Wait, it’s almost June?

Well, let’s not let that get in the way of a great home and home with the small bears. I mean after all, they’ve got to play 19 times this year. Nothing like celebrating the beginning of summer in Busch Stadium with a bunch of Cubs fans talking about ‘next year’. So when are these bums coming to St. Louis?

August 13? Seriously?

Well. I guess Cardinals and Cubs fans see where this rivalry ranks in the eyes of MLB. And I guess if I were to be perfectly honest about the whole situation, I don’t know if I blame them.

We like to call this ‘the best rivalry in baseball’. Some call it one of the best in sports. But is it really?

Exhibit 1: Lack of competitiveness. The NL Central, since its inception has been dominated by wins from the Cardinals or the Astros. The few years the Cubs did make the playoffs, the Cardinals had particularly weak teams. So a vast majority of the time these teams play it’s more about who can be the better spoiler than settling some sort of blood feud for hardware. Thankfully the Cardinals are on the side trying to get spoiled more often than not.

Exhibit 2: Lack of anger. Rivals are supposed to get you blood boiling. Supposed to rub you in all the wrong places. Make you act totally irrational when their name is merely mentioned. Cards/Cubs, though is more of a fun rivalry. Cubs fans come into Busch Stadium and take a light ribbing about being losers. Cards fans stream into Wrigley Field and take a light ribbing about being cow town hicks.  At no point do you feel threatened in enemy territory. People are more concerned about where they’re going after the game to try to use that mild tension in a sexual manner.

Exhibit 3: Lack of national interest. While this doesn’t mean squat to you, fair reader, it does make a difference on how this series is perceived. You watch way more SportsCenter than you should. You spend far, far too much work time on SI.com. And when big games are on the horizon, the hype machine that is the national sporting press jumps into overdrive, beating every relevant storyline into the ground. Then digging it back up one last time for another round of beatings right before game time.  The Cubs and Cards haven’t had concurrent storylines in the media since Sammy v McGwire in 1998. And in 1998, the internet was for nerd burglars. 12 years later and we haven’t crossed paths in coverage.

I love Cards v Cubs- please don’t get the idea that I don’t. But in terms of it being this super ultra sick rivalry that deserves the cast of Baseball Tonight to be on site? Nah.

That’s why I think  we should try to stop competing with the Yankees/Sox for the ‘Best’ title and start working on the “Funnest Rivalry in Sports” moniker.

Then all the hot girls that don’t know anything about baseball can get on board. And after all, isn’t that what it’s all about?

Hot girls…

St. Patrick’s Day? Wear green. Get drunk.

Halloween? Wear mask. Get drunk.

Roman Pulaski? Insult someone Polish. Get drunk. And high.

But none of those manufactured drunk days can hold a candle to the debauchery that is the St. Louis Cardinals home opener.

In fact, I wrote about this here and you know how many people told me that I didn’t even scratch the surface of how bombed people get on Home Opener? One thousand thirty four. Roughly.

And maybe back in the 50′s or 70′s, this would have been a natural anesthetic for the rancid on-field performance of the Cardinals. But in 2010, you might actually be missing something.

The Cardinals are built to win the World Series. Every single off-season move was made with one goal in mind- win. it. all. And by getting cross-eyed before the first pitch, you might just be missing soaking in that little bit of history.

Ahh- who the hell am I kidding. You people wouldn’t know self control until the doctor induced your coma in the ER. Mostly, you’re responsible. But there’s no talking you out of those 15 tall boys on Home Opener.

Although you’ll be wasted- you still could manage better than Dusty Baker. That guy is managing poorly.

You can find Aaron Hooks over at CardsDiaspora.com and follow him on Twitter.
There is a movement to make Opening Day a state wide holiday in Missouri, official Twitter page.

This week in the Cardinals season may seem very innocuous by comparison to others, after all, the Mets and Pirates aren’t the most potent of NL teams. No, the week is a important bellwether for just what is wrong with Albert Pujols. 

