ST. LOUIS (February 16, 2012) – The St. Louis Cardinals today announced their television schedule for the 2012 season.  FOX Sports Midwest (19^th season) is scheduled to carry 150 games in its second full season as the exclusive local TV home of the Cardinals.

Ten regular season games are currently scheduled to be carried as part of Major League Baseball’s national television packages with FOX (aired locally on KTVI) and ESPN.  The July 22 game vs. Chicago and the August 12^th game at Philadelphia will be carried by FOX Sports Midwest or ESPN.   The schedule is subject to change based on future Major League Baseball national television selections.

FOX Sports Midwest will also televise five Grapefruit League Spring Training games (March 17 at Detroit, March 19 at Atlanta, March 20 at Houston, March 22 vs. Washington and March 24 at the New York Mets), with each game carried live locally at Noon CT and replayed later that day during prime time.

FOX Sports Midwest’s offseason coverage will also include new Cardinals programming on Mondays in February and March, starting with a 30-minute special on Monday Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. chronicling the World Series champions visit to the White House.   Upcoming Monday night shows include La Russa’s Championship Insights, a one hour special, and roundtable discussions with Cardinals Hall of Famers and 1980’s stars.  FOX Sports Midwest will also produce a spring training report in early March, as well as 2012 season preview.

FOX Sports Midwest will also continue to produce the Cardinals Live pregame and postgame shows with Jim Hayes, Pat Parris and Cal Eldred for every regular season telecast on the network. Dan McLaughlin, Al Hrabosky and Rick Horton will again call the games this season from the broadcast booth for FOX Sports Midwest.

In 2011, Cardinals telecasts on FOX Sports Midwest generated the 2^nd highest local market television ratings in Major League Baseball, the 12^th straight year in which the Cardinals ranked among the top three teams.  FOX Sports Midwest-produced Cardinals telecasts are shown in nine states and available in millions of homes. A complete Spring Training & 2012 Regular Season schedule follows.

ST. LOUIS (January 5, 2012)– The St. Louis Cardinals announced today the schedule for the team’s 2012 Cardinals Caravan which will make stops in Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Iowa and Tennessee.

The Cardinals will embark on five separate caravans, scheduled around the Winter Warm-Up weekend, January 13-16. Three caravans will depart on Friday, January 13 through Saturday, January 14 and two caravan trips are slated for Sunday and Monday, January 15-16.

The caravans are scheduled to visit 19 total cities, including the respective ballparks of local minor league affiliates Memphis (Tennessee), Springfield (Missouri) and Quad Cities (Davenport, Iowa).

Several current Cardinals players such as Jaime Garcia, Jason Motte and Jon Jay will take part in the promotional caravans. Also making appearances will be National League Championship Series and World Series MVP David Freese and new Cardinals manager Mike Matheny (Springfield, Mo. only), as well as numerous other veterans and future stars. Those players include Marc Rzepcyznski, Daniel Descalso, Mitchell Boggs and others. Cardinals’ minor league future stars include 2010 and 2011 Organizational Pitcher-of-the-Year Shelby Miller, 2011 Organizational Player-of-the-Year Matt Adams and 2010 first-round draft pick Zack Cox.

Fans will also be able to meet some of their favorite former players as Cardinals Alumni Andy Benes, Al Hrabosky, Danny Cox, Chris Duncan, Cal Eldred, Tom Lawless, John Mabry, Kerry Robinson, Jason Simontacchi and others will accompany the current players. Cardinals announcers Mike Shannon, Rick Horton, Mike Claiborne, Dan McLaughlin and John Rooney will serve as Caravan emcees and team mascot Fredbird will also be on hand.

A schedule of the five caravans, their destinations and participating players is attached, and can also be found on the team’s website at cardinals.com/caravan.

The week of Thanksgiving brings a time for all of us to be thankful for family, friends, health, any a myriad of other things that each of us finds important. Here at I-70 Baseball, we take this time to show some thanks to some players that spent some time wearing both of the uniforms of our two teams, the Cardinals and Royals.

The requirements are that simple: the inducted player had to play for both the Cardinals and Royals in his career. From there, it is pure judgement of I-70 Baseball to say they deserve enshrinement in our “Hall Of Legends”. This year we induct five new legends to join the inaugural group of five from last season. The original five inductees were manager Whitey Herzog, pitchers Dan Quisenberry and Danny Jackson, outfielder Reggie Sanders, and catcher Darrell Porter.

