After a tough end to the weekend on Sunday night in Philadelphia, the Cardinals rebounded nicely a day later and haven’t let up yet. The club pulled off its first series sweep of the season against the Washington Nationals in DC, wrapping it up against their ace Stephen Strasburg on Wednesday afternoon. It was the club’s first return back to DC since the improbable end of their Division Series matchup in the city last October. All in all, the longest road trip of the season ended with an impressive 6-3 record, with one game lost to rain. And as the club returns back home a half game ahead in the NL Central, here are three things to take from tilt with the Nationals.

1.Fear the Koz: Clearly Nationals fans have not forgotten the last time Pete Kozma made an appearance in their city. Kozma was routinely booed through the series each time he stepped to the plate, as an after effect of the two run single he plated to complete the Cardinal comeback in the decisive game of the 2012’s Division Series. Kozma, who is rather stoic even on a regular day, was also unflappable at the plate for the series. Despite the constant outpour of boos, he had four hits in nine at-bats for the series, and played his usual hard nose style on the basepaths. On the year, he’s turned in a respectable .262/.306/.675 effort thus far, and has been one of the most consistent everyday performers on the club.

2. Missing in Action: Jon Jay, who has been knees deep in a major slump, was sat down the last two games of the series. With lefty Ross Detwiler on the mound on Tuesday, it seemed to be a matchup move, yet when he sat again versus Strasberg on Wednesday, it became clear that the intention perhaps is to let him get all the way relaxed and back in Busch Stadium (where he is a career .329 hitter, yet only .250 in 2013) before putting him back in the mix again. His prolonged slump has dropped his season total at the plate to .205, which is tough to stomach out the leadoff spot. While a drop down to seventh didn’t help him much to start the series, he did manage a crucial sliding grab in the 8^th inning of Monday’s victory.

3. Mujica makes a way: For now, the Chief is in charge. Edward Mujica, who was really turned to as the last reasonable resort in the bullpen for the closer position, turned in series that has (for the time being) fanned the flames on much maligned closer role. He saved each game in the series, without surrendering a hit in the process. He pitched to contact, striking out only one batter, but has maintained the impeccable control that’s made him the exception in the late inning mix all year (one walk in nine appearances). While he doesn’t have the track record or the stuff that Boggs and Rosenthal boast, there’s nobody else that’s even gotten close the effectiveness he’s shown thus far.

I am not sure I have encountered a Major League Hall Of Famer that can work a crowd and a room better than Lou Brock.

Over All Star Weekend, I took the opportunity Sunday morning to attend FanFest at Bartle Hall in Kansas City.  The highlight of the schedule, for me, was question and answer sessions with two Hall Of Famers, Andre Dawson and Lou Brock.  The sessions were each 30 minutes long and open to anyone in attendance that wanted to come in and listen.

Dawson was one of my father’s favorite players and a Hall Of Famer that I can attest to having seen play myself.  ”The Hawk” was frank, answered many questions, and was straight forward and candid with his responses.  It was a legitimate look at baseball north of the border, on astroturf, and throughout baseball.  It was not until after Dawson spoke and Brock took center stage that I realized the stark differences.

Lou came into the room to the obvious chants of “Lou” that resounded like boos from the crowd.  He smiled and waved, took his seat and handled questions from the interviewer and then from the crowd.  One fan preceded his question by telling Brock that his son was named Lou after the great basestealer.  The fan’s young son, who was maybe twelve, was with him and Brock invited his namesake to come stand next to him while he answered the young man’s father’s question.  He talked with the young man like he was answering the question just for him, played him up to the crowd for another loud “Lou” response, and sent a family home with a memory they will never forget.

Lou told stories and gave technical advice on base running.  He explained how he got jumps off of pitchers and how he taught young ball players to square up quickly.

He was asked near the end of his interview to compare current Cardinal catcher Yadier Molina to someone from his era.

“Johnny Bench.  The way that Yadi has learned to hit the ball at this point in his career, Johnny Bench is a completely fair comparison.”

One fan asked about Lou’s first All Star Game, his thoughts and memories from that game.  Lou responded (paraphrased):

I arrived early because I did not want to be seen as “big time”.  The last thing I wanted was to arrive when Willie Mays was arriving, I was young and did not want to show disrespect.  The game started at 3:00 p.m., so I got to the stadium at about 9 a.m. that morning.  I was the only one in the clubhouse except the young man clubhouse attendant they had there.  I decided, being an All Star, that I could be a little “big time” and I beckoned the kid over and asked him if he would go get me a Coca-Cola.  The young man returned with my Coca-Cola and then introduced himself, “Hi, I’m Tom Seaver”.  He made me pay for that Coke for about 14 seasons.