The fact that Mr. Pujols is still the MLB leader in HR’s, second in RBI’s and batting over .310 after a miserable 3 weeks is a testament to just what an amazing first half the reigning NL MVP had. But since the All-Star break, Albert is hitting .217 with 2 HR (non in the past 50 AB’s) and is most decidedly un-Albert.  Why?

That’s the million dollar question.

The Cardinals, including Mr. Pujols himself, insist that this is nothing more than a matter of Albert hitting a cool-streak. Cards Manager Tony LaRussa likes to remind the media that his superstar is “human” during periods of light production by #5. And while everyone, including Albert, expects more production, he’s going to have some slumps… and this is one of them. The other, more vocal majority, are convinced that Mr. Pujols is injured. They point the fact that Albert has never had a ‘slump’ when his was completely healthy and that the stress he put on his elbow (the same one he had a nerve relocated in the off-season) is acting up, rendering him handicapped in his quest to win a triple crown.

While the question of Pujols’ elbow heath has been lingering for years, this last 21 days seems to have exacerbated the issue to new heights. Obviously, the addition of Matt Holliday to the Cardinals line-up and his subsequent scorching of the earth has taking the majority of the headlines locally. But the Cardinals acquisition of Holliday and utility man Mark DeRossa was predicated on the assumption that Pujols needed protecting, not the other way around as it has been.

So back to this week. With 2 scheduled off days in the next 7- including today- the Cardinals have the opportunity to give the relentless first baseman some extended time off. If he comes back smoking hot and gets back to being the best player in baseball- well, the injury ‘truthers’ are proven wrong. But if Albert struggles again this week, it will mark the lowest producing 30 day stretch in an already impressive career.

Like we said. This week is very important.

In 2006 the Cardinals won the World Series. Heading into that post-season, I remember thinking to myself a series win against the Padres would be superb, but no way in hell these guys are beating the Mets. The lesser of the metro NY teams had built a juggernaut that season, while the Cardinals limped into the playoffs as the winner of a division most were referring to as “Comedy” Central.

3 weeks later I was in the middle of Clark Street throwing beer on complete strangers as we all asked ourselves the same question… what just happened?

It was quick and joyous and awesome. But it was gone like that. We had gone from no expectations to the holy grail of baseball in the blink of an eye and then, almost as quickly, back to nothing.

I certainly wouldn’t trade that experience for anything, but if I did happen to go back in time, I most likely would have savored every silly little moment that October. Unfortunately, I didn’t know what I was witnessing until it was gone.  

This season the Cardinals are a middling team. They may end up being competitive come September, but as of now they’re treading water, holding just above .500 and within striking distance in a weak division. If you were to watch the Cardinals day in and out this season, you’d see a very unspectacular sight with one humongous BUT.

Albert Pujols.

The greatest player in baseball heading into a collision course with history. More specifically the Triple Crown.  

Last night Mr. Pujols crushed 2 more home runs, bringing his total to 30 before July. He’s also driven in 76 runs- the most in the major leagues. All while having absolutely no protection (Cardinal clean-up hitters are batting a paltry .232 in 2009) and getting the Barry Bonds treatment most games. His .329 average is actually below his career mark and justified, since he should have been out a week in June with a severe flu that saw him go 0-16 at one point.

In short, we’re witnessing a true threat to the Triple Crown for the first time in years. I, for one, am not about to let crappy baseball by 24 other Cardinals get in the way of enjoying every last bit of the second half of 2009. When Pujols is up- I will watch. Just like in 1998 when Big Mac stepped to the plate- St. Louis paused and watched.

It’s time to start that again. We’re in the thick of history.

Enjoy!

Enjoy!

LINK HERE (Video Embed is a little off today…)

It’s what they do. It’s how they live. They have an uncanny ability to convince themselves that what they’re doing ‘isn’t that bad’ because… fill in the rationalizations here. 

Where this instinct comes from can be debated. That once somebody is exposed as cheater we should feign surprise that he cheated? It can not.

June 2003.

