Sep. 29, 2007 - K.B.'s Daily (I wish) St. Louis Cardinals report

Okay, so during my “Homers” series (see www.homeschoolblogger.com/kbsbaseballblog for it) I failed to report about the Cardinals. So here’s a recap of what has been going on:

On Tuesday, the Cards dropped their second striat to the Brewers, 1-9.
On Wednesday, the Cardinals got revenge on Milwaukee by outscoring them 7-3.
On Thursday, they made it 2 in a row with a shutout against the Mets, the first shutout since August 28th.
Yesterday, they won the 3rd game in a row for the first time since September 3rd, by beating the Pirates 6-1.

Well, there you have it.

Also, this is how the winners of the division look right now:

AL EAST: Boston Redsox
AL CENTRAL: Cleveland Indians
AL WEST: Las Angeles Angels

NL EAST: Philadelphia Phillies-New York Mets
NL CENTRAL: Chicago Cubs
NL WEST: Arizona Diamondbacks-San Diego Padres

AL WILD CARD: New York Yankees
NL WILD CARD: TBD

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Sep. 16, 2007 - 2000, 500 and number 3 this year.

As Jim Thome of the Chicago White Sox found out he was in the starting lineup of today's game, he knew it was a special one, because it was his 2000th.  But what he did not know was that it would be even better as he hit a game winning homerun in the 9th inning.  All of his teammates met him at home plate, and even his wife and father came out on the field as well. So why all the rejoicing? bcause this homerun was not just any game winning homerun, it was his 500th.  And he became only the 23rd person in MLB history to reach this feat.

Alex Rodriguez also reached this feat this year on August 4th becoming what was the 22nd member of the 500 homeruns club. And before that, on June 28th, the 21st member, Frank Thomas joined the club as well.

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Sep. 13, 2007 - Not Fair

So one thing that has kind of irritated me lately is the Roberto Clemente award.  The Roberto Clemente Award is given annually to a player who demonstrates the values Clemente displayed in his commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others. Each club nominates a player in September. The winner is selected from 30 nominees during the World Series. But for the first time this year, fans like you and me are able to vote.

This has been getting on me because the really popular players like David Ortiz will get a ton of votes just because they are popular. Even if that player is the most deserving, its still not fair to the other nominees.

How many people here have ever heard of Jamie Walker? Well, Walker does his charitable work with military veterans and underprivileged children, and most of it revolves around baseball. He donates money to the U.S. Army Emergency Relief Fund, and has a luxury box at Camden Yards with the sole intention of hosting soldiers who have come back from war and want to get away from their reality for a few hours.

Now, since few people have heard of him at all, he will not get a lot of votes no matter what he does for his community. This is why I DO NOT like the way the voting process is this year. The award itself is very respectable but its hard when to respect win the person who wins isn't the winner.

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Sep. 11, 2007 - K.B's Daily St. Louis Cardinal Report

On a cold, rainy, August 18th night in Chicago, the Cardinals were scheduled to play the Cubs. But because of the weather, the game was canceled. The game re-scheduled for September 10th, better known as, yesterday. 

It was quite a crucial game considering that they were 3 games out in the central division behind Milwaukee and Chicago. But, considering that they were playing without rest, in Wrigley Field and a lot of their most important players injured, a chance of win was slim. The odds were better for Chicago and they took that opportunity by scoring a run in the 1st. So the Cardinals were down 0-1. But it didn’t stay that way for long as Jim Edmonds hit a solo shot to left field to tie the game. It stayed like that for until the bottom of the 4th when things went drastically wrong for the Cardinals. The Cubs scored 5 runs that inning and another run in the 5th. So the Cardinals were down 7-1. In the top of the 6th, the Cardinals scored off of So Taguchi’s 2-run-homerun. But that didn’t really help as Chicago still had a 3-7 lead and that lead increased to 11-3 after they scored 4 more in the 7th and 1 more in the 8th to make it 12-3. It stayed like that in the 9th. So Cardinals lose, 12-3.

Cardinals starter Joel Piniero only lasted 3.1 innings and allowed 8 hits and 6 runs. Andy Cavazos pitched in relief for 0.2 hitless innings. Brian Falkenborg pitched an inning and allowed 2 hits and a run. Kelvin Jimenez pitched 2 innings and allowed 3 hits and 1 runs. Mike Maroth probably did the worst as he allowed 4 hits and 4 runs in 1 inning. Piniero gets his 4th loss of the year.