The crowd, of course, was eating out of Brock’s hands by this point and Brock went on to share personal stories of his friend, mentor, roommate and father figure, Buck O’Neil.  The stories showed a personal side to a relationship that started between a scout and player.  They showed an emotion that I was unaware of.  The demonstrated a bond that was stronger than most knew.  It was touching, funny and engaging.

Another fan marveled at Brock’s base stealing ability and remembered a game that he was in attendance for that Lou Brock stole home.  He asked Lou if he could recall how many times he achieved the feat of stealing home in his career.  Lou’s response did not disappoint.

Once.  I stole home exactly one time in my career.  The lineup that we had was full of guys that were paid to drive in runs.  Once I stole a base and put myself into scoring position, they would yell out at me “STAY THERE”.  While it was a joke sometimes, the one hard fast rule I was given was not to steal home so the guys behind me could continue to drive in runs.

Finally, Brock was asked about pitchers he once faced and what he thought of all of them.  The key to the question was the wording which contained “who did you see the ball well against.”  Brock, deliberate in his delivery, dropped a few names and then gave us a great quote:

“I saw the ball out of Koufax’s hand very well.  Never hit it, though.”

Listening to a player of Brock’s caliber talk about life and baseball made 30 minutes seem like mere seconds.  It was the highlight of a very full Sunday for me and an opportunity I suggest no one ever pass up on.  FanFest gave us all the opportunity to make a personal connection with larger than life figures, and it’s an opportunity I will never forget.

I can remember it like it was yesterday, August 4, 2009. The Mariners were in town and I was taking my then 8 year old son and his friend to a ballgame for his birthday. We got there early so we could get all of the Little K events out of the way, we walked the path just under the Jumbotron so we could see just how jumbo it was, we got a couple of pops, some nachos, and, after circling the stadium found our seats well down the third base side in the lower level. The Royals scored 5 in the first, including a bomb from Billy Butler and the boys could not have been much happier. Then came the 4^th inning.

Although Bruce Chen had held the Mariners scoreless through 3, he wasn’t exactly lights out. He’d given up 3 singles, thrown a wild pitch and had a couple of warning track fly balls scare him. In the 4^th it finally caught up with him when one Michael Sweeney hit a majestic shot over the wall in left field. Now, let me back up. I had not noticed it so much the first time Sweeney came up (maybe the drunks were still in the parking lot?) but Sweeney’s second plate appearance was tainted with a smattering of boos, most notably from directly behind us, as he walked to the plate. This infuriated me, but I said nothing. Sweeney was 36 years old and very possibly making his last trip to the K. He’d given everything he had in Kansas City and I could see no reason to boo him. So, when he hit the home run, I did something I’d never done during an opposing player’s home trot…I stood and I clapped.

There were a few more boos, and that only made me clap louder. For the 15-20 seconds he circles the bases I clapped as loud as I could and as he entered the dugout I yelled in vain “Thank you, Mike!” As I sat down, my son looked at my quizzically, but before I could explain the drunkards behind me hollered “Why would you clap for that bum? We paid him all that money and he was hurt the whole $@##ing time” I am not one for violence, especially in a family atmosphere like the K, but I was fighting mad at this point. Instead of directly addressing the drunkard, I turned to my son and in a none-too-hushed tone explained “Mike Sweeney is a great man and he was a great Royal. He’s the only great player from his generation that chose to stay with the Royals and he’s one of the best hitters to ever play for the Royals. Only a damn idiot would boo him.”

I don’t believe that most Royals fans would have booed Sweeney on that day, but I do believe far too many share the drunkard’s sentiment. If there is any justice in the process, Sweeney will be a Royals Hall of Famer some day soon and he will deserve it as much as almost anyone in there. Disagree?

