The Redbird Revival - St. Louis Cardinals (OOTP6)

[mtaystl03]

I have decided to take over my beloved St. Louis Cardinals in OOTP6. I am excited about the new patch and I can't wait to revive the Cardinals to their mid-80's form

A brief history of the Cardinals...

Started as the St. Louis Brown Stockings in 1882 and then changed their name to the St. Louis Browns from 1883-1898. They were known as the St. Louis Perfectos for the 1899 season and in 1900 officially became the St. Louis Cardinals.

From 1900 to present this storied franchise has won 9 World Championships, 15 Pennants, and had 19 Playoff Appearances.

Legendary players such as Stan "The Man" Musial, Red Schoendienst, Enos Slaughter, Dizzy Dean, Ken Boyer, Bob Gibson and the "Wizard" Ozzie Smith enjoyed playing careers in the best baseball town in America, St. Louis.

17 years the Cardinals had the league MVP on the team, 6 rookie of the years, 2 Cy Young awards (Gibson twice), 18 Silver Slugger awards and 70 Gold Glove awards.

The Cardinals have retired the following numbers:
1: Ozzie Smith
2: Red Schoendienst
6: Stan Musial
9: Enos Slaughter
14: Ken Boyer
17: Dizzy Dean
20: Lou Brock
42: Jackie Robinson
45: Bob Gibson
85: August Busch

Only the New York Yankees (14) and Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (10) have more retired numbers.

The Cardinals have 36 players and 8 managers in the Hall of Fame.

9 times Cardinal pitchers have trown a no-hitter, 13 times have Cardinals hit a home run in the All-star game, 15 times hitting for the cycle, 15 hitting three homers in a game.

The last Cardinal World Series win was in 1982 and last appearance was 1985. My goal is to leave my mark on the history of the St. Louis Cardinals and bring this team back to what it once was! There is a very good core of players here to build on, now just getting over that hump.

[MizzouRah]

What happened in your MVP dynasty?


Todd

[mtaystl03]

My MVP got all messed up somehow after the first off-season I kind of lost interest. I think OOTP is much better for doing a detailed dynasty report.

[mtaystl03]

Some backgroud for the league:

- Using CBL 2.0 rosters
- Coaches/Scouts: ENABLED
- Ratings scale: 1-10
- Cash Max: $10,000,000
- Trade Frequency: LOW
- Trade Difficulty: HARD
- Trade AI Preference: NEUTRAL

Here is my teams current financial position:

http://www.angelfire.com/oz/rffl/financialreport.bmp

[mtaystl03]

Pitching Rotation

1. Matt Morris
2. Woody Williams
3. Jason Marquis
4. Jeff Suppan
5. Chris Carpenter

Bullpen
Mike Lincoln
Steve Kline
Ray King
Kiko Calero
Julian Tavarez
Cal Eldred
Closer: Jason Isringhausen

--------

Lineups

vs. RHP

1. Tony Womack, 2b
2. Edgar Rentaria, ss
3. Jim Edmonds, cf
4. Albert Pujols, 1b
5. Scott Rolen, 3b
6. Reggie Sanders, rf
7. Ray Lankford, lf
8. Mike Matheny, c
9. Pitcher Slot

vs. LHP

1. Tony Womack, 2b
2. Edgar Rentaria, ss
3. Jim Edmonds, cf
4. Albert Pujols, 1b
5. Scott Rolen, 3b
6. Reggie Sanders, rf
7. So Taguchi, lf
8. Mike Matheny, c
9. Pitcher Slot

vs. RHP w/DH

1. Tony Womack, 2b
2. Edgar Rentaria, ss
3. Jim Edmonds, cf
4. Albert Pujols, 1b
5. Scott Rolen, 3b
6. Reggie Sanders, rf
7. Ray Lankford, lf
8. Mike Matheny, c
9. Marlon Anderson, dh

vs. LHP w/DH

1. Tony Womack, 2b
2. Edgar Rentaria, ss
3. Jim Edmonds, cf
4. Albert Pujols, 1b
5. Scott Rolen, 3b
6. Reggie Sanders, rf
7. So Taguchi, lf
8. Mike Matheny, c
9. Marlon Anderson, dh

*Ray Lankford and So Taguchi will split time in the outfield to start the season.

