Dave Duncan

The All-Star Game Goes the NL Way

I wrote not too long ago about the San Francisco Giants' extraordinary presence at the All-Star Game, and how it was a perfect example of why the current format for baseball's midsummer classic is badly broken. Well, the game itself was played last night, and I have this to say: thank god that ... More >>

The Cards Open the Season in Style

The Cardinals opened the 2012 season last night, playing -- and winning -- the first official game in the Miami Marlins' brand new ballpark. It was a night of firsts, really. It was the first win for manager Mike Matheny. The first hit for Carlos Beltran in a Cardinal uniform. The first time a ... More >>

Dave Duncan Steps Down

​According to multiple reports from, one would assume, multiple sources, it appears Dave Duncan is stepping down from his post as the Cardinals pitching coach. When the team makes the official announcement it will mark the end of what is the longest current tenure in all of baseball, one which beg ... More >>

Cardinals Finalize Coaching Staff for 2012

commons.wikimedia.orgMark McGwire is one of five coaches from Tony La Russa's 2011 staff who will return next season under new manager Mike Matheny.​The Cardinals announced their full coaching staff for next season yesterday, putting to paper the group who will support Mike Matheny as he takes ove ... More >>

Handicapping the Cardinals' Managerial Search

The Cardinals appear to be entering the home stretch of their managerial race. ​The Cardinals have been conducting interviews and tossing around names in their search for a new manager, and it looks now as if they're likely entering the endgame portion of the process. I have to admit, while I ... More >>

The Jake Westbrook Blues

What? I like 80s wrestlers. Deal with it. ​It ain't great being Jake Westbrook right now. Hell, it isn't all that wonderful having to watch Jake Westbrook at the moment, either. In fact, I would say it might actually be a little worse having to watch him. After all, none of us are getting paid to ... More >>

Chris Carpenter and Pitch Count Panic

Okay, so maybe everyone was just scared to go tell Carp his night was over. ​So Chris Carpenter was, all in all, pretty brilliant last night. He shut the Orioles down, giving them just one run on seven hits and a walk, threw a complete game, and earned himself his third win of the season. Not a ba ... More >>

How to Ruin a Roster Without Even Trying

John Mozeliak, left, and Tony LaRussa celebrate their latest brilliant maneuver. ​​Cardinal management has really outdone themselves this time. I've actually been pleasantly surprised by the job Tony LaRussa and Company have done managing the 2011 team to this point, but this is just mind-numbin ... More >>

La Russa Now Diagnosed with Shingles; Will Miss Tonight's Game at Wrigley

​Doctors may have finally diagnosed the bizarre rash and infection plaguing Tony La Russa's forehead and right eye. Yesterday, the Cardinals manager visited the renowned Mayo Clinic where he was reportedly diagnosed with shingles. La Russa has been suffering from the ailment for at least four week ... More >>

Is The Cards' Bullpen Fixable?

Oh, Billy Mays. We still miss you. ​We all saw the disaster over the weekend in San Francisco. Don't pretend you didn't. The Cardinals' supposed closer, Ryan Franklin, blew two more saves, giving him three on the season in four tries. In both games, the Cards were a single out away from winning be ... More >>

Shit Colby Rasmus' Dad Says: The father of the St. Louis Cardinals phenom is never at a loss for words. But what he says might surprise you.

Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em: Think of the 2011 Redbirds as your emphysemic, three-pack-a-day uncle

K-Mac Keeps Rolling for Cardinals

Corvus brachyrhynchos, also known as the American Crow. I hear they're delicious broiled. ​Kyle McClellan is clearly gunning for me. He wants to make me look like a fool. He wants to destroy the last tattered vestiges of my once-glorious credibility. And as painful as it is for me to watch him do ... More >>

Cardinals Stuck in Routine: Rehire McGwire and Duncan for 2011

Will leftover buns score runs next season? Ehh.​Meet the new bosses, same as the old bosses. So it shall be in the Cardinal clubhouse again in 2011, as the club has agreed on contracts with pretty much the entire coaching staff, including Dave Duncan and Mark McGwire, the only two anyone real ... More >>

Five Keys to the Cardinals' Second Half

Hey, it's a key, it works. (Also a forgotten classic of power pop you should totally pick up if you ever see it like at a yard sale or something.) ​The second "half" of the baseball season kicks off for the Cardinals tonight (and I put "half" in quotes because technically we passed the halfw ... More >>

Rich Hill's Sinking Ship

boobalikes.comWhat? Oh, come on. That's a funny picture and you know it. ​It's looking more and more as if the Rich Hill Era is probably going to end before it begins here in St. Louis. Since Hill joined the team, I've been rooting for him to win the vacant fifth spot in the Cardinals' rotati ... More >>

Brad Pennies(TM) Make No Cents!

