The Cardinals at least have numbers on their side.

A total of 10 rookies made their major-league debut with the Cardinals this season, from Rule 5 pick Brian Barton to a whole host of starting pitchers. There is no doubt which one of the rookies was the most impressive — he was from the first day he took the mound in spring training all the way through finishing tied with Carlos Marmol for the league lead in holds. Righthanded reliever Kyle McClellan was the clear rookie of the year for the Cardinals. But what rookie put himself in the best position to have a sophomore spike, to, as the club needs them to, transition from prospect to producer.

Several of the Cardinals listed below still have their rookie eligibility despite making considerable contributions at the major-league level, like Chris Perez and Joe Mather. Of those listed, only Barton and McClellan played enough to no longer be considered “prospects,” by the Baseball America definition. (Perez, for example, pitched 41 2/3 innings, coming 8 1/3 shy of no longer being eligible for the BA Top 30.)

A couple won’t have that opportunity because of surgeries — pitchers Jaime Garcia and Mike Parisi – but a handful of the others at-bats and innings await. There are roles to be seized.

Who will?

That’s the question posed in this, the final EXIT POLL of the week.

(Next week: The B-Land mailbag returns. Write PostCards@post-dispatch.com with any questions.)

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Hope was inconsistent, at best, and was recently diagnosed with impingement.

The Cardinals expected no fewer than three starting pitchers to return from serious injuries and contribute — at least one in a significant way — to the 2008 team. From Mark Mulder (shoulder), Matt Clement (shoulder) and Chris Carpenter (elbow, then shoulder), the Cardinals got a grand total of seven appearances, four starts, an 0-1 record and 17 innings, 15 1/3 of which were thrown by Carpenter before nerve irritation ended his season.

As the Cardinals reach the offseason, the disabled list remains populated by potential everyday contributors. Outfielders Rick Ankiel and Chris Duncan are recovering from surgeries; rookie Joe Mather is rehabbing after a wrist injury. Carpenter is a concern; Tyler Johnson is an unknown; and Randy Flores feels better after surgery but is an uncertain contract situation, with the team holding his rights at the end of a two-year deal. Josh Kinney (elbow surgery) showed well in his September cameo, but the Cardinals handled him delicately.

Hope apparently has an option for the 2009 season.

Following the theme of previous EXIT POLLS (closer here, encores there): Below is a list of players returning from missing significant time with an injury, any of whom could have the kind of comeback that boosts the Cardinals chances to contend. Whether the Cardinals will bank on these comebacks as they build the roster for 2009 remains to be seen. But coming out of 2008 and the lessons therein, the Cardinals appear less likely to leverage their chances to contend on health, and more on improving depth.

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The Dodgers are not the only team pleased he reconsidered.

“We started chatting with him about the prospects of postseason play,” Torre said before the division series against the Chicago Cubs. “I just let him know obviously his career is the most important thing. What we’re trying to accomplish is important, too, but only if he’s healthy. And we just sort of took it a step at a time. … But he’s been a big lift for us.”

He would be a radical lift for the Cardinals.

Sure there’s the Manny Ramirez Experience and the Ryan Howard Walk-a-Thon and the Joe Torre Nostalgia to draw Cardinals fans to tonight’s start of the National League Championship Series in Philadelphia. But there is another reason to watch the Dodgers play Philadelphia for the NL pennant, and it isn’t to check in on Brad Lidge, who has completely recovered from his previous visit to the NLCS. Like the Cardinals themselves, watch with an eye on 2009.

Watch Rafael Furcal.

Rafael Furcal

Every game Furcal plays in the postseason he’s one more game removed from back surgery. One game closer to free agency. Every game he plays well, he certainly sweetens the deal he’ll command this winter. October offers an unexpected scouting opportunity for teams who are in need of an upgrade at shortstop for next season, be it Toronto, Detroit, Baltimore, maybe Cincinnati and yes, the Cardinals.

The amount of cash the Cardinals have coming off the book has been well-documented. Word is they plan to be “aggressive”, which in some corners has been translated as assertive with the pocketbook. As manager Tony La Russa has advocated the addition of an impact bat, Cesar Izturis hits free agency and Adam Kennedy has requested a trade, the confluence of events have opened up the way for the Cardinals to improve the play and the production from their middle infield. In the past, the Cardinals have had a few internal advocates for Miguel Tejada. While not the level or the same as Tejada, Furcal, if healthy, is a presence at the position like Tejada and he will be the premiere shortstop available this winter.

