ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

Unless you live under a rock, I'm sure you've heard about Albert Pujols' wrist injury by now. He was 3 for 3 with a home run so far in the game when he went down. Hard. I had a friend in attendance yesterday whose Facebook status read, "And that's the quitest I've ever heard Busch Stadium..." I think fans collectively held their breath as he writhed around in pain on the grass: I know I sure did.

The good news is that the injury may not be as bad as it looked. He has been diagnosed with a sprained left wrist and will undergo further testing today. If the results of said tests show anything significant, our All Star first baseman and face of the franchise may be headed to the Disabled List. So many of his teammates already occupy the DL that there might not be any room for him!

If Albert can't play for a couple of weeks then I think my Cardinals are in big trouble. Although the past 2 games at Busch have been exciting with several lead changes, our starting pitching has been anything but impressive. Westbrook, Garcia, and Fernando Salas were lucky that Matt Holliday and Skip Schumaker had some late-inning heroics up their sleeves (or should I say socks) to get their pitchers off the hook.

The key word here is lucky. If Matt Holliday was still injured then we probably wouldn't have won Saturday's game. Instead we would have ridden an 8-game losing streak into Sunday afternoon. Thank God Matt is back, and looking healthier than ever.

Now a congratulations to the man of the hour, Skip Schumaker. I read that the walk-off yesterday was his first Major League home run EVER off of a left-handed pitcher. It couldn't have come at a better time, that's for sure. This brings up a valid point however, and a question that I have to ask...

I read Buzz Bissinger's "3 Nights in August". The book is basically an in-depth look at what goes through Tony La Russa's mind before, during, and after a baseball game. It seems that the skipper is a numbers guy. He pays a lot of attention to match-ups, and pores over pages of statistics before game time every night. He even keeps index cards with his scribbles in his pockets as reminders.

Tony had to know that Schumaker had yet to hit a home run off of a left-handed pitcher. After Descalso was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double, I'm willing to bet that the thought crossed his mind. Lucky for us, Kozma had started the game. With Punto on the DL and Tyler Greene back in Memphis (thankfully!) Tony didn't have a choice but to let Skip hit. If he pinch-hit for him to no-avail, who would play second base in extra innings?

If Kozma hadn't started the game, or Berkman was still on the bench, or Pujols was still healthy, what would La Russa have done? Managing a professional baseball team has to be hard-work, which is why he makes the big bucks. It is also why he has managed over 5,000 games in his career from the dugout steps, while I sit at home on my couch with a beer in hand ready to second guess him!

Here's to hoping for good news this afternoon about Albert, and another congrats to Skip Schumaker. I hope it was a Father's Day to remember!

PHAT ALBERT...HE'S BAAAACK

EL Hombre. The Machine. Winnie the Pujols?? Whatever you want to call him, if this weekend's Cards-Cubs series indicates anything, it's that #5 is back. That is, the old #5 St. Louis fans have grown accustomed to watching over the past 10 years. Albert went 3 for 4 in Saturday's game, knocking in 4 RBI's and scoring 3 of the team's 5 total runs. 2 of those 3 hits were home runs, and the last one came of the walk-off variety, in the bottom of the 12th inning no less.
Albert's batting average sits at .275 now. Granted that's nothing to jump up and down about, but it's better than going 5 for 35 and the .143 average he was sporting going into Ariziona in April. It was the first couple weeks of the reason, and Tony La Russa and company were quick to defend their star slugger: there was nothing wrong and he would be hitting like he always did soon.

How about later. Here we are on June 5 and he still hasn't broken .300. Optomists will say that in his 10 Major League seasons, Albert has never finished with a batting average under .312. Pessimists will say that there's a first time for everything.
Here's the problem, at least in my opinion. I want Albert to be the clutch hitter he always has been, and I want him and Berkman and Holliday to carry the Redbirds into the postseason and beyond. If Pujols returns to form as the Albert of Old and brings that batting average up, I am willing to bet that his price tag is going to go up with it.
No one really knows what he wants moneywise except him. There is a lot of media specualtion about a 10 year, $300 million contract that will give him about $30 million a year. Key word: speculation. The last time that he was interviewed in Spring Training on the topic, he told the reporters, "You guys are way off on your numbers". If he went to the Cubs next year and made ridiculous amounts of money, he wouldn't have a chance of winning another Word Series championship. So the question is, does he want to win, or does he want to make more money than he can ever hope to spend in his lifetime?
Everyone in Cardinal nation wants to see him in red next year (Cardinal red, not Cincinnatti) including Tony La Russa. It has been said over and over again that St. Louis has the best fans in baseball. Whether we have a winning club or guys who can't win, fans will fill Busch Stadium every year and hope for the best. If Albert succeeds in free agency and #5 is on the back of another team's jersey next year, Cardinal fans will be unhappy, bummed, even heartbroken. But they won't stop going to the games.
I'm glad to see Albert digging his way out of this slump, and I hope that he finishes the year with a .350 average and another World Series ring. Maybe if he wins another one with the Birds on the Bat he will realize that he is and always has been where he belongs...