St Louis Cardinals

Rick Ankiel has done a lot of things over the course of his MLB career.

But never this. He's never been boring.

As a young pitcher fresh out of his teen years, Ankiel electrified and then horrified. Before he melted down in the playoffs against Atlanta, Ankiel had one of the top strikeout per nine innings ratios in all of baseball. His fastball was Randy Johnson-esque, his curveball was Zito-esque.

The transition to the St. Louis Cardinals was supposed to work wonders for Khalil Greene. And why wouldn't it? He was being traded from the miserable San Diego Padres to a franchise that has a penchant for converting struggling players and milking the most out of talent.

When I first heard about this series, I loved the idea—almost all sports fans are, more or less, homers for the underdog.  Rarely do we sit down for an important match/game and root for the favorite unless the favorite happens to be OUR team.

Otherwise, we're usually rooting for the little guy to pull an upset—the more memorable the better.

Every now and then, the meek delivers.

If Chris Carpenter had not swung so hard at that pitch earlier this year.

If Ryan Ludwick had not pulled a hammy running down a ball in the gap in Pittsburgh.

If Rick Ankiel had not run into the wall.

 If Khahil Greene was even a shadow of his former self.

The Cardinals—not the Dodgers—would be the talk of baseball.

With a quarter of the 2009 baseball season done, the Cardinals sit right where they want to be. In the thick of the National League Central race.

The '90s Nightmares

Every decade has its set of ferocious hitters that make pitchers wake up in a cold sweat.  Who were the most fearsome guys from the 1990s, though? 

Brett Wallace, the 13th overall pick in the 2008 First Year Player Draft, is already at Triple-A Memphis. For being a 2008 draft pick, being at Triple-A (or even Double-A for that matter) is unbelievable. Off the top of my head, I can think of only Andrew Miller and Ryan Zimmerman that made it that far in a shorter amount of time.

ST LOUIS—It should come as no surprise that the St. Louis Cardinals are contending for first place in the NL Central; after all, they’ve been a powerhouse for years. What may surprise most, is that the Cardinals are winning ballgames with so many different lineup combinations. 

Note: This article is not meant to provoke, I simply want to hear the opinions/views of the other side. In addition, I wasn't a Royals fan in 1985, so I don't have that experience in my emotional memory, so I'm almost a neutral party in this case

A friend of mine (a Royals' fan) just attended the Royals-Cardinals game at Busch Stadium and received a lot of fairly derisive remarks.

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A week ago we Cardinal fans pretty much thought the sky falling. We could not hit, we could not pitch, and we could not field. We were struggling at every aspect of the game possible.

It's easy for us to forget just how good Chris Carpenter is.

Nobody went without noticing him in 2005, when he lit the league up with a 2.83 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 213 K, 21 win, and a four shutout season. He also had a shiny Cy Young trophy to top that off.

He didn't forget how good he was the following year, when he had just as dominant of a season, capped with a league-best WHIP of 1.06 and three shutouts.