The Cardinals were only able to get a poor total of 5 hits. Aaron Miles and Albert Pujols each had a hit. Jim Edmonds had a hit, a homerun. And So Taguchi had a hit, a two-run-homerun.

Today, the Cardinals start a new series against the Cincinnati Reds at 6:10 CT. Mark Mulder (0-1 13.50 ERA) will make his second start of the year, and Matt Beslisle (7-8 5.44 ERA) for the Reds.

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Sep. 10, 2007 - K.B's Daily St. Louis Cardinal Report

Okay, so the Cardinals have made me really mad the last to games and thats why i haven't written about them in a couple of days.

On Saturday, they lost to Arizona 8-9 after having a 7-3 lead at one point.

Yesterday, they lost to Arizona again and at one point had a 4-2 lead.

Now you see why I'm mad?

They play a make-up game at 2:20 against the Chicago Cubs. Joel Piniero (5-3 4.28 ERA) will start for the Cards and Ted Lilly (14-7 3.85 ERA) for the Cubs.

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Sep. 8, 2007 - K.B.'s Daily St. Louis Cardinals report

As the Cardinals headed into yesterday’s game, they knew they were going to play a tough one against the team with the 2nd best record in the NL, the Arizona Diamondbacks. They were also facing the 2006 Cy Young, Brandon Webb, so they needed to score some runs if they wanted to win. The Cardinals had a single and a walk in the 1st inning but were unable to run it into any runs. The Diamonds backs in the 1st had a reached base on a error and a single but like the Cardinals, they did no score. In the bottom of the first, Arizona scored a run, putting the Cardinals behind. But in the 4th, Jim Edmonds hit his 10th homerun of the year, tying the game. And in the 6th, Aaron Miles scored off of Albert Pujols’ RBI single. So the Cardinals had the lead. But bad for the Cardinals, Arizona scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 6th, meaning that the score was 2-3, Arizona. The Cardinals had a hit in the 7th, 8th and 9th, but was not enough for the Cardinals to score. Arizona had scored in the 8th off of Tony Clark’s homerun. So the Cardinals lost 42-4.

Cardinals start Adam Wainwright had a very respectable start as he went 6th innings on 6 hits and 3 runs, and 2 earned. Tyler Johnson pitched the 7th perfectly. Ryan Franklin pitched the 8th and had trouble as he allowed a homerun to Tony Clark. Wainwright gets his 10th loss of the year.

Offense was not great as the Cardinals only had 7 hits.  Rick Ankiel had a hit. Albert Pujols had 2 hits and RBI. Jim Edmonds went 1 for 3 with a homerun and a walk. The #9 man, Aaron Miles, went 2 for 4 with an RBI.

Today the Cardinals will play Arizona again at 8:40 CT. Braden Looper (12-10 4.45 ERA) will start for the Cards and Micah Owings (6-8 4.75 ERA) for the D-backs.

K.B. is a reporter and founder of the IABW.
The IABW and all its contents is a Copyrighted by the Members of the IABW.

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Sep. 7, 2007 - K.B.'s Daily St. Louis Cardinals report

Yesterday, the Cardinals were heading into the final game of the series against the last place Pirates. They were 1-2 in the series and games out of the Central Division. Mike Maroth was making his first start since coming off the DL. And in his first inning he pitched, thing did not go very well as he allowed 2 hits and a walk but was able to keep the Pirate4s from scoring. But the Cardinals came out with the-bats-a-bursting as Chris Duncan and Yadier Molina each singled in a run. In the top of the 2nd, Maroth allowed 4 more hits and 2 runs. And with two outs in the inning, he was pulled for Kelvin Jimenez, and he finished the inning without allowing anymore runs. So the Cardinals were down a run, until Rick Ankiel hit a 2 run shot to give the Cardinals the lead. In the top of the 4th, the Pirates scored another run to take the lead, so the Cardinals needed to score some runs.  And they did off of Albert Pujols’ and Ryan Ludwick’s RBI singles. But they didn’t stop there. In the 5th, The Cardinals scored off of a wild pitch, David Eckstein’s RBI single, Rick Ankiel’s second 2 run homerun of the night, and Miguel Cairo’s RBI single to make it a total of 5 runs scored in the inning and make the score 9-3. But thing kept getting better as they scored 4 more runs in the 6th inning off of Rick Ankiel’s 2 run double, So Taguchi’s single, and Aaron miles ground out. So the Cardinals had a 16-3 lead. The Pirates scored a run in the 8th but it didn’t matter because they were still winning by 12 runs. After the bottom of the 8th, it started raining and since the Cardinals were winning so badly, the game was called after 8 innings. The Cardinals had a 16-4 victory and moved within 1 game of the Central Division.