[mtaystl03]

Minor Leagues

Our Minor League teams are:
AAA- Memphis Redbirds
AA- Tennessee Smokies
A- Palm Beach Cardinals

Our system is ranked 25th. I hope to improve this drastically.

Top 10 Prospects

1. Adam Wainwright, SP, AAA (aquired in JD Drew trade.)
2. Blake Hawksworth, SP, AA
3. Yadier Molina, C, AA
4. Rhett Parrot, SP, AA
5. Paul Frisella, RF, A
6. Brenden Ryan, SS, A
7. Anthony Reyes, SP, AA
8. John Nelson, SS, AA
9. Ried Gorecki, LF, A
10. Travis Hanson, 3B, A

We will check in on these guys and other minor leaguers at the end of every month.

[MizzouRah]

My MVP got all messed up somehow after the first off-season I kind of lost interest. I think OOTP is much better for doing a detailed dynasty report.
Amen. :)

Press on. I'll be interesting to see how you do with the Cardinals compared to my dynasty. ;)


Todd

[mtaystl03]

Amen. :)

Press on. I'll be interesting to see how you do with the Cardinals compared to my dynasty. ;)


If my Cardinals do half as well as yours I will be happy!

[mtaystl03]

Opening Series: vs. Milwaukee Brewers, 4 games – April 4-8
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/logo_stl_79x76.jpg vs. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/logo_mil_79x76.jpg

Game #1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Milwaukee 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 0
St. Louis 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 X 5 11 2


WP- Matt Morris (1-0, 4.50) LP- Ben Sheets (0-1, 7.94) S- Jason Isringhausen (1)

Notes: Jim Edmonds starts the season off right with a homer and we win behind our ace Matt Morris. We came back from down 3 early and win the game. Edgar Rentaria went 3-for-4 in the game and Ray Lankford had 2 RBI in his debut back with the club.

1-0, 1st place

Game #2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Milwaukee 3 0 0 1 0 2 2 0 0 8 14 0
St. Louis 2 0 1 2 3 0 4 2 X 14 15 1

WP- Cal Eldred (1-0, 0.00) LP- Mike Crudale (0-1, 108.11)

Notes: Scary moment when our starter Woody Williams only pitched 1/3 of an inning before leaving the game with a nasty blister. He should be able to make his next start. It was great to see our bullpen (Lincoln, King, Kline, Calero, Tavarez, Eldred and Isringhausen) combine for the win. The offense outdoes theirs as Rentaria went 3-for-4 again while Albert Pujols hit his first HR of the season in a 3-for-4, 3 RBI day. Edmonds, Taguchi, Sanders, Matheny, and pinch-hitter Marlon Anderson picked up 2 RBI as well. Good start.

2-0, 1st place

League News: Seattle starting pitcher Jaime Moyer will be out 8-9 weeks after hurting himself in their game against Anaheim.

Game #3

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Milwaukee 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
St. Louis 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 X 3 6 0

WP- Jason Marquis (1-0, 0.00) LP- Chris Capuano (0-1, 3.38) S- Jason Isringhausen (2)

Notes: Jason Marquis does great in his first start in front of his new fans in St. Louis pitching 6 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out 7. He did have to leave because of a small blister but won’t miss his next scheduled start. Kiko Calero, Steve Kline and then Jason Isringhausen shut the door and only let up 2 hits combined all night! Jim Edmonds hit his 3rd home run in as many games and Jason Marquis helped his own cause going 2-for-3 on the day.

3-0, 1st place

Game #4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Milwaukee 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 5 1
St. Louis 3 1 1 3 2 0 0 4 X 14 17 0

WP- Jeff Suppan (1-0, 2.16) LP- Matt Kinney (0-1, 22.50)

Notes: Scott Rolen belts two home runs as we blitz the Brewers and earn the sweep. Jeff Suppan does very well in his Cardinal debut picking up the win in 8 1/3 innings pitched. The offense was great with Marlon Anderson getting his first start of the season he had 2 hits and some good defensive plays. He is starting for the struggling Tony Womack and hit in the leadoff spot. Edgar had 3 more hits and Rolen and Lankford also had 3-hit days. 17 hits and 14 runs ain’t too bad as we get ready for Arizona.

