Where is this offense coming from? The Cardinals are simply playing some baseball this spring...again, too bad the wins don't count. Through three innings down in Viera, FL against the Nats, the Cards have scored seven runs without a homerun. The team has thrown together three doubles and six singles, scoring three in the first and two in each of the next two innings.

All while giving up only one run on one hit to Washington.

At least for the immediate future, the Khalil Greene trade winner is the St. Louis Cardinals. Former Cardinal farmhand Mark Worrell will undergo Tommy John surgery soon and will miss the 2009 season.

Greene is only under contract for this year, making the trade -- for this season alone -- a good one. Worrell would not have been able to make an impact in St. Louis and Greene will be the everyday shortstop. Simple logic, right?

Today's game marks the first without a DH. I say thank goodness -- let the pitchers hit and get ready for a season where they will...you guessed it...hit.

From here on out, unless the Cardinals play a road game against an AL opponent, the DH is gone.

UPDATE: Adam Wainwright was the first Cardinal pitcher to hit this year, going 0-2 in the game. I don't care if he goes 0 for the season. His at-bats in the spring may make a huge difference in a game in June because he remembers how to bunt.

WP: Pineiro
LP: Kazmir
S: Motte

Boxscore

Key Players:
Ryan: 2-6, RBI, 2 R
Ankiel: 3-3, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB, HR
Ludwick: 1-4, 3 RBI, HR

I'm really starting to wish the Cardinals would save some of these wins for the regular season. It seems like they're winning everyday -- which I'm totally fine with. But my gosh, once the season begins are these going to carry over?

Ludwick hit his first HR of the spring -- a first inning bomb to give the Redbirds an early lead off superstar Scott Kazmir, and Rick Ankiel followed later with a homer of his own.

A decent start from Joel Pineiro, who improved to 3-0 in Grapefruit action. He gave up more hits than innings pitched (4.0 IP, 6 H) but only allowed two earned in that timeframe. His spring ERA is now 1.29.

Just a big offensive game on both sides today as the teams put together a combined 29 hits (Cardinals: 16, Rays: 13) and 16 runs. Jason Isringhausen faced his former team in a new Rays jersey, allowing a hit in one inning pitched.

**By the way, this is post number 100 for Arches & Ivy! It's been fun so far and Chad and I can't wait for the season to start**

The Cubs and the Cardinals could both add to their payrolls before the end of the '09 season. According to the Chicago Sun-Times and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, each has the money to -- if it's deemed appropriate -- boost their team by the closing months of the season.

Both situations aren't all that similar, as the Cardinals have about $93 million allocated for the 25-man roster as opposed to over $100 million from last year. The Cubs are in the midst of a team sale where spending money is a little risky. With a payroll of nearly $120 million last season, Wrigley Field is expected to house a team of closer to $130 million this year, but Cub officials still think they have the revenue to spend later in the year.

The difference I see is that the Cardinals have the money in their wallets and if they want to spend it...they will. Now, it's also likely that DeWitt and company threw some PR to the fans to make us think they have intentions to bolster the team. But we at least know money is available, whether or not its spent. And, although this goes without saying, adding to the team will only happen if the Cardinals have a realistic shot at making the playoffs.

Oppositely, the Cubs expect revenue to be on par with other years, even if sponsorship may be a little down due to the economic situation. Attendance will be the same at Wrigley, WGN will still make a killing and merchandise will probably bring in just as much money as it ever has.

But once the Cubs are finally sold, the storm of a change-of-the-guard will calm and the new owners can breathe a little easier and take a good look at the financial situation. When that time comes, and assuming the Cubs will be in the hunt for the division title, moves will be made. We all know this team is starving for a championship. The fanbase grows more and more tired of waiting to hang Wrigley's first world title banner.

In my opinion, the window is closing on this team as the roster is getting older and the superstars are really getting older. It's been clear over the past couple seasons that the suits agree with me, as the Cubs have poured money into bringing in big names year after year. They have to win, and they have to win soon.

Now the big question is, will both teams have enough to get to the point where spending would be an option?

WP: Wilson
LP: Ascanio
S: Romero

Boxscore

Key Players:
Soriano: 2-4, RBI, R, HR
Theriot: 1-3, RBI, BB
Hoffpauir: 1-4, RBI, R, BB
Fontenot: 2-4, RBI
Gathright: 2-4, R, BB
Dempster: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, BB, 4 K

The absolute most exciting pitcher to watch in all of baseball was tagged for four earned runs off seven hits in under four innings by the Cubs. Tim Lincecum took a bit of a pounding and was replaced after 3.2 IP. On the Cubs side, Ryan Dempster gave an outstanding performance lasting five innings without an earned run off only four hits.

Not a whole lot of offense, but enough to put together eight runs. Not one player had a great game, but a lot of guys put together one or two hits a piece with a lot of RBIs spread between them.

A shaky day for the Cubs bullpen. The Northsiders led this game 5-3 in the ninth when Jose Ascanio blew the save with five earned runs in one inning. He allowed only four hits, didn't walk anyone, but still gave up five earned. How does that happen?

WP: Carpenter
LP: Eaton
S: Kinney

Boxscore

Key Players:
Schumaker: 1-2, 2 R, BB
Pujols: 1-4, RBI, R
Ludwick: 1-3, RBI
Carpenter: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, BB, 2 K

The Cardinals won a close one today over Baltimore with the help of an excellent outing by Chris Carpenter. He lasted six full innings, giving up only three hits and throwing 38 strikes over only 64 pitches.

The offense was a little slow today, held in check by Orioles pitching that only gave up one earned run. The Cardinals did however, welcome back Yadier Molina after team Puerto Rico's heartbreaking loss to the Americans last night. He started behind the plate and went 1-3 on the day.

Pedro may not be close at all to signing with Houston. The report from Baseball Prospectus might have been premature, as Astros GM Ed Wade says the team has not discussed anything with Martinez or his agents.

What a finish to the US - Puerto Rico WBC game!! If you missed it, David Wright dropped a bases loaded looper down the line to score two runs to win 6-5. The nailbiter propels the Americans to the semis and sends the Puerto Ricans home (or, more than likely, to their respective Spring Training sites).

The ninth inning began with PR scoring once to increase their lead to 5-3. Then Shane Victorino led off the bottom half of the inning with a hit off teammate JC Romero. Two batters later, Derek Jeter provided the first out on a hard hit liner to right, advancing the Flyin' Hawaiian to third.