Cardinals starter mike Maroth was roughed up in the 1.2 innings he pitched. He allowed 6 hits and 4 runs in those innings. Kelvin Jimenez came in for a 0.1 inning and did it perfectly. Troy Percival pitched 2 innings and allowed 2 hits and 1 run. Russ Springer pitched an inning with a hit. Randy Flores also pitched an inning but did not allow a hit. Anthony Reyes pitched 2 the 7th and 8th innings and let up 2 hits and a run. Jimenez gets the win, his 2nd of the year, after pitching 0.1 innings

The Cardinals had a new season high as they had 22 hits. Leadoff man David Eckstein went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and a RBI. Albert Pujols and Ryan Ludwick each went 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and a RBI. Aaron Miles went 3 for 5 with a run scored and RBI. #9 batter, Brendan Ryan went 3 for 5 with 3 runs scored. And the player off the night was Rick Ankiel as he went 3 for 4 with 2 homeruns, a double, 4 runs scored and 7 RBIs!

The Cardinals will start a new series against the team with the 2nd best record in the NL, the Arizona Diamondbacks, at 8:40 CT. Adam Wainwright (13-9 3.78 ERA) wil start for the Cards and the 2006 Cy Young winner, Brandon Webb (14-10 2.91 ERA) for the D-backs.   

K.B. is a reporter and founder of the IABW.

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Aug. 29, 2007 - K.B.'s Daily St. Louis Cardinals report

Yesterday, the Cardinals started a new series against the Astros, a rival team. To make things more interesting, it was the Astros first game after letting former manager Phil Garner go. And to make thing even more interesting, the Cardinals were facing their former team, Woody Williams on the mound. The game got started off well for the Cardinals as Chris Duncan hit a three-run-homerun in the 1st to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. And in the 2nd, Aaron Miles doubled in Yadier Molina to give the Cardinals 4-0. But it did not stop there. In the 5th, Rick Ankiel and Albert Pujols each singled and Jim Edmonds walked. Chris Duncan singled in Ankiel and Scott Rolen singled in Pujols to extend the lead to 6-0. And in the 6th, Rick Ankiel doubled in Aaron Miles. The Cardinals pitching was excellent, as they did not allowe a run in the game to give the Cardinals 7-0 lead.

Cardinals starter Braden Looper pitched 7 great innings and only allowed 4 hits. Russ Springer pitched the 8th inning and did it hitless. And Troy Percival allowed to hits in the 9th but was able to secure the win. Looper gets the win, his 11th.

The Cardinals were able to bang out a total of 16 hits. Rick Ankiel went 3-5 with 2 runs scored and a RBI. Albert Pujols went 3 for 5 with a run scored. Chris Duncan went 3 for 5 with a run scored and 4 RBIs. Yadier Molina went 2 for 5 with a run scored. And #9 hitter, Aaron Miles, went 2 for 4 with run scored and a RBI.  

Today the Cardinals will try to repeat what they did yesterday against the Astros at 7:05 CT. Kip Wells (6-14 5.41 ERA) will start for the Cards and Roy Oswalt (13-6 3.33 ERA) for the ‘stros.

K.B.is a reporter and founder of the IABW.

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Aug. 27, 2007 - Trivia:

Who is the all-time stolen base and caught stealing leader?

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Aug. 25, 2007 - "Who is the Greatest homerun hitter of all-time? Part 6

“Who is the greatest homerun hitter of all-time?”

I have heard many people ask this question and I’ve also heard lots of different answers. Its understandable that there is some debate. There have been over 15,000+ players in the majors. Most people would answer either Babe Ruth, who had 712 homeruns, Hank Aaron, who had 755 homeruns, or Barry Bonds, who has the record with 758 (subject to change).

