The Cardinal Way Part 2: Ascension

[royals19]

Springfield Cardinals Clubhouse
Springfield, Missouri
June 19th, 2014
11:37 PM

"And Jason Motte punches out the side in order for the second outing in a row..."

Tanner Bowling shut off the TV in the clubhouse. He blew hitters away in Spring Training... Yet here he is toiling away in AA. You can only blow AA hitters away so many times before it gets boring. Bowling was at the breaking point. He was supposed to be enjoying the first class flights, exquisite foods and shoe contracts the big leagues had to offer.

But no, it's mid-June and here's THE Tanner Bowling, All Star relief prospect and known connessiur of the "Rat Pack," stuck in the quaint midwestern village of Springfield. This sin't what he had in mind when he signed his first pro contract. It just wasn't fair, that's what it boiled down to. It wasn't fair he was being skipped over. It wasn't fair he had to stay in a Motel 6 every night and it sure as hell wasn't fair that he was stuck making 30 thousand a year. How is he supposed to live the high life on that salary?

There had to be a way out. He could go all Manny Ramirez and storm his way out of the franchise... Because they would care about a AA reliever and how he felt. He could work his tail off and earn a promotion... Moving to the seashores of Mexico and changing his name to Johnny Dean was probably a more viable option at this point.

It wasn't that he didn't want to work hard... I mean who wouldn't want to live by the beach everyday?

As he went to high tail it to Mexico, his cell phone began to ring... It was Willie Singleton...

[royals19]

Before we get to why Willie Singleton was calling Tanner Bowling at such a late hour, we must look at arguably the most anticipated series of the year.



That's right. It's time for the Cardinals Vs. Dodgers series.

Those of you who followed last season know exactly where this is going.



In the NLDS last season, the Cardinals played the Dodgers in what was probably the most ferocious postseason series in the history of the game. **** was being talked... Guys were getting hit left and right... Hush money was being thrown around... In other words, it was a great time ot be a baseball fan. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately depending on your viewpoint, the series only lasted 3 games with the Cardinals sweeping the Dodgers.



Even though the series was over after Game 3, any fool could tell you that it wasn't over... not yet. In one corner, you have the star studded Dodgers with more money than the El Dorado and a sense of entitlement that stretches form coast to coast. They're like the mob of the league... putting bounties on people's heads, forcefully enforcing the unwritten rules of the game, taking all the ice cream from the visitor's ice cream bar... and the list goes on and on. When you compare them to our ball club, you'll see just why we're mortal enemies.



In the other corner, we've got the St. Louis good ol' boys who do everything by the book and grind harder than a skateboarder trying to break his neck. The Cardinals don't have the biggest money in the league... they don't have the best team in the league... they don't have this... they don't have that... But we've got some serious character and when the Dodgers try to pull something again... you can safely assume that the **** is going to hit the fan.



You know, I've always been a fan of the Dodgers just because of the sheer history of the franchise. Sandy Koufax is one of my favorite players of all time. In fact, they were one of my favorite teams as recently as the days of Joe Torre, Manny Ramirez and Jonathan Broxton. But nowadays, I couldn't be more disappointed with the franchise and how they've handled things. They used to take great pride in their player development system and now with the new regime, they've moved away from that and have decided to spend as much money as it takes. That's why my love for the Dodgers has run out.

Before I go off on a long rant about what's wrong with the Dodgers, take a look at the pitching matchups for the series.

Wainwright V. Kershaw
Wacha V. Greinke
Garcia V. Ryu
Lyons V. Beckett

It's our best against their best. Contrary to the Milwaukee series earlier in the year, I will be playing all 4 games of the series simply for the fact I can't miss any of the action.



The Dodgers have an axe to grind, we have an axe to grind, let's see who's ready to dance.

[royals19]

Quote: Originally Posted by Willie Singleton

Tanner, this is Willie Singleton. I've got a business proposition for you.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tanner Bowling

Alright, what do you have for me boss?

Quote: Originally Posted by Willie

We're playing the Dodgers in L.A. and they're chomping at the bit down there...

Quote: Originally Posted by Tanner Bowling

So what do you have it mind?

