I might just start calling Albert Pujols Molly Maid.  He’s cleaning up in every way, home runs, RBIs, game winning hits, walks, defense, and pushed STL to the sweep today.  If voting happened today, I’d say Albert Pujols would be a lock for an MVP repeat.

This series featured solid starting pitching from Carp, Suppan, and Mulder, each posting a quality start.  Carp turned in his arguably worst start this season, but still gave up only 2 ER over 6 innings.  Suppan pitched nothing but shutout innings excluding a 3-run (all unearned) third.  Mulder gave up his token (of late) single HR mistake and 5 BB, but churned out ground ball after ground ball and induced 4 double plays. He went 7 2/3 innings and gave up only Wilson’s 2R HR.  The bullpen was flawless until Izzy’s BS in the top of the 9th today. The Cardinals are 2nd in the bigs in team ERA.

Some standouts on offense would have to be Pujols (of course), Carn, Luna, DX, and Taguchi.  Pujols did what Pujols does, nuff said.  Carn had a good series because he busted out in game 2, contributing an amazing catch, a big knock (his first in a Cards uniform), a nice triple (his first in a Cards uniform), a double, 4 RBIs, and missed the cycle by a single.  However, I think it was a bit hasty for TLR to push him into the #4 today and expect him to protect Pujols (Luna would have been a better bet IMO, put Miles at #2). Luna continued his hot hitting this series with 7 hits, 2 runs scored, and 2 RBIs. DX was effective getting on base with 5 hits, 1 BB, and 3 runs scored; he threw in a RBI for good measure.  Taguchi improved his season avg to .259, contributing 5 hits and 2 RBIs. Molina and Miles came through with some clutch hits and RBIs, but were relatively quiet otherwise this series.

Series Stats:

Season Stats:

The Cards are tied for second in the major leagues with 27 double plays so far this April.  This leaves them 6 short of the 33 DP/month, franchise-record-setting pace of last year, with 4 games left to play and 5 off days this month.  Further, with Miles and Luna hitting .304 and .432 , respectively, and 24 DPs between them, so far it seems we are sitting just fine at 2B.

I don’t know what TLR is thinking regarding the #2 spot this year.  He started out with Juan and stuck with him a little too long.  Then he played with Taguchi, who did better, but still not particularly well.  Then he has been playing with Luna and Rodriguez with some success.  But then, against Maddux, he returned to the still slumping Juan, because he had a .500+ avg against him.  I really questioned this while Juan is in a slump, no matter what his history is against a certain pitcher.  Juan continued to struggle at the top of the order and probably cost us some opporunities.  Then, in the next game, TLR chose Edmonds in the 2 spot.  While Edmonds is not a terrible choice, he still strikes out WAY too much for this spot and started off the game by GIDP.  Let’s hope TLR returns to Luna or Rodriguez who are hitting for better avg, better obp, strike out less, and generally can get a solid hit that will advance runners.  Save Eddy for #5 and Juan for #6.  If they start to come around, you can always try them again later.

Here is the transcript from the live blogging.  Specail thanks to Rachel for her comments!