The final inductee for 2011 is, appropriately, former Cardinals and Royals closer, Al Hrabosky.

St. Louis (1970 – 1977)

Alan Thomas Hrabosky, or as we would soon call him affectionately, The Mad Hungarian, was originally drafted out of high school by the Minnesota Twins in 1967. Opting to wait for a better offer, that came along in 1969 when the Cardinals selected Hrabosky in the first round. They would send him to their Class A affiliate in Modesto, California and the young left-hander would dominate the league. In 13 starts, he would post an 8-2 record with an ERA of 2.48. That was not what caught the attention of the front office, it was his 112 strikeouts in 98 innings. Combined with the ability to miss bats (less than 1 hit per inning pitched) got Hrabosky a promotion to Arkansas (AA) to finish out 1969.

He would stay in Arkansas to start the 1970 season, but not for long. Trouble was brewing in St. Louis and a most promising start to the season was about to fall apart. George Culver, a big veteran right hander, had gotten off to a quick start for the season, winning his first three starts with a mind boggling ERA just over 1 run per game. Then things started falling apart and he would soon be heading to Houston. Nelson Briles was also struggling and newcomer and former Reds pitcher, Billy McCool was about to make his last major league appearance. All of that turmoil created an opportunity for Hrabosky, and he was called up from AA in early June. And he did not disappoint.

His second appearance was in a long extra inning game at Chicago on June 19. In two innings of work, he would retire all six men he faced, three by way of the strikeout. Thanks to bases loaded single by Ted Simmons in the seventeenth inning, Hrabosky would earn his first major league win. He would continue to pitch late in games through July and into early August, when the Cardinals finally fell out of contention. Even though the 1970 Cardinals had been somewhat of a disappointment, the 20 year old hard throwing lefty had made quite an impression. He would go back to Arkansas to finish out the season, but would return late in September when the rosters expanded.

Hrabosky would continue his development in the minor leagues, mostly as a starter, occasionally getting a call up to St. Louis to fill in for an injured pitcher. The last call was in June 1973, when the Cardinals traded Jim Bibby to the Texas Rangers. Hrabosky would take his spot, initially as a setup man to veteran closer, Diego Segui. By the end of the season, it was Hrabosky that was closing out games, and he would continue to do so for the next four years.

1974 would be big year for Hrabosky as he and right hander, Mike Garman, took turns closing out games for the Cardinals. They were a most effective tandem, providing late inning heat from both the right and left side. Hrabosky would post an impressive 8-1 record with an ERA of 2.95. His 9 saves may not seem like a lot, but when you have starters like Lynn McGlothen and Bob Gibson in the rotation, there just aren’t a lot of save opportunities to be found. But when called upon, Hrabosky held the game with regularity. He was a big part of the Cardinals late divisional race, falling just a few runs short of a post-season opportunity. For his effort, Hrabosky would get a few Cy Young votes, coming in fifth in the voting.

Taking one for the Team

The date was September 25, the last home game of the 1974 season. Thanks to a series of bad games, the bullpen had been used a lot and needed Bob Forsch to go deep into the game. He did not make it out of the first inning. Rich Folkers was able to get the last two outs, but not before the Pirates had a commanding 5-0 lead. A wiped out bullpen would have to finish this game, and that meant somebody would have to take one for the team.

Since the Pirates were somewhat vulnerable to left handed pitching, especially since they planned on facing the right handed Bob Forsch, manager Red Schoendienst ran out all the lefties he had. Following Rich Folkers, it was veteran Claude Osteen. While Osteen was on the mound, the Cardinals rallied and had taken a 6-5 lead.

Osteen got into trouble in the fifth inning, and again the call would go to the bullpen. This time it was Al Hrabosky. The Cardinals extended the lead to 9-5 but Hrabosky gave most of those runs back. In the ninth inning, Hungo was still pitching for the Cardinals when he Dave Parker with a pitch. Parker would score the tying run when Manny Sanguillen singles. Into extra innings we go.

