St. Louis Cardinal fans are seemingly obsessed over former players.  Brendan Ryan, Rick Ankiel and Lance Berkman have all been on fans’ minds throughout the season.

Tyler Greene?  Not so much.

The middle infielder, who many believe cracked under the pressure that Tony LaRussa placed on him while they were both in uniform for the Cardinals, found himself on the outside looking in after a weak spring training with the Houston Astros.  He was released from his contract prior to opening day and he drifted off into oblivion.  Or Chicago.  Same thing in most people’s minds.

Tyler Greene is a Chicago White Sox infielder.  That news was a surprise to me as I read a recent article over at the St. Louis Sports Page about former Cardinals and how they are performing.  I had not heard anyone talking about him.  No fans rumbling about his arrival in the big leagues when Gordon Beckham went down hurt.  No sudden jubilation when he signed a contract with the pale hose on April 1st.

Surprisingly, not even a blurb on the internet when Greene went yard on April 26.

Greene is playing well in Chicago in very limited duty.  He has produced a .276/.323/.483 slashline in 29 at bats, producing a single home run and two runs batted in while scoring four times.  He has entered the game as a pinch runner or pinch hitter almost as many times (5) as he has on the field as a second baseman (6).  He has yet to attempt to steal a base and has committed one error in 29 chances.

Tyler Greene is a bench player in major league baseball, continuing to patrol the middle infield and run the base paths.  Leaving St. Louis has not injected his career with a sudden level of success.  The absence of Tony LaRussa has not allowed Greene to improve to the level that everyone thought.

Even so, it appears that no one cares.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at i70baseball.
You can follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

With the Hall Of Fame election announcement coming on January 9, 2013, it is time to review the ballot, go over the names, and decide who belongs in the Hall Of Fame.

There are twenty four men on the ballot for the first time this year and we will take a look at each one individually prior to official announcements. You can find all of the profiles in the I-70 Baseball Exclusives: Cooperstown Choices 2013 menu at the top of the page.

In this article, we take a look at Rondell White

Rondell White
White’s career spanned 15 years and seven teams.Primarily a bench player, he was selected to an All Star roster in 2003.

Why He Should Get In
White was a fourth outfielder type that gave many teams depth to their roster, but was not a stand alone player that warrants Hall Of Fame consideration.

Why He Should Not Get In
His career numbers just are not at that level.  White will be remembered as a back up player that had a few good seasons.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
Follow him on Twitter here.

As the Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels spent unprecedented amounts of money during the offseason to try to establish dominance, a battle between rivals in the Midwest could be the most intense race of the 2013 season.

The St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds have won the National League Central Division in three of the past four seasons, and each team has made moves this offseason to bolster their chances to do so again next year.

The Cardinals haven’t added much, but they also didn’t have many holes to fill. They signed left-handed relief pitcher Randy Choate to a three-year, $7.5 million contract to fill the team’s biggest need in the bullpen. They also signed bench player Ty Wigginton to a two-year, $5 million deal, but unless Wigginton comes up with a late-inning homer against the Reds, that signing is negligable.

The Reds, who beat the Cardinals by nine games last year to win the division, made more substantial moves. They resigned reliever Jonathan Broxton to a three-year, $21 million contract to be the team’s closer for the foreseeable future and resigned leftfielder Ryan Ludwick for $15 million across two years. The Reds also traded for outfielder Shin-Soo Choo from the Indians to be their centerfielder and leadoff hitter next year.

The Broxton signing should allow flamethrower Aroldis Chapman to be in the starting rotation next year, and the trade for Choo fills a massive hole at the top of the lineup.

Drew Stubbs, who went to the Indians in the trade, held that spot last season, but he hit just .213 with a .277 on-base percentage and 166 strikeouts. By contrast, Choo hit .283 with a .373 on-base percentage and struck out 150 times. That’s still a lot of strikeouts for a leadoff hitter, but Choo provides more power and is certainly an upgrade in a spot the Reds tried to improve at last season’s trading deadline.