Brian Roberts then stole second with only one out, making Jeter's lineout as good as a bunt. Later, with the bases full, Kevin Youkilis walked a run home, bringing up Wright who gave Team USA the big hit they needed.

If you missed this game, you missed a great one. That hit will be one of the classics you'll see in years to come to promote this tournament, much like all the classic last second shots you're sure to see this weekend for the start of the NCAA tournament.

Incredible. Go team USA!

Disclaimer: Excellent managing job throughout the tournament by Cardinals 3B coach Jose Oquendo who will be a big league manager one day. And Yadier Molina, in limited time behind the plate in this tournament, had some big moments when he saw action and continues to play superb defensively.

On the heels of the Ivan Rodriguez signing in Houston, the Astros today have apparently inked an every-fifth-day-battery-mate in Pedro Martinez.

Once again, after a very very slow off-season for the Astros -- and for the NL Central as a whole -- the Astros have added two very significant players with about 35 years of Major League experience between them. And while it's certainly unclear about what sort of an impact Pedro can make after only recording 25 starts over the past two seasons, he has the ability to make a difference and pitched effectively for the Dominican in the WBC.

Suddenly the 'stros look a lot more formidible than they did a week ago.

They're always a team that finds a way to put together some offense, and every Cubs and Cardinals fan knows how big of a thorn Lance Berkman can be in your side. The staff will obviously be a question mark -- other than Roy Oswalt -- with Martinez and the ever-injured Mike Hampton, but if those two produce some decent numbers, look out for the team from Houston.

Roster cuts occurred yesterday after the Tigers game sending eight players to minor league camp. Headlining the list of displaced Redbirds is outfielder Brian Barton.

There was always a good possibility that he'd be reassigned this year after having a full season in the Majors guaranteed last year. He'll likely reappear with the Cardinals soon enough, but extra at-bats at the minor league level could really help this guy. He would likely have been no higher than the fifth outfielder in St. Louis, leaving him with little playing opportunities. This year, to start the season, he'll have a chance to play a lot and earn a spot for himself in a Cardinals uniform.

"[Barton] needs to play every day to prove he's a big leaguer. He needs work. He's got talent. We're excited about him, but he needs to play." - Tony La Russa

In addition to Barton, others who have been sent to minor league camp include:

• Charlie Manning
• Mitchell Boggs
• Jess Todd
• Matthew Scherer
• Allan Craig
• Adam Ottavino
• Clayton Morensen

What this also means is the left-handed bullpen duties are now up to Trever Miller and Dennys Reyes. It was always going to (probably) come down to only two lefty relievers, and the two more experienced of the bunch earned the jobs. Not a lot else to say about it. Hardly any big surprises other than Barton -- although that's not a total shocker given his poor spring numbers.

WP: Perry
LP: Salas

Boxscore

Key Players:
Schumaker: 2-5, RBI, R
Ankiel: 2-4, R
Pujols: 2-3, 2 RBI, 2 R, HR
K. Greene: 3-3, 3 RBI

A day removed from navigating the campus of Clemson University and seeing their baseball team wax Wake Forest, former Tiger Khalil Greene came up with three ribbies in as many hits AND as many at-bats. Not bad.

Albert homered for his first of the spring and the rest of the top of the order had some knocks at the beginning of the game. But the Cardinals blew a first inning four-spot and wound up losing in the bottom of the ninth.

Wellemeyer was on and off from the little I actually saw of the game. His line won't look great but it doesn't look all that terrible either. He was given a four run lead before he ever stepped on the mound and had blown it by the third inning. Oh well. I can handle an outing like that when the offense is clicking and you've provided some good previous starts.

One of those productive losses today. Wins mean nothing as we've already stressed and the Redbirds continue to impress. However, it is worth mentioning that the Cardinals sit in second place in both the National and Grapefruit Leagues at 11-6 as we near the halfway point of Spring Training.

Perennial equivalent to nails on a chalkboard Houston Astros have signed Pudge Rodriguez to a one-year deal.

The 'stros are one of those teams that are always dead by the All-Star break yet compete for the division title by the end of the season. Most Cubs and Cardinals fans will probably greet this signing with a shrug of the shoulder. To me, this is huge.

This is a team that bounced their long-time backstop to make room for some young guys like JR Towles, but found themselves making little noise in the entire off-season. They've gone from practically no experienced catcher to a 14 time All-Star who is widely considered the best defensive catcher in all of baseball.

Not only that, he's leading team Puerto Rico in several offensive statistics right now, and starting over Geovany Soto and Yadier Molina. What a division of catchers we have now.

You already know I spent the weekend in South Carolina, so updates were a little difficult. Clemson is a very cool college town, by the way...even if we saw it was sans students because of Spring Break.

The Redbirds split their weekend games with the Braves and Phils and had two pretty good starts out of Adam Wainwright and Kyle Lohse. Things are really clicking right now for St. Louis and it would be great to see it carry over to Opening Day. However, there are still more than 20 days until the season starts. Also want to point out that Skip Schumaker started at 2B both days, but moved to RF in the loss to Philly.

Just a quick hello from Clemson, South Carolina. Came down here with my wife and father-in-law trying to catch a college baseball game. Saturday's game has been called due to rain but hopefully we'll see some Tiger baseball tomorrow.

The Cardinals swept the Orioles in the first split squad set of Spring Training yesterday, but I don't even know the scores. Spent all of yesterday in a car.

Hopefully we'll see some baseball tomorrow, and for all the Cardinal fans, got a nice picture of Khalil Greene's outfield wall picture.

WP: Kinney
LP: McBeth

Boxscore

Key Players:
Mather: 1-2, 2 RBI, R, HR
Thurston: 3-4, RBI, R
Carpenter: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, K, 2 BB

A walk-off homerun by Joe Mather ended this game today. The Cardinals trailed for the majority of the contest when Trever Miller gave up a run in the fifth. In the eighth, the Redbirds tied it at two and in the next inning Joe Mather hit the decisive shot.

Interestingly, Skip Schumaker did not play 2B today -- instead was the DH but still hit in the leadoff spot.

.826

Eight-twenty-six. That's the fielding percentage of Skip Schumaker at second base through the first part of Spring Training. I knew it wasn't going all that well, but I didn't know it was this bad. Of course he was going to have growing pains and several ups and downs moving from the outfield to a middle infield position, but now it appears the Cardinals might need to start looking elsewhere.

