THE NEW CARDINAL KILLER: PRINCE FIELDER

The Cardinals were swept the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend, and swept out of first place in the process. Sure I'm bummed about it; what Cardinal fan wouldn't be? St. Louis finds itself in second place in the NL Central now, 1/2 game back of the Brew Crew. I didn't see that coming. Everyone said that Milwaukee would be a force to be reckoned with this season, but I was pretty skeptical at first. I guess I was still worried about Cincinnatti.The Brewers simply played better baseball than us, and they deserved to win. It seems that the Cardinals forgot how to crawl back into games and get those come from behind victories.

I am not Tony La Russa. I have not managed 5,002 Major League Baseball games. On a side note it is reassuring to see that he hasn't changed his hairstyle since the late '70's. Right on Tony. I'm not second guessing his decision, I'm simply saying that I would have done things differently. We were up 3-0 going into the bottom of the 6'th. Pitcher Jake Westbrook was solid up until this point. Then he gave up a single, a double, and another single. Still no outs. So far this season, Westbrook has proven that when he starts to fall apart, he loses it fast.

Fireballer Jason Motte was warming up in the bullpen in a hurry. The score was now 3-2 with a runner on, and Prince Fielder coming to the plate. I would have made Westbrook step off the mound and check on the runner a couple of times in order to stall, and allow Motte a few more warmup tosses. Prince Fielder is one of, if not THE hottest hitter in baseball right now. Westbrook's day should have been over at this point. Jason Motte should have come into the game and faced the Prince. Instead, La Russa left Jake in, and Fielder blasted the ball over the wall to give Milwaukee a 4-3 lead that they would not relinquish.

I can't predict the future. Motte might have given up an even longer home run than Westbrook did. I just don't know why Tony didn't take him out before Prince came to the plate. All of this damage was done with no outs. It was obvious that Jake was done, so why let him pitch to someone who could make us pay dearly for a mistake?

The Cardinals were outplayed and outmanaged while we were swept. We went into the series leading the NL Central by 2 1/2 games, and left Milwaukee with out tails between our legs, now down by 1/2 game. I'm sure Brewers fans are thrilled, but as a die hard Cardinal fan I am just plain disappointed.

I've decided to annoint a new Cardinal killer. Lance Berkman, when he played for the Astros, did a pretty good job of this back in the day. I'm sure everyone remembers Carlos Beltran of the Mets in his heyday giving Cardinal pitchers fits. The newest Cardinal killer is Prince Fielder. He took us out like we were a plate of double cheeseburgers.  Prince has the Cardinals number.

I just hope this doesn't last long, or it's going to be a long second half of the season. The Birds take on the Nationals starting Tuesday. Jaime Garcia takes the mound for us and looks to turn things around. Let's hope he can come off his last outing (a loss in Houston) and put up a W for the good guys.

DESIGNATED HITTER = LOAD OF CRAP

Tony La Russa made a move in the bottom of the eighth last night that raised quite a few eyebrows, including mine. Jake Westbrook, a pitcher, was sent up to pinch hit, while the Big Puma Lance Berkman sat on the bench. Apparently Tony was saving Lance for later, but of course he never got into the game.
It's not so much that Westbrook came in to pinch hit that bothers me, it's how he looked at the plate that made me want to hide my head under the covers. The word embarassing doesn't do his swing justice, unfortunately.
This is the case with most pitchers in baseball. They focus on pitching, which is their main duty, and that's understandable. With that being said though, most pitchers that come up to the plate look like a fish out of water. They swing like the bat is too heavy, and I think they would have a better shot at making contact if they were to close their eyes. It's uncomfortable to watch.
Now let's examine the game for a minute. In Little League everyone plays everywhere. Sure, the coach puts the kid who picks dandelions and chases butterflies out in right field and hopes that no one can hit the ball that far, but no player has it written in stone yet that he's a catcher, shortshop, pitcher, etc.
In college, most starting pitchers will throw every 5th or 6th game. In games when they aren't scheduled to pitch, more than likely they are playing in the field, which means they have to know how to hit. The announcers always say that pitchers aren't athletes. Actually they are: major league athletes who make millions of dollars. Just because most are lanky and awkward looking doesn't mean they have to avoid the batting cages!
What happens between college and the majors? It seems like most pitchers completely forget how to swing the bat. I know that they use a DH in the minors sometimes, but come on. There's batting practice before every game, would it kill you to take advantage of it once in a while?
The fact that the American League uses a designated hitter and the National League makes pitchers bat for themselves is absolute crap in my opinion. It seems like every time a National League pitcher comes to the plate (usually hitting in the 9th spot, I wonder why...) it is a guaranteed easy out. This happens a lot when runners are on base, say in the early innings, with 2 outs. You know you aren't going to be pinch hit for so early in the game, but because you hold the bat like you're afraid of it, the team squanders a scoring chance when you strike out on 3 ugly swings.
American League games should always be high-scoring affairs, simply because they have a hitting specialist on their team who doesn't have to play the field. Big Papi is a perfect example. Do you remember Vlad Guerrero trying to play right field in the World Series last year? The Rangers needed his bat in the lineup, so they put him in the outfield with the other nose pickers and he messed up, badly, and more than once.
To sum up my ramblings, I think that if the pitcher has to hit, then he should spend more time in the cages or with the hitting instructor, so that he isn't going to be an automatic out every time that he steps into the box. I also think that both leagues should have the same rules: both have a DH, or make American League pitchers swing the bat too. That would be even more entertaining to watch...Bud Selig has done some amazing things for the game during his tenure as Commissioner, like interleague play and the Wild Card, but this is something that should be examined soon. I don't know if I can handle another at-bat like Westbrook's last night. Garcia is pitching tonight though, and he at least looks like he knows what he's doing when he comes to the plate.