Although neither team has made nearly as many moves as several other teams so far in the offseason, the Cardinals and Reds have fortified their rosters to stage quite a battle throughout the 2013 season. They’ll do so without handing out contracts worth more than $100 million, as the Dodgers did by signing pitcher Zack Greinke and Angels did by signing outfielder Josh Hamilton.

The Cardinals and Reds have a recent history full of intense games that have at times led to shouting matches and even a full-out brawl in 2010. With both teams loaded and ready for battle heading into the season, one might think this could be a season series full of more temper tantrums and games that will leave blood boiling for both teams and both fanbases.

But this year’s rivalry might take a more professional turn. Both the Cardinals and Reds know each organization has a good team, and they will likely be the two strongest contenders for the NL Central Division title.

In past years, the Reds were an up-and-coming team that felt it had to rough up the more established Cardinals to gain entrance to the top of the division. Those days are gone. General manager Walt Jocketty has built a roster with a good starting rotation, solid bullpen and increasingly potent lineup filled with stars such as Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce.

This year’s Cardinals-Reds rivalry could be similar to recent battles in the AL West between the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Both teams had some of the most talented rosters in the league, and they stuck strictly to playing solid, intense yet not over-the-top baseball games.

Although it might be fun for fans to watch for extracurricular activities on the field and in the dugouts similar to a playoff hockey game, it might be even more impressive to watch a season series that has good, high-quality baseball.

So while big-market teams on the West Coast battle each other with dollar bills in the offseason, actual games between the Cardinals and Reds next season could create the most interesting division races in all of baseball.

With Albert Pujols in California with the Angels and Lance Berkman on the disabled list with more knee problems, the St. Louis Cardinals have to get consistent production from Allen Craig during the final six weeks of the season if they want a shot at a postseason berth.

Craig has played remarkably when he’s been in the lineup. He’s hitting .294 with 17 homeruns and 59 RBIs. Unfortunately, he’s played in just 71 of the Cardinals’ 113 games heading into play Saturday.

He started the year on the disabled list while recovering from knee surgery, but he also missed the second half of May with more leg problems and he missed Wednesday’s 15-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants with chest problems.

The Cardinals have survived while Craig was absent with Matt Carpenter and Matt Adams sharing time at first base early in the season, but the Cardinals cannot afford for Craig to be out of the lineup the rest of the season.

Berkman’s return is unlikely at best, Carpenter is a good bench player but nothing more and Adams still needs some time in the minors to develop into a major league player. The Cardinals have long had a stable force at first base with Pujols, and they desperately need stability at that position the rest of the season.

The Cardinals sat six games behind the Cincinnati Reds and 2.5 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates heading into play Saturday.

This year’s Cardinals likely won’t need a repeat of the 2011 team that finished the season on a 23-9 record to reach the playoffs, but they can no longer split series with the likes of the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.

It will take just one two-week stretch of fantastic baseball and the Cardinals will be in a playoff spot, but they will need production from the right side of the infield to get on a roll.

The combination of Skip Schumaker and Daniel Descalso at second base isn’t going to produce any spectacular numbers the rest of the season, but that doesn’t mean Craig has to be Superman either.

Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran and David Freese will have to do the heavy lifting, but Craig will have to hit consistently at the plate. Sure, Craig good hit .500 for a week and go 0-for the next week. His numbers would look fine, but the Cardinals need him to hit well consistently, not have awesome and horrible stretches.

Craig had hit 8-28 in August before a recent 1-7 performance since his return from the chest injury, and the Cardinals will need more than a .264 batting average the rest of the season.

Hopefully, the time Craig missed early in the season will allow him to be fresh during the stretch run. The regular season has reached the point when managers need to limit the days off and forget decisions made to keep guys fresh throughout the year. This is the payoff time for those early season decisions.

The Cardinals are still well within striking distance for a playoff spot, and even a chance to run down the Reds for the division title. But they will need players such as Craig to be in the lineup every day for this to be a fun race to the playoffs.

In part 4 of this multi-part series, we take a look at the trades of the Dayton Moore administration that were made in 2009 for the Kansas City Royals.