At first glance it would be easy to spew venom toward John Mozeliak for refusing to spend any money; relying totally on a man who hadn't played any infield since college...to be MAJOR LEAGUE second baseman. It seems logical to assume the men in suits cared more about their bottom line than trading for a decent glove or signing somebody like Orlando Hudson. But I think the Cardinals really believed in Schu and expected him to perform.

Performing he ain't.

And again, I had no idea it was this bad until I read Joe Strauss's article. It's hard to assess players when you can basically only read a boxscore or listen to the occassional broadcast. But now what are the options?

Who might be out there to sign? Aside from Mark Grudzielanek, I don't know of any remaining free agents and a trade seems unlikely. Brendan Ryan, Joe Thurston, Brian Barden, Jarrett Hoffpauir and Tyler Greene are the internal options according to Strauss. The only one with any real big league experience is Ryan.

Still, Schumaker is hitting the ball well. He's surely penciled in as the leadoff hitter this season and through 30 at-bats, he sports a .333 batting average with no strikeouts. That means he's back in the outfield -- which also means Colby Rasmus, Brian Barton and Nick Stavinoha have more to prove. Domino effect, anyone? Back to a surplus of outfielders.

I dunno. It kinda irks me in the first place that so much pressure was put on this guy to move positions. There were quality infielders out there the Cardinals could've looked at. But it speaks highly of his character that he seemingly did it with an open mind and he's obviously trying hard. He hasn't let it affect his bat either.

And while we're at it -- we might as well mention that Joe Mather's fielding percentage is a brutal .857 in nine games, but has two fewer errors than Schumaker. And Mather is more of a desperation replacement until Troy Glaus is healthy.

But what kind of infield are we looking at here to start the season?

WP: Boggs
LP: Delgado

Boxscore

Key Players:
Wellemeyer: 5.0 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 K, BB
Pujols: 2-3, RBI
Mather: 2-4, 4 RBI
Barden: 2-2, 2 R, RBI
Hoffpauir: 1-2, RBI
Craig: 1-1, R

It's a sure sign of Spring Training when every other game seems to be against the Marlins. After today, though, I'm pretty sure there are only two more against Florida before Opening Day on April 6.

The Cardinals were pretty much down the entire game until a run in the eighth and four in the ninth secured another Grapefruit League win. Wellemeyer allowed only one earned but three runs were scored during his five innings of work. Again, a lot of runs were scored on top of decent pitching. Pujols lifted himself after a few games of not doing a whole lot.

Is anyone else sick of seeing National League teams use a DH? How in the world are these pitchers going to execute a sacrifice bunt in a crucial situation once the season begins? Why on Earth are all the teams preferring to allow a couple extra at-bats for players instead of working them into the game and letting them play the field as well? It just makes zero sense to me.

The Albert Pujols article in the next issue of Sports Illustrated that I talked about yesterday is available to read online. I haven't even gone through it yet but I'm pretty excited to read it. Let us know what you think.

The Dutch have done it. A night after a late inning Yadier Molina two-run double stunted a Netherlands trip to the second round, they took down the Dominican for a second time. I really can't believe it. Upsets happen...it's like when they say "team A would beat team B nine out of 10 times," and it just happens to be that one time is the actual game. But twice? Unbelievable.

Read this boxscore. Huge names on the left, nobody but Simon on the right. To hold that lineup scoreless for 10 innings is remarkable. Then to overcome seemingly absolute defeat by giving up a run in the 11th to score twice in the bottom half -- no words to describe it.

Curacao has produced some good baseball players and Aruba gave us Sidney Ponson. I really don't know about Bonaire, but the Netherlands Antilles play good baseball. But this team is made up of not only Caribbean islanders, but Europeans who just beat one of the most storied and talented baseball-manufacturing nations on Earth. Twice...and advanced in a pool that included the countries that gave us Mariano Rivera, Albert Pujols, Bernie Williams, Pudge Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez.......

Well I haven't posted in a couple days because I've had some issues with my eyes. Here are the last two boxscores from the Cubs Games.

Cubs 8 - Seattle 1
Cubs 9 - Royals 1

The Cubs have obviously had some offense the last couple of days and pitching has been really strong too. Harden had his first appearance and it was a strong outing. The offensive production has been well balanced.

Cubs have their first off day tomorrow and then face the Japanese on Thursday.

A very interesting article is going to come out in the next issue of Sports Illustrated.

We're in an investigative era where every reporter in the country is searching for the next superstar to nab with steroid allegations. Instead, Joe Posnanski sought Albert Pujols to find a baseball story "the nation could believe in." The story isn't available as of yet (not that I could find), but snippets were released to the Associated Press and can be read at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website.

Pujols has said over and over that he is and has always been clean. He's never been shy to talk about PEDs. He told reporters that he had sympathy for Barry Bonds a few years ago. He criticized ARod last month. And now, with disappointment after disappointment from ballplayers current and past, Albert has once again claimed his innocence.

“… They’re going to say, ‘Well, he probably did it back then. He just didn’t get caught.’ I know that is what they’re going to say. And you know what, man? It is sad, but at the same time it doesn’t matter. I know who I am…”

I like it. And I have to be honest -- when the Mitchell Report was released, I wouldn't have been surprised to see his name on the list. No name would've surprised me. Just how the era was. And when Gammons suggested that the other 103 names on the ARod list would be released soon, I was afraid Pujols might show up. The list isn't out yet, so I guess it's still possible, but I can't imagine him allowing an article like this with any chance at all of a story to come out.

Anyway, there certainly had to be players doing the right thing for the past 20 or whatever years. And I'd be thrilled if no one could ever find anything to taint Albert's legacy. I'm sure there are reporters who are assigned solely to El Hombre -- ready to find something in his past to blow up.

He'll have doubters forever and that's something no one can fix. But if they find nothing, comparing his stats to users would truly make him memorable -- especially considering he hit off pitchers who were likely using too.

Now all we have to worry about is the SI cover jinx. But he's been there before.

I'll leave with the best quote of all...

