It’s Just A Game… Right?

To baseball fans, the rivalry between the Chicago Cubs and the St Louis Cardinals is second to none. Even the years that the Cubs just could not seem to get it together on the field, playing the Cardinals was like being in the World Series for their fans. The Cardinals have been one of the most consistent teams in baseball since the year 2000 and have brought home two World Series victories in 2006 and in 2011. It would appear; they built a program in St Louis that works year in and year out.

In 2003, the Cubbies made their best run in recent years by making it to National League Championship Series (NLCS). They succumbed to the Florida Marlins in game seven of that series. Game six was extraordinarily unfortunate for one lonely fan by the name of Steve Bartman, who was in the wrong seat at the wrong time. Bartman reached for a pop out and prevented Moises Alou from catching the second out in the eighth inning of Game 6 of the NLCS, with Chicago ahead 3–0 and holding a 3 games to 2 lead in the best of seven series. The Cubs never rebounded from the Bartman incident and neither did Mr. Bartman.

That is, until last year.  These two clubs had never faced each other in postseason play and one thing was absolutely positive last year, the Cubs wanted the Cardinals, and the Cardinals wanted the Cubs. It seemed like playoff baseball all throughout the month of September due to the intense play of the Cubs, the Cardinals, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs beat the Pirates in a one game, winner take all playoff game to face their longtime nemesis, the St Louis Cardinals. You could cut the tension with a knife heading into and during that series.

The Cubs, for the first time in their history, got the better of the Cardinals and beat them three games to one in the National League Divisional Series (NLDS). There were definitely some heated moments in the series, but after all, would you expect anything less form these two rivals? The celebration at Wrigley Field that the players, the coaches, and most of all, their fans coveted for so long, had finally arrived.  They were not only going to play in NLCS for the first time since 2003, they steam rolled their arch rival to get there. They knew going into that series that they had great shot at beating the Cardinals and it looks like they were correct. It was just a young group of ball players out there having a blast.

However, the Cardinals were not about to back down. They knew they had injuries to key players like Yadier Molina (thumb), Matt Holliday (quad), and Randal Grichuk (arm), and Carlos Martinez (arm). But in their eyes, they had been dealing with major injuries to their starters all year. On April 26th, Adam Wainwright went down just three weeks into the season and on May 26th, Matt Adams joined him on the Disabled List. This was also a ball club that had lost a family member and teammate in Oscar Taveras on October 26, 2014. The team had the offseason to mourn the loss of their friend and future star, but a cloud was still hanging over the organization.  Players like Carlos Martinez, who grew up with Taveras, were still shaken when returning to the field not having him out there. Although having Jason Hayward helped fill the hole of their missing teammate, it still wasn’t OT.

Both, the Cardinals and the Cubs, came up short of their ultimate goal of winning the World Series last year. The Cubs went on to play the New York Mets who happened to have a one man wrecking crew in the middle of the lineup named Daniel Murphy. He hit .529, cranked four bombs, and had 22 total bases against the Cubs pitching in a four game sweep of the North Siders. One would think that swinging a hot bat like that, they would have just walked him. Joe Madden out maneuvered Mike Matheny in the NLDS in several situations, but it was the opinion of many Chicago fans the he made the wrong choice in not pitching around Murphy in the NLCS. The club suffered greatly from the loss of Addison Russell in the NLCS from a hamstring injury. The Cubs bats were silenced against the Mets pitching staff, scoring just eight runs in four games. The Mets however, seemed to be right at home teeing off against the Cubs pitching, scoring 21 runs in those four games.

 

The focus now, again goes to getting back to the post season and winning the World Series. The Cardinals will be looking for bounce back years from Matt Holliday, Matt Adams, and Adam Wainwright. The Cards had to sign Pitcher Mike Leake after Lance Lynn was lost for the 2016 season after needing Tommy John surgery. The Cubs know they have more work to do to get to the World Series so they made the most noise this off season by signing former Cardinals Jason Heyward and John Lackey. The signing of Ben Zobrist was no big surprise to people who are familiar with Joe Maddon. Zobrist played for Maddon in Tampa Bay from 2006-2014 so the fit just made sense. The Cardinals General Manager, John Mozeliak, remains steadfast in his opinion that the Cardinals will be contending once again this year. “For us, our success has really come from our pipeline, and I think we’re really going to lean on that.”

After all that action, there’s only one thing left to do. Grab your glove, lace up your cleats, and play better than the other team. The equation is quite simple, just go play fundamental baseball and win. The Cubs are vastly improved from where they were at just two short years ago. And as for the Cardinals, well, they will still be the Cardinals. It seems that everyone in the Midwest is rearing to go again already, so by all means boys… Play Ball!

“BOO-YAH!”

Just over a year ago, on January 4th, 2015, the world lost an incredible man, father, and talent. My favorite TV personality has been Stuart Scott since he joined ESPN in 1993. I remember watching him everyday and thinking to myself, “I want to be that good someday”. He brought a new style to the sports world in his pop culture phrases, such as “Boo-Yah!”, and “Cool as the other side of the pillow”. For the first time in my life, I actually shed a tear when a celebrity died. I found it odd to do so, but then all those years of Stu went running through my mind. Even though I had never met him, it was like I had lost a friend. He taught people to be bold and to change the game when your name gets called. He faced a higher amount of criticism for the way he reported the news due to being African American. Stuart received hate mail because people weren’t fond of his hip hop style in which he delivered his stories. All that did was drive a man that was already extremely driven. I heard him speak once of Jackie Robinson and what he meant to not just the game of baseball, but for all of humanity. Stu remained steadfast in his reporting and revolutionized the media much like Jackie did for baseball. He broke down color barriers just by being himself, a great person. For that, I have always and will always admire him. I could try to sum up what Stu meant in words, but no words come close to what he meant to this world. So I will just leave you with this, “When you die that does not mean you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live. So live, live. Fight like hell. And when you get too tired to fight, then lay down and rest and let somebody else fight for you”.  Rest In Peace SS

The Jason Heyward Acquisition

Let me begin by saying, kudos to Chicago Cubs for acquiring the best defensive right fielder in the game currently with Jason Heyward. Like him or not, the stats don’t lie, he is a beast with his glove and his arm.

