching the whole thing for the first time.  It’s cool to sit with someone as they see a legendary film for the first time.  The ending of that movie gets me every time.  The battle in the small town in Germany.  The whisper from Hanks to Damon.  The look on Burns’ face, and the Abe quote and salute at the grave.  Spielberg’s crowning achievement.
  • I can only hope the fierce Mexican champ Canelo Alvarez gives Floyd Mayweather Jr. all he can handle in September.  I can’t wait for the pre-fight Showtime series(yet I miss the 24/7 episodes with Liev Schreiber and Floyd letting his wicked personality loose).   This fight is as good as it gets.  A young undefeated battle tested power puncher against an old undefeated defensive pro.   Boxing is alive and well if you look close enough.  
  • Song of the Day-“Tree to Grow” by the fine new band The Lone Bellow.  
That’s it.  Thanks for reading.  
 
Happy 4th of July. Be safe and have fun. 
 
Yours truly,
 
Dan L. Buffa 

The Daily Dose of Thought

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As I apply for jobs that I don’t really want yet need to take on because of a money flow vacancy, I take a break to unload quick hits on certain material that’s clogging my head.  There are small advantages to being out of work and hanging with the kid and being able to write more freely and often are two of them.   One of the shitty parts is having to fill out job applications that include 100 question assessments that basically ask questions over and over again.  NO I have never used drugs or sold them to employees.  NO I have never stolen money from my employer.  There must have been a whole pack of worthless assholes who stole from their companies and set up these questions.  There isn’t a day that goes by in my life where I feel sympathy for criminals or ex-cons.  You fuck up, you pay a price and you live with the stigma for life.  I could have taken an easy way out and stole or broke the law but I fucking didn’t and here I am filling out 2-5 apps a day for warehouse gigs that make me feel like a useless lifeless shit eating robot.  Yeah, that’s my morning.  Can you tell I have only had one cup of coffee?  Let’s continue while I change out the magazines in my guns. 

 
Rain sucks.  Why?  It delays me mowing my lawn and making it look short and pretty so I don’t have to worry about it for another 5-7 days.  Rain sucks big time.
 
Raising a puppy is a lot of damn work.  It’s the same as having a newborn kid.  They are stupid, reckless, shit taking, pissing, crazy creatures that don’t listen and make you insane.  BUT…it will be all better when they are properly trained and older, right?  WRONG.  I hate dogs and pets as a whole.  No more.  
 
My son Vinny is so independent he doesn’t have to participate in the kid activities at Gymboree or any other place where kids and parents get to play with shit and not worry about breaking anything.  He goes every Tuesday and likes to do it but for the most part flirts with chicks, knocks other kids over, steals toys, plays by himself or with me or Rae and avoids the songs, dances and games that go along with the place.  My son is self-motivated.  He is above it.  Yes, he will continue to go but I don’t look down on my kid because he doesn’t want to get in a circle with other kids and sing about making……circles.   Not here.  What did kids do 30 years ago?  Back in the day and age where real men and women were made and forced to work their way through life and pick up skills and traits.  ON THEIR OWN.  I love my kid but he is part of a soft generation and fights that sometimes.  My prodigy doesn’t need extra help.
 
The Cards play three games with the LA Angels aka Albert’s new team tonight at 9pm.   I read a couple truly outstanding pieces by Bernie Miklasz about the Pujols situation and feel like adding my final bit before the games start tonight and all the announcers get on their knees and worship Albert and Cards fans hate on him.  Let’s get a few things straight.
 
(5) Albert Pujols Thoughts
*He left.  So what?  When Pujols left STL, he gave us the opportunity to truly start over, play younger players, rebuild in a way and start a new regime.   The Cards front office suits played Russian roulette with Pujols in December of 2011 and almost gave him 10 years and 200 million before Albert jumped the plane to LA and took their 10 year(plus 10 years of service off the field) offer for 250 million dollars.   In the end, Albert helped the Cards by LEAVING.  He stays and we are on the hook for a lot of money and would have gotten the declining shittier years of Pujols.   He will NEVER be the player he was in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010 with the Angels today.  It just won’t happen.  We got the best for 104 million over 11 years and the Angels will get the worst of Albert for 10 years and 250 million.   
 
*The Cards got lucky here and saved serious cash.  Instead of getting robbed with one player, they circulated the money throughout the whole team.   They signed Carlos Beltran to a 2 year deal that is paying off wonderfully and more soundly than the 2 year Lance Berkman project.  They signed young RBI machine Allen Craig to a 6 year deal worth 30 million.   They signed both Adam Wainwright and Yadi Molina to long term extensions.   If Albert stays, Waino walks and Craig doesn’t get signed.  There also is no place for the slugging talents of Matt Adams.  
 
*This crazy Italian bastard wanted the Cards to sign Albert no matter what.  People on this mailing list battled me with a realistic baseball bat over and over and I wouldn’t wilt.  I wanted AP to stay a Card for life.  I also thought it made the most sense for Pujols to stay.  He could have broken every record in the organization and been tied with Stan for #1.  Instead, he left and I think we all know he resents his decision.  Any man who still has bitterness towards a decision knows he made the wrong move.  The Angels didn’t make the playoffs last year and the Cards were 1 win away from the World Series.   This year, the Cards will be in until the end and the Angels may not make it.  So who really won here?
 
*I am not bitter towards Albert.  The man’s family keeps their home right here and Albert gives back to the community here in a ridiculous manner.  He has helped so many families with kids affected by Downs Syndrome and helped so many people.  He stays in touch with his Cardinal teammates and in my opinion, had a lot to do with Molina becoming a NL leading hitter.  Pujols and Joddy were best friends and were highly competitive.   Albert helped mold the catcher into a seriously dangerous hitter.  He did that with Skip Schumacher and Allen Craig.  He is as smart of a hitter as we will ever know.   Why do people feel so much bitterness towards him?  By leaving, he helped the team.  He didn’t let the on field business affect his off field business.  He is a good decent guy who let things get personal in a business negotiation and made a bad move that benefited the team that watched him go.   
 
*Feeling hatred towards Pujols is downright childish and Cards fans are better than that.  Anytime I hear a horrible word on Albert, I laugh when I hear the Best Fans in Baseball Bullshit routine.  The BFIB wouldn’t say such heinous things about a player who delivered 11 seasons of magical baseball.   Albert hit .330 in the regular season and in the playoffs over his career here.  He was a fierce postseason producer and is underrated there.   He helped us win 2 World Series and won 2 MVP.  He is still, in my eyes, a Cardinal Legend.  And he respects the hell out of fellow Cards legends like Stan, Bob Gibson and Lou Brock.   Albert Pujols isn’t a bad man.  He has bitterness towards the Cards front offense because he knows he made a bad choice and let FEELINGS get in the way of a business deal.   That’s it.  Cut and dry.  
In conclusion, get over it and be happy with the team assembled Post Pujols but remember to cherish what he did here as a Cardinal and still does here off the field.
 
Moving on to more random shots….
 
