Long as you hav albert we will win some games and stay in others i say we end up close o last years results unless the cards do the following things

#1 please pony up and get a closer #2 deal dick and dunc ,,,especially dick and get a decent rh bat for outfield ,,,,,imo you get ludwick, rasmus ,,and schu and decent 4thy outfielder who can just hit lefts and you are solid their,,#3 we are stuck with khalil and he has not impressed but props for trying , i say let barden , ryan, and thurston have 2nd and third, i mean heck this organization has admittadly not cared abut second base in the past, anyone remeber what we got out of Tommy herr? #4

I think the true success is that as a true fan, I pray for the Cardinals every night before I go to bed.

Let me get this straight Joe, it all comes down to hitting and pitching? Brilliant. Magnificent assessment. In other news, the great wall of China is long.

“Despite the insane, inexplicable hatred that a faction of bizarre, hopelessly bitter fans have for the manager and pitching coach.”

You said it so well, Bernie. Why some ‘fans’ have this hatred is inexplicable to me. The success of Tony and Dunc and the Cardinals is obvious to everyone who bothers to look.

“faction of bizarre, hopelessly bitter fans”.

Maybe they are that way in every facet of their lives, and not just for Tony, Dewitt and Mo.

DG, support the team MANG! Dont hate.

Why are the Cards so good so far?

Same reason as their hot start last year… early schedule stacked with home games. 4 of 6 series so far have been here at home. Lots of early home games allow players to come into their roles (Skip, Colby, the pen, Duncan, anybody at 3B, etc.). Outside of Opening Day, home has to be comforting for the new guys.

Can’t believe that wasn’t at least mentioned by anyone.

This team is rolling, but let’s see them take a couple road trips before we think about the Central Crown.

If you are going to complain about Tony LaRussa or Dave Duncan take the this peice of sage advice “It is better to stay quiet and let others think you a fool than to open your mouth and prove it!”. We have two future Hall of Fame coaches (TLR & Duncan). If you complain about them being here in St. Louis then you dont like winning baseball and you need to learn A LOT about the game!!!!!!!!!

Amen Bernie! Thank you for stating what so many are unable to see or at least acknowledge…Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan and the whole coaching staff get more out of less every year. I hate to think about when they’re not here. And of course it doesn’t hurt to have one of the best players of all time in his prime either.

Love em or hate em and I love em,LaRussa and Dunc are the keys to year after year success. One day they will be gone and then we’re all be wishing they were still here.

The secret, if you can call it that, is Yadier’s hitting. The Cards only really play 3 guys everyday. Pujols, Ludwick, and Molina, so as long as those guys stay healthy and smack the ball around they’ll be fine. The real secret is who will be in the lineup from day to day and will they produce,… so far so good. Carp going down hurts but been there done that, so it isn’t a shock to the staff, now when Lohse twisted his ankle my heart skipped a beat. The errors will haunt them if not fixed, and getting the lefty’s in the bullpen to perform a bit better is a bigger scare. A couple times already I have noticed the lefty might have got the call but Tony opted for someone else.

Reyes and Miller have been called 17 times, 12.1 innings, 12 hits, 4 BB, 3hr’s, 9k’s, are they being over used to early? Combined era is in the 4’s.

For those that point to the Cards early schedule stacked with home games, if that were the main reason for their great start then Arizona should be killing people because they have had 16 of their first 19 games at home and they aren’t even up to .500. You can also look at Baltimore or Houston who have the same number of home versus road games as the Cards so far and they aren’t tearing things up either. Of course it doesn’t hurt to be at home but there is far more to it than that. This is a good, solid, hard working team who all seem to be pulling in the same direction and that is why they are winning.

don’t know how anyone can say the cards will finish with the same result as last year. preposterous. tony is handling the end innings a LOT better than last year, and they’ve been converting saves because of it. last year he kept trotting izzy out there to blow save after save, then scrambled to find a replacement. this year he’s going with the match-ups, and using franklin on days rest. to think this team will be an 86 game winner is just absurd — try saying it with a straight face.

Gerry Fraley: Let’s not forget about “the secret weapon”! He has been instrumental with Schumaker’s transition to 2nd base and of course Pujol’s climb to gold glove status.

I have to admit that I have never been a huge La Russa fan, (I adored Whitey Herzog)I have had trouble forgetting the decision he made when he left John Tudor in to bat for himself in the 7th or 8th inning of a playoff game with us tied or behind (I can’t remember)I just couldn’t understand that one. I know we are not going to always agree with him, but I do have a lot of respect for him.

All the players and coaches deserve some credit, but when you have one of the truly great players of all time ,not only on the field but off it, you end up stepping up your play. It’s human nature!

