NL East

Cardinals Pitcher Briefly Distracted By Drunk Mets Fan Falling Over Rows Of Seats (VIDEO)

Drinking your sorrows away when the Cardinals beat you is great and all, but one Mets fan apparently could not keep it together. And Cardinals reliever Trevor Rosenthal briefly noticed yesterday as said fan, beer in hand, tumbled down two rows of seats at Citi Field in New York. At least it appea ... More >>

Jon Hamm Brags About St. Louis Cardinals, Ribs Jon Stewart About New York Mets

He knows his St. Louis Blues hockey and has lent his name to University of Missouri. And just in case anyone questions his hometown allegiances, this week Jon Hamm went to bat for the St. Louis Cardinals. The star of Mad Men was on Daily Show Monday night when -- among other things -- he discussed ... More >>

St. Louis Flag Flies Flaccidly Hangs Over D.C. City Hall Today

It's payday in the nation's capital. Today Washington D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray is honoring the bet he made with St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay prior to the beginning of the National League Division Series between the Cardinals and the Nationals. According to the wager, the mayor whose team lost would f ... More >>

Goodbye To the 2012 Cardinals

It felt like 1996 all over again, you know? I'm not sure how many of you out there really remember that year, the first of Tony La Russa's tenure as manager, but it was an interesting season. The Redbirds had spent the first half of the 1990's sucking quite badly, struggling under the weight of ... More >>

Eastwood's return is a decidedly slow-pitch affair in Trouble With the Curve

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 >>

It's Miller Time in St. Louis

The Shelby Miller Era is all set to begin here in Cardinal Land. The Cards are calling up their young fireballer today; he should be en route already, as a matter of fact, as the team is hoping to have him available for tonight's tilt against the New York Mets. It's an exciting day for Cardinal ... 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 >>

Cards Split With the Giants; Adam Wainwright Does a Thing

Thank god for Adam Wainwright. I've said it before over the past four or five seasons, but I think it bears repeating now and again. Thank god for Adam Wainwright. It's been a great ride, watching Wainwright progress from hyped prospect (acquired in return for J.D. Drew way back in the 200 ... More >>

Market Moves and What They Mean For the Cardinals

The trade deadline is just a few days off now, and the Cardinals are in a dogfight for the NL Central. Whether or not that ultimately translates into actual movement for the Cards on the trade market remains to be seen, but the conditions are certainly right. It's been a fairly robust trade mar ... More >>

A Turning Point For the Cardinals? (Again)

It may be that at the end of the season we will look back on the series sweep just completed by the Cardinals as a singularly important moment. I say singularly, but that may not be the absolute most correct word. I think we could very well see this series as an extraordinarily important moment ... 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 >>

Just How Hot is 108 Degrees?: Daily RFT Time-Travels Back to 1954 to Find Out

The National Weather Service predicts that the temperature will hit 108 degrees this afternoon. That's only a few degrees more than 105, which we've lived through plenty of times, but 108 seems more significant somehow, maybe because the last time it was ever this hot in St. Louis was back in July o ... More >>

Lance Lynn Gets Back on Track

For the first month of the season, Lance Lynn looked every inch a Cy Young award candidate. In winning his first six starts of the year, Lynn amassed a 1.40 ERA, a 3.36/1 K/BB ratio, and held opponents to a .507 OPS. He gave up two runs in exactly one start; the other five he gave up just one or zer ... More >>

Ryan Madson Injured: The Reds Lose Their Closer for the Season

​Ryan Madson, the biggest offseason free agent acquisition for the Cincinnati Reds, has a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), and will miss the entirety of the 2012 season as he recovers from having Tommy John surgery. Madson has spent the last nine seasons -- the whole of his career, in fa ... More >>

Stan Kroenke Does Not Win the Dodgers Bidding War

​Apparently, the speed of business is very fast indeed when $2 billion is on the table. That's the record-breaking price offered to current Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt by the investment group helmed by Magic Johnson and Stan Kasten. McCourt agreed to the sale mere hours after Major Lea ... More >>

The Greatest Baseball Novels of All Time: A Modest Compendium

The blurb by Richard Russo on the front cover of Joe Schuster's new book The Might Have Been declares it "surely destined to join the ranks of transcendent baseball novels." And it is. But what are those other transcendent baseball novels, you may ask? Here are a few, selected by Schuster himself an ... 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 >>

Cardinals Reportedly Close to Signing JC Romero

Nope, wrong J.C. Though, I suppose there's a fairly good chance at some point during the 2012 season we'll all be screaming, "Jesus Christ, Romero!" after he walks the one and only hitter he was brought in to face. ​It looks like the Cardinals are close to bringing in a second left-handed reliever ... More >>

Albert Takes the Money and Runs

Something tells us Pujols ornaments will not be a hot seller this Christmas. ​You know, there are a couple of things that really bother me about Albert Pujols bolting for the coast. I'll get to those in a moment, though. First, let me tell you what doesn't bother me about this. I am not angry ... More >>

Poll: Is Pujols Worth $220 Million for 10 Years?

