Yes. That that beer and brat are sitting on the Cards dugout.72, sunny and breeze. A Chamber of Commerce day, as they say. A pre-game tailgate brewski and off into the park. Not too much of note yesterday. No Pujols, Molina or Glaus in town, the latter being the a guy I'd like to see swing the bat in person.
Thompson looked pretty good on the mound. Had a rough 3rd but that was in no small part because of a Jimenez brain fart at third when he back up on a ball instead of charging and then instead of making the tag on the runner trying to advance to third or throwing across to first, he instead tossed the ball to second and just missed the force by, oh, 8 to 10 seconds. Then some jackass just behind us started bellowing at La Russa for not coaching that properly. It actually perked up Duncan's ears, who was sitting next to La Russa in a chair on the field. Before I could get the words out of my mouth, the guy next to me said, "Yeah, that was a coaching mistake, but I think we need to go back slap Jimenez' Little League coach." It was even better at the end of the inning when Jimenez came off the field. From third, the natural place to come in is the home plate side of the dugout by La Russa. Jimenez took the circuitous route to the first base side. La Russa was off like a shot in that direction as he entered the dugout. Too funny.
Otherwise, I thought Thompson was ok but he was up in the zone more than he should have been and could have gotten hit more.
If this game was the only thing I knew about Izturis I’d be singing his praises as a signing. A two-RBI rope, a couple of walks and solid at short. Ludwick hit two deep into the alley that may have gotten out on another day without the strong wind knocking it down. Ankiel just seems to effortlessly sting the damned ball. His opposite field double in the alley might have cleared the wall on a calm day and it kind of clunked off the bat. He didn’t even come close to getting good wood on it. It sounded like a short pop-up.
Speaking of pop or lack thereof, the bottom of the lineup was Kennedy, Jiminez, LaRue, Izturis and then back to Schumaker. My how we need a healthy Glaus in that lineup.
Perez was nothing if not exciting* in the 9th. The guys brings serious heat but has no idea where it is going.
*Exciting meaning the result is uncertain and not likely to end well. Think condomless sex with a Port-au-Prince streetwalker.
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Right about now I'm experiencing a strange mixture of envy and rage.