This was a great piece. Everybody’s take is a little different, so that tells me that there is a lot more going right at this point in the season that far and away over shadows those few problem areas (defense, middle relief, no Carp). There will be bumps in the road as there always is in a 162 game season, but I firmly believe that TLR and Duncan will get us through. Way to tell it like it is Bernie.

As I have watched this season unfold, it has become very clear to me that although Albert is the man, our MVP is Molina. This guy is involved with every pitch of the game, he controls this pitching staff like an onfield coach, calming them down when need be, he is batting over 300, and god forbid you take too long a lead at first base. No wonder no one tries to steal against the Birds.

We are very lucky to have this guy behind the plate!

Another great coach needs mentioning; Jose Oquendo. The secret weapon strikes again with his pupil Skip at second.

Year in and year out La Russa and company takes a flawed team with a hodge podge of low budget pitchers straight from the island of misfit toys and somehow ALWAYS wins more games than the experts predict he can win. So no, it absolutely can’t be the coaching.

I just pray La Russa never leaves us to go coach for the Cubs.

Tom, since you mentioned Oquendo, I won’t but I was wondering where his name was above…There is no 1 MVP on this TEAM…The whole team is playing together…The one thing I wish I could do away with is the “errors”…Although there are quite a few, the defense has been stellar and don’t expect that number to grow to much more like it has…Win or lose I will still be at/watch every game possible but this has been very fun so far…Looking forward to Aug/Sept…
You da mand SKIP!

Once TLR & Dunc are gone, all the haters will get it…You can’t give a “Moz Team” to any other coach’s and get these results…Always have liked the TLR,Dunc,Jose,Hal team and will always…Gona be sad to see them go because when TLR goes, (more than likely) they all go…Til then, keep them wins coming!

Bernie, in Journalism, didn’t they teach you that ad hominem is not a valid discussion style, let alone being professional journalism; or, is your degree in Labelling from OfficeMax? You’re like the Rush Limbaugh of St. Louis, anyone that has an opinion different from yours is “Insane”, is “bitter”, . . . is disagreeing with Bernie a Hate-Crime?

Stop calling people names. Start writing columns that have merit of their own. How about one that looks at the error rate and how many teams made (went deep into) the playoffs booting balls at this pace? Oh wait, LaGenius isn’t worried about this (loved those hard hitting follow-ups to that statement). Besides, only Goold does objective analysis.

BTW, Is Gordon a whiner for saying we should’ve kept Springer?

I am enjoying the 14 - 7 start, there are 141 left to be played. After the first 14 games Chris Duncan was annointed Comeback Player of the Year by Hummel. Ooooh, gotta get that hardware back, maybe wait until the end of his season.

The secret is …. starting pitching! Hitting is always great at the start, shoot Ken Reitz hit with average in April, but Starting pitching allows the pen to keep roles where they can have success.
Starting pitching in August and September will win any division.
The team has AP in his prime, you get him SP and the team will win more WS

It’s not 2 or even 3 people, it’s a team, and that’s how they’re winning. The last time they won it all, they went into every series thinking they had to win that series - whether or not they swept it. They didn’t win every series, but they won enough that they developed that attitude and it carried through to the post-season. They cannot continue to win 12-8 or 8-5 games - sustaining that kind of offense is not realistic. Nor can they continue to put their eggs in the Carpenter basket - it’s come unravelled too many times. The true oddity is that previous Cardinal teams typically have been built on speed, defense and pitching, whereas this team is built on power, offense and offense (plus some offense).

The key to winning is combining natural athletic ability, good coaching, emphasis on fundamentals, and organizational team commitment to playing hard every play of every game. To me, this is the essence of Cardinal Baseball (and the key to success of many other teams such as Angels).

LaRussa has had uncanny success in maximizing results from whatever hand he’s dealt, be it losing players to free agency or injuries to key players. Duncan has resurrected pitching careers by changing throwers into more cerebral pitchers. Oquendo and others have focused on defense and fundamentals such as taking the extra base, etc. McRae has taught hitting to the opposite field, “going with the pitch,” and situational hitting such as bunting and always moving the runner over (thus never wasting an at-bat).

Finally, you must have players who buy into this brand of baseball. There has never been room for prima donnas or trouble makers.

Lastly, there are the fans, the most loyal and knowledgeable in the game. GO CARDS!!!!

As I said earlier this year…the Cards blew 31 saves last year and ended up out of first place 11.5 games…their hitting is stronger and their pitching is stronger…especially if Carpenter can overcome his constant injuries…I say the Cards will win at least 93 games…Milwaukee will be the team to beat in the NL Central…the law of averages will keep the Cubs out of first place…the bullpen will decide the Cards fate…RV