*** TOPIC CHANGE ***: Cards v. Cubs Game 1: Williams vs. Mulder
Rabid STL Fan: Here we go!!
Rabid STL Fan: Lineups:
Rabid STL Fan: Cubs:
Rabid STL Fan: 1. Pierre, CF
Rabid STL Fan: 2. Hariston, 2B
Rabid STL Fan: 3. Walker, 1B
Rabid STL Fan: 4. Ramirez, 3B
Rabid STL Fan: 5. Barrett, C
Rabid STL Fan: 6. Jones, RF
Rabid STL Fan: 7. Murton, LF
Rabid STL Fan: 8. Cedeno, SS
Rabid STL Fan: 9. Williams, P
Rabid STL Fan: Cards:
Rabid STL Fan: 1. Eckstein, SS
Rabid STL Fan: 2. Rodriguez, LF
Rabid STL Fan: 3. Pujols, 1B
Rabid STL Fan: 4. Rolen, 3B
Rabid STL Fan: 5. Edmonds, CF
Rabid STL Fan: 6. Encarnacion, RF
Rabid STL Fan: 7. Molina, C
Rabid STL Fan: 8. Miles, 2B
Rabid STL Fan: 9. Mulder, P
Rabid STL Fan: IMO, this lineup is finally the way it should be.  Rod #2, Rolen after Pujols and Edmonds after Rolen
Rabid STL Fan: Encarnacion #6
Rabid STL Fan: 7:15 – 1, 2, 3 for Mulder in 6 pitches, all strikes.  Can’t start any better than that!!
Rabid STL Fan: 7:20 – All right Roddy!  Nice hit.
Rabid STL Fan: 5 seconds later – Albert hits a no-doubter out of the park!! 2 -0 Cards!  Wow.  Thank you Albert and thank you Johnny Rocket!
Rabid STL Fan: I love how Mike Shannon called it 2 – 0 Cards the second Albert hit that ball.  Not a bad way to get your 1,000 hit!
Rabid STL Fan: Glad to hear Jimmy is showing up early to work on his hitting.  I don’t mind a slump as long as you put in the time to fix it!
Rabid STL Fan: 7:30 – Man, Barrett loves Cardinals’ pitching. 1-out double.
Rachel: 7:31-We’ll the guys on the TV say LaRussa thinks Encarnacion is "squeezing the bat too hard" because he is trying so hard!  Fair enough.
Rachel: Well**
Rabid STL Fan: 7:35 – Joke Jones finally stirkes out after forcing Mulder to throw 9 pitches.
Rabid STL Fan: That’s good to hear.
Rabid STL Fan: You can’t boo a guy who has TLR and Phat Albert convinced their working
Rabid STL Fan: ** they’re
Rabid STL Fan: 7:35 – Allright Juan! Keep it up!
Rabid STL Fan: 7:36 – Calm down, don’t get picked off.
Rabid STL Fan: 7:40 – Wow. Great at-bat for Yadi (Clutch).
Rabid STL Fan: I think he took 11 pitches.
Rabid STL Fan: 7:43 – Now a walk with Mulder coming up.  Can he have another great day at the plate?!
Rabid STL Fan: How about the first career grand slam for Mulder?
Rabid STL Fan: Or just a hit, I’ll be happy with that
Rabid STL Fan: 7:45 – I’ll take the walk.  Good eye Mulder. : )
Rabid STL Fan: 3 – 0 Cards
Rabid STL Fan: 7:46 – 4 – 0 Cards! DX with an RBI single, bases loaded, no outs.  J-Rod strides to the plate…
Rabid STL Fan: 7:49 – 5-0 Cards.  Sacrifice fly is fine with me!
Rabid STL Fan: 7:52 – 7-0! Wow!! Albert’s double scores two more.  And that’s it for Williams.  Sweet Revenge!!
Rabid STL Fan: 7:58 – Well, not much more I can say about that inning.  Can’t expect any better than that.  Let’s keep it rolling!
Rabid STL Fan: I think Mulder can relax a bit…
Rabid STL Fan: 8:0 – but he doesn’t… another 1, 2, 3 inning for Mulder.  Only 33 pitches, 27 for strikes.  I’m liking this game so far.
Rabid STL Fan: that was 8:04
Rabid STL Fan: 8:06 – Alright Juan! 2-for-2!!
Rabid STL Fan: 8:10 – Good at-bat for Mulder.  But, back to the mound he goes.
Rabid STL Fan: 8:18 – Man, we might have to start walking this Barrett guy.  What is the deal?  7-3 on Barrett 3-run shot.
Rabid STL Fan: Don’t lose it now Mulder.
Rabid STL Fan: 8:23 – Good work Mulder and Rolen.  Let’s get some more runs now; even a 4-run lead isn’t very comfortable against the Cubs.
Rabid STL Fan: 8:29 – Quick 1, 2, 3 inning for the top of the Cards’ lineup.
Rabid STL Fan: 8:31 – K for pinch-hitter Zambrano.  Who does he think he is, Jason Marquis?