Quote: Originally Posted by Willie

There's gonna be trouble in L.A. Tanner. The Dodgers are gonna try something funny and someone is bound to get hurt... Funny thing is though... It ain't gonna be us. Not this time.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tanner Bowling

OK....

Quote: Originally Posted by Willie

We want to use you in... certain... "situations" if you catch my drift...

Quote: Originally Posted by Tanner Bowling

...I think so?...

Quote: Originally Posted by Willie

Good, pack your bags and meet us in L.A.

******

Ever since that disaster in Milwaukee, Willie was never quite the same. He had lost a little pep in his step; a little of the flair that made him Willie Singleton. He'd been searching for redemption but more importantly a way to get this Cardinals roster back on track.

This opportunity against the Dodgers practically fell into Willie's lap. I wish I could say that we had this day marked on our calender from Day one but that isn't the case. It wasn't until rookie 2nd baseman Greg Garcia brought it up that the full magnitude of such a matchup was realized.

It's a chance for Willie to regain his lost pride, save the Cardinals from the brink of collapse and appease the "directorate." It's also a chance for me to actually feel good about booting up the PS3 and popping in the Show. I'm not gonna lie, there have been times when I wondered why I chose the Cardinals instead of a team like the Marlins. I could just worry about drafting and developing instead of scratching my head and trying to fuel an unsustainable playoff monster. Shoot... for that matter I should've taken my talents to the Houston Astros. Sign me up for a #1 pick every year...

Sorry about that... So where were we? Ahh yes...yes...

Willie had come up with a plan. Playing into the Dodger's hand and beating them at their own game could be very beneficial. It could provide the Cardinals with a rally cry and propel them right behind (or perhaps ahead) of the Brewers. It must work. It had to work. This is the last opportunity to turn things around. We're in late June and the opportunities are running out.

Something has to happen...

Now

[royals19]

Did they have any doubts? Any freighted inhibitions about what was about to happen? Perhaps... But no one said a word. Not on the flight to Los Angeles and not on the drive into Chavez Ravine. There was a chance some of them wouldn't come back... but this is what they lived for... They lived for the Cardinal Way and all it inspired and no one was going to take that away from this organization. Not the Brewers... Not the Powers That Be and certainly not the Dodgers.

And thus... the 25 rode into the Valley of Death...

******

The Dodgers series is finally here folks!

The lineup for game one was a little different than what we usually run out. Unfortunately, a lot of our players are operating on "low energy levels" and at the suggestion of the strength and conditioning coach Mike Matheny elected to sit them.

Matt Adams was batting first tonight not just to try to get this lineup going but also to serve as a guinea pig to test the waters and take a shot from the Dodgers first.



And by the 6th inning, that move clearly backfired as the Dodgers had their target picked out beforehand.

We were ambushed... damn near set up. The Dodgers had Kershaw, going game one and knew that we started Mark Ellis against lefties. By the time Mike Matheny realized the situation, it was too late to pull Ellis out of the game. Kershaw wound up and launched a 95 MPH heater right into his dome.

That clearly set the precedent for the rest of the Dodger pitching staff as they hit Ellis in 3 of his 4 ABs.

But we would get our revenge... rest assured.



Adam Wainwright's target of choice was Yasiel Puig.

Hitting Matt Kemp everytime out isn't getting us anywhere and hitting the pitcher, while fun, is a low move for any franchise.

So Puig came up after Ellis got hit and found himself thrown at in every AB for the rest of the game. It was actually a pretty comical sight because Puig would always take it and point his bat at the pitcher while some random Spanish music played in the background.

To say we beat the **** out of the Dodgers would be an understatement. We slaughtered them tonight in Chavez Ravine. The Dodgers, while 10 games better than us in the standings, were no match for our bats tonight... Including one particular player.

Oscar Taveras



Oscar "Gotta Find a Nickname for This Kid" Taveras hit for the Cycle tonight...

!!!

!!!

!!!

The cycle at 22 year's old! The fact that he got this off of Kershaw for the most part is insane. Mike Trout hit the cycle last season at age 21... that's Mike Trout though... We never could've dreamed of Taveras playing like this though. You can hit all you want at AAA but it doesn't mean a darn thing once you get to the show.