4-0, 1st place

----------------------------------------
Series Recap: Great start to the season going 4-0 against what appears to be a pretty weak Milwaukee ball club. Tony Womack was just 1-for-12 in his first three games in the leadoff spot. Marlon Anderson did well in the final game and is now 3-for-6 early on. Edmonds hit 3 HR and Jason Marquis looked excellent in his first outing of the season. Our bullpen did a very nice job as well. In other central division action, the Reds beat the Cubs three times to get off to a nice start as well.
----------------------------------------

[mtaystl03]

Series 2: @ Arizona Diamondbacks (3-0), 3 games, April 9-11
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/logo_stl_79x76.jpg vs. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/logo_ari_79x76.jpg

Game #5 – Friday, 4/9/2004 – 9:05

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis 0 1 1 0 4 4 0 0 4 14 13 0
Arizona 0 2 3 0 1 0 4 1 0 11 19 4

WP- Steve Kline (1-0, 5.40) LP- Matt Mantei (0-1, 0.00) S- Jason Isringhausen (3)

Notes: Crazy game in Arizona as the D-backs jumped out to a 5-2 lead on Chris Carpenter. Then we rallied behind Jim Edmonds 4th and Albert Pujols 3rd homers of the year scoring 4-runs in the 4th and 5th innings as Arizona’s starter Elmer Dessens started to tire. The bullpen let us down as Mike Lincoln, Steve Kline and Julian Tavarez had trouble getting outs and they went up 11-10. In the top of the ninth, down one we load the bases on Matt Mantei after an error with two outs and it was decision time. I loathed over pinch hitting the struggling (2-for-16) Tony Womack and given Hector Luna a shot but went with Womack who delivered against his old club with a grand slam!! Izzy came on for his 3rd save. 5-0 start.

5-0, 1st place

Game #6 – Saturday, 4/10/2004 – 9:05

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 6 9 1
Arizona 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 5 10 1

WP- Cal Eldred (2-0, 0.00) LP- Stephen Randolph (0-1, 40.54) S- Jason Isringhausen (4)

Notes: Another unreal game. We go up 2-0 early as Edmonds picks up his 13th RBI (league leading) and the Pujols added his 9th of the season. Matt Morris was cruising until the 6th when the D-Backs hammered him for 5 runs. He actually pitched to one guy in the 7th before being pulled. His ERA now stands at 5.68 but he did strike out 7 guys in 7 1/3 innings of work tonight. We then battled and got a run in the 8th and then in the 9th we rallied against 29-year old Stephen Randolph who gave up a 2-run single to, who else, Edgar Rentaria to give us a 6-5 lead. Izzy gave up a hit in the 9th before getting a double play and a pop up of Luis Gonzalez and his 4th save in just 6 games (he’s kinda tired). Great start!

6-0, 1st place

Game #7 – Sunday, 4/11/2004 – 3:35

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis 2 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 7 11 0
Arizona 0 0 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 6 7 1

WP- Woody Williams (1-1, 10.80) LP- Stephen Randolph (0-2, 67.57) S- Jason Isringhausen (5)

Notes: This is really getting to become amazing. Yet another come from behind win in which the offense really picks up the slack. A little lineup change had Roger Cedeno giving the struggling Reggie Sanders a break and Marlon Anderson was in the 8-hole giving Womack another day off. Woody Williams was spotted a 5-0 lead thanks to Ray Lankford’s 3 early RBI in the game (Ray was 2-for-5 in the game) and the D-Backs battled back to score 5 in the 5th. In the 7th, Edgar Rentaria hit his first homer of the season a solo shot off of last night’s loser Stephen Randolph. Edmonds then decides to hit the go-ahead homer off of Randolph as well. Woody gets in more trouble in the 7th and Julian Tavarez gets out of it with the bases loaded and two outs Edmonds robbed Sexson of a hit and caught Finley too far off the bag to end the inning. Ray King came in and got three big outs and Jason Isringhausen remains solid pitching to the final batter of the game to earn his 5th save in just 7 games. Two sweeps to start the season and some red-hot hitters!

