This Just In

As i finished my last post I saw this news on MLB.com

Here is the new possible line up:

SS: Nunez
CF: Taguchi
LF: J-Rod
1B: Mabry
RF: Gall
3B: Seabol
2B: Luna
C: Mahoney
P: Marquis

Anybody else wish that this was a Memphis Redbirds line-up. Tony might have to consider batting Marquis 8th (or seventh, or sixth, or first.)

They may have won the battle but...

I made a trip to St. Louis this Saturday to catch the Cards/Cubs game. Going in it was a dream come true.

• Cards vs. Cubs in Busch Stadium
• Cards have a 14 game lead over the Cubs
• Matt Morris (11-2) vs. Jerome Williams (Recently in AAA)
• I am carrying a two year long (about 15 game) Cardinals winning streak in games I attend.
• I have seen about ten Cubs game and one seen them win once ever.
  

So, its' in the bag right? Morris went into his usual day game form and gave up three dingers. Pujols had a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth and hit the ball as hard as he could right into Todd Walker's glove for a double play. So I ended up sitting four hours in the 100 degree weather to see a Cubs win.

Then last night the Cubs win another close one. There will be a lot of second guessing La Russa for walking Lee and Ramirez but I have no problem with it at all. If I could put the game in Neifi Perez's hands every day I will do it and when he comes through I will tip my hat.

The good news:

• The Cards won on Friday night on a heart stopping walk-off suicide squeeze.
• Despite dropping the series the Cards are still 12 up over the Cubs and 11 back over the Astros.
• The weather is always nice in San Diego, where the Cardinals play this week. Game one is Woody Williams against his replacement Mulder.

On the ESPN broadcast La Russa said he was hoping for both Rolen and Sanders to be ready to go September 1st. He likes to play that trick since it allows him to set his playoff rosters after the deadline since players come off the DL in September. That would give Rolen an entire month to rest and rehab. The Cards NEED both of these guys for the playoffs, especially if Jocketty does not make a move for outfield help.

Comeback & Midseason

The last three weeks have been a little crazy for me and my blog has suffered because of it. But I am back again and there will be a lot of Cardinal love being passed around. Also, Cards Fan in Cubs Land is due for a format change since this Cards fan is not in Cubs land anymore. But I don't have the time to mess around with that yet. I do have time to do a Midseason recap.

I will start off with my
MIDSEASON AWARDS for the Cardinals and MLB

Cardinals MVP: Albert F'in Pujols. He is having another stellar season. This season he has been a lot more consistent than in his other years. Which is amazing because he has been Mr. Consistency since 2001. He finished the first half top five in the triple crown stats. But triple crown stats are bullshit. Instead of Average, RBI, HRs, I prefer OBP, Runs Created, and Slugging Percentage. It just happens that Pujols is top five in all of those as well. He leads the Cards in a lot of categories. He plays almost everyday. He is great with his glove now. He has stolen nine bases. I could keep going but I need to move on.

MLB MVP: Albert Pujols. There is no more valuable player on a division leading team in the first half. I did not want to do this and be a huge homer. But in terms of Most valuable it's got to go to Albert.

MLB Ted Williams Award: Derrek Lee. I am making up an award that needs to exist. It is the best player award. Not the "Most Valuable" the best player can play for any team. Awards are cooler when they have names like in hockey. Ted Williams never won a World Series, so he is a good person to name it for. I am not going to give one to a Cardinal since they are good. Obviously the MLB award goes to Derrek Lee and his close call on the first half triple crown. Honorable mentions go to A-Rod, Brian Roberts, and Roger Clemens.

Cardinals Cy Young: Chris Carpenter. Duh, he is domination station. He is getting better with every start. In the first half he won 13 games with an ERA plummeting down to about two and a half. Of course people don't like wins is a stupid stat and the Saber guys don't like ERA, so how is 8.9 k/9 and 16 quality starts. He got the start of the All-Star game because La Russa managed, but unlike some of the other big names, he did not give up any runs. Morris has been good, Izzy has been good, Carp has been spectacular.

MLB Cy Young: Roger Clemens. Like I said wins is a stupid stat. Clemens only has seven. The Twins have a middle reliever named Crain who has 8 wins in 42 innings. Does that mean Crain is better than Clemens? Anybody that can keep an ERA below on and a half for three months deserves an award. He also has a WHIP below one and a good number of Ks. Honorable mentions D-Train, Halladay, Carp, Pedro, Buehrle.

Cardinals Walt Jocketty Award: Grud the Stud. Last year I made up this award to go to the best Cardinals newcomer because the Cardinals did not have any rookies. This year the only rookies are pitching limited innings out of the bullpen. Grudzielanek and Eckstein were the two clear choices for this award. They both have pretty good numbers and have played a lot. I gave it to Mark because he was a better acquisition with only a 1 million dollar deal.

MLB Rookie of the Year: Chris Young. Due to a wise fantasy pick-up I had a small man-crush on Clint Barmes. If he had not gone grocery shopping he would surely be here. Instead it falls to the Chris Young. It took about a month for me to figure out who this guy was after being confused by seeing "Texas 5, A's 2 W: C. Young L: D. Haren" on the ESPN bottom line and being very confused that Cy Young was back from the dead.

Cardinals LVP: Roger Cedeno. A few years ago he signed a big deal with the Mets to be a five tool outfielder. The problem now is that he can't hit anymore, can't run anymore, can't field anymore, and doesn't have any power. I never really noticed if his arm is strong.

MLB LVP: Corey Patterson. He spent the first half of the season in the big leagues, he might spend the entire second half down in the minors. He had a .270 OBP. As my buddy Mike Ryan at Old Style Cubs says he is a slick fielding center fielder with power and speed, and he's never seen a pitch he didn't like. Honorable mention: Mike Lowell, Nomo.

MLB Manager: Ozzie Guillen. The best record in the first half with a mediocre lineup, a questionable bullpen and two Cuban pitchers that other teams didn't want. I'm hoping for an I-55 World Series.