Busch Stadium was a blast furnace on Tuesday night, yet there were more than 40,000 people risking heat stroke to take in the game between the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals.
My two girls, Bryson, 7, and Blaine, 5, were with me and other sweat-soaked fans who braved the atmosphere. Just for kicks, I noted the temperature the day I ordered the tickets on the Internet. It was 52 degrees. That was the high.
Well, the heat index was more than twice that when the first pitch was thrown on Tuesday. The seasons and the temperatures have changed dramatically. The fans endure.
The St. Louis Cardinals have not changed dramatically since that spring day. The fans endure.
The Ronnie Belliard for Hector Luna trade can be looked upon as improvement, as long as the former Cleveland Indian helps the team offensively during the final two months of the season. Forget the defensive aspect.
He might be an improvement over Luna at second base (he’ll remember to actually cover the base on possible force plays), but Luna’s potential has been wasted. To keep Aaron Miles over Luna is flat ridiculous. Luna, by the way, had two hits in his debut on Monday night.
Besides, the Cards won’t be locked in too many pitchers’ duels. This is not the deal of the century, obviously.
With a schizophrenic starting staff and shaky bullpen, the Cardinals are going to have to slug their way to the World Series title. Personally, I don’t see it happening.
In fact, much of Cardinals Nation is hotter than Busch’s galvanized bleacher seats following the team’s inactivity through the trading deadline. Forget Jorge Sosa, he had his bags packed for the minor leagues, but the Atlanta Braves shipped him to St. Louis. Lucky him. He’s not an answer to any question.
A deep run in the postseason? I tell you I don’t see it happening. Not with this team.
There is the possibility of waiver transactions to improve the team, but who is really out there?
Yes, the Cards might pick up Shawn Green later this month. But he isn’t a difference maker.
Luis Gonzalez is the same. Yes, he can play left field. Yes, his best days are behind him. Yes, his game has fallen off suspiciously after testing for steroids became mandatory.
Jeremy Burnitz? Get serious. This strikeout machine and outfield butcher would cause Cardinal fans to riot at some point between now and the end of the season.
So all Cardinals fans can do is be steamed. We can stew over the fact that the Cardinals’ owners are reaping millions of dollars with the new stadium, yet they are hesitant to throw cash at big-name players.
The New York Yankees didn’t trade top-notch prospects for Bobby Abreu. They virtually stole Craig Wilson from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a deal for Shawn Chacon.
The Cincinnati Reds improved and kept their minor-league system in tact. So did the surging Detroit Tigers. They threw some cash at the situation.
The Cards aren’t the Yankees, but they live in the same neighborhood – and it ain’t Section 8 housing, folks.
The organization has plenty of cash, will have more next year and will have more the year after that.
How do I know? Because the Reid girls helped drop about $150 in the owners’ pockets counting the ticket costs on Tuesday. There are tens of thousands of Reid girls out there.
Hey, the least they could do in return was to snag a big-name star before the trading deadline to help out the hobbling (and I think a bit overweight) Albert Pujols, the streaky Jim Edmonds and the consistent Scott Rolen.
Here’s an idea. Create a children’s size drink (which does not exist at Busch Stadium) of about 12 ounces. Charge $2.50 for it. But designate that all the income from that $2.50 child’s drink go to signing free-agent players or expansion of payroll for players obtained via trade.
This way, we could all help the Cardinals get better by purchasing kids’ sized sodas and the owners can’t say, “we didn’t have the money.”
Chairman Bill DeWitt might actually go for this.
Right, and it was snowing at Busch on Tuesday.