Cardinals' grassy-knollers are out..... [Update, reply #222: Molina suspended for five games]

[MkeSouthSide]

I agree that LaRussa is probably playing his head games, but it's really nice to see the Crew not stooping to that level. For as much as RRR's decisions can be maddening, he is really a cool-headed type of manager. Love seeing the Crew take the high road.

[bacon06]

If Molina had appealed that suspension, MLB should have given him an extra game for wasting their time.

[StearnsFTW]

So I went over to that Cards board to see the thread about cheating and apparently they have statistically proven the Brewers cheat at home. Not only that but they are flummoxed as to why a stat site like Fangraphs hasn't picked up on the story and analyzed it.

That clown with the Homer Simpson avatar is the best. He found that the p-value for the Brewers' home record is 0.057. His interpretation? There is a 94.3% chance that the Brewers are stealing signs at home. He also said that this is the same as saying "There is a 5.7% chance that this could have occurred simply as the result of variation.".

 

Fangraphs should pick it up just to show how ridiculous the claims are. If his p-value is accurate (actually I think it's high), we should see 1-2 teams every year have a home split like the Brewers.

 

In defense of 94.3% of the posters on Gateway Redbirds, I think he is just the resident clown, and his arguments have persuaded very few on that site.

 

That site is a great example of how 5% of a message board can ruin the discussion, and how great this message board is at keeping out the riff raff (I've just snuck under their radar).

I agree 100%. I went over there to see what they were saying about game 1, saw the cheating thread, trolled for 1 post (admittedly) and have had a great time since.

 

The Homer Simpson guy is just an idiot. Pretty much everyone else there is pretty cool.

[ECpackers]

annoying to hear...but at this point in 07 we were 39-19 at home...,that's pretty good too. essentially the same record if we were to drop back 2 back series in our next 2 home opponents.

[DannoMac21]

Re: Garcia, I think Hawing made a very good educated guess about anxiety disorder. It can be a really rough condition, and if he's dealing with it, I hope the team helps him get it sorted out.

When I first heard about his issues, that was the first thing to come to my mind, too.

I suffer from an anxiety disorder as well, so I could relate (in a way) to everything I heard. That immediately seemed like what it was.

[ilikewisco]

Saw this insightful comment over there and thought it was pretty funny. Its in regards to hitting Braun with the second inside pitch after they presumably sent a message with the first inside pitch.

 

"Because if you locate it properly it's a tough pitch to hit and you could catch the corner for a strike. There's an unwritten rule in baseball to not do that because the margin of error is so small. Maybe Motte decided to make it intentional, but I'm positive Tony is telling the truth, but what does it [expletive] matter. People here just want to crucify Tony at any opportunity."

 

So throwing one so far inside Molina can't even catch it and another into Braun's back is just working the inside of the plate. I hope we don't seem like that bad of homers when discussing our team.

[bucksbeat]

Tony La Russa is a piece of work. I can't believe over the course of his career just how many people have turned their opinions against him. Of everything I've read the only place where some are still defending him are obviously involved with the Cardinals. I'm not sure TLR has many fans left.

[homer]

Anyone else see this from a St Louis columnist?

 

http://www.stltoday.com/s...0-a12e-001a4bcf6878.html

 

"* It was sickening to see David Freese in the dirt, temporarily removed from his senses, after being popped in the head by an errant pitch thrown by Florida's Clay Hensley on Thursday night. Freese suffered a mild concussion and a bruise. He was lucky. It could have been worse, much worse, tragically worse. I wonder if the fools in Milwaukee now understand why Cardinals manager Tony La Russa makes such a big deal over high pitches thrown above the shoulders, and into that dangerous area where awful things can happen to a vulnerable hitter."

[LouisEly]

Had to laugh at this one:

 

"Perhaps someone was tossing a towel into the bin and it got too "up and in" at Pujols. "

[yoshii8]

I was listening to the Tuesday game on the radio, but didn't the pitch from Saito hit Pujols in the hand and not in the head? Why do the STL media keep saying that they threw at his head?

[trwi7]

 

?

??

First thing I thought of when I saw the columnists picture.

[ilikewisco]

I just don't get it, Weeks and Fielder are always at the top of the hbp column, but once Albert gets hit you are putting someone's career in jeopardy. Weeks did get hit in the face and I don't remember any retaliation. Sometimes a pitch gets away, but if it happens to a Cardinal there must be retribution. I guess take your base and hopefully we can say "scoreboard" when its all said and done. I hope this never happens, but I would love to see what the hypocrites have to say if a Cardinal pitcher puts a player out for an extended period of time because of an errant pitch, or intentional with there tit for tat ways.