Click the years to see the previous articles:

2006
2007
2008 

As we move on to 2009 and beyond, it is important to note that the data begins to become a little less reliable.  The reason being that there are fewer years on which to judge a player.  If the Royals traded an established major leaguer for a good prospect that has yet to break into the major leagues, based on the formula we use, the Royals may not get any credit for the trade.  But overall, it should even out both ways, especially when we combine the WAR scores for all of the years at the end.

As was illustrated in last week’s column, 2008 was a bad year for Dayton in terms of trades.  Injuries were to blame for part of this, as was plain bad luck.  Even so, by 21st century Royals standards, 2008 was not that bad of a season.  For one, they didn’t finish in last place.  Finishing 75-87, it was the Royals best season since the fluky “smoke and mirrors” 2003 season.  With Zack Greinke ready to take the leap into superstardom and an elite closer in Soria, there was some positive momentum going into 2009.  On top of this, right after the 2008 season, the Royals dealt for speedy centerfielder, Coco Crisp, and slugging 1B Mike Jacobs.  There was definitely an attitude amongst Royals people that they would have an opportunity to compete for the division in 2009.  So let’s see how Dayton fared in his trades in that year…

April 1, 2009: The Kansas City Royals traded Ross Gload and cash to the Florida Marlins for a player to be named later. The Florida Marlins sent Eric Basurto (minors) (May 13, 2009) to the Kansas City Royals to complete the trade.

A journeyman bench player, Gload spent 2 pretty meaningless years with the Royals, so seeing him get dealt was neither a blow nor a surprise.  One might have thought the Royals could have gotten more than a 40th round pick in Eric Basurto, but apparently not.  Basurto, to his credit, is still playing baseball in the Royals organization and spent last season in Double A Northwest Arkansas.  He likely has little to no upside, so this trade was pretty meaningless.

Gload: 1.3 WAR with Marlins (2009)

Basurto: 0.0 WAR (has yet to appear for Royals)

Marlins win trade by 1.3 WAR

July 10, 2009: The Kansas City Royals traded Derrick Saito (minors) and Dan Cortes to the Seattle Mariners for Yuniesky Betancourt.

The critics came out of the woodwork for this one.  At the time, the Royals needed a shortstop in a bad way.  After Mike Aviles was injured early in the season, they were left with a combination of Willie Bloomquist and Tony Pena Jr.   Many would make the argument that by making this trade the Royals worsened their shortstop situation.  And the numbers would support that.  Not only was Betancourt carrying a relatively hefty contract, but he absolutely positively sucked.  In 2009, he was far worse than replacement level. Rumor has it Seattle fans were laughing when the Royals traded for Betancourt.  In his defense though, he was much better in 2010 than in 2009, even leading the team in home runs that year.

Saito: 0.0 WAR (never appeared for Mariners and appears to be out of baseball)

Cortes: -0.1 WAR with Mariners (2010-2011)

Betancourt: 0.0 WAR with Royals (1/2 of 2009 and 2010)

Royals win trade by 0.1 WAR

September 3, 2009: The Texas Rangers traded Tim Smith (minors) and Manny Pina to the Kansas City Royals for Danny Gutierrez (minors).

This is one of those trades that cannot be fairly judged using the WAR statistic.  The Rangers have absolutely nothing to show for this trade, while the Royals have likely their backup catcher of the future in Pina, along with Smith who is still in the organization.  But the advantage is only 0.1 WAR so the impact is minimal for the purpose of this study.  Despite what the #’s below say, this trade was a big win for Dayton and company.

Gutierrez: 0.0 WAR (never appeared for Rangers and appears to be out of baseball)

Smith: 0.0 WAR (has yet to appear for Royals-played last season in Double A Northwest Arkansas)

Pina: -0.1 WAR with Royals (2011)

Rangers win trade by 0.1 WAR

November 6, 2009: The Chicago White Sox traded Josh Fields and Chris Getz to the Kansas City Royals for Mark Teahen.

