Matt Holliday

Adrenaline Boost: Music is more than a soundtrack for sports

The St. Louis Cardinals: Firmly in the 'Have-Nots'

The Los Angeles Dodgers just sent a message to the rest of baseball, and that message is that the big, bigger, biggest money in baseball is no longer confined to the East Coast axis of evil. The Dodgers are currently engaged in the late stages of negotiating an enormous new television deal, wit ... More >>

Mark McGwire Gamble Paid Off For Cardinals; Will Successor Prove The Same?

So apparently it's become like a thing now for Cardinals sluggers to leave the team in the offseason and head for Southern California. Last year it was Albert Pujols, aka the Second Greatest Cardinal (and who will never, ever reach number one on that list), leaving the Redbirds and taking his talent ... 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 Cardinals Run a Marathon -- And Come in Second

It took 19 innings, but the Cardinals managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the end. It was, in a very special way, the perfect version of a 2012 Cards game. Coming into this latest series against the Pittsburgh Pirates -- aka the team the Cards are chasing in the standings -- th ... More >>

Olympics 2012: Theme Songs for Michael Phelps, Hope Solo, Usain Bolt and More

Music is becoming an increasingly personalized art form. Smart phones are programmed to play a favorite song as a ring tone, or to play a song meant to be associated with specific callers in one's contact list. I can't say for certain, but I have to imagine many husbands have "Ball and Chain" by Soc ... More >>

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 >>

Cy Young, MVP Predictions for 2012 MLB

You know, as a semi-professional sportswriter there are a few things toward which I am genetically predisposed. (Why semi-professional? Because I do get paid, but my talent and behavior are both, well, somewhat short of what is usually termed professionalism.) I love to hear myself talk, for one thi ... More >>

Game 5: Mid-Season Cardinals Come Home to Roost

No! Not now. Not the 10-15 June Cardinals.​Remember mid-season when the sputtering St. Louis Cardinals took two steps backward for every one step forward? Remember, particularly, that week-long stretch in June when the Redbirds dropped seven in a row? Well, sports fans, that team has returned to t ... More >>

The Bullpen Phone, and Why It Doesn't Matter

​So apparently the bullpen phone is a problem. Because, you know, the Cards can't seem to get the right reliever up at kind of a big moment. As far as problems go, though, the bullpen phone isn't even close to the biggest one the Cardinals had last night. The fact the bullpen shenanigans of n ... More >>

Four Cardinals Starters Batting Sub-200 Through Series

If this image looks like it came from an E-D website, there's good reason for that.​First of all, Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, yesterday was not the colossal St. Louis sports failure that you made it out to be during last night's World Series broadcast. No one in their right mind here in St. Louis t ... More >>

An Apology to Jaime Garcia, And Then a Bunch of Criticism

I'm sorry, Jaime. Really. Truly.​Dear Jaime, I am very, very sorry for ever doubting you. I'm sorry for thinking you a head case, for calling you a blow-up waiting to happen. I'm sorry I thought you were probably worn down after throwing close to 50 more innings this season than you ever had ... More >>

5 Keys to Cardinals' Game 3 Win in NLCS

The rally towels were out in force last night.​Unlike Chris Carpenter's last start, when he carried the Cardinals in a 1-0 shutout over the Phillies to advance to the NLCS, the clubhouse ace would require a team effort last night. He got it in a big first inning of production from Redbird batters ... More >>

Cardinals Pull Even with Brewers In a Blowout

Statue of Lance Lynn currently being proposed for addition to the collection outside Busch Stadium. ​It's probably going to be overlooked, considering the final score of the game last night, but I think Lance Lynn may very well have saved the Cards' collective bacon. He entered the game with the s ... 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 >>

Tonight: The Cardinals' Last Stand

General George Custer, moments before telling one of his men, a Lieutenant Patterson, he had, "Complete faith you can lead us to victory over these Algonquin sunsabitches."​Things have not been going all that well for the Cardinals lately. What's that, you say? You expected an expletive-laced ... More >>