Rabid STL Fan: 8:33 – The Cards answer by quickly retiring the Cubs in order.
Rabid STL Fan: 8:40 – YEAH JIMMY!  9-3 On Edmonds’ 2-run HR!!  There’s my good measure Edmonds HR for "Party like it’s 1982."
Rabid STL Fan: 8:44 – I’ll say that Ronny Cedeno is definitely a quality defender.  If he can get that arm under control, he’s going to be a great player.
Rachel: I would love to see an easy inning here…no more drama…I don’t care how big the lead is.
Rabid STL Fan: Hey Rachel.  I’ll second that.
Rabid STL Fan: How about a DP?
Rabid STL Fan: 8:50 – with Barrett, I’ll take that out.
Rachel: Would’ve been nice…at least Mulder got a grounder.  That’s always a positive for him.  (Obvious statement I know.)
Rabid STL Fan: Eh, that’s all I’ve done all night – state the obvious : )
Rabid STL Fan: 8:52 – All right.  3Ks for Jones.
Rachel: 8:52-Well someone has to.  (dang…forgot the time before)
Rabid STL Fan: Think they’ll leave Mulder in?
Rabid STL Fan: It’s ok.  I’m just putting in the time when something happens in the game
Rabid STL Fan: I’m definitely liking this series better than the last one so far
Rachel: I don’t see any reason to lift him.  I say they’ll wait until his spot in the line-up comes around.
Rachel: A much better start…to be sure!
Rabid STL Fan: He’s at 81 pitches.  He’s got a couple left in him.
Rabid STL Fan: 8:57 – 2 on with Alb coming up.  Gotta like the sound of that
Rachel: For sure.  (I just looked it up to be sure…this is Jones’ second 3K game against the Cards this year.
Rachel: I can’t remember who was pitching the last time it happened.  I’ll have to dig further
Rabid STL Fan: Awesome.  I can handle that!
Rachel: Carpenter was the starter.
Rabid STL Fan: We should have guessed.
Rabid STL Fan: Another quality start for Mulder so far.
Rachel: 9:00-Well that inning didn’t turn out as planned, but Albert and Co. can’t come through EVERY time…apparently.
Rachel: Can I say now that I’d rather re-sign Mulder after this season than AJ Burnett thi
s past offseason.
Rabid STL Fan: Although it certainly seems that way sometimes :
)
Rabid STL Fan: It broke my 
Rachel: Yes it does, which is why I put "apparently"
Rachel: lol…I knew what you were going for.
Rabid STL Fan: I would have to agree.  Burnett was just too risky
Rabid STL Fan: Wow.  gotta love a healthy Rolen!
Rabid STL Fan: 9:05 – Rolen makes a great play to throw out Cedeno
Rabid STL Fan: 9:06  – another 123 for Mulder.  He has rolled except for that 4th inning.  He only threw 8 pitches that inning.
Rachel: It strikes me occasionally (like right now) that I could watch baseball the rest of my life and never see any else come close to being as good at third.
Rachel: *anyone (and yes, I’m a drama queen)
Rabid STL Fan: I don’t think you ca build them any better than Scotty.
Rabid STL Fan: *can*
Rabid STL Fan: And he’s such a great guy, you have to wonder what Philly could have done to make him hate that place so much.
Rachel: I know.  I read an article once about the reasons he and Larry Bowa didn’t get along, but to be honest, I can’t remeber a single one right now.
Rabid STL Fan: 9:10 – I thought Jimmy had another one!
Rachel: It was in ESPN the Mag…I just remember them saying the Scott Rolen was the last player you would ever think would have problems with a manager.
Rachel: 9:12-I thought Encarnacion might get 3 hits in a game for a second there.  Wow!
Rabid STL Fan: He’s definitely showing improvement.
Rabid STL Fan: I’m surprised Jones got there.  He was on his horse.
Rachel: I’m looking for more than just hits from him, but I’ll certainly take them!
Rabid STL Fan: Word.  He needs to make the plays in RF before I feel completely comfortable with him.
