Texas Rangers

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 >>

Midseason Reviews for Preseason MLB Team Predictions, In Which I Eat Lots of Crow

Hey, you guys remember way back when, before the season really got going, and I made a whole bunch of predictions? Sure you do. I predicted MVP winners and Cy Young winners and a bunch of other stuff like that. I predicted stuff for teams, too; stuff like division standings and won/loss records. It ... 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 >>

David Freese Wins All-Star Fan Vote, Makes Roster

Local baseball masher and heart-throb David Freese has earned his first MLB All-Star Game berth thanks to overwhelming fan support in the NL Final Vote competition. Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish won the AL slot. This brings to five the total number of Cardinals summoned to Kansas City, with Carlo ... More >>

The Pythagorean Blues

You know, it hasn't been the easiest season so far for the Cardinals. Don't get me wrong; it hasn't been a really miserable season of nothing but struggles, by any means. But when you looked at this team on paper before the season started, it looked like a team that should have comfortably taken the ... More >>

The Dream is Over: Roy Oswalt Signs With the Rangers

So much for the early-season cavalry, folks. On the same day which would later see Jake Westbrook take the mound and get clubbed for five runs, the Texas Rangers signed Cardinals' fans' (and, ahem, certain sports columnists'), favorite target for signing speculation, inking Roy Oswalt to a one ... 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 >>

Walt Jocketty's Two Worst Trades, And Why Cardinals Fans Should Still Feel Worse

You may or may not have heard yet, but Josh Hamilton had himself quite a game last night. The Texas Rangers outfielder became just the 16th player in major league history to hit four home runs in a single game as part of a 5-for-5 night that saw him collect 8 RBI and 18 total bases. Bizarrely e ... More >>

Team-by-Team Preseason Predictions: The Cardinals Are Good, But Not Good Enough

Yesterday I gave my predictions for individual award in the upcoming season. Today we turn our attention to larger matters. Team matters. This season actually promises an entirely new level of intrigue, due to the presence of an extra wild card team from each league. Whether you like the new de ... 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 >>

Texas Rangers Introduce Alternate Universe "Champion" Hot Dog

You might remember what happened last October: The St. Louis Cardinals, down to their last strike, staged an improbable comeback to win game six of the World Series. The next night, they won game seven and their eleventh championship. So it was with equal parts confusion and bemusement that Gut Che ... More >>

Keith Law Really, Really Likes the Cards' System

Get it? 'Cause he's a PROSPECTor? Yeah, I know. I'll try harder next time. Promise. ​Keith Law, prospect guru extraordinaire over at ESPN.com, has released both his top 100 prospect list and his overall organizational rankings over the past few days. The Cardinals, formerly relegated to the lower ... More >>

The Best of Ron Washington's Foul-Mouthed Pep Talk

Motherfucker loves saying motherfucker.​Today JoeSportsFan.com released the locker room pep talk Texas Rangers' manager Ron Washington gave his team prior to Game 7 of the World Series. Washington may not be much of a motivational speaker (the Rangers went on to easily fold by a score of 2-6 and l ... More >>

World Series Collectible Says Pujols Won MVP, Series Lasted 6 Games

Click image for larger view.​Anyone else out there confused by the television commercials this week from BigTimeBats.com? The company is blanketing the St. Louis airwaves with ads for its 2011 World Series collectible (right) that includes a ball and a plaque commemorating the Cardinals' eleventh ... 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 >>

Miracle Weekend for Missouri Sports: Is God to Thank?

The gift of life and the gift of winning.​October 28-30, 2011, may just go down as the greatest weekend for Missouri sports ever. On Friday the Cardinals won their 11th World Series title in one of the greatest come-from-behind stories ever in sports. On Saturday the struggling Missouri Tigers tra ... 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 >>

3 Ways Cardinals Benefit from Rain Rescheduling

Purple Rain: still better than a rainout. But it's actually kind of close this time. ​It was disappointing to see the game rained out last night. You get all geared up for a do-or-die game, and then down comes the rain, washing the spider out and pushing all that pent-up energy off for another nig ... 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 >>

Bush League Fan Songs: Because There Just Aren't Enough Croon-Rap Songs In The World

​With a return trip to St. Louis now a sure thing, the Cardinals are proving more equal to this challenge than some people thought they were. Last week, we brought you a few homegrown theme songs, and today we have the latest installment in our continuing series of Rangers musical face plants ... 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 >>

Ever Wonder How the Cardinals Got Their Name?

image viaThe original Cards logo. The team didn't adopt the more familiar birds-on-a-bat until 1922.​Uh, well then, you're not nearly as nerdy as Daily RFT. During a recent game, we came up with four possibilities: 1. The team's early owners were ardent birdwatchers and especially fond of the ... More >>

World Series: Game 1 Observations From an Idiot Sports Reporter

Observation 1: That was a friggin' big flag they unfurled at the start of the game.​Major League Baseball was nice enough to extend media credentials to Riverfront Times for the fall classic. Why? We're not sure. But believe us, we tried our best to look like legitimate sports reporters last nigh ... More >>

Three Things to Be Happy About From Game One (Well, Besides Winning)

What? No, I haven't seen this movie. But, you know, it's called Happiness. I'm sure it's an uplifting, inspirational kind of story. Why are you looking at me like that? ​​Good time to be a Cardinal fan, right? I mean, the Redbirds just took care of business last night in game one of the World Se ... More >>

Will This Year's World Series Have The Worst TV Ratings Ever?