Pujols in Splint with Fractured Forearm; Won't Play For 4 to 6 Weeks

In this advertisement photo, Pujols shows off his healthy left forearm.​Damn! Right after the Cardinals ended a seven-game slide by winning two in a row, the team announced today that Albert Pujols will miss four to six weeks with a fractured forearm. The first baseman suffered the injury to his l ... More >>

Reviewing the Cards' Draft -- Rounds 2-5

​Two down, one to go. The MLB draft proceeded on through round 20 yesterday, giving the Cardinals ample chance to add talent to their farm system, as well as frustrate and annoy fans and easily-baited internet columnists alike. The final 30 rounds will happen today, with very few of the players at ... More >>

Ten Best Food Events this Weekend: June 3-5

commons.wikimedia.orgMatt Holliday and a bottle of wine pair nicely in a weekend event. ​It's been a busy week. Why not kick back and unwind with some food and live music at events such as Harvest Sessions at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market or the Second Annual Green Tie Affair at The Green Ce ... More >>

Kyle McClellan to Hit the DL; Who Takes His Turn?

The Cardinals' current roster. ​It looks like Kyle McClellan is headed for the disabled list. He's scheduled to have an MRI on his hip today, and all indications are that he'll be placed on the DL shortly afterward. K-Mac was pulled from his last start with discomfort in the joint, and it's a ... More >>

Cardinals On Pace To Shatter MLB Record for Hitting Into Double Plays

Would you believe this was the cleanest image I could find to go along with this article? ​No, the DP Blues is not what an adult film starlet gets after a particularly taxing week at work. The DP Blues is what the Cardinals have right now, and have had ever since Albert Pujols grounded into not on ... More >>

5 Lessons From the Cardinals' First Three Games

All right, listen up, kids. This moderately attractive and no doubt long-dead teacher from Pleasantville is gonna learn you up reeeaal nice. ​One series in the can, god only knows how many more to go in the baseball season. Unfortunately, 2011 hasn't exactly begun in stellar fashion for the Redbir ... More >>

Matt Holliday Lost to Appendicitis

Holliday, moments before the appendectomy caught up with him. ​The 2011 baseball season is exactly one game old. So far, here's the good news: David Freese's ankles have yet to catch on fire, Colby Rasmus looked good in game one, and Albert Pujols should be significantly more affordable after a se ... More >>

Music to Swing To: An at-bat tune can tell you a lot about a player

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 >>

Why We Should All Be Glad Matt Holliday Bombed

commons.wikimedia.orgSee, even Pujols is happy with Holliday.​I have to admit, I was sort of rooting against Matt Holliday in last night's Home Run Derby. Not in a "I hope you fail because I hate you, you giant blocky-headed freak" kind of way, mind you. No, more in a "Please Jeebus, don't let thi ... More >>

Albert Pujols: The Weight of Being The Mang

Remember that pose?​Another series, another bad loss trying to go for a sweep. It would be funny if it weren't so frustrating. The deciding moment of the game yesterday was a telling one, a moment that for me summed up nearly everything that's been wrong with this season. It was the bottom of ... More >>

St. Louis Cardinals Twitter Accounts You Should Follow

​Keep up on the latest 140-character bursts of news, humor and statistics related to the St. Louis Cardinals on Twitter with this list of accounts you should follow, curated by the RFT staff. The tweeters below are all real people with opinions and we've excluded those Twitter accounts that simply ... More >>

Cardinals Offense: The One That Got Away

Up yours, marlin. ​Well, at least the Reds lost too. Of course, the fact Cincinnati was unable to come back against the Braves just means the Cardinals missed a golden opportunity to retake their rightful place at the top of the NL Central. So maybe the Reds losing should go under the 'piling ... More >>

Is McGwire to Blame for Cardinals' Lack of Offensive? The Numbers Don't Suggest It

So a little over a month into the season, the Cardinals' pitching, particularly the starting pitching, has been absolutely exquisite, while the offense has been, um, let's see...what's the opposite of exquisite? Maybe not the opposite, actually; how about something that's well short of exquisite but ... More >>