*The Lone Ranger and Pacific Rim look like huge piles of cinematic garbage dumps.   Movie fans, unless possessed or told otherwise by better sources, please avoid these bombs.  I can tell you from afar without even watching them that these two movies(with credible talent involved) are up to no good.   The Lone Ranger could be fun but it’s Jerry Bruckheimer excess at 2.5 hours long and looks campy and tired.  Johnny Depp is the bravest actor around but even he can’t save that turd.   Rim looks like the Matrix Revolutions and Clash of the Titans met, had some sexy time and had a baby.   And that’s not a good thing.  Avoid these movies.
*Rent The Impossible and Not Fade Away on DVD.   The Impossible is the true story of a family surviving the 2004 Tsunami in Thailand.  You won’t see better acting than you see here from Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor(a real surprise for him and a sign of his better role choices).  The movie is gut wrenching and delivers a visceral shock.   Not Fade Away is Sopranos creator David Chase theatrical debut and its a juicy tale of a young group of musicians who get wooed by The British Invasion of the Stones and Beatles and attempt to make a band themselves.   It has a killer soundtrack and an end of innocence vibe and stars several HBO character actors, including the late and truly great James Gandolfini.
*DO NOT WATCH Cold Light of Day with the new Superman, Henry Cavill.  It may co-star Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver but man that movie is pure trash.  Horrible CIA spy thriller crap.  Henry must have been drugged to do that right before Man of Steel.  Also proves his ass can’t carry a film unless he is wearing a suit.
*I am glad Christian Bale won’t return in the Justice League film as Batman.  Him and Chris Nolan are old school creators.  They say things and they back them up.   Keep promises.   When they said they were done with Batman, they meant it.  They made a truly superb trilogy and are done.  Bale is so talented he needs to do other things.    His growl is retired.
*World War Z is still one of the biggest surprises to come out this year.  That and After Earth(pretty sure I am the only one who liked Will Smith in Earth, but hey that’s a true critic for you).  I stand alone there but Z was a well made thriller and a pleasant surprise.  I liked Man of Steel a lot but it is very heavy and gets idiotic towards the end.   World War Z is a tighter more entertaining movie and if I am asked what I would recommend right now to the average movie fan, it would be World War Z.  Pitt’s gamble paid off.
*Once again, I would love to write for a living.  People have certain talents and wants and desires in this world.  The thing I am most proud of in this world after my wife and kid is my understanding of what I want to do in this life.  I love sports and would love to play them but I know my talent lies in writing.   Writing about anything.   I just got a hot tip on a stay at home writing job from a friend and that would be my dream boat.   Doing what I love for a living until Film-Addict takes off.  It’s amazing what a little opportunity can do for your day.  Coffee is a mood boost but an exciting career opportunity is the supreme face lift in this life.
*Talking with actors like Liev Schreiber and Antony Starr on Twitter never gets old.   Stars of the cable series’ Ray Donovan and Banshee aren’t stupid and know that social media is the main source of connection in this day and age.  They get on there, show some passion and care about their fanbase.  These guys aren’t going to be Brad Pitt or Channing Tatum any time soon.  They need this exposure.  They are indie performers.
*True Blood is seriously running out of creative gas.   The bloodsucking genre is tiring and this series is on fumes.  Original showrunner Alan Ball left this series to start up Banshee on Cinemax and the replacement isn’t doing much to save the series.   I was never a serious fan of this show.  It was a campy guilty pleasure with lots of nudity.   I still watch but can admit the proceedings are becoming an exercise in redundancy.
*Dexter is smartly closing out this season.   The first episode of Season 8 was pretty solid and sets up an intriguing and unpredictable end for our heroic serial killer.  It will have to end with him landing on someone else’s table and being killed or him going to prison.  I would prefer him going to prison and for this reason.   You could revisit the character in 3-5 years. An older Michael C. Hall looking more gray and weary, coming out of prison after a 5-10 or even 15 years(makeup included) and us finding out if he has seriously lost the urge to kill.   You could set up a big bad that opposes him and the whole movie would determine if he jumps back in or stays away and clean.   Killing for Dexter is a code and also a necessary drug.  It’s part of him so this would be intriguing.   This could work.  I wonder what they will do.
*Ray Donovan is only going to get better so if the first episode doesn’t hook you(don’t see how, with the juicy father-son-siblings triangle of rage), stay in because my feeling is it will only get better.  Liev and Eddie Marsan are aces and that blonde is extremely hot and will play a pivotal role in the rest of the season.
*Lance Lynn facing Albert Pujols and a fierce Angels lineup when he is “working on things” is downright scary.
*The Cardinals 14-14 month of June was bound to hit.  An uneven month is always around the corner.   Young rotation with injury issues and innings limits was going to start showing signs of wear.   The bats and bullpen are doing fine, but the rotation may be the area where the Cards try to upgrade in a month.   I don’t think we will see the preposterous signing of Cliff Lee but you may see a guy brought in.   Pete Kozma worries me.  He is hitting now at .246 and starting to trend down.  His defense(2 errors) has been sharp but his bat can’t linger down around .220-.230.   Ryan Jackson is hitting up a storm in AAA but no telling of it translating to the big leagues.  Chris Carpenter is still an X-Factor.  He is throwing and will face hitters this week.   If he can make a comeback and Wacha and Carlos Martinez continue to build pitches and innings then you may not need a starter.   You can then see what is out there at SS, but Stephen Drew isn’t an option.  He is hitting .233 with stats worse than Kozma and is injury prone and making 9 million.   Jackson may get a look soon if Kozma continues to drop.  I would like to see him hit better and stay at SS because he offers you that steady presence.  We’ll see.
 
*The ugly month of June coincided with The Pirates playing ridiculously good baseball.  This year, they may keep it up because their pitching is so deep and talented.   I can see them making a move for more offense at the deadline and overstepping the struggling Reds as our main competition.  The Bucs lead the division by two games but they played very very good baseball in June.  Seeing that continue against the rebound of the Cards and Reds is an interesting narrative for July.  Who drops first?
*Death is a son of a bitch and always will be.   The ultimate gut punch.  Thoughts go out to Pierce Brosnan, whose daughter Charlotte died of ovarian cancer, the same disease that took her mother. Charlotte was 41 years old and had a husband and kids. Pierce is 60 and has definitely lived through some pain. Lost a wife and daughter to cancer.  Just sad.
 
That’s it.  Back to job applying and then getting the kid up.  Maybe some yard work if it stops raining.  
 
Thanks for reading and so long,
 
DLB

A Dose of Buffa

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Hello folks,

 
As I watch a food show involving the making of chocolate donut stout and a sweet treat combination of donuts and potatoes.  In other words, I am typing hungry so this will be quick as I can possibly make it.  I write about whatever gets into my head and sounds like something that needs to be spread around.  I’m a news desk and crew in one.  Here we go.
Attention Lance Armstrong.  Shut up and go away.  Unlike Pete Rose, you have no candle to burn or hope in the world.  It doesn’t matter if everybody cheated when you won 7 Tour De France titles.  YOU CHEATED and LIED about cheating.  Cheating is one thing Lance(weak ass name for a man with only one testicle) but lying about is another.  Tell the truth.  Stay clean.  Don’t become Rafael Palmerio.  For now, Lance can just go away.  He is as annoying as Lebron James’ legacy right now.  
 
