albert pujols, 2008 NL mvp

September 24, 2008 | Filed Under albert pujols | No Comments

Great article, thanks for the good read: “Albert Pujols, underappreciated superstar” By Jonah Keri, ESPN Page2. Why can’t all MVP voters be so reasonable? This year should not be only the 2nd MVP that Albert has received, and lets only hope they don’t screw it up again.

forgettable series in houston

September 3, 2008 | Filed Under adam wainwright, yadier molina, david eckstein, troy glaus | 1 Comment

What a rough weekend series in Houston. Sorry, didn’t have much heart left to discuss the games. Plus things got off to a bad start in Arizona Monday afternoon. After hitting four home runs for five runs against Randy Johnson, things looked good early on. But alas, it wasn’t enough. Kyle McLellan gave up three late runs and handed over the game to the Diamondbacks. David Eckstein—a once heralded player on redbirdreview.com—is now a dog. What a pesky little show off trying to show up his old team by knocking in the winning run. Well, I wish him well and much success—against any other team. I’ve followed him most of this season in Toronto and was stoked for him to get picked up by an October-bound team that valued his skills and experience.

Tuesday’s game is now underway vs. the D-backs and Troy Glaus has just knocked a two run shot to go ahead. Adam Wainwright seems to be working some magic on the mound so stay tuned to see if they can kick this losing skid and hold on for a win tonight. Yadier Molina just made it 4-0 with his 2-run jack!

Glad to see Carpenter off the DL, hopefully things are well with his arm and the opportunities he may receive this season.

albert pujols batting average

August 29, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | No Comments

The spot at the top was short lived for now as Chipper Jones went 2-3 tonight ending up at .359 to reclaim the lead over Albert Pujols, who had the night off and remains at .357.

NL batting leaders, full of cards

August 28, 2008 | Filed Under albert pujols, yadier molina, ryan ludwick, skip schumaker, aaron miles | 1 Comment

Albert takes over atop the AVG leader board for the Major Leagues and within the National League, Yadier Molina, Ryan Ludwick and Skip Schumaker are all within the top ten. Pujols’ OBP is crazy high and three more RBI and Ludwick cracks the century mark.

But we can’t forget Aaron Miles who is batting .314 with 341 plate appearances (425 needed at this point to qualify). Though Miles may not qualify for the title due to lack of opportunities, he’s still cranking out the hits every chance he gets. Remember his walk-off grand slam a couple months ago?—what a hit!

5-3 redbirds triumph splits set w/brewers

August 28, 2008 | Filed Under adam wainwright, albert pujols, ryan ludwick, troy glaus | No Comments

It has not been a pretty ‘08 campaign vs. the Brewers, but some face was salvaged Wednesday night as the Cardinals came from behind in the eighth inning to secure a 5-3 win. Ryan Ludwick finally broke through in the sixth inning with two outs when he hit a solo shot to left center to get within two runs, 1-3 through six. That is when I knew things should turn around and the Cardinals could battle back for a win. Don’t make Albert Pujols mad. Brandon Backe could tell you that. Some words were exchanged between Brewers’ pitcher Villanueva and Albert (in the on deck circle) after pitching out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh. I’m sure Villanueva was so pumped that he didn’t have to face Albert with bases loaded and his emotions got the best of him. In turn, Albert led off the eighth with a stand up double. Ludwick next hit a double to score Pujols for a 2-3, one-run deficit. Troy Glaus hit a single to tie it up and before the inning was over the Redbirds were atop with a 5-3 advantage.

Adam Wainwright started the game on the mound and kept the Cardinals close, allowing two runs through six innings. Ryan Franklin and Kyle McClellan pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings, but Chris Perez provided my favorite two moments of the game in the ninth. After striking out the first batter, Perez allowed a double. That brought Ryan Braun to the plate as the tying run. Chris Perez made Braun look so foolish swinging at strike three slider from his heals. A much needed moment for any Cards fan this year, considering all the damage Braun has already inflicted to us this year. But that moment was duplicated as the next batter, Prince Fielder, struck out like a fool swinging for dear life to end the game. Such merciless beatings handed down by Perez to two deserving Brewers. Such a great performance to witness.