Hrabosky pitches a scoreless tenth inning but gets into trouble in the eleventh. It all unraveled quickly with only one ball hit with any authority. Mike Garman came into to relieve Hrabosky and get the final two outs, but Pittsburgh had taken a 12-9 lead. That would not be the final score as the Cardinals roared back for four runs in the bottom of the inning with pinch hitter, Jim Dwyer, getting the game winning RBI with a sacrifice fly. The win probability chart from this game tells you all you needed to know about this game. Game Six of the World Series, anybody ? Well, almost.

Even though he had struggled, and had given up the lead in the ninth inning, Hrabosky took one for the team with 6 1/3 innings of relief. It wasn’t pretty and those earned runs he allowed ballooned his ERA by about 1/3 of a run per game. It was a gutsy performance, just one of the many that we would come to appreciate.

Fireman of the Year

If not for Mike Marshall pitching in nearly every Expos game in 1974, Al Hrabosky might have won the Fireman of the Year award for his outstanding relief work. He would win that award in 1975, a career year for Hungo and one of the best ever for a Cardinals reliever. In 65 appearances, he would post a 13-3 record with an ERA of 1.66. He averaged about 1 1/2 innings per appearance, so these were no short outings. His 22 saves would lead the National League. His strikeout total had started to fall off, but he more than made up for it by continuing to miss bats with an increased consistency. In addition to his Fireman of the Year award, he would come in third in Cy Young voting, behind Tom Seaver and Randy Jones, both of whom won more than 20 games. Hrabosky was the only reliever to receive any votes.

1976 would be another good year for Hrabosky, but the strikeouts kept falling and the number of hits allowed has started increasing. This would continue in 1977, but the story of that year would be the continual clashing with new manager, Vern Rapp.

Rapp was an old school authoritarian and was not handling a lot of the changes in the game, most notably more player freedoms in the new free agency era. Long hair and ridiculous facial hair was the new form of expression, and Hrabosky had some of the wildest of both. Rapp failed to notice that it was all part of Hrabosky’s on the field persona. He would go behind the mound and talk to himself. He would pop the ball into the glove, spin around and take his position on the mound. He would stare at the catcher with his eyes barely visible between his cap pulled down low and a glove held high on his face. Then, from what can only be called a maelstrom of arms and legs, comes a pitch somewhere in the confluence of body parts, and it is likely very hard and could quite possibly be well inside.

The crazy hair and outlandish mustache was just a part of Hrabosky’s act, and it had been most effective. But Rapp was having none of that, and wanted his players clean shaven and hair kept at a respectable length. They may finish dead last in the division, but they were going to look professional.

Throw in the emergence of an exciting young flame thrower named John Urrea and 1977 would be Hrabosky’s last season in St. Louis. He would be traded to the Kansas City for their former closer, Mark Littell. In 8 years in St. Louis, Al Hrabosky would finish with a 40-20 record, ERA of 2.93 and collect 59 saves, a big total for that era of baseball.

Kansas City (1978 – 1979)

It could have been the change of scenery, facing hitters in a new league or maybe it was just getting some distance between him and Vern Rapp, but 1978 would be something of a comeback year for the now veteran left hander. He would collect 20 saves in his first season with the Royals, which is a very good number considering that starters threw 53 complete games. His strikeout rate continued to fall, but he would lead all Royals pitchers. Where he was most effective was in missing American League bats, just as he had been doing in the National League. He was just as likely to walk a batter as let them get a hit. All of that added up to a stingy 2.88 ERA, third on the staff.

1978 would also be the only time that Hrabosky would appear in post-season, pitching in three of the four ALCS games against the New York Yankees.

Al Hrabosky would have another fine season for Kansas City in 1979, but a quirky young reliever make his major league debut that year – a redheaded right handed submariner named Dan Quisenberry. Quisenberry would entertain teammates and terrorize opposing batters for the next decade, so it was time for Al to move on.

The Royals let Hrabosky test the new free agency market and the Atlanta Braves signed him to a contract for the 1980 season.

Atlanta (1980 – 1982)

The former closer took on a new role with the Atlanta Braves, the setup man to Rick Camp and then later for Gene Garber. His best year for the Braves was the strike shortened 1981 where he posted a miniscule 1.07 ERA as a one inning specialist. Unfortunately for the Mad Hungarian, his career would come to an end in August 1982 and he would miss the chance to pitch against his former team in the NLCS.