Again, the NBA Finals are over.  Stop talking about James and the finals.  Let me sum it up.  He turned on the mojo train against The Thunder last year and did the same thing against San Antonio this year.  When Lebron turns it on, the game and series is over.  The end.
 
The Philadelphia Flyers want Jaro Halak.  Am I an idiot for not wanting to just give him away?  I am as big of a Halak critic as anybody but something about his playoff experience makes me want to pull him back into the train instead of dangling him out onto the trade block.  Halak has proven playoff stout and can turn it on at the biggest time.  Brian Elliot in two series against the Kings, has wilted and went bad at the wrong time.  If we are going to trade Halak, get a very good player in return and be prepared to either push Jake Allen to take over the #1 goalie spot or make a small play for Ryan Miller.  We need big time goal keepers.  Elliot, as good as he was the past two years, isn’t that guy.  
 
I agree wholeheartedly when Bernie Miklasz says the easy cozy rock star Blues locker room needs to be rocked by a veteran and eventually dismantled.  Backes is only as strong as the respect he has from his fellow linemates.  They have all skated and come up with Backes, so he is limited in his shouting reach.   That means an outside personality needs to come in and change the face of that locker room.  You can’t expect the same group of guys to make a difference after a certain amount of years.  In short, Patrik Berglund isn’t going become a different personality or player at this point.  He is who he is and if that’s not a good thing, the 2013-2014 season needs to be a one off for some of these “aging” youngsters.  Just an idea.
 
The Cards send Shelby Miller to the mound tonight against Bartolo Colon and the Oakland A’s, who are surprisingly 46-34, hitting well and pitching strong.  They have a great closer as well who has been as sharp as Cards’ Edward Mujica in the ninth inning.  In other words, this will be a test.  Colon, still as thick as pan pizza, is 10-2 with a 2.90 ERA in the AL.  Another Billy Beane magic trick find.  He likes to throw the heat and mix in his curve. Miller will try and not throw 100 pitches inside 6 innings and mix and match his pitches to stretch himself out.  I like this series right now for the Birds.  They need this test.  On the road and at the end of a month where they have played .500 baseball.   The Pirates have closed the gap in the division and the Reds are right behind them.  We have to prove ourselves this weekend.  They need to jump on Colon’s first pitch fastball and get a lead and finish things tonight.  Get ahead and land a punch first.   The AL league is the beastly presence area.  Use the bat and do something productive with it.  
 
My Cards insiders(you know who you are) and I decided on something pretty logical.  Matt Adams needs to get 4 at bats a night when the Cards play in an AL park.  Put him at the DH spot or move Craig to RF, Beltran to DH and put Big City at first base.   Whatever the mix, get Adams some playing time while it affords you the chance.  Mike Matheny has no reason to put Shane Robinson or Ty Wiggington ahead of Adams here unless he wants to be compared to an idiot.  
 
Mike Matheny also needs to stop taking out big hitters late in games.  Stop pulling David Freese, Matt Holliday and Yadi Molina out in the 8th inning of a close game for baserunning.  I don’t mind it in certain spots(down by 1 run in the 8th and you badly need speed) but overall I’m not a fan.  Keep in mind extra innings can always happen and wasting your bench is a bad idea and your bench has a guy named Ty sitting on it who gets a hit every 10 at bats.  
 
We play Albert Pujols and the Angels next week.  For the first time, the Cards will oppose Jose Alberto Pujols in a regular season game.  It will be weird but interesting and a thrill.  He is finding his stroke and the Cards pitchers know him very well.   The Angels can hit for days but have ZERO reliable pitching.  Instead of signing a pitcher in the offseason, they handed Josh Hamilton Pujols money and went insane.  Jerry Dipoto’s big idea is now looking like a big crock of shit.  He is in trouble and the fans aren’t backing him up.  Pujols is there, though and the series will be interesting.  
 
Speaking of AP, we can’t get through this week without him opening his large trap about his Cards past.   In an interview with Fox Sports, he was mostly respectful but still found a way to be a bitter ass.  He still blames the front office of the Cards for disrespecting him and treating him badly.  This is where I find trouble.   How did they do that,Albert?  They offered you a smart 5 year deal worth 30 million a year and eventually offered you a stupid(I even backed this crazy deal up in desperation) 10 year, 200 million dollar contract that didn’t include a 10 year service fee after and gave you an opportunity to retire with one team and retire as the #1 Cardinal record holder of all time.  Instead, you bolt to the West Coast like a whiny baby who just shit his pants and continue to whine about it.  First, you sent your wife Didi to go all Brenda Warner on a STL radio station before you left in December of 2011, and today you still find a chance to whine about it.   I love what Pujols did here over 11 years and still say we got the best of him.  He won’t do in LA what he did in STL.  No way.  Health or not.  However, Pujols wanted to be cuddled like a little child by the DeWitt and Mozelaik team and that didn’t happen.  Baseball is a business and if I know one thing, dollars and feelings don’t play on the school yard together.  As I told Lance earlier, Albert, shut up and play.  Keep your feelings to yourself.  You made the choice and left.  Shame on you for still looking back a year and a half later.
 
White House Down is a solid form of summer entertainment and legitimizes Channing Tatum as a leading man star to reckon with.  Tatum is a versatile talent and in my column posted on Film-Addict, I go into detail about the early roles that showed an abundance of talent.  In this summer White House take down flick, Tatum teams up with Foxx(spinning a comic take on Obama) and saves the day against one of my favorite character actors Jason Clarke(Brotherhood, Zero Dark Thirty).   It’s an easy smooth film that is the polar opposite of the heavy and starting to tire in my mind MAN OF STEEL.   WHD is downright cool.  Go see it and spare your mind for 2 hours.
 
If not, check out World War Z, which is not the loud stupid CGI zombie fest that the trailer makes it out to be.  It is a smart taut tension building thriller.  Hoorah for Brad Pitt for stepping up and sharpening the almighty blade of editing here.
 
For DVD, rent Snitch because its a reliable true story that shows a different side of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.   In this film, he doesn’t throw a punch or dive off a moving plan shooting bad guys.  He is a desperate father going undercover in a drug cartel to free his son from prison.  Susan Sarandon and Barry Pepper co-star in this solid little drama.  
 
For all the people who were dying for Arnold and Sly to team up in a real movie, check out the Escape Plan trailer.  For the real movie lovers, check out this Buffa Trailer of the Week , a film called Prisoners.   It stars Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Terrence Howard and details the lengths a father goes in order to find the man who kidnapped his daughter.  Maria Bello plays Jackman’s wife and tells him something that will break any dad in half, “You told us you could protect us from everything!”  What a line and what a trailer.  Check it out.
Drinking a Bolus and Infusion from Shaw’s Coffee on The Hill in St. Louis.  Iced bold coffee with two extra shots in it.  This tastes like pure gasoline and it’s fantastic.  Shaw’s is the place for good reliable coffee when Starbucks gets too predictable.  I’ve been going to Marconi and Shaw since I was 6 years old because I grew up on Kingshighway and Tholozan.  I live right next to where I grew up and that is one of the proudest parts of my life.  Raising my son right where I grew up.   Every time I run around this neighborhood, I feel proud to still call it my own backyard.   Shaw’s is good stuff.  If you love strong coffee and live near the Hill, go get a cup.  They use raw pasta spaghetti strings for stirring and used to be a bank.  You can have a cup of coffee in their old vault.  Speaking of the Hill, the delicious Zia’s could be the Buffa’s dinner choice tonight.  
 