This one is interesting.  When it was first made, it looked kind of good.  Teahen’s production had begun to tail off signifcantly in Kansas City.  Many believed that it was because he had gotten himself so mentally screwed up by the constant changing of positions.  This may have been true.  So the White Sox acquired him and signed him to a multi-year deal to make him their everyday 3rd baseman.  The Royals were picking up their new everyday 2nd baseman in the speedy Chris Getz, and Josh Fields, a 3b/OF who had hit 23 HR as a rookie in 100 games in 2007.  Fields quickly did nothing in KC, and Getz proved himself to be nothing more than a steady defensive 2B with some speed and no power.  And when I say no power, I mean NO power.  In 2 years with the Royals, Getz has a total of 18 extra base hits.  His 3 home runs in 2009 with the White Sox is starting to look VERY suspicious.  Teahen  picked up right where he left off with the Royals, and eventually continued to regress.  He was eventually sent off to Toronto in the middle of last year, and is currently without a team.  So this trade, which at the time was a very important one for the Royals, turned out to be pretty meaningless for both teams involved.

Teahen: -1.2 WAR with White Sox (2010 and 1/2 of 2011)

Fields: -0.1 WAR with Royals (2010)

Getz: 0.6 WAR with Royals (2010-2011)

Royals win trade by 0.7 WAR

Based on the study, the Royals lost by 0.6 WAR on 2009 trades.  The good news though, is they gave up very little.  Perhaps Dayton was scared off by what happened in 2008, or perhaps he learned from it.  One might argue that they missed an opportunity to get more for Teahen, but at least they weren’t burned by it.  They added Pina, who while maybe not a huge part of the future, is a part of the future nonetheless.  Getz is still with the ballclub, though his role for this coming season is in question.  Next week, we take a look at Dayton’s 2010 trades.

The Kansas City Royals have been quiet this week, only announcing their slogan.  Our Time.  Well Royals fans had thought for a couple days this could be Our Time.  Until, the Detroit Tigers shocked a lot of people when they signed Prince Fielder to the 4^th largest contract in baseball history.  I thought Fielder would now be the everyday DH and Miguel Cabrera stays at first.  This week Cabrera has said he will play third.  That altered our look at third basemen quite a bit.  I doubt he plays too much third base because he defense could be atrocious.  In the American League Central and for the Detroit Tigers, all of baseball knows who is on third.  With that said we will now take a look at the American League Central third basemen.  The following statistics will give us a view of each player’s 2011 season.

The Chicago White Sox will start Brent Morel.  Who?  That was my thought too. 2011 was Morel’s first full season in the big leagues.  In both of Morel’s stints in the bigs he has shown nothing.  Morel was a solid hitter throughout the minor leagues with an average of over .300.  The White Sox have to hope Morel can regain the form he had in the minors, or he just may turn out to be another AAAA player.

The Cleveland Indians will be starting Jack Hannahan.  Hannahan has been a career back up.  He had not over 150 at bats for three until last season with the Indians.  Hannahan had 320 at bats and his highest average in 5 years hitting .250.  Obviously when you look at Hannahan stats he is nothing but a major league bench player.  Good luck Cleveland with Hannahan at third.

Miguel Cabrera is officially listed as Detroit’s starting third basement per the Tigers official website.  Cabrera is a perennial MVP candidate.  In 2011, Cabrera posted his highest batting average ever at .344.  Cabrera also posted his highest OBP ever at .448.  That is not too far from the ordinary, Cabrera is a career .317 hitter and has posted a .395 OBP.  Imagine the impact of having Prince Fielder now hitting behind Cabrera.  The Tigers offense is going to be scary.  Their infield defense may be the size of an offensive line and may post the worst defensive ratings in MLB history, but their offense will easily outweigh their defensive struggles.

The Kansas City Royals will have second year man Mike Moustakas at third.  In his second big league season, the Royals hope Moustakas can continue to grow as a hitter.  Moustakas struggled immensely in his first couple months in the big leagues.  Moustakas has struggled at every stop throughout the minors after his initial call up.  As Moustakas saw more major league pitching he began to show flashes of what scouts said could be expected of Moustakas.  Can Moustakas take another step forward this year?  For the Royals to compete in the central, he will have to take a huge step forward.

