Next Man Up

Next Man Up

When you think of the phrase “next man up,” what comes to mind?  Right, football.  Offensive lineman goes down, next man up.  Running back limps off the field, next man up.  Nature of the beast.  Not generally used in baseball.  But “next man up” perfectly summarizes the St. Louis Cardinals’ season thus far.  In football, you have a 53-man roster; in baseball, it’s a 25-man roster.  A football team uses 20% (11 players) of its roster at a given time.  A baseball team uses 36% of its roster (9 players) at a given time.  All teams in sports have critical, virtually irreplaceable players, but football teams generally are able to assemble more depth than a baseball team.  So when a baseball team (like the Cardinals) suffers a sudden rash of injuries, it’s usually more noticeable. 

The injury problems started in spring training, subsided for most of April, and then really smacked the team in May.  To review:

• Pitcher:  Chris CarpenterI
• Injury:  nerve problem in his throwing shoulder*.
• Next man up:  Lance Lynn
• Result:  Lynn has gone 7-1 with a sterling 1.09 WHIP and a WAR (Wins Above Replacement) of 1.2. 

*Aside: I can’t be the only one who, given his injury history, worried about Carpenter’s health this year after throwing 273 innings in 2011 at age 36. Last October was a brilliant, gutsy, career-defining month for Carp, but it comes at the expense of not having him for at least half this season, if not longer.

• Player:  Allen Craig
• Injury:  knee, hamstring
• Next man up:  Matt Carpenter
• Result:  MattCarp was a revelation for the Cards in April, helping pick up the offense in the absence of Lance Berkman and Craig.  Craig was tearing the cover off the ball up until he pulled his hammy last week.  It’s a double whammy because his return was going to make it much easier to rest Carlos Beltran and his creaky knees.

• Player: Lance Berkman
• Injury:  knee
• Next man up:  Matt Adams
• Result:  too soon to tell.  Adams is a highly-regarded slugger who some experts (such as Keith Law) believe will fill in at first base without much drop-off.  Replacing Puma’s personality and influence in the clubhouse will be much tougher*.

*If this turns out to be the end for Berkman, my enduring memory of him will be two-fold: 1) that two-out, two-strike single that tied the game at 9 in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series; 2) this kind of candor: http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2011/10/28/berkman-having-incredible-experience/.  Guys like Berkman deserve to go out on their terms, not because of a broken-down body.

• Player:  Jon Jay
• Injury:  shoulder
• Next man up:  Shane Robinson, Adron Chambers, Skip Schumaker
• Result:  Robinson and Chambers are perfectly capable 5^th outfielders.  The three combined have hit .276 with 16 RBI.  Not bad.  Except for Schumaker, the defense is solid.

 

• Pitcher:  Kyle McClellan
• Injury:  elbow
• Next man up:  Brandon Dickson
• Result:  Minimal effect.  Relievers are a fungible commodity in baseball, especially righties.

• Player:  Matt Carpenter
• Injury:  oblique
• Next man up:  Steven Hill
• Result:  Too soon to tell.  With Craig eligible to come off the DL on May 30, Hill’s stay is likely to be short.  Unless someone else gets hurt.

This list doesn’t even take Skip Schumaker or Scott Linebrink into account.

The fact that the Cardinals remain in first place speaks volumes of their depth.  In 2007, when the wheels fell off, there wasn’t much help available from the farm.  It’s reassuring to know reinforcements are available now.  It should also give fans some confidence in rookie manager Mike Matheny.  He’s handled it all like he’s done this for years.  Both the depth and leadership are critical in 2012 and beyond as St. Louis moves on from the Pujols/LaRussa era.

Tebowmaniacs

This whole Peyton Manning-Tim Tebow thing got me thinking yesterday.  With most NFL teams (excluding Green Bay, New Orleans, New England, maybe Pittsburgh), the idea of a future Hall of Famer taking over as your QB would be cause for celebration.  Not here in Denver.  Noooo, sir.  Here, you have the Tebowmaniacs, a loud and narrow-minded group of fans who are FURIOUS at the idea of anyone – even Manning, a “good guy” -- replacing Tebow.  From Twitter to Facebook to sports talk radio to local TV news, these people have not been shy about proclaiming their unhappiness.  Some have vowed never to watch the Broncos again.  Others have resorted to personally insulting John Elway and/or Pat Bowlen.  And if you actually have the audacity to disagree with these people, look out.  The invective really comes out.  One guy kept tweeting 850 KOA radio with comments like “Tebow is bigger than Elway ever was.”  He actually wrote that. I can’t even dignify such stupidity with a remark. 

What is it about Tebow that causes such extreme reactions?  To put it kindly, he struggles to do his job competently.* But have you ever seen a professional athlete get so much slack for doing so poorly?  I can’t recall one.

*Yes, I know he won seven games in a row, a playoff game, has an uncanny knack for making big plays, and so on. But in today’s NFL, if you complete 46% of your passes and your kicker is your best offensive weapon, something needs to change.