Sammy Sosa gave Cardinal fans the highlight of an otherwise pedestrian year when hit bat exploded upon impact from one of his patented monster cuts. It was corked. He was busted, right then and there, as a cheater.

In retrospect, that particular moment was quite literally opening the floodgates to speculation of all sorts on the statistical prowess of the numbers we were seeing from 5 years prior. In 1998 Sosa V McGwire was wholesome family fun. By 2005 the whole era had been disgraced.  

In between Sammy went on to lie to Congress (I don’t speak English), flounder in Texas and Baltimore and ultimately quit with a whimper this past season- unable to get a major league contract. A fitting end for a man that shot into the collective conscience like a supernova of baseball prowess; energizing a lagging rivalry with the St. Louis Cardinals- but burned out seemingly just a quick.

In fairness to Mr. Sosa, I don’t think that many rationale people saw cork flying from his bat in a live game or watched him perjure himself in front of elected leaders thought that he wouldn’t also lie about cheating. So the news yesterday from the NY Times that he tested positive in 2003 for performance enhancing drugs should be mind-blowing news to exactly no one.

But as we sit here today, this truth revealed is making the rounds, battering baseball’s image for the umpteenth time, providing fodder for the same tired prothletizing that never seems to end- no matter the drug testing policies currently working in the game. (Honestly, if the MLB is willing to lose a marquis name like Manny Ramirez for 50 games, then I think we can all agree that the new testing procedures aren’t playing favorites.)

I think it’s pretty safe to also assume that the reckless abandon that plagued baseball, in terms of drug usage, in the 90’s and early 00’s has been eradicated… at least to a level on par with the other major sports in North America. So why the fuss? Why the outrage and banter on sports talk radio?

Because we feel cheated.

We invested ourselves back into the game we love back almost 10 years ago this summer… and as time passes we realized that what we cared about, rooted for, talked about and live through was nothing more, nothing less than a big summer blockbuster. Big special effects, gained through un-natural means.

The only trouble was instead of going into the theater knowing what we were getting; we thought we were witnessing super human feats for real. Turns out our naivety was off the charts. We fell for the Slammin’ Sammy Sosa saga hookline and sinker.

And now as the last vestiges of this sham and several like it- we want the cheaters to feel shame, to look us in the eye- apologize for cheating. 

Us.

Are they a slap hitting team that takes every extra base? Are they a pitching team that is going to rely on the staff to win? Are they better than the best? Worse than the worst? Buyers? Sellers?

Answers are in short supply.

Heading into action Wednesday night, the Birds are in the midst of a 5 game losing streak, 4 of which came at the hands of the struggling Colorado Rockies. They are headed towards .500 when a week ago, 15 over the breakeven point looked realistic. The fans are clamoring for help, especially since 3 runs seems to be the maximum output for the line-up. And GM John Mozeliak is doing his best to try and keep a level head in a very turbulent time.

June generally hasn’t been the time when MLB teams wave the white flag. (Unless you’re Pittsburgh and want to terrorize your fans and players for no obvious reason…) With over half the season remaining, it seems silly to trade your best commodities for future players that may or may not pan out to be stars in this league. And while I agree that trading a known entity would peeve off people in city X for a while- at the end of the day, I don’t think this philosophy is A) smart or B) giving the fans a whole bunch of credit.

Let’s take Washington as an example. The Nats are just dreadful this season and Nick Johnson is all but writing a blog called “NickJohnsonWantsToBeTraded.blogspot.com” at this point. But Washington is holding on hope that they can get back in the race- or something like that. And has thus far not seriously entertained offers for the player.

Situations just like these are popping up all over the game, yet owners seem to be reticent to go against the amulet of baseball history: do not trade thy commodities before July.  

But why?

It’s not like the people in Washington really have hope for the 2009 season, right? Us fans know a stinker when we see one. And even if our favorite team is at .500 or a few games over, we can pretty much tell you who is good and who needs to sell while they are ahead, right? It’s just archaic to think that people will stop attending games if you rid yourself of talent to get other talent back. If you like or love baseball, you’re going to go no matter what. If you’re a front runner, you weren’t going to the games until September anyway.

