The St. Louis Cardinals coaching staff got a little boost when Tony LaRussa reportedly hired Mark McGwire to serve as the Cards’ hitting coach in 2010. A press conference has been schedule by the Cards for noon today, but did not say why they scheduled it. THEY’RE NOT HERE TO TALK ABOUT THE PAST!
The 65-year-old La Russa has been mulling his future since the NL Central champion Cardinals were swept in the division series by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Oct. 10. His two-year, $8.5 million contract expires at the end of the month.
McGwire has largely been out of the public eye since then. He attended Congressional hearings on steroid abuse but said little in testimony, saying “I’m not here to talk about the past,” and has fallen far short in balloting for the Hall of Fame despite hitting 583 home runs. –CBS Sports.
The hitting coach is really just a glorified drinking buddy for the manager. Those guys already know how to hit. I suspect McGwire’s coaching techniques will be more pharmaceutical in nature, anyway. Hey, the doctors are doing it, and you don’t see anyone complaining about doctors these days.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the Cardinals leading 2-1, Matt Holliday lost a sinking line drive in the lights, couldn’t track the ball, and instead of catching it, appeared to take it square in the nuts. Most reports are saying the ball hit Holliday in the stomach, but I think they are trying to avoid adding insult to injury, because if you watch the above video replay (with bonus Couples Retreat preview! You haven’t seen that before!), it’s pretty clear that the ball drilled him square in the junk. The Dodgers capitalized on the error, scoring two runs, including the game-winning single by Mark Loretta that scored Casey Blake to beat the Cardinals 3-2 and take a 2-0 series lead. The Cardinals are perhaps now drowning their sorrows while Matt Holliday is icing his balls.
In other MLB Division Series playoff action…
Colorado Rockies 5, Philadelphia Phillies 4. The Rockies evened up their matchup with the Phillies at one game apiece as the series heads to chilly Colorado. Speaking of nuts, after pitching five innings and surrendering four earned runs, starter Cole Hamels departed the game and then had to rush to the hospital after his wife went into labor. I hope the Hamels saved some of the placenta to share with the whole team. If you have never sampled placenta, you must. It tastes delightful on a Chicken in a Biskit.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 5, Boston Red Sox 0. The Angels appeared to solve their issues with the Red Sox, at least for one game (Boston has beaten Anaheim in three consecutive playoff series), as John Lackey pitched 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing only four singles. Torrii (the extra ‘i’ is for ‘incredible’) Hunter got the scoring started in the fifth inning with a mammoth three-run homer off BoSox lefthander Jon Lester. Kendry Morales added a two-run single in seventh, Darren Oliver retired all five batters he faced in relief and the Angels took a 1-0 series lead. Call it the power of the Rally Monkey, but have no fear, Boston fans. I’m pretty sure the Red Sox will have their own primitive primate of their own cheering them on when they return to Boston.
SITE NEWS: I’ll be on Walkoff Walk tonight as a guest live-blogger for the Home Run Derby Tonight. That starts at…8? Let’s say 8.
Nobody wants to play in it. Nobody wants to watch it. Nobody’s happy with which players made the team and which didn’t. And the jerseys they make for this thing are uglier than any shirt Chris Berman has ever worn on the golf course. Wouldn’t the whole mission of an All-Star Break be better suited if…there was an actual break? No? All right, then allow me to offer the following alternatives to make these three days more fun for everyone.
ASYLUM POLL: Do you care about the MLB All-Star Game?
1. Make it an international game. Take one MLB team and pit it against one of Japan’s Nippon League teams, who typically have their All-Star game around the same time of year. Make it an MLB team that either made or narrowly missed the playoffs the previous year. If Japan wins, then we hold all seven games of the World Series in Japan.
2. Make it a money game. ESPN anchor and noted otter owner John Buccigross had this idea for the NHL: Dump 15 million dollars on the field behind home plate and say, “Come and get it. Winners take all.” Play with 25-man rosters and the AL and NL coaching staffs that lost their respective championship games the previous year. Fill the teams like unions do–based on seniority. You don’t want to play? Fine. Give another guy a crack at the cash.
3. Play Flag Football instead. Football’s more awesome than baseball anyway. And yet softball is more awesome than football. Maybe they should play softball. With a big keg of Bud Light right next to the pitcher’s mound. Bud Light probably has a better ERA than Tim Wakefield, anyway.
The Fightins found video of Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel’s collision with the outfield wall in Busch Stadium last night. And somehow this was ruled an out, which is good to know because the announcers in the game spent 10 minutes arguing over that possible ruling while Ankiel might have been dying on the warning track. It’s always harder to not sound like a prick in real life. So maybe we should start doing this site in an all-audio format.
It’s not like this is the most amazing play ever or anything, I just like it that a pitcher named for a flower hurt one of the Molina brothers. I can’t stand those guys. “Oooh, look at us, we’re three brothers who are all mediocre at the exact same job.” Way to go out there and do your own thing. Nice sense of individuality. You know at least one of them really wanted to be an interior designer. Probably Yadier, given the way he cries here.
AL - The Yankees and Red Sox shitshow has come to another blissful, albeit temporary, close with the Red Sox avoiding a sweep in Fenway with a 9-2 win Sunday. Manny Ramirez, signaling that he doesn't want Brett Favre to hog all the frenetic bullshit speculative coverage from the media by expressing interest in a trade, wetn 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs. David Ortiz also had his first homer since returning to the lineup…The Twins pulled within 2 1/2 games of the White Sox thanks to a two-run rally in the 9th of a 4-2 win against the Indians. This on the eve of a four-game set at home against Chicago…The Orioles won their first Sunday game of the season since April 6, upending Ervin Santana and the Angels 5-2. If Sundays stopped sucking, then Mondays go back to being insufferable. You had a good thing going…In helping to A's to a 6-5 win over the Rangers, Brad Ziegler broke a 101-year-old record for most scoreless innings by a pitcher to begin a career. See? Even arcane records you don't care about are meant to be broken.
NL - Johan Santana was an Albert Pujols' solo shot away from a complete game shutout over the Cards. The Mets' ace provided needed respite to New York's bullpen, which logged eight innings the day before, to keep the team a game up on the Phillies…The Nats, owners of the MLB's worst offense, deployed the full force of their bats. Sure, they got blanked again, but they also got five whole hits! You know the Dodgers felt that…The Brewers stay atop of NL Central proved a brief one after Milwaukee lost to Houston and the Cubs bested the Marlins to reclaim sole possession of the division lead.
Whatnot - Goose Gossage was formally inducted into Cooperstown, though officials at the Mustache Hall of Fame sniffed and mentioned they got him in decades ago…Philly wins a sports title! But it's the Arena Bowl. Beggers and battery tossers can't be choosers. And now Cleveland assumes complete whining rights.
