Stl Cards 'N Stuff

Well…we saw that coming, right? After being forced to throw Shelby Miller and Adam Wainwright on the same day in that day/night doubleheader on Saturday, the Cardinals were already in a bind. It was either start Waino or Miller on short rest, or start Joe Kelly out of the ‘pen. To make matters worse, the … Continue reading »

Wow. It sure is a lazy Saturday today. Still trying to recover from that 3 a.m. finish time the other night – not to mention a late night on storm watch last night – I slept in a bit longer than usual. That means a late start time for your lazy links this week, so … Continue reading »

After running through a gauntlet of starting pitcher injuries, the St. Louis Cardinals may finally be coming out the other side intact. We all know the litany… Chris Carpenter lost in spring training, Jake Westbrook out with unresolved elbow pain, Jaime Garcia out for the season with shoulder surgery, and John Gast sidelined with soreness … Continue reading »

Good morning! It’s time for another edition of Lazy Links from Cards ‘N Stuff. The Cardinals have gone 4-2 since last week’s Lazy Links post, and two LH’ed rookie starters from Memphis are due much of the credit. John Gast and Tyler Lyons, each turning in impressive starts in the midst of an early season … Continue reading »

Who didn’t see this coming? Really?! You?! Come on. As soon as Jaime Garcia left that playoff game last season with shoulder trouble, I knew his 2013 season was in serious trouble. I don’t care what Garcia himself said, or the Cardinals’ medical staff…or even John Mozeliak or Mike Matheny. Shoulder issues for starting pitchers … Continue reading »

It’s time for some late night podcasting! Welcome to the latest edition of the State of the Nation Address from Cards ‘N Stuff. Last time went so well, we decided to more or less wing it again…so…click the play button below and listen to a train wreck…uh…I mean 35 minutes of Cardinals podcasting greatness! This … Continue reading »

Good morning! It’s time for a new segment – hopefully a regular one – that sends you whipping around the internet reading great Cardinals’ articles over your Saturday morning joe (or cartoons, if that’s how you swing). Open a window, warm your coffee, and check out these discussion-worthy pieces by outstanding Cardinals writers. Enjoy! After … Continue reading »

May 4th, 2013 – Cardinals vs. Brewers: It’s time once again for the annual UCB Progressive Game Blog. If you’re not familiar with our little May project, it works like this: Each year we pick a game. For the lucky game picked, we break it up by inning. Each inning gets a different blogger assigned … Continue reading »

Harry Weber, the artist responsible for the iconic statues of Cardinals Hall of Famers standing outside Busch Stadium, is looking forward to trying his hand at a statue for recent Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter. “I hope they do make one sometime in the future,” he said by email this week. “And I hope I … Continue reading »

What is a Kozma-Naut? A Kozma-Naut is a Cardinals fan with out-of-this-world faith that Pete Kozma can be a star in the Redbirds’ middle infield. Others may say you’ve got your head in the clouds, but we know that ‘ol Pete Kozma’s career has finally taken off. Show your loyalty and pride with this new … Continue reading »

Sure, it’s just one game…and yes, fans are prone to overreacting at the beginning of the season. But it’s day two of the Cardinals’ young campaign, so one game is all we have to work with here on the blog. That said, what the hell was wrong with our team last night against the D-backs? … Continue reading »

A quick reminder: We’re suspending our usual schedule this week in order to participate in the annual UCB Predictions Project. We’ll be back on track next week with our Tuesday edition of Bird Watching (the podcast may or may not go up considering the Easter holiday). Enjoy! FINALLY! If you’re a Cardinals fan, you know … Continue reading »

A quick reminder: We’re suspending our usual schedule this week in order to participate in the annual UCB Predictions Project. We’ll be back on track next week with our Tuesday edition of Bird Watching (the podcast may or may not go up considering the Easter holiday). Enjoy! I started to treat the NL West as … Continue reading »

A quick reminder: We’re suspending our usual schedule this week in order to participate in the annual UCB Predictions Project. We’ll be back on track next week with our Tuesday edition of Bird Watching (the podcast may or may not go up considering the Easter holiday). Enjoy! It’s time for everyone’s favorite division…the NL CENTRAL!!! … Continue reading »

A quick reminder: We’re suspending our usual schedule this week in order to participate in the annual UCB Predictions Project. We’ll be back on track next week with our Tuesday edition of Bird Watching (the podcast may or may not go up considering the Easter holiday). Enjoy! Today is the day we take a look … Continue reading »

After more than a week off for a family vacation in Florida…we’re back and bloggin’ away. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s time for another United Cardinal Bloggers (UCB) project. This month the UCB’ers take a crack at predicting each division in Major League Baseball for 2013. Today, it’s the entire American League, but the … Continue reading »

Cards N Stuff is proud to announce a partnership with Egraphs, an exciting new way to share a personal moment with your favorite sports superstar. Through Egraphs, you can send a personal message to a player of your choice; then, that player will read your message, record a unique audio response meant just for you, … Continue reading »

Welcome to this week’s installment of Kim’s Stuff. When DeckACards and I were engaged, I discovered a really neat company called Nora Fleming. They sell customizable serving platters, and each platter comes with a small hole for minis. What are minis you ask? They are interchangeable figurines that can be used to dress up your … Continue reading »