Another big moment in this game was Albert Pujols’ double in the eighth which brought his season batting average to .357 one point higher than Jones, who’d been leading most of the season with unreal numbers. Another batting title for Albert would be an awesome cherry on top of a great season if the Cards can end up pushing through to secure a playoff spot. It will have to be over the top of the Brewers, but I can’t think of another team (besides the Cubs of course) that I’d rather see be overtaken by the Redbirds en route to the post season.

two game set vs. brewers

August 26, 2008 | Filed Under team, adam wainwright, albert pujols, yadier molina, skip schumaker | No Comments

The Cardinals need both games tonight and tomorrow. Such a boost to have Adam Wainwright do so well last Friday in his first start back. Albert Pujols has essentially caught Jones for the batting title and Yadier Molina is starting to hit his stride at the plate. It was only a matter of time for his batting average to to catch up to his abilities at the plate—he has second fewest strike outs in the Majors for batters with over 425 plate appearances. And Albert has second fewest strike outs in the Majors for batters with over 500 plate appearances. Skip Schumaker is also right there in the mix with great at bats and productivity on the bases.

Each new game brings so much more excitement as the season wanes and playoff hopes wax strong in many ballparks around the country (sorry Canada, no playoffs for you this year). Tune in as redbirdreview.com awakes from its slumber and begins to cheer and hope for a strong season-ending push that leads us into a playoff berth.

this is it

August 11, 2008 | Filed Under chris carpenter, cubs, rick ankiel | No Comments

Nearly halfway through August, and the Cardinals are facing an uphill battle to fend off the Brewers and Cubs if they want to make a post season appearance. Chris Carpenter looked great on the mound Sunday in Chicago against the Cubs—until he strained his triceps and had to come out. The game spiraled out of control right after he left, and the Cards suffered a 6-2 loss and 2-1 series loss at Wrigley.

Brewers hammered the Nats today, Cubs have day off and Cards head to Florida for a four game set against the Marlins. Perhaps Rick Ankiel will be ready to get back into the starting line up. The one thing we can also hope for is that we can get Adam Wainwright back at 100% sooner than later, whether he’ll start or close is yet to be seen. I’m hoping Carp is okay, the class-act needs a break.

Pujols and the offense need to step up and carry this team for a week, lets punish the Marlins and get back on track for a strong run to the finish. The Cubs and Brewers do not like to lose games and this is becoming increasingly frustrating for a Cards fan like myself.

cardinals holding ground in nl central

May 28, 2008 | Filed Under team, adam wainwright, albert pujols, ryan ludwick | No Comments

After dropping two straight, including last night’s 8-2 loss to the Houston Astros the St. Louis Cardinals are still holding their ground only 1.5 games behind the division leading Cubs. Brian Barton hit his first Major League home run last night in the loss and Albert Pujols added his twelfth of the season. Adam Wainwright (4-2) takes over on the mound tonight against Wandy Rodriguez (1-0) who hasn’t pitched since his April 19th start.

Ryan Ludwick took last night off after going 0-5 in the last game in the LA Dodgers series. He’s been swinging well this month and has amassed 13 homers and 38 RBIs on the season. The Redbirds need a win tonight and I’m hoping it comes through a dominant Wainwright performance coupled with ample run support from Albert and the boys.

albert pujols 2008 avg & obp

May 16, 2008 | Filed Under albert pujols | No Comments

Take a look, these charts show Albert’s monthly batting average (AVG) and on-base percentage (OBP) for the 2008 season. He currently (at the time of this post) carries a 14-game hitting streak. He’s been on base at least once in every game so far this season. Check back frequently for updates to the charts as each month of the season progresses. Any predictions for final numbers? He should for sure surpass 100 walks for the first time in his career.

record april for cardinals: 18-11

May 5, 2008 | Filed Under anthony reyes, albert pujols, yadier molina, pitching, cubs, mark mulder | No Comments

Winninig 18 games in April was a record for the 2008 Redbirds! What so called ‘baseball experts’ would’ve predicted such and accomplishment for the Cards? Albert Pujols is third in the majors with a .358 batting average and leads the majors with a .518 on-base-percentage and with 33 walks! He’s been on base so far every game this season. Troy Glaus is second in the majors with doubles (12) and has helped the team with 21 RBIs, even though he’s only cranked on home run. Our starting pitching staff has posted a 3.53 ERA which by the way is 4th in the majors, and the main five starters have posted a 15-6 record.

What does the month of May hold in the deck? How ’bout starting things off with a 2-1 series win over the Cubs last weekend? We should see what will come of Mark Mulder—whether he is fit to start or not, and have already seen the demotion of Anthony Reyes down to AAA Memphis. I like Anthony and wish he’d keep his head above water and wish him luck and a successful return to an MLB roster—be it ours or not.

Lets keep gettin’ them Runs Cards! And what a gun from Yadier Molina yesterday to nab Theriot at 2nd base—what a weapon!