I will be watching Ray Donovan when it premieres tomorrow night after Dexter because Donovan is so damn good.  It’s a pilot that can be appreciated over and over because there are so many stories being introduced in that opening hour.   Liev’s main fixer is the heart and soul but there is an array of cast members who will play a defining role in the opening season.  This show feels like Brotherhood, an old Showtime original series gem that ran a perfect three seasons.  Yes, I will keep talking about Ray Donovan.  Writing a piece for my website this next week.  
 
Conducting another phone interview soon for Film-Addict.  This time with a female star of another independent movie.  I will be talking to either Daryl Hannah or Virginia Madsen.   If it’s the latter, I will be asking about her brother, Michael.  I may ask Hannah about the wonderful experience of Kill Bill 1 & 2.  Things are looking up for my website.  We have a new writer, Alana Hammonds on our staff and she is very sharp, witty and a good writer.  Its amazing what the 6 full time workers do with this website.  We just find the time.  One day, FA will be our main job.  That’s the dream.  That’s the goal.  Every day.  
 
Ladies and gents, that’s all I got.  Goodnight.  Thanks for reading.  The job search continues but I do get to stretch my blogging hours a little more and spend more time with my little Italian prodigy, Vincent.  
 
-DLB

Stream of Consciousness

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Here we go, blunt and quick with bullets.

  • Lance Lynn is overrated.  He bumps a lot of four seam fastballs in for strikeouts and collects a lot of wins but does so because he receives a ton of run support.  Honestly, he is a 4th rotation slot guy looking like an ace with his flaky record.  He is 10-1 but is starting to break again in June.  He got whipped by the Marlins and was saved by the bats.  He blew a 3-0 lead tonight against the AAA Houston team and that is not acceptable.  Losing to the Marlins is one thing.  They have Jose Fernandez and Giancarlo Stanton to deal with.  The Astros have Erik Bedard to put you to sleep on the mound and Brett Wallace to look disappointing.  They don’t beat very good teams ever.  At least not this week.  Lynn pitched horrible tonight and except for coaxing the Cubs into looking like idiots, has struggled in June.  What happens when the offense doesn’t spot him 6 runs?
  • Speaking of losing to the Astros, if the Cards follow through and lose this game, they can find their own damn way to Oakland.  An ass whopping will be waiting for them there.  No excuse to lose to Houston when you are the Cardinals.  They are pick me up games.  Schedule makers giving you a night to rest your starters.
  • The Blues can sign Patrik Berglund to a one year deal and Kevin Shattenkirk to a 4 year deal and I won’t bark.  I just want to know what this team is going to do to put themselves over the hump for next season.  Will the returning corps of Perron, Oshie and Berglund net us a deeper playoff plunge or offer more disappointment?  We took a step back last season so what happens now.   There isn’t a lot of money but hopefully Armstrong can be crafty and net us a difference maker.  We can’t look at men on our roster to grow up anymore.  They are who they are.  They won’t get better.  Alex Pietrangelo won’t turn into Al Maclinnis all of a sudden.  The three potential all star kids won’t become Jarmoir Jagr next season.  Chris Stewart will always be a streaky talent.  What will be done?  I know Hitch took over in midseason two years ago and had a lockout last year but this next season carries what kind of prediction?  It can’t just be a playoff appearance.  We expect more.  We know Brian Elliot can’t find a way to stop LA in a playoff series.  We know there isn’t a big time get the hell out of my way goal scorer on this roster.  I do know Halak has playoff juice to spare but can he stay healthy or is he trade bait?  So many questions and not one bit of certainty.  That’s the Blues.  There is a reason we haven’t won the cup since…well ever.  Several coaches have left our team and went on to win Cups.  Scotty Bowman.  Joel Quennville now has two after being fired.  It’s a sign of bad times.  What happens next year?  Please don’t let the Blues become the pitiful Chicago Cubs and have us keep punching out the painful proclamation, “Maybe next year”.  We Deserve Better Than That.  
  • My kid got sick again today.  A 104 degree fever and a high heart rate.  My kid had major heart rate problems early in his life so when that spikes, he has our attention. Whenever the kid gets sick, he gets our attention.   For the most part, he is a brute savage who is fiercely independent.  However, he has spent a few rounds in the ring boxing at the tender young age of 21 months, so he has our attention.   Damn kid.
  • White House Down is genuine summer entertainment.  More to come Friday. 
  • I was going to see Despicable Me 2 tonight(first one was aces) but well…see the post above about my kid.  Shit happens.  So do kids and fevers.
  • The Cards just had problems pushing across Matt Holliday after a 1 out double and a steal.  He was there with 1 out and Freese struck out and Shane Robinson(we know why he is playing) grounded out.  You don’t waste scoring opportunities against the Astros.  That’s like being handed a winning lottery ticket and dropping it in a sewer drain.  It’s just stupid.  If they lose, this one will frustrate the shit out of me.  Very good teams don’t lose to awful teams after having a 3-0 lead early on.  Lynn is to BLAME.  He blew it.
  • Ray Donovan is on Showtime On Demand right now and if you like hard boiled LA crime stories that mix in rough Boston accented tough guy family history and great character actor filled casts, check it out.  Liev Schreiber, one of the most underrated actors in the business, anchors a fine cast as the title character, a “fixer” with serious daddy issues(who doesn’t when they were created by Jon Voight) and has an array of trouble to deal with when that particular dad gets out of jail too early.  Bloody fists ensue and hot strong willed women stand by waiting to cuddle our hardened street warriors.  This show is one to look forward to.  
  • Mowing the lawn sucks.  Trying to figure out a lock cap on a gas can is in the brutal heat is worse.  I pulled a deadly trick today.  I let Vinny roam the backyard while I mowed the back strip.   I got it done before the rain but poor Vinny got sick.   Bad daddy move but life goes on.  Kid is tough.  Best thing about mowing is being done with it.
  • I have three different coffees in my house right now and I trading off between them. I don’t drink a lot of beer or soda so I stick to coffee, sugar/aspartame free energy drinks and water.   Mostly coffee and water.  I like it, as you know, bold and black.  As sophisticated as Helen Mirren and black as Viola Davis’ skin that makes this man sing like Buddy Guy.  It’s almost iced coffee time and that(thanks to the brilliant Pj Nolan) can be made right at home.
  • I am starting to put one foot off the Pete Kozma train.  His average is dipping and his defense isn’t enough to let him hit .230.   He has been steady and lasted just about as long as I hoped he would.  Either let the red hot hitting Ryan Jackson come back up or take a look around the league for trade deadline options.   Kozma is starting to trend down.  He still gets big hits but they are getting fewer by the week. I don’t need him to hit .290 and bang in 60 but his offense is feeble at best right now.
  • The Cards do have areas of need.  Don’t let the nice record fool you.  They have been steady in June but are failing to break out and get a bigger lead in the division.  I won’t whine too much about being 18-21 games over .500 but when the team stays around that water mark for three weeks, there is a problem.  The Cards starting pitching had frayed in June and their lineup is painfully eruptive yet still can’t solve lefties.  The remedy.  Get a power right handed bat off the bench and find a way to drop Ty Wiggington, who is slowly decaying in the dugout.  Get rid of Shane Robinson(average player at best) and get a righthanded bat who can play some outfield and you can keep Kozma on the bench or bring up a kid from Memphis.  I like our bullpen the way it is but there are so many moving parts its hard to put a finger on it, especially with a month to go before the deadline.  
  • Film-Addict Items posting this week.   Channing Tatum piece.  July Staff Picks.  White House Down review.  James Remar Charactor Actor spotlight.  
  • Lance Lynn went 7 innings and retired the last 8 he faced.  Nice work but still doesn’t make up for the one horrible inning where you give up 4 runs to the Astros.  Nope.
  • The NBA Finals are done.  Stop talking about them ESPN.  Talk about football camps. BASEBALL.  Tennis.  Hockey.  Lebron James is a big boy now and has 2 rings and more coming.  Get with it and stand against it.  The Spurs blew it big time.  They let the hungry dog back in the cage and lost everything.
  • The last 25 minutes of Dark Knight Rises is pure greatness.  Christopher Nolan’s finale couldn’t live up to the Dark Knight but it was still a fabulous wrapup with a good bad guy and a sharp way of tying up the entire story.  The chase scene at the end and the big reveal of the mysterious string pulling villain worked so well with the Gotham under nuclear attack mode and Nolan kept it all grounded.  The final 7 minutes that includes a fine excerpt from the great American novel a Tale of Two Cities with Hans Zimmer and James Newton-Howard’s beautiful score is so fitting and poignant.  Makes me wonder how much better Man Of Steel would have been if Nolan had produced and directed.  
  • My Man of Steel review may be toned back from a 4/5 to a 3/5.   Just thinking about it more and more and putting it up against other summer and 2013 films.  Snyder and Cavill made a good film but I don’t think it was a great one.  That’s the blues of being a critic.  You have a deadline and sometimes your mind changes days afterwards.  I’d give it a B+.  I don’t have a problem with Superman doing what he did in the end if you know what I mean.  Sometimes bad men have to be STOPPED.  
  • Matt Holliday just struck out with Carlos Beltran on base.  3 more outs and this team loses to the Astros.  This may release the hounds on the flaws on this team being camouflaged by a good record.
That’s all I got.  Listen to The Lone Bellow, a folky new alternative band that’s perfect for a warm summer night.  
 
