All Entries in the "NL Central" Category
September Baseball and Buehrle’s Balks
If you are in any city without a chance to win the division baseball in September brings mixed emotions. On the one hand it reminds one that the season is drawing to a close and will create that void a true baseball fan feels. On the other hand, it reminds any team fan outside the [...]
Berry Reassigned, Bagwell to Take Over as Astros Hitting Coach
Image by BaseballBacks via Flickr The following article was originally posted at James’ site Astros County back on July 11th! It’s not often you get an email in church that makes you go, “Whoa!” in the middle of the Lord’s Supper. But that’s exactly what happened this morning. Alyson Footer first broke this morning that [...]
The 1% Factor: How The Brewers Can Defy The Odds And Make A Run
As the Brewers end the first “half” of play and come out on the other end of the All-Star Break, the following question popped into my mind: Can The Brewers Defy a 40-49 Record and actually make a playoff run? The one good thing about hope is that it cannot be killed (no matter how [...]
How Did We (St. Louis Cardinals) Get Here?
If you had told me before the season began that, come the beginning of June, the Cardinals would be trailing the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Central standings, I’d have smiled and shaken my head. If you’d told me that in mid-April, when the Cardinals had roared out to a five-game lead in the [...]
What Was Brewing in Milwaukee Baseball in May
Well, we’ve made it to about the one-third mark of the season. Now, let’s take a look at how things progressed during the month of May. What Went Right: May was only 31 days long and it has (finally) come to an end. In all seriousness, I would put the first week of May in [...]
What Can the Astros Expect in a Trade?
Okay, so the two guys who are likely to be moved are obviously Berkman and Oswalt. Oswalt has the highest trade value, since he’s been whining over the last month or so, and is more motivated to apparently get out of dodge. Citizen Spruce asked the following question: All right, Constable, a question for you: [...]
Some Thoughts on the Brewers’ April
Well, we’ve got one month of play under our belts, time to check in on how the Brewers did. What Went Right: The list in this area is smaller than I would like it to be. As always, the Brewers have shown they have the potential to pile up runs at will (as evidenced by [...]
Reflecting On The Cardinals Off Season
As of this writing, the St. Louis Cardinals have played three games. Those three games have done less enlightening than reinforcing just what this offseason’s top topics were. The major move of the Cardinal offseason was, of course, the signing of Matt Holliday to a long-term deal. With Holliday in the fold hitting behind Albert [...]
The 2010 Brewers & The Groundhog Day Principle:
Image via Wikipedia Last week was Groundhog Day (the holiday, not the Bill Murray Movie). Per Groundhog Day tradition, the weather outside when the groundhog emerges hibernation is supposed to correlate with how much longer winter is supposed to last. For this article I decided to apply this principle with a twist. I’m going to [...]
Cardinals Are Not Dormant During Winter
While for a lot of teams, the offseason is a quiet time, a time for renewal and reflection. For the Cardinals, this offseason has been anything but. It would have been hard to believe after the final out of the NLDS that anything would overshadow the pursuit of Matt Holliday during the winter. After all, [...]
The Holliday Season
Image via Wikipedia So far, the Cardinals’ hot stove season can basically be summed up into two words. Matt Holliday. Everything the Cardinals have or haven’t done since the end of the World Series has been directly or indirectly tied to their pursuit of the outfielder. Their talks with Scott Boras were the focus of [...]
Playing Good Idea/Bad Idea with the Cubs Offseason
It’s really hard for me in the midst of a brutal Chicago Bears season to take a step back and relive a brutal Cubs season. What a disappointment 2009 was for the Chicago Cubs. So much anticipation, so few results. I posted my thoughts on Derek Lee and his contributions to the Cubs season in [...]
The Unceremonious End of the J.J Hardy Era
Friday was an interesting day for Brewers fans as they traded J.J Hardy to the Twins for Carlos Gomez. As a Brewer fan, a J.J Hardy trade was something that I saw coming from a couple time zones away. Still, it isn’t something I’m too thrilled about. On a personal note, J.J Hardy was one [...]
The Cardinals 2009 Postseason And Some Notes on 2010
It’s been famously noted that the postseason is a crapshoot. While there is definitely some truth to that statement, for the St. Louis Cardinals the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers brought both old and new reasons for a hasty exit from October. There’s no doubt that the unexpected occurred in this [...]
For the Reds, the Off Season Will Flow Out of LF
The biggest decision facing the Reds to begin the offseason is the choice of a left fielder. It is unlikely the Reds will spend money to go after a free agent like Matt Holliday or Jason Bay: instead, the choice is between which incumbent will get a commitment. The candidates: Jonny Gomes, Wladimir Balentien, Chris [...]
