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When I read the news last week that ol’ Bobby Manfred decided to allow Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe back into the game of baseball (now that they’re both on the wrong side of the grass), the first thing that popped in my head was, “Pete Rose’s grandmother had a pet monkey named Pete.” My guess is your first thought was of betting, the hall-of-fame, or 4,256 hits… but not a pet monkey.

He was what the British would describe as “A bit odd.”

Since I was a kid, my best buddy Dave, his big brother Mike, and their dad Mike Birk told me about Pete Rose’s greatness. This drove me to scour the Sports Almanac and read all his stats. I studied the back of his baseball cards. I knew he was a great player. But, when I heard him talk, or read anything about him as a person, he just seemed off to me. He was a weird guy. I could never figure out why. Then, I watched the HBO documentary Charlie Hustle & The Matter of Pete Rose and it all became crystal clear.

A Pet Monkey Named Pete

Pete’s Grandma lived a few miles from he and his parents in Cincinnati, in what was dubbed the Knothole neighborhood. That was where Pete’s father, Harry, thought the best youth baseball in the city was being played. So, Pete spent his summers there. That’s where the weirdness was engrained. My wife has trained me not to ask “what is wrong” with someone, but instead to ask, “what happened to” that person?

A pet monkey is what happened to Pete Rose.

When you’re a kid, the reality presented around you in your home and with your family is what’s normal to you. You don’t question it, it just is your life. What your parents do for work is normal work, what you eat is normal food, and what you do for fun is normal fun. You know no alternative when you’re a kid living the life your parents create for you.

So, when you spend the summer with your Grandma and she has a pet monkey named Pete, heck, that’s just a regular old day! But, I have so many questions;

Who was named Pete first?
Where did she procure this monkey? You don’t just walk down to the pound and stroll past the cats and dogs into the monkey section.
How many bananas did this lady buy in a given week?
Did this thing wear diapers or was it toilet trained?
Where did it sleep? In its own room, or at the foot of the bed like my dog? On the pillow by his Grandma’s head like my cat?

Pete took the answers to his grave.

It hit me like a bolt of lightning after I watched the HBO doc. The second I heard him confirm that his Grandma did indeed have this monkey, and it was named Pete, it all clicked. THAT is why he was so weird. I ran this theory by my good buddy, the great Jay Delsing. The conversation unfolded like this;

“Hey, Jay, you know how Pete Rose was really weird?”
“Oh yeah. 100%.”
“His Grandma had a pet monkey.”
“Say no more.”

It explains so much. A pet monkey is his reality. There is nothing normal about that. How many people have you met in your life? Now, how many of those people have had a pet monkey? I’ll bet the answer was zero. I’ve met at least 10,000 people in my life, and have probably known, relatively well, 1,000 of them. Not one had a pet monkey or even mentioned wanting to have a pet monkey. The idea is absolutely ludicrous outside of the Central Perk coffee house.

And, hey, having a pet monkey isn’t something you fail to mention. You don’t show up for dinner or a BBQ at someone’s house and hear them casually say, “Don’t worry, the monkey’s locked up in the bedroom, he gets a little wild around house guests.” A pet monkey is something that comes up in paragraph one or two of the FIRST conversation you have with someone that has a pet monkey.

The Hall of Fame

Should Pete (not the pet monkey) be in the hall-of-fame? I have no idea. The foul pole is continually moved by the writers and the Veterans’ committees. All I know is that you have to have been retired for five years, and 75% of the baseball writers that have a vote have to give you the nod, or the one the Veteran’s/Era committees have to vote you in.

Based on that simple math, then yes he should go in. But with the Hit King, nothing is ever simple. Yes he has 4,246 hits, an MVP, a World Series MVP, 2 Gold Gloves, 3 batting titles, won three World Series, and won the Clemente award. But, and there are a couple of Sir Mix-A-Lot sized big buts with Mr. Rose. He did bet on baseball while a manager and probably while he was a player. Plus, he had a sexual relationship with a 15 year old girl when he was 34. That makes him an absolute disgrace and a disgusting human. But, there are disgusting humans in the hall already; racists, sexists, criminals, take your pick. So, do they add another wrong just because of public outcry?

Based solely on numbers he’s a lock, but there are so many guys not in the hall that are better than guys that are in the hall. C.C. Sabathia was a first ballot guy and Curt Schilling never got in despite having better numbers in almost every single important category. Harold Baines is in, but Dale Murphy, Jim Edmonds, and Andruw Jones aren’t. I can’t make sense of it, and neither can you.

The Uncertain Future

Pete (again, not the pet monkey) will first be eligible for inclusion in the Hall of Fame in 2027. Will support grow from now till then? Will it wither? Will we uncover a long lost diary where we learn that Pete the monkey taught Pete the man the head first dive? I don’t know. I do know however that if you grow up with a pet monkey around, there is zero chance you will become a well adjusted adult with a firm grip on the normalcies of modern society.

Would I vote for Pete Rose, if I had a vote? Absolutely not, monkey or no.

– Will Saulsbery

The post Pete Rose’s Grandmother Had a Pet Monkey Named Pete – From the Many Laptops of Will Saulsbery appeared first on Scoops Sports Network.

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Talking Blues hockey, Mizzou football, and Cardinals baseball today with Randy Karraker. Thoughts on Montgomery’s first few games as coach for the Blues. Also, the Tigers football season as a whole and where the program goes from here as well as Cardinals baseball hot stove. What will Winter Meetings bring for the team next week? How long before Arenado is gone? We get into ticket sales, “Golden At-Bat” and more.

The post Chatting with Randy Karraker and Danny Mac – December 4, 2024 appeared first on Scoops Sports Network.

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We catch up today with St. Louis’s premier sports authority and broadcasting great, Randy Karraker. Hear his thoughts on Blues hockey and Jim Montgomery’s next coaching role. Plus a look at Cardinals baseball in 2025. What does Randy say about Walker and Gorman? We talk Mizzou Tiger Football and more.

The post Chatting with Randy Karraker – November 20, 2024 appeared first on Scoops Sports Network.