7-0, 1st place

-----------------------------------------
Series Recap:
Another great series in which we just exploded with the bats. It was great to see three come-from-behind victories against a team that coming in was 3-0. We did not see Randy Johnson but that doesn’t matter too much. The offense was great but the starting pitching, especially our #1 and #2 guys Morris and Williams struggled. I am sure they will pick it up. I wonder how long our offense can carry us. The Reds are winning games and are now just 1.5 games out at 5-1 and we are the only undefeated team left in the league. Anaheim is off to a good 5-1 start and the Yankees are 6-2. The Tigers and White Sox are both looking for their first win sitting at 0-6.
------------------------------------------

[mtaystl03]

http://www.angelfire.com/oz/rffl/poy1.bmp

Our Jim Edmonds is honored for his nice start! :)

[GoldenEagle]

Wow, I wish I could get that type of production out of my pitching staff. I am near June 1st, and I think I am two games below .500. The rotation has pitched ok. I had to send Marquis down to AAA and called up Benes from Memphis. Benes has done really well.

I have an outfield of Taguchi, Edmonds, Cedeno. It has worked out ok. The bullpen is the biggest concern. I am hoping to deal off Sanders for help.

[mtaystl03]

Yeah, Marquis has been amazing so far. I am worried about Morris and Woody.

Reggie is really struggling for me and I could see Cedeno and Taguchi possibly starting at some point this season. Even Lankford is doing very well right now. We will see if we can continue it.

[mtaystl03]

Series 3: vs. Houston Astros (3-3), 3 games, April 12-14
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/logo_stl_79x76.jpg vs. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/logo_hou_79x76.jpg

Game #8 – Monday, 4/12/2004 – 7:10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Houston 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 5 0
St. Louis 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 X 6 10 1

WP- Jason Marquis (2-0, 0.75) LP- Roger Clemens (0-1, 5.27)

Notes: Jason Marquis throws another gem, going 6 innings giving up just 3 hits and one earned run. Tony Womack, Edgar Rentaria and Ray Lankford got the job done with the bats as Womack is just hanging on to that 2B job. Rentaria had two more RBI giving him 8 on the young season and Ray Lankford hit his 2nd home run and picked up RBI’s 7 and 8. Albert Pujols continued his hit-streak which is now at 8 and Edmonds hitting and RBI streak ended as he went 0-for-4. Another great game and we move to 8-0!

8-0, 1st place

Game #9 – Tuesday, 4/13/2004 – 7:10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Houston 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 3 7 1
St. Louis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1

WP- Tim Redding (1-0, 0.00) LP- Jeff Suppan (1-1, 2.76) S- Octavio Dotel (1)

Notes: Our first set back of the season is at the hands of the hated Astros and young Tim Redding who surrendered just two hits over his 8 1/3 innings of work. Brad Lidge and Octavio Dotel shut the door and an RBI single by Jeff Kent and a two-run blast by Morgan Esberg is enough for the Stros to move back to 4-4. Our starter Jeff Suppan didn’t pitch bad at all just the single by Kent and the 2-run jack hurt him and no offense today. One of the two Cardinal hits was by Albert Pujols which means he has a hit in each of the first 9 games this season.

8-1, 1st place

Game #10 – Wednesday, 4/14/2004 – 12:10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Houston 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 5 9 2
St. Louis 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 4 12 0


WP- Dan Miceli (1-1, 5.06) LP- Mike Lincoln (0-1, 11.57) S- Mike Gallo (1)

Notes: A well played game as the Astros take two of three from us at Busch. Carpenter kept us in the game for the most part but Roy Oswalt was just good enough to keep our bats quiet and put Houston in a position to win. We actually tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with two outs Reggie Sanders finally helped us out by hitting a jack off of the eventual winner Dan Miceli, his 2nd of the season to tie it. The in the top of the 10th Jason Lane found a way to get it over the center field wall off of Mike Lincoln who was pitching well up to that point. Pujols extended his hitting streak with a 2-for-4 day, it is now at 10. Edgar was 4-for-5 and is now hitting an unreal .512 on the season. Tony Womack was 0-for-6 and his average drops to .176 and he might lose his job.