To make a stand these next 3 weeks in June out of principle is just dumb. Especially when teams, like the Cardinals, who have legitimate aspirations of trying to compete in October are in the position to over pay now. Add in the fact, that some contenders that think they need to buy now, won’t in July- it just makes sense to be the first ones to open up your roster to the those who are interested. Reap the benefits of being an early adapter.

It’s not easy. And yes, people will cry and moan and call into local sports radio and post on blogs and all that. But don’t take us for dolts- we know that if you can force action early, you can get action late. Unless you’re Pittsburgh.

Then you’re just shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic, or something.

Generally your own. 

Before heading to Milwaukee for a weekend series with the first place Brewers, Reds players, including OF Jay Bruce ‘guaranteed’ a  first place standing as the culmination of 6 games combined against the best two teams in the NL Central. Predictably, the Reds were swept out of Miller Field and head into Busch Stadium in peril of dropping back to .500 without a win against the Cardinals.

Granted, guarantees aren’t as mind blowing as they were back before every athlete in every sport guaranteed everything… but they still do make guys look like idiots- all while providing bulletin board fodder for teams playing games in June.

Even the most competitive teams (read: ones that Tony LaRussa manages) aren’t all that fired up about who they play at this point- good or bad- but when a guy in the other dugout is promising to kick your tail? All bets are off.

You’d like to think that multi-millionaire men in their 30’s aren’t going to take much heed in what some punk says in the middle of May. But these guys are professionals for one reason- they’re really good at focusing. They focused all their life to get to the Majors. They re-focus on the hall of fame while they play. They have trouble creating a focus after baseball for the same reasons… but while they participate in the game you just want to keep your distance, play the low profile- not stir the pot and get them to focus on you.

Why?

Well, to be honest, not that many players can perform when it’s that hot. Nothing against Mr. Bruce or any of the Reds for that matter, but there is only a handful of the A-Rod’s and Pujols’ of the world that can operate under the microscope. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, they ain’t got none.

So it comes to surprise no one that once the ‘guarantee’ was made, it’s been a disaster.  Trust me when I say the Cardinals will be ready for the Reds this week in St. Louis.

It’s all they’ve been thinking about.

Maybe a cricket paddle? (Is that what they’re called?) I don’t think the power be as great, but at least it’d be easier to make contact. Or perhaps a big red plastic bat. You know, like the ones you give to three year olds that they eventually waddle around with, whacking a dog with? Those could help.

Maybe just leaving the bat in the dugout and standing as close to the plate as possible and hoping to get hit could become effective? Seriously, if you have ideas, please send them to the Cardinals ASAP.  

Most followers of this impotent offense have known for some time that the bats have cooled off considerably from a very strong April. But with less than a week left in May, opponents are holding this Birds to a paltry .217 batting average, a mere 5 points away from the franchises’ worst month.

Ever. 

And that was back in 1986 before steroids were rampant in the game! (I’m kidding Bud, nobody’s on steroids anymore. Not a chance…)

Memorial Day exacerbated the problems and escalated them from problem status to ‘you’ve got to be effing kidding me!” level. When a starter gives you 8 innings of 2 hit ball- twice- in the course of a week and you can’t score Ahhh run, then, it’s time to hit the panic button.

Yes, Ryan Ludwick will be coming off the disabled list this week and yes, Dick Ankiel’s return to the line-up should help. But still, 9 shut-out innings is a win, not a loss.

Did I mention, too, that the Cardinals are now an impressively unimpressive 0-4 against the Brewers this season? With Chicago being particularly loserish this year, it looks like the Cardinals are going to have to find the magic against these sausage eaters.

Which brings us back to our original question… what exactly can these guys do to hit? I’d suggest a big picture of Bill DeWitt they could slowly undress win by win… but that might not be the motivation they need.