The question facing the Cardinals is not only, “Can Pete Kozma fill the void at SS this year?” Instead, the question is, “Do we really believe Kozma can be the SS for the next five years?” If the answer is yes, then by all means, sit and allow him the chance to play and prove … Continue reading »

With the beginning of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) on MLB Network, actual competitive baseball is being played as we speak. Of course, Spring Training still soldiers on, and that means roster intrigue for the Cardinals. So click the play button below and get to listenin’ to 40 minutes of the State of the Nation … Continue reading »

It’s way too early to really know anything in Spring Training, yet. Pitchers destined for AA and AAA are throwing innings against hitters with Major League experience; staff aces are focusing more on fine-tuning pitches than getting hitters out; and hitters lucky enough to get off to a fast start are over-shadowing players that will … Continue reading »

Welcome to this week’s installment of Kim’s Stuff.  One of my favorite parts of the opening day ceremonies has always been watching Stan The Man riding around the stadium with his grandson.  It always brought tears to my eyes knowing that each year it could be his last and with his passing last month it … Continue reading »

It seems Cardinal fans are entertaining themselves with dreams of Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado’s franchise shortstop recently named baseball’s “Best Player” by at least one sports writer. He’s young, he plays a premium position in the field, and he can flat out hit. When he manages to stay in the lineup and log a full season’s … Continue reading »

This week, it’s myself and Jon Doble taking our monthly turn on the UCB Radio Hour. On Wednesday the 27th, listen to us talk Cardinals baseball from 9:30 pm to 10:30 pm on blogtalkradio.com. You can download the episode on iTunes the following day or listen to it live on Wednesday night and join us … Continue reading »

Chris Carpenter’s potential retirement got me thinking, “What would his career have looked like with just half the injuries?” Would he have put together a Hall of Fame (HOF) career on the mound? Considering his ability to squeeze effectiveness out of every so-called healthy season, I have to believe it’s fairly likely. And whenever I … Continue reading »

Welcome to this week’s installment of Kim’s Stuff.  During one of my recent trips to St. Louis we visited the local Pottery Barn Kids store and happened upon the Baseball Bat Corkboard on display.  Don’t let the store name fool you – this item isn’t just for a kids.  I can already see it in … Continue reading »

(It’s Spring Training in Jupiter, and that means it’s time for the annual United Cardinal Bloggers Roundtable! Below is the transcript from Day 2′s question – posed by yours truly – but to view the transcripts for every question, CLICK HERE) The Cardinals’ farm system has finally found the validation it’s been looking for since … Continue reading »

The latest PED-related nightmare revolving around Biogenesis and “The U” in Florida has fans and media asking the question, “What is it going to take to clean up the sport?” Most answers are clearly focused on punitive damages – 50 game suspensions, season-long suspensions, lifetime bans, etc. – or, in other words, business as usual … Continue reading »

Baseball columnist Rob Neyer once mused: “It’s often said that baseball is life, or is like life, or that going to a baseball game is like going to church. Piffle. Baseball is like baseball, and that’s plenty good enough because nothing else is quite like baseball.” Amen. For some reason, the greater American public has … Continue reading »

The 2013 United Cardinal Bloggers (UCB) Annual is an adventurous step for some of the most active and dedicated fans in Cardinal Nation. For years, the UCB has diligently worked to provide you with opinionated, diverse, quality posts and perspectives about St. Louis Cardinals baseball. Through dozens of blogs and Twitter accounts, we cover Redbirds … Continue reading »

No, I did not personally know Stan Musial. Like many of you, I never had the good fortune to meet The Man. But that’s not what this is about. This is about simply becoming aware of Stan “The Man” Musial as a modern-day Cardinals fan. So many members of Cardinal Nation are generational fans. Their … Continue reading »

(Below is a piece I started writing about Shane Robinson after Winter Warm-Up in 2012, after the 2011 season. I was never able to finish it – until now – so all of the dated references apply to nearly a year ago. I still felt it was worth sharing.) It’s been more than a year … Continue reading »

Yesterday, one of our favorite writers – Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch – decided to match up Marvel (and one DC) heroes with our favorite Cardinals players. If you haven’t read his entertaining account, CLICK HERE. His efforts inspired us. So, we’ve pieced together a Marvel Villains lineup with Cincinnati Reds players. For a fun … Continue reading »

As I entered the Hyatt, all-together too early but much too excited to stay away any longer, the first signs of Winter Warm-Up were immediately apparent. Cardinal fans stood in the lobby at least an hour before the first scheduled signing of the day. A multitude of placards and posters directed traffic through the plush … Continue reading »

The All-Star Game could matter again…if we really want it to matter. But fixing it would require multiple changes – not only to the ASG itself, but to the general approach to the NL and AL conundrum within Major League Baseball. Of course, by “fix it”, we mean making the ASG relevant enough to players that we get the … Continue reading »

The hot topic right now is the so-called “arrogance” of Major League Baseball (MLB) umpires. Jim Leyland has come out criticizing the umpire handling practices of MLB, and now the discussion is escalating. Umpires are just flat-out taking a beating in the media. But what, exactly, is the problem? How does a “professional” umpire differ from … Continue reading »

As bloggers, we spend a lot of time writing about players, coaches, and the sport in general – but much of what we do is informed, influenced, or simply colored by what we read through the major Cardinals media outlets. The St. Louis Post Dispatch is a favorite of mine. The Globe Democrat seems to … Continue reading »