8-2, 1st place

INJURY NOTICE: Bad news as our relief pitcher Kiko Calero will be sidelined for close to six weeks after pulling his triceps muscle in the 6th inning of Wednesday’s game against Houston. He was our best performer out of the bullpen so far this season, appearing 5 times for 5 1/3 innings, allowing just one hit, 2 BB, 9 K and an era of 0.00.

-----------------------------------------
Series Recap: A tough, hard-played series that saw the Astros take two out of three from us at Busch. Usually that would be a very bad thing but we played hard in every game and just came up short in two of them. I was proud that we were able to stay in that final game even with our #5 starter (Carpenter) against their ace Roy Oswalt.

Tony Womack is not getting the job done at the top of the order for me and it might be time to give Marlon Anderson his fair shot.

The worst news was the injury to Kiko Calero who will be placed on the DL. Most likely, we will bring up Jimmy Journell but we haven’t made any decisions quite yet.

Overall, we are 8-2 with Cincinnati in 2nd at 5-3 and the Astros 2.5 games back at 5-4. We are by no means running away with this thing.

NEXT UP: The Colorado Rockies come to town for a three-game set after a well deserved day off. They are off to a 2-6 start and here is the pitching matchups:
4/16 – Matt Morris (1-0, 5.68) vs. Jason Jennings (0-1, 2.77)
4/17 – Woody Williams (1-0, 10.80) vs. Denny Stark (1-0, 0.00)
4/18 – Jason Marquis (2-0, 0.75) vs. Scott Elarton (0-1, 3.00)
--------------------------------------------

[mtaystl03]

Transaction: During the day off, we placed Kiko Calero on the 15-day DL and called up Jimmy Journell from AAA Memphis. So far, Jimmy has been impressive down there going 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA in 7 and 1/3 innings.

---------------------------

League News:

Trade between Milwaukee and San Francisco :
San Francisco gets :
SS Craig Counsell
Milwaukee gets :
P Kirk Rueter
P Matt Cain
P Billy Sadler
$1,500,000 cash.

[mtaystl03]

Note: I messed up the pitching matchups for the Rockies series. I forgot that Jennings would pitch in their game during our off day. So, it is Morris vs. Stark in the opening game.

Series 4: vs. Colorado Rockies (2-7), 3 games, April 16-18
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/logo_stl_79x76.jpg vs. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/logo_col_79x76.jpg

Game #11 – Friday, 4/16/2004 – 7:10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Colorado 2 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 12 0
St. Louis 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 7 10 1


WP- Ray King (1-0, 1.80) LP- Javier Lopez (0-2, 12.79)

Notes: Todd Helton got things started well in the first with a 2-run homer off of Morris, who is really struggling. We got one back as Reggie Sanders hit a solo-homer, his 3rd. <Note: both Rolen and Sanders have been struggling so I switched their spots in the order, Sanders moved to 5th and Rolen to 6th.> Matty Mo gave up two more as Burnitz hit his 3rd. The hottest hitter in baseball, Edgar Rentaria hit a home run and then Jimmy Journell got into the game after Matt only got through 5 innings. He gave up a run and then the Rockies got another in the 9th. Then the dramatics, Sanders had a base-hit and then Rolen hit a double (nice move so far) and then Mike Matheny hit a dramatic 3-run walk-off home run!!! Great game.

9-2, 1st place

Game #12 – Saturday, 4/17/2004 – 1:15

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Colorado 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 6 0
St. Louis 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 X 6 11 0



WP- Woody Williams (2-0, 7.80) LP- Scott Elarton (0-2, 7.88)

Notes: Another day another win for the Cards! The Reggie Sanders/Scott Rolen switch has done both very well and Edgar Rentaria continues to hit the ball. Sanders was 2-4 with his 4th HR and Rolen was 2-3 with 2 RBI.

Marlon Anderson has all but won the 2B and lead-off job going 3-for-4 in the game.