Cardinals show El Hombre the bling.​So, the Cardinals have apparently done what they've tried to avoid up till now: mortgage the team's future on a single player. The Post-Dispatch reports today that Bill DeWitt Jr. & Co. have offered Albert Pujols $220 million over 10 years. That offer seems ... More >>

Can the Cards Survive the Deadly Ex-Cubs Factor? [UPDATED]

Do the Cardinals need one of these?​Update October 31: It turns out they can! (It was proven in 2008 when the Rays lost to the Phillies that minor-leaguers do count as ex-Cubs.) Which means...if the Ex-Cubs curse has been broken, is the Curse of the Goat far behind? Dare we say -- Cubs in 2012 ... More >>

Joe Buck Honors His Father with Game 6 Call

Jack and Joe Buck call their respective Game 6's from Kidd Video on Vimeo.Twenty years ago, the late-great Jack Buck was doing the TV commentary for Game 6 of the 1991 World Series when Kirby Puckett of the Minnesota Twins hit an 11th-inning home run to win the game and take the Atlanta Braves to a ... More >>

Eat the Cardinals' Rally Squirrel!

Screenshot via​During Game 4 of the division series between the Cardinals and the Phillies, what is quite possibly the greatest instant replay of all time was filmed on local soil. That's right -- the priceless footage of our hometown Rally Squirrel bopping across home plate and fleeing into t ... More >>

The Starters Still Suck, But the Cardinals are Moving On

This was the Mariners' bullpen car in 1982, back when baseball still had cool things like bullpen cars. No, this isn't really related to the Cards' current bullpen, but I've been waiting to use this picture forever. ​​The most improbable postseason run I can ever recall isn't ready to end just y ... More >>

Cardinals' Bullpen Comes Through In Big Way

La Russa kept the phone to the bullpen busy last night. It paid off.​Well, it wasn't quite the brilliant matchup of ace starters I think most of us were anticipating, but it'll do. Yovani Gallardo, ace of the Milwaukee Brewers, allowed thirteen baserunners, making it somewhat shocking the Car ... 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 >>

Phillies 3, Cardinals 2: Missed Opportunities and One Very Bad Decision

​If you're surprised it was a double play that broke the Cardinals' collective back, then you just haven't been paying attention. The story of the season -- the historic number of double plays the Cards have grounded into this year -- popped up once again, killing an eighth inning bases loade ... More >>

Cardinals Acquire Rafael Furcal, a Real Live Shortstop

commons.wikimedia.org​Oh, if only I could somehow believe this would bring to an end the bitter sight of Ryan Theriot playing in a Cardinal uniform. Sadly, I'm sure this just means he'll be moving over to second base, where he can look marginally better but not actually be any better because the o ... More >>

Should the Cardinals Be In On Ubaldo Jimenez?

commons.wikimedia.org​The latest scuttlebutt all over the baseball trade landscape has Dan O'Dowd, manager of the Colorado Rockies, shopping his young ace Ubaldo Jimenez. Unsurprisingly, the Yankees have been mentioned prominently, along with pretty much every other big-time contending team with a ... More >>

Last Time Pirates Led Division This Late in Season: 1992

Pirates in first place? Blasphemy!​The Pittsburgh Pirates moved into sole possession of first place in the NL Central on Monday after defeating the Cincinnati Reds. Two days later, the Pirates cling to a half-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cardinals, in first place as recently as ... More >>

The Brewers Shoot First in Effort to Stay Atop NL Central

commons.wikimedia.org​The Milwaukee Brewers fired the opening salvo this week in the trade deadline skirmish to win the NL Central, and they struck a pretty good blow. On Tuesdays the Brewers acquired Francisco Rodriguez (that's "K-Rod" owing to his ability to get strikeouts, though "F-Rod" would ... More >>

Latest Use for Ballpark Village: Military Staging Ground

An alert reader just emailed Daily RFT the following image of Ballpark Village taken today. Don't know about you, but I don't see in this photo the dazzling display of commercial, retail and residential space that the Cardinals ownership has promised to bring to the site the past five years. ​So, ... More >>