“You know how I want people to remember me?” the reigning MVP says in the seven-page article. “I don’t want to be remembered as the best baseball player ever. I want to be remembered as a great guy who loved the Lord, loved to serve the community and who gave back. “

WP: Lohse
LP: Miner
S: Motte

Boxscore

Key Players:
Chris Duncan: 2-2, 3 RBI, HR, R
Skip Schumaker: 2-3, 2 R
Rick Ankiel: 3-4

Chris Duncan drove in three of the Cardinals five runs today, going 2-2 with a two-run blast. The pitching was pretty good today with a strong start from Kyle Lohse, who gave up a run off only two hits after pitching into the fifth. The bullpen was just as good, only allowing one more run and all four of the relievers had either a hold or a save.

The Netherlands held a 1-0 lead through seven innings but just allowed three runs in the eighth. Two runs came off a Yadier Molina double that -- to this point -- is the hit of the game. Way to go, Yadi.

Although, I'm kinda pulling for the Netherlands too. Hardly a big leaguer on the roster yet they keep hanging in their with some tough, talented teams. Again, if you're not getting excited over this tournament you're not paying much attention.

UPDATE:
Game over. Puerto Rico 3 Netherlands 1.

Molina's getting mobbed by his teammates after coming up huge with his bat late in the game. So Puerto Rico is through to the next round leaving a rematch between the Dominican and Netherlands to find out who else will advance.

Last year I got fed up with the criticism of the National League Central. People who know little about the game kept saying this was by far the worst division in all of baseball simply because it was a popular thought with little reasoning. Sure, the division was down in 2006 (even though it produced the WS winner) and 2007. But it can easily be argued that the Central was the second best in all of baseball behind the AL East in '08.

The Cubs had the best record in the National League and were only a few games behind the Angels for the best in baseball. Milwaukee won the wildcard and two other teams finished above .500. That's four teams that finished with a winning record, marking the best of all three divisions in the NL. Granted, this division has more teams. But the entire American League had only six teams with better records than our division's worst (winning) record.

2008 Final Standings

NL Central
Chicago Cubs 97 64
Milwaukee Brewers 90 72
Houston Astros 86 75
St. Louis Cardinals 86 76
Cincinnati Reds 74 88
Pittsburgh Pirates 67 95

Chicago Cubs
Biggest Loss: Mark DeRosa Util
Biggest Gain: Milton Bradley OF

Milwaukee Brewers
Biggest Loss: CC Sabathia/Ben Sheets SP
Biggest Gain: Trevor Hoffman RP

Houston Astros
Biggest Loss: Ty Wiggington 3B
Biggest Gain: Mike Hampton SP

St. Louis Cardinals
Biggest Loss: Felipe Lopez SS
Biggest Gain: Khalil Greene SS

Cincinnati Reds
Biggest Loss: Adam Dunn OF
Biggest Gain: Willy Taveras OF

Pittsburgh Pirates
Biggest Loss: Jason Bay OF
Biggest Gain: Pedro Alvarez 3B (if he debuts this year)


Go ahead and start the argument. The Astros and Pirates provided pretty hard decisions on both biggest losses and gains -- the Astros are basically the exact same team they were last year. I chose Mike Hampton mostly by default, but I guess if he surprises people by doing well, it would be huge for Houston.

Jason Bay and Adam Dunn both left their respective teams before the conclusion of the 2008 season, but both teams will continue to miss their sluggers in 2009. The Pirates returned a SP who did quite well to end last season and brought in some other young guys. Unfortunately -- because I think parity is awesome for baseball and I'd like to see a team with a bit of history be relevant again -- it'll still be difficult for the Pirates to surpass .500 for the first time in about 60 years.

The more I worked on this list, the more I realized there hasn't been much activity in the NL Central. Peter Gammons said not too long ago that he thinks the loss of DeRosa in Chicago will be a lot bigger than people think, which I agree with. But other than him and the two studs in Milwaukee, most rosters are basically the same down the line.

The Cubs cut the spring roster from 60 - 57 moving 3 pitchers to minor league camp. With the WBC still going on, major roster moves will most likely be pushed back later this spring than normal.

Boxscore

WP: Holland
LP: Fox

The Cubs lost again yesterday afternoon but had a great performance from Sean Marshall. He has really become the favorite for the 5th spot in the rotation with his success so far this spring. He went 4 innings only giving up 2 hits and not allowing a run. Hopefully Marshall will continue to have success and remain consistent once he's stretched over 6 - 7 innings.

The offense was pretty cold for the Cubs. Aramis did go 2 - 2 and Koyie Hill is making a push for the backup catcher spot going 2 - 2 with a walk and a run scored.


Cubs vs. Royals next

WP: Nolasco
LP: Wainwright
S: Sanches

Boxscore

Again, a few things -- including the World Baseball Classic -- had my attention instead of this Spring Training game. From the looks of the boxscore, Wainwright pitched OK even though he's been saddled with the loss. Another double for Khalil Greene and Jarrett Hoffpauir had a multi-hit game.

The big story from Jupiter though was the apparent kick Albert took to the head in the first. He says he's fine but Cardinals fans, ownership and management all watched their lives flash before their eyes.

Team USA put together a massive sixth inning where they scored eight runs and now lead 14-5 in the eighth. This tournament is absolutely fantastic. There's drama. There's a sense of urgency. International fans are completely into it. It has everything you'd want and for everything MLB fans complain about with Bud Selig, this is one thing you have to give him credit for.

Boxscore

WP: Suppan
LP: Zambrano

I'll be completely honest. I only watched 2/3 of an inning of the Cubs game today even though it was on WGN. The World Baseball Classic is amazing and has had my attention since very early this morning. What a great day of baseball. Games started at 5 am and go until 11 pm. All of the games have been fun to watch and have had a great atmosphere. Great day for baseball.

As far as the Cubs, Zambrano pitched well today. He'll probably be the opening day starter. No suprise here.

Back to the WBC.

Cubs vs. Rangers tomorrow

WP: Pineiro
LP: Hampton

Boxscore

To be honest, the World Baseball Classic had my full attention today. I didn't follow this game one bit, but it appears Joel Piniero pitched very well. It would be great if he was one of those surprise pitchers this year who could put together 10-15 wins. Mike Hampton started for the Astros -- every time I see his name anymore I just laugh. Poor guy just couldn't stay away from injuries.

Colby Rasmus tripled and drove in a couple, and Khalil Greene added two RBIs of his own.

What a way to start off the World Baseball Classic (in this hemisphere)!