These playoffs will answer if he’s healthy.

At his best, Furcal offers a dynamic tonic for the Cardinals. The switch-hitter with speed is a natural leadoff hitter, a skilled shortstop and he has the power threat that changes the look of the Cardinals lineup by increasing its depth. Stolen bases? Check. Respectable power? Check. Ability to get on-base in front of Albert Pujols and score from first on an extra-base hit? Double-check.

Furcal has twice hit better than .290 in his career with Atlanta and LA, and he has a career on-base percentage of .352. Of the 15 hitters who had enough plate appearances at leadoff to qualify (approx. 502) for a batting title, Furcal’s on-base percentage would have ranked 12th. (Skip Schumaker was seventh at .370.) But he’s also stolen at least 40 bases three times. And Furcal’s .412 career slugging would have ranked 12th.

He also plays shortstop.

“He puts pressure on a defense,” two-team teammate Greg Maddux told Gurnick in the article linked above. “You don’t know if he’ll slug, slap or bunt. He has excellent speed. He can steal second or third. He puts pressure on pitchers. Defensively, he’s got a lot of range and an excellent arm. He can take away hits. He’s fun to play with. I always enjoyed having him behind me. He’s always been one of my favorite players. Pitchers love guys that catch the ball.”

Furcal in the field, in flight.

Furcal, a former Rookie of the Year with Atlanta, missed 125 games this season because a bulging disc in his back required surgery to repair. The injury interrupted what was a career year-like start for Furcal. At the time he went on the disabled list, Furcal was hitting .366/.448/.597. In April, batting leadoff for the Dodgers, Furcal hit .367 and had 15 extra-base hits in 109 at-bats, including 11 doubles. He also scored 25 runs and stole seven bases that month.

Then he was gone. Lost to back trouble and then the back surgery.

When he returned to baseball activities in September, he struggled to feel right about his legs. They lagged behind. And as Torre said at the start of the NLDS: “We just sort of took it a step at a time.
I think the legs were the last thing that came for him as far as being comfortable.” Furcal decided not to quit, not to get out of the way of the Dodgers in mid-September and now he’s a factor in October, a spark for the Dodgers and a magnet for teams needing a shortstop. He got in four games before the start of the season, and then he went 4-for-12 with four runs scored against the Cubs in the NLDS.

He’s getting noticed:

Furcal is Healthy and Dangerous, Philadelphia Daily News … “Rafael Furcal, who could very well be a key to the upcoming National League Championship Series between the Phillies and Dodgers. Or, put it this way: The comparison between what Furcal and Jimmy Rollins can do as leadoff hitters in their respective lineups really might end up being more telling than the sexier comparison between the Dodgers’ Manny Ramirez and the Phillies’ Ryan Howard.”

Remember Me? Furcal Back in Leading Role, OC Register … “His presence at the top of the batting order not only gave the Dodgers a viable offensive threat but a psychological one as well. “I told you I would be back this season,” Furcal said softly while his teammates were dousing each other with champagne and beer this past Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.”

Furcal Back in a Leading Role, LA Times … “As for the pressure of being thrust into the team’s starting lineup in the playoffs after not playing for almost five months, Furcal isn’t feeling it. ‘Pressure?’ Furcal said. ‘This is my eighth time in the postseason. I don’t feel pressure.’”

For any team that has dispatched a scout to watch him in the NLCS or is just tuning in from afar, the back will be a chief concern. Furcal has missed time in a couple seasons because of back soreness, back stiffness, back spasms and now back surgery. He is coming to the end of a three-year, $39-million deal, and he’ll turn 31 later this month. His $13-million price tage seems reasonable — if he’s healthy. The length of the deal would be the most interesting part of any deal.

A few years, Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti signed Furcal as his first big move in the big chair, and he edged the Chicago Cubs to do so. This winter, there’s been speculation that Toronto will court Furcal. There’s the possibility the Cubs, recovering from another October thud, will add him to their growing collection of All-Stars. The White Sox might need a shortstop if the second-best and healthiest free-agent shortstop, Orlando Cabrera, signs elsewhere. Baltimore, Detroit (who have an option on Edgar Renteria) and a few others also have a need at short.

The Cardinals have expressed an interest in bringing back two in-house options for the middle infield: Cesar Izturis and Felipe Lopez. The Cardinals’ crush on Lopez appears to be mutual, but he’s more an option as the everyday second baseman or utility fielder than at shortstop. The Cardinals and Izturis are both open to a reunion, all because of how agile Izturis is in the field. Considering an upgrade at the position, however, is not out of the question — it just may be out of the budget.