The Minnesota Twins will begin the season with Danny Valencia at third.  Valencia in his first full big league season hit .246.  A huge decrease from the average Valencia had carried throughout the minor leagues.  A career .290 hitter in the minors Valencia, take a huge step back in his first full big league season.  Valencia and the Twins hope he can become the hitter he was in the minors, but it looks like we may have another AAAA player.

Now that all third baseman have briefly been discussed, I will rank them from 1 to 5 in my point of view as to how their overall production for the 2012 season will stack up.   Well I don’t know if it is even necessary, as no one can compare to Miguel Cabrera.  Cabrera is by far and away the best player at third base.  As for my rankings, here they are.

1. Miguel Cabrera
2. Mike Moustakas
3. Danny Valencia
4. Jack Hannahan
5. Brent Morel

From my point of view, and anyone else who knows what baseball is, Miguel Cabrera will by far be the best and most impactful offensive player at third base.  Cabrera will continue to produce MVP caliber numbers and dominate all major league pitching.  It’s scary to think how much better Cabrera could be with Fielder hitting behind him.  The rest of the third basemen have a lot to prove.  Moustakas is a huge prospect for the Royals and if the scouts are right he should continue to improve.  Moustakas has a long way to go, but he should be better than the rest.

The St. Louis Cardinals’ offseason remains—to this point— defined more by subtraction than addition, at least when talking about the big names. Perhaps they are simply waiting for players’ markets to continue to develop. But in the meantime, are they missing out on what could be key contributors?

There still is a lot of time left before pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. The Cards did decide to bring back shortstop Rafael Furcal, adding him on a two-year deal that will hopefully bring stability to the position in the short-term. They also signed lefty J.C. Romero this week, solidifying that side of the bullpen.

Nick Punto will not be returning to the Cardinals for 2012; he signed with the Boston Red Sox this week. “The Shredder” made an impact on the 2011 team, and not just in the laundry room. Punto is definitely a positive personality in the clubhouse, and a defensive beast on the field. With the re-signing of Skip Schumaker and the emergence of Daniel Descalso, Punto would have again been a bench player in St. Louis. But that’s also the role he will likely play in Boston. So why was he not brought back? This may be a bigger loss than the Cards realize. It’s tough to understate the value of a 5th or 6th infielder, but a positive clubhouse presence coupled with veteran leadership is never unwelcome on a major league roster. Punto will be missed.

This likely means the Cardinals are looking more to the outfield for roster additions. Carlos Beltran remains an interesting possibility, but as players like Josh Willingham and Michael Cuddyer get snatched up the price will only go higher for a hitter like Beltran. He will turn 35 not long after the 2012 season starts, and has been making about $19 million per year for a while now. What will he be looking for? Five years? $15 million, or more? If the Cardinals had a problem paying Albert Pujols for 10 years, they certainly shouldn’t seriously consider paying Beltran for five.

According to reports from Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the team may also have an interest in upgrading the rotation and Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook are still in play. These are all intriguing possibilities; meanwhile, the number of viable players is starting to dwindle. Are the Cardinals going to make a “big splash?”

Signing Pujols would have been the biggest deal—in more ways than one—in franchise history for the Cards. But he’s gone now. So is a different big deal necessary, or even desirable? The Cards do get Adam Wainwright back at some point in 2012, presumably early in the season. Allen Craig may be down for a while as he recovers from offseason knee surgery, but does the team want to block him by adding a long-term solution in right field? Sure, there can always be mixing and matching in the outfield. But adding another long-term veteran when capable young players are beating down the door certainly doesn’t seem like the best idea in the world.

But that’s not to say the Cards are without needs for 2012. Can Wainwright really be effective, especially early in the season? How will Jon Jay’s numbers play out as the everyday center fielder? Who will fill in while Craig is recovering, and where will that player go once Craig rejoins the big club in St. Louis? Do the Cards have enough pitching? Who is the backup catcher? How is the organizational depth in case the injury bug hits the team? These are not easy questions to answer, but they need to be addressed regardless.