Al Hrabosky pitched effectively for all three teams where he played. He was dominating closer in both leagues and proved to be an effective setup man at the end of his career. The final tally on Al was a 64-35 record with an ERA of 3.10 (ERA+ of 123, not bad). He had a positive win-loss record with all three teams, and he would finish with 97 saves.

Life after Baseball

After his playing days were over, Al returned to the St. Louis area and started a career as a broadcaster. He has been a commentator for the Cardinals since 1985 and can now be found doing most of the television broadcasts on the Cardinal Fox station, Fox Sports Midwest.

Bob Netherton covers Cardinals history for i70baseball.com and writes at On the Outside Corner. You may follow Bob on Twitter here or on Facebook here.

[Adapted from an article on El Maquino]

As most people have figured out by now, I start my summer-long tour with I-70 Baseball [this] week as both a Cardinals and Royals writer. So, they may not appreciate the fact that I’m already ripping on one of their writers, but it makes for good reading, right?

[Saturday], a gem popped up on the site entitled “Colby Rasmus Is A Bad Centerfielder.” Naturally, with my near-paternal instinct to defend my boy Colby, I clicked and read. I have to say, I didn’t like what I saw. Some of the highlights:

“[The Cardinals] might have the worst defensive starting centerfielder in all of baseball, and his name is Colby Rasmus…”

It’s on.

“…In the bottom of the third inning [Friday night], Craig Counsell sent a Kyle Lohse delivery to deep right-center. Right fielder Jon Jay tracked it to the wall and leaped but could not come up with the catch. The ball rattled around a quirky little notch in the Miller Park wall and Counsell ended up with a stand-up triple. On the telecast, Al Hrabosky practically screamed about it and the Fox Sports Midwest replay confirmed it: Rasmus was standing in his centerfield position watching Jay attempt to make the play. He simply did not move. He was an innocent bystander, just like the 33,000+ spectators in the stands. It honestly looked like he could not care less.

“Could Rasmus have made the catch? Certainly not. But had he run to back up his right fielder, Rasmus would have been in position to do two things which could have been immensely helpful to the situation: he could have chirped at Jay, who was watching the ball, about his location and approach to the wall/notch; and he could have grabbed the ball on the carom and fired it back into the infield to keep Counsell’s hit to a double.

“The real problem, though, is this was not an isolated incident. Rasmus has a history of playing somewhat aloof in the outfield. But, believe it or not, he is actually a pretty skilled defender…as long as his head is in the game. Rasmus has shown he can make big plays; he just doesn’t make them all the time. And that’s a mental lapse, not a physical one–”

–Stop right there. Yes, I agree (just like Razz would probably agree) that he’s got to play a smarter outfield. But that doesn’t mean he’s a bad centerfielder. Chris Reed, you said yourself that his errors are mental and that he is capable of making great plays (of which I left some links to on the comments section of the article). So if he can make said great plays, why chastise him for not getting a ball you yourself said he couldn’t get to and going as far as calling him the worst centerfielder in the Majors?

I won’t justify Colby’s not even trying for the ball, but you should at least understand his reasoning that A) I can’t catch this ball and B) JayJay probably can. Calling him lazy is, I think, a bit out of line. Maybe he is or maybe he isn’t: I have no way of saying how hard he works on his game. But I’m willing to bet a bum wouldn’t make it this far.

“… If he wants to be an elite centerfielder, however, he must step up his defense and it starts with the fundamentals. He has to take charge, call the ball, direct traffic. Otherwise, the Cards may need to seriously think about a shuffle in the outfield sooner rather than later.”

With who? Even if Colby skipped out on some plays, Jay isn’t fast enough to cover center–especially with Lance Berkman to his left. Then what do you do when Matt Holliday gets back? Bottom line: he is the only one of the team’s outfielders who has the speed to cover all that ground.

* * * * *

Okay. . . I’m calm. And I probably wouldn’t even rip Reed’s story except that I saw some other upsetting stuff about Number 28 [Saturday]. (That, and he stole my nickname for Daniel Descalso.)