Rachel: 9:15-It’s the eighth inning already…geez.
Rabid STL Fan: 9:15 – Mulder retires Pierre again!  0-for4!
Rachel: I agree.  I’m looking as much for him to make the routine and running plays as much as fantastic diving plays.  I think we agree on this.
Rabid STL Fan: 9:16 – Mulder has now retired 8 in a row.
Rachel: Make that 9!
Rabid STL Fan: 9:17 – Make that 9.  Bottom of the 8th!  Our last ups this game (hopefully).
Rabid STL Fan: ha
Rabid STL Fan: jinx
Rachel: Lol…I hope AP gets another at-bat!
Rachel: What’s with all the bloopers down the right field line…fair or foul.
Rabid STL Fan: seems magnetic, doesn’t it?
Rachel: That’s the perfect way to describe it really.
Rabid STL Fan: It is very possible for AP to "stand at the dish" once agian this game
Rabid STL Fan: 9:22 – let’s go Gucher!!
Rabid STL Fan: Good work tonight Mulder!! 8 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR
Rabid STL Fan: 1 big mistake.
Rabid STL Fan: Should have let Mulder hit
Rachel: Yes…three cheers for M-squared.
Rachel: Lol…that was a tough pitch/call.
Rabid STL Fan: Rah! Rah! Rah!
Rachel: 
Rabid STL Fan: I agree.  Mulder just seems to have good luck up there lately
Rabid STL Fan: 9:25 – all right.  another hit for DX.  3-for-5
Rabid STL Fan: AP on deck!
Rabid STL Fan: Could it be bases loaded?
Rachel: Let’s go J-Rod!
Rabid STL Fan: 9:26 – HERE HE COMES!!
Rabid STL Fan: oh… sissies
Rachel: Well I got my wish..Let’s go Albert!
Rachel: haha…good to see John Mabry though
Rachel: Bad to see him in that uniform, however.
Rabid STL Fan: J Rod almost got it out…  I’m liking him in the 2 hole
Rabid STL Fan: yeah
Rabid STL Fan: As much as I like him, it almost makes me puke every time he walks out of the dugout
Rachel: He was my first-ever "favorite player"…when he was with the Cards the first time
Rabid STL Fan: He’s a quality guy all around, that’s for sure.  Hopefully he hasn’t donned the birds on the bat for the last time
Rachel: 9:31-0-2 on Albert
Rachel: Yikes!
Rabid STL Fan: That didn’t go as expected…
Rabid STL Fan: Wow, Cincy beat Milwakee
Rabid STL Fan: I’m thinking that Cincy might be a little underrated.
Rachel: Certainly not.
Rabid STL Fan: 3-1, it wasn’t an offensive display either
Rabid STL Fan: 9:33 – Lets go Loop!!
Rabid STL Fan: Lol, Looper has the goofiest mug shot on gameday.
Rachel: I’m think Milwaukee was overrated for so early in the season
Rabid STL Fan: that too
Rabid STL Fan: that’s 2 teams under .500 in the NL central now.
Rabid STL Fan: 9:36 – sheesh.  There goes Barrett again.
Rachel: He has a huge head (literally)…I’m not joking, and I’m really not trying to mean at all.
Rachel: Not that that has any bearing what-so-ever on the game…
Rabid STL Fan: lol.  Look at the size of that boy’s head! It’s a virtual planetoid! It’s got it’s own weather system! Head! Move!
Rachel: haha
Rabid STL Fan: yeah, my So I Married an Axe Murderer quote has even less to do with it… but it’s still fun
Rachel: I figured it was from a movie, but I admit I didn’t knwo which one.
Rabid STL Fan: Eh, I have seen too many
Rachel: What a way to end the game!
Rabid STL Fan: 9:40 – All right.  That DP couldn’t have been better if it could have been anyone in the world.
Rabid STL Fan: Sorry, I’m holding a grudge against Barrett
Rachel: Not going to hear any objections here.
Rabid STL Fan: I didn’t
figure it would.
Rabid STL Fan: *I*
Rachel: Great job with the live-game…I’m out for now!
Rabid STL Fan: Thanks for making it interesting!
Rabid STL Fan: later!
Rabid STL Fan: Cards now take over 3rd from the cubs.
Rabid STL Fan: And that’s a wrap!