-          Sweeney has the third highest career batting average (.299) in club history

-          Sweeney has the second highest career OPS (.861)

-          Sweeney is second all-time in home runs (197) and ranks in the top 6 in runs, hits, total bases, doubles, walks, and RBI

-          His 144 RBI in 2000 are still a club record

-          Per Baseball-Reference’s WAR he ranks as the 5^th best hitter and 7^th best position player in club history

The biggest arguments against Sweeney seem to be that he was A) overpaid and B) always injured. The fact is, he was paid just under $71 million dollars over 13 seasons. During those 13 seasons he made 5 All Star Games and did everything his body would allow. Yes, he was terribly overpaid over those last 5 seasons, just as he was terribly underpaid for the 4 before that. From 99-03 Sweeney played an average of 146 games per season, made 3 All Star teams, set a club record for RBIs, and had an OPS+ of 134. He made just under $16 million for those 4 years combined.

Barring an unfortunate comeback attempt, Sweeney will become eligible for the Royals HOF after the 2013 season, meaning his induction ceremony should be a little more than 2 ½ years away. I hope to be there, just to make sure the applause drowns out any undeserved boos. One of the greatest men to ever put on the uniform deserves nothing less.

Yesterday, I-70 Baseball examined the thought that Ryan Franklin was simply a victim of “bad luck”. The pitcher seems to be finding a way to deflect all the blame from the concept that maybe, just maybe, he does not have what it takes to get big league hitters out consistently any longer.

After a tough outing in game one of a double header, Ryan Franklin was asked about the reaction of the fans as they booed him coming off the field after surrendering a home run and a walk in his second inning of work. Franklin took exception to anyone who would boo a player from the home team. The quote that jumps off the page, however, was “You should go write stories about the fans booing. They’re supposed to be the best fans in baseball. Yeah right.”

Later in the evening, Franklin would release a statement explaining the best he could about his frustration that led to the comments and apologizing for saying things out of emotion.

What does that mean? Does that mean that 50,000 people poor into the park every night and refuse to say anything bad about the players that wear the colors of the home team? Does it mean that, no matter what, they will stand behind their own? No, it does not.

When the term was used for the fans in St. Louis, it was used to describe a fan base that was intelligent, understood the game, and expected the best from any player that set foot on the grass of Baseball Heaven. When an outfielder dives and makes a miraculous catch, when an infielder stabs a ball that was a sure double, when a player shows respect to the game, and when a veteran has given his blood, sweat and tears to this game, the crowd acknowledges it. The crowd cheers. When someone speaks out against the team, when someone disrespects the game, when someone under performs and refuses to acknowledge that something may be wrong, they boo. It is not because they dislike or even like the player that gets the cheers or boos, it is based on the knowledge of the game and the desire for the player to act appropriately.

You see, the best fans in baseball will boo. It is their right. When you retire, when you hang ‘em up, and when you walk onto that field for the last time, those same fans will give you the ovation you deserve for your entire body of work in St. Louis and in baseball as a whole. The reaction in the middle of a ballgame is not about your career, it is about your current work.

Maybe Ryan Franklin should shag some fly balls with Rick Ankiel this afternoon and talk to him about the fanbase here. Ankiel was not always cheered and adored in St. Louis. A year later, he realizes how supportive these fans were to him and he acknowledges that. The visiting team’s center fielder showed class and received a standing ovation when he approached the plate. The home team’s relief pitcher simply states over and over that it is not his fault and he gets booed.

The fans may boo. They may cheer. They may even be indifferent. But in the end every player to wear the birds on the bat will tell you there is no place quite like St. Louis to play baseball. They may not love their players blindly, but they will reward them accordingly when the time is right.

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.

Outside the city limits of Kansas City, the 1985 World Series is primarily remembered by a single play: “The Call.” Anyone reading this blog knows the well documented history of Don Denkinger and how his safe call in the bottom of the ninth of Game Six altered baseball history. The magnitude of the play was documented in this archived MLB.com article on the fateful October 26^th.

“One call, that’s all. When fans reflect on the all-Missouri World Series between St. Louis and Kansas City in 1985, first base umpire Don Denkinger is certain to be a focal point in the conversation.”

Emotions ran wild that night. I’m not sure anyone involved could predict how fresh the passion would still feel a quarter of a century later. This offseason the St. Louis Cardinals held a Baseball Writer’s Banquet, with Denkinger in attendance as a guest, seated next to Todd Worrell. I can only imagine what that conversation was like.

Joe Posnanski was in attendance and recalled the scene in a Sports Illustrated article, “When he was introduced at the banquet, he was booed. I suppose an announcer might call them “good natured boos.” I’m not a boo-ologist. They sounded like regular boos to me.

“There was quiet while Denkinger spoke and the quiet followed by polite applause — everyone could admire the man for appearing. But as Denkinger walked out of the Hall, I heard this exchange:

“It’s nice that he came.”