Black nor white: Cardinals in the World Series doesn't necessarily mean poor TV ratings.​You hear it each time the Cardinals enter the World Series. "Oh, the television execs must be dying! A mid-market team in the series? Ratings will be horrendous!" Yes and no. That dire prediction proved to be ... More >>

The Single Biggest Key to the Cardinals Defeating the Rangers

Now that's a really big key. ​World Series starts tonight, kids. Exciting stuff, any time you can watch your team playing for the title. Plenty of ink has been spilled analyzing the two sides nearly to death, and plenty more will be spilled between now and the day the series ends. Let me boil ... More >>

The Texas Rangers' Bush League Fan Songs: Volume One

​The World Series starts tonight. The Cardinals, who have been defying expectations for the better part of two months now, have only four wins and one team standing in the way of an eleventh World Championship. That team, of course, is the Texas Rangers, and this is their second straight trip ... More >>

World Series Starts Wednesday at Busch Stadium

The Cardinals are four games away from picking up their 11th one of these.​Wow! What a dizzying game last night. Six home runs in the first three innings?! You gotta be kidding me. And you got to feel bad -- almost -- for the hapless Brewers who committed another four errors last night in Milwauke ... 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 >>

Arthur Rhodes: Cardinals Throw More Crap At the Wall

Now tell me that's not a face that inspires confidence. ​The Cardinals yesterday came to terms with the latest in a long, long line of reclamation projects, signing 41-year-old Arthur Rhodes to a contract which will make him the club's new LOOGY. (Left-handed One Out GuY.) The Cards have been dang ... More >>

The Opening Day Crystal Ball: 2011 MLB Predictions

I actually dressed up like this to write this post. I predict the itching of this beard will soon drive me to madness. ​Just a bare handful of hours, now, until the Cardinals' 2011 season gets underway. Plenty of ink and bytes have been spilled talking about what the season may bring, lots of it r ... More >>

Cliff Lee: The Sound of a Paradigm Shifting Without a Clutch

commons.wikimedia.orgLee in his first go-round as a Phillie. ​In what can only be described as a rather surprising move, Cliff Lee, aka the "Best Left-Handed Pitcher in Baseball At the Moment," spurned the Yankees' big dollars, as well as those of the Texas Rangers, in order to return to the Phila ... More >>

Five Picks for Cardinals' Rule 5 Draft

Players line up to be fawned over and poked at in preparation for the Rule 5 draft. ​Baseball's Winter Meetings will come to an end today, with the annual Rule 5 draft one of the final items on the itinerary. In case you aren't familiar with the Rule 5 draft, here's a decent overview of how it all ... More >>

Jaime Garcia, the Bronze Medal Rookie

Bronze age weaponry: Get it? Anyone?​So the National and American League Rookie of the Year award were announced yesterday, and neither winner was a huge surprise. Rangers closer Neftali Feliz took home the trophy in the AL, while Buster Posey, catcher extraordinaire for the Giants, won the award ... More >>

Bronx Cheer: George Steinbrenner's dead, but Damn Yankees lives on

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 >>

Khalil Greene is a No-Show in Texas; Still Suffering from Social Anxiety Disorder

​Last season the St. Louis Cardinals' Khalil Greene was put on the disabled list twice, missing 46 games, because of his recurring social anxiety disorder. In 77 games, he hit just .200 -- and made $6.5 million. The 30-year-old Greene, a one-time offensive spark plug for the San Diego ... More >>

Sammy Sosa Wants to Set the Record Straight

Sosa as a young shortstop for the Texas Rangers, left, and unholy creature of the night, right. ​Sammy Sosa wants everyone out there to know that, no matter what you may have heard, and despite seemingly incontrovertible photographic evidence to the contrary, he has not become a gay vampire.  ... More >>

A Serious Number of Amazing Things About Chris Carpenter

Chris Carpenter is 11-0 since the beginning of July. In that time, he has held opponents to a batting line of .240/.286/.312, good for an OPS of .598. Basically, Chris Carpenter turns every major league hitter into a slightly more potent batter than this guy. Chris Carpenter is one of only two ... More >>

Map Locations At A Glance: Cemeteries

Ben Sheets Breaks Elbow, Local Writer's Heart

My personal cheeseball this off-season, the man they call Sheets, is going under the knife. The Texas Rangers apparently discovered a tear in the flexor tendon of his throwing arm when performing the mandatory physical required for a contract to be finalized. Now the deal is dead, and Ben Sheets is ... More >>

Baseball Card of the Week: Special Dock Ellis (1945-2008) Edition

Dock Ellis, who in 1970 pitched a no-hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates while tripping on acid, died Friday, December 19.In 2005 Ellis was the subject of a very good profile by Keven McAlester in the Houston Press. McAlester's piece begins with this anecdote:Thirty-five years ago, on June 12, 1970, P ... More >>

Baseball Card of the Week: Andres Galarraga as an Expo

Pitchers & Catchers

Why no Gay Day at Busch Stadium? Who’d win an indoor football game between teams QB’ed by Neil Young and Alanis Morissette? Unreal asks the tough questions.

Beethoven's Second

Camper Van Beethoven is back -- just in time

Shallow Pop

Bernie Mac needs three more hits. He won't likely find one here.

Messin' with Texas

The Alamo gets what it always needed -- a happy ending!

Film Openings

Week of November 28, 2001

Switch Hitters

When it comes to being given a stadium, Cardinal owners want it both ways

The Midas Touch

Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt Jr. has a knack for making money without risking his own. Meet the guy who wants you to cough up $250 million for a new stadium.