Unless they get all their news from the watered-down Cardinals.com, who aren’t allowed to post any fun news, Cards fans know that Colby’s dad Tony Rasmus is highly involved with both the way his son swings and the media that talk about the way his son swings. So much so that he even commented on [my] site a few months ago in approval of that written defense of Colby. He talks to St. Louis reporters sometimes, but leaves his mark on fan sites and blogs such as [El Maquino], the Cardinal Nation Blog and HardballTalk, where I first found out he was doing this and how he got the link to EM. Anyways, it was discovered in a Riverfront Times blog that Colby was commenting on TCNB as “RCWarrior;” the same RCWarrior who said this a few days ago:

In my opinion Colby’s chameleon approach to playing baseball since he has reach St. Louis has doomed him….in St. Louis. He has tried to change most every facet of his game to please this person or that person. He never had throwing problems or fielding problems until he reached St. Louis. These changes have been bad judgement decisions by Colby and have hurt his game. The fans have noticed he is not the player that he was proclaimed to be. It sickens me that he chose against my advice I might add to change the way he played the game, lost his aggressiveness, and became a passive looking player that I find hard to watch. He has made bad decisions and forgot how to play the game. Thats my take on the situation and I believe the only way out for him is to start fresh somewhere else. He may forever be this boring player that doesn’t seem to care about the game even if he gets traded but he surely isn’t going to change the way he is viewed in St. Louis. I’d like to watch the kid that busted his [butt] when he played again one day. It may never happen again but a guy can dream can’t he?

At least Chris isn’t alone on the effort issue. Like I said, maybe he is lazy and maybe he isn’t. I tend to lean to the latter, but even his dad thinks he’s not trying hard anymore.

Maybe what troubles me the most is that Cards fans don’t seem to see the massive potential this guy’s got. 30-homer power, easy. He’s fast, can steal, get to fly balls, hit triples. The “chameleon approach” shows itself most at the plate: swing for the fences and strike out? Or hit for average and lose power? If he can choose either and stick with it, he can be the five-tool player I know he can be. Hopefully, he can so in St. Louis.

But the animosity towards him has spread so fast that fans on blogs, talk radio and Twitter have called for the trading of Colby Rasmus–so much so that Bernie Miklasz felt the need to pen a column insisting on the craziness of that conclusion.

My question as a Cards fan in Kansas City is this: Is the Colby bashing a St. Louis-area thing? Fans there seem to be overly critical of the guy for whatever reason (likely the perception of his effort, which I don’t agree with but understand) while I and other national writers think you’re nuts.

They can’t stand Colby, yet they had a love affair with Brendan Ryan: a great fielder but terrible hitter whose concentration was never not in question and a guy who is only a fraction of the player Razz is. And it appears, from Tony Rasmus’ comments, that those fans may be a key factor in driving him away.

Be careful what you wish for, Cardinal Nation. You just might get it.

Postscript: You can hit me up at my Cardinals site or Twitter. And no hard feelings, Chris!

In Friday night’s 8-0 drubbing at the hands of Chris Narveson and the Milwaukee Brewers, the St. Louis Cardinals came to face a hard truth: they might have the worst defensive starting centerfielder in all of baseball, and his name is Colby Rasmus.

(A quick aside: I know I am not a Major League baseball player. I am not a professional athlete of any kind, nor to I pretend to know what it takes to be one. So if any of my millions of loyal readers are, at this point, ready to scroll to the bottom of the page and leave a scathing comment akin to “I’d like to see you get out there and do better,” save it…and hear me out.)

In the bottom of the third inning, Craig Counsell sent a Kyle Lohse delivery to deep right-center. Right fielder Jon Jay tracked it to the wall and leaped but could not come up with the catch. The ball rattled around a quirky little notch in the Miller Park wall and Counsell ended up with a stand-up triple. On the telecast, Al Hrabosky practically screamed about it and the Fox Sports Midwest replay confirmed it: Rasmus was standing in his centerfield position watching Jay attempt to make the play. He simply did not move. He was an innocent bystander, just like the 33,000+ spectators in the stands. It honestly looked like he could not care less.

Could Rasmus have made the catch? Certainly not. But had he run to back up his right fielder, Rasmus would have been in position to do two things which could have been immensely helpful to the situation: he could have chirped at Jay, who was watching the ball, about his location and approach to the wall/notch; and he could have grabbed the ball on the carom and fired it back into the infield to keep Counsell’s hit to a double. As it was, Jay had to chase the ball after his leaping miss and get it to the infield. It was not all that far from being an inside-the-park home run.

Counsell later scored on a magnificent slide around what was otherwise a perfect tag attempt by Yadier Molina after a bunt, but his run was hardly a back-breaker as the Brewers eventually broke the game wide open and the Cards had no answer for Narveson.