To answer this question, I’m not going to look at all 15,000+ players, just the 22 in the 500-homerun club and maybe a few below such as Lou Gehrig and Stan Musial. I’m going to look at who is the greatest homerun hitter of all time –not the most consistent or fast.

Okay, so this time I’m going to look at the Say Hey kid, Willie Mays. Mays was famous for 2 things. His incredible defense and his powerful hitting. Mays played for 23 seasons and had 660 homeruns in 10,881 at-bats. That’s a lot of homeruns, but that’s also a lot of at-bats. He hit over 50 homeruns twice in his career, which was at the time unheard of. Mays has a pretty good argument as the greatest but lets look at that number of at-bats again, 10,881. Now if a lot of great homerun hitters had that many at-bats, they could have a lot more homeruns. Say if Babe Ruth had that many and he hit a homerun in every 10 at-bats, that’s 1088 homeruns. So that number obviously takes away his chance at being the greatest. Never the less, he was a great homerun hitter and maybe the first great African-American homerun hitter. 

K.B. is a reporter and founder of the IABW.

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Aug. 25, 2007 - K.B's Daily St. Louis Cardinal Report

In the Cardinals first game of the series against the Braves, there was something unexpected, rain. The rain delayed the started of the game 72 minutes. But when the game got started, the Cardinals might have been better off with it raining. In the 3rd the Braves scored 2 runs, but so did the Cardinals as they scored 2 off of a Chris Duncan double. But thing got drastically worse for the Cardinals as the Braves scored 5 runs in the 4th. And this time, the Cardinals did not come back in the bottom half of the inning. After that, there was… really nothing except fabulous pitching by both teams. Nether team let up a run, which sounds like the Cardinals pitching did good, but it also meant they lost. Atlanta wins 7-2.

Cardinals starter Kip Wells did not hK.B. is a reporter and founder fave a good outing as he allowed 8 hits and 7 runs in the 4 innings he pitched. But like I said, the rest of the Cardinals pitching did great. Todd Wellemeyer came back from the DL and pitched a hitless inning.  Troy Percival pitched 2 innings and only allowed a hit. Tyler Johnson and Russ Springer each pitched an inning hitless too. Wells gets his 14th loss of the year.

Cardinals offense did not seem to like the Braves pitching as they only had a total of 6 hits. Leadoff man David Eckstein went 1 for 3 with a run scored. Chris Duncan went 1 for 4 with 2 RBIs. Pitcher Kip Wells went 1 for 1 with a run scored.

Today the Cardinals will try to get revenge on the Braves at 6:15 CT. Joel Piniero (4-2 4.34 ERA) will start for the Cardinals and Tim Hudson (15-5 3.07 ERA) for the Braves.    

K.B. is a reporter and founder of the IABW,

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Aug. 21, 2007 - K.B's Daily St. Louis Cardinal Report

After losing two games to their rival team, the Chicago Cubs, and a rain delay the day before, it was time for the Cardinals to get back on track. It was yesterday that they played the final game of the series against the Cubs. The Cardinals started off good with Scott Rolen’s 2-RBI double in the first. And apparently the Cubs didn’t like that as they came back in the 2nd with back-to-back homeruns to tie the game 2-2. But the Cardinal aslo came back as they scored 2 more in the 3rd off another double by Scott Rolen. But once again, (can you guess what happened?) the Cubs came back with a run in the bottom of the 3rf but the Cardinals still had the lead, 4-3, and they were sure now not to loose it again.  In the 5th, Albert Pujols hit his 28th homerun of the year making the score 5-3. But to follow that up, Derrick Lee hit a homerun to make the score 4-5. But in the 7th, Rick Ankiel made the game all worth it as he hit his 4th homerun f the year. The score was 6-4 and the Cardinals pitching held the Cubs for the rest of the game as they win and are now only 3 games behind in the central division.

Cardinals starter Joel Piniero didn’t have his best outing of the year but it was good enough. He went 5 innings on 7 hits and 3 runs. Troy Percival pitched 0.1 innings and allowed a hit –but that hit was a homerun. Randy Flores came in allowed a hit but did not record an out. Ryan Franklin came in for 1.2 innings and did all of it hitless. Jason Isringhausen came in to close the game done and did in the 2 innings he pitched and which allowed 1 hit. Piniero gets his 4th win and Izzy gets his 23 save.

