A Few Remarks

Yesterday, I gave a brief rundown on how the Cardinals’ payroll is shaping up.  The guys at VEB did an updated roster matrix and came up with a payroll total similar to mine.  Check it out here.  Also, Derrick Goold talks more about the Rick Ankiel arbitration comparison here.

If you haven’t yet heard, the Hall of Fame votes are in.  Rich “Goose” Gossage was the only one on the ballot who got in, with 85.8% of the votes.  Mark McGwire garnered only 23.6%, nearly identical to last year.  Jeff Gordon, with the Post Dispatch, has the full story.  I must say