A last look at the Brewers ’09: A first look at what’s next
September General Overview: September Record 13-15 Season Record 77-81 (with 4 games to go) The Brewers came into September clearly outside of playoff contention. However, they did have a couple opportunities to impact the Wild Card chase as they had a couple of the front-runners on the schedule in September. In their first chance, they [...]
For The Cardinals, It Was A Stuttering September
It took a while, but finally September gave the Cardinals the moment they had been waiting for, a clinching celebration as they punched their tickets into the postseason as NL Central champs. What happened between September 1 and September 26 to get to that point alternatively thrilled and concerned St. Louis fans as they try [...]
Astros Fire Manager Cecil Cooper
If you were to write up a job description for the incoming manager of the Houston Astros in order to replace Cecil Cooper, who was fired yesterday, it would be a pretty long one. Must be able to work with handsy owner. Must be willing to work with mouthy veterans. Must be willing to play [...]
Do the Reds Have a Plan?
A team needs a plan. A losing team especially needs a plan. So, the Cincinnati Reds need a plan. Do they have one? Recent evidence calls this into question. Image by Getty Images via Daylife Owner Robert Castellini has installed a win-now team, going with a veteran manager in Dusty Baker and a veteran general [...]
Brewers Fading Away: An August Recap
Records/General Thoughts: August Record 13-14 Current Record 64-66 (3rd place-12 Games Behind St. Louis) August was an interesting month for the Brewers, but not in a good way. The Brewers came into August only 5 1/2 games out of first despite struggling throughout June and July. Instead of taking advantage of an easy August schedule [...]
Derrek Lee Shines in a Season to Forget
What can you offer up about the Cubs that hasn’t already been said? The Cubs have been a major disappointment in 2009 and yet, following Wednesday’s game they only find themselves 5.5 games out of first place. Yes, they also trail four other teams besides the Colorado Rockies, and yes they don’t even resemble in [...]
The Cardinals Are Picking Up Steam
On the morning of August 1, the St. Louis Cardinals awoke to find themselves clinging to a half-game lead in the NL Central. While there had been a boost of energy and enthusiasm following the deal for Matt Holliday and, to a lesser extent, Julio Lugo, the Cards still had their hands full with the [...]
Interview with Greg Rajan of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times
Today we’re featuring an incredible interview with Greg Rajan, sports writer for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. He has covered the team since its inception, and we’ve done these e-mail interviews with a number of people – this is, by far, the most extensive. Captip to Greg for taking the time to answer these questions thoroughly. [...]
Reminder: MLB Keychain Raffle
Welcome to the first, and hopefully not last, Baseball Reflections Keychain Raffle sponsored by WholesaleKeychain.com. We will be raffling off 9 MLB team keychains. There will be links below to the WholesaleKeychain.com page of the 9 teams (these links will open up in a new tab or page) selected for this raffle. There will be [...]
Baseball Reflection’s MLB Keychain Raffle
Welcome to the first, and hopefully not last, Baseball Reflections Keychain Raffle sponsored by WholesaleKeychain.com. We will be raffling off 9 MLB team keychains. There will be links below to the WholesaleKeychain.com page of the 9 teams (these links will open up in a new tab or page) selected for this raffle. There will be [...]
The Pittsburgh Pirates: After the Dust Has Settled
Of the 25 Pittsburgh Pirates who took the field on Opening Day 2008, 7 remain with the organization today. General manager Neal Huntington has turned over his depth chart methodically and added a number of talented prospects to his farm system. Doing so was not easy. Huntington sent away All-Stars in Jason Bay, Nate McLouth, [...]
As the Cubs Roll Into August…
July turns to August and finds the Chicago Cubs still in the NL Central hunt. Nevertheless, they didn’t look like a contending team as the trading deadline neared, making a nominal move for minimal help which may actually hurt the team this season. Image by Getty Images via Daylife In a month in which Roy [...]
A Starry July in St. Louis
A lot of All-Stars came to St. Louis this month for a visit. Then the Cards made sure some came to stay. The early part of the month was dominated, in Cardinal talk, by the MLB All-Star Game, which was held in Busch Stadium on July 14. All the hype, all the hoopla, all the [...]
Reflections on the Brewers at the Trade Deadline
The Milwaukee Brewers are in a precarious situation. A team that was built from the inside with three-fourths of an infield (Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy), a pair of slugging corner outfielders (Ryan Braun, Corey Hart) and an ace in the making (Yovani Gallardo), is now being looked at as thin when it comes [...]
Cubs Reflections on Being in First Place
Despite all my nay-saying and doom-daying, the Chicago Cubs woke up on July 27th and found themselves in first place in the NL Central. Outside of any performance by the Cubs, here are five reasons which this has happened: 5. The St. Louis Cardinals have no hitting. A month into the season, the Cardinals looked [...]
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