Furcal won’t have to settle for a deal, not at all. There aren’t many players who can do what he does at the position he plays. There aren’t too many players who can radically jolt a lineup — a lineup like the Cardinals’, for example — like Furcal could, if healthy.

Just watch and see if he is. Watch and see how he does.

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One morning, he caught up with the spring training fixture, the guru of fundamentals, George Kissell, whose death this week is being mourned across Cardinals Nation.

The following clip, is the interview Hairlson had with Kissell:

***

***

Also, John Lowe, a St. Louis native and now a Detroit Tigers’ beat writer for The Detroit Free Press, draws on conversations with Sparky Anderson for this remembrance of Mr. Kissell.

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On his way to a career year in every column and row of his baseball card, Ludwick returned from the national stage, an All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, to not see his name in the starting lineup the first game back after the All-Star break. He just kept hitting. He’s bound to get a handful of MVP votes. He recovered from a difficult June, rebuked the doubters about his fast start and finished with career highs in home runs and RBIs while also coming one base hit away from batting .300.

“I’m sick to my stomach about that,” manager Tony La Russa said about lifting Ludwick after a hit that got him to .299 in the final game of the season.

Ludwick had already punctuated his breakout season earlier in the game. He drove in three runs that afternoon, including two on his 37th home run of the season. His, however, was not the only breakout season for the Cardinals in 2008. From the starting rotation through the lineup, the Cardinals had several players hit .300 for the first time in their major-league careers, had a rookie reliever tie for the league lead in holds and had a couple starters set several career bests, from wins to innings pitched.

But what was a career year, and was a harbinger?

Were these the extremes, or are they now the expected?

The EXIT POLL continues:

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“I think so,” he said.

As long as there has been the modern model of the closer, manager Tony La Russa and Duncan have preferred to build their bullpen around that ninth-inning arm, the man with the stuff and guts to close out a game. Colleague Joe Strauss has often illustrated how the Cardinals, most often, have gone where Jason Isringhausen has taken them. The years he’s struggled or been absent — 2003 and 2008 — the Cardinals have not made the postseason. (Of course, 2006 being the exception.) There is little doubt that his inconsistency early this past season and injury later in the season was a tipping point for the Cardinals’ bullpen woes.

Think of the bullpen like a Jenga tower.

The closer is at the bottom. Pull him out and, at best, the tower is only wobbly.

Often it collapses.

Both Duncan and general manager John Mozeliak said they hope to reach spring training with an answer for their ninth-inning vacancy, though internally the Cardinals are also braced to have a “competition” or “interim” closer when spring training starts. With that in mind, so begins a series of blog entries — a flex of this new and well-received technology here at “Blog Zone” — EXIT POLLS. Vote below for you think should be closing come April 2009. Setup man Ryan Franklin is not listed because Duncan and others have said the preference is to have Franklin handle the eighth inning.

More EXIT POLLS to follow. If you have a suggestion one for please write me at dgoold@post-dispatch.com.

***

And please do run some Google searches today on George Kissell. Find stories about him, read things he did. Check out the past blogs about him. He devised and promoted some of the defensive plays and fundamental drills that the Cardinals still use — and will always use. To borrow from La Russa: I’ve had the opportunity to meet many great people in baseball, and Kissell is tied for first with the best of them. There was nobody better to talk baseball with …

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Before workouts one morning, the coaches conspired to make sure Kissell was among the last to walk out of the clubhouse. He did so to find a standing ovation from every player in camp, and a plaque with his likeness affixed to the wall. Below is the Postcard I wrote from spring training that day, one written after talking with Kissell for a memorable hour or so in a batting cage. It gives you some background on Kissell — who was injured Monday night in a traffic accident in Tampa – and his role in defining the Cardinals’ organization.

***

JUPITER, Fla. (2005) - After working with a rotation of young batters on their bunting technique Wednesday, George Kissell, 84 ½ years old and in his 65th spring training in 66 years with the Cardinals, sat in the batting cage waiting for the next group to arrive.

“I like to see progress,” he explained.

Since 1940, Kissell has been a part of that progress.

The Cardinals emerged from the clubhouse door for their first full-squad workout Wednesday, but stopped to quickly recognize the plaque that will welcome them back to the clubhouse from now on. A brass plaque, about the size of a dartboard cabinet, is affixed to the facility commemorating Kissell’s service to the organization since 1940.