The Cardinals have a good team returning for 2012, but they need more. The Brewers, Reds, and Cubs are salivating no that Pujols is gone. His productivity will be impossible to replace, but several really good acquisitions can certainly help. If this team has any designs on being the first repeat World Series Champion since the 99-00 season, they are going to have to be over-the-top good.

Chris Reed is a freelance writer who also writes for InsideSTL Mondays and at Bird Brained whenever he feels like it. Follow him on Twitter @birdbrained.

Tony La Russa will be remembered for a lot of different things by a lot of different people. The man spent the better part of four decades in the Major Leagues, some as a below-average bench player, most as a Hall of Fame manager. The man won three World Series championships, becoming the second manager in history to win a title in both leagues. He won more than 27-hundred games, defended his players, and coached his players to play the right way: The Cardinal way.

I remember when Tony La Russa came to St. Louis in November of 1995. I was 10 years old, and had always liked playing and watching baseball. Growing up in St. Louis, the Cardinals were my favorite team. But I had never experienced “winning” baseball… frankly, I didn’t even really know or appreciate what it was. I remembered watching the Atlanta Braves beat the Cleveland Indians in the 1995 World Series just a month earlier at my grandpa’s house, but that was really my only real “clue” to what winning was all about. In 1994, there was no World Series due to the strike, and in 1993 my 8-year-old self was not aware of Joe Carter and his walk-off heroics in the World Series. The Cardinals hadn’t been to the playoffs since I was two-years-old (1987) so I was really kept in the dark on the whole “winning” thing.

But then came the Spring of ’96. The Cardinals’ slogan for the year was “Baseball Like it ‘Oughta Be.” I vividly remember a full-page ad the Cardinals’ new ownership took out in the St. Louis Post Dispatch that year, namely because my grandpa cut it out and hung it up on the wall on his basement. Now, many of the phrases escape my memory, but I do remember this much about that nearly-poetic advertisement were:

“It oughta be real grass. It oughta be outfielders diving for a dying quail. It oughta be 2 bucks for a kid. It oughta be something to talk about with your girlfriend’s dad. It oughta be fun. Baseball like it oughta be.”

And how fitting that slogan was.

Tony La Russa embodied that motto for 16 seasons in St. Louis. He wasn’t perfect, but he always tried to have his players play the game the right way. “Play a hard nine” was among the manager’s personal mottos.

And with La Russa in charge, I got my first taste of winning baseball in St. Louis. The 1996 Cardinals went 88-74, good enough for first place in the NL Central Division and a trip to the playoffs. I remember watching rightfielder Brian Jordan squeeze the final out that clinched the division, and the celebration was on. The Cardinals dispatched the San Diego Padres in 3 games in the NLDS, and came within one game of a trip to the World Series, falling to the Atlanta Braves 4 games to 3. But despite the loss, it became official: I went from “liking” baseball to full-blown obsessed with it… and Tony La Russa was a big part of that. He was a huge part of bringing exciting, winning baseball back to millions of Cardinals fans, and sucked in new, younger fans like myself.

When I reached my teenage years, I remember going to a father-son banquet put on by my high school. Tony La Russa was the special guest speaker. Though I was completely tuned in, I don’t remember too many specifics from that speech… only that TLR could moonlight as a comedian if he wanted to. He was funny, charismatic, engaging, and classy.

In college, I got a chance to interview Tony La Russa when the St. Louis Cardinals came to Springfield, Missouri for a pair of exhibition games at Hammons Field, home of the Double-A affiliate Springfield Cardinals (by the way, on that Springfield team were guys you may have heard of: Allen Craig, Jon Jay, Jaime Garcia, Daniel Descalso, Fernado Salas, Mitchell Boggs, and Jason Motte. No wonder Springfield took Game 2 by a score of 10-3). At the time, I was working for the local NPR affiliate as a student reporter, and pleaded with the news director to let me cover the games. National Public Radio and its affiliates are not exactly known for their hard-hitting sports coverage and analysis, so I pitched a story idea about Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation. My news director bit and I was off to the ballpark for two days of Cardinals baseball.