I thought that Taveras was going to be a .280-.290, 25 home run type of guy. His marks through this game? .324, 20 home runs.

Take from that what you will.

Quote:

MLB.com Oscar Taveras Rides a Cycle

That's the first time I've ever hit the cycle with a player before in the game and I'm sure it's probably going to be a long time before something of this nature ever crosses our path again.

[royals19]

After completely obliterating the Dodgers yesterday, we were prepared for the worst in game 2. Zack Greinke is the only player I've ever known to carry a grudge for years and break his collarbone as a result.



And sure enough, in his first AB of the night, Michael Wacha took a curveball to the back. Greinke tried to play it off like an accident but we all know that there was some serious intent there. I mean, look at A.J. Ellis in this picture. He's just sticking his glove behind Wacha to at like it was an accident.

In this war, there are no accidents.

Just ask Yasiel Puig:



We could pick any of the other 9 guys on the field but we had to choose Puig just because it's funny as hell to watch his reaction. If Willie Singleton had his way, we'd be throwing at Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford for all the **** they pulled in Boston. I guess he'll just have to save that for the parking lot after the game.

Every time we hit Puig, it's like a freaking Cartoon. He gets super animated and starts yelling at the pitcher while walking down to first with his hands on his hips. All the while a random Spanish song is playing in the background. The reaction is absolutely priceless...

Well it was until this happened:



On a routine double play ball, Puig was out by a good 15 feet. He went ahead and slid in to take out Mark Ellis who was playing 2nd again today because we needed to rest our usual second baseman. We're going to have to try to get Ellis out of there, they're starting to target him and I'm afraid something bad is going to happen. Apparently Flash Gordon doesn't replace the party hard Mark Ellis in the eyes of the Dodgers.



We'd have our revenge though against the Dodgers with Matt "Big City" Adams hitting the ball all over the field. Adams was 3-4 yesterday with 3 base hits and he started off tonight with a big home run to the opposite field.

I'd love to have Adams start everyday but right now, there just isn't any room. It's a shame because he could be a 30 home run threat. Maybe an injury will come along and he'll get his shot.

If he keeps this up, it might be hard to keep Adams out of the lineup consistently.



Ultimately, Michael Wacha would crush the Dodgers with a complete game. He was hitting all his spots tonight and was certainly looking like the ace the Cardinals brass was counting on him to be this season. The strikeouts aren't there but it will come once he gets a better feel for his curveball.

Wacha has taken the step from a 2/3 type starter to a sure fire ace. His velocity is mostly to blame because he went from throwing 91-93 last season to 93-97 this season.

So with this win, we've jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the series for those keeping track.

[royals19]

After we mopped the floor with the Dodgers in Game 2, I was expecting some heavy resistance the rest of the series. Right off the bat, it was pretty apparent they were going all out.



Jacoby Ellsbury hit a shot to the left field wall but Carl Crawford came out of no where and snatched the ball before slamming into the wall. Given Crawford's fragile... fragility... fragilness... I was suprised he didn't collapse into a million pieces like a cartoon.

While the Dodger defense was making plays like this, Hyun Jin Ryu was out there dominating us with his whacky pitching motion.



Ryu isn't overpowering... not one bit. But you give a lefty a whacky pitching motion and a good slider and change up, then he'll go places. That exactly what Ryu did to us for most of the game. He was wheeling and dealing for most of the game until he tired down and started hanging that slider right over the heart of the plate.

And we didn't miss, especially Allen Craig.



Craig finished the night with 2 home runs off of 2 Ryu sliders. Craig has really blossomed into an elite hitter. We always knew that Craig for hit for average but his power numbers are what are making him such a valuable asset for us this season. In order to replace what we were getting from Albert Pujols, Craig will have to start stepping up as a power threat and an RBI machine in the middle of our order.



So far... So good...


And for all those Yasiel Puig fans out there:



And yes, he did make the catch.