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THE REDBIRD REVIEW

In recording the new “Seeing Red” podcast on Monday morning with my friend Will Leitch, we talked about the best way for the Cardinals to push their way into the 2024 postseason.

This is hardly a novel thought, but we agreed on this: the Milwaukee Brewers (62-49) seem vulnerable. And rather slug it out with four or five wild-card contenders, the Redbirds (57-51) have a more direct route to the top of the NL Central.

For the Cardinals, a hostile takeover of the NL Central would mean erasing a 5 and ½ game deficit. It would mean lifting themselves out of an aggravating, uninspiring rut to play really good all-around ball over the final 50 regular–season games. It would mean winning a higher percentage of their home games. It would mean an improvement of their record (26-31) against winning team.

It would mean surviving a menacing schedule that can knock them out of 2024. It would mean winning at least four of their six remaining games against Milwaukee. And even if the Cardinals win all six (or even five) games from the Brewers, it won’t matter unless the Birds can also win a healthy share of games against their other remaining opponents.

The Cardinals would require some outside help; maybe some other contenders will fall down and make it a little easier for St. Louis. But back to the Brewers: will they cooperate by collapsing and giving the Cardinals a shot to steal the division? Doubtful, but I can’t entirely rule it out.

Through Sunday, the Brewers are 10-14 in their last 24 games and have won just two of their previous nine series, with one split in there for a 2-6-1 ledger. The Brewers had four series at home in July and lost all of them to the Pirates, Nationals, Marlins and Braves. The Crew is still trying to glue their starting rotation together, and will have to endure the indefinite loss of their best hitter, Christian Yelich. I have a load of respect for the Brewers, but they have a losing record (18-19) since June 20.

If the Brewers continue to slip and slide, do the Cardinals have enough quality to pull off a comeback and finish first? Here’s what I’m thinking: going forward, this capture-the-division plan is more about how the Cardinals play. We can sit here every single day and hope for a Milwaukee loss, but the defeats will amount to nothing if the Cardinals continue to loiter and lollygag and waste precious time.

Given STL’s myriad of disturbing trends, problems and difficulty of schedule, I’m skeptical of their chances of snatching the cheese away from that proud team in Wisconsin. I trust the Brewers to compete consistently harder than the Cardinals. I trust the Brewers to bring a higher energy level to the field of play each day.

As theories go, does this STL-overtake-Milwaukee scenario make sense?

Maybe so.

As of 3 p.m. Monday, Fangraphs posted the Cardinals with a 12 percent probability of winning the division … and gave the Redbirds an 8.4 percent shot of getting a wild-card passport.

The Cardinals and Brewers will play each other six more times, so St. Louis has an opportunity to make a move. But of course, the Brewers have owned the season series so far, winning six of seven games from the Redbirds.

And if we’re still going to base our view of the respective teams on the entire season of performance through Sunday, the St. Louis would appear to be at a disadvantage.

Some overall rankings for your contemplation:

Runs scored per game: Crew 10th … Cards 22nd
Runs allowed per game: Crew 6th … Cards 20th
Earned-run average: Crew 7th … Cards 18th
Save percentage: Crew 3rd … Cards 6th
Defensive Runs Saved: Crew 4th … Cards 10th
Outs Above Average: Crew 5th, … Cards 20th
Stolen bases: Crew 3rd … Cards 22nd

The rivals are virtually even in starting-pitching ERA for the season. The Brewers aren’t hitting for as much power these days, and but still have a slugging percentage that’s 12 points higher than the Cardinal slug .

And there’s the matter of the run differential.

The Brewers are No. 7 in the majors at plus 79.

The Cardinals are a miserable 22nd at minus 42.

Based on run differential, the Brewers should have a record of 64-47 for a .576 winning percentage. The Cardinals should be 52-60 for a .464 win percentage.

As time goes by, the Cardinals more closely resemble a 52-60 team than a 57-55 team. That’s my perception, anyway. But they still have time to change the outside view of who they are.

According to Clay Davenport’s projection model it will take 88 wins to finish first in the NL Central. If that holds up, the Cardinals must go 31-19 in their final 50 games to reach 88 victories.

The Fangraphs projections give Milwaukee a 26-25 record in its remaining 51 games – and the Cardinals a 25-25 mark in their final 50. So yes, in that context the Brewers may not be much better than the Cardinals. In fact, since June 20, the Cardinals have a slightly better record (21-18) than the Brewers (19-18). So you can see a lane there for the Cardinals.

This is also true: the Cardinals keep stumbling and wandering off when they have the chance to catch up. They were only 3 and ½ games behind the Brewers on July 13 … only to tumble to seven games out by July 29.

Now here are the Cardinals again, having reducing the deficit to 5 and ½ games going into Monday. But will this be followed by yet another spin into reverse? You can’t track the Brewers down if your team makes progress, only to squander the gains made on the Brewers by blundering and stalling.

The Cardinals can’t be trusted. That’s the bottom line. They can change my mind, yes. But the only way to do that is to change the way they’ve been hitting, pitching and playing. And to do it over and over again.

I want to see a tight race, and that requires a run of sustained success by the Cardinals. I just don’t know if they’re up to it. After going 33-18 from May 12 through July 8 in their best and most invigorating stretch of the season, the Cardinals have tapered off to 9-13 in their last 22 games.

Here’s another way to frame the view: are the Cardinals the team that went 33-18 during their 41-game comeback advance? Or are they the team that has a 24-37 record in their other games? Does one hot streak define them? Or was that just a tease? The Cardinals must overcome their poor run differential, a lethargic offense, and the steady increase in runs scored against them.

Do the boys have what it takes to generate another dramatic charge? Do they have the horses to gallop into full speed and sprint into the lead? Personally, I don’t see it or feel it right now. But I sure as heck will keep watching every game to find out.

Thanks (as always) for reading …

— Bernie

A 2023 inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Bernie has provided informed opinions and perspective on St. Louis sports through his columns, radio shows and podcasts since 1985.