The Netherlands just beat the Dominican Republic in the first game of round robin play. Ironically, I watched Disney's Miracle this morning that chronicles the biggest upset in sports history. This game wasn't necessarily to decide who would move through to the elimination brackets, but a big underdog story nonetheless. Congratulations to a list of relative no-names (other than maybe Randall Simon) who just beat some very talented baseball players from the Dominican.

Ken Rosenthal wrote this today about how Lou Piniella has decided to slightly change his full-season philosophy. Interesting read.

I don't live in St. Louis (yet) so this story didn't really hit home. But the more I thought about it the more I felt pretty bad for those few people who showed up this morning at Busch Stadium for the first crack at single game tickets.

I say first crack, but that's not entirely true. As a member of Cardinals Nation -- a (hardly) "exclusive" club for fans -- I paid $20 awhile back and got several free things and a pre-sale opportunity for single game tickets that began Wednesday afternoon. Then I also won some sort of second chance drawing to buy Opening Day tickets plus tickets to other games throughout the season. I don't know exactly why I say this other than to brag.

But as game tickets went on sale this morning online, by phone and at local grocery stores, many older Cardinals fans showed up at the stadium hoping for a better shot at some of the biggest games of the season. Apparently radio stations announced the stadium box office would be open and even other outlets may have reported it too. So imagine the surprise when the gaggle of fans were told waking up early, skipping work and heading downtown was for naught.

I understand that Internet sales are easier and make more sense for the Cardinals. I understand it takes man hours to monitor web sales and phonelines. And I completely understand if you want to hold off on opening the box office for a day or two and only sell tickets through certain outlets.

But for fans without Internet, fans who would rather spend cash or fans who have made an annual ritual out of knocking down Busch Stadium in hopes of securing their spots in the facility for the summer, you have to feel for them. Cardinals ownership, marketing, sales department -- someone, is entirely to blame for this. They probably care very little as long as someone spent money somewhere. But how hard would it have been to solidify information across the St. Louis area about where to purchase tickets on a day that traditionally causes long lines and hours of busy signals?

Boxscore

WP: Wolf
LP: Dempster

The Cubs lose another one run game and fall below .500 for the spring. Aaron Miles played 3b today and went 1 - 4 with 2 RBI's. The Dodgers committed 3 errors today but still got out of town with the victory.

Dempster went 3 innings giving up 2 runs. Not a great outing but it's still very early. As consistent as Dempster was last year I have a lot of confidence in him putting up good numbers again this year.



Cubs @ Brew-Crew tomorrow

WP: Muniz
LP: Miller
S: Cherry

Boxscore

Key Players:
Schumaker: 1-4, RBI
K. Greene: 1-3, 2 RBI
Craig: 1-2, RBI
Carpenter: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, BB, K

A fairly blah 5-4 game today. Pretty good start from the Cardinals and a nice outing by Chris Carpenter. Kyle McClellan relieved, and -- after all the praise I did of the bullpen yesterday -- quickly blew the lead. Three earned from McClellan off three hits in three innings...not his lucky number.

Schumaker tripled and Rasmus even got himself a double. Khalil is having a pretty good start in a new uniform, loading up on the ribbies during Spring Training -- we'll see how that translates. Other than that it was a pretty back and forth game with the Mets finally eeking out a win in the ninth off Trever Miller (again, said too much about the pen).

Eight games into Spring Training rarely gives a glance of a 162 game season. Wins don't mean anything and progress -- along with low golf scores -- is all that matters. Most pitchers haven't thrown off a mound in months and some hitters haven't seen a non-stationary ball since their last at-bat of the season. But through a week and a half, what have we seen so far from the St. Louis Cardinals?

(Including exhibition win over Dominican Republic, Excluding 3/6 vs. Mets)
Record: 5-2-1

Starting Pitchers:

• Adam Wainwright: 0-1; 2.0 IP, K, BB, 9.00 ERA
• Chris Carpenter: 1-0; 2.0 IP, 0.00 ERA
• Kyle Lohse: 1-1; 5.2 IP, 7 H, K, BB, 6.35 ERA
• Todd Wellemeyer: 1-0; 6.0 IP, 8 H, 3 K, 6.00 ERA
• Joel Pineiro: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 K, BB, 0.00 ERA
• Blake Hawksworth: 5.2, 5 K, BB, 4.76 ERA
  

Left-handed Relief Pitchers:

• Charlie Manning: 2.1 IP, 2 K, BB, 3.86 ERA
  
• Royce Ring: 3.2 IP, 2 K, 2.45 ERA
  
• Trever Miller: 2.0 IP, 4 K, BB, 0.00 ERA
  
• Kat Maekawa: 3.0 IP, 2 K, 3 BB, 0.00 ERA
  
• Ian Ostlund: 1.0 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 45.00 ERA
  
• Brad Furnish: 1.0 IP, K, 4 BB, 27.00 ERA

Right-handed Relief Pitchers:

• Josh Kinney: 3.0 IP, 4 K, 4 BB, 0.00 ERA
• Jason Motte: 3.0 IP, S, 3 K, 0.00 ERA
  
• Chris Perez: 3.0 IP, 2 K, BB, 3.00 ERA
• Fernando Salas: 3.1 IP, 6 K, 2 BB, 8.10 ERA
• Francisco Samuel: 2.2 IP, 2 K, 4 BB, 6.75 ERA
• Jess Todd: 3.1 IP, K, BB, 5.40 ERA
• Ryan Franklin: 3.0 IP, 5 K, 0.00 ERA
• Shaun Garceau: 1.1 IP, K, BB, 13.50 ERA
• Tyler Herron: 1.0 IP, 2 K, BB, 9.00 ERA
• Kyle Mclellan: 1-0, 2.1 IP, K, BB, 11.57 ERA
• Adam Ottavino: 1.0 IP, 2 BB, 18.00 ERA
• Brad Thompson: 2.2 IP, 3 K, 10.12 ERA
• PJ Walters: 2.0 IP, K, 0.00 ERA

Probable Opening Day Starting Position Players:

• C Yadier Molina: .333 BA, 2 RBI
  
• 1B Albert Pujols: .444 BA, 3 RBI
  
• 2B Skip Schumaker: .438 BA, 2 RBI
  
• SS Khalil Greene: .353 BA, 4 RBI
  
• 3B Joe Mather: .261 BA, 8 RBI
  
• OF Rick Ankiel: .400 BA, 2 RBI
  
• OF Ryan Ludwick: .235 BA, 5 RBI
  
• OF Chris Duncan: .300 BA, HR, 7 RBI

Bench Players:

• Nick Stavinoha: .417 BA, 2 RBI
• Brian Barden: .444 BA
• Tyler Greene: .316 BA, 3 RBI
• Brian Barton: .235 BA, 2 HR, 6 RBI
• Jon Jay: .316 BA, 3 RBI
• Jason LaRue: .134 BA, RBI
• Colby Rasmus: .214 BA
• Joe Thurston: .200 BA, 2 HR, 3 RBI
• Allen Craig: .545 BA, HR, 6 RBI
• Jarrett Hoffpauir: .300 BA, 2 RBI
• Steven Hill: .667 BA

Obviously these stats can be misleading. Some guys have more at-bats than others and one good week of hitting (or pitching) doesn't necessarily mean anything. Nor would one bad week of hitting -- the entire season is full of ups and downs.

But I thought it would be interesting to chart where the players are so far...but don't expect it too often. Or ever again, really. That took awhile.

So, all in all, after tying game one and losing game two, the Cardinals have come back to go on a nice five game winning streak and most "key" players are doing quite nicely.

Overall grade: B+

WP: Franklin
LP: Pena
S: Motte

Boxscore

Key Players:
Schumaker: 2-2
Ludwick: 1-3, RBI
K. Greene: 1-3, RBI
Rasmus: 1-2, R
Wellemeyer: 4.0 IP, 4 H, ER, K
Bullpen: 5 IP, H, 0 ER

Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. What a job by the quintuplet of Cardinal pitchers today against a fantastic all-star lineup. Only one run given up and it was in the first inning. Wellemeyer pitched very well, giving up only one run off four hits and bullpen allowed only ONE HIT to Team Dominican. We're talking a lineup of Jose Reyes, Robinson Cano, David Ortiz, Willy Taveras, Jose Guillen, Hanley Ramirez......

The Redbirds didn't get on the board today until the fourth as Ubaldo Jiminez kept them in check through the first three innings. Carlos Marmol gave up the tie in the fourth and the Cardinals never looked back. Not a perfect offensive performance today, but a nearly perfect pitching performance. I cannot stress enough how good the hurlers did today, and the best part is probably that each of them should make the team this year -- and all but one were part of the relief corp that was an absolute mess last season:

Ryan Franklin: 2.0 IP, 0 H, K
Chris Perez: 1.0 IP, 0 H, K
Josh Kinney: 1.0 IP, H, K
Jason Motte: 1.0 IP, 0 H

Granted, LaRussa will likely not throw so many bullpen players during the season on a given night. And most days the Cardinals will hope to only need two to three relievers at most. But in a situation like today, these four were phenomenal.

By the way, who else is really looking forward to the World Baseball Classic? These teams are good.

In other news, the Cardinals added another lefty to the bullpen today in Dennys Reyes. In 46.1 IP last season Reyes sported a 2.33 ERA and held left-handed hitters to .202 batting average. Really the number that matters most in that line is his performance against lefties as we all know LaRussa loves playing the lefty-lefty matchup. Remember last year about this time the Cardinals signed Kyle Lohse and that turned out pretty good.

Boxscore

WP: Marquez
LP: Mateo

Aaron Heilman had another good spring start today going 3 innings without allowing a run. Over his career he has been very up and down so it will be interesting to see if he can keep up this consistency.

The two big bats for the Cubs today were again Fontenot and Fox. Both going 2 - 4 this afternoon and both hitting above .360 this spring. I like seeing these guys play well. I hope Lou's decisions on who to put on the 25 man roster and who to be the everyday players are very difficult. These guys are doing their part.

Kevin Gregg also had a good outing out of the pen over 1 inning of no-hit baseball and struck out 2. Assuming Marmol wins the closer's job, Gregg is going to be a solid set-up man.


Cubs vs. Dodgers tomorrow

Kosuke Fukudome did not get a hit early this morning for the Japanese team but never got an official at-bat. He came up to the plate 4 times and walked on all 4 occasions. I always find it interesting when a player goes 0 - 0 and has a run.

Kosuke seems to be overlooked right now by a lot of Cubs fans. Probably rightfully so as his second half of last year was forgetable. Maybe he can get his swing right and be an asset for the Cubs this year.

It's only the 4th inning as I write this, but I'm heading into work for the evening and won't be able to update for awhile. Wellemeyer is looking pretty good against a fearce lineup. He gave up a first inning run on hits by the first two batters, but since then hasn't given up a hit. Pujols is of course not playing and Mather is getting more and more time over at 3B.

John Rooney made a big deal about a catch by Rasmus in the outfield and noted that LaRussa's played him at all three outfield spots already.

I'll be back tonight for more.

In an article talking about what Colby Rasmus must do to improve, Joe Strauss throws in a side note that had me do a double take. Could this guy be the next closer in St. Louis...?

Boxscore

WP: Poreda
LP: Patton

Jeff Samardzija got roughed up a little early on in this game making Sean Marshall the 5th man in the rotation a little more likely. The pitching staff, as a whole, gave up a lot of runs in this game. However, like I said earlier, sometimes the boxscore is deceptive. It's early spring and guys are more focused on getting endurance than getting guys out.

The bats continued to look good tonight as Ryan Theriot went 3 - 4. Fontenot also went 2 - 4 with 2 runs scored. Aramis Rameriz extended his hitting streak to 2 games going 2 - 3 tonight. I'm pretty sure the increased production from Aramis is that Rob continually posts that Vitters will take Rameriz' spot in the next year or two. (I don't think that's likely. Maybe in the next 5 years. Josh is still 19)



Cubs vs. the White Sox again this afternoon. This time with the entire squad. Maybe they'll have better luck.

This came out about a week ago -- don't know how I missed it. Either way, Baseball America released their annual publication of the Top 100 Prospects. All players must not have exceeded the Major League Baseball rookie limit of 130 at-bats or 50 innings above AAA.

The Orioles' 22 year-old catcher Matt Wieters topped the list, followed by closely watched David Price, who was more than helpful to the Rays during the playoffs last season.

By now you probably know Colby Rasmus ranks number three and BA expects him to make his Cardinals debut this season. Right now he's not really impressing anyone in Spring Training and had a below average season in Memphis last year. But his stock has been high since he was drafted in 2005 and eventually he'll be in a big league uniform whether he's impacting the club or not.