The real problem, though, is this was not an isolated incident. Rasmus has a history of playing somewhat aloof in the outfield. But, believe it or not, he is actually a pretty skilled defender…as long as his head is in the game. Rasmus has shown he can make big plays; he just doesn’t make them all the time. And that’s a mental lapse, not a physical one.

Centerfield is a special position. Traditionally, the best outfielder on the team plays center. He has to have a magnetic glove and he has to have a good, strong throwing arm. But he also has to intensely pay attention to every pitch to get an immediate read on every ball hit to the outfield, because he is expected to cover the most ground. And when a ball is hit in the vicinity of more than one fielder, he has to play traffic cop. These last traits are where Rasmus falls short.

How many times have we seen Rasmus pull up when he and another outfielder converge on a fly ball or line drive? How many times has Rasmus spiked a throw into the ground, almost like he forgot to release the ball? Friday night’s lapse was a new one. I’ve seen better backup out of a beer league softball team. Is this something the Cards will just have to live with as long as Rasmus wears the Birds on the Bat? Or can he still learn how to take charge out there?

Unfortunately, when the outfield consists of Rasmus, Lance Berkman, and Matt Holliday, the choice for centerfield is pretty obvious. Jay has spelled Rasmus in center adequately, but hasn’t yet pushed him to another position when both play at the same time. It’s a tough spot for the Cards, so Rasmus will probably stay in center as long as he is a Cardinal. And he is a valuable piece of the Cards’ offense, so this isn’t necessarily a plea to give Rasmus the JD Drew heave-ho.

Rasmus is no Jim Edmonds, but it would not be fair to expect that of him. If he wants to be an elite centerfielder, however, he must step up his defense and it starts with the fundamentals. He has to take charge, call the ball, direct traffic. Otherwise, the Cards may need to seriously think about a shuffle in the outfield sooner rather than later.

Chris Reed also writes for InsideSTL Mondays and Bird Brained whenever he wants. Follow him on Twitter at @birdbrained.

During the offseason we have been taking a look at the past, giving readers a timeline of St. Louis baseball throughout history. Last time we learned about Cardinal teams that could never quite put it all together. Unfortunately, the trend would continue…

What do you say to an aging superstar who has obviously seen better days but is not convinced that it is time to hang up the spikes? If you are the Cardinals, and your aging superstar is Bob Gibson, the answer is this: not one word. 1974 had been brutal to him, and his statistics were across the board the worst he had seen since 1960, when Solly Hemus was making his life miserable by jerking him from the rotation to the bullpen and refusing to put his talent to good use. But after his marriage broke up, Gibson had nothing to lose, and shuffled back out on the mound in 1975. He needed one more year of baseball. He could not walk away.

Life was miserable for Gibby in ’75. He had lost control and velocity. Walks, hits and ERA soared, strikeouts tanked, and the once great pitcher had become a mere mortal. At the All-Star break the big righty was shipped to the bullpen. In early September he came in to a game and gave up a grand slam to journeyman Pete LaCock. Gibson was mortified. Manager Red Schoendienst came out to get the ball, and Gibson walked off the mound with his head down. He never pitched another ball in the majors. It was a sad end to a truly Hall of Fame worthy career.

Al Hrabosky

The team as a whole felt unremarkable, finishing at 82-80, ten and a half games back of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Catcher Ted Simmons was the catalyst of the lineup, leading the team in almost every statistical category, as well as calling 157 games behind the plate, all at age 25. The pitching staff had a couple of names that jumped off the page – Bob Forsch and Al Hrabosky. The pair of 25 year olds were the leaders of the staff. Forsch went 15-10 with a 2.86 ERA over 240 innings. “The Mad Hungarian” was something else – turning in a career year by posting a 13-3 record, 22 saves, a 1.66 ERA and a 1.079 WHIP, which earned him a third place finish in the NL Cy Young Award voting.

The Cardinals in 1976 were young. Only four players on the roster were older than 30, and only two (37 year old Lou Brock and 33 year old Don Kessinger) had any significant playing time. So how did the kids do? Not very well. They were not strong hitters, scored very few runs, were dead last in the league in home runs, and that was just the hitters! Their pitchers were eleventh out of twelve in strikeouts, tenth in wins and walks, and just seemed to fall flat everywhere. Nothing was remarkable about this team, and a 72-90 finish, good enough for fifth in the six team NL East, just validates that thought.