Kissell said he was “shocked” by the presentation; he thought all the players were stopping outside the clubhouse for ownership to give manager Tony La Russa something for winning the National League pennant. That’s when principle owner Bill DeWitt Jr. grabbed his arm and showed him the plaque.

“I’ve always been known as a hard-nosed guy, but today you really touched me to my heart,” Kissell told the players and gathered ownership and management. “I’ll never take the bird off my chest. When I take them off, that’s my last day in baseball.”

Kissell, the Cardinals’ senior field coordinator, is returning to spring training this season after missing last year to be with his ill wife, Virginia. In December 2003, Kissell went to the baseball meetings in New Orleans to receive an award for a lifetime of commitment and service to baseball. He remembers his wife getting a bit of a cold … and then losing her appetite.

It was nearly seven months before she regained it.

He remembers on July 3, 2004, his wife turned to him and said: “I’m hungry.” Food was quickly fetched and Virginia’s health started returning. She is here in Jupiter with him - driving him to the complex each day.

“I ended up getting an ulcer, through it,” Kissell said. “And I haven’t had that old ginger like I usually do.”

Renowned as an instructor and stickler for fundamentals, Kissell got his break in baseball thanks to a rainout. It was haying season and he had work to do when an invitation came to attend a Cardinals’ tryout in Rochester, N.Y. His dad told him he couldn’t go because there was cutting and bailing to do.

In came the rain.

Couldn’t cut the hay, couldn’t line it up to be bailed, so his dad told him to fetch the invite and head to Rochester. He even gave him $2 to fill the rank of gas. Kissell, a sophomore in college, was assigned No. 385 at the tryout and, he said, was one of two players to get a contract. Six seasons later he started a climb through management - from scout to minor-league manager to major-league coach and, finally, field coordinator. He told reporters Wednesday that he told a young Anthony La Russa that he should give up playing baseball in order to manage baseball.

Add to the roll call of young players steered by Kissell.

The plaque - strategically placed, no doubt, to remind the players of Kissell’s lquest for fundamentals - features a bas relief sculpture of him in Cardinals’ gear, in part:

“Every player in the Cardinals’ Organization since 1940 has had contact with George Kissell and they have all been better for it. … Well known for his emphasis on fundamentals, George taught several generations of Redbirds how to play baseball.”

Which is what he was doing Wednesday.

Delighted to be back at spring training.

He worked Yadier Molina and Einar Diaz on their bunting, telling them the bat “has no knowledge at all - it does what you tell it to.” He worked with Bo Hart, who is trying to learn to bat left-handed. And he would harp on the players bunting basics.

“It doesn’t matter how good you are, every year I tell them this is like coming back to the house in the spring, you’ve got to clean the dust out of there,” Kissell said. “That’s what we’re doing here. We have to get that dust out and clean everything up.”

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The Cardinals have already started what promises to be an intriguing offseason with a big-ticket signing of a pitcher. What follows could be a search for a middle infielder, the hunt for the next (interim?) closer, the shopping around of Adam Kennedy and the inevitable discussion of trading at least one of the outfielders, perhaps one of the starters or even one of the highly-touted prospects.

There are plenty of questions.

I have cleared out the PostCards Inbox of its requests for an “urgent reply”, its letters from political camps, its offers of (ahem) enhancement, its gibberish and its scores of emails from Russia. I knew those four years of Russian would pay off, just didn’t expect it to be used for reading Cyrillic emails and knowing enough not to respond.

So, it’s time for a refill. Time for PostCards to earn its exclamation points with weekly mailbags.

Write: PostCards@post-dispatch.com

Questions permitting, the mailbag will run weekly throughout the offseason.

***

Jim Edmonds tells reporters in Chicago that he’s going to take some time before deciding if he’ll return for the 2009 season or retire. There appears to be a place for him in the Cubs’ dugout, if he wants it. … Houston pitcher Brandon Backe was involved in a brawl and arrested. He wasn’t the only high-profile person caught in the brouhaha either. … Did some reporting for a Baseball America story on Curt Smith, the Cardinals draft pick and the Appy League Player of the Year. He came on as a revelation after the draft this past summer, hitting .378/.418/.585 in 47 games for the Cardinals rookie-level club. Put up a discussion about Smith and other surprise prospects that piqued interest over at Bird Land @ Facebook. … And, from last week, there is this Twitter thing. (Which, come to think of it, should really be something for reporting at spring training.) … An interesting story, from The New York Times’ Tyler Kepner, on how few old ballparks there are in the National League, and why the two of them endure.