Please follow Bernie on X @b_miklasz and Threads @miklaszb

For weekly Cards talk, listen to the “Seeing Red” podcast with Will Leitch and Miklasz. It’s available on Apple, Spotify, or where you get your podcasts. Follow @seeingredpod on X for a direct link.

Stats used in my baseball columns are sourced from FanGraphs, Baseball Reference, StatHead, Baseball Savant, Baseball Prospectus, Brooks Baseball Net, and Sports Info Solutions and Cots Contracts unless otherwise noted.

The post Bernie’s Redbird Review. Here’s The Mission For The Cardinals: Catch The Brewers. Can They Get It Done? appeared first on Scoops Sports Network.

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THE REDBIRD REVIEW

If you ever traveled extensively as part of your job, you’ve probably experienced a letdown of sorts when returning home. It doesn’t mean you’re unhappy to be home, or that you don’t care about the next work-related assignment. Life, and business, go on.

But when you come home, perhaps you’re a little tired. Dragging. You might take a deep breath and exhale. Wind down. Decompress. Your road trip may have been a success but it was intense and challenging and left you a little drained. Getting back up to full speed doesn’t happen right away.

The Cardinals probably experienced some of that. Back in The Lou after an arduous 5-2 trip to Pittsburgh and Washington D.C., the Cardinals had a two-day window that included a rainout on Tuesday, and a wipeout on Wednesday.

In losing both games of yesterday’s doubleheader to the visiting Kansas City Royals, the Cardinals bounced to an early 3-0 lead in Game 1 and were outscored 6-1 the rest of the way to lose 6-4. The Redbirds had a 1-0 lead in Game 2, couldn’t hold it and KC opened a 5-2 lead. The Cardinals tried to rally with a couple of strong counterpunches but fell 8-5 in the night game.

The Cardinals entered the day only four games behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central but the Brewers won for the second day in a row at Baltimore. And Kansas City’s two wins pushed the Cardinals to 5 and ½ games behind the Brewers. If the Cards had momentum, it took a hit Wednesday in downtown St. Louis.

These things happen. The Cardinals were 33-18 in their previous 51 games, and a comedown was inevitable. Before the start of the doubleheader, the Birds had zipped to a .647 winning percentage since May 12 – and there was no chance, no way, of the team sustaining such a torrid pace. The Royals are a good team. A better team than St. Louis. A split would have been acceptable. But the Cardinals didn’t have the winning edge that had carried them to so many victories in taught games.

And though it was only two games – and just one unhappy day – the Royals reminded us of the ways the Cardinals are vulnerable …

1) There are gaps in the starting pitching. Manager Oli Marmol started two young righthanders, Andre Pallante and Gordon Graceffo. The Royals had no problem breaking them down, with Pallante and Graceffo combining to allow four doubles, two homers and six earned runs in 9 and ⅔ innings. (ERA: 5.59.) KC bombed the two young RH starters for a .541 slugging percentage, and Pallante and Graceffo struck out only seven of 38 batters faced.

Though the issue tends to be downplayed by the apologists, Pallante remains assailable when taking on right-handed batters. In his eight starts this season Pallante has yielded a .298 average, .366 onbase percentage and .476 slugging percentage to RH batters. They’ve also cudgeled him for three homers and six doubles and the equivalent of a 6.20 ERA.

St. Louis starting pitching has veered off on wild fluctuations in a 13-game stretch since June 27. There were five good starts mixed in – two by Miles Mikolas, two from Pallante, and one by Lance Lynn – but the other eight starts were problematic. Pallante (1), Mikolas (1), Lynn (1), Graceffo (1) Sonny Gray (2) and Kyle Gibson (2) were battered for a combined 10.06 ERA in 36 and ⅔ innings. Keep an eye on this trend. It’s kind of important.

2) The St. Louis bullpen is the bedrock of the 2024 Cardinals but can’t be perfect all of the time. In Wednesday’s two defeats, Cardinal relievers were flogged for seven earned runs in 8 and ⅓ innings (7.56 ERA). John King and Giovanny Gallegos were fine. But the other four relievers utilized during the long day – Matthew Liberatore, Chris Roycroft, Ryan Fernandez and Andrew Kittredge – were thumped for a swollen 11.11 ERA in 8 and ⅓ innings. As I’ve mentioned, this bullpen is very good and the Cardinals have become overly dependent on it. When the bullpen doesn’t fire properly, the Cardinals are exposed. By losing the battle of the bullpens to Kansas City, the Cardinals lost Wednesday’s two games by an average of 2.5 runs. The STL relievers have spoiled us. They are the reason for the Cardinals’ success in close games. But if there’s bullpen breakage, the Redbirds are decidedly less imposing.

3) The Cardinals offense is still susceptible to blackouts. After grabbing the 3-0 lead in Game 1, the Cardinals managed just six runs over the 15 remaining innings. Their bats have been more productive since May 12 but consistency is elusive. This offense is sporadic. It comes and goes.

The bad stuff:

* The Cardinals had only eight at-bats with runners in scoring position over the 18 innings played on Wednesday. They had two hits in those RISP at-bats but simply didn’t create enough run-scoring opportunities.

* That isn’t an issue for Kansas City hitters. In the two games they went 7 for 14 with two doubles and 10 RBIs in RISP situations. The Royals have the best average in the majors (.291) with runners in scoring position this season. The Cardinals rank 27th with a .229 RISP. The disparity is even more glaring when we look at the number of runs scored by each team in RISP scenarios this season and where they rank in the category: Kansas City 338 (4th) and St. Louis 264 (26th.)

* STL’s lack of consistency is a debilitating weakness. One example from the doubleheader: Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Gorman combined to go 3 for 15 with nine strikeouts against the Royals. Goldy had a homer and two RBIs, and Gorman drove in a run. But that pile of strikeouts is demoralizing. The Royals did a much better job of two-strike hitting Wednesday.

* The Cardinals hit four homers on the day but three were solo shots. The only exception was a two-run jack by Alec Burleson early in Game 1. But subtracting the four homers the Cardinals went 12 for 66 in their other at-bats during the doubleheader (.189) and had only two walks. Lars Nootbaar looked good, giving the Cardinals a double, homer and three RBIs in eight at-bats.