Owner Gussie Busch was, once again, getting very impatient. It had been 8 full seasons since his team last saw a pennant flag rise above Busch Stadium, and that was just unacceptable to the beer baron. He decided that Schoendienst was just too soft on his players, and booted him out for Vern Rapp, a man that Gussie saw as someone who would be tough and get the boys to grind out the wins.

Vern Rapp

Rapp had been a career minor league catcher, playing for parts of sixteen seasons from coast to coast, never sticking with one team for long, and even being a player manager for a little one year. He had eleven seasons of managing in the minors (with a relative measure of success) before getting the call to St. Louis. He brought a no-nonsense, extremely conservative and yet stern look to a team that was not looking for someone to treat them like Marines. He installed a strict curfew, forced the players to cut off all facial hair, and held team meetings just to yell at various players who needed to lose a few pounds or cut their hair.

Players wanted to mutiny. Keith Hernandez’s star was on the rise in baseball, but he felt like his team was fighting against not only the rest of the National League, but the front office and managing staff of their own team as well! Despite it all, the team as a whole rebounded from their abysmal 1976 campaign, and went 83-79, to push them back up to third in the East. The team still did not have any real firepower, landing in the cellar in home runs (for the hitters) and strikeouts (for the pitchers). Ted Simmons , Keith Hernandez, and Garry Templeton were all hitting, but there were not enough pieces in place to make a strong enough dent in the standings.

Things got worse. Rapp was out of control, suspending his closer in Hrabrosky because Al refused to cut his hair and Fu Manchu and calling fan darling Simmons “a loser.” Gussie realized that this was not going to work out, and sent Rapp packing a mere seventeen games into the 1978 season. In to replace him was the amiable Kenny Boyer. While Rapp was harsh and cruel, Boyer fit a lot more into the Schoendienst model of nurturer and letting the boys play. Unfortunately, the record shows that Boyer fared no better than Rapp in the standings. It is hard to find positives about a team that finished 69-93, but here goes nothing…

Keith Hernandez won his first Gold Glove. Starters John Denny and Pete Vuckovich both pitched well, despite less than stellar W-L records of 14-11 and 12-12, respectively. Possibly the most important thing that happened was that Boyer installed Hernandez as the everyday first baseman, rain or shine, slump or hot streak. This played an important role in 1979.

Hernandez was feeling down at the beginning of the season, hitting an anemic .232 for the month of April. Boyer went to his still young (25) player and told him that no matter what, he would be the third place hitter for the season. The solidarity of that statement spurred him on to have his best year in the majors, hitting .344/.417/.513. He was in the top five in every major offensive statistical category, and led the league in batting average, runs, and doubles. Boyer had helped install a confidence that pushed a young player from a .232 first month of the season to an MVP award.

Ted Simmons

Despite bringing in very few new faces in 1979, the team as a whole fared better. Whether it was getting all of the players a year older, wiser or better or they just all happened to have better seasons that year is unknown, but one thing that is seen easily is that the bats are what carried them back up to third place in the East with a record of 86-76. Cardinal hitters were first in the National League in hits, doubles, triples and batting average over the course of the season. They took few walks, but they slapped the ball around and ran with it. Hernandez was the star, but guys like Templeton, Simmons, and “Silent George” Hendrick all had strong seasons at the plate as well. Even 40 year old Lou Brock, in his last year in baseball, put together a .304/.342/.398 batting line before hanging them up.

Maybe, once the kids all started growing up and really becoming ballplayers, things would turn around and push the team back to the top…

Angela Weinhold covers the Cardinals for i70baseball.com and writes at Cardinal Diamond Diaries. You may follow her on Twitter here or follow Cardinal Diamond Diaries here.

My dad was at Royals Stadium briefly the night before I was born. He had been invited to watch the game in a luxury suite, and had been given permission by his very pregnant wife to attend the game only after he confirmed there was a phone in the suite she could call in case she went into labor. And wouldn’t you know, not too long after arriving at the stadium, the phone in the suite rings. Sorry Dad. If I had known what a great game I made you miss, I would have tried to hold out a little longer.