http://brainsinabox.pbwiki.com/f/payback.mp3

Time to play the Cubbies again.  Tonight I am going to try out live blogging.  I am going to try it in a new way, though: As the game progresses, I will comment in the cool topic widget in the sidebar and anyone else who wants can comment too.  Include the time.  When the game is over, I will just copy and paste the conversation into a post and save it.  This way it will be real-time, I can have a lot more interaction, and then I can save it in a post.  So comment away and let’s go CARDS!!

Our Cardinals, who art in St. Louis,
Hallowed be thy Names.
Thy victory come.
Thy bats be strong,
At Busch as they are in Coors.
Give us this day our daily HR.
And forgive us our boos,
As we forgive those who boo against us.
And lead us not into strike-outs,
But deliver us from errors.
For thine is the NL Central,
and the Cy Young,
and the MVP,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

I thought I would post a "discussion" that I have been having with coworkers and relatives to illustrate what it’s like to live in Cards/Cubs rivalry-torn Central IL.  I will update as it evolves.

• 4/20 4:00 AM - I started it  by sending out an onion article to several friends and relatives on both sides of the rivalry.
• 4/20 3:34 PM – Response #1 (from my future brother-in-law, a Cubs’ fan):
  LOL that was some good stuff, I guess you guys just got swept by a
  team that is going to miss the playoffs, with out two of the best
  starters they have …but what do I know!!!   I do know aside from
  pudjuls and capet man you guys would be 5 games below 500….but what
  do I know… I think pudjuls probably has 80 % of your RBI…lets see
  how you do without carp and mulder for the first month like wood and
  prior and than see whats what.  You have a 55 year old center fielder
  that used to be a gold glover,now more like bronze at best, and the
  rest of the outfield can’t hit above 200!! you know who I’m talking
  about..your bull pen has major issues, ow and didn’t you acquire a
  convict, they might want to check that guy for outstanding warrants
  next time he takes the hill….I think the major problem will be when
  the old man beets you guys and goes 4-0 this weekend, that will be
  rather funny….I still can’t believe they kept suppan he’s a
  joke….but I did enjoy the article.
  Love, a "lovable loser" fan
  Note:   if D. Lee broke his wrist I think that  article might be right ….
• 4/20 8:52 PM – Response #2 (from me):
  It is indeed embarrassing, perhaps even the worst experience of my life,
  to have been swept by the Cubbies. You know what they say, even a blind
  squirrel finds a nut once in a while. But then again, if you look at the
  young season so far, even with the bullpen blowing our rotation’s leads,
  old man Ed staring down his golden years, and Juan
  en-cant-hit-anyone-in, we still have managed to win every series we’ve
  played, save the sweep in Chicago.

  You can’t really be pinning your hopes on the "Broke-arm Mountain" boys,
  Prior and Wood.  You just have to assume that they will be hurt, always
  and forever.  Any time they pitch, think of it as a bonus.  It’s no
  longer an issue of bad luck – it’s just bad management to not have
  traded at least one of them for a reliable (and still competent)
  starter.  Perhaps someday I’ll have to eat these words, but at this
  point, I’m not really worried.  And this is precisely the difference
  between Prior and Wood vs. Carpenter and Mulder.  They’re all amazing
  pitchers, but Moldy and Carp generally start pitching in April and stop
  in October.