 

Here’s my theory: Tebow makes his fans feel better about themselves.  I don’t just mean your typical admiration of a pro athlete.  I mean that his fans literally think they’re better than other people.  MY QUARTERBACK IS BUILDING A HOSPITAL IN THE PHILIPPINES.  I root for him, so I’m building that hospital too.  DOES YOUR QB PRAY ON THE FIELD IN FRONT OF THE TV CAMERAS?  No?  Oh, well, God must love us more than you, er, him. Tsk tsk. 

I greatly admire Tim Tebow for what he does off the field.  But he’s a human being.  He has his share of character flaws.  He’d probably be the first to admit it.  So many of these Tebowmaniacs seem to be using him to make up for their own failings and inadequacies.  I’m not an expert on religion, but that doesn’t strike me as a very Christian thing to do, condescending to others and denigrating their opinions because they are different.**

**Oh wait, that’s exactly what some religions do. Silly me.

But I ask: what does all this have to do with winning the Super Bowl?

/waiting

//still waiting

Tebowmaniacs seem to think that by replacing Tim Tebow with Peyton Manning, the Broncos are rejecting Tebow personally, as well as his religious beliefs and off-field activities.  Separate heart from brain, folks.  The Denver Broncos are in the business of winning the Super Bowl and making money (though perhaps not in that order).  John Elway believes that Peyton Manning gives the Broncos a better chance to win than Tim Tebow. That’s it. No conspiracy. It’s a FOOTBALL decision. He might be right.  He might be wrong.  We don’t know.  It will be fascinating to watch.  Instead of lining up to say “I told you so” if Manning doesn’t work out, how about you Tebow zealots just see what happens and enjoy the ride? 

 

Bottom line: the Broncos are getting a Hall of Fame QB to lead the team. That’s exciting. All this other noise detracts from that. Oh, and by the way, the team is switching back to orange home jerseys.  It’s about time.  Isn’t that something on which we can all agree?

Remembering Game 6 & 7

Over the winter, I have re-watched all seven games of last year's World Series.  This is because: a) spring training is here, in all its glory; b) we've had an inordinate amount of snow in the Denver area this winter; c) snow sucks, and; d) I'm a huge Cardinals fan. 

As much fun as the 2006 championship was, I always viewed that as karmic payback from the Gods of Baseball for the Great Abomination of 2004.  2011 was different.  It took a minor miracle for the  Cards to even make the playoffs, so my expectations were pretty low.  Then they just kept winning.  And winning.  It was nothing short of glorious. 

Then David Freese hit that triple, and Game 6 turned into the most thrilling baseball game I've ever watched in my life.  It will be my Exhibit A to other people who claim baseball is boring.  Sure, it can be at times, but no other sport offers such moments of crazy intensity.  I vividly remember jumping up and down in my living room like I was 12.  By comparison, Game 7 was almost anti-climactic, and Nelson Cruz admitted afterward that the Rangers really lost the Series in Game 6.  For me, though, this unexpected championship was so much sweeter.  I'm still enjoying it, in fact. 

Incidentally, Joe Buck's tribute to his father on Freese's HR was awesome. Still get goose bumps thinking about it. 

A few days ago, Bob Nightengale wrote a terrific article in USA Today about the Rangers and how difficult it was to the players and coaches to handle the loss.  I hadn't given much thought to the Rangers' perspective at the time because, hey, my team won!  The only way it could have been better was if it had been the Yankees or Red Sox getting their hearts ripped out. Because fuck those guys, and especially their fans.  But I digress. 

Nightengale's story inspired me to watch Games 6 and 7 again, and I was struck by how many times Texas just could not slam the door on the Cardiac Cardinals.  From the 9th inning of Game 6 all the way through Game 7, check out all these instances where the Cards got a critical hit with two strikes:

Game 6

• Freese's game-tying triple in 9th
• Descalso's leadoff single in 10th
• Berkman's tying single in 10th
• Freese game-winning homer in 11th

Game 7

• Craig's tie-breaking homer in 3rd
• Molina hit-by-pitch on 3-2 count with bases loaded, making the score 4-2

Yikes.  A friend of mine is still angry at Nelson Cruz for not catching Freese's triple, but that was far from the only incident that doomed the Rangers.  Poor managing, poor pitching, poor fielding...take your pick.  They jumped to a 2-0 on Carpenter in Game 7 and couldn't hold the lead for a single inning.  They went out without much of a fight. 

One other aside: did you notice who wasn't around when the Cardinals rallied in Game 6 and won Game 7?  Matt Effing Holliday.  Admittedly, I've been pissed at the guy ever since the dropped fly ball against the Dodgers in 2009, but good ol' "Skates" took his game even lower by botching another fly ball in Game 6 and getting picked off third base.  Once he left Game 6 and Allen Craig took over, things improved noticeably.  All Craig did was slug two clutch home runs and rob Cruz of a home run in Game 7.  If Holliday had stayed in the game, none of those things happen and the Rangers would have been celebrating at Busch Stadium.  Oh, and it turned out Craig was playing with a fractured kneecap.  Holliday had an injured FINGER.  So, to recap: Allen Craig kicks ass, Matt Holliday eats a bag of ass.

No clue what to expect this year.  No LaRussa, no Duncan, no Pujols.  It will be fascinating to watch, though.  I can only hope it's as enjoyable as October 27-28 last year.