Most of the reporters around were hamming Tony with questions about the team’s perceived weaknesses, their failures in 2007 (which turned out to be the ONLY losing season the Cardinals had in Tony’s final 12 years with the club), and other baseball-related issues. As we know, TLR can get a little testy at times, but when the dust settled and the other reporters left one-by-one, there I was: a giddy little Cardinals fan of 11 years meeting the man who changed everything about the way I viewed baseball in the form of a wet-behind-the-ears 20-something college reporter. I asked Tony about his Animal Relief Foundation, and he lit up. Tony has a major soft spot in his heart for animals. Here’s a portion of what I wrote back in 2008:

“St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa spends over 7 months on a baseball diamond every year, so it’s no surprise that his other passion, the Animal Rescue Foundation, began on the baseball diamond as well. During a game in 1990 while coaching for the Oakland Athletics, a stray cat ran onto the field. After a few minutes, La Russa coaxed the cat into the dugout and kept it there the rest of the game. La Russa says it didn’t take long for him to realize there weren’t any no-kill animal shelters in the bay area. So he co-founded the Animal Rescue Foundation, which saves animals who have run out of time at shelters and would otherwise be euthanized.”

Tony was very gracious and patient with me, and I had the memory of a lifetime.

It is now November of 2011, nearly 16 full years to the day when Tony took over as the Cardinals manager. For Cardinals fans under 30, we literally know nothing other than the Tony La Russa brand of Cardinals baseball. Was he or his brand of baseball perfect? No. I’m sure many older fans reading this miss seeing a little thing they like to call a “stolen base” (whatever that is), and in fact, one of the first articles I ever wrote for this website was on a litany of mistakes La Russa made in one game during the 2010 season: a 20 inning, 2-1 loss to the New York Mets. It was a game that saw pitchers hitting cleanup behind Albert Pujols TWICE in extra innings, and position players throwing 3 innings of relief in the latter stages of the game, all because Tony mismanaged his bullpen and bench. I titled that article “The Most Memorable Game of 2010.” (I think we all know what the most memorable game of 2011 was: the 11-inning thriller that was Game 6 of the World Series).

Tony La Russa will be remembered for many things: batting the pitcher 8^th, using his bench players and bullpen like coins at an arcade, his outrageous tirades at postgame news conferences, his toughness on rookies, his loyalty towards his veterans, his 6 pennants, 3 World Series titles, and more than 27-hundred victories that will most surely guarantee that he’ll soon be entering Cooperstown and no one other player or coach will ever wear the number 10 in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform again.

But what I’ll remember Tony La Russa for is the face of Cardinals baseball during my childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. Other than radio broadcaster, Mike Shannon, no one in the Cardinals organization was around longer than Tony La Russa over the past 16 years. I’ll remember that my grandpa used to call him Tony “La Russo.” I’ll remember that some of his decisions used to drive me crazy, and I’ll remember that it sure was fun to watch his teams get after it.

Thank you, Tony, for bringing back that hard-nosed winning tradition to St. Louis. Thanks for leading us into the playoffs nine times in 16 seasons. Thanks for the two unforgettable World Series championships.

Thanks for giving us baseball like it oughta be.

What to do with Skip Schumaker? What not to do with him? Both are important questions for the Cardinals this offseason. Since coming onto the scene for the Cardinals in 2005 Skip has done any and all things asked of him by the organization.

Making his way to The Show as an outfielder with a rocket arm Skip saw limited action in ’05 & ’06 totaling only 78 at bats those first two years. Finally in 2007 Skip earned a role as a 4^th outfielder and bench player. Rewarding their faith in Skip in return gave the Cardinals a .333 batting average, .358 OBP and a .458 slugging percentage in 188 plate appearances.

This was enough to move him into an everyday role for 2008. Still playing all three outfield positions Skip continued his strong play. In 594 plate appearances Skip showed he could do perform full time delivering with a .302 BA, .359 OBP and 22 doubles and a career high 8 HR’s. To boot, he finished the year with a .990 fielding percentage.

