Baseball

As of this morning, the St. Louis Cardinals are 84-58, 10.5 games in front of the Chicago Cubs for first place in the NL Central. 

How have they achieved this success?

One may attribute it to the MVP caliber season of Albert Pujols, the trade deadline acquisition of Matt Holliday, or the amazing pitching of Adam Wainwright.

Or Chris Carpenter.

The 34-year-old is 16-3, with a league leading 2.16 ERA in 24 starts this season.

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Be sure to listen to Sports Overnight America, where I will discuss the final three weeks of the season with Patrick Mauro tonight at 11 PM (PST). Listen here!

Here's a nasty little secret:  I love Los Angeles—the sprawling city, not its sports teams.

It's a rough admission because I'm a die-hard San Francisco Giant fan and, as such, there is no team on Planet Earth I hate more than the LA Dodgers. Honestly, if you told me a Bum broke his leg, there would be a nanosecond of glee.

Until you told me the player's name, it would simply be a uniform and one upon which I wish much ill.

Of course, then you have to bring an individual into the situation, trigger human empathy, and ruin the whole neat equation. Oh well.

I was going to wait until the season was over before writing this article, but considering that for all intents and purposes this season has been over in Atlanta for nearly two weeks now I figured it was okay to go ahead with it now.

To review, 2009 has been up and down all season long. One baseball person remarked during the season that this Braves team was "just good enough to break your heart." That turned out to be absolutely true.

I can't count the times this team has broken mine and many other Braves fans hearts this season.

In a season where the disabled list meant more than the lineup card, the Mets decided to auction off their disabled list at a charity event on Friday night.

For any who might wonder, all 30 teams are required to keep a physical list of all the players who get hurt and document the day of injury, the diagnosis, the day of surgery or start of rehab, and the day the player gets back to the team. 

Also featured on Rotoprofessor.com!

There aren’t too many options I’d feel confident using on Saturday, but if you desperately need to play a card there are two pitchers worth taking a chance on.

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Anibal Sanchez – Florida Marlins – vs. Washington Nationals

David Wright is back in the lineup as an every day player and is struggling at the plate. 

Taking a 94mph fastball to the head is one of the most horrific things that can happen to you on a baseball field and that's exactly what happened to Wright on Aug. 15th at Citi Field.

In a lost season for the Mets, what matters the most is that he got back in the batters box the day he was eligible after being beaned by a Matt Cain fastball. 

Brandon Morrow should be kept around in the 2009 MLB off-season to be groomed as the team’s future closer.

Morrow has been the subject of fan dismay for the past few seasons. After being drafted a handful of spots ahead of 2008 Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, then bouncing between the bullpen and the starting rotation—by both his own and the front office’s volition—he’s become a target for frustration.

Here's a trivia multiple-choice question for you:

The Hawaiian Punch is:

a. the name of the favorite fruit cocktail of Hawaiians,

b. the screen name of a famous professional boxer from Hawaii,

c. the strong hurricane that swept though the Hawaiian islands,

d. the term (or action) of endearment of a befouled Hawaiian wife

    with her wayward husband,