For reasons far exceeding bad pitching and even worse hitting, the Brewers have become the arch-nemesis to winning when it comes to Cardinals baseball. As luck would have it, the perfect elixir to what ails this teams exorbitant problems pulled into downtown St. Louis and reminded America that the Cubs do one thing better than any other team does in any other sport… ever.

Lose.

The Cubs, yes, have had a mild amount of success the past few seasons. They’ve won a comically inept division and then promptly been exited out of the playoffs with great prejudice and little battle. Give credit where credit is due- the Cubs keep forming a team every year and, presumably, spend quite a nice bit of money on entering that team into the MLB. Most of us would have cut the cord to this poorly returning investment after 25, hell, even 50 years.

But since 1908 the Cubs have lost. Stupidity can be admirable. Please remember, though, that stupid, blind faith can also be a detriment to every other fan base that follows professional baseball.

Exhibit A: Christopher Carpenter.

Without question, the most dominant pitcher this past Spring Training, Chris carried the momentum of 2 years (mostly) rest into the 2009 regular season and immediately began making a case for taking back his title as the most dominant pitcher in the NL. True to form, he promptly hyper-extended his rib cage swinging a bat and hasn’t made a start for 5.5 weeks, until tonight.

Cut to St. Louis.

Down and out after a demoralizing sweep, the Cardinals fan base was looking for anything to cling to after coughing up a formidable April lead in the Division and moving backwards into third place. A win against the Small Bears has led to the most common statement made in the greater metro area today: “And we’ve got Carp coming back!” Indeed, Chris Carpenter will start tonight against the Cubs. This much is true. The Cardinals and Carpenter have both raved about how good he feels and about how Chris is ready to get right back in the groove and blah, blah, blah.

Hopefully he is, maybe he isn’t. The proof is in the production.

But I will throw a word of caution to an excited fan base: the only thing Chris Carpenter has done consistently since signing the richest pitching contract in franchise history is get hurt and miss time. In 2+ seasons he’s made exactly 5 starts. True, this latest injury wasn’t an arm issue (good) it still was an injury (bad) that kept him in the dugout, spitting the all too familiar sunflower seeds on the all too familiar perch below the dugout fence, unable to compete. A body unwilling to cooperate.

Unfortunately for the Birds, this man’s health is the key to the season. Like it or not, Chris Carpenter will make the difference between .500 or the playoffs and there is no middle ground. So as #29 takes the pill later tonight, take a deep breath.

And hold it until you see Barry Weinberg…

The loser?

A lifetime of eternal damnation in the deepest depths of hell. That or second place, you know, whatever.

Last season the Brewers beat the Cardinals 10 out of 15 times en route to a rare post-season appearance by the organization most prideful of its 1982 World Series appearance. (Which happened to be a loss to the Cardinals…) If the 2008 incarnations of these teams were transposed, the Cardinals would have been in the post-season tournament, so making the Birds their un-offical whipping boys for the year bared much fruit.

I’m fairly certain that the Brewers mindset entering tonight might not have changed much from last season. So this could be interesting. Could be. Considering the Brew Crew is one of the hottest, if not the hottest team in MLB at the moment (17-5 since April 22) and the Cardinals limp back home after a woeful 2-4 road trip against the bottom feeding Pirates and still maturing Reds, this has the markings of a Ike Turner divorce proceeding. (Yaaaahhh! First Ike Turner reference on Baseball Digest Online!)

At this point, one might expect a Lee Coro ‘not so fast, my friends’ out of a guy who is paid to write about the Cardinals. But at the moment- I happen to agree.

Ryan Braun has conspired with Ryan Howard to eternally mortify their STL roots with jaw-dropping statistics at Busch Stadium, while the Brewers super-stud AAA prospect Mat Gamel has just been called up for bat duty against the Cardinals sinking pitching staff.

Combined that with the Brewers increasing aptitude dealing with the rotation and Trevor Hoffman shoring up a beleaguered bullpen facing a severely depleted Cardinals line-up devoid of any power; well it just seems like Brewers are playing from a position of power.

Perhaps the weekend proves to be furtive for the Cardinals and they stave off losing first place for a few more days by winning a home series.