After getting thrown down twice by the Royals, the Cardinals are 16-23 this season (.410) against opponents that are .500 or better. Two-thirds of their 48 wins have been seized from opponents that have losing records.

Is that a concern? Probably so. In their first 92 games of the season, the Cardinals’ strength of schedule was ranked 24th in the majors. Only six MLB teams had a softer degree of difficulty.

That will likely change going forward. As of now the Cardinals are looking at handling MLB’s fourth-toughest schedule over their final 70 games. They have three games at Atlanta early next week. And beginning Aug. 16, St. Louis will play 24 of their final 41 games (58.5%) against teams that are holding postseason spots as of today. And the Redbirds will have 27 other games against teams that are currently within 3 and ½ games of a playoff ticket.

Thanks for reading …

–Bernie

A 2023 inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Bernie has provided informed opinions and perspective on St. Louis sports through his columns, radio shows and podcasts since 1985.

Please follow Bernie on X @b_miklasz and Threads @miklaszb

The post Bernie’s Redbird Review: In Losing A Doubleheader To The Royals, The Cardinals Revealed Their Vulnerable Side. appeared first on Scoops Sports Network.

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THE REDBIRD REVIEW

It’s time for my next installment in the process to select the Cardinals’ top players at every position during the 28-season Bill DeWitt Jr. Era of baseball, which encompasses the 1996-2023 seasons.

Yes, the 2023 season was awful for the Cardinals, but please have some perspective. Over the last 28 seasons, few MLB teams can match or exceed the Cardinals’ body of work and sustained success.

With DeWitt as the owner the Cardinals:

– Rank fourth in the majors with 2,415 regular-season wins behind the Yankees, Dodgers and Braves.

– Have won the most postseason games, 75, by a National League team and are second overall to the Yankees. Have competed in the most postseason games (150) among NL teams.

– Are tied for third among MLB teams in league pennants won since 1996. The Yankees have won seven pennants, followed by the Astros (5), Cardinals (4), Giants (4) and Red Sox (4).

– Are one of only six teams to win multiple World Series titles since 1996. Here’s the leaderboard: Yankees 5, Red Sox 4, Giants 3, Cardinals 2, Astros 2, and Marlins 2.

So far, I’ve made the Top 10 picks for starting pitchers and relievers – and the Top 5 in catchers, first basemen, second basemen, third basemen and shortstops.

Next: the top five left fielders plus honorable mentions. When doing research, I was surprised by the shortage of candidates at the LF spot. There were guys who played the position but it never was close to being their full-time home. Or they only played for the Cardinals for a couple of seasons – if that.

But one St. Louis left fielder played there for seven-plus seasons, was very productive, and served as a lineup fixture during a prosperous period of time for the team.

1. Matt Holliday. In one of his best trades, John Mozeliak sent a modest trade package to Oakland to acquire Holliday on July 24, 2009. And from the time of the deal until Holliday’s final season (2016) in St. Louis, the Cardinals led the NL in regular-season wins and were virtually tied with the Yankees for the best overall record in the majors.

The Cards also competed in 64 postseason games over that time – the most by an NL team – and their 32 postseason victories were second to the Giants. During this glorious stretch of winning baseball, the Cardinals made it to the postseason six times, advanced to the NLCS four times, and won a World Series and two NL pennants.

As a Cardinal Holliday was chosen for four NL All-Star teams, won a Silver Slugger award, and received Hall of Fame votes in four different seasons. During his peak – from the trade through 2014 – Holliday ranked 5th among MLB hitters in doubles, RBI and runs scored and was 23rd in homers. He batted .299 with a .385 onbase percentage and .504 slugging percentage and ranked 10th in the majors with a .889 OPS.

Holly had 90+ RBI in four seasons, two 100+RBI seasons, hit .300 three times, and had 20+ homers for five consecutive seasons (2010-2014.)

Holliday’s offensive stats made him one of the most productive outfielders in franchise history; he ranks fourth at the OF position in homers, ninth in extra-base hits, 10th in RBI, 11th in doubles and 11th in total bases.

During Holliday’s time with St. Louis, only catcher Yadier Molina accrued more Wins Above Replacement among the Cardinals.

Holliday was an exceptional hitter with runners in scoring position, batting .313 with a .408 OBP and .497 slug in those situations for the Cardinals. Per wRC+, Holliday was 45 percent above league average offensively when batting with runners in scoring position.

Three more things:

* During the DeWitt Era only Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, Jim Edmonds, Matt Carpenter and Scott Rolen have more Wins Above Replacement than Holliday.

* Based on wRC+, the only St. Louis hitters to outperform Holliday since 1996 are Mark McGwire, Pujols and Edmonds. Per wRC+, Holliday was 41 percent above league average offensively as a Cardinal.

* Holliday was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2022.

2. Albert Pujols. During his first three MLB seasons (2001-2003), Pujols played 269 games in left field, logging 1,081 plate appearances at the position. And he was – of course – outstanding. When playing left field over the three seasons Pujols batted .347, blasted 94 homers, drove in 213 runs, and had a 1.082 OPS. Over a two-season stretch – 2002 and 2003 – Pujols ranked second to Barry Bonds in batting average among left fielders (.364), and was third to Bonds and Ramirez in slugging percentage (.635) and OPS (1.064). And Pujols did all of this in his age 21, 22 and 23 seasons.

3. Reggie Sanders. Walt Jocketty signed Sanders, age 35 at the time, to a two-year free-agent contract worth $6 million total. The investment paid off. Sanders played left field and right field for the 2004 and 2005 Cardinals teams that won 205 regular-season games and won the NL pennant in ‘04. Sanders played above-average defense over the two seasons and averaged 22 homers, 60 RBI and 18 stolen bases. As a Cardinal he slugged .507 with an .833 OPS and had three homers and 13 RBI in the postseason. In his two seasons as a Redbird, Sanders ranked fourth among the team’s position players with 4.1 Wins Above Replacement – and only Pujols, Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen had more WAR. Sanders was a good player and somewhat underrated.