“Whatever. He still blew the World Series for us.”

The fact is throughout history the fans and media have searched for scapegoats to give salvation to their favorite players. What is truly lost when depicting a seven game series on one call are the managers, players, and plays made.

Throughout the years fans have attempted to quantify just how costly Denkinger’s mistake was. Fellow I-70 Baseball blogger Aaron Stilley produced a well researched and interesting piece about quantifying “The Call.” For everyone involved though, it seems a play like this can’t be put into numbers. It’s an unquantifiable spark; I’m not sure how to measure momentum or confidence.

Momentum is a huge factor in every sport. Baseball provides a unique tension in between plays, in between pitches, which especially in the postseason can’t be matched. It allows everyone involved to reset and hold their breath in anticipation for what’s to come. The great thing about it, is just when you think the tension, or anxiety, is about to boil over the top, somehow it is delayed. The pitching coach takes a quick scamper to the mound, a batter steps out with dust in his eye, a pitcher steps off the slab to compose himself.

Ballplayers are taught from an early age the importance of hustle. “It’s a game of inches,” they say. The best players, or at least most respected, are those who always run out a ground ball and always back up the play.

Game Five of the 2010 ALCS between the Rangers and Yankees provides us a perfect example. The Rangers trailed the Yankees 3-2 in the top of the sixth. Nelson Cruz is on first with one dead. Ian Kinsler hits a deep fly ball to center field, forcing Curtis Granderson to range deep into the gap. Cruz tags at first and easily beats Granderson’s throw, a fairly unnoticed play by those in attendance and watching from home.

In reality, it resulted in ‘the spark’ I spoke about previously. Next, Joe Girardi calls for an intentional walk to left-handed David Murphy, who had taken A.J. Burnett deep earlier in the year. Bengie Molina steps in and torches Burnett’s gas can with a dinger landing in the left field seats. It put the game out of reach, maybe the series.

Who’s to blame?

Surely Yankees fans blame Burnett. The New York media will second guess Girardi’s decision to walk Murphy and leave Burnett in to face Molina. Molina will get all the praise in Arlington, but in reality none of it would have ever happened if Cruz hadn’t tagged up.

The fact is a baseball game, even more so a series, can’t be measured on one play. Baseball is a game of constantly moving parts. So many elements go into a single play. When those plays are intertwined with the aspects of the play’s before and after the exercise in second guessing becomes futile. It is an infamous pastime for fans and the media alike, but any ball player will tell you playing the “what if?” is a sure path to an exit from the game.

This sort of perspective shift is what drives fans and the media. A devoted passion to the ballclub is what creates these scapegoats. Fans have invested their emotions so much when things don’t go their way; someone is needed to take the blame (see Steve Bartman, Jeffery Maier, Bill Buckner). These feelings go against everything players are taught.

You constantly hear coaches or broadcasters talking about how players who have made an error ‘need to move on, because the next one is coming to them.’ It takes me back to an adage I always remembered thinking about as a hitter. One’s for me, one’s for you (the pitcher), and one’s for Blue. In other words, I’m gonna get three strikes, one will be a pitcher’s pitch, one will be a boarderline call from the umpire, and one will be a pitch to hit. Obviously every at-bat is different, but this was something which helped keep my mind right as a hitter.

Human error has always been a part of the game; this is one of the things that makes baseball great. ESPN’s ‘Outside the Lines’ conducted a study of 184 games from June 29 to July 11 this season and reviewed every call made. They determined, “Of the close plays, 13.9 percent remained too close to call, with 65.7 percent confirmed as correct and 20.4 percent confirmed as incorrect.” Although it is a small sample size, this research suggests umpires miss one out of every five bang-bang plays, or an average of one and a half per game.

Denkinger may have missed the call, but odds are it wasn’t the only missed call in Game Six, let alone the entire series.

What we are left with 25 years later, is a World Series cadaver to dissect. Even though the series lasted seven games, statistically the Royals dominated. Kansas City outhit the Cardinals 68 to 40, outscored them 28-13. The Royals swiped five more bags and had an OPS over 200 points higher.
Meanwhile Royals hurlers walked ten less batters, resulting in 14 less earned runs allowed than St. Louis. Kansas City posted an insane WHIP at 0.935 over the series compared to the Cards’ 1.565, all while using five less pitchers than St. Louis needed.

So who deserves the accolades or the blame?

