Royalties & Cardinalate

Baseball on a snowy St. Louis night

Around 4 or so this afternoon I caught myself daydreaming about Cards baseball, daydreaming being a typical activity for me, especially since I am currently working from home. But it was not about a game-winning homer, re-living last season’s postseason heroics (Jedmonds in Game 6, Pujols/Rolen in Game 7 etc.) or re-calling watching Bud Smith’s no-hitter in San Diego pitch-by-pitch while I was at work on a seemingly ordinary week night. No, I was just thinking about those laid back, mellow summer nights when you can party outside until 9 and then flip on the TiVO Cards for the ultimate nightcap. I am particularly fond of the West Coast games; nice to watch in real time at a late happy hour . . .

Some great news from Leach on MLB today. Alberticus’ plantar fasciitis has shown “dramatic improvement” according to trainer Barry Weinberg. Essentially, Pujols will be a completely normal Bert by Spring Training. BW also said that Chris Carpenter has “regained normal strength in his arm, and we assume he's going to come in with no limitations in Spring Training.” . . . Big-time positive news. Now, we need some good vibes from Mellow Matt Morris and his attempt to regain full strength in his right shoulder. I don’t like the latest news about Morris being "limited" and on pitch counts etc., but re-signing him was a good move at the price.

If Morris is not ready, Ankiel is likely to start 2005 in the starting rotation. I like those options.

Mark Grudzielanek is going to be a pain, so it would be nice to appoint him a suitable nickname. The other Cards blogs like Grudz, but that sucks. I’m going with Margudzlnek. Actually, I like MG. As for his signing, there seems be a significant disparity on how to interpret his defensive aptitude. But he is not a drop off from Tony Womack and it is David Eckstein that is the more troubling midfield acquisition. In fact, the most agonizing – and puzzling – move was Edgar spurning the Redbirds. We do not have the real inside info on the negotiations, but something went awry. Too bad.

Looks like Will Carroll is dissing hard on Walt Jocketty, but he makes a good case. His view leaves a sour taste since he is a Cubs fan and seems to have a big ego. But I’m glad that he works hard at his craft. His comments on Mark Mulder and the SS situation are well-taken. But it is not about winning 105 games again. It is about the Central and we must wait to see what happens with Houston this weekend before getting a good feel on things.

As for Jason Marquis and Chris Carpenter not likely to get better in 2005, I disagree. They’re both young (26, 30) and if healthy should be even better, though CC just needs a repeat performance. (But I'll take a Cy Young)

It's all about good stories

Looks like an all night rain here in St. Louis. Love it. Nothing more appropriate for the Sunday night following the unreasonable holiday barrage. Man, I sincerely miss Redbird Nation. But Gunn’s decision is easy to relate to. I love to post about the Cardinals, but feel that I am whimsical enough to be able to write content that is personally fulfilling despite NOT referencing every potential analytical perspective. The freedom and satisfaction in posting a frivolous thought outweighs the potential negativity involved with posting content that does not involve (too many) hours of research and contemplation. But he felt very obligated. This fact was reinforced tonight as I thought about David Eckstein and saw that Redbird Reasoning wrote over 1,800 (very excellent) words on the Eckstein travesty. His end reflection was that the move might work out.

DE is not very good and will be overpaid. He is what Tony Womack was prior to last year (a Vina reminder), except that kind of (Womack) luck (unexpected career season) is too rare to happen again this soon. Eck is sure-handed, slow and a below-average hitter. Though he walked a lot in the minors, he no longer does so. This might be his decisive trait: Does he remember how to walk? Please, I hope. Will Hal McRae save the day?

But I prefer to post about this episode:

Yankees pitchers Mike Kekich and Fritz Peterson first swapped wives in the summer of 1972 after a late, boozy dinner at the house of Yankees beat writer Maury Allen. That October, the lefties made their wife swap permanent and threw in the kids, dogs, and furniture for good measure. When the news broke, in March 1973, the Yankees were besieged with mail. "Nobody was for it," a team spokesperson told the New York Times. "None of the letter-writers or phone-callers said, 'Good going, guys.'

"Yankees outfielder Ron Swoboda, who was at that first dinner, describes the spouse trading as an "early '70s era thing." Still, "it was so far outside the norm," Swoboda remembers. "It was beyond anybody's realm of reality — except it happened." In his book All Roads Lead to October, Maury Allen says that despite Peterson's insistence that this was a clean-cut "life swap," it "was a sex thing, mostly."

The sex must've been pretty good. While Mike Kekich and Marilyn Peterson flamed out after a couple of months, Fritz Peterson and Susanne Kekich were still married as of 2000 . . . . So, where in the hell is this movie?