Hitting was not incredible as the Cardinals only had 8 hits total. Rick Ankiel had another career night as he went 2 for 5 with a double, a run scored and a RBI. Albert Pujols went 1 for 3 with a homerun, 2 runs scored, a RBI and 2 walks. Scott Rolen went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs.

Today the Cardinals will start a bew series against the Florida Marlins at 7;10 CT. Adam Wainwright (11-9 4.01 ERA) will start for the Cards and Daniel Barone (0-1 6.23 ERA) for the Fish.  

K.B. is a reporter and founder of the IABW.

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Aug. 20, 2007 - K.B's One day late St. Louis Cardinal Report

On a dark, rainy after noon at Wrigley Field in Chicago, or like the broadcaster said ”Its like something from Edgar Allen Poe”, the Cardinals were playing the Cubs. The game didn’t start all that great for either team as there was a hour rain delay. Things did’t get much better for The Cardinals as Darryl Ward hit a grand slam for the Cubs in the 3rd inning and ended up scoring a total of 5 runs in the inning. The Cardinals tried to make a comeback as Juan Encarnacion hit a homerun in the 4th. And in the 5th offof a Brendad Ryan homerun. The Cardinals could have scored more that inning but there was a very disputable call at home plate when Albert Pujols slid in and umpire Ted Barrett called him out. In the 8th, the Cardinals got even closer to the lead as Albert Pujols hit his 27th homerun off the year. But then, the rain came back again. The Game started back up after a 65 minute rain delay. But the wait was wasted for the Cardinals as they were unable to score any more runs. Cardinals loose 5-3 and are now 4 games behind in the central division.

Cardinals starter Anthony Reyeys pitched well except that grand slam in the 3rd. He went 6 innings on 4 hits and 5 runs. Brad Thompson and Troy Percival each pitched an inning of relief hitless. Reyes gets his 12th loss.

Offense was for the second game in a row, rather poor –or maybe just unproductive. They did have twice as many hits as the Cubs with 8. Albert Pujols and Juan Encarnacion each went 2 for 3 with a homerun and a walk. And #9 batter, Brendad Ryan, went 2 for 4 with a homerun also.

K>B. is a reporter and founder of the IABW

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Aug. 18, 2007 - K.B.'s Daily St. Louis Cardinals report

Yesterday, the Cardinals the first game of the four game series against the rival Cubs. The game was important because the Cardinals were 2.5 games behind in the Central division. The starting pitchers, Braden Looper for the Cardinals and Rich Hill for the Cubs, each were able to keep the other team from scoring heading into the 6th inning. The Cardinals had David Eckstein leading the inning off be he go out. Ryan Ludwick was next but he got out also. It was Albert Pujols’ turn and on the 7th pitch of the at-bat, he sent a ball over the left-center wall, his 26th of the year. In the bottem of the 6th, with a runner on base, Jacque Jones hit a ball to almost the exact same spot Pujols did to give the Cubs a 2-1. The Cardinals pitching held out for the rest off the game without leting up a runner, but, to the dismay of the Cardinals, the cubs pitching did also. The Cubs win 2-1. The Cardinals are now 3 games behind in the central division.

Cardinals pitching was once again good. Starter Braden Looper pitched 6 innings on a very honorable 4 hits and 2 runs. Randy Flores and Russ Springer each came in to pitch an inning and did it hitless. Looper looses his 10th game on the season and is now 10-10.

The Cardinals hitting was, for the first time in almost a week, not all that great. They only had a total of 4 hits, and 2 of those were by Albert Pujols. Pujols of course had that homerun. Leadoff man, David Eckstein, and #9 batter, Brendan Ryan was the only other Cardinal players to have a hit.

Today the Cardinals will try to take revenge on the rival Cubs at 2:55 CT. Anthony Reyes (2-11 5.48 ERA) will start for the Cardinals and Sean Marshall (5-6 4.25 ERA) for the Cubbies. 

K.B. is a reporter and founder of the IABW

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Aug. 17, 2007 - "Who is the Greatest homerun hitter of all-time? Part 4

“Who is the greatest homerun hitter of all-time?”