[royals19]

With 3 wins now under our belts, the Cardinals were ready to get the sweep and get the heck out of Dodge before any more trouble happened. In game 3, the Cardinals didn't hit anyone because we placed Mark Ellis on the bench in order to make sure he left LA in one piece.

Out of all the games this series, I was looking forward to this one the most.



Tyler Lyons, the guy who was called up to replace Shelby Miller, made his USER debut today in LA. With Jaime Garcia struggling as the only lefty in the rotation, I was ready to see Lyons and what he could do.

His arsenal isn't overpowering but he works quick, has great control and a wipeout slider comparable to Ryu's. The only knock is the fact that he doesn't have the stamina to throw 100 pitches in a game like all of our other starters.

Lyons went to the 7th inning of the ball game and allowed just 1 run over those 7 innings while striking out 7.

Yessir, it sure looked like a victory was going to be in order today... relatively easily. But then suddenly it wasn't. Suddenly the Dodgers jumped on our bullpen when we tried to close out the game. But let's back up to the 8th inning real quick.



Above are the most reliable guys in the bullpen... and Tanner Bowling (center) hasn't even thrown in a game this series. There just wasn't a situation to use him in this series... Until the 8th inning when Bowling was brought in to "face" Carl Crawford, Yasiel Puig and Adrian Gonzalez.



Each one of those aforementioned hitters received a 98 MPH shot to the back. I know, we were up by one run and it probably wasn't the best idea if we were going to win the game. But we left Bowling in and he struck out all 3 batters and didn't allow a run.

Bowling was impressive in his first major league action but we're going to have to send him back to AA to work on a 3rd pitch which seems to be lacking.



We would trade blow after blow with the Dodgers and our bullpen kept blowing lead after lead. In the 13th inning, we would have Matt Adams pinch hit in the pitcher's spot and he wound up driving in 2 runs and winning the ball game for us.

So there you have it. We escaped LA with a 4 game sweep... How sweet it is!!!

[royals19]

The Millennium Baltimore Hotel
Los Angeles, California
June 29th, 2014
11:47 PM

Sweeping the Dodgers was just the morale boost the St. Louis Cardinals needed to get this season back on track. Sure, they now had to worry about fines, suspensions and backlash from the media but it was all in good fun, right? Unfortunately, baseball's new commissioner Tony La Russa probably wouldn't feel the same.

At least Willie wouldn't bear the brunt of the storm. I mean, who wants to unload on the general manager when you can just as easily empty out at the layers? When he drew up this fantastic plan, Willie made the rookie mistake of not looking at the possible repercussions. The MLB boys up in New York could sink the Cardinals with fines and suspensions. Then once they knocked off Bill DeWitt and Willie Singleton, they could do whatever they wanted and turn the Cardinals into the Expos.

OK... That last part might be a bit of a stretch but when you've got the nerve to give MLB the finger, anything can happen... Look what they did to ol' Teddy Turner?

******

Willie Singleton was running around his hotel room like a maniac throwing everything he owned into a suitcase. It was only a matter of time before the press and enraged Dodger fans came knocking. He had to get the heck out of Dodge before his brilliant success turned into utter failure. On top of that, there was little doubt that MLB was about to come knocking with a few questions for the Cardinals' GM. He had screwed up royally but now wasn't the time for him to feel sorry about himself. He had to skip town... and fast.

Just as he was about to leave, there was a knock on his door and a letter flew under the door.. Sheepishly, Willie approached the letter and picked it up. There were no markings on the front and he was about to throw the letter away when he turned it over and noticed a MLB seal on the back.

"****..."

He opened the letter and carefully read it.

Quote:

"Mr. Willie Singleton, you are required to report to the office of the commissioner by noon on this up coming Wednesday. Failure to be present will result in your immediate termination from the St. Louis Cardinals organization." -Tony La Russa Commissioner of Major League Baseball and Lawyer

The letter never stated for what reason but Willie knew he had to go. He had his pants around his ankles in the yes of MLB. He was damned if he went and damned if he didn't. He had to be a man and face the music.

Still, there was something not right about it. The letter was hand written and never gave a reason as to why he should report to the commissioner. He had never heard of a big league General Manager being sent to the commissioner's office.