Kuzul

After an early August sweep of the division-leading Cincinnati Reds, the St. Louis Cardinals have been on a crash course to disaster. 

In that span, the Cards have lost 9 of 14 games. Playing teams like the Cubs, Pirates, and Brewers, the Cardinals have been shocking. 

When will the sleeping giant wake up? 

The entire season, I have lobbied for the Cardinals lackluster play. I have repeatedly argued that they will figure it out; that they just have to scrape off some rust and will be back on top.

I was wrong. 

When the bats show up, the pitching gets destroyed. When the pitching is great, and at times it has been outstanding, the bats are nowhere to be found. 

Games are repeatedly lost due to poor defense and amateurish base-running. So when will the giant wake?

Probably never. The giant isn’t asleep, it is dead. 

How can I, or anybody else for that matter, have any confidence in this club?

In early August, the Cards looked unbeatable against the Reds. Lights-out pitching, consistent hitting, smart base-running and error-free defense led them to a road sweep of the loud-mouthed Cincinnati Reds.

The Birds then went back home to take Game 1 of a three-game series form the Cubs. Things were looking up, then SPLAT! Like the Titanic, the indestructible force was sunk. 

The next five games were losses. 

Even when the team figures it out and looks great, they manage to do a 180 and get back to playing like Minor Leaguers. Fans, players, and coaches alike have lost confidence in this year’s club. 

After spending big on Matt Holliday this past off-season, expectations were high in St. Louis. The pitching staff has dealt with its share of injuries, but trading for Jake Westbrook was supposed to fix that. It didn’t.

Without a run into the playoffs, this season will truly be a disaster. One of the worst in the last 25 years. And after a disappointing loss to the Dodgers in last year’s divisional playoffs, this is a tough time to be a Cardinals fan. 

With Cardinals possessing this much talent, one has to wonder if Tony La Russa will want to return for another run. Just pray Pujols doesn’t have the same mindset. 

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Every year, fans and writers bellyache over the MLB All-Star Game rosters. They complain that the teams are made up of fan favorites rather than rosters full of deserving league leaders. 

I am here to say, stop it!

Not only is this an issue each and every year, but it doesn’t matter. The All-Star game serves the purpose of entertaining the fans. Period.

After all, the fans are what this great sport is about. The rosters are determined by fan vote, manager selection, and some other variables such as the requirement to have at least one representative player from each team. 

The voting process is pretty straightforward. Anybody can vote online or at the ball park. Unlike a typical voting system, everybody can vote as many times as they wish. 

So why is the system set up this way? Well it’s pretty simple: The game is about the fans and the fans submit the votes. 

People seem to forget that the players represented in the All-Star game were all selected by the general public. This game is not about getting the best players of the season together, it is about the fans watching their favorite stars. 

Seriously, the game is played at the season’s midway point. Half the guys who are performing well now will fade off by September. 

The MLB All-Star game was created to entertain the fans and provide a brief break where players can re-group. 

Most importantly, the game is about creating revenue. As long as the game is getting attention and making money, the process of selecting the players will NEVER change.

And it shouldn’t.

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The baseball season has been full of pleasant surprises thus far. Not only are teams like San Diego surprising fans, but many players, good and bad, are shocking spectators to the bone.

Young and old players alike are playing above and beyond expectations.

This slideshow is dedicated to the veteran oldies that have made an end-of-career surge.

The following five players are the biggest surprises of this season, with Vlad being No. 1.

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The time has come for the National League Central Division to hit the panic button. Matt Holliday is on fire, and there is no sign of the fire marshal. 

After signing the biggest contract in St. Louis Cardinals history, Matt Holliday got off to a slow and inconsistent start in 2010. 

On June 18, Holliday discovered his long-lost swing that had provided enough consistency and power to land him a $120 million contract. 

In his last four games, Holliday is 11-for-17 (.647 avg) with five home runs and 10 RBI. 

Need some perspective? He had one home run and 12 RBI in the entire month of May.

The Colorado Rockie, turned Oakland A, turned St. Louis Cardinal has often provided high numbers in bunches throughout his career. Last year, the slugger hit .353 with 13 HR and 55 RBI in 63 games with the Red Birds. 

Having always hit for a high average, his current .308 would not compare to many of his previous seasons. It is, however, well above average amongst National League batters this season. 

What can we expect to see for the rest of June and on into the All-Star Break? 

Sheer and utter dominance!

Moving to the second spot in the lineup has worked wonders for Holliday, who seems to steal many of Albert Pujols’ pitches; not that anybody was pitching to Albert anyway. 

With Pujols struggling to reach base, Cardinal and rival fans alike can expect Holliday to keep it turned on.

Holliday’s home run totals have nearly doubled in the last four games, going from six to 11. Imagine what is to come. 

I expect Holliday to remain in the two-hole and continue blasting them out of the park frequently. 

It took a reunion with the Oakland club he so often struggled with to get going. The fire is lit. Pujols, Manger Tony La Russa, and Matt will be responsible for keeping it going. 

