Tagged: Jim Edmonds

Game Haiku – 08/08/08 – Cubs 3, Cardinals 2

A loss is a bit
less painful, when my old crush
Jim knocks two homers.

Cubs Haikuist wants
a war.  I will battle with
all 17 guns.

New Year, New Team

"We change, whether we like it or not"

      — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy New Year everybody!  I am personally delighted to see 2007 end, although I can’t say I’m overly enthused about the Cardinals’ prospects for 2008.  I’ll try to keep an open mind but I’m going to be bitter for a while over Jim Edmonds being traded.  I mean, I had to modify the description of my blog to delete his name – that signifies a big, hard change. 

I do wish Jim the best with the Padres, and I know, realistically, his career was ebbing. But I will miss the acrobatic catches and the clutch hits, and, well, I’ll just miss looking at him. I also think we should have been able to get something more for him. 

I’ll miss So Taguchi and his Japanese media entourage.  I’ll really miss the Little Eckstein That Could.  It seems there will be a lot of new Cardinals to get used this year, and I am sure there are more deals on the horizon. 

Well, I’ll try to be optimistic about things and get over losing Jim.  I’ll be visiting St. Louis to attend the Winter Warm Up in a couple weeks, so that should inspire me. 

Thanks to Jim, David, and So for all the great Cardinal memories, and good luck with your new teams!

A Wild One at Wrigley

Wow, what an exciting game today!  It reminded me of the playoffs last year – when the Cards had a "never say die" attitude.  They just kept coming back today and eked out the victory.  It sure feels good to actually win a series at Wrigley for a change. 

Almost everyone contributed on offense today, which was necessary since Wainwright gave up 7 runs (can’t totally blame him though…the wind was not his friend).  It was great to see Edmonds get his first homer.  Kennedy ripped a double that brought in 2 runs. Duncan hit a homer. Pujols hit the game-winning 3 run homer in the 10th.  But I’d have to give star of the game honors to Scott Rolen who went 5 for 6, a new career best for him. 

The Cards handed the ball to Izzy with a 2-run lead in the 9th, but he allowed the Cubs to tie the game.  I won’t sound the alarm bells on Izzy for that one – the Cubs scored those runs on a crazy pop up that appeared to be foul then drifted back into play and just out of reach of several Wilson, Miles, and Pujols who were all giving chase. 

The Cubs broadcasters pointed out something curious:  The Cards have scored 10 runs or more for the 3rd consecutive Sunday. 

Sunday, Aprl 8 – 10 runs in 1 game
April 9 – 14 – 9 runs in 4 games

Sunday, April 15 – 10 runs in 1 game
April 16 – 23 – 12 runs in 6 games

Let’s hope we can break the pattern and keep the run production going strong this week. 

Waiting for Edmonds

Today’s Post-Dispatch included a Jim Edmonds interview that was less-than-encouraging.  Aren’t Monday mornings hard enough without having to read about Jim saying that he probably won’t be ready for opening day?  Well, my initial gloom has turned to acceptance.  It’s better for Jim and for the Cards if he takes a little more time rather than risk another injury by rushing things.  This news definitely leaves some open questions about the starting lineup for the outfield, especially since we’ve yet to see Juan Encarnacion back in action (any day now, they say). 

On the positive note, Braden Looper pitched 4 scoreless innings today, and Rick Ankiel broked out of a mini-slump with a homer and a double.  Tony has always had faith in him – who knows, with these pesky outfielder injuries he may be testing that faith in Ankiel sooner than he planned.

Oh, and I had dinner at Ozzie’s.  Review coming soon.

Mulder – healed / Jimmy – bad wheel / McGwire – lacks appeal

There’s been enough news this week to wake me from my blogging slumber. 

First, we found out that Edmonds is having foot surgery which will likely make him unavailable for spring training.  They except he’ll be good to go for opening day. Please Hammer Toe, don’t hurt him! 

Yesterday Mark McGwire fell well short of the votes he’d need to gain access to the Hall of Fame. This is not really a surprise, and I’m really not sure how I feel about it.  His weasly court testimony is hard to ignore, but it’s also hard to forget the great memories he gave us, particularly during that magical Maris-hunting summer.  It will be interesting to see how future votes go.  Will people forgive and forget? Will a revelation such as "everybody was doing it" change opinions? Would a confession and plea for forgiveness help or hurt?  For what it’s worth, I would have voted for him, but I think my ballot must have gotten lost in the mail. 

Today it was announced that Mark Mulder is a Cardinal again, with a $13 million 2-year deal.  If he’s really healthy, this is good news, but I can’t get too excited about it until I see some evidence. 

Jimmy Ballgame Will Be Back!

The news I’ve been hoping for all year finally came – The Cards have signed Jim Edmonds to a 2-year deal worth $19 mill!  Of course, injuries caused Jim to have a sub-par season, but his leadership is worth a lot to this team and his good looks alone are worth the money for this and many other female Cards fans.  Even when he’s not hitting, his presence in center field makes me feel more confident. He really came through in the post-season with key hits and catches, plus he played courageously, having to get shots in his foot before every game. He’s definitely a Cardinal icon and deserves the chance to finish his career with the team (not that he’ll necessarily be finished at 38…as Asia would say, only time will tell). 

Let’s hope this is the first of many smart decisions that Walt & Co. make during this off-season.

Out of the Shadows

Woohoo!  Cards win! The team that most thought shouldn’t be in the playoffs at all now takes a commanding lead in this division series.  And who would have predicted Weaver would lead the Cards in a shut-out victory?  He looked awesome, and the bullpen came through, too.  I wasn’t sure about Tony’s choice to take Johnson out when he was dominating in the 8th, but it worked out. Wainwright was steller in the 9th.  Not a ton of offense but Pujols and Edmonds came through when we needed them. 

One note of annoyance:  could Chris Berman be any more biased toward San Diego?  It’s been irritating watching him call these games as his voice raises several octaves anytime it looks like the Padres might score.  I checked his bio and it says he lives in CT so not sure why he’s behind the Padres. 

Here’s hoping Sup can finish things off on Saturday, and, if not, we know we’ve got Carp ready to go on Sunday.  I really hope I don’t get to use my Game 5 tickets.