The Philadelphia Story: A Progress Report One Month In

​It was supposed to be the Cardinals' measuring stick for the young season, this trip to Philadelphia. Up until now the Cards had looked like the 700-pound red gorilla of old, stomping on opponents left and right and running up a big lead over the rest of a mediocre division. Going to Philly, thou ... More >>

Roster Roulette: The 2010 Cardinals team includes some serious question marks

The Holliday Deal

So the Cardinals got their man after all. ​I have to admit, I wasn't all that optimistic the Cards would be able to get a deal done with Matt Holliday, up until just the past couple weeks or so. The money, the years, the Boras Factor, all of it just seemed to me to be fighting against the Leg ... 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 >>

The Year of the Collapsing Closer

​When people look back at the Yankees' 2009 World Series Championship (it's going to happen, sadly; get used to the idea), there will be talk of Alex Rodriguez finally breaking through and becoming the clutch genius we all knew he had locked away inside him, or Derek Jeter leading the Yanks to the ... More >>

Rams Snatch Defeat From the Jaws Of Victory Against Vikings

Wikimedia Commons​As miserable as the past seven days have been in the St. Louis sporting world, local fans can take solace in the fact that it could be a hell of a lot worse.Take Seattle and their unfathomably depressing 2008: the Mariners lost 101 games, the Seahawks went 4-12, the once-proud Un ... More >>

Dodgers Fan Makes Atrocious Holliday Song of His Own

​Remember those parodies of Green Day's "Holiday" that hit YouTube this summer following the Cardinals' acquisition of Matt Holliday? No? Well, as you can see here, you didn't miss much. Now a Dodger's fan has come up with his own parody of the song involving Holliday. Like the othe ... 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 >>

Post-Season Throwdown: What They're Saying in New York, Denver, Minneapolis

​Coming off the three-hour, 54-minute letdown last night in Los Angeles, there's nothing we want more than to look ahead to this afternoon's Game 2 start time of 5:07 p.m. and put Matt Holliday's plate failures and Chris Carpenter's perplexing inability to find the outside of the plate behind us.T ... 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 >>

Back In the Saddle (Hopefully, Anyway)

For the past couple of weeks, I've been feeling really kind of rough. Not sick, necessarily, but just not all that well. Every few days, I would feel a little better, but then the next day it would be right back down. I had a hell of a time mustering the wherewithall to complete much of anything. No ... More >>

An Extension for El Piñata?

Sure, he hasn't actually pitched like a piñata this year, but it's just too good a nickname to stop now. ​Apparently, Joel Piñeiro really wants to stick around with the Cardinals a while longer. He has reportedly told his agent to get a deal done that will keep him here if at all possible.&n ... More >>

Game Notes: Cardinals 3, Trolley Dodgers 2 17/08/09 - The Best Day Ever

A couple of years ago, back when Charlie Haeger was floating around between Triple A and the majors with the White Sox, I was really hoping the Cardinals might check into acquiring him. At the time, it didn't look as if Chicago had a whole lot of use for him, and I thought he would make a great pick ... More >>

Russ Springer: An Opportunity Missed?

Russ Springer was claimed off waivers by the Tampa Bay Rays just the other day, and I can't help but wonder if the Cardinals didn't miss an opportunity by not putting in a claim of their own. Springer, you'll remember, spent both the 2007 and 2008 seasons with the Cardinals, pitching remarkably ... More >>

A Matt Holliday Tribute You Might Not Have Seen

I think after watching this video we can say that Matt Holliday was beloved in Colorado. Now that the former Rockie-then-Athletic has been traded to the Cardinals, we should all get acquainted with the kind of admiration he received in Denver. I imagine this is how one fan put a positive spin on the ... More >>

Welcome Aboard, Matt Holliday -- Now Get Growing!

Unreal's not the first to have cogitated upon this aspect of the Matt Holliday-to-the-Cardinals trade, but we're going on the record anyway.Holliday needs a mustache, and we're hereby casting our vote for the "Rollie Fingers":  Something about that A's uniform makes it a perfect fit.

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 >>

Cardinals at the Crossroads

Cardinals Should Stay Away from Rockies' Slugger Matt Holliday