John M. Mowrey

REAL Men

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This is simply the greatest, most resilient team of men I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing compete in a professional organized sport.  This isn’t hyperbole or empty campaign speak from a desperate incumbent, this is the truth.  I’ve been lucky to watch the “Whitey-ball” Cardinals of the 80’s, the Rams of the early millennium and the dominant “MV3” lineup of the mid 2000’s....

Fumble

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Well, all that shiny optimism I had going into the All-Star break was burst quicker than that “hope and change” a lot of you signed up for just 4-years ago.  Nothing would’ve been better than to hand Dusty Baker and his big mouth a series loss right out of the 2^nd-half gates just as a little punch in the gut from ex-skipper, Tony La Russa, after Baker’s comments regarding his All-Star selections....

Hesitant Hoorah

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Guess who’s back?  No, not the Cardinals, Jon Jay or the hitting stroke of Rafael Furcal and Matt Holliday.  After a week away from late-night keyboard pounding, your favorite writer has returned for “Fifty Shades” of baseball banter.  No, you won’t find whips and lacy undergarments on these pages, but jockstraps and bats are in abundance.  And if you all would bother to spread word of my (self-perceived) brilliance, perhaps I’d have more time to write instead of toiling away at the “real job” to pay the bills around here....

Jack

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The Cardinals obviously jumped on zero momentum attained after their big series win against the White Sox and quickly resorted to what has become form of late.  They crapped the bed against the Kansas City Royals and wasted another 2-solid starting pitching performances by Adam Wainwright and Kyle Lohse.

The offense was as dormant again as my desire to write a column about it.  That being said, and with this being the 10^th-anniversary of the death of legendary Cardinals announcer, Jack Buck, I bring you a KMFP-oem of mine that ran in the Post-Dispatch that weekend in the memory of a great man and a great St....

Birds Of Many Feathers

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Interleague play kicked off exactly how, unfortunately, I thought it would.  And things won’t potentially get any better with the White Sox looming for the next 3-games.  Sure, Kansas City follows and, like with Houston, it may be enough to ease the concerns of some folk, but I fear this season is now leaning toward being more back and forth than Obama’s rhetoric and my team confidence.

Sure, they tease us with 26-runs in a series against the lowly Astros, but look, you can take that 1-hot broad to the homecoming dance because your mothers work together and hers made her go, but let’s face it, by the time prom rolls around, you’ll be taking one of the trolls you were always meant to be....

This Is Painful

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Wow, a little saving grace I suppose.  Allen “never trust a man with 2-names” Craig comes to the rescue again and hopefully stops the bleeding.  Prior to that win, the Cardinals lost 5-in a row, dipped into third place in the division and fell to .500 on the year.  Through 54-games last year, they were 32-22 and thought to be rolling.  This is scary.

The weekend in New York could’ve been subtitled the same as my high school yearbook picture…”will they ever score”....

"May"-day

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The end of May could not have come sooner.  Today the Cardinals will get their first day off in 20-games, bookended by 2-losses to the Atlanta Braves, even though St. Louis managed to score 7-runs in both of those losses.  Much like a man using a Loofah, this is completely unacceptable.

If indeed “April showers bring May flowers”, than there was nothing but cactus growing around these parts.  After a big April push and a 6-3 start to the month, the rest of May saw our Birds go 7-13 to end the frame and give them a 13-16 record during that span, dropping 1-1/2 games behind the Cincinnati Reds and into 2^nd place in the Central Division....

Back On Track?

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I am back and, hopefully, so are the Cardinals.  While the job that pays my bills and the holiday weekend took me off track, poor pitching, fundamentals and clutch hitting derailed our boys of summer.  My lapses in production can be fixed by the ever-increasing popularity of LockerDome and The Card Room network, combined with your loyal word of mouth.  Those of the Cardinals boil down to pitching.

Adam Wainwright and Lance Lynn have put them back on the winning track for now....