Heyward signed a $184 million contract for the North Siders this offseason, and is reportedly willing to switch to Center Field if the club calls upon him to do so. The Cubs are looking to place JH next to Kyle Schwarber, who makes playing the outfield quite the adventure, and not in a good way unfortunately for them. Schwarber has a monster of a bat, but his fielding has much to be desired. The 26 year old Heyward ranks eighth amongst position players in wins above replacement; His defensive rating of 61.9 is third highest among all outfielders and best among right fielders by a long shot. Since coming into the league in 2010 he has dazzled teams by his glove work, but his bat, until last year with the Cardinals, was yet to be seen. He played well in St Louis with a batting line of .293/.346/.439. One would think that definitely helped him become such a high value target on the market.

Here’s where it all went south for Cardinal Fans. Heyward never wanted to be traded from the Atlanta Braves to the Cardinals in first place. He grew up down there and the fans adored him. He simply went where he was told to go play. When traded to the Cardinals, he stated, “This is a business. I was definitely open to long-term, but that conversation never took place”.  So when Heyward signed with the Cubs, the Cardinal fans took it quite personal due to giving up one of their favorite up and coming pitchers in Shelby Miller. What made me, as a Cardinals fan, disappointed in my fan base for the first time on my 35 years of life, was the reaction from some of the St Louis “fans”. There were comments on Heywards social media everywhere that I can not, nor will I ever repeat. I would think we all agree, it was hard to read some of the comments from the “Best Fans in Baseball”.

At the end of the day, baseball is a business, just like anything else. It’s about where the players want to be and how much they choose to get paid for the most part. Yes, Heyward took less from the Cubs to go to Chicago, but, after the way the St Louis fans crucified him, it was made pretty clear why he never felt welcome there to begin with.

Opening Day

So, here we are 79 days away from opening day already. With an off season filled with just as much drama and excitement as the players being on the field, there is still much to be done in preparation for the upcoming 162 games of action we are all looking forward to. From major players like, Jason Heyward switching between arch-rivals  (pun intended there) to big name signings like, Alex Gordon, who will remain the Kansas City Golden Boy. We now look to a Colorado outfield that is going to leave an odd man out.

Who stays?

Who goes?

The biggest question yet, where do they go?  The Chicago Cubs have so far made the biggest splash in a huge free agent market to shore up holes that need to be filled, in what looks to be a knock down drag out season long battle between themselves and the St Louis Cardinals for NL Central supremacy. You could almost feel the tide turn when Jason Heyward signed with the north siders. However, the Cardinals remain adamant they’re happy with what they have returning to the field this year. It would seem that, everyone located outside of Pittsburgh has already forgotten where they finished last year and has given the NL Central title to either the Cubs or the Cardinals. Given the way the Bucs have played the last couple seasons, they look to prove themselves and turn the doubters into believers. Make no mistake, this is going to be a three horse race to the end of the year.

There are still some big names floating around on the free agent market like Justin Upton, Chris Davis, Yoenis Cespedes, and Dexter Fowler who could assuredly help a team in search of a bat. The Oriole’s reportedly have an interest in Cespedes as reported earlier today, but for now, let’s take the White Sox, for example, who struggled mightily for run support last year, and finished far under any expectations they had set for themselves. A bat like Chris Davis to serve as Designated Hitter would fill a gaping hole in their line up. Even after the signing of Todd Frazier, White Sox fans are still nowhere near happy… Especially if you compare what the Sox have done this off season, to what the Cubs have done. Simply put… They want a home run hitting machine in their lineup and they want one now. Or head out west to an Oakland A’s team, who seems to be feast or famine year in and year out. There are a couple of teams that baffle me still. The Cincinnati Reds and the Milwaukee Brewers with their all around lack of support for their clubs. Not from the fans, but from their ownership. Cincinnati seems to be willing to give away all their talent to rebuild while the Brew Crew seems to just give away their talent period. The Brewers did make signings like Chris Carter and Kirk Nieuwenhuis and have a farm system that is up and coming, but they have yet to put a quality product on the field since Ryan Braun got suspended for PED’s. With so many potential fits for these remaining free agents, it’s hard to say what will happen in the coming days of the off season. One thing is for sure though, there will be plenty of action in regards to signings and trades. Heck, the Cardinals might even realize that they need to sign another bat since the Cubs played T Ball off of their pitching in the postseason last year. As we all know, the game isn’t played on paper, and the Cardinals found out first hand last post season what the Cubs are capable of. The Cubs are a team with no lack of power, and let’s face it, Joe Maddon took Mike Matheny to the wood shed last October. Obviously, the Birds on the Bat need more bat to stay ahead of the race in the NL Central; The Cardinals averaged just four runs per game last year and that was with Jason Hayward in STL still. Now let’s just sit back and see what unfolds with the remaining big names on the market and enjoy the drama.