LaRussa ripping the creepy Cardinal fandom? I love it!

Then he had a little spat with Al Hrabosky, Cards color man and former reliever.

All this led Aaron Hooks from Cardinals Diaspora and Inside STL to ask “What’s Up with Tony?”

“But in the span of two weeks, LaRussa, already a polarizing figure in St. Louis, has seemingly gone out of his way to piss off just about everyone that cares about this team. Why?”

Read the story for the 3 reasons Hooks thinks LaRussa might be losing it a bit. It might not mean anything, but it sure is fun to read. And it put a smile on my face.

Maybe TLR is feeling the pressure to win. He has the best starter and best hitter going for him. They lead the central. People are starting to expect that the Cardinals will win the division, whether it is fair or not. I’m sure the fans think they should.

“Tejada fits the profile of what the Cardinals are seeking — an offensive deterrent capable of playing multiple positions. The Astros are experiencing financial problems and could part with a player owed $13 million this season. Tejada entered Wednesday leading the NL in batting with a .357 average and 21 doubles. He ranked third in the league with a .354 average against righthanded pitching.”

The Cards have been in an offensive funk of late, but as pointed out in the article, they are still out-hitting the Cubs. Tejada would be an upgrade over either Greene the Cards have at short. Perhaps they are already tired of Khalil, who wasn’t hitting and also had 7 errors in just 29 games before getting hurt. Tejada could play any infield position for the Cards.

They also got some good news regarding slugger Troy Glaus:

“It was encouraging news,” said GM John Mozeliak. “He’s getting his strength back. He’s been cleared to start his throwing program, which will progress into a hitting program probably in the next week or so. The timetable is still quite unknown. It’s probably going to be somewhere between the All-Star Game and August 1 if he were to return.”

Should the heart of their lineup be Pujols, Glaus, Ludwick and Tejada, National League teams should be very concerned.

Came into the series with 1 career home run. Left with 3. Series totals: 5-9, 4 runs, 2 homers, a double, 2 walks, 12 total bases. Welcome to the club. It’s your newest Cub Killer, Brian Barden.

Thursday was a tough game. Duncan, Barden and Khalil Greene homered and Adam Wainwright pitched good enough for the win. Sean Marshall wasn’t awful, but the bullpen did him no favors and the Cards won it 7-4.

Friday was an exciting, back and forth affair. Classic Cubs/Cards game. The Cardinals pounded on Carlos Zambrano, hitting 3 long balls off him and plating 7 runs. He deserved defeat but the Cubs offense saved him. The Cubbies were down 7-5 going into the bottom of the 8th. They scored one and then in the 8th, Chris Perez walked pinch-hitter Aaron Miles. Alfonso Soriano came to the dish and went yard. 8-7 Cubs. Marmol came in for the save. Series tied.

Saturday was another fantastic game. It was another Cubs comeback. Marmol actually gave up arun and was given a blown save, but he had one of the biggest plays of the game. He went 3-0 on Albert Pujols in the 7th. Pujols was given the green light and fouled off a pitch. It went to 3-2 and Marmol induced a weak grounder back to the mound that he fielded and tossed to DLee. He threw him 3 fast balls and 2 sliders to get to that count. Pitch 6? A curve. He threw a curve on 3-2 to the game’s best hitter and got him to ground one back to the mound. Amazing.

By now you know ARam took Dennys Reyes deep for the game winner in the 11th. But before that at-bat Ramirez was 0-5.

Heroes:

Kosuke Fukudome: 5-13, 3 2Bs, a homer, 5 runs, 5 RBI.

Carlos Marmol: the save on Friday and the huge play on Pujols on Saturday

Aaron Miles: Walked before Fonzie’s game-winning HR on Friday, had HUGE 2-out RBI-single in the 6th on Saturday.

Alfonso Soriano: Was so patient! 4 walks, 5 runs scored and of course the big game-winning bomb. Also had a nice OF assist doubling up Chris Duncan on a flyball.

Aramis Ramirez: 6-13, double, homer, 5 RBI.

Mariners fans should be happy this morning. The M’s won their 5th straight game and got an excellent start from embattled pitcher Carlos Silva. Silva allowed only 4 hits and 2 runs in 7 innings. Roy Corcoran ended up with the W, but Silva pitched great.