He did, however, receive a slight vote of confidence before Spring Training when he was issued jersey number 28 rather than something like 74.

Other relevant players to the Arches and Ivy nation include Cardinals 3B prospect Brett Wallace (#40), Josh Vitters (#51) who expects to take over for Aramis Ramirez in the next year or two, Jeff Samardzija (#79) and Chris Perez (#91).

The Cardinals have three and the Cubs two, both of which are average at best. I think it's scary how good the Rays have the potential to be over the next decade. Going through the list it seemed like every other player is under Tampa Bay control. And the Braves -- who have a very interesting draft philosophy of pounding the home state of Georgia -- also seemed to have their fair share.

Oddly enough, no team has more top prospects than Oakland and Texas (with the Marlins not far behind), which could make for a great AL West in short time.

Boxscore

WP: Lewis
LP: Berg

Joey Gathright stayed hot today going 2 - 4. He has tremendous speed and a good glove so if his bat continues to be solid he will provide some strong depth in the outfield. Aaron Miles went 0 - 4 today and is now batting .188 this spring. OK, I promise I'm not cheering against a Cub, but maybe I am a little. This by default was a good day for Fontenot.

Chad Gaudin had a really ugly boxscore today. It could be slightly deceptive as I doubt he was throwing much other than fastballs this early in spring with his former health issues. I expect his future appearances will be better.



Cubs have another one tonight vs. the Sox. It'll be the first game on WGN!

Ken Rosenthal says his sources are telling him the Cardinals are exploring a little more lefthanded bullpen help. Apparently Charlie Manning, Trever Miller and Royce Ring aren't enough after the departure of Tyler Johnson and Randy Flores.

The possible candidates include Will Ohman and Dennys Reyes. I'm overjoyed.

One semi-exciting name Rosenthal lists is Joe Beimel, but there is apparently no connection between the former Dodger and the Cardinals right now.

Brian Barton is rapidly becoming an A&I favorite. Take a quick glance at this interview he did with Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch. For any of us that wish we could "live to the fullest," he sure does his best.

Schumaker spent time fielding 95 mph grounders at 2nd base by his own request this morning. I guess to anyone who still thinks he's just a placeholder until someone else steps up or a signing occurs -- this is the real thing.

WP: Lohse
LP: Garcia

Boxscore

Key Players:
Duncan: 4-4, 5 RBI, 3 R, HR
Pujols: 1-1, 2 RBI, 3 R
Mather: 3-4, RBI, 2 R
Craig: 2-5, 3 RBI, R, HR
Thurston: 2-5, 2 RBI, 2 R, HR
Lohse: 3.2, 3 H, 0 ER, K, 0 BB

Well Chris Duncan put on a show. Four plate appearances, four hits, a homerun, a triple and a lot of runs batted in. Duncan lost a lot of fans in St. Louis last year after battling injuries, deflecting trade rumors and having poor performances in the field and at the plate. If he can get anything going like he had in spurts during 2006, he'll be an asset in a Cardinal uniform.



The Cardinals scored in each of the first four innings with crooked numbers in all but the second. Then an outburst in the fourth blew the game wide open after the Redbirds pummeled poor Mets reliever Dillon Gee for seven runs. Hits just kept coming one after another and they came hard.

And Allen Craig was excellent again.

Lost in the high number of runs was a good outing from Kyle Lohse. He allowed only three hits in nearly four innings of work and walked no one. The bullpen, however, after Royce Ring, gave up all four New York runs.

It sure was great to hear Mike Shannon and John Rooney for the first time of the year, too.

Boxscore

WP: Marshall
LP: Gallagher

The Cubs won today bringing their Cactus League record to 5 - 2. Aramis Ramirez finally got a basehit. It was a three run shot in the 4th.

Sean Marshall had another strong appearence making his spot in the rotation a little more likely each day. He pitched 3 innings of perfect baseball. Jake Fox homered again today and is batting .438 this spring. I like seeing some of the guys that probably won't make the team fighting hard. The competition seems to be very good so far this spring.

Alfonso also went yard. Come on Lou, why? Alf went yard in the first and leads off. Therefore it was a solo shot. Is it going to be like this again all year? Why not bat him second or third or fourth? Put some guys on ahead of him. Theriot went 0 - 2 today out of the 2 hole. His production is a lot higher when he leads off. He did have a walk though helping his on base percentage. I love watching Alfonso homer. I love watching him hit. He may miss the ball but he's going to give you 100% effort with every swing. It's also fun watching the team go up 1 - 0 in the first inning. But wouldn't it be more fun to watch them go up 2 - 0 or 3 - 0?


Cubs @ Indians and vs. the White Sox tomorrow in split squad action.

Jeff Gordon took some time away from driving the rainbow car, enunciating and being overall gay today to explore Cardinals owner, Bill DeWitt, Jr.'s long term goals with the franchise.

After the generic rhetoric about the economic condition of our country, DeWitt reiterated that he expects revenue to be down this year despite the anticipation of good home crowds. The Cardinals payroll could be as low as $75 million this year, compared to the $100 million mark of last season. We all know fans in St. Louis aren't happy about the lack of spending over the past few seasons, and it really scares us when players like Albert Pujols come out and say that if the Cardinals don't have a dedication to winning, he'd play elsewhere.

"When that time comes, then we're going to figure it out," he said. "And I told you, I'm not going to lie to you, it's not about the money all the time. It's about being in a place to win and being in a position to win. If the Cardinals are willing to do that and put a team every year like they have, I'm going to try to work everything out to stay in this town. But if they're not on the same page of bringing championship caliber to play every year, then it's time for me to go somewhere else. Where? Somewhere else that I can win.

"But we don't have to worry about that because I still have a couple of years. As long as they bring in talent and they keep drafting guys and doing moves here and there, then I don't have to worry about that. I'm happy with what I got. I play one year at a time and when that time comes we'll figure it out. But it's not always about how much money can I get. It's about winning. I've already told you guys. I've got 10 fingers and I've nine plain that I can fill up with World Series rings. I want to win."

Granted, that quote was fueled by the small part where he said he'd leave if the team didn't show a commitment to winning but it's still unnerving.

