wittle guys can do big things too

Ah, David Eckstein. Your shirts are so numerous in Busch Stadium that they rival the prevalence of Rolen and Pujols attire. There’s many reasons you’re a fan favorite, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that you send about fifteen foul balls into the seats each game. You’re living, hustling proof that little guys can do big things too, as evidenced by your four base-reaches tonight. Too bad nobody could score you more than once, as you were one of only two Cardinal runs (other being Reyes, good for 3.1 IP and 5 ER) this sorry evening. I was pretty sure you were going to do something great tonight (after all, I did eat EcksO’s for breakfast today), but the home run and/or walkoff hit I felt coming on just didn’t happen. You sir, are the Sticky Foil Star awardee for the evening with a gold star.

So, about that game. My magic high socks didn’t help Reyes’ cause (see above sorry line plus 3 BB, 1 K, and 3 HR), and I’ll give Dave Duncan some credit for that. I hate recommending that people don’t listen to miscellaneous people who oughta’ know better, but dude, you’ve got to defy management on this one for you & the good of the order. Your two-seamer in combination with everything else isn’t fooling anyone, but when you use the four-seamer and change speeds effectively, you’re awesome. I’m certain you’re not reading this, but I’ll continue to write this in the second person like you are. Either way, you might not be spending more time with St. Louis. Defy Duncan, be the uncooperative one, and go bye-bye in a trade. Pitch with the Duncan prescription and go back to Memphis. Want to stay in the bigs? Use the four-seamer and pitch effectively somewhere.

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how on earth Reyes is expected to mow down major league hitters using a completely different strategy and technique than what he’s been using to mow down minor league hitters. It seems to me that you bring up guys when they’re ready to use what they have in the majors, not change what they have and play extreme trial and error until it works.

I watched Reyes begin his warmups in the bullpen and I just didn’t like the chemistry between him and DD. It seemed like Dunc had laser eyes, making sure he threw the two-seamer and Reyes looked peeved. Think back to you as a child washing dishes with yo’ momma standing over your shoulder to make sure you did it right when you know you’re capable enough to do it. Nothing but subjective interpersonal observations, but that’s the vibe I felt.

Additionally, I’m not sure if the stadium gun was off or what, but Reyes was only hitting 89 consistently on the speed gun (I think once he got to 91) and 74-76 on the low end. I wouldn’t exactly classify that as changing speeds effectively, but whatever. Change of subject. Quickly, quickly…

• Timo in right makes Juan in center look like Jimmy. And at the plate as well. Nothing spells rally-killer quite like Timo Perez. I’m really beginning to think Tony is just playing with us now. It’s a conspiracy! Actually, Juan did look better in center than when I saw him in right.
• I sat next to a lovely out-of-town couple celebrating their 42nd anniversary with a Cards game. They’ve been touring most of the major league parks over the years and they happened to be Cardinal fans who came in to watch and celebrate tonight. I felt bad that they spent their money on this and didn’t get to see Carp’s game last night instead.
• Chris Duncan’s entrance music is kinda obnoxious – Swing
• Hi-ho the dairy-o, the cheese stands alone. Every time I checked, Belliard stood alone in the dugout.

Oh, the seats. They were in the Redbird Club (section 242, behind the Cards dugout), which is cool but not highly recommended if you’re going for the game and not the amenities. There was so much to walk through that after watching 5-10 warmup tosses from Reyes and heading to our seats/food areas (I was weak and overheated, I sold out), we didn’t make it to our seats from the Cardinal bullpen until 2 outs into the first inning. Also, a trip to a dessert stand with the buddy resulted in missing an entire inning plus — back in the good ol’ plebeian seats, I could be back within the half-inning. Good view if you sat up unnaturally straight or if you leaned forward, but if you slouched back at all, you were watching through bars. Can’t complain too much (free season tickets of a friend’s uncle), but it’s indicative of the lovely sight lines even in the more luxurious areas.