Spring training can't come soon enough for Unreal. Meantime, though, we've got our Brad "Penny" Penny pennies...Dave Duncan's got him a penny in his pocket!​

Rumor Roundup: Low Hanging Wang

squidworks.comTotally off-topic, but you should really check out this comic. It's pretty great. ​So apparently now the Cardinals are interested in possibly procuring the services of Chien-Ming Wang, late of the New York Yankees, to help fill in the back end of their 2010 rotation. Aside from ... More >>

The Penny Deal

​So the first real salvo of the Cardinals' offseason has been fired, as they signed Brad Penny to a one-year, $7.5 million deal which could be worth up to $9 million if he pitches 204 innings. (Incidentally, I would love to know how they came up with 204 innings as the benchmark. I wonder if it's ... More >>

Mac is Back! La Russa to Install Mark McGwire as Cardinals Hitting Coach

I thought I was still slumbering this morning when I opened up the paper to read that Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is expected to sign a new two-year deal with the club on the condition that the Redbirds also sign tainted slugger Mark McGwire as hitting coach. A triumphant return for Mr. McGwire? ... More >>

Tony La Russa Back for Another Go 'Round

Well, it looks as if Tony La Russa will be returning to manage the St. Louis Cardinals once again in 2010. He hasn't made any sort of official announcement as of yet, but all signs point to La Russa coming back for his 15th season wearing the Birds on the Bat. How do I feel about TLR being back ... More >>

Ryan Franklin vs. Matt Holliday: Playing the Blame Game

​So the question must eventually be asked, you know. I don't want to have to ask it, and I'm sure you probably don't want to have to try and answer, but the question will not just go away. So here goes. Who was really at fault for the Cardinals ninth-inning, two-out implosion Thursday night? ... More >>

NLDS Game One Recap: Dodgers 5, Cardinals 3

Okay, so it wasn't quite the start the Cardinals were hoping for. Okay, so maybe that isn't quite strong enough. ​Going into last night's game, the Cardinals should have been confident. Hell, even I was confident, and I am never, ever, ever confident when it comes to October baseball. Th ... More >>

By All That is Holy, Todd Wellemeyer Must Be Stopped

At this point, I honestly don't know who to beg, plead with, or pray to who might have some legitimate chance of ridding us of the curse of Todd Wellemeyer. I tried praying to God after Welley's start in Pittsburgh on the 12th of May, when he gave up seven runs in 4.1, but God seemed uninterested in ... More >>

Game Notes: Astros 4, Cardinals 3 08/27/09 -- An Ugly Loss

failblog.org​-- I hate Brian Moehler. A lot. It never fails to irritate me when the Cardinals get shut down by some journeyman pitcher, and it happens every single time they see Moehler. Somehow, he has still never lost to the Birds, despite being an incredibly mediocre pitcher overall. Hell, take ... More >>

Chris Duncan Still Being Conspired Against

Sadly, it looks as if Boston - or, more accurately, Pawtucket - just wasn't far enough for Chris Duncan to escape the shadowy conspiracy against him. Keep on humping, Chris, and keep reaching for that rainbow. ​Duncan has been released by the Boston Red Sox, less than a month after he was acq ... More >>

The Robert 'Kip' Wells Appreciation Thread

I would like to tell you all a story. It isn't a great story; hell, it's barely worth telling at all, but this here is my blog, and so I'ma gonna tell it. One of the many benefits of being a professional blogger (along with the lack of sunlight from hiding in the basement all day), is the exaggerate ... More >>

Game Notes: Cardinals 12, Metropolitans 7 04/08/2009 - The Return of the King

-- Albert Pujols is back, and the Mang is pissed. Oh yes, we all doubted, we all feared, we all wondered what was wrong. We found ourselves, in our darkest moments, questioning whether or not Albert was still the player we all thought he was. We looked to a new idol, to a man named Holliday, and we ... More >>

Circling the Drain

Does anybody want to tell me when this whole thing just went to hell? Remember when the Cardinals were a first-class organization, one that made smart moves, fielded competitive teams, and had everyone pulling in the same direction? Well, guess what, folks, the party, as they say, is over. ... More >>

Mark DeRosa Joins the Cardinals

When I heard last night that the Cardinals had acquired Mark DeRosa for Chris Perez and a player to be named later, I went through what I like to call a three part response. Part one: "Hey, we got DeRosa! Sweet! Good job getting a deal done, Mo. Glad to see them upgrade the team." Part two ... More >>

Game Notes 22nd June- Mets 6, Cards 4: Colonel Pumpkin, I Presume?

-This stuff of pinch-hitting for Colby Rasmus late in the game really needs to stop. Not because he's the Cardinals' best outfielder, or even because he needs to see left-handed pitching in order to learn how to hit it. No, it needs to stop because if Colby gets pinch-hit for, it means that we have ... More >>

Postgame Thoughts, 18th June: Double You. Tee. Eff.

-Okay, so Jo-El Pineiro crapped the bed quite mightily in the first inning, but he certainly had some help from the defense. Just an ugly inning all around, the sort that we really haven't seen too many of from the Cards lately. Typing that, I find myself a bit surprised, to be quite honest. It ... More >>

Nothing Shall Come From Something, Trade Again!

And so, just like that, the Blaine Boyer Experiment comes to an end here in St. Louis. Farewell, Monorail Man, we hardly knew ye. (And barely cared.) Somehow, it just isn't as cool as Rocket Man, is it? 

Maybe Duncan's Just Too Busy?

Adam Wainwright has discovered a flaw in his delivery, and will shortly be back to perennial Cy Young contender form. He and Chris Carpenter, papier mache ace extraordinaire, were looking at some video yesterday, and, wonder of wonders, they found out what was wrong with Adam's mechanics! I'm a ... More >>

Mark Worrell: A Legend in His Own Mind

Mark Worrell just can't seem to shut the hell up. Seems to have an awfully high opinion of himself, too. First, it was Dustin Mattison over at the Cardinals' site on the Scout network that he was complaining to; he was traded shortly afterward. Problem solved, right? He was upset that he didn't ... More >>

We've Been Booked

maplestreetpress.comThis RFT's own Aaron Schafer is a contributing writer in this year's Maple Street Press Cardinals Annual 2009, the pre-season guide to this year's St. Louis Cardinals.Schafer, who also writes for Viva El Birdos, joins VEB founder Larry Borowski, and Deadpsin founder and Cardinal ... More >>

Red-Light Cameras, Cocaine Addiction and Public Radio: 2008's 10 Most-Read Stories

(The eyes have it! Here are the Top 10 most-read stories online, which were published in 2008 by the RFT. After the jump, we also included a few stories that came back from the dead in '08 because of timely news -- earthquakes and college basketball among them. Below, RFT Editor Tom Finkel ... More >>

Dear Cardinals GM: Don't Waste Money on Brian Fuentes

Okay. I've screamed. I've begged. I've pleaded. Nothing seems to work. No matter how much I rail against the idea, the Cardinals and their general manager, Mr. John Mozeliak, seem hell-bent on signing Brian Fuentes. I just don't know what else to do. But you know what? I love the Cardinals too ... More >>

Anthony Reyes: Relieved to be Out of St. Louis

Kevin Slaten's Return: The Blowhard's Back!

Kevin Slaten's Head Is About to Explode: The Saga Continues

Kevin Slaten: A Nasty Man

A transcript of Slaten and Cards pitching coach Dave Duncan

Kevin Slaten's Head Is About to Explode: The exiled sports-talk radio ranter needs to get some things off his chest

Anthony Reyes Update

Requiem For a Prospect: Anthony Reyes, Now Traded to Cleveland, Used to be the Next Big Thing

Baseball Card of the Week: '78 Dennis Eckersley

The Cardinals: Where Do They Go From Here?

Hits Galore

Baseball blogs make a successful pitch for legitimacy.

The Littlest 'Birds

All of a sudden the Cardinals are embracing a youth movement.

Best Pro Coach

Tony La Russa