[homer]

I was listening to the Tuesday game on the radio, but didn't the pitch from Saito hit Pujols in the hand and not in the head? Why do the STL media keep saying that they threw at his head?

He does hold his hands near his head. Anyone have a pic or video of the HBP? I was listening on the radio too.

[fondybrewfan]

Personally I would love Fangraphs to pick up on the story and gloriously debunk that guys wacked out statistics.

 

Also I was thinking about this yesterday; the two pitches on Pujols and Braun were very very close to the exact same location. The only difference is that Pujols hands were hanging out over the plate and that Braun was able to turn his back to the pitch. If Braun didn't turn his back he probably gets hit in the hands or the ribs. As it was Braun got hit in the shoulder; its not like they hit him in the rump.

 

So apparently it isn't OK to incidentally pitch up and in to a guy that crowds the plate and is to slow to get out of the way but it is OK to intentionally hit a guy up and in who is athletic enough to defect the blow. Makes sense to me

[Thurston Fluff]

Anyone else see this from a St Louis columnist?

 

http://www.stltoday.com/s...0-a12e-001a4bcf6878.html

 

"* It was sickening to see David Freese in the dirt, temporarily removed from his senses, after being popped in the head by an errant pitch thrown by Florida's Clay Hensley on Thursday night. Freese suffered a mild concussion and a bruise. He was lucky. It could have been worse, much worse, tragically worse. I wonder if the fools in Milwaukee now understand why Cardinals manager Tony La Russa makes such a big deal over high pitches thrown above the shoulders, and into that dangerous area where awful things can happen to a vulnerable hitter."

Yes it is dangerous to stand too close to the plate. No one ever denied that. I wonder if anyone took the time to explain baseball to that fool. Obviously not so let me help with the relevant part. There is this thing called a batters box. It's outlined in by a white line that clearly show the hitter where the he can stand while batting. The hitter can stand anywhere he chooses to in that box. He does not have to stand at the very front of it if he is afraid of getting pitched high and tight. There you go Mr. Real Bad Sports Writer. I hope this helps you understand the subject matter you were paid to cover. Otherwise Tony might have to give you a call and lecture you about telling it as it is instead of worrying about your paycheck.

[jmeks23]

That columnist is a joke. He doesn't know the half of who's the 'fool' in his column. Someone get this guy a whineken.

[sargennm]

So funny when you consider all the STL media members getting their britches in a bunch and calling Greg Matzek a fan in the locker room. What a homer.

 

Re: Pujols HBP

 

That guys so clearly isn't afriad to be pitched inside that on two "dangerous inside pitches" above his shoulders, he stepped into them, hitting his bat on one and nearly fouling off the other one if he had let go of his bat.

[jjfanec]

Tony LaRussa better call this guy and complain about journalists being biased and for comments that cross the line

[reillymcshane]

The new 'Pujols Rules' have been instituted to help protect the keeper of baseball's etiquette and unwritten rules:

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n601/reillymcshane/pujols.jpg

[hawing]

A couple of additional links - apologies if they're duplicates here:

 

The Onion AV Club's take on TLR (not fictitious like in the 'regular' part of The Onion)

 

Bleacher Report: A culture of complaining

 

yoshii8, from my vantage point in the loge and behind home plate, I frankly thought that Pujols had been hit in the head, especially given how he reacted. I didn't realize it was his hand until I saw TV replays at home later.

[yoshii8]

Thanks for answering my question Hawing. The onion article was spot on.

[bacon06]

In real time, I thought that pitch to Pujols actually hit the bat because of the sound it made. On the radio broadcast the next day, I thought Uecker made some reference to players thinking Pujols was faking being hit.

[Spidey]

After reading the LaRussa timeline that was posted earlier, I couldn't believe how many times TLR has accused teams of stealing signs. It makes me wonder if TLR is so quick to call out other teams for suspected sign stealing, because he has actually been as guilty. I don't really care if that's the case, I'm just trying to rationalize why LaRussa is the only one over all these years who keeps pointing the finger about stealing signs. Does it really take one to know one Tony?

[DannoMac21]

The Onion AV Club's take on TLR

But just like an inevitable visit from Piggly Wiggly’s Jerry Garcia during the commercial break, everyone knew something horrible was cooking and that there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[bacon06]

Just remembered of a similar incident last year:

 

Cardinals' Tony La Russa, Chris Carpenter Steamed at D Backs

 

And also found one from spring training this year:

 

Tensions flare between Cards, Nationals