Centerfield

After five years you'd think we would have run out of things to talk about.

Despite our hiccup in St. Loo, we still find ourselves in first place, 2 ahead of the Phading Phils and 3.5 ahead of the surging Braves. After tripping us up, the Cards now have the best record in the NL, but the Mets remain the only other team playing .600 baseball. The funny thing is, if I were in a coma from spring training and woke up today, I would be thrilled about where the Mets are. Which is odd considering how crummy I feel today. Maybe it's because it could have been better...maybe it's because I think we'll have our first 3 game losing streak when Unit squares off against Gonzalez tomorrow. I don't know. But if nothing else, I guess this standings thread makes me feel a little bit better. First place. Not a bad place to be.

Pssst, Scarlet, Lima is the capital of Peru...named after the guy who invented beans.

Beltran 2 Valentin 2

Um, Nady please.

Mets trying not to wake the baby by going as quietly as possible. This game is no fun. I think I'll do some work now.

Maybe, but I know a guy who's just a Tad Iguchi.

I hate losing day games during the week. This will mean I'll go home tonight, look for something on TV, find a replay of this craptastic game, then have to change the channel before my eyeballs project themselves from my head.

Spezio with a big FU to the CPF for celebrating Pujols' day off.

Bannister to go to NY and have an MRI tomorrow.

I was ok with the "Wait and See" approach with Lima, especially considering they were expecting Bannister back quickly. But at this point, we have waited and seen, and it's clear Lima isn't the answer. Even for the short-term. This team cannot continue to carry two gaping holes in the rotation...especially now since it looks like Bannister has had a setback. Time for Omar to show us what he's worth and get something done.

7 in a row for Lima. How Jose Got His Groove Back.

Bottom of the lineup. Get 'em and get our boys back out there. (and as I type, Bennett barely misses a HR and then grounds out to Reyes)

Well this blows.

12 innings without scoring a run.

Spezio catches the Wright pop up. Making an impact in the early going.

Well this blows.

Edgy DC wrote: OK, I'm sitting here laughing to myself, thinking about Scott Speizio in the lineup: That's a pretty awesome pinch-hitter the Cards got on their bench.

Trachsel 5 Sanchez 1

How Trachsel Got His Groove Back.

I don't see how our youngin's could be counted on to give us anything more than Lima has. The only good youngin' we have is said to rely on his fastball too much, and I shudder to think what the Cards' lineup would do to that fastball if he can't get his breaking stuff over. I'm depressed because we don't have a #3 to slot in ahead of Trax and Bannister. And unless we pick one up, it's going to be tough to win anything this year. Anyway, enough wound-licking, Marquis is hittable, we win today, we take the series on the road against the best team in the NL, and Lima is "due" for a good start.

Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly writes about caddying the likes of John Daly, Donald Trump, Jack Nicklaus, Casey Martin etc. Just started it and am enjoying it so far. Review to come when I finish.

] "Jeter was in every rally," Johnny Damon said. Well, I guess if you call grounding out to the pitcher being in the rally. That Newsday article was exactly the type of crap I was spoofing in my WBC "Jeter Fails to do all the Little Things that Constitute the Difference Between Winning and Losing" article.

]The loosened-up Phillies have won 13 out of 14, tightening the NL East race, but their run differential is still in the red, hence the middling ranking. Does that mean the Phils have been luckier than their record? And by that Pythagorean stuff we can expect them to slow down pretty significantly?

Willets Point wrote: I never read it either but did read the prequel for a book club. Dan Brown can't write for crap. I also know several people who tried to read the Da Vince Code but gave up after about 20 - 30 pages because it was so bad. They are page-turners and have the whole conspiracy theory angle going for them but I still don't see why his books are so popular. I read both. I thought the Da Vinci Code was much better than its prequel. Brown's style may be craptastic, but it was much more craptastic in the first one. I also thought Angels & Demons crossed the line from "silly little thriller" to "oh come on now, that's just ridiculous" when ****distorted, overexaggerated spoiler ahead*** the main character jumps from a helicopter using his ziploc sandwich bag as a parachute. I liked the Da Vinci Code...I thought it was fun. And if you read when I read (commutes, waiting for my cases to be called) the more mindless the better. Of course, I also really like Harold and Kumar, so maybe that's just me. In fact, my biggest problem with the book is that it created an entire wave of idiot religious historians. "Well, actually, Christmas is based on an old Pagan holiday blah blah blah." Yeah that's great buddy. I read the Da Vinci Code too.