The hype surrounding the Cardinals-Reds series was like that leading up to a heavyweight title bout. Cincinnati was ready to rock Great American Ball Park in support of the first-place Reds and with high hopes that the Cincy would increase their lead over the Cards in the division.
The first three innings were quick and efficient for both pitchers. Then, the Cardinals bats landed jab after jab on Mike Leake to start the fourth. Jon Jay doubled into the right field corner. Albert Pujols singled to move him to third. Matt Holliday singled in Jay and the Cards were on the [...]

The clock is ticking and the Cardinals can feel every second as they try to find the right piece to add to their club. St. Louis wants a quality starting pitcher to help their thin rotation with Brad Penny and Kyle Lohse on the disabled list. Roy Oswalt seemed like the man, but his and Houston’s demands have killed that deal. Now, the Cardinals have turned their attention to other options on the market. The names aren’t as big, but they could be just as effective as Oswalt. The Cards need for arms is big, but in my opinion, it’s [...]

After a tough stretch of finals kept me away from writing the past few days, I’m ready to roll again on Redbird Rants and Call to the Pen. Tonight is my last in Syracuse and my first year of college is officially over. It feels like just yesterday that I was moving in and getting ready for a whole new experience. Now, my bags are packed and I head home to Reading tomorrow for the summer. I enjoyed my year at Syracuse and look forward to building on what I learned. Career-wise, I got my first taste of news writing [...]

Skip Schumaker came up big with a two-out RBI single in the eighth inning to spark the Cardinals to a 6-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. The Cards led 1-0 and 3-1, but the Reds knotted the score both times. In the bottom of the eighth, St. Louis broke free with three runs, starting with Schumaker’s single. The other two runs came on bases-loaded walks. Ryan Franklin closed things out in the ninth for the win.
Kyle Lohse was lights out for seven innings, but is still searching for his first win. Lohse gave up one run, struck out eight, and [...]

What started out as a well pitched and well played game, got a little sloppy towards the end of the game. Adam Wainwright pitched 7 solid innings striking out 7 and giving up 3 runs, 2 were unearned. Ryan Dempster was able to baffle the Cardinals until the 5 th inning when Joe Thurston doubled home Yadier Molina and Khalil Greene. After advancing to 3rd base on the throw home to get Greene, he was knocked in by a Skip Schumaker line drive to the outfield. Adam Wainwright kept the baby bears in check until the 7th. His defense behind [...]

After the Cardinals beat the Marlins 6-3 today in their final Grapefruit League game of the spring, the club optioned outfielder Joe Mather to Triple-A Memphis.  The remaining twenty-five players will be your 2009 Cardinals on Opening Day.
Surviving the cut, and making the big league roster are top prospect Colby Rasmus, third base stand-in David Freese, and utility infielders Brendan Ryan, Joe Thurston, and Brian Barden.
I can’t remember a Cardinal team filled with so many versatile players.  Of the five outfielders (counting Skip Schumaker), four are capable of playing all three outfield positions, and of course Skip is the starting [...]

First and foremost, welcome to the new site.  And don’t worry about missing out on any of the over opinionated content that you’re used to reading at Mike on the Cards.  Aptly named Redbird Rants will give you all that and more.  I’ve teamed up with another blogger, David Frissell, to help give more ranting and raving about the Cardinals than you can probably stand.  We hope you enjoy the new digs, and visit and comment often.
Now on to baseball.  With just one week of Spring Training remaining, the Cardinals still have several questions concerning the makeup of their 25-man [...]