Stay classy St. Louis,
 
DLB

World War Z Review

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*Since I didn’t publish my review for this movie on my website, I will come here and dish it out blunt and straight.  A Buffa Film-Addict special.  Enjoy.  I won’t bore you with cast listing, director spots, running times or anything else.  Just a dose of my thoughts on the film.  Straight, like black coffee or whiskey.  Also no official rating.  That is hard enough when I need to publish my review.  Here, all words.  No thumbs, number count or rating.  I will include a brief plot description.**

Plot-Gerry Lane(Pitt) is a former UN investigator who is called in by the government when a virus is unleashed and zombies take over North America.   With his family held safely on a  US Navy ship only if he helps find a cure, Lane must travel the globe and find an end to the madness before the world is completely under siege.  He has 90 days.

World War Z works because its brain is larger than its gore count.  Brad Pitt rightfully intervened in the editing process and brought in Lost Creator Damon Lindelof to do a rewrite of the script and added a pulse pounding 40 minute suspense filled finale that wraps the film up perfectly.  Pitt plays the lead character very well, spinning an everyman vibe on this leading character and making him one of us.  A man with a family trying desperately to figure out an end to the madness. The Zombies aren’t your normal undead foes here.  They sprint instead of walk and take just 10 seconds to turn into a monster. The best parts of this film are the tension filled moments. When Pitt and a few soldiers are riding bikes across a downpour of rain in the dark trying to board an airplane. Pitt aboard an airplane where a zombie has gotten on board and there is only one way to smoke him out. A finale that includes a chase for a cure and a puzzle house full of deadly turns and moments where nobody is safe. The end works because the twist in the story isn’t revealed too early and the script, direction and cast all work well together.  What I thought was going to be a CGI inflated mess of a film plagued by re-shoots is instead a very well done thriller.  In every sense of the word, this movie shakes, rattles and shocks you. It’s a highly entertaining summer treat.  I think Pitt needs to keep his hand in the producing chair as well as the acting gig because I can only imagine what that dreadful first cut looked like before he took the gloves off and cut it into this 115 minute adrenaline blast. I also really like the casting of True Blood and The Killing TV alum Mireille Enos as Pitt’s wife and mother of two daughters. They make a very believable couple and instead of hiring a hot bland actress, the filmmakers hired a woman with poignancy, depth and beauty.  Nice one make believers!

Here is the trailer-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EC7P5WdUko

For my colleague Chris McHugh’s take, visit http://www.film-addict.com and feed your fix on all things movies.

A Killer Week

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What a week it has been for this guy.  A whirlwind experience that has included parts that felt like a Pink Floyd concert and others that felt like a long walk down the dirt road.  A reminder to me that anything can happen at any time and most of the time, that thing isn’t that kind.  As Rocky Balboa famously told his arrogant son in Rocky 6, nobody punches harder than life.  Sly Stallone saved that series with the sixth film, a poignant tribute to the pugilist that never leaves the memory.  It’s that blunt speech that he gives his kid outside of his restaurant that provides it with the magic.   Rocky Jr. is mad because his life revolves around his dad’s legacy.   When Rocky wants to do an exhibition with a young champion and get in the ring one last time, his son is afraid of the negative not on his dad’s life but on his own life and legacy.  That’s when Stallone goes to work.  He puts the kid in his place and reminds him of how you get things done in America in this day and age. 

 
“Nobody hits harder than life.  It will beat you to your knees if you let it.  It’s about how many punches you can take and keep moving forward.  That’s how winning is done. It’s not how hard you hit.  It’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.  If you know what you’re worth, go out and get what you’re worth, but you gotta take the hits and pointing fingers.  Cowards do that and that ain’t you. You’re better than that. I’m always going to love you no matter what.  You’re my son and my blood.  You’re the best thing in my life.  But until you start believing in yourself, you ain’t gonna have a life.”
 