I have heard many people ask this question and I’ve also heard lots of different answers. Its understandable that there is some debate. There have been over 15,000+ players in the majors. Most people would answer either Babe Ruth, who had 712 homeruns, Hank Aaron, who had 755 homeruns, or Barry Bonds, who has the record with 758 (subject to change).

To answer this question, I’m not going to look at all 15,000+ players, just the 22 in the 500-homerun club and maybe a few below such as Lou Gehrig ans Stan Musial. I’m going to look at who is the greatest homerun hitter of all time –not the most consistent or fast.

So what about Gehrig and Musial? Lets start with Musial. Musial was a for-sure hall of famer with great power but was he the greatest? Musial played 22 seasons, all with the St. Louis Cardinals. Now in 22 seasons you can play a lot of games and if you play a lot of games, you can have a lot of at-bats, which Musial did. He had 10,972 at bats, 9th all-time. In those at-bats, he had a total 475 homeruns –which is not an incredible total but is very honorable. If you do the math, that’s a homerun in every 16.84 at bats, which again, is not incredible. So Musial isn’t the greatest but is a honorable hitter.

Now Gehrig is one of the most beloved players of all time. He was famous for his crowd recognition and having what is called “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” or other known as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). But he was just as well known for playing 1st base for the New York Yankees along side Babe Ruth. He was defiantly a great homerun hitter as well. He hit 493 homeruns in 8,001 at-bats. Gerhig could have hit more homeruns if he had more at bats and he could have had more at-bats if he didn’t have to retire 2 days after his 36th birthday. Lets just say he did play 5 more seasons. He was still hitting 30 homeruns a season when he was healthy so lets just say he could have had 150 more homeruns, which is a total of 643 which would also be 5th on the all-time homerun list. So was ge the greatest? Its hard to say but he would be in the race. But sadly, he died when he was 37 and nobody really knows if he would have been able to hit those 150 homeruns so I can not say he is the greatest.

So who is? I don’t know yet but keep reading this month to find out. Next time I’ll look at the “BIG MAC” himself and break down stats and 1998 season.

K.B. is a reporter and founder of the IABW.

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Aug. 9, 2007 - K.B.: A Promise

Back in 1999, the St. Louis Cardinals called up to the Majors a promising young pitcher named Rick Ankiel.

That pitcher came up and did incredible for a kid of his age but 3 years later, he had to undergo Tommy John surgery on his left elbow, missing the 2002 and 2003 season. And After a disappointing 2004 season, Ankiel called it quits, not as a player, but as a pitcher. He announced on March 9th, 2005 that he was retiring from pitching. He played in 2005 for the first time as an outfielder. He missed the 2006 season due to left-knee-surgery. This year, after a powerful season in AAA Memphis, hitting 32 homeruns, he has been recalled back to Major League Baseball by the Cardinals. He is scheduled to be in the starting lineup for the Cardinals tonight.

Ankiel, 28, posted a 11-7 record with a 3.50 ERA as a starter for the Cardinals in 2001. This year with Memphis, he is hitting .267 with 32 homeruns and 89 RBI in 108 games.

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Aug. 9, 2007 - K.B.'s Daily St. Louis Cardinals Report

The Cardinals had a tough game set before them yesterday when they had to face Greg Maddux on the mound for the Padres. And they did have a tough time hitting throughout the whole game -but so did the Padres. Cardinals starter Kip Wells had one of the best game this year on the mound. The Padres scored early with a run in the top of the 1st. But the Cardinals came back with 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st. And that was all they needed to win the game.  Neither team scored again to give the Cardinals a 2-1 hard fought win.

Cardinals starter Kip Wells as you know did great. He went 7 innings on  6 hits and a run. Randy Flores came in to pitch but allowed a hit and did not record an out. Ryan Franklin came in to help out that inning and finished it hitless. Jason Isringhausen came in to close the game and did it successfully. Wells earns his 5th win of the year and Izzy gets his 22 save.

The hitting was just barely enough for the Cardinals. They only had a total of 6 hits. Leadoff man David Eckstein had probably the best night offensively. he went 2 for 4 with a run scored   Juan Encarnacion doubled in a run and scored himself. And Albert Pujols, who only had 1 hit the entire game, had an RBI.