The bandwagon will soon be full.

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The St. Louis Cardinals are the most successful baseball franchise in National League history. Second only to the New York Yankees, the Cardinals have won 10 World Series titles.

The consistent presence of great athletes and coaches is hugely responsible for the club’s success. Each great Red Birds team has seen one or more Hall of Fame caliber players.

Breaking down the greats and creating a top 10 was no easy feat. With so many great players, the list is open for debate.

Let’s take a look at the 10 best players to ever wear a Cardinal uniform.

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At 26-27, the L.A. Angels have been a disappointment thus far. Although they haven’t lived up to popular expectations, the Angels only sit 2.5 games behind the first place Oakland A’s in the AL West.

A large reason for the Angels lack of production this season has been their inconsistent hitting, led by sub-par pitching. The Angel’s pitching staff currently sits at 24th in the MLB with a 4.63 ERA. Their starters have produced a combined 4.56 ERA and gathered 18 of the Angles 26 wins.

The Angels pitching hasn’t been awful, but they certainly haven’t lived up to expectations. Acquiring right-hander Joel Pineiro last off-season was projected to help Jered Weaver and the rest of the staff after loosing ace John Lackey to free agency.

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Coming into this season, critics and fans were well aware of the Tampa Bay Rays ability to score runs. With one of the best young line-ups in baseball, the Rays were predicted to fight for the AL East crown with the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.

Most people picked the Yankees and the Sox to finish ahead of the Rays because of one thing: starting pitching. After a sub-par year from both Matt Garza and James Shields in 2009, the Rays aces have gotten off to great year in 2010.

Lets take a closer look at James Shields, Matt Garza and the rest of the Tampa Bay rotation.

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Newly acquired Philadelphia Phillies ace, Roy Halladay, joined an elite group with the 20th perfect game in MLB history today against the Florida Marlins.

The perfect showing was complimented with 11 strikeouts and a whole bunch of whiffs. Halladay improves to 7-3 on the season while the Phillies will move two games above the Braves to lead the division. 

Strangely, this is the second perfect game this season; Dallas Braden was perfect against the Tampa Bay Rays on May, 9th. 

Halladay and Braden join Mark Buehrle and Randy Johnson as the only four pitchers to throw a perfect game since 1999. 

The Philadelphia Phillies have been thrilled to see Roy Halladay throw five complete games this season including tonight’s perfect game. His pitch count has been high but Halladay obviously isn’t having issues with his arm. 

Halladay has lowered his era to 1.99 and his WHIP to 0.99. Can Roy Halladay become one of the elite few to win the Cy Young award in both the American and National leagues?

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With close to 50 games in the bag, some player trends are starting to mold. There are some huge surprises on the list and many big names are missing. Pujols, Howard, Fielder, A-Rod, Teixeira are all guys that missed this list.

Here are your top 10 fantasy players thus far. Four are pitchers and 6 are position players. They are not necessarily in any order. Andre Ethier has been left off the list due to injury.

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Due to lackadaisical hitting, the St. Louis Cardinals went down for a second straight night to the San Diego Padres in an extra inning, late night thriller.

The Red Birds lineup managed to get 16 men on base by way of 10 hits and six walks. With that amount of production, it is a wonder how the Cardinals only had one man swipe home plate. 

While getting 16 base runners, the struggling lineup also managed to strikeout 16 times, including four from David Freese. Jaime Garcia didn’t strikeout once at the plate and posted a hit while pitching six scoreless from the mound.

The top of the 11th inning was a perfect showcase of the Cardinals’ struggles over the past month. The inning began with a Colby Rasmus single. After Rasmus stole second, Yadier Molina smacked another single to right field, advancing Rasmus to third. 

Men on first and third with no outs in the top of the 11th. This is a situation where the St. Louis Cardinals we know, the Birds’ we were expecting to see, would have scored at least one run and finished the game out in the bottom of the inning. 

Instead, Skip Schumaker managed to ground into a double play, getting out both Rasums at home and Yadier Molina advancing to third. The inning drastically changed as the Cardinals had a man on first with two outs. 

This is a model for our season so far. Poor hitting that contradicts stellar pitching. A night after Adam Wainwright received the loss while posting 13 Ks and allowing just one run, Jaime Garcia’s campaign was cut short after six scoreless innings. 

The St. Louis Cardinals have serious issues. It is no longer players going through slumps. It is time for Tony La Russa to sacrifice some sleep and figure this thing out.

Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and Colby Rasmus have struggled as much as anybody in the month of May. Holliday’s struggles are the most concerning, having just five HR and under 30 RBI. However, this is Pujols’ team. Without an run batted in in the last 12 games, Big Albert needs to step up and help his team get out of the “funk”. 

After tonight’s game in San Diego, the Cardinals head to Chicago to take on their division rival Cubs. The month of June will begin with a series against first place Cincinnati, followed by a stint against the Brewers. 

NOW, is the time to wake up.

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