Bellweather?
If the Cardinals fail to continue their improbable run,and fall out of contention,I’m sure we will look back on these three games as the series that changed the course of the season.Three home games against a second division team,with a rough nine game stretch on the road looming,and banged up to boot.Very disappointing,to say the least.
A winning road trip would make this a moot point,but you can’t help wondering.

Bernie, you do a darn good job & have hit the nail on the head again. These Birds are great to watch, but somehow being so young, they look up too much to The Man. Somebody needs to say he’s now The Man II and get them going. I love your idea about running more & bringing up some youngsters from Memphis. However, other than 1B, where would they play? I’d keep Ludwick in LF, and actually, that answers it there-CF & RF. Use Ankiel as trade bail (with Anthony Reyes) and get more pitching help. What about one of those young, live arms in KC? Get Rasmus in CF sooner rather than later. I don’t know if Ankiel will ever hit .275 or higher, but he hits it hard (when he connects)! Is Barton worth the money of not offering him back to the Indians or is he better than some of the Memphis Mafia as you’ve mentioned? Thanks and keep up the good work! Being a transplanted Cardinal fan, I rely on you!

As the trade deadline approaches the Cardinals look to be “sellers”. Skip Schumacker is having a career year. While his value is very high right now shouldn’t the Birds try and see if there are any buyers looking for a very solid outfielder. With all the young talent in Memphis why not trade Skip ,and possibly get a decent LH reliver for him. I think you have to trade Skip. He is a free agent next season and by then Raz and Stavinoha will be ready.

Also if the Cards fall out of contention within the next few weeks will Lud and Ank be on the block. Lud’s a free agent next season. I have a feeling that with his numbers this year there will be alot of teams interested. His price might be a little high,especially when there is cheap outfield talent in Raz, Mighty Joe,and Stavinoha.

Bernie, you are right on the mark with your commentary. Barton and Ryan bring a breath of fresh air to a rather dull offensive scheme of playing station to station baseball waiting for the big homerun.
It has been written that Brian Barton can’t play defense but I have attended and watch several games on television where he has played above average defense in left field, using his speed to catch or cut off those bloop hits and he has also made several accurate throws to home and second base to get runners out. This young man beat the odds to even make the team coming out of spring training. Wasn’t this the young man who jump started the offense in the beginning of the season? Stop taking the the young man out of the game after 5 innings, let him play a whole game. You can see that he has a refrained attitude of enthusiasm because his playing time is limited in a game.
Brendan Ryan, plays second base with exceptional range making plays on balls that seem to make it to the outfield for hits with other players. When he goes to bat at the plate with the mentality to be a hitter he prospers. Yes, he can make mistakes in the field at times and at bat, but he brings a youthful air of enthusiasm and athletic ability to the game in support of the Cardinals lineup. What these young men lack in experience they make up in their raw talent. Let them play! We can’t do much worse than we are looking like we did the past few days, very bland. TLR’s curt remarks toward reporters who asking legitamite question about the teams play is becoming rather embarrassing and antiquated.

Bernie, you da man! I totally agree with your comments. If some of these veterans are not performing its time to bring on the youth. Why Brendan Ryan hasn’t seen more playing has mystified me. Outside of being an excellent fielder (both ss & 2nd)& decent hitter, he brings aggressiveness, speed, & enthusiasm, all qualitites you would think the manager would want. But for some reason Tony L. doesn’t see those same traits. Starting Kennedy in front of Ryan not only hurts the Cardinals short term, but hampers Ryans continued development.

Regarding Duncan, as you stated, rolling him out there on a daily basis doesn’t make sense. He is so far removed from the offensive player he was two years ago that he has become a liability. If he is to figure it out, it needs to be at AAA and not at the Cardinals expense. Right now he looks completely lost. More of Mather and less of Duncan would be a good thing at this time.

Keep up the good work, Bernie!

Now that some of the other teams finally had the guts to get rid of their manager can we finally get rid of TLR? I believe in loyalty but he goes to far. To point of costing the team games. In his time we should have had more World Series appearances. We had the braves down 3-1 and lost. Was swept by an inferior Red Sox team. Lost to an inferior Astros team. Of course he proved he doesn’t know talent. Royce Clayton over Ozzie Smith? Duh!!!!!!!! He has wins because Jocketty gave him the talent (at the expense of the development program). Mo, please send Tony off to his rescue shelter!

i agree 100% bernie..barton is collecting dust on the bench..he gets to pitch hit every other game..i’m sure he loves being in the big leagues but he never gets to play..maybe tony should think outside the box and use him against righties too..since the majority of games are played against right handed starters..

and i’d love to see brendan ryan get more play time..he has more talent than either izturis or miles but both of them get way more play time..they both could add a spark to this team..tony trotted out the same lineup pretty much for 3 games against the royals and had no success..maybe he’ll wise up soon…i’d love to see mather come back up soon, duncan, well..he’s a liability when he’s not hitting for power..

Great blog, Bernie. You must be listening in on some conversations that my dad and I have had recently. Seriously though, I was astonished that the Cards didn’t even ATTEMPT to steal a base on the KC catcher, who is what…0 for 21 on the season? Brian Barton and Brendan Ryan bring energy to the game and a plethora of players in Memphis seem to have real potential, yet the only player who gets opportunities is Chris Duncan. As much as I would love to have Chris start hitting homeruns again, it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. The season is almost half over and Duncan hasn’t shown even a flicker of the power that he had before. It’s time to move on and give someone else a chance. Indeed…what MUST Nick Stavinoha, Colby Rasmus, and Joe Mather be thinking down there in AAA? What must Brian Barton and Brendan Ryan be thinking or the rest of the team for that matter?

Bernie, I can’t argue with your comments about Chris Duncan. He was never very good!! However, Colby Rasmus–while being a super nice guy–is not ready for the majors. We see him on a daily basis, when he is playing, and he misses way too many balls in center field that Rick Ankiel caught on a routine basis. His bat has not been that great, either. I am at every home game for Memphis and do see this. Nick Stavinoha is great! He fields well and hits great. I wish he would get a call up. If anyone wants CD, let them have him!!! We do have some great guys in Memphis. Some are ready for STL and some are not. Colby is not. Those of us who are at these games frequently are wondering why everyone thinks Colby is ready. We don’t see it yet. Occasionally, we see outstanding plays but not often enough to be in STL–maybe next year!!

Since when is a career .345 OBP low? Or a career OPS of .750 at a middle infield spot?

Brendan Ryan is 6′2″, 200 lbs of clutch BALLPLAYER, only 26, getting better and stronger.

No one can name me a slicker infielder this side of Tulo and Vizquel.

Izturis? Puh-lease. Some range, not much arm, awkward feet in comparison. Rollins? Even less range than Izturis. If you say Jeter, you just haven’t seen enough baseball or looked at defensive stats. Edgar? Painfully slow these days - way beyond his best (and his best wasn’t as smooth and free as Ryan’s). HanRam? Reyes? Tejada? WAY overrated defender. Spaz. SLOOOWWW.

So, when will TLR get off his high horse and give the best defender, and I would argue the best pure BALLPLAYER, on this team an everyday job.

Stick Glaus at 1B a lot and rotate Brendan through your infield everyday. You can regularly bench the offensive black holes (especially late in games) that are Duncan, Izturis, and Kennedy while improving your overall defense and keeping everyone “sharp”.