Today the Cardinals will finish up the series against the Padres. Joel Piniero (1-2 5.31 ERA) will start for the Cardinals and Chris Young (9-3 1.82 ERA) for the Padres.   

K.B. is a report and founder of the IABW

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Aug. 8, 2007 - K.B.: A new champ.

On the warm summer evening of September 13th, Hank Aaron swatted a homerun off of pitcher Jerry Ruess. Aaron trotted around the bases like any other homerun. But it wasn’t. It was the homerun that broke the record of most career homeruns, previously held by the Great George Herman "Babe" Ruth. Some of the fans liked it and some didn’t. Aaron even had to be escorted out of the ballpark for safety.

Fast-forward 33 years. The greats of the past, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, and others had all faded away. New players, such as Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, and Miguel Cabrera had taken their spots on the field and in stardom. One specific player though went all out this year. Barry Bonds.

Bonds at the beginning of his 22^nd season this year had 734 homeruns, 22 shy off Hamerin’ Hanks record of 755. Bonds hit #754 on July 27^th and #755 off pitcher Clay Hensley. Three days later, against the Washington Nationals in the 1^st inning at AT&T park in San Francisco, Bonds stepped up to the plate with Mike Bacsik pitching. Bonds hit a deep ball to center field but it did not go out. It was a double. Bonds would have to wait until the next at-bat to try again.

In the 5^th inning, with Bacsik still pitching, Bonds came in for his second at-bat. First pitch, ball 1. Second pitch, ball 2. It looked like Bacsik might walk Bonds. Pitch three, barely a strike on the outside corner. Pitch four, fouled off. Pitch five, ball 3. Pitch six, outside and would have been ball four but Bonds fouled it off to stay alive. Pitch seven, barely in side the strike zone and just barely reachable to Bonds who swung and launched the ball to deep center. The croud was on its feet before the ball left the bat, cheering wildly. The ball landed in 435 feet away from home plate. Fans started fighting over the ball like it was buried treasure. Matt Muphy ended up with the ball but hurried quickly out of the stadium without talking to anyone. Bonds smiled and skipped around the bases. When he came to home plate, he greeted by all his teammates. But that wasn’t all who greeted him. On the digital scoreboard in center field, Hammerin’ Hank himself congratulated Bonds on his milestone.

New homerun champ –Barry Bonds.

Keep reading because later on this week I will search and try to give an answer to the question "Who is the greatest homerun hitter of all-time?"

K.B. is a reporter and founder of the IBAW

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Aug. 7, 2007 - K.B.'s Daily St. Louis Cardinal Report

"Good pitching will always stop good hitting and vice-versa." –Casey Stangle

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Aug. 6, 2007 - K.B.'s Daily St. Louis Cardinal Report

Yesterday, the Cardinals played against the Washington Nationals down 0-2 in the series. In the beginning, it was a close game. Both teams scored a run in the 2^nd, but the Nationals scored a duo in the 3^rd. But the Cardinals came back with a run in the 4^th and 5^th. Then no scoring happened for a couple innings. The Nationals untied the game by scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 8^th. So the Cardinals had 3 shots left to win the game. And they discharged all those shots. The Nationals won 6-3, meaning the Cardinals get swept.

Pitching was a little different than the day before. No position player pitched and the pitching was much better overall. Starter Adam Wainwright pitched 7 great innings on 8 hits, 3 runs and 7 strikeouts. But Ryan Franklin had his worst outing of the year in inning he pitched. He allowed 4 hits and 3 runs and picked up his 2 loss of the year.

Well, the Cardinals didn’t score offense in the most usual way. The first cardinal run came off a Ryan ludwick homer. In the 4^th inning, pitcher Adam Wainwright helped himself b hitting his second career homerun. The run in the 5^th came on a Jim Edmonds double. Alltogeth, Edmonds went 2 for 3 with a that double and RBI. Albert pujols went 2 for 4 with a run scored. And Scott Speizoi went 1 for 3 with a walk.

Today the Cardinals will start a new series against the Padres at 6:05 CT. Braden Looper (8-9 5.23 ERA) will start for the Cards and David Wells (5-7 5.18 ERA) for the Friars.

Also, Mike Maroth was place on the DL and reliever Tyler Johnson  has          

been taken off.                                                                                            Tyler Johnson 

K.B. is a reporter and founder of the IABW

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