The Red Sox used 7 pitchers as Daisuke Matsuzaka lasted only one inning in a 6-5 loss to the A’s. He has the ‘Line of the Night’:

Boston came back in the game but the A’s won it in the 12th on a Travis Buck infield single. Dice-K has lasted only 6 1/3 in his 2 starts, giving up 14 hits and 9 runs.

It must have been “Extra-Inning Tuesday”. The Twins got another outstanding outing from Glen Perkins but needed extra frames to down the Blue Jays 3-2 in 11. Perkins has pitched 8 innings in each of his first 2 starts. Ricky Romero also went 8 for the Jays, but Joe Crede doubled home Justin Morneau for the game-winner.

Javy Vazquez struck out 12 in 6 innings but was bested by Chris Volstad as the Marlins beat the Braves 5-1. Volstad has allowed only one run in each of his starts. Dan Uggla had 2 hits and 3 RBI for the Marlins.

The Indians pitchers were drilled yet again, this time for 9 runs against the Royals. Carl Pavano had a decent start (6 IP, 4 R, 8K) but Rafael Perez gave up 4 runs in just 1 1/3. Perez has given up 10 runs in 5 relief outings in 2009. He has issued 6 walks against zero Ks. He was one of the better relievers in the AL last year, so you have to wonder if he isn’t entirely healthy. John Buck powered the Royals with 2 homers and 5 RBI.

In another extra-inning affair, The Orioles scored 4 times in the 10th and notched a 7-5 victory over the Rangers. Luke Scott and Adam Jones each had a homer and 3 RBI for the 6-2 Orioles. Texas has dropped 5 straight.

The Yanks and Rays are both 4-4 now after AJ Burnett smoked the Rays. He allowed only 3 hits and 2 runs in 8 innings while K’ing 9. Brian Bruney struck out the side in the 9th. Nick Swisher doubled and hit his 4th homer of the year. Derek Jeter also homered for the Yanks.

That huge sigh you just heard was a collective gasp from Chicagoland.

At least for now, Chris Carpenter is back. Carp took a no-no into inning 7, and had everything working. From MLB.com: “He threw his fastball at 92-93 mph with heavy sink and good location. His cutter sat at 90 mph and likewise went just where Carpenter wanted it. He got swings-and-misses on his curveball.”

The Cubs play in St. Louis April 24-26.

DHaab likes to get on me because I “hate” the Cardinals. But it’s more of a life-long distaste. (Yes, even if this post’s title says different) This photo is the type of stuff that makes rivalries great. Nicely done, Cards fans. That being said…

Hey, nice offseason you’ve had. I like all the moves your “GM” made. Khalil Greene should really put you guys over the top! And with no Troy Glaus for the first month or more, it could be uh-oh time by the time May gets here. If the Birds start out say, 9-19, does Mullet King get the axe? Doubtful–the Cardinals are much too cheap to pay someone else while the Delicate Genius is still cashing checks.

Cubs Suck: The Snow Version

[tags]Chicago Cubs, Tony LaRussa, St. Louis Cardinals, Troy Glaus, MLB[/tags]

Hat tip to The Sporting Blog.

Ryan Dempster got himself into a jam during last night’s game. He had 2 on and one out with Pujols and Ludwick coming up. He got Pujols to pop up and then Ludwick hit a grounder back at him. Inning over. The Cubs came up to the plate and broke the game open.

I am not a fan of players that stand at home plate to admire their homers. But I am also not a fan of the Cardinals. And given the animosity between the Cubs and Cards and La Russa and Edmonds, I think Edmonds’ first homer on Friday was the greatest thing ever.

He hit it, he knew it and he watched it for a bit before heading to first for his trot. After he began to trot he then did a bat flip toward the Cards’ dugout and took a measured stare at the bench and TLR. I replayed it about 50 times.

Edmonds has been criticized in the past for admiring some of his homers. But he also hurries up around the bases so as not to show anyone up. But that homer Friday…just incredible.

You have to wonder if that’s it for the Cardinals. They are now 7 back with 2 teams in front of them, and their ace pitcher just got hurt again. I don’t put anything past them and they will likely fight to stay around. But that will be tough to overcome.

If you are a Redbirds fan, you have to wonder why this club did not make any moves to improve itself before the deadline. Based on injuries alone you’d think they would try to bring in some help. Mulder, Carp, Pujols, Duncan, Wainwright… And they stand pat when they are so close?

The Cubs and Cards play six more times this year. Each team with 3 at home.