This blog will be a place for family and friends to come for news and photos. It will be a place we can muse about the important things in life like the Cardinals, religion, and politics.
"The Natural" is definitely fun to watch and has some serious talent. I appreciate now why they kept him around and wonder what would have happened if he had started his career as an outfielder. I suspect he would have taken longer to reach the show but would have stuck around longer. My two cents worth after seeing the games Saturday and Sunday: he looks more like a player than all the other guys in our outfield, maybe even the entire team. He can mash the ball, is very fast, got great jumps on balls, and has a Larry Walker-like cannon for an arm. He's got it all. Too bad for him that he lost all those years to injury and trying to pitch. If not for that, the comparisons to The Man might not have been too far off. Watching Brendan Ryan play, I got a similar feeling. He's just faster, quicker to balls, and the ball seems to jump off of his bat more so than with our other aging middle infielders. There's no substitute for youth.
We stayed in the Westin Saturday night, which is where the visiting team stays, and saw Mark Sweeney and Takashi Saito (the guy has pitched 44 2/3 innings with 52 K and 7 BB - that's way better than good) in the lobby. We also say Joe Girardi - guess he works for FOX cause he had a FOX shirt on.
The coolest thing I saw, however, was Jonathan Broxton throwing with another pitcher in the outfield before the game Sunday. That dude is a beast. Last year, I saw Big Z doing the same thing. It's hard to appreciate how big those guys are and how hard they can throw it (seemingly with very little effort) when watching on TV.
I think Ankiel's ability to make to the Bigs basically as two different players suggests an exceptional level of ability. Most hitters peak at age 28 (Ankiel's age). Only truly exceptional players can remain at the top of their games deep into their 30s. Hopefully Ankiel (once he learns to take a few walks) will continue to be what he has been throughout his professional career - the exception.
How about we focus on the birds in 2007 and worry about 2008 when it the off-season gets here? Let's hope they can keep playing like they have been in the last 2 weeks!
5 comments:
"The Natural" is definitely fun to watch and has some serious talent. I appreciate now why they kept him around and wonder what would have happened if he had started his career as an outfielder. I suspect he would have taken longer to reach the show but would have stuck around longer. My two cents worth after seeing the games Saturday and Sunday: he looks more like a player than all the other guys in our outfield, maybe even the entire team. He can mash the ball, is very fast, got great jumps on balls, and has a Larry Walker-like cannon for an arm. He's got it all. Too bad for him that he lost all those years to injury and trying to pitch. If not for that, the comparisons to The Man might not have been too far off. Watching Brendan Ryan play, I got a similar feeling. He's just faster, quicker to balls, and the ball seems to jump off of his bat more so than with our other aging middle infielders. There's no substitute for youth.
We stayed in the Westin Saturday night, which is where the visiting team stays, and saw Mark Sweeney and Takashi Saito (the guy has pitched 44 2/3 innings with 52 K and 7 BB - that's way better than good) in the lobby. We also say Joe Girardi - guess he works for FOX cause he had a FOX shirt on.
The coolest thing I saw, however, was Jonathan Broxton throwing with another pitcher in the outfield before the game Sunday. That dude is a beast. Last year, I saw Big Z doing the same thing. It's hard to appreciate how big those guys are and how hard they can throw it (seemingly with very little effort) when watching on TV.
I think Ankiel's ability to make to the Bigs basically as two different players suggests an exceptional level of ability. Most hitters peak at age 28 (Ankiel's age). Only truly exceptional players can remain at the top of their games deep into their 30s. Hopefully Ankiel (once he learns to take a few walks) will continue to be what he has been throughout his professional career - the exception.
Cardinals line-uo in '08:
SS: Ryan
RF: Ludwick/Ankiel
1B: Pujols
LF: Duncan
3B: Rolen
CF: Edmunds/Ankiel
2B: Kennedy
C: Molina
Then, use the money saved by having cheap, young players to buy some pitching.
World Series Champs, 2008!
Dude, I can't take Kennedy at 2nd base. Can you get me somebody with a bat?
How about we focus on the birds in 2007 and worry about 2008 when it the off-season gets here? Let's hope they can keep playing like they have been in the last 2 weeks!
- Howdy
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