(Get) A Sporting Life

He's outraged that Tony La Russa won't admit to a hectoring reporter he sent Motte out to drill Ryan Braun last night after Pujols nearly got drilled in the head by yet another foot inside pitch by a Brewers pitcher. Of course, La Russa isn't going to admit that. He'd be fined and/or suspended. Duh. The original reporter was a dumb fuck for pushing so hard in attempting to goad La Russa into getting himself in trouble with the league, and Bayliss is just as stupid for expecting La Russa to immolate himself. I also loved when the original hectoring reporter starting whining how La Russa "sent out your hardest thrower!" to hit Braun. I wish La Russa had stopped and asked him of he needed his blanky or his mommy if he was going to cry so.

There will be no Pujols deal. Sounds like Albert got the ten years, but wanted more cash. We haven't played a single game, but the season is lost already. AND, Albert will most likely walk at season's end.

At least potentially : The countdown to Albertageddon has reached its final hours. The build-up yielded some excitement Tuesday night, when SI.com reported that Cardinals management had upped its contract offer to Albert Pujols – to eight years and more than $200 million. Other reporters, including Joe Strauss of the Post-Dispatch, reported that the Cards had extended no such offer – yet. I hate trying to read tea leaves, but that is all the fan has with the negotiations having been placed into super secret agent mode. Not hearing any real news makes it easy for the excitable fan (like me) to fear the worst: Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports: “Baseball is about to get its version of The Decision. Barring a dramatic change, Albert Pujols’ noon deadline Wednesday to work out a contract extension with the St. Louis Cardinals will pass without an agreement. Which turns the next nine months into a frenzy without the histrionics of LeBron James’ free agency but with every bit the far-reaching impli...

This could be interpreted in a good way for Cards's fans: Cardinals, Pujols extend contract deadline The St. Louis Cardinals and representatives for Albert Pujols(notes) have agreed to a 24-hour extension to reach a new contract out of respect for Stan Musial. The Cardinals Hall of Famer will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in Washington on Tuesday and general manager John Mozeliak said Monday the club did not want to distract from Musial's special day. Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and Mozeliak will accompany the 90-year-old Musial to Washington. Pujols' agent, Dan Lozano, originally set a Tuesday deadline, the first workout day for pitchers and catchers in Jupiter, Fla. Mozeliak said the new deadline is noon ET Wednesday. It sounds like they didn't want the news of a new deal for Pujols to compete with, and more than likely overwhelm, Stan the Man's big day in Washington. Or is that just wishful thinking?

I know it is a scary proposition, but I believe the Cards should give Albert a 10 year deal. However, the deal has to make financial sense for the team in 2018-2022. Here is how I would break it down: Year: Salary: Running Total: 2012 - $35m - $35m 2013 - $35m - $70m 2014- $25m - $95m 2015- $25m - $120m 2016- $20m - $140m 2017- $18m - $158m 2018- $16m - $174m 2019- $14m - $188m 2020- $12m - $200m 2021- $10m - $210m If something like that isn't good enough... well, it makes being a fan of any team not named New York or Boston an exercise in futility to the point of being retarded.

Albert has just hit his league leading 40th and 41st home runs of the year. Just imagine what he could do if he didn't have a bum ankle. Scary.

...I know the Cards are playing great baseball these days. The pitching has been lights out. They are still hitting well since Holliday showed up. They are still catching the ball. I know we have caught the Dodgers for the best record in the NL. I know it. I know it. It's damn fun. (As I type this the Cards have the bases loaded with Albert up in the 7th, down 4-2. But, no! He grounds out! IS that allowed?)

Watch out Collinsville...uh, I mean St. Louis *wink*... here comes Albert : National League MVP Albert Pujols is trying to bring Major League Soccer to St. Louis. St. Louis Soccer United announced Tuesday that the Cardinals first baseman has joined the proposed ownership group, which is committed to bringing an MLS expansion franchise to the area in 2011. The announcement came one day after Pujols was named the MVP for second time in four years. “I am very proud and excited to join the effort to bring Major League Soccer to the St. Louis area,” Pujols said. “This means a lot to me and my family, as we all love soccer and we believe in MLS. “This is something that will be great for our community, especially our youth. I strongly encourage St. Louis business leaders and sports fans to join me in this effort. St. Louis is an unbelievable sports town and we’ll be a great city for Major League Soccer.” Ha! Take that Miami and Portland! What you got, eh? Nothing I tell you...NOTHING. Because...