Woody Williams was really struggling coming into the game and was pitching brilliantly before I left him in too long and Charles Johnson hit a grand slam to bring the game within one run. Izzy then came in and earned his 6th save. First to 10 wins.

10-2, 1st place

Game #13 – Sunday, 4/18/2004 – 1:15

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Colorado 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 9 2
St. Louis 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 9 0


WP- Javier Lopez (1-2, 12.27) LP- Jimmy Journell (0-1, 10.13)

Notes: Disappointing loss but I guess we can’t win them all. We took a 3-1 lead into the 9th only to see Jason Isringhausen strain a back muscle and then Jimmy Journell couldn’t get out of it. The Rockies put up a 4 spot. Then, we had the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom but pinch-hitter Tony Womack grounded into a 1-2-3 double play and Rolen struck out! Scott did go 2-4 with a HR and Reggie Sanders went 2-4 with his 5th homer and 3rd in as many games. Izzy is day-to-day with the back and should be fully healed in a week. Both starters in this game were great as Jason Marquis went 6, giving up 6 hits, 1 earned run and fanning 9 men. His ERA on the year is at 1.00. Not to be outdone, their starter Chin-Hui Tsao struck out 10 in just 5.2 IP.

10-3, 1st place

---------------------------------------
Series Recap: Another good series for us. We take 2 out of 3 from the Rockies. Scary moment as Izzy appeared hurt but he should be fine. Cal Eldred will take over the closing duties until he returns fully. Other developments this series include Marlon Anderson winning the 2B and lead-off job from Tony Womack. Ray Lankford, Albert Pujols and Mike Matheny are struggling. Both Morris and Woody pitched a little bit better and Marquis continues to shove ass. 

We remain atop the Central division with Houston 2 games back, Cubs 2.5 and Cincy 3.5 back.

NEXT UP: A day off and then 3-games with the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park! Huge series.
-----------------------------------------

[mtaystl03]

LEAGUE NEWS:

http://www.angelfire.com/oz/rffl/poy2.bmp

>> 4/16 - Clevelands Jeff D'Amico shut out Detroit with a 2-hit shut out!
>> 4/17 - Miguel Tejada (BAL) was injured for 8 weeks.
>> 4/18 - A couple of trades:

Trade between Anaheim and New York (A) :
New York (A) gets :
2B Chone Figgins
P Bob Zimmerman (who actually went to my high school in St. Louis)
Anaheim gets :
1B Travis Lee

Trade between Cincinnati and Los Angeles :
Los Angeles gets :
RF John Vander wal
Cincinnati gets :
P Brian Pilkington

[mtaystl03]

Series 4: @ Houston Astros (8-5), 3 games, April 20-22
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/logo_stl_79x76.jpg vs. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/logo_hou_79x76.jpg

Game #14 – Tuesday, 4/20/2004 – 7:05

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 5 12 0
Houston 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 1


WP- Jeff Suppan (2-1, 2.74) LP- Roy Oswalt (0-1, 2.45)

Notes: We played solid fundamental baseball against a good pitcher. We had 2 RBI groundouts and some clutch base-hits. Jeff Suppan gave us another good outing, picking up his 2nd win of the year. Everybody besides Scott Rolen had a hit and Pujols was 3-for-5 in the game, leading the attack. Lankford was replaced with Roger Cedeno who lead off today. He was 2-for-5 with a couple of RBI. Neither team hit a home run and congrats to Hector Luna who got his first major league hit in his first major league at bat in the 7th inning of the game.

11-3, 1st place

Central Update: We have now built a 3-game lead over the Cubs, Astros and Reds.
---------------
Konerko Traded! – Paul Konerko, the struggling White Sox first baseman was dealt to the Oakland A’s who were looking to strengthen that position. In exchange the White Sox picked up a couple of pitchers, Brad Sullivan and Ricardo Rincon. The A’s also got $2,400,000 cash.
----------------

Game #16 – Thursday, 4/22/2004 – 6:05

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3 3 8 14 1
Houston 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 7 0


WP- Jimmy Journell (1-1, 5.79) LP- Brad Lidge (0-1, 14.73)

Notes: We pound out 14 hits and get to their bullpen and win again. Cedeno was 2-for-5 in the lead-off spot again and Jim Edmonds fueled the attack hitting 2 solo homers giving him 7 on the year and RBI’s number 19 and 20. We had 3 triples, Rentaria, Lankford (pinch-hitting) and a game tying one by Cedeno in the 6th. Jimmy Journell threw two great innings for us and picks up the win.