August 27, 1979: The Royals jumped out to a comfortable 6-1 lead against the Brewers before things fell apart in the seventh. Royals starter Rich Gale got the first two men out in the inning before surrendering three straight hits. Steve Mingori was called in, but got the hook after allowing a walk. Manager Whitey Herzog called in one of the all-time great firemen, Dan Quisenberry, but the Quiz got rocked this night. A young Robin Yount got an inside-the-parker, and all of a sudden the Royals were down 6-8. But the Royals weren’t done. In the bottom of the ninth, George Brett doubled, Darrell Porter singled him home, and it was 8-9. Al Cowens singled, then Frank White, and the game headed into extras. The Mad Hungarian, Al Hrabosky, had a perfect top of the tenth before Hal McRae, Amos Otis and Darrell Porter all had hits in the bottom of the frame to walk off with a KC win. Like I said, sorry Dad.

My dad says his father was never much of a baseball fan, but my dad caught the bug as a kid thanks to the Kansas City A’s. He listened to them on the radio while tying tomato plants on the family farm all summer. Roger Maris came to the A’s and moved into a house down the street when my dad was ten, and Dad had a new hero. He was crushed when Roger was sent to the Yankees, but it didn’t stop him from creating the Roger Maris Fan Club and getting an exclusive interview with Mrs. Maris for the club’s first newsletter. Later my dad painted the farm’s golf cart A’s green and gold. His allegiance switched to the Royals when they came to town.

Growing up with my dad and an older brother who was baseball crazy made it natural that I loved baseball growing up too. I attended one of the 1985 American League Championship Series games, but my only memory of it is wondering about the buntings adorning the stadium walls. The night the Royals won the World Series, I just remember my dad and brother going crazy and thinking, “This is apparently a really big deal.”

Bret Saberhagen & Me

I got a little older…baseball cards, family excursions to Royals Stadium, little league, George Brett, Frank White, Bret Saberhagen, Bo Jackson.

Joe Posnanski says baseball can never be as perfect as it is when you are 12 years old. On my 12th birthday, the Royals had another walk-off victory at Royals Stadium. The names had all changed except for one: Brett was still raking for KC. Hal McRae was his teammate 12 years earlier, but now it was Hal’s son Brian in the lineup. Brett hit a game-tying triple in the fourth. It came down to the bottom of the ninth, two on and two out, when 37 year-old Warren Livingston Cromartie got a pinch hit, walk-off single for the home team.

Then of course life had to get a little more complex after the halcyon days of pre-pubescence. Music fandom started taking on more importance than sports fandom. I turned inwards and awkward. Then in my late teens and early twenties my awareness of the Royals and sports in general fell off the map. I no longer understood why the triviality of sports should consume any of my time and energy. I became somewhat of an artist, if more in affectation than in practice. I moved to Des Moines for college in 1998, fell in love with a girl, and lived life in a bubble that did not include much of the world outside of campus. Sports were no longer a way I connected with anyone.

After four years in Des Moines, I spent 2002—03 in Minneapolis. I remember overhearing something about the Royals hot start in 2003 and actually having a tinge of interest and excitement. Around the same time, something unexpected happened: I started to miss Kansas City. I moved to Iowa City in 2003 when the aforementioned girl started grad school. It never did feel like a home, and I more and more longed to be back in the only place that did. I started following the Royals again as a way to connect. As I moved away from those uncomfortable but exciting years of self-actualization and discovery and into the comfortable if relatively stagnant years of my late twenties and early thirties, my love for baseball returned even stronger than it ever had been as a kid. In 2007, I moved back to live in Kansas City for the first time in a decade, and my attachment to the city and the Royals was deep thanks to the time away.

I am a full-on Royals addict now, constantly trolling for any hint of Royals news even through the off-season. I needed an outlet for my passion, for which the internet has proven perfect. I started tweeting and blogging about Kansas City baseball as a whim, then I70Baseball.com came calling asking if I’d like to write a weekly column, and apparently now I’m not just a member of SABR, but I’m going to be on a panel at the next KC chapter meeting discussing baseball and the internet! And to complete the circle, I had a son in 2007 who is already baseball crazy at three years old. The sport and the Royals already are a bond between us. He wants to play all the time, and his mom and I have to sing him “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” twice every night before he goes to sleep. I’ve come to realize that yes, baseball may be trivial, but the connections it allows between people are anything but.

Yes, this is a graph of my fandom over time.