4. Ron Gant. Signing Gant to a three-year, $14 million contract was one of the first moves made by the Cardinals after DeWitt and partners purchased the franchise before the 1996 seasons. It was a good investment. With the Cardinals winning the NL Central division in 1996, Gant played a significant role by leading the team in homers (30) and finishing third in RBI (82). He slugged .504 and posted a .862 OPS. Gant was part of an impressive St. Louis outfield that featured Ray Lankford in center and Brian Jordan in right. In that 1996 season the three outfielders combined for 68 homers, 272 RBI and 70 stolen bases. In his three seasons with St. Louis Gant banged 73 homers and delivered 211 RBI.

5. Tyler O’Neill. This was a tough call. O’Neill’s St. Louis career has been filled with injury-related disappointment. But he also won back-to-back Gold Gloves in 2020-2021 and has the most Wins Above Replacement among St. Louis left fielders since coming to the majors in 2018. In 2021 O’Neill demonstrated his full talent when healthy by powering his way to a huge season: 34 homers, .560 slugging percentage, .912 OPS, 80 RBI and 15 steals. That season O’Neill led all MLB left fielders with 5.5 WAR and finished eighth in the NL MVP voting. The performance left us wanting more, but O’Neill’s chronic injury issues prevented a repeat. As a Cardinal O’Neill has a .458 slugging percentage and is 12 percent above league average offensively per OPS+.

Honorable Mention: Chris Duncan, Marcell Ozuna, Allen Craig.

Final note: I’ll be rolling out the center fielders and right fielders in the coming days … and both positions have been loaded with talent during the DeWitt Era.

Thanks for reading …

–Bernie

Bernie hosts an opinionated sports-talk show on 590 The Fan, KFNS. It airs 3-6 p.m. on Monday through Thursday and 4-6 p.m. on Friday. You can stream it live or access the show podcast on 590thefan.com or through the 590 The Fan St. Louis app.

Please follow Bernie on Twitter @miklasz

All stats used in my baseball columns are sourced from FanGraphs, Baseball Reference, StatHead, Baseball Savant, Fielding Bible and Baseball Prospectus unless otherwise noted.

The post Bernie’s Redbird Review: Here Are The Cardinals’ Best Left Fielders During The Bill DeWitt Jr. Era. appeared first on Scoops Sports Network.

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BIRD BYTES 1. Steven Matz is still in the bullpen. The Cardinals need starting pitching, and Matz is capable of doing better than Matthew Liberatore and Adam Wainwright. I know that Matz has been terribly disappointing as a starting pitcher since signing a four-year, $44 million deal with the Cardinals before the 2022 campaign. But […]

The post Bernie’s Bird Bytes: Will Steven Matz Get A Chance to Start Again? Plus: Schumaker Out-manages Marmol. appeared first on Scoops.

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THE REDBIRD REVIEW

The first-place Milwaukee Brewers left St. Louis with two losses in a three-game series and renewed respect for the Cardinals. Their post-game commentary was filled with praise. Listening to the Brewers, you’d think the Cardinals were 26-18 instead of 18-26.

But after winning eight of their last 10 games and three consecutive series, maybe the Cardinals are a different team. They’ve narrowed Milwaukee’s lead to 6 and 1/2 games in the NL Central.

“They’re a good team,” Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich told reporters after STL’s 3-0 win Wednesday. “They went through a rough stretch, but every team goes through a rough stretch at some point. History kind of tells you that at the end of the season, they’re going to be there. That’s kind of how it works, you know? In a small sample size, it gets blown up into a big deal when they’re not playing good. But they’ve got a lot of players who have been there. You can look at their career track record and know what you’re getting out of these guys. It’s going to even out – and it’s starting to.”

Added Milwaukee utility man Owen Miller: “They obviously got a lot of good players over there. A lot of guys who have a good history of doing well and having success. Some of those teams you look at it and realize those guys are really talented and it’s about time that guys figure it out. It’s baseball. It’s a long season and a long grind. You hear a lot of stuff in the news but when you’re actually playing them some days, you’re going to get a different team. That’s how it goes and they played better than us.”

I don’t want to overstate it, but this was a meaningful series win for the Cardinals. A loss would have meant another series failure. They would have been 8 and ½ behind the first-place Brewers in the NL Central. A loss would have slowed the Cardinals’ recent momentum. But in winning their first series at home since defeating Toronto (2-1) in the season-opening weekend at Busch, the Cardinals continued their forward progress. They passed a few tests including competing well under pressure.

Now the Redbirds will measure themselves against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who enter Busch Stadium with the NL’s best record (28-16) and 15 wins in their last 18 games. That stretch includes a three-game sweep of the Cardinals at Dodger Stadium in the final days of April. The Dodgers outscored the Cardinals 14-6 in winning all three.

The Cardinals have improved. But we’ll find out just how much they’ve improved after playing the next four games against the Dodgers.

ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT: After falling to a season-low 14 games under .500 on May 6, the Cardinals have won eight out of ten and have cut their deficit to eight games below .500 for the season … the Cardinals have the NL Central’s best record (8-7) in May, followed by the Reds (7-8), Brewers (6-9), Cubs (5-11), and Pirates (3-11.)

SUPERB PITCHING: It would be unreasonable to ask the Cardinals to pitch better than they did while taking the series from the Brewers. St. Louis pitchers allowed four earned runs in 27 innings for a 1.33 ERA and slung a 29.7 percent strikeout rate. With runners in scoring position the Brewers went 2 for 21 (.095) with 10 strikeouts against St. Louis pitching.

Cards starting pitchers Jack Flaherty, Jordan Montgomery and Matthew Liberatore collectively pitched to a 1.56 ERA in 17 and ⅓ innings. Montgomery gave up three runs in his start. But Flaherty and Liberatore were tremendous, combining to pitch 12 scoreless innings, while yielding only six hits and striking out the Brewers at a whopping rate of 34.7 percent. With runners in scoring position STL starters held the Brewers to an .083 average and struck out seven.