Most likely, they won’t.

And the fast and furious slide to .500 and the middle of the NL Central will continue.

I don’t like it at all.

For the uninitiated, Mr. Jocketty was the architect of the many of the 00’s brilliant Cardinal teams, including the 2004 and 2006 NL championship squads. His and Tony LaRussa’s creative thinking and pinpoint player analysis led to the resurgence of a historic franchise from a very murky 1990’s run that included little more than a HR sideshow and many, many galling losses.

Following the 2007, Mr. Jocketty, was stripped of many powers and eventually was forced to resign by Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt. He was replaced by his understudy John Mozeliak, but it didn’t take long for the Reds to snatch up the multiple MLB Executive of the Year winner.

Now posed with a similarly daunting task of rebuilding a fading mid-major market team with very deep roots and history, it looks like Jock is making progress. Much to the chagrin of the rest of the NL Central.

Bruce, Votto, Cuetto and the rest of the very young Reds team took 2 out of 3 against the Central leading Cardinals this weekend. And while that’s disappointing in and of itself, the fact that the Reds have hands down the scariest amount of potential in the division AND Jock is steering the ship?

Well, it might have been better to leave a sleeping dog lie. Instead it looks like we gave them one of the games best talents… bad move?

As of Sunday, the Cardinals sport the best record in the NL and for the first time on Monday night- Cardinals fans are going to be behind this team. Not that they weren’t cheering and clapping and watching the Cap Dance with the typical fervor of Cardinal fans… but they weren’t that into it.

No disrespect to number 2, 3 and 4 on the payroll- but an injured Carpenter, Glaus plus an iffy Joel Pinero doesn’t exactly inspire the kind of confidence they’d like.

But now the season is a month in. I’d like to think that the Cardinals have proven they can be a contender for .500 at worst.

And when you think about it- getting to .500 means you’re roughly 10 toss-up games from a playoff chance. Win those 10 games and you’re 91-71 and will most certainly be in the hunt. Lose those games and you’re the 2008 Cardinals. Let’s not overcomplicate things.

When 2009 began, the Cubs were far and away the class of the NL Central.

Now? Well, they’re probably still the heavy favorites to win their third consecutive division title… but the Cardinals- especially if Carpenter and/or Glaus can give them anything this season- are positioning themselves as a very pesky team for the Cubs if the small bears don’t pull it together.

So that brings us back to the Phillies. This is a good team. Perhaps a great team. With Raul Ibanez providing an even more solid bat behind All-Star Ryan Howard than Pat Burrell last season, this series is shaping up to be an early season test. Pass and you’re immediately vaulted into the contender conversation on Baseball Tonight. Lose and you’re still going to have to convince people you’re worthy of more than a statistically anomaly with little data.

It’s not make or break this week… It’s make a name or break your street cred.

Many prognostications, including thine own, had the Cardinals between 77 and 85 wins with an outside shot at contenting in the NL Central IF the Cubs played, well, like the Cubs and the Cardinals avoided injury to their thin starting rotation.

The Small Bears have lived up to their end of the bargain, but the Cardinals worst fear- another Chris Carpenter injury- de-railed any plans to stay healthy as far as the pitching was concerned.

And even with Todd Wellemeyer’s gas can right arm blowing up the team ERA, 7 games over .500 through 19 contests is more acceptable. Hell, it’s downright unbelievable.

How are the Birds doing it?

By crushing.

First in HR’s, RBI’s, Runs, Batting Average… and more pretty much means you’re seeing the ball and you’re hitting the ball.

Obviously, St. Louis can’ t continue to dominate every pitcher they see like Ronson getting after Lohan. But if they can continue to get production from every position on a regular basis-well… 2009 just might not be the disaster that we expected.

But their still is time…

Why?

Mr. James will become a free-agent after next season. His basketball skills and acumen are unparalleled by any player past or present in the NBA. And every single team in the NBA would trade every single man on their roster to start fresh with the middle of his prime LeBron anchoring every single aspect of their franchise.