12-3, 1st place

Game #17 – Friday, 4/23/2004 – 7:05

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 7 13 1
Houston 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 2 1 8 10 0


WP- Octavio Dotel (3-1, 1.80) LP- Jimmy Journell (1-2, 7.72)

Notes: In the finale of the 3-game set with the Astros, we again show a lot of heart to come back but Jeff Bagwell’s bottom of the 9th RBI base hit did us in. Matt Morris had one bad inning which saw the ‘Stros put up 5 runs. We battled back behind another 4-for-5 day from Edgar Rentaria. Pujols and Rolen each his their 4th homers of the year.

12-4, 1st place

-----------------------------
Series Recap: Another series won. 2-1. Roger Cedeno was 2-for-5 in all three games and has won the LF spot over Ray Lankford for the time being, he will also be leading off. Matt Morris struggled once again and was lucky not to pick up the L in the last game of the series.

We now stand just two games ahead of the Cubbies who have won 3 in a row.

NEXT UP: 3-game set with the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.
-----------------------------

[mtaystl03]

Larry Walker got his 2,000th career hit off of Jeff Weaver in the 9th inning of their game on the 23rd. The hit was actually a grand slam!

[mtaystl03]

Series 5: @ Milwaukee Brewers (5-12), 3 games, April 23-25
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/logo_stl_79x76.jpg vs. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/logo_mil_79x76.jpg

Game #18 – Friday, 4/23/2004 – 7:05

Woody Williams (2-0, 7.80) vs. Doug Davis (0-1, 5.74)


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 8 13 0
Milwaukee 2 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 7 10 0


WP- Cal Eldred (3-0, 1.00) LP- Dave Burba (1-2, 6.08)

Notes: A lot of offense early as both starters were knocked out early. Woody continues to struggle. 7-7 until the top of the 8th when Mike Matheny hit a solo game winning homer. Matheny (2-4), Rolen (3-4, HR) and Sanders (2-5, HR) paced us in the offensive category and Cal Eldred continues his great pitching, going 2 1/3 scoreless, giving up just one hit.

Chicago, Cincy and Houston all won today.

13-4, 1st place

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http://www.angelfire.com/oz/rffl/dontrell.bmp
Dontrelle is 4-0 in 4 starts with a 0.86 ERA!
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Game #18 – Saturday, 4/24/2004 – 1:05

Jason Marquis (2-0, 1.00) vs. Chris Capuano (0-3, 9.24)


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis 1 0 2 0 0 7 0 0 0 10 10 0
Milwaukee 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 2


WP- Jason Marquis (3-0, 1.09) LP- Chris Capuano (0-4, 8.00)

Notes: Another offensive onslaught and now we are 6-0 against the Brewers this season. Marquis goes 6 2/3 and gives up just one run. What a season he is having so far! Roger Cedeno is getting comfortable in the lead off spot now hitting .350 after a 2-for-6 day. I gave Rentaria a day off and Hector Luna filled in well, going 2-for-4 with a R, RBI and SB. Marlon Anderson isn’t giving up his 2B job either (2-for-5 with his first HR and 2 RBI). Reggie Sanders and Albert Pujols each added 3 RBI giving them 15 and 16 respectively.

Chicago won but Houston and Cincinnati both lost.

14-4, 1st place

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Troy Glaus was the first in the major leagues this season to hit 3 bombs in one game. He did it against Oakland today. He was 4-for-6 with the 3 jacks and 9 RBI! Anaheim won 14-7 and move to 13-5 on the year!
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Game #19 – Sunday, 4/25/2004 – 1:05

Jeff Suppan (3-1, 2.90) vs. Matt Kinney (0-1, 6.43)


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis 0 0 1 0 1 0 4 0 0 6 12 0
Milwaukee 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 2 5 8 0


WP- Jeff Suppan (3-1, 2.90) LP- Matt Kinney (0-2, 5.79)

Notes: We are now 7-0 against the lowly Brewers this season! Roger Cedeno and Marlon Anderson continue to hit the ball in the #1 and #8 spots. They were both 2-for-5 in this game. Edmonds, Pujols, Matheny and those two all had 2 hits in the game. Another solid start from Jeff Suppan and a 4-run 7th were the key to this win.