***

St. Louis ties are strong in the National League Championship Series, what with hometown slugger Ryan Howard taking swings against St. Louis favorite Joe Torre’s club. Keep in mind, the winning manager of the NLCS will be the All-Star manager at Busch Stadium next summer. So, Torre could be coming back to St. Louis as the home team’s manager — for one night only. The ALCS doesn’t have much of a toasted-rav flavor to it, but there are still ex-Cardinals to consider. Bring on the poll:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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]]> http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/bird-land/bird-land/2008/10/mail-call-links-loose-cards-connections-in-cs/feed/ http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/bird-land/bird-land/2008/10/dizzy-dean-a-finalist-for-frick-award/ http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/bird-land/bird-land/2008/10/dizzy-dean-a-finalist-for-frick-award/#comments Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:31:33 +0000 Derrick Goold http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/bird-land/?p=635 TOWER GROVE — What he’s already earned for his arm, former Cardinal Dizzy Dean may now get for his voice. The Gas House Gang’s ace and Hall of Famer is one of 10 finalists for the Ford C. Frick Award, given annually by Cooperstown for excellence in baseball broadcasting.

The finalists for the award were announced Monday afternoon by the National Baseball Hall of Fame after tabulating the results of a fan vote used to round...

Well, at least the “happy” part was.

The Cubs trudged out to Tinseltown to complete their sudden collapse, and for a second consecutive October they’ve been swept out the postseason. Alfonso Soriano is 3-for-28 in those past six playoff games. The Cubs’ would-be MV3 — Soriano, Derrek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez — have not produced one RBI combined in the last two Cub Octobers. (Bernie Miklasz gave an excellent early morning rundown of the ineptitude over the weekend — Breakfast at Bernie’s.) The Cubs got their Hollywood Ending, alright.

Their season ended in Hollywood.

So, it’s at least 101 years since the Cubs won a World Series, which if you buy into the Goat, the Black Cat, the Holy Water and all of that, is also the summer the Cubs ventured to Big Inning, Iowa, and played a 2,614-inning game against All-Stars from The Iowa Baseball Confederacy. (One of the great books.) They must still be recovering.

But there are other 100th anniversaries afoot this season. Plenty to celebrate, even for Cubs fans.

A British web site offers a handy guide for how to celebrate milestone anniversaries. Tenth is aluminum and tin. The 25th is silver. The 60th or 75th is diamond. The web site offers little guidance when it comes a 100th anniversary, for obvious reasons, save to suggest a “10-karat diamond.” Don’t really have one of those laying around, but our blogs here at the P-D do have 10-karat new technology: A poll.

So, that will have to do.

Back in 1908, to celebrate the New Year a ball dropped in Time’s Square for the first time. Mother’s Day was observed for the first time. The Internazionale Football Club is founded in Italy, American Temperance University closes, and cartoonist Tex Avery and famous baseball writer Red Barber were born. The Army Reserve celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. The FBI was founded. The first Boy Scout Handbook is published, launching a movement that would reach the United States in 1910, make neckerchiefs a fashion statement and give us Philmont. The Olympics arrived in London. (So, maybe 2012 is the Cubs’ year …)

Hundredth anniversaries abound.

Many in baseball and many locally.

Here’s where the new tech comes in. Below (fingers crossed) is a poll of some things — locally, baseball-wise, etc. — that are celebrating their 100th anniversaries this year.

Which did you celebrate the most (select, at most, two)?

Earlier in the season Major League Baseball ran a contest to commemorate the 100th anniversary of “Take Me Out to the Baseball Game” (either version, Katie Casey or Nelly Kelly), and there were celebrations around baseball this season. … A few weeks ago at Mizzou, the Mafia descended on campus to mark the 100th anniversary of the J-School. … Eureka High has a couple videos up on YouTube to celebrate its 100th anniversary. … You know the Cubs. … And, at Homecoming this soccer season, Saint Louis University honored their unique mascot, the Billiken, on its 100th birthday.

Of course, there are probably others I missed. Log them below.

This was mainly just a quick, goofy, frivolous entry to test-drive the new technology of inserting a poll. (Would have made those Decision 2008 entries much more user-friendly, eh?) But, also a history lesson of sorts. Back to baseball Tuesday.

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