The NY Knicks have virtually admitted that they don’t care about how you play this year or the next… as long as your contract expires after 2010… welcome to the Garden! Other teams such as the Miami Heat and NJ Nets are also eyeing King James with more than your passing furtive glance.

Cleveland knows this.

They have been scared to death of 2010 since they drafted Mr. James. And now that his time to enter the unrestricted free agent pool has drawn nearer they’ve basically said “LeBron… what do you need? We’ll do it. Just don’t leave!”

In the next month Mr. James and the Cleveland Cavs will be playing in the NBA Finals and many NBA pundits have it on good authority that he will not only consider coming back to Cleveland to play… it’s actually more than likely he’ll come back to Cleveland to play. They’ve surrendered to the ultimate star and realized that once he’s gone no amount of draft picks, free-agents or other can ever- EVER- replace what he does for the team/franchise/city/state. They’ve acted responsibly on behalf of their fans.

Cut to St. Louis.

Busch Stadium Tuesday night had a paid attendance listed at 34,000 plus change. Coming back from an 8 day break and playing the hated NY Mets brought, in my estimation, around 30K worth of the best fans in baseball to the stadium.

And even though the Cardinals resided in a virtual tie for first place and even though they pulled out a nice come-from-behind win… the fans gave a distinct vibe that reeked of “we might be OK, but we’re not going to win anything with this bullpen”.

That may or may not be a fair statement.

But what is absolutely certain is that Albert Pujols is going to be heading out onto the field the rest of this season picking up the same vibe. Indexing games and front office comments and trade deadline deals (or lack thereof) and about 1,000 other variables to try and decide if he wants to negotiate a long term deal after the season or not.

Here are the facts… Mr. Pujols will be a free agent after the 2011 season (the last year being a club option). Generally speaking, it’s not in the best bargaining interests of any employer to wait until the last minute to get a huge deal done. They will need to sign or trade Mr. Pujols in the next 1.80 seasons to obtain fair market value and/or trade value.

But here’s the rub.

His value to the team/ city/ franchise is pretty much invaluable. As a fan, I momentarily tried to picture El Hombre coming to bat for an opposing team in Busch Stadium and I literally got sick to my stomach. Seriously. I got a feeling that you get when your pet dies or when you know you’re about to be laid-off. It was awful. And then I see the empty seats, which, if you want to be symbolic, are the empty promises to shore up weaknesses that the Cardinals have made over the past several years that never materialized.

Foolishly, I hope Albert isn’t noticing, isn’t taking mental notes. But he is. He’s too good not to. The Cardinals still have time. But starting this season the only person that should treated to an unmentionable reverence is Albert Pujols.

Give him what he wants. Make the big guy happy. Do what the Cavs did for Mr. James.

And do it now.

But if you thought the Birds were hitting the ball deep and unplayable more than everyone in baseball- you’d be wrong.

In fact, 8 other teams have a higher collective HR total… and not only that- they’re smashing and bashing their way deeper into the bleachers as well.

Let’s have David Biderman explain…

“April is usually a great month for pitchers — thanks to the cool weather. That’s because under the laws of physics, a baseball flies through warm air better than cold air. But so far this year, those laws have been broken. Hit Tracker Online, a Web site that measures the distance of home runs, contends that home runs are flying six feet farther on average this year compared to last year. Fly ball pitchers could be in for a tough year if this continues: Brett Myers of the Phillies, for example, has already given up seven home runs in his first three starts.”

Maybe with all the empty seats in stadiums, including Busch Stadium, you shouldn’t be moving towards the front if you’re looking to snag your first foul ball.

What?

 Haven’t you been reading the USA Today?

Well they’re posing the question… so why not take a stab. Who are your top 5 players that you would hold a pee for if you’re at the game or on your couch…

1) Albert Pujols: Never doesn’t come through.

2) Manny Ramirez: Every at bat an opportunity to get weird.

3) Matt Holiday: The Cardinal Killer, and frankly, the only time you see Colorado is when they’re playing the Cardinals.

