St. Louis Cardinals @ Houston Astros 4/7-9/08.

[BuckFan25226]

Well I wasn't going to post until the nice little streak ended. But I was disappointed and confused to see the way TLR put the lineup together tonight.

Izturis leading off? Duncan in left?

I was hoping to see...

Barton LF
Ankiel CF
Pujols 1B
Glaus 3B
Ludwick RF
Molina C
Miles 2B
Wellemeyer P
Izturis SS

Regardless of the tough loss tonight, great start to the season. The pitching has been exceptional. So far the Lohse signing has been a good one. This type of pitching obviously won't last, but it would be nice to keep overachieving until the pitching staff gets relatively healthy

[bigboy1234]

I agree with you on the lineup, why the hell is Duncan in, he can't hit lefties for anything and just leave Barton on the bench. Then theres Cesar and his beautiful career sub .300 OBP.

[mizzoupacers]

I want to see Barton play as much as possible, because I haven't seen anything yet that makes me think he couldn't become a nice everyday left fielder/leadoff hitter if he gets a chance to play every day. If Barton turns out to be the real deal, then we"ll have a potential future outfield of Barton/Rasmus/Ankiel, which could be really good offensively AND defensively.

But LaRussa will have to dick around for awhile first with Schumaker and Chris Duncan, because that's his M.O.

BTW, Minute Maid Amusement Park is easily the worst park in the National League. I hate that place. Why can't our hitters figure out that all you have to do is hit it to left and you get home runs? While our pitchers can't figure out how to keep the ball in the park. I REALLY hate that place.

[BuckFan25226]

I want to see Barton play as much as possible, because I haven't seen anything yet that makes me think he couldn't become a nice everyday left fielder/leadoff hitter if he gets a chance to play every day. If Barton turns out to be the real deal, then we"ll have a potential future outfield of Barton/Rasmus/Ankiel, which could be really good offensively AND defensively.

But LaRussa will have to dick around for awhile first with Schumaker and Chris Duncan, because that's his M.O.

BTW, Minute Maid Amusement Park is easily the worst park in the National League. I hate that place. Why can't our hitters figure out that all you have to do is hit it to left and you get home runs? While our pitchers can't figure out how to keep the ball in the park. I REALLY hate that place.

I know, I can't stand MM park either. It's sad Pujols' routine high pop out to left was nearly a home run in the 9th. I will give Wandy credit though, he was hitting the black all night. And I can't really be hard on Wellemeyer, he pitched a good game. Just made some bad pitches to 2 extremely good hitters. I would just like to think it would of been a different game with Barton in the lineup. I really hope that's the first and last time Izturis leads off. I don't care how hot he is at the bottom of the lineup, it doesn't warrant throwing him in the lead off spot. If it aint broke, don't fix it, leave him in the 9 spot.

[RaoulDuke79]

As an Astros fan I tend to agree about MMP. It's a great park overall but I can't stand how close the Crawford Boxes are, and I hate the hill in CF. Just (Please Use More Appropriate Word).

I've been saying for a long time I wish they'd take about 10 rows out of those boxes and move the wall back, and get rid of the hill in CF. Seriously, what kind of moron puts a damn hill in the field of play?

Absolutely (Please Use More Appropriate Word). Honestly though besides those 2 glaring mistakes, the park is really nice overall.

You guys have a really nice looking park now, I haven't been there but it looks great on TV. It must be a blast going to games there.

BTW, how did you enjoy seeing our new Lidge out there last night? I thought we traded him away but apparently not!

[mizzoupacers]

^ All that, and you forgot to mention THE most (Please Use More Appropriate Word) thing about Minute Maid, the freaking flagpole in the middle of center field, I guess whoever designed the field had a thing for miniature-golf courses.

Yeah, rough outing for your "new" closer last night, but that shortstop guy you acquired seems to be holding his own.

[RaoulDuke79]

^ All that, and you forgot to mention THE most (Please Use More Appropriate Word) thing about Minute Maid, the freaking flagpole in the middle of center field, I guess whoever designed the field had a thing for miniature-golf courses.

Yeah, rough outing for your "new" closer last night, but that shortstop guy you acquired seems to be holding his own.

Yea the pole too, don't know why I didn't mention that either. I've never understood the point of that, but oh well.

Hey we have a train though! It's super cool too!

[BuckFan25226]

Good win last night. Good to see Reyes picking up Thompson's rough 3rd inning and getting the win. Glaus with a huge 2 rbi double as well. It's nice to see a 6-2 start with Albert starting the season quiet from a power standpoint.

Except for the throwing error against the Rockies, Glaus has looked exceptional at 3rd. If he gives us 130-150 games this year, that will turn out to be a great trade for us.

[bigboy1234]

That Pujols guy is good at baseball.

[BuckFan25226]

That Pujols guy is good at baseball.

I know, he can hit the ball really far.