15-4, 1st place

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Series Recap: Sweep! 7-0 against the Brewers. It is nice to feast on the struggling teams and now at 15-4 we are looking great. Things are going our way, winning a lot of close games but that is something we need to do. We are not running away with it by any means, it is a long season.

NEXT UP: A day off and then a 3-game set vs. the Philadelphia Phillies. A tough team and a good challenge for us.
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[b]Omar Vizquel[b] gets his 2,000th hit today in the 6th inning off of Jason Johnson!

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http://www.angelfire.com/oz/rffl/poy3.bmp

[mtaystl03]

April 26th, 2004 - Day off.

During the day off the Cubs and Reds got victories and the Chicago Cubs are one of the hottest teams in the league. They have won 7 games in a row and 9 of their last 10. They now stand at 14-6 and just 1 ½ games back of us!

CF Corey Patterson is their hottest player, he has an 18-game hitting streak going and is now hitting .427!!!

[mtaystl03]

Series 6: vs. Philadelphia Phillies (12-6), 3 games, April 27-29
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/logo_stl_79x76.jpg vs. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/logo_phi_79x76.jpg

Game #20 – Tuesday, 4/27/2004 – 7:10

Chris Carpenter (0-0, 2.90) vs. Vincente Padilla (3-1, 4.32)


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Philadelphia 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 4 2
St. Louis 0 0 6 0 0 1 1 1 X 9 10 1


WP- Chris Carpenter (1-0, 5.63) LP- Roberto Hernandez (0-1, 6.75)

Notes: Unlucky for the Phils as their starter Vincente Padilla was injured in the first inning and had to rely on their bullpen. You just can’t do that against us. Pujols broke it open in the 3rd with a 3-run double, it was his 7th two bagger of the year and RBI’s 18,19 and 20. Chris Carpenter gave us a complete game in which he scattered just 4 hits, 2 earned runs and 6 K’s. Nice performance.

16-4, 1st place

Game #21 – Wednesday, 4/28/2004 – 7:10

Matt Morris (1-0, 6.65) vs. Randy Wolf (1-2, 4.86)


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Philadelphia 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 1
St. Louis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0


WP- Randy Wolf (2-2, 3.24) LP- Matt Morris (1-1, 5.16) S- Billy Wagner (6)

Notes: Who would’ve thought a first inning homer by Jim Thome (6) would be all the scoring at Busch Stadium all night!? Randy Wolf was brilliant (8.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 11 K) and Matt Morris made one bad pitch all night.

Thanks goes out to Arizona who beat the Cubs 1-0 as well! :) The Reds and Astros both lost as well so nobody really picked up any ground.

16-5, 1st place

Game #22 – Thursday, 4/29/2004 – 12:10

Woody Williams (2-0, 9.47) vs. Brett Myers (1-1, 5.30)


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Philadelphia 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 5 0
St. Louis 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 3 5 1


WP- Ray King (2-0, 1.35) LP- Billy Wagner (0-1, 5.40)

Notes: Another exciting come from behind win! This time we were held to 2 hits by Philadelphia starter Brett Myers and relief man Rheal Cormier before the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs when Pujols got a base-hit. Rolen doubled off the wall to tie the game and then Ray Lankford got a base-hit up the middle to score Rolen and take the series! All of that off of Billy Wagner. Woody had a good outing, pitching 7 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits. Cal Eldred was awesome getting out of a jam and throwing 1 2/3 scoreless innings to move his ERA to 0.84.

17-5, 1st place

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Series Recap: Another big series win. We find a way to win 2 of 3 with the offense starting to slump a little bit. Carpenter, Matty Mo and Williams all pitched well for the first time this year and against a good lineup!

NEXT UP: 4 big ones with the Cubbies!!!
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