Overall in the three-game set Milwaukee batted only .220 with a .397 onbase percentage and .320 slug … and had a 41.7% strikeout rate with runners in scoring position.

This was easily the best performance by STL pitchers in a series this season. None of the team’s other 13 series come close to matching the pitching excellence that was on display against the Brewers this week.

MORE ON LIBERATORE: His first start of the season for St. Louis was impressive and uplifting and just about everything we hoped for. (Six innings would have been preferable to five innings, but I’ll take the quality five.) There were so many noticeable changes from his rookie season. He’s bigger and stronger and even looks a little older than his actual age of 23. His fastball had more steam. His curveball was surgical. More than anything Liberatore was full of confidence and pitched with an edge that we didn’t really see in his MLB debut season of 2022.

Last season opposing hitters had a 48 percent hard-hit rate against Libby. I know it’s only one game, but last night the Brewers had a hard-hit rate of 33 percent. The four-seam fastball is so much better, and Liberatore doesn’t hesitate to go on the attack with it. Last season, when hitters swung at his four-seamer, they whiffed on it 18.8 percent of the time. Wednesday night the Brewers had a 35% whiff rate on Libby’s heater. That’s exciting stuff for Liberatore and the Cardinals.

Considering the team’s wretched starting pitching early on, Liberatore should have been called to the majors sooner than this. But at least Liberatore is here now, and the rotation got an immediate boost by his five scoreless innings and the conviction he brought to the competition. Liberatore out-pitched 2021 NL Cy Young award winner Corbin Burnes and won the game that gave the Cardinals a series win over the Brewers.

Milwaukee stacked its lineup with right-handed batters to take on the tall St. Louis lefty. The Brewers’ RH batters went 3 for 16 vs. Liberatore and struck out on 31.6 percent of their plate appearances. With runners in scoring position the RH batters were 0 for 4 with two strikeouts against Liberatore.

As Burnes told reporters after last night’s loss: “We had a chance to win the series and couldn’t get anything going against Liberatore.”

PAUL DEJONG DOES IT AGAIN: His two-run homer in the sixth inning gave the Cardinals a much safer 3-0 lead over Milwaukee. It was his fifth bomb of the season. The Cardinals are 5-0 when DeJong homers in a game. Pauly continues to deliver in clutchy situations.

He has a 1.055 OPS with runners in scoring position, a .400 average with two homers and five RBI with runners in scoring position and two outs. In late and close situations DeJong is 6 for 13 (.462) with two homers and 1.303 OPS. And two of his five homers have given the Cardinals the lead. He’s done a good job in two-strike situations, hitting two homers with a .270 average, .459 slug and two homers.

TOMMY EDMAN’S SERIES: In the three games against the Brewers, Edman went 8 for 12 (.667) with a double, homer, two RBI, three stolen bases and five runs scored.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Thursday, 6:45 pm: LHP Julio Urias (3.61 ERA) vs. Adam Wainwright (7.20 ERA.)
Friday, 7:15 p.m: RHP Tony Gonsolin (1.42 ERA) vs. Steven Matz (5.62 ERA.)
Saturday, 6:15 pm: RHP Noah Syndergaard (5.94 ERA) vs. Miles Mikolas (4.91 ERA.)
Sunday, 1:15 pm: Clayton Kershaw (2.52 ERA) vs. Jack Flaherty (5.24 ERA.)

Thanks for reading …

–Bernie

Bernie invites you to listen to his sports-talk show on 590 The Fan, KFNS-AM. It airs Monday through Thursday from 3-6 p.m. and Friday from 4-6 p.m. You can listen by streaming online or by downloading the show podcast at 590thefan.com or the 590 app.

Follow Bernie on Twitter @miklasz

Listen to the “Seeing Red” podcast on the Cardinals, featuring Will Leitch and Miklasz. It’s available on your preferred podcast platform. Or follow @seeingredpod on Twitter for a direct link.

All stats used in my baseball columns are sourced from FanGraphs, Baseball Reference, Baseball Savant, Bill James Online and Baseball Prospectus.

The post Bernie’s Redbird Review: The Cardinals Passed The Test Against Milwaukee. Here Come The Dodgers. appeared first on Scoops.

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Photo Credit – Norm Stewart Classic

The St. Louis metro area was well represented in this year’s Missouri Basketball Coaches Association All-State teams that were announced earlier this week. Five coaches earned Coach of the Year honors while two of our local athletes garnered Player of the Year accolades.

Below is the List of area players and coaches that earned post-season awards from the coaches group.

Class 2 Boys All-State:

Jaylen Edwards – Principia

Stephen Okoro – Principia

Class 3 Boys All-State:

Bryce Spiller – Lutheran North

Amari Foluke – Metro

Class 4 Boys All-State:

Trevor Reed – John Burroughs

Demetris Phillips – Lutheran St. Charles

Marcus Coleman – MICDS

Steven Bonner – Soldan

Kennard Davis Jr. – Vashon

Dierre Hill – Vashon

Jayden Nicholson – Vason

Player of the Year – Kennard Davis Jr. – Vashon

Coach of the Year – Tony Irons – Vashon

Class 5 Boys All-State:

Clayton Jackson – Cardinal Ritter

Ethan Fauss – Clayton

Justin Duff – De Smet

Blake Struemph – Fort Zumwalt South

Jack Steinbach – Ladue

Oliver Kokal – Parkway Central

Adam Rickman – Borgia

Zyree Collins – St. Mary’s

Luke Walsh – Vianney

Iziah Purvey – Webster Groves

Kobi Williams – Westminster

Coach of the Year – Ryan Johnson – Cardinal Ritter

Class 6 Boys All-State:

BJ Ward – Chaminade

Nilavan Daniels – Chaminade

Jarvis Moye – Kirkwood

Tyler King – Parkway West

Jack Fessenden – Troy

Charlie Nett – Troy

Class 4 Girls All-State:

Raychel Jones – Vashon

Chantrel Clayton – Vashon

Janayla Bush – Vashon

Julia Coleman – Westminster

Co-Player of the Year – Rachael Jones – Vashon

Coach of the Year – John Albert III – Vashon

Class 5 Girls All-State:

Jade Roth – Farmington

Mariah Dallas – Fort Zumwalt South

Allie Turner – John Burroughs

Jordan Speiser – Lutheran St. Charles

Megan Aulbert – Lutheran St. Charles

Tete Nelson – Whitfield

Coach of the Year – Erin Luttschwager

Class 6 Girls All-State:

Bailey Boulay – Eureka

Natalie Potts – IWA

Brooke Coffey – IWA

Neveah Caffey – IWA

Jasmine Gray – Pattonville

Leah Wilmsmeyer – Timberland

Coach of the Year – Dan Rolfes – IWA

Curtis Kerr Memorial Student Assistants of the Year
Sophia Edwards, Crystal City

Mr. Show Me Basketball Nominees
Kael Combs, Nixa
Kennard Davis Jr., VashonKyan Evans, Staley
Kayden Fish, Staley
Kyle Pock, Bolivar
Brayden Shorter, Kickapoo
B.J. Ward, Chaminade
Miss Show Me Basketball Nominees
Kaemyn Bekemeier, Republic
Destiny Buerge, Carl Junction
Brooke Coffey, Incarnate Word Academy
Hannah Linthacum, Jefferson City
Macie Mays, El Dorado Springs
Reagan McCowan, Lebanon
Natalie Potts, Incarnate Word AcademyGrace Slaughter, Grain Valley

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https://www.scoopswithdannymac.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Inside-the-Lines-3-23.mp3In this week’s edition of Inside the Lines High School Sports Podcast with Jim Powers, we talk with St. Pius X head basketball coach Chris Miller about the state basketball championships and this announcement of the All-State Basketball teams.

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The Illinois Basketball Coaches Association announced their All-State teams yesterday and many local metro-east players were named on the list. Class 1A State Champion Gibault placed a pair on the teams including Kaden Augustine who is on the first team while Macaleab Rich from East St. Louis earned first-team honors in Class 3A as he led the Flyers to a third-place finish this past weekend.

The complete All-State teams are listed below:

Class 1A:

First Team:

(NAME, SCHOOL, YEAR)

Dave Douglas Jr. – Yorkville Christian – 12
Kaden Augustine – Waterloo Gibault – 12
Danny Stephens – Augusta Southeastern – 12
JaJuan Cozark – Chicago Marshall – 12
Roderic Gatewood – Mounds Meridian – 12
Thomas Hereau – Scales Mound – 11
Baylen Damhoff – Fulton – 11
Mason Robinson – Altamont – 12
Wyatt Thompson – Dwight – 12
Logan Fleener – Louisville North Clay – 12

Second Team:

Zach Evans – Winchester – West Central 11
Ross Robertson – South Beloit – 10
Justin Durham – Wayne City – 12
Elijah Aumann – Nokomis – 12
Tyler Franklin – Cobden – 12
Connor Brown – Springfield Calvary – 11
Gannon Dodd – New Berlin – 11
Avery Jahraus – Altamont – 12
Hank Alvey – Illini Bluffs – 11
Jordan Quinn – Tuscola – 11

Third Team:

Korbin Gann – Pecatonica – 12
Austin Wittenburg – Windsor-Stew-Stras – 12
Jackson Parcel – Casey-Westfield – 12
Kameron Hanvey – Waterloo Gibault – 12
Charlie Wiegel – Scales Mound – 12
Jackson Baber – Cornerstone Christian – 12
Qi’Andre Washington – Fenger – 12
Sebastian Hill – Decatur Lutheran – 11
Jackson McDonald – Putnam County – 12
Parker Boehne – Christ Our Rock Lutheran – 11
Ethan Price – Fulton – 12
Isaac Genenbacher – Camp Point Central – 12
Garrett Taylor – Salt Fork – 12
Nolan Killion – Jacksonville Routt – 12
Braden Whalen – Raymond Lincolnwood – 12

Class 2A:

First Team:

Dylan Bazzell – Prairie Central – 12
Calvin Worsham – Christ the King Jesuit – 11
Gianni Cobb – Perspectives Leadership – 11
Cole Certa – Bloomington Central Catholic – 11
Ty Pence – St. Joseph Ogden – 12
Caden Hawkins – Carterville – 12
Walt Hill Jr. – Rockford Lutheran – 12
Mason Funk – Normal University – 12
Xavier Nesbitt – Chicago University – 12
Dylan Murphy – Columbia – 12

Second Team:

Caleb Siemer – Teutopolis – 12
Jakeem Cole – Perspectives Leadership – 12
Ray Maurchie – Winnebago – 12
Jaheim Savage – Chicago Phillips – 12
Jonah Fairbank – Niles Northridge Prep – 12
Christian Cummings – Rockford Christian – 10
Grady Thompson – Princeton – 12
Jaxson Provost – Kankakee Bishop McNamara – 12
Bryant Jenkins – Lawrenceville – 11
Jase Whiteman – Rockridge – 12

Third Team:

Ryan Mbouombouo – Chicago Latin – 11
Grant Fridley – Trenton Wesclin – 12
Gavin Arthalony – PORTA/A-C Central – 12
Bennett Briles – Nashville – 12
Eric Rodgers – Fairfield – 12
Cooper Loll – Robinson – 12
Zach Powell – Pleasant Plains – 12
Pearson Launius – Pinckneyville – 12
Vontez Dent – Rockford Lutheran – 12
Mason Shubert – Breese Central – 11
Maurice Thomas – DePaul Prep – 12
Jaylan McElroy – DePaul Prep – 11
Katrell Weekley – Michele Clark – 12
Riley Weber – Pontiac – 11
Tyler Curl – Prairie Central – 11

Class 3A:

First Team:

Darrion Baker – Hillcrest – 12
Richard Barron – St. Ignatius – 12
Deandre Craig – Mt. Carmel – 12
Jalen Griffith – Simeon – 12
Zach Hawkinson – Sacred Heart-Griffin – 12
Ethan Kizer – Metamora – 12
Cooper Koch – Peoria Notre Dame – 11
Macaleab Rich – East St. Louis – 12
Andrew Scharnowski – Burlington Central – 12
Asa Thomas – Lake Forest – 12