Royals fans will tell you the reason they won the Series was starting pitching headlined by Bret Saberhagen and timely hitting.

Cardinals fans will blame Denkinger.

Willie McGee went off in 1985 (.353/.384/.503, 26 2B, 18 3B, 10 HR, 56 SB), earning the NL MVP. McGee led off in the series, followed by Ozzie Smith and Tom Herr in Whitey Herzog’s lineup. Smith hit .276, with 54 RBIs, 70 runs, and 31 SB, while Herr produced a .302 batting average with 110 RBIs, 97 runs, and 31 Sb. A formidable top of the lineup which was good enough for 101 regular season wins.

In the ’85 Series the three combined for only 13 hits, five runs, two RBIs, two stolen bases and one home run. The lack of production from the hitters the Cardinals relied on all season was obvious. Why not blame Willie, Ozzie, and Tommy?

Todd Worrell was the pitcher who got tagged for the infamous loss. Worrell had Jorge Orta in a 0-2 hole, but failed to put him away. Instead he caught too much of the plate which allowed Orta’s ground ball to Jack Clark. Worrell went 0-2 to the next hitter, Steve Balboni, as well. Once again Worrell made an 0-2 mistake and allowed a single to center. Eventually, Worrell fell behind Dane Iorg and gave up another rocket to right to seal the deal. Why not blame Worrell?

During the bottom of the ninth first baseman Jack Clark had a play on a foul pop-up, but misplayed the ball. Clark later admitted it was a play which he should have made. He was still seething from Denkinger’s call a few moments prior. Later in the inning with runners on first and second base, catcher Darrell Porter mishandled a Worrell delivery, causing a passed ball. The runners moved up to second and third, forcing Whitey Herzog to intentionally walk Hal McRae. Why not blame Clark and Porter?

John Tudor, the Cardinal’s ace, pitched well in his first two appearances in the series. In his Game Seven performance though, he couldn’t make it out of the third inning. Tudor walked four and gave up five earned runs, including Darryl Motley’s two run dinger in the second inning. Why not blame Tudor?

Whitey Herzog was the Cardinals’ beloved manager who had turned them into an aggressive base stealing machine. With the game on the line in Game Six, though, Herzog opted for Worrell, a 25 year old rookie who had only 21 big league innings under his belt. He also decided the best option for Game Seven was Tudor making his third start in the Series. Why not blame Herzog?

While the Royals rotation got most of the publicity for the Series, the Cardinals provided a stellar staff. St. Louis had two 20 game winners, Tudor and Joaquin Andujar. Andujar threw 269.2 innings going 21-12 with 112 SO during the regular season.

In Game Three of the World Series though, Andujar couldn’t make it past the fourth inning, giving up four runs on nine hits. This was the only start for Andujar; he didn’t see the field again until Game Seven was already out of reach. Why not blame Andujar?

During the World Series, the Cardinals were without one of their most potent weapons, NL Rookie of the Year Vince Coleman. The speedster swiped 110 bags in the regular season. On an overcast night during the NLCS though, Coleman was nearly swallowed whole by the automatic tarp at Busch Stadium.

Cardinals’ third baseman Terry Pendleton stated, “I was just turning around [when] I heard this scream and the thing just swallowed him up.”

Tito Landrum was responsible for taking over in left field. He hit .360 for the series, but couldn’t provide the spark on the base paths like Coleman could. Why not blame the killer tarp or its operator?

One play, one decision, will never decide a game, or series. Even if fans wanted to point to one play which defined the game, Denkinger’s call wouldn’t be it. Stilley concluded in “Quantifying the Call” Orta’s single caused a 22% swing in WE (win expectancy). According to Baseball Reference using WE, Orta’s single wasn’t even one of the top five most significant plays in the game. The list reads as follows:

1. Iorg’s line drive single to right field for the win.

2. Brian Harper’s single in the eight to give the Cards the lead.

3. Darrell Porter’s passed ball.

4. Jim Sundberg’s sac bunt.

5. Steve Balboni’s single to center in the ninth.

In the end, the life threatening voicemails and letters Cardinals fans provided Denkinger were uncalled for. Since then, the Cardinals have continued their storied baseball history, making nine postseason appearances and relinquishing the title in 2006. The Royals haven’t sniffed the postseason since the I-70 Series. Dwelling on one call 25 years ago is a fruitless endeavor. Cardinals fans should enjoy their past and present successes, while Royals fans deal with ‘The Curse of Don Denkinger.’