4) Dan Uggla: 5,000 foot home run or pulling his shoulder out of socket whiff. Either way.

5) Barry Bonds: He’s not retired!

That’s a list- think about it.

As we projected at the beginning of the season, Chris Duncan has become the breakout player in a crowded outfield adding 3 more RBI’s and timely home run to open the 4 game set with a bunch of losers in pin stripes.

Much more coming on this series soon. But honestly, we just wanted to see it in print: Cards in First Place!

Seriously, 7-3 or 8-2 heading into 4 games looking directly into the belly of the beast is going to be big. Really big.

Like make or break the season big?

Maybe.

Yes. We need to keep an eye on Chris Carpenter’s second start of the season tonight.

Yes. The Diamondbacks still have a chance to win this series and break LaRussa’s mantra to ‘win every series’.

Yes. The Cardinals could lose the next 6 this week and still be in the mix for the NL Central. But I still think that we have some room for hyperbole here.

If you can’t tell- we’re excited for a big showdown with those mouth-breathing Cubs. And if you don’t like it… then you’re probably a fan of losing AKA Mr. Cub.

Location: When the 1959 season started, 12 of the 16 major league teams were east of the Mississippi River — all but the Kansas City Athletics, the St. Louis Cardinals, and two teams that had moved to California in 1958: the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Though the 1950s were perceived as the golden age of baseball — and still are by many — attendance was small by today’s standards. The eight National League clubs averaged just under 16,500 fans per game in 1958 and their American League counterparts just over 11,800, for an overall average of about 14,100 per game. Last season, with Major League Baseball covering every area of the U.S. except most of the far northwest, the 16 National League teams averaged slightly more than 34,000 fans per game, while the 14 American League clubs drew about 30,700 — an overall average of more than 32,000 per game. From 1958 to 2008, the increase of “meat in the seats” — to borrow a phrase from Reggie Jackson — was about 227%.

Salary: How much did the players make? As we enter the 2009 season, the average salary of a major-league baseball player, not including deferred payments and incentive clauses, is $3.26 million. Exact figures from 50 years ago are difficult to obtain, but let’s put it this way: Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, generally regarded as the two best players in the game back then, were paid, respectively, $80,000 and $70,000 for the 1959 season. (That’s about $526,000 and $460,000 in today’s money.)

Kind of Game: What kind of game did they play then compared with now? Despite the differences in players’ ethnic backgrounds, rules changes, and an increase in time on the road, baseball hasn’t changed that much. National League hitters averaged .262 in 1958 and .260 50 years later, with each team averaging 148 home runs in 1958 and 163 in 2008. There was a slightly bigger change in the American League: In 1958, hitters averaged .254 with each team averaging 132 home runs, compared with .268 and 162 in 2008. When you consider that there’s an extra eight games today (added back in 1961) and that the designated hitter was adopted by the AL in 1973, the difference doesn’t seem all that great.

Offense: Offensively, the biggest difference is on the base paths. The average major league team in 1958 stole just 46 bases; last year the per-team average was 93.

Defense: On defense, says baseball historian and analyst Bill James, the most dramatic change is in the number of innings pitched by starters and relievers. In 1958, the average starting rotation went the distance 46 times; last season, just five. Mr. James puts it this way: “Back in the ’50s, a lot of starters would pace themselves at, say, 88 mph because they were supposed to go the whole game; now they come in and throw at 93 because they know that after six innings there’s another guy who can come in and throw at 93.”

Media Mix: The other major development, Mr. James says, is “the media market. Baseball was once a game where fans were limited to one or two televised games a week and could get news on teams other than those in their home town only through newspapers and occasional magazine stories.” Now, Mr. James says, “every game is on TV, available everywhere, to anyone, all the time.”

Other: According to Roger Kahn, author of “The Boys of Summer” and many other baseball literary classics, there are at least three things about the game that haven’t changed in the past 50 years, “or in the last 100. No manager ever thought he had enough pitching, and no player ever thought the umpire was right, and no owner ever admitted to making money.”

HI-YO!