  And, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, we do happen to have both Pujo and Carp
  on our team, so what would happen if we didn’t have them really is just
  pointless speculation at this point. But to jump on the bandwagon of
  pointless speculation, if you didn’t have Barrett (or even our beloved
  Mabry who has taught him how to hit) and old man Maddux, you could
  easily be sitting at 4 and 11. When comparing the difference makers so
  far this season, I will bet on Pujo and Carp over Bar rat and old Mad
  Max any day.  Zambo is a great pitcher, all-in-all the best the Cubbies
  have, at least until he gets a bad call, someone takes him deep, or a
  mouse farts; after that, his rage takes over and he starts throwing
  meatballs.  And while your old hall-of-famer has a pretty decent chance
  of beating our silver slugging #4 pitcher on the mound, I think Pujo,
  Rolen, and maybe even Jimmy Ed will have fun taking BP versus the horrid
  Rusch and second-string Williams.  I’ll take Soup Kitchen over these
  guys every day of the week.

  I really am sad to see that D. Lee is out for 2-3 months.  I don’t like
  to see any great player get injured and I didn’t want our victories this
  weekend to have an asterisk.  Tell your $11 million reliever, Scott
  Eyre, that forcing your best player to collide with a charging
  base-runner is not a good strategy for winning games.

I am genuinely sad to see D. Lee go down for 2-3 months. As much as I hate the Cubs, I do not hate the players or wish them
injury; especially not one as great and classy as D. Lee.  I respect
him for his talent on the field, his demeanor off the field, his
toughness (he’s never been on the DL before and this is his 10th year),
for playing the game right, and for his willingness to participate in
things like the WBC even though it offered nothing but the pride of
playing for his country.  It also upsets me that the Cubs will now have
ANOTHER excuse for being trounced by STL this weekend!

I wish him the best and hope that the Cubs can actually get a guy off of the DL for good.

I was perusing Obviously, You’re Not a Golfer: Wainwright and Hancock (which is worth reading) and the esteemed Mr. Leach was having some difficulty with trackbacks.  So I wrote this post as a reference and example of a trackback post.

Here is the official help on trackbacks; and here’s the skinny:

1. The original poster has to be accepting trackbacks and you need a Quickpost bookmark (which is handy anyway).  There is supposed to be another, easier way to do trackbacks (called AutoDiscovery) but it doesn’t seem to be operational yet.  Also, as far as I can tell at this time, you can only trackback to other MLBlogs (please correct me if I am wrong).
2. Navigate to the post you wish to supplement (the individual page, aka where you would read the comments).
3. Click the quickpost bookmark (should open in a pop-up window).
4. Write your post.
5. Find the "Select an entry to send a TrackBack pin to:" drop-down near the bottom of the page and select the target post.
6. Save
7. Your post should now appear in your blog as well as be listed as a trackback (additional reading) to the original post.

Any Q’s or if this doesn’t work, let me know!

Since I had so much fun yesterday and have nothing better to do today, I have again indulged in the wonders of photoshop.  Tonight, you get 2 for the price of 1!!  I apologize in advance for making Mulder look like Bronson Arroyo…

And in case you didn’t hear, Carpy pitched awesomely again but this time got the win.  Edmonds came through tonight, forcing me to eat my words from last weekend.  But I’ll admit, if Eddy continues to make me look stupid, I’ll be all the happier for it!  So here’s to Jimmy and making yours truly look like an idiot!  And how about DX hitting one out?  That was totally sweet!

And COMING SOON!! (this weekend): Cards vs Cubs II: Red Vengeance!!
After tasting defeat with an embarrassing sweep by the evil Cubbies, the Cards prepare for battle once again, this time on their turf.  The Cardinals will pit Agent Mulder, Sir Sidney, and Silver Slug vs Williams, Rusch, and Maddux.  Be sure to catch all the action this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on FSN and MLB TV!

Original PB images borrowed from: http://obsessed.simple-dreams.com/asyouwish