Well, well...look at what we have here: Pujols NL MVP The National League's best player has also been named its most valuable. Albert Pujols' magnificent season earned him his second NL Most Valuable Player Award. Pujols finished ahead of Philadelphia's Ryan Howard, who beat him out by a narrow margin to win the 2006 MVP. Pujols has finished in the top 10 in the voting in every one of his eight Major League seasons, and has been fourth or better seven times. He is the 11th player to win two NL MVP awards. ... Pujols had already been recognized with virtually every other major individual award for which he was eligible. He was named National League or Major League player of the year by the Sporting News, the MLB Players Association and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, as well as NL MVP in Baseball Prospectus' Internet Baseball Awards. In the end, the Baseball Writers' Association of America joined the chorus, choosing not to penalize Pujols for his team's fourt...

It's the 2nd inning of the last game of the season between two teams not going anywhere, and the Reds intentionally walk Pujols. Oh, for crying out loud....grow a pair.

By the sound of it Albert Pujols may have just ruptured his Achilles tendon. For fuck's sake....

This was the headline the Post-Dispatch chose for the game story about Thursday night's assault on the San Diego Padres: "Pujols: 'It did bother me.'" The headline for the same story on Stltoday.com was "Pujols: 'It's tough. It's real tough.'" Let's look past the pronoun 'it,' lonely without any antecedent to claim for its own in either headline. Instead, let us ask ourselves whether the lede of this story should be El Hombre's reaction to his line drive hitting Padre pitcher Chris Young. In the story's third paragraph, we learn that The gruesome aftermath traumatized Pujols, who admitted having little desire for the remaining innings of his team's 11-3 win. And we have to wait until the sixth paragraph to discover Young suffered a fractured and lacerated nose but never lost consciousness. He was assisted from the field and taken by ambulance to a local hospital where he remained overnight. Umm, I'm all for th...

The man's a wrecking ball : It’s hard to imagine things getting worse for the hapless San Diego Padres. They did. One day after reigning NL Cy Young winner Jake Peavy was placed on the disabled list, pitcher Chris Young and catcher Josh Bard sustained injuries that knocked them out of Wednesday night’s 11-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Young and Bard were injured within a span of two batters in the third inning. Young had his nose broken and cut when Albert Pujols lined a shot off his face in the third inning that sent blood streaming down the front of his jersey. Bard sprained his left ankle on a play at the plate when Pujols slid into his leg. “When I hit it, I thought it was going over his head,” Pujols said. “But it hit him right in the face. “There was blood all over the place and I began to pray about it and make sure it was all right.” ... After a few minutes of sitting on the grass, Young walked off holding a bandage on his face with blood on the front of his jersey. “I...

Leo Durocher's Porno Money Shot From a P-D article: At issue is whether Pujols could have slid around Towles instead of through Towles to score Tuesday night. Towles said he gave Pujols "enough of the plate" to get around. The Cardinals didn't see that sliver. They teach the catcher to give a slice of the plate for the runner to slide toward. La Russa contends Pujols did as he was instructed. "I thought Albert did (Towles) a favor by just sliding to take his legs out," he said. "The kid is not giving anything to slide at, so that's what we teach — to slide in and take the legs out. He's going to get blasted one of these days." The talk about slivers and slices and paths to the plate sounds more like a nursery rhyme or James Joyce novel than a baseball discussion. I cannot believe that I've never heard this shit before. I've played a lot of sports at very mediocre levels and a few at abysmal levels, though in fairness most of those i...

It might be easy to look at Albert's numbers (and Sunday's glorious finale) and say he's getting back on track. Despite his struggles, his HR and RBI numbers are good, doubly so if you consider his successful protection of Duncan in the lineup as part of his production. However, it worries me that he only seems to be hitting huge mistakes. What has always blown me away about him is his ability to beat the piss out of pitches that the hurler was trying to make. So many times over the past few years I almost felt sorry for the guy on the mound after Pujols has sent one over the boards or driven a base clearing double into the gap because you know he's sitting out there thinking, "Goddamn it! I just made exactly the pitch I wanted and he STILL sent my ERA trough the roof." That isn't happening this year. His Ks bear this out too, I think. Hopefully, Rolen's resurrection behind him will let him contract his strike zone and get him back to previous form soo...