I’m not waxing Rocky poetry on you for no reason.  My life and the life of my family was rocked this week.   It started on Monday when I was handed my ass by a stomach bug and headache/fever combination that laid me up until the end of Wednesday.   My son Vinny got pink eye on Thursday.   On Wednesday around 4pm, I returned a call to my employer that I had missed earlier.  I won’t name the employer or the person who called me out of personal class but if you had paid attention to previous blogs or know me the company isn’t too hard to fathom.   I was told on the phone by the person that hired me that I was being let go because it wasn’t a good fit.  This didn’t immediately register.  Maybe it was the sickness clogging my mental digestion area, but I just couldn’t believe it.  I just left a previous employer for this job thinking it was stable and long term.   I would be lying if I said I didn’t have my struggles adapting to this picking environment.  Any warehouse operation is a delicate precise arrangement.  It’s not a piece of cake as some would assume.   However, I did nothing to warrant a suspension nor a discharge.  This rocked me because I didn’t expect it.  It did because I had NO WARNING.  
 
This was a mom and pop operation, a family owned company with class and dignity.  This wasn’t McDonalds or Fed Ex.  It’s amazing that certain employers don’t give a lick of shit about the employee they are letting go once he is gone.  They forget he has a family to support and a way of life.  Once I stop working for them, I could be building bombs in Iraq for all they know.  It’s a cutthroat business ANYWHERE you go in this 2013 moving world.  The people that hired me three months ago and fired me Wednesday aren’t evil people.  It just isn’t that simple.  These are business oriented folks who just made a cut and a reload of their roster.  That’s fine.  It just deserved a fucking warning.  I am still flaming.
 
There is a particularly distinct anger that comes with getting let go.  Hopefully most of you don’t know this pain.  Hopefully you never do.  I found out how that feels this week.  You have a life in a certain arena of success and forward moving mobility and then you have half of that.  None of it.  I had a job and my family was slowly climbing out of debt and coming back to the even point.  A point where we don’t have to go paycheck to paycheck.  Now we are back up shit creek with one paddle.   Thankfully my wife is a kickass saleswoman and could sell silverware to gold diggers.  We have some money in certain places.  We will be alright.  We have only been taking the punches and moving forward for two years now.  Since Vinny was born, nothing has been easy.   Him in the hospital twice in his first 2 months.  Both of us out of work for months.  Losses in the family.  Changing situations.  Typical situations for these typical times with painfully few choices.  Life still throws the hardest punches and always will.   I am in the ring and on my feet.  
 
That was my week.  How was yours?  While you rummage together your thoughts, let me unload mine in a little unplugged random roving here.  
 
*The Cards lost to the Rangers Friday night because Mike Matheny showed that fatherly side with young pitcher Tyler Lyons again.  Instead of sending him down to work on his pitching after losing to the Marlins, he let him take on the Rangers.  After the offense spotted him a 3-0 lead, he handed it back and got only 5 outs before leaving.   This was a bad call.  Lyons has been sent down.  It’s a week late.  Never mind me.  Matheny is a genius.(Yep, that just happened).
 
*Joe Kelly deserves the 5th spot for a little while.   It seems like the whole team and fan base forgot what Kelly did in 2012.  Started admirably for 3 months while Lance Lynn worked through baby issues and Waino was fighting through his first season back after TJS.  Kelly did great work in the rotation and pen but is a forgotten man in 2013.   That is due to some great new pitching talent but still a bad thing.  On June 5th, he made a brilliant 5.2 IP spot start against Arizona.  Last night he pitched 5 innings, rescued the rest of the bullpen and gave the team a chance to win.  If the team wants Michael Wacha to stay in Memphis and needs more work from Carlos Martinez, let JOE assume the role.  He has done it before and done it well.  Logical, right?
 
*Allen Craig is a freakish RBI machine and only makes the mind wander how many he can drive in this year if he stays upright.   Every time runners are in scoring position, Craig is a lethal weapon.  As lethal as Yadi Molina.   He has a way of getting a big hit and driving the ball to all fields.  This guy came up 3 years ago with a very long swing and looked to be Joe Mather like.  In 2011, he got some playing time and started cranking.   In 2012, he backed up the talk with more performance.  This year, he is becoming a freak.  He is hitting .313 with 6 HR and 57 RBI and 87 hits.   He will strike out 100 times, but what run producing bat won’t?   This is the stat that drives me insane.   Craig is hitting .486 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs, going 18-37 and driving in 27 runners.  That’s just freakish.  
 
*Remember when Yadi Molina was hitting .219 in the regular season in 2006 and a weak hitting defensive genius behind the plate?   7 years later and he is hitting .364 and driving in runners all over the field and smacking the ball to all fields.   I forgot how long his road was at the plate until I realized he wasn’t always a wizard at the plate.  He used to struggle.  Joe Strauss wrote about this in Thursday’s paper.  It’s a fascinating subject to dive into.  The evolution of Yadi’s plate approach and I will add this.  He does look a lot more relaxed up there, especially in 2 strike counts.  It’s like he knows in his mind there are no strikes and the pitcher has nothing on him.  
 
*Eventually, he may falter, but let’s enjoy the wonderfully surprising Edward Mujica train as far as it goes.  He is 21-21 in save opportunities/conversions and turning heads.  He goes out there, throws strikes, throws the nasty splitter and gets outs.   He is like Ryan Franklin in a way, but I think he is more nasty than Franklin.   Mujica has better movement on all of his pitches and not just one.   He’s the unsung hero of this 2013 season.  
 
*I don’t care how great Boggs, Rzep, and Salas pitch in the minors.  They have no spot on this club.  There’s no way you send down anybody on the MLB roster(outside of Keith Butler) for either one of those lost causes.  Let them go.  
 
*Steve Austin is on twitter and quite frankly sounds as badass as he looks.  He is associated with some program called Redneck Island and recommends it after telling us, “I am taking my sorry ass to the gym.  Delts, Traps, Bis.”  In other words, watch the fuck out gym rats!  Stone Cold is coming to kick some hairy barbecue spiced ass soon.  I propose a Twitter Contest between The Rock and Austin where they trade badass one shot tweets and see who falls.
 
*I love and use Twitter as much as anybody these days but so many people on there get obsessed with self-analysis.  I tweet about the random thing that might have to do with me but I mostly put out tweets that I know people following me will like.  I call that keeping it real.   Keep it relative.  These sad ass attention hogs that overdo it give Twitter a bad name.
 
*My colleague Chris McHugh says World War Z is worth checking out.  I guess all the ball sweat put into it by Brad “A semester short of a Journalism degree at MU” Pitt was kind of worth it.  I may have to check it out and add my analysis.  Kind of like a doc needing to see a patient for the final checkoff.  That’s film critic work.  My eyes only.  The Buffa stamp awaits.
 
*For your money’s worth, go rent The Bourne Legacy on DVD.  Without Damon, Jeremy Renner still makes a hell of a hero and the movie is a kinetic thrill box.  It never stops and provides you with just enough story and action.   There wasn’t just one fucked up scarred nice guy killer in that program.  Renner’s Aaron Cross had the same bunk bed as Bourne, and his story is told here.  Check it out.  Like…NOW!
 