And how was he rewarded for his performance…he was moved to second base. Now asking a 9-year old little leaguer to learn a position is one thing, asking a 28-year old major leaguer to do it is another. He was not moving from left field to right, he was moving from the outfield, in. Skip spent all of spring training 2009 learning to play. He didn’t want to play 2B, but he did want to be a Cardinal. This is what the organization asked and this is what he did.

Skip now in his third season as the Cardinals primary second baseman has continued to deliver. I am not claiming Skip is the second coming of Rogers Hornsby. He is not, but it’s not his fault either. He did not ask to play second base, he did it for the club. Through all the fan, media and blogger criticism he has in fact gotten better.

After a dip in 2010, the only time as a regular player his average fell below .300 Skip is back at his career averages. Coming last night’s Brewers tilt he was batting .302 and his OBP back up to .346. Perhaps most impressive, his fielding percentage as a second baseman is at a career high in 2011 at .985.

Skip is a valuable weapon in Tony LaRussa’s arsenal and will be for TLR or whoever is sitting in the manager chair in 2011. In a step to raise his value even more Skip took to the mound this year. Striking out two in his one inning and showing off that arm for the radar gun.

My point is this. You do not need to pay Skip Schumaker $5 million a year. But you do not, you cannot let him walk away.

As usual these are just my thoughts…keep on reading and you’ll get up to speed.

Follow me on Twitter @SportsbyWeeze or check out my thoughts on the Rams at RamsHerd.com

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Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch utilized Twitter to showcase the full page ad that Rick Ankiel took out in today’s newspaper.

Rick Ankiel's ad in this morning's PD #stlcards http://twitpic.com/4n73m5

April 20, 2011 8:08 am via TwitpicReplyRetweetFavorite

@dgoold

Derrick Goold

Classy move by the player affectionately tagged as “Dick” Ankiel by our friends over at Cards Diaspora. In fact, they bid him adieu in 2010 when he left the team.

Important to realize that this, in fact, his first game in the Gateway City since his departure. While playing for the Royals and the Braves in 2010 would allow Rick to face off against his old club, it was as the home team both times. Due to injuries and his status as more of a backup outfielder in that time frame, Ankiel would only come to the plate twice against his former club last year. He would register a walk and a run scored for his troubles.

Over the course of 2010, Ankiel would ultimately struggle for his two clubs. He would only play in 27 games as a member of the Kansas City Royals, slowed by injuries early on. During those 27 games, Ankiel would hit .261 with four home runs and 15 runs batted in, walking seven times and showing that he never has mastered plate discipline by striking out 29 times. The trade deadline would approach and the Royals would flip him to the Atlanta Braves for the stretch run.

Health would not be an issue for Ankiel in Atlanta, but production would be. Over the course of 47 games, Ankiel would only produce a .210 batting average, two home runs, nine runs batted in, 19 walks and 42 strike outs while coming off the bench primarily.

In December of last year, Ankiel would sign a free agent contract to join the Washington Nationals and join a crowded outfield as, once again, primarily a bench player. He would show up early to Spring Training, at least, he would show up to the Cardinals facility to work out with friends and former teammates after being granted permission by both his current club and the Cardinals. Ankiel lives just a short distance from the Cardinals spring training facility. The extra work paid off as the Nationals proclaimed him their starting center fielder as the team broke camp.

The success has not carried over to the season, however, and MLB Trade Rumors is reporting that the Nationals are in the market for a full time option in center field due to Ankiel’s struggles against lefties. So far this season Ankiel is hitting .211 with one home run and four runs batted in over 57 at bats. He has walked six times but the strikeout bug is still biting as he has wiffed 13 times on the young year.

Expect Rick Ankiel to receive two ovations today, one when he walks to the plate for the first time and another when he strikes out for the first time as a visitor.

Ankiel has always been a favorite in St. Louis and many fans will hope to see a little bit of St. Louis put Rick back on the right track in 2011.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.