Some light reading on this Friday morning; hope you have a fabulous weekend ...
Reading Time 5 Minutes:
* Can we have the NHL transfer the Blues to the Eastern Conference for the remainder of the season? Last night's 4-1 over the NY Rangers left the Blues with a 7-0-1 record against the East this season. They've outscored East opponents 25-11 and have a .938 save percentage against the East. Since the start of last season the Blues are 18-4-4 vs. Eastern Conference teams, a winning percentage of .769.
* I'm a knucklehead: Which is why I failed to remember something when writing Thursday's blog. In discussing the Angels' sad catching situation as it relates to a possible free-agent pursuit of Yadier Molina, I forgot that the Angels had acquired catcher Chris Iannetta from Colorado. Iannetta has some pop and isn't bad, but he isn't Molina. In his career Iannetta has batted .208 in games not played at Coors Field in Denver.
* OT: I have no idea what my personal "Album of the Year" is for 2011. What about you? Feel free to leave a comment. I undoubtedly overlooked a few. It's never too late. Thanks in advance.
* Stop it: quit referring to Dee Dee Pujols as "Yoko."
* Yo, Mo: Get it done, get Carlos Beltran signed.
* Smart hire by the Cubs to bring in Dave McKay as the new first base coach to work with rookie manager Dale Sveum. With the Cardinals and Brewers losing key players and the Reds not making any roster upgrades this winter (so far) the Cubs have a good chance to be more of a factor in the NL Central a lot sooner than many expect. If Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer make two or three smart moves, the Cubs will be right in it.
* Jeff Luhnow did well in his first trade as the Astros GM; many have wondered what SS Jed Lowrie could do if given a full-time chance, and if he can stay reasonably healthy. He'll get all the ABs he wants in Houston.
* Good piece on Cardinals 3B David Freese in the new issue of ESPN the Magazine; check it out.
* Congrats to Shad Khan for purchasing the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was approved this week. His first game as owner was last night. (Atlanta crushed Jacksonville, and our guy Blaine Gabbert needs work.) Khan is a great guy. He'll be an involved owner. The fans of Jacksonville will be fortunate to have him.
* Update: since the controversial (at the time) trade that sent Lee Stempniak to Toronto for Alex Steen and Carlo Colaiacovo to St. Louis ... the Blues are still big winners in the deal. Steen has 60 goals and 83 assists for 143 points in 231 games for the Blues. Colaiacovo has has 17 goals and 78 assists for the Blues. Stempniak has played for Toronto, Phoenix and Calgary since the Nov. 24, 2008 deal and has 66 goals and 65 assists for 131 points. Critics panned the trade saying that the Blues could not afford to give up a sniper. But Steen was a lot better player and scorer than the experts gave him credit for.
* Tony La Russa had it right in his evaluation of the Albert Pujols' departure. The Cardinals could and would only go so far in what they'd offer; people attached to reality who are capable of paying attention knew this all along. Pujols was blown away by the Angels' $254 million offer and found it too good to turn down -- but Pujols was wrong to say it wasn't about the money. And in hindsight the Cardinals could have been more enthusiastic in their approach to Pujols, who needed to be stroked. Seems about right, TLR.
* This has been a dismal season for first-year TV shows. Just awful. But I have six episodes of AMC's "Hell on Wheels" banked on my DVR, ready for viewing, so there's still hope.
* St. Louis U. basketball coach Rick Majerus says the Cioppino at Lo Russo's Cucina is as good as any he's had in the world, including Italy. I've always said it's as good as anything you'd find in San Francisco, but Majerus one-upped me.
* What's Kevin Demoff up to? Hmmm ...
Thanks for reading...
-Bernie