*I did my first phone interview on Monday with a director and I must say it was a small thrill to talk with a filmmaker.  Antoni Stutz is an indie director who directed Aidan Quinn and Beau Bridges in a little thriller called Rushlights(it wasn’t that great but was easy to digest and had some thrills) but hearing him talk, I got the feeling he is capable of much more.  Antoni is a regular guy trying to pay his rent and make movies.  A good story.  It is posted on my site under Daily Dose.  Check it out.  Next week I am interviewing Virginia Madsen or Darryl Hannah for their new film.  One perk of being a film critic is getting screeners in the mail.  Semi important.  
 
*Listening to the National right now.  Moody melodic rock with the soulful baritone heavy voice of Matt Beringer providing the moral compass and vocals.  Their new album has a wonderful song called “I Need My Girl” that hits home right now for me.
 
*Adrian Broner will destroy Paulie Malignaggi in their Showtime fight tonight.  Broner is all power.  Paulie is all flash and dance.  This will end in a TKO.  Stoppage by the 9th round.  Broner is an undefeated young Floyd replica who can hit hard and came up in weight to pound Paulie, a NYC vet who just can’t match the power and speed of his opponent.  He needs to stay in a suit and continue his observing.  Leave the fighting to the real pros. 
 
*The next movie I will see is White House Down, a thriller with Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx which could be a bowl full of summer popcorn fun.   The next movie I look forward to is Wolverine.  Yes, it’s another comic book movie Hugh Jackman’s work as Wolverine, the man afflicted with eternal life as a bad ass avenger with blades coming out of his knuckles, makes the role so easy to love and watch.  In this film he flirts with the chance of having that power taken away and being mortal.  That doesn’t work when bad guys wants to tear him up so conflicting thoughts follow. I am not a diehard lover of the X-Men series but I do love the Wolverine character.  It’s got a credible director(James Mangold) attached and the trailer looks very good.  The last solo Wolverine mission film was no good so this one must improve.  Also, Jackman ate 7 chicken breats a day to get into monstrous shape as the heroic outsider.
 
*What else?  It’s very warm in St. Louis right now.  Mowing the grass is still only gratifying at the end.  Cars still require gas.  I still love to run outside and not inside.  I have lost more weight just by knowing when to eat and what to eat when I do. It’s simple and doesn’t need to involve counting calories.  Life is just going by.
 
*The Heat won the NBA championship and I watched the last two games.  I did that because I am a Lebron James fan.  I have liked him since his early Cleveland days because he is exciting to watch.   He turned things around in Game 6 and dominated Game 7.  His haters will hate to understand that he is the biggest reason the Heat pried the championship from San Antonio.  He is the only player to win the Regular Season MVP, Finals MVP and championship TWO seasons in a row.   Ladies and gentlemen, get off his back.  He is legit and will drag the one legged Dwayne Wade and overrated Chris Bosh to at least 1 or 2 more championships.  Miami didn’t buy a championship.  They have play and earn and win every damn game.  Get over it.  
 
That’s all.  Goodnight.  Thanks for reading.
 
Sincerely,
 
Buffa

My Take on The Cardinals

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I think it is fantastic that my Cardinals are 44-25.   Being 19 games over .500 is an astounding achievement for dealing with the injuries that have fell upon this team inside three months of action.   I don’t need to go over the list of injured starters to allow you to understand the impact that our farm system has had on the big league club.   It’s great and only hints at the success that awaits us when we get fully healthy.  What happens when a healthy Jaime Garcia rejoins the rotation in 2014?  Jason Motte joining a highly formidable late game bullpen cycle of power arms.   It’s cool and long lasting.  However, today’s game against the Marlins just can’t happen.   The best team in baseball, long road and woes to deal with or not, can’t cough up a series to a 21-50 team.   The pitiful Miami Marlins took 2 of 3 from us this weekend and it’s kind of disgusting to think about.  

Hold off on telling me these things happen in a 162 game season and I should take it in stride.  I won’t do such a thing.  We needed to take this series and stomp the Marlins.  Forget sending a message.  Just put some distance between you and the two very hungry team behind you in the division in the Reds and Pirates.  Win as many damn games as you can.   Kill teams and reflect when you are driving off in the team bus.  The Cardinals let a very bad team get past them this weekend.  Why?  Allow me to explain rather quickly with blunt force.  
 
Mike Matheny and his staff made a decision on Friday to send Michael Wacha back down to Memphis and keep the lefthanded Tyler Lyons on the club in the big boy rotation.  In explaining the move, Matheny wanted the kid to work on his curve and the location of his fastball.  There is also a factor in play here when it comes to stopping his big league clock so he isn’t available for free agency sooner.  
 
I didn’t like the decision.  I wanted Wacha to stay and Lyons to go down because you have two solid lefties in the bullpen and you need to keep both of these guys stretched out as starters.   Wacha has shown more consistency here than Lyons.   Tyler(shitty weak boy name) had two very good starts against soft hitting teams and has given up 4 earned runs in his last two starts before today’s debacle.   The clue being that teams were figuring out Lyons while Wacha had gotten punched hard against Arizona but rebounded with an impressive start against the Mets.  Lyons and Wacha’s wins came against inferior teams but Wacha was a guy that you didn’t want to send up and down from Memphis.   Nobody knew who Lyons was a month ago.  Wacha is the next great pitcher in this organization.   Unless he kept getting hammered in NY, you keep him here.  Forget the need to have a lefty in the rotation.  Keep the right pitcher in the rotation.  I think Matheny listened to his coaches too much here.   Watch Wacha’s pitch count.  Keep an eye on his durability.  He was in college a year ago, but so what?  Make sure his facial hair isn’t growing at an alarming rate.  Come on.  Lyons should have went down because he was getting hammered more and more.  Today, he gave up 6 earned runs in 5.1 innings, which is nearly as bad as Lance Lynn on Saturday but Lynn has 9 wins on his record.  
In short, Lyons was trending downward and Wacha was trending up.  All I can look at is the performance and the stats.   
 
The Cards lost to Jose Fernandez on Friday, a very talented righthander who pitches very well at home.  A suspect hit by pitch call where umpire Angel Fernandez awarded a Marlin first base after another umpire saw a little bruise on his hand.  The extremely deadly hitter Giancarlo Stanton(why in the world did he ever call himself MIKE) lined a game deciding 2 run double off a tiring Jake Westbrook.  Game over.  5-4.  
 
Saturday, the bats ripped apart the Marlins pitching staff for a 13-7 assault that bailed out a struggling hot and tired Lynn.  
 
Sunday, Lyons got bombed by the Marlins lineup and Ricky Nolasco shut down the Cards lineup on 5 hits.  7-2.  Unacceptable.  It doesn’t matter if you walk into Marlins park as the best team in baseball in the middle of June.  This team needs to pound Nolasco.  Beat him into the ground like a rogue journeyman soul that he is.  Instead, he shuts us down and Lyons gets beat hard.  Three bad starts in a row for the other kid named Tyler.  I don’t care if he is going through growing pains.  He can do those in the minors.  If Wacha gets hit hard by the Marlins, it’s a step in the process of a future top of the rotation arm.   You see my point?  Wacha is an arm that shouldn’t be messed with and Lyons is a potential innings eater.  I think their locations need to be switched.  Just me.
 