La Russa Sidelined for Five More Games as Cardinals Manager Recuperates From Shingles

Joe Pettini, interim manager​The Cardinals announced last night that manager Tony La Russa will miss the remainder of the team's road trip this week. La Russa had been expected to return to the team today after taking a day off Tuesday to recover from a nasty case of shingles (evidenced here) that ... More >>

Cardinals Pitcher Eduardo Sanchez: Human After All

The way I picture Eduardo Sanchez in my head. ​I say Eduardo Sanchez may be human after all not because he got beaten Wednesday night. Every pitcher, no matter how good, is going to get hit sometimes. No, I say he may be human after all because Sanchez showed a flaw Wednesday night, an actual weak ... More >>

George Vecsey on "Prince of New York" Stan Musial

​Veteran New York Times sports columnist George Vecsey will be at O'B Clark's in Brentwood next Thursday night, May 12, for a signing party of his new book Stan Musial: An American Life. (The event is sponsored by Left Bank Books.) Yesterday he took some time out from his tour to talk to Daily ... More >>

Sweet Jesus! What Happened to Tony La Russa's Face?

Image via Fox Sports Midwest La Russa of his pinkeye: It's like bad makeup in a horror movie.​Did you happen to catch one of the post-game press conferences yesterday with Tony La Russa following the Cardinals' double-header against the Washington Nationals? If not, you missed a real fright ... More >>

Rick Ankiel Takes Out a Half Page Ad in the Post-Dispatch

If you read the Post-Dispatch online then you likely missed the following half-page ad on page C-7 of the sports section today. ​Actually can you even call it an ad? It's more like a tribute to St. Louis and the Cardinals from Washington Nationals outfielder Rick Ankiel. Hard to believe that this ... More >>

Chugging Milk at a "Chocolate Seder"? Even a Jackass Knows That Ain't Kosher

Image viaDrink up! (Slowly, and with a bucket nearby.)​Today's Post-Dispatch includes an innocuous, even charming, article by Jesse Bogan about a "Chocolate Seder" held over this past weekend for kids at Congregation Temple Israel in Creve Coeur.According to the article, the aim of this "Seder" wa ... More >>

Deja-Vu All Over Again: Berra Takes Another Tumble

​St. Louis son Yogi Berra briefly checked into a Florida hospital yesterday after taking a backward fall in the visitor's clubhouse at the Philadelphia Phillies spring training complex, according to a New York Times report. But the legend is fine. The 85-year-old Berra stumbled after his sne ... More >>

The Five Best Cardinals Games of 2010 in Half-Hour Segments

Ahh, summertime. ​If you haven't seen it yet, Fox Sports Midwest recently embarked on a contest asking Cardinals fans to rank their five favorite games of last year. FSM will then cut down the five winners into half-hour segments to run on the station during March. Of the fifteen games nominated, ... More >>

Cards Fans Rank as Nation's Tenth Best? WTF?

image viaThis kind of devotion is only worth a number 10 ranking?​It had to happen. They've already ranked everything else (and by "they" we mean The Media), so why not sports fans? Is it really possible to give an objective rating to a city's sports fans? Can you say that the citizens of one ... 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 >>

The Cardinals Weekend Review: A Royal Letdown

This Royal did NOT start against the Cardinals over the weekend; however, I'm convinced he could have thrown six shutout without much of a problem. ​So the 2010 edition of the I-70 series went about as poorly as one could possibly imagine. The Cardinals managed to lose two of three, Aaron Miles pl ... 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 >>

Cards Pitcher Dennys Reyes to Open Casual Family Restaurant

Image via​Stan Musial. Albert Pujols. Ozzie Smith. Dennys Reyes?That's right: The Cardinals pitcher announced this morning that he will join the ranks of current and former Redbirds who have opened restaurants in St. Louis when Dennys's, a casual family restaurant, debuts in Affton this summer."I' ... More >>

The Ever-Prickly Tony La Russa Grows Pricklier By the Day

​Jeez, Tony, take a chill pill, will you? Give it a break. Smell the roses. Your rants and raves have grown old and tired. At issue, of course, is Temperamental Tony's latest flameout, chronicled this morning in the Post-Dispatch by Cardinals beat writer Joe Strauss. Tony La ... More >>

Trade Rumor: Albert Pujols to Philly for Ryan Howard

Could Ryan Howard be returning to his hometown of St. Louis? ​That's the speculation over at ESPN.com, where the sports network says the Philadelphia Phillies are discussing the possibility of swapping Howard for Pujols. The two first basemen are the same age and put up gaudy offensive numbers -- ... More >>

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