July 7, 2007

Just another unique day to get married with the other 327,846 couples across the country. Just another day to see Barry Lamar Bonds go 0 for 2 at the plate and watch those lovable loser Cardinals squander another winnable game.

But who is to blame? Is it ownership's tight reins on the finances? Is it management's poor distribution of said finances (I am looking at you Walter Jockety and your signing of replacement level players for more than replacement level wages like Jim Edmonds, So Taguchi, Preston Wilson, and Aaron Miles)? Is it Anthony LaRussa's highly questionable defensive lineups which only complement the utterly anemic offensive abilities of the personnel?

No.

I submit to you that a series of unconnected, but mutually disabling, events coincided in the top of the 7th inning that ultimately led to the demise of the St. Louis Baseball Cardinals on 7/7/07. At the beginning of the inning, the game was tied. By the end, the Giants were up four runs. During the first at bat (Ben Molina AB), Section 132, in blatant and criminal disregard for baseball etiquette, began begging the surrounding sections to engage in The Wave. Yes, The Wave. By the time Rich Aurilia singled Molina to 2nd, The Wave was well on its way to making it fully around the stadium and its heinous effects were clearly visible and growing.

As an avid fan at Dodger Blues articulately fantasizes: "If only the drunk idiots in the bleachers would run back and forth down the aisle stabbing themselves, maybe that could catch on, and true baseball fans could be left to watch the game in peace."

At about this time, Bruce Bochy did all he could to help the Cardinals out by having his number 8 hitter (a professional baseball player, mind you, and 2-2 in the game off Braden Looper who, beyond all logic, was still in the game) sacrifice to advance the runners and bring Mark Patrick Sweeney and his stunning 79 OPS+ to the plate. What does Anthony LaRussa Jr. do at this point? Why he brings in his favorite LOOGy and WPA (Win Probability Added) nightmare, Randy Flores. As Erik at Gas House Graphs astutely points out, "La Russa continued to show his reckless trust in former LOOGy turned pumpkin Randy Flores and it nearly cost the team the game. Flores has an average leverage index of .95, good for third overall (on the team) and yet has a -0.83 (WPA) to show for it, and even worse, a -10.79 BRAA. His strand rate is a terrible 63.3%. Why La Russa continues to call on him during crunch time is beyond me, he needs to be reduced to the swingman role or DFA'd. His continual misguided reliance with him is reminiscent of Ray King, '06."

Yes, Randy Flores has been the worst reliever based on leveraged performance in the first half, but he consistently gets called in in close and late situations against left-handed hitters. Why? Because he is, in fact, left-handed, and this miraculous happenstance is enough to convince LaRussa the he will perform better in a situation than a right-hander who has proved himself otherwise based on actual performance.

I know there are people out there that want me to put at least some of the blame on Aaron Miles and his record-breaking defensive performance of three (3) errors in one (1) inning. I cannot, however, because again as Erik points out, "Getting back to Miles, they need leave him at 2nd if at all possible. His .768 zone rating is 3rd worst out of NL shortstops with 250 more innings. He hasn't been much better at 2nd, but at least he'd be less damaging at that position." Yes folks, placing a poor second baseman at a position that sees 25% more balls hit into its zone will, in fact, damage the defensive integrity of your team. Aaron Miles has DFA written all over him. He is no better than replacement level at hitting, fielding or running and yet Walt Jockety in his infinite wisdom saw fit to give him more money than a replacement level player (Brendan Ryan anyone?). Do not be fooled people, the Cardinals have one of the worst Farm Systems in Major League Baseball. The only reason Brendan Ryan and Ryan Ludwick (and Chris Duncan last year) look good at all is because of the bench players and starters (Edmonds, Eckstein, Molina and Rolen) that the Cardinals have displayed this year. Yes, indeed, only Pujols, Duncan and the hallowed Juan Enc have positive WPA or Batting Runs Above Average on the year out of the assumed starting 8.

In summation, thanks for the loss, Section 132. I hope you got some great pictures of your Wave and can tell all your friends how you duped thousands of strangers into a cult-like ritual all for your perverse pleasure.