As noted earlier, the Cards can’t afford to lose to the Marlins.  It’s a smack in the face and gives the Birds their first series loss since the end of April.  They rarely get beat so soundly.  Look at their last 5 losses and all have come in fairly close fashion.  Today’s loss was a one sided beatdown.  I just don’t like it.  
 
The bottom of the rotation is looking thin.  Jake Westbrook may have been rushed back to the rotation but looked halfway normal on Friday.   He is a guy that lives and dies by his sinker.  He was getting ground balls and unfortunately a few found the holes and not the gloves.  Stanton’s big blow pushed the knife through but Westbrook looked alright.   That doesn’t spell good things for the future.   Let me describe my cautious outlook.
 
Shelby Miller will run into an inning roadblock.  He won’t be shut down but will show signs of wear and tear.  He has thrown a ton of pitches, leading the league for rookies in strikeouts and has three more months left to go.  He is someone to watch.  I don’t warrant a Nationals/Strasburg kind of overlooking analysis but he may start to drop off.  Lance Lynn has held up better than 2012 but still relies on a lot of run support.  Adam Wainwright is a Cy Young candidate at 10-3 and pitching at the top of his game with 2 complete game shutouts under his belt.  Lyons’ future is uncertain and I am not sure if he will be here in a few weeks.  His stuff is decent but could use more polish at the AAA level.  Kevin Siegrist has turned into a K machine in the bullpen with Randy Choate turning in fine work as the specialist.  Lyons, for now, is a rotation arm.  I think he needs to go down to Memphis but I am not sure the team will make that quick turnaround after sending Wacha down on Friday.  
 
The X-Factor here is Chris Carpenter’s miraculous comeback.  After what seems to be about 40 bullpen sessions, one hopes he is heading down to Springfield or Memphis for a start.  How many simulated games and bullpens can the guy throw?  Is there something we are missing here?  Carpenter is being brought back in a starter mode, throwing 80 pitches per session.  Any talk of a bullpen role is illogical and rather stupid.  No bullpen arm trains with that many pitches.  He is a starter and always will be.  Where does he fit in the bullpen with the crowded arena as we currently see it?  Carpenter needs to go on a rehab and see if he has what it takes to come back or is it time to call this miracle journey a wrap.  This started at the beginning of May and now its June 16th and he still hasn’t thrown in a real game.   His potential impact affects guys like Lyons, Wacha, Carlos Martinez and the need for a starter at the deadline.   Also, this team isn’t going after Cliff Lee and his aging expensive lefthanded arm.  There’s no way that’s happening with this team’s young crop of arms.   When you have Martinez, Lyons, Wacha, and a mending John Gast at your disposal, pulling in Lee for a half season is no way to improve your club.  
 
What else?  Bright spots.  
 
*David Freese has turned his season around and I am not surprised.  The hometown aging kid has always been a clutch bat and was pressing for a couple months after getting a short spring.  He is a quality and relatively cheap third baseman who has also improved his defense this season.  His range to his right is a lot better than previous campaigns.  That could be a result of healthier ankles.  I don’t think we need to shop Freese anytime soon.  Matt Carpenter is a great leadoff hitter and decent 2nd baseman.  That may put Kolten Wong in a slower climb to the major league club or it may not.  Wong is playing other positions at Memphis and has only been in the system for 2 years.  Freese is a proven late inning and postseason hitter.   Carp can also play a number of positions.  I don’t like the notion of shopping Freese.  Another ridiculous and naive topic brought up by Ken Rosenthal.  
 
*Yadi Molina is the most valuable player on the Cards and quite possibly the National League.  Buster Posey isn’t a better player than Yadi.  His catching is average and while his bat is quality, Yadi changes the way opponents play against him.  He brings offensive firepower and a defensive game that can’t be matched.   He deserves the gold glove every season and Posey will always be 2nd in value.  He also happens to be leading the NL in hitting with a .351 average.  Molina is so underrated after becoming a true force in the last three seasons.  
 
*Carlos Beltran has served as a quality pickup and eclipsed the Lance Berkman warnings.  Berk fared well for a season here but dropped off in 2012 due to serious injury.  Beltran is getting more rest and becoming more consistent with his bat and glove.  His legs are improving by the week because he gets at least 2 days off a week and still has 16 home runs and 40+ RBI.  He is worth thinking about when it comes to 2014 but I think he will depart to be a DH in the AL.  Let’s enjoy him while he is here.  He was a superb pickup and wouldn’t have been here without Pujols departing.  
 
*Pujols has managed to help the Cardinals without being a member of the team.  With his services heading west to LA for the next 10 years, the Cards were able to lock up Molina, Waino, and bring in Beltran while maintaining a flexibility for additions at the trade deadline. With Albert staying put, the Cards wouldn’t be able to keep Molina AND Waino.  No way.  Also, Pujols departing allowed the team to get a better look at Allen Craig, who is turning into an RBI machine and a perfect cleanup bat behind Matt Holliday.  Craig won’t slow down any time soon.  He’s a steady .300 hitter with lots of upside and pop.  Pitchers aren’t going to figure anything else out when facing him.  They are at his mercy now.  
 
*Holliday will be alright.  He is a streaky hitter but is still an above average all around player.  He will knock in 100 and crank 25-30 HR and hit .300.  His defense in left field has also improved.  The deep fly ball that went off his glove against Arizona at Busch was his first error of the season.  He is tracking down more balls and is an average fielder.  His bat is explosive at its best.  He hits into so many DP because he hits the ball so damn hard.  Only Stanton hits a ball harder than Holliday.  Smashing a grand slam off the Reds rookie pitcher last Sunday was a very satisfying moment for the former QB from Oklahoma.  Give him time because he is fine.  The haters will hate and still spit out stupid jargon like we should have signed Jayson Werth or Carl Crawford(both making 22 milllion as leadoff hitters).   Holliday and Craig make this lineup dangerous.   Take them away and Beltran and Yadi aren’t as productive.  
 
*Trevor Rosenthal’s upside is ridiculous.  “Rosie” is a big time talent with a right arm that could anchor the Cardinals bullpen for years.  His future as a starter doesn’t seem as strong since his work in the 8th inning has produced such dynamic results.   Rosenthal is starting to spot his propane fastball and use his breaking pitch effectively.  He is a closer type pitching in a setup role. 
 
*Edward Mujica is also turning heads and deserves an All Star look.  He took over the closer role in late April and has 19 saves in 19 opportunities.  He is throwing his split-finger for an out pitch and mixing in his fastball and slider.  The guy has been nicked for 2 harmless home runs and rarely gotten into serious trouble.  He is turning his career around in his 2nd pivotal role on this team.  He came here for Zach Cox, who is playing at the AA level for the worst team in the National League.  Fair swap if you ask me.
 
The Cubs come into town and have played well of late but still a team that a 1st place squad like the Cards should easily beat up.  Don’t waste these opportunities against soft competition to rack up your lead.  Take care of business.  Losing to bad teams isn’t acceptable for a team of this Redbird’s caliber.  
 
I’m done.  Time to catch 30 minutes of Chris Nolan’s superb Dark Knight Rises on HBO before it’s Mad Men time.  
 
Goodnight,
 
Buffa