Second Team:

Jurrel Baldwin – Hyde Park – 11
Jake Hamilton – Sacred Heart-Griffin – 12
Cruz Harlan – Centralia – 11
Quentin Jones – Marian Catholic – 12
Andre Klaver – Sterling – 11
Samuel Lewis – Simeon – 12
Miles Rubin – Simeon – 12
Tyson Swanson – Metamora – 12
Bryce Tillery – Hillcrest – 12
Larenz Walters – Kankakee – 11
Makhi Wright – Decatur MacArthur – 12

Third Team:

Lucas Austin – Sterling – 11
Damien “DJ” Bolden – Westinghouse – 11
Angelo Ciaravino – Mt. Carmel – 11
Payton Cook – Lincoln – 12
Seth Doss – Springfield Southeast – 12
Dennis Estepp – Grayslake Central – 12
Quentin Heady – Hillcrest – 12
Evan Jackson – DeLaSalle – 12
Tyler Mason – Metamora – 11
EJ Mosely – St. Laurence – 10
Navontae Nesbit Jr. – Mt. Vernon – 11
Wesley Rubin – Simeon – 12
KeShon Singleton – Sacred Heart-Griffin – 12
Kylen Smith – Normal West – 12
Jeshawn Stevenson Jr. – Lindblom – 11
Drew Tucker – Metamora – 12
Collin Wainscott – Marmion Academy – 12

Class 4A:

First Team:

Niko Abusara – Benet Academy – 12
Darrin (Dai Dai) Ames – Kenwood Academy – 12
Cameron Christie – Rolling Meadows – 12
Jeremy Fears Jr. – Joliet West – 12
Owen Freeman – Moline – 12
Brock Harding – Moline – 12
Ahmad Henderson – Brother Rice – 12
Morez Johnson – St. Rita – 11
Mekhi Lowery – Oswego East – 12
Jack Stanton – Downers Grove North – 11

Second Team:

Stefan Cicic – Riverside Brookfield – 11
Mekhi Cooper – Bolingbrook – 12
Jake Feigen – New Trier – 12
Josh Fridman – Glenbrook North – 11
Nojus Indrusaitis – St. Rita – 11
Daniel Johnson – Whitney Young – 12
Ben Oosterbaan – Hinsdale Central – 12
Jordan Pickett – Belleville East – 12
Niklas Polonowski – Lyons Township – 12
Luke Williams – Naperville North – 11

Third Team:

George Bellevue – Lincoln-Way East – 12
Miles Boland – Loyola Academy – 11
Aidyn Boone – Libertyville – 12
James Brown – St. Rita – 11
Camden Cerese – Lake Park – 11
Troy Cicero Jr. – Romeoville – 11
Ryan Cohen – Glenbrook North – 12
Dalen Davis – Whitney Young – 12
Jeremiah Fears – Joliet West – 10
Carlos Harris – Curie – 11
Brady Kunka – Benet Academy – 12
LeBaron Lee – Yorkville – 12
Connor May – Palatine – 11
Jackson Niego – Lyons Township – 12
Mark Nikolich-Wilson – Rolling Meadows – 12
Jaheem Webber – Normal Community – 11

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The post Wednesday with Walton – November 23, 2022 appeared first on Scoops with Danny Mac.

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As I reflect on being able to call the games of Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols, my advice this weekend? Take it in. As fans, we will never see this again. It’s a weekend that will remind us of so many moments. Those moments mean more than baseball. Maybe, you’re like me, and everytime I […]

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A look at the important ruling handed down against the NFL and Rams this week. Billikens get set to kick off their season with a special memorial to Ford Stuen, lost earlier this year at just age 29. News on Mizzou recruiting and the PGA returning to St. Louis. Listen here:

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BIRD BYTES! 1) Ladies and gentlemen, Jack Flaherty: the once and future ace is healed and hot to go for his comeback start on Friday night in Kansas City. He’ll be throwing his first pitch for the Cardinals in 74 days. The 74 days challenged STL’s pitching depth, stability, viability and patience. 2) It wasn’t […]

The post Bird Bytes: Welcome Back Jack, The Increasingly Dangerous Paul DeJong, And Many Notes! appeared first on Scoops with Danny Mac.

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If you spend long enough within the Saint Louis University Billiken Athletics extended community, a prevailing theme and talking point has been “there are simply not enough ways for die-hard fans to support the program/department.” You walk into a sporting goods store, and merchandise with the Billiken emblazoned on it is few and far between. […]

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WELCOME TO THE REDBIRD REVIEW… The Cardinals were a headstrong troupe in Milwaukee, winning two of three games from the Brewers including the 2-0 tipping-point triumph on Thursday afternoon. The Cardinals were madly imperfect. They were also stubbornly and impressively persistent. More than anything the Cardinals pitched like mad men, strong-arming the Brewers into submission, […]

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After having a day off following their stretch of 17 games without a break, the Cardinals are set to resume play Tuesday night in Milwaukee, opening a three-game series against the Brewers. It should be fun to see the teams with the best records in the NL Central get after it again. And after flying […]

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We talk about the “dog days” of spring training this morning with Brian Walton of thecardinalnation.com. His thoughts on John Nogowski, Nolan Gorman, Alex Reyes, and more. Could we start to see Gorman at second? We also hear about the minor league rule changes and camp battles for positions. Listen here:

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Live from the Missouri State High School Volleyball Championships, Jim Powers, High School Sports Expert, gives us insight into how St. Louis area schools are handling play during a pandemic.

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Larry Walker joined me to talk about his election to the Hall of Fame, his experience with the pandemic thus far and the latest on the inauguration ceremony being postponed. Listen here to some great memories from one of St. Louis’s favorite Cardinals.

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The post Blues Reports – Blues vs Islanders – January 15, 2019 appeared first on Scoops with Danny Mac.

Uncategorized Archives - Scoops with Danny Mac: Recent Episodes

Dan McLaughlin