When you’re down….kick someone else.

All I can say is that the Cardinals are playing like the team everyone thought they were before the season. For what it’s worth, I predicted a .500 season for the Birds.

Of late the starting pitching has been…mediocre. You get one good start out of a pitcher, then he comes back with a poor outing and that goes for all of them. Sans a few little glitches, Adam Wainwright has pitched the Ace’s role that he was given this year.
Relief, could use some relief. Pitching too much, and too often will wear out these gray beards in Springer, Villone, Franklin and Izzy. Izzy….he’s lost his killer instinct. God knows he usually walks guys, but that’s sometimes on purpose because he’s confident that he can get the next one and he doesn’t want to lay one up. But, he’s lost his teeth and it shows on his face. He’s become the equalivant of a ground ball being hit to Steve Sax….you don’t know where it’s going to go.

Hitting or lack of. Heck last night the boys couldn’t even hit Pittsbugh’s Phil Dumatrait. No offense Mr. & Mrs. Dumatrait, but your son is’t what I would call an over powering strike throwing pitcher. Last night in six innings he threw 88 pitches and a mere 53 were strikes. That’s barely 60%. And for the year he’s got 26 Strikeouts and 18 walks. The Cardinals SHOULD have got all over this guy….but they didn’t.

Mediocre, Mediocre, Mediocre.

So we may be seeing the true 2008 Redbirds right now, but I hope not. I hope this is just a first quarter lull. We’ll see.

So to make myself feel better and to distract myself from the Cardinals woes, let me point out an interesting Cubs bashing note.

Before Dusty Baker got the Cincinnati Reds job this spring, the 14 previous Chicago Cubs Managers NEVER got another full-time Managing job in the MLB again! How bad is that? Here’s the list.

Dusty Baker 2002 – 2006
Bruce Kim 2002
Rene Lachemann
Don Baylor 2000 – 2002
Jim Riggleman 1995 – 1999
Tom Trebelhorn 1994
Jim Lefebvre 1992 – 1993 * Interim gig with 99 Brewers
Jim Essian 1991
Joe Altobelli 1991
Don Zimmer 1988 – 1991
Frank Lucchesi 1987
Gene Michaels 1986 – 1987
John Vukovich 1986 * Interim gig with 88 Phillies
Jim Frey 1984 1986
Charlie Fox 1983

Info courtesy of ESPN The Mag.