But after an entire offseason of nothing but criticism towards Cardinals ownership, the number 24 Chevy driver takes a different approach. DeWitt's dedication to building within the farm rather than spending millions on free agency (what GM/owner doesn't say this is his top priority?) has already proven a partial success. The Cardinal minor league system sits among the top 10 in most ranking services whereas it used to continually be a bottom feeder only a few years ago.

And even today, a fair assumption of the Opening Day lineup could read as this:

C Yadier Molina
1B Albert Pujols
2B Skip Schumaker
SS Khalil Greene
3B Joe Mather
OF Rick Ankiel
OF Ryan Ludwick
OF Chris Duncan

It's unbelievable when you read over that and realize only three players did NOT come from the Cardinals minor leagues. It's well understood that once Troy Glaus is healthy he'll be the 3rd baseman, but in the mean time it's a home grown kid. Then when you add in Wainwright, McClellan, Thompson, Perez and a plethora of others, the pitching staff is riddled with farmhands. It's quite impressive.


Maybe DeWitt and John Mozeliak have a plan. I'm an easy person to convince that the people with the money, making the long-term plans have a better idea of what's going on than fans. It's a no-brainer. But watching the Cubs manhandle the Central the past two years, when the Cardinals had owned it for much of the decade, it was hard for me and any other fan of Cardinal baseball to grasp. Hopefully we'll see this pay dividends in the very near future.

WP: Gutierrez
LP: Atkins

Boxscore

Key Players:
Lee: 1-2, BB
K. Hill: 1-2
A. Blanco: 1-1, RBI
Zambrano: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 K, BB

Clearly the Cubs had a hard time putting some offense together today. Carlos Zambrano held a good Diamondbacks lineup without a hit for two innings, but Mitch Atkins relieved and gave up five earned off four hits. The D-backs would go on to score nine runs off a shaky bullpen. Interestingly, Ken Kadokura had two wild pitches, although he is not a pitcher that is expected to make the 25-man roster.

Twenty-five position players played today along with eight pitchers. All in all, the everyday Cubs did fairly well but the young Cub prospects gave up the loss.

WP: Davis
LP: Wainwright

Boxscore

Key Players:
Schumaker: 1-3, RBI, R
Stavinoha: 2-2, 2 RBI
Barton: 1-3, RBI

The Cardinals got down early but did something they rarely did last year -- fight back. In a losing effort, one thing to take away was that the Redbirds went down 4-0 by the 5th and made it a game late. Adam Wainwright had a tough time, but hopefully his first start of the spring isn't a precursor for the season.

Another big hit from Brian Barton, who tripled and recorded an RBI. Rick Ankiel, Jason LaRue and Skip Schumaker each doubled -- and Nick Stavinoha came up big in two pinch hits. In offensive outbursts like the Cardinals have had in the past two games, you have to think they would typically win. Once they begin getting some consistency from the mound, things may look pretty good this year.

In a bit of an ironic footnote, Adam Kennedy singled twice, drove in one and scored in three at-bats for the Rays.

Albert will not play in Thursday's exhibition against team Dominican Republic saying he feels it would be disrespectful to his countrymen.

He went on to say that had he been able to play in the WBC for DR, he would have sat out to not disrespect the Cardinals. Interesting stuff. Besides, the more Albert sits before opening day, the less likely he'll somehow hurt himself.

Brian Barton's offensive explosion in the win over the co-Roger Dean Stadium tenants was unquestionably impressive. Last season in the Majors he hit two homers total and repeated that number in a spring game yesterday. With the high number of outfielders on the ballclub and only five spots to give out, Barton continues to keep his name in the mix.

Last season he basically had a free spot on the team. He was phenomenal during Spring Training, so he made the 25-man roster on his own merit. But after being selected from the Indians in the Rule 5 Draft, he had to remain in the big leagues for all of 2008, lest he be offered back to Cleveland for a mere $25,000.

He was so good during exhibition contests last year that people really thought he'd have a sensational rookie campaign in St. Louis. He had moments of good baseball, but never put up the numbers he did from spring. If he can continue to improve and keep up six RBI performances, he'll have to be considered by TLR to make the opening day roster.

Barton hits from the right side. Chris Duncan, Rick Ankiel, Colby Rasmus, Jon Jay and Skip Schumaker all hit lefty (although it looks like Schumaker's new home is 2B). Joe Mather (also may now be an infielder), Ryan Ludwick, Nick Stavinoha and Barton are the right-handed hitting outfielders.

Ludwick, Duncan and Ankiel are locks. And unless someone is traded, the other two spots will continue to be fought over for the duration of Spring Training. People in St. Louis are getting restless waiting on Cardinals top prospect Rasmus, and Stavinoha has some MLB experience. Jay will likely head back to the minors and Schumaker and Mather may have new homes. That leaves Barton competing with Rasmus and Stavinoha (both lefties) to team up with Ludwick, Duncan and Ankiel (one righty, two lefties) in the outfield.

It's going to get interesting and it's not foolish to think Barton's full season in a Cardinals uniform combined with his right-handed stick may give him a leg-up.

Want to take a second to say thanks to my partnah, Chad. I was out of town for the majority of the weekend and if you look at the posts below, you'll know he took care of all the Cubs-Cardinals news for the past two days.

So as a thank you, I pulled out this old Polaroid of Chad and Mrs. Chad (whom I pixelated to protect the innocent). I really don't know how this picture says thank you, but it does.

Boxscore

WP: Peavy
LP: Dempster

The Cubs finally lost a spring game and could not extend the record to 5 - 0. To be 100% honest, I'm pretty glad they lost today. I'm very superstitious about baseball and honestly I don't want the spring record to be much above .500. I'll take 20 - 19 or 25 - 14 but I don't want anything better than that. We need to save those wins for when they count.

Dempster got hit pretty hard today giving up 3 runs in 2 innings. The main story was again the Cajun duo with both of them going 2 - 3. Theriot lead off again and is hitting .600 this spring. Lou if you're listening, leave him at the top!


Cubs vs D-Backs tomorrow

Boxscore

WP: McClellan
LP: Miller

The Cardinals won another exhibition game this afternoon behind a heavy offensive performance. It appears the Fish and the Red Birds hitters are a little ahead of the pitchers at this early point in the spring. The main story from this game was Brian Barton. He went 3 -5 with 6 RBI's on the afternoon. I'm starting to think this guy only takes goofy looking pictures.


Cards vs. the Rays tomorrow