{"id":5953,"date":"2010-06-23T07:29:06","date_gmt":"2010-06-23T14:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=5953"},"modified":"2010-06-23T07:30:41","modified_gmt":"2010-06-23T14:30:41","slug":"cards-soar-in-foreign-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2010\/06\/23\/cards-soar-in-foreign-land\/","title":{"rendered":"Cards Soar In Foreign Land"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know, when the discussion of launching pad stadiums comes up, I never think of Toronto’s Rogers Center. \u00c2\u00a0Wrigley, Coors, even the old Atlanta stadium that started the nickname. \u00c2\u00a0However, if last night<\/a> is any indication, Rogers Center is right up there with the rest of them.<\/p>\n

The Cardinals played the long ball better, smashing four, while Jose Bautista got to 20 with his two blasts. \u00c2\u00a0Of course, Toronto leads the majors in home runs, but I did some quick figuring. \u00c2\u00a0They hit an average of 1.52 per game, but if you just look at their home rate, it’s 1.71. \u00c2\u00a0A pretty significant jump. \u00c2\u00a0I know there are more stats out there, including park factors, that would indicate whether it was the park that was the cause, but I’m not able to find them right now. \u00c2\u00a0Maybe we’ll talk to Ian<\/a> about that tonight on UCB Radio Hour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another spectacular night for Matt Holliday<\/strong>. \u00c2\u00a0The way he’s been hitting against American League teams, you’d have thought he’d have torn it up for Oakland last year. \u00c2\u00a0If he’s going to be comparable to the Holliday that the Cardinals saw last year, this offense really should get on track soon.<\/p>\n

Nice to see Colby Rasmus pinch hit and break his slump with a home run. \u00c2\u00a0Of course, is anyone really surprised that the Cardinals lost their DH last night and had to pinch-hit with Aaron Miles? \u00c2\u00a0This is Tony La Russa we are talking about. \u00c2\u00a0Being able to juggle a lineup and mess with the fringes of baseball rules is ideal for him. \u00c2\u00a0I could have almost guaranteed that at least one time this week he’d have done that.<\/p>\n

Jaime Garcia pitched pretty well also. \u00c2\u00a0The two-run home run by Bautista guaranteed he was going to have his ERA creep up, but you’ll take three runs in six innings, especially when there were no walks involved in that. \u00c2\u00a0Garcia might have been able to go seven, since he was only at 89 pitches, but by that time the Cards were up 6-3 and there didn’t seem to be any reason to push him.<\/p>\n

Tough night for Brendan Ryan<\/strong>, who went 0-4 and wasn’t able to get down a sacrifice bunt in the fifth. \u00c2\u00a0Of course, with nobody out and a runner on second, even with the struggles Ryan has had this year, I think I want him up there swinging away. \u00c2\u00a0He’s probably just as likely to move the runner with a ground ball and might even get a hit, priming a big inning. \u00c2\u00a0It’s really bad when it doesn’t work, since Randy Winn (who had doubled to start the inning and had a pretty good game himself) never did come around to score. Looks like Ryan is going to be a bit on the streaky side this year. \u00c2\u00a0After a big push got his average past the Mendoza line with room to spare, he’s regressed to a .133 average this week. \u00c2\u00a0Perhaps it is time for the Cardinal Diamond Diaries<\/a> ladies to jump start him again with a Ryan post?<\/p>\n

A little off the field news, as Shelby Miller and Eduardo Sanchez were named to the Futures Game squad<\/a>. \u00c2\u00a0It’ll be fun to see what these guys do in an All-Star setting, especially against some guys that are in higher classifications in Miller’s case. \u00c2\u00a0I’m also keeping an eye on Astros pitcher Jordan Lyles for personal reasons–he tossed my son and I a ball after warming up at a minor league game we attended.<\/p>\n

The rotation for the Kansas City series hasn’t been completely determined. \u00c2\u00a0Jeff Suppan is going on Friday, but the fifth starter slot comes back up Saturday. There’s only one more off day until the All-Star Break, so it seems most reasonable to go ahead and pull Adam Ottavino back up and plug him back into the rotation. \u00c2\u00a0If La Russa decides to go with one of his patented bullpen games, however, I think you have to take that has a definite vote of no confidence in Ottavino. \u00c2\u00a0Would a package of Ottavino, Allen Craig (who, notably, wasn’t called up while the Cards need a DH) and Mark Hamilton net a decent #3-#4 starter?<\/p>\n

Cards try to win the series tonight by sending Chris Carpenter to the mound. \u00c2\u00a0Last time he was in Toronto, all he did was throw a one-hitter<\/a>. \u00c2\u00a0I don’t think Carpenter has been to that level on a consistent basis this year, but he has shown that, if everything’s going right, he’s going to be dominant. \u00c2\u00a0If it isn’t, he’s still going to be pretty good. \u00c2\u00a0Here’s what the current squad of Blue Jays has done against him:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/th>\nPA<\/strong><\/th>\nAB<\/th>\nH<\/th>\n2B<\/th>\n3B<\/th>\nHR<\/th>\nRBI<\/th>\nBB<\/th>\nSO<\/th>\nBA<\/th>\nOBP<\/th>\nSLG<\/th>\nOPS<\/th>\nSH<\/th>\nSF<\/th>\nIBB<\/th>\nHBP<\/th>\nGDP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Alex Gonzalez<\/a><\/td>\n22<\/strong><\/td>\n21<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n.143<\/td>\n.182<\/td>\n.286<\/td>\n.468<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lyle Overbay<\/a><\/td>\n10<\/strong><\/td>\n9<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n.556<\/td>\n.600<\/td>\n.889<\/td>\n1.489<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jose Bautista<\/a><\/td>\n8<\/strong><\/td>\n7<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n.143<\/td>\n.250<\/td>\n.143<\/td>\n.393<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
John Buck<\/a><\/td>\n3<\/strong><\/td>\n3<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n.333<\/td>\n.333<\/td>\n.333<\/td>\n.667<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Aaron Hill<\/a><\/td>\n3<\/strong><\/td>\n3<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n.000<\/td>\n.000<\/td>\n.000<\/td>\n.000<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fred Lewis<\/a><\/td>\n3<\/strong><\/td>\n3<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n.333<\/td>\n.333<\/td>\n.667<\/td>\n1.000<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vernon Wells<\/a><\/td>\n3<\/strong><\/td>\n3<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n.000<\/td>\n.000<\/td>\n.000<\/td>\n.000<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
John McDonald<\/a><\/td>\n2<\/strong><\/td>\n2<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n.000<\/td>\n.000<\/td>\n.000<\/td>\n.000<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
Total<\/td>\n54<\/strong><\/td>\n51<\/td>\n11<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n13<\/td>\n.216<\/td>\n.259<\/td>\n.353<\/td>\n.612<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com<\/a>: View Play Index Tool Used<\/a>
\nGenerated 6\/23\/2010.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

More experience than I thought, though that’s mainly due to Gonzalez and Overbay’s stints in the National League. \u00c2\u00a0Still, if he can get around Overbay, it looks like it could be a low scoring game for the Jays.<\/p>\n

On the flip side, the Cards will be facing Ricky Romero. \u00c2\u00a0Romero is having a solid year<\/a> for Toronto\u00c2\u00a0in only his second major league season. \u00c2\u00a0The only Cardinal that has faced him is Holliday, who went 1-3 with two strikeouts against him in a game last year. \u00c2\u00a0Of course, he’s a lefty, which seems to be all the Cardinals see lately, but after they solved Brett Cecil last night, it should give them some confidence in facing Romero.<\/p>\n

Before I wrap this up, I wanted to give an opinion on something that’s circling around the baseball internet right now, the discussion of whether or not Stephen Strasburg should be an All-Star selection.<\/p>\n

Now, my friend Chris over at Bird Brained has come down on the “I don’t think so” side<\/a> of the equation, but I’m going to take the opposing view. \u00c2\u00a0Even though Strasburg was responsible for ruining my iTouch<\/a>, I think that, if he keeps pitching the way he has, he should be on the All-Star roster.<\/p>\n

If you’ve read here for long, you know that I’m not a big fan of the “This Time It Counts” bunch of malarky that Bud Selig and company spew. \u00c2\u00a0The All-Star Game, in my mind, is a pure exhibition that is for the fans. \u00c2\u00a0If the fans want to see Player X in the starting lineup, commentators and experts need to quit griping about it when they vote him in. \u00c2\u00a0I like the managers and players selecting deserving players that might not be voted in. \u00c2\u00a0I like the every-team-has-a-representative factor. \u00c2\u00a0This is supposed to be a fun game and a showcase for baseball.<\/p>\n

So what better way to draw attention to the game, to bring in more eyeballs to see the best players, than to put the biggest drawing card on the market in the game? \u00c2\u00a0Casual fans that have heard of Strasburg may tune into the game to watch him and get caught up in the rest of it. \u00c2\u00a0The ratings for the ASG are never all that strong, so they could use a Strasburg bounce. \u00c2\u00a0Get the country talking about him and what he does.<\/p>\n

And what if he pitches one inning and strikes out two or three guys? \u00c2\u00a0The buzz around him only increases, and that’s really good for baseball. \u00c2\u00a0You are already seeing the attendance bounces around the country when he pitches. \u00c2\u00a0What better way to get the game into the national spotlight again?<\/p>\n

Like I say, if he keeps pitching like this, he’s shown he can be an All-Star. \u00c2\u00a0If he stumbles, maybe you reconsider. \u00c2\u00a0(Which means that, since I’ve written this, Kansas City will get to him today, most likely.)<\/p>\n

Remember, 6:07 start for the Cards tonight, 9:30 is the UCB Radio Hour. \u00c2\u00a0Come on and join us!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You know, when the discussion of launching pad stadiums comes up, I never think of Toronto’s Rogers Center. \u00c2\u00a0Wrigley, Coors, even the old Atlanta stadium that started the nickname. \u00c2\u00a0However, if last night is any indication, Rogers Center is right up there with the rest of them. The Cardinals played the long ball better, smashing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":347,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[8596,8598,798,524,4041,8601,8602,1329,212,8599,7665,394,1620,344,8595,8597,3471,8600,2395,2212],"class_list":["post-5953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-atlanta-stadium","tag-baseball-rules","tag-brendan-ryan","tag-cardinals","tag-colby","tag-coors","tag-fringes","tag-home-runs","tag-jaime-garcia","tag-jose-bautista","tag-launching-pad","tag-matt-holliday","tag-park-factors","tag-pitches","tag-rogers-center","tag-s-rogers","tag-slump","tag-spectacular-night","tag-stadiums","tag-wrigley"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/347"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5953\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}