Houston Astros

The Redbird Playoff Report: September 25, 2012

I like to put up misleading headlines like the one above sometimes; the sort that make you think whatever random crap I'm about to spew out is part of some continuing, regular feature that maybe you've missed. Redbird Playoff Report? Is that a thing, like a series of columns he's done tracking the C ... More >>

Cards Finish Off Sweep of Astros; Gain Real Breathing Room

It may not have been the prettiest game any of us have ever seen -- or the prettiest the Cardinals have played -- but it got the job done. The Cards finished off a three game sweep of the Houston Astros yesterday at Busch Stadium behind a shaky-but-effective Jaime Garcia pitching performance an ... More >>

The Cards Come Home Looking for Some Breathing Room

So, yeah, the Cardinals suck on the road. I mean, like, really suck. Like, dude, they suck. Seriously. By the way, yes, that English degree is totally paying off for me in a big way. Totally. Like, awesomely big time. My degree is as sweet as the Birds are suck on the road. See how I tied that ... More >>

The Cardinals' Offensively Awesome Offense

So the Cardinals actually managed to finish off the sweep of the Houston Astros yesterday. I have to admit, I'm a little surprised they pulled it off. Not because the Astros are a particularly tough test; they are far and away the worst team in baseball, and the fact Jeff Luhnow has decided to ... More >>

The Cards Take Control of Their Destiny

With their 4-2 win over the Houston Astros last night (and a little help from the San Diego Padres, who finished up a three game sweep of the Pirates earlier in the day), the Cardinals moved half a game ahead of Pittsburgh, into sole possession of the second National League Wild Card spot. This ... More >>

The Westbrook Report

Hey, you know who's been really good lately -- actually, he's been pretty damned good for most of the season -- and I haven't given nearly enough credit to? Jake Westbrook, that's who. The reason I haven't given him much credit is simple: I still kind of don't believe in him. I know, I know; it ... More >>

Cards Shut Out Houston; Adam Wainwright Does a Thing (Again)

What the Cardinals did last night was exactly what they needed to do. Now, if they can just remember that feeling and do that same thing a couple dozen more times, we might be in business. The Cards were playing the Houston Astros, the worst team in baseball. Unfortunately, the Astros being the ... More >>

Tyler Leaves Town

The Tyler Greene Era, circa 2009-2012, has officially come to an end in St. Louis. The enigmatic infielder was traded to the Houston Astros earlier today in exchange for a player to be named later, which in baseball parlance is code for, "We really couldn't give a shit less what we get for the ... More >>

Moving Time For the Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals, as of right this moment, the morning of the 29th of June in the Year of Our Lord 2012, right around twenty after nine Central Daylight Time, are a third-place team. That's kind of depressing, isn't it? Particularly after the blazing hot start to this season, I can't imagine ... More >>

The Time for Roy is Now

John Mozeliak should be on the phone right now to Roy Oswalt. And I'll tell you why. The St. Louis Cardinals scored nine runs last night. It was a beautiful offensive performance, just the kind of beating a team of this talent level should regularly put on pitchers the caliber of one Joe Blanto ... More >>

The Best -- And Worst -- Of Baseball Broadcasting

​The noted sabermetric site Fangraphs recently did something a little unusual for such a hardcore stat-oriented website. They ranked baseball's television broadcasting teams. And while I might have expected them to come up with a statistic or formula to express the quality -- or lack thereof -- of ... More >>

Roy Oswalt: The Dream That Just Won't Die

​​Oswalt wearing the uniform of his last team, the Phillies. I always thought those two were just a terrible fit for each other. ​I've been very skeptical of the Cardinals and Roy Oswalt as a match for quite some time now. It's not that I don't think Oswalt would be a really nice add for the R ... More >>

Jeff Luhnow: Cardinals Lose Their Minor League Architect

Jeff Luhnow, future Baseball Executive of the Year award winner for turning around the Houston Astros' fortunes. ​Amidst all the hooplah and hand-wringing of waiting for Albert Pujols to make up his effing mind about just how much money is enough, there's another story unfolding for the Cardinals ... More >>

A Brief History of the Game Six Miracle

Edmonds, the man who brought us a miracle in 2004, then gave us David Freese on his way out the door. ​On the 20th of October, 2004, Jim Edmonds hit a walkoff home run in game six of the National League Championship Series against the Houston Astros. Bottom of the twelfth, Albert Pujols stand ... More >>

Last Night's Cardinals Game Breaks Viewership Record

​The Cardinals' improbable entrance into the playoffs yesterday wasn't just one for the MLB record books. It was also a record-setting day for St. Louis television. At the risk of stepping on Dan Caesar's toes, Fox Sports Midwest just tweeted Daily RFT to report the news: Yesterday's Cardinals-Ast ... More >>

Cardinals Earn Dubious Distinction: Hit Into Most Double Plays in NL History

​Well, folks, it finally happened. The Cardinals last night wrote themselves into the record books. Regardless of whether the Redbirds squeak out a wild-card birth over the next two days, the 2011 season will live in infamy. Last night, en route to a soul-crushing 5-4 extra innings loss to th ... More >>

Cards Are Swept Out of First Place by The Brewers -- So What Now?

The Cards ran into one of these over the weekend. There were no survivors. ​It was, to put it lightly, a bad weekend to be a Cardinals fan. The Redbirds headed into Milwaukee up 2.5 games in the divisional race after taking 2 of 3 from the Astros. Three days later, the Cards limped out of Miller P ... More >>

Horrible Lady Steals Foul Ball from Kid at Cards Game

And now, for the worst thing floating around the Intertubes today. This footage was taken in Houston at last night's meeting between the Astros and Cardinals. Oof. She just seals her own horribleness with the high-five at the end, doncha think? Poor lil ginger.

Reason to Rejoice: Cardinals' Pre-Season Begins Today

Crocus Cardinals = Spring around the corner.​With temperatures plunging back into the 30s today we here at Daily RFT were desperate for some kind of sign that this miserable winter will one day end. We think we've found it. Just as the first crocus blooms suggest the thawing of the spring, so too ... More >>

Roy Oswalt: The Deal That Just Won't Die

commons.wikimedia.org​So after a full week and a half of serious, intense speculation, discussion, and coverage, the Roy-Oswalt-to-the-Cardinals trade is...right about where it was a week and a half ago. A quick rundown of the pertinent facts: The Houston Astros want to move Roy Oswalt.  ... More >>

2010 MLB Draft: A Mock Draft You Can Set Your Watch To

It's Christmas in June! ​Finally, Draft Day is here, and I'm as giddy as a small child the day before Christmas, shaking all the packages and trying to figure out what might be in that really big one with my name on it. Unfortunately, no amount of shaking or clever examination of the boxes is goin ... More >>

Free Parking Downtown For Opening Day

Image viaHouston's Metrolink is for oranges only.​There are two reasons Busch Stadium ought to be temporarily renamed Meter Maid Park in honor of the Cardinals home opener against Houston this afternoon.For starters, the Astros are winless at their home stadium, Minute Maid Park. Then again their ... More >>

Cards vs. Astros

Lessons From a Busted Bracket

​Well, at least I had Duke. I suppose one could put that squarely in the Good News column. Kind of sparse column, but not entirely empty. The Bad News column, on the other hand, that bitch is full. Overflowing, even. Going into the NCAA Tournament this year, I felt really, really good ab ... More >>

Morgan Ensberg and The Night the Lights Went Out for Lidge

​From the Twitter of Rob Neyer by way of Matthew Leach, we have a real blast from the past: Morgan Ensberg, former Houston Astros' third baseman, discussing Albert Pujols' shot in the 2005 NLCS. Apparently Ensberg was positioned wrong all those years ago, and it was that poor positioning that ... More >>

What the Hell are the Astros Thinking?

I really, really don't get it. The Houston Astros just keep making these bizarre decisions, and I've finally given up trying to figure it all out. The Lance Berkman Fan Club isn't happy about this post, but they feel it needs to be said. ​The most recent onslaught of craziness came just last ... 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 >>

Ten Memorable Moments and Five to Forget at Busch Stadium II

This Bird's For Your

The Houston Astros are Trying to Drive me Insane

Stupid goddamned Houston Astros. Wikipedia.orgBerkman before his "Fat Elvis" period, when he was known as "Pudgy Elvis."Normally, I have a pretty good relationship with the Houston Astros. I hate Astros players, I hate their crazy owner, and I hate that glorified amusement park they call a stad ... More >>

Ten of Baseball's Unforgettable Wild Card Teams

It Hurts to Say It: The Case for Lance Berkman for MVP

Izturis' Triple Tells Us of the '08 Cardinals

Cards Blog: A Houston Rivalry's Backe

Cards Blog: A Houston Rivalry's Backe

Sports Blog: 2008 Major League Baseball Draft Picks

Sports Blog: 2008 Major League Baseball Draft Picks

Cards Blog: The Colossus Awakens

Cards Blog: The Colossus Awakens

Cards Blog: Reversing the Curse (Hopefully)

Cards Blog: Nats Go Down, Cubs Fans Are Primed

Lance Berkman Is Fat Elvis: A Houston Astros Primer

Lance Berkman Is Fat Elvis: A Houston Astros Primer

Cards Blog: Nats Go Down, Cubs Fans Are Primed

Which Cardinal Has the Longest Dinger?

Which Cardinal Has the Longest Dinger?

Ask a Negro Leaguer Column

Week of June 21, 2006

Getting What You Don't Pay For

Success ruins some of baseball owners' most tearful tales

He Writes a Book, He Broadcasts Games, He Raises Money for Charity, He Changes Lyrics

That Bob Costas guy really gets around

Trauma Central

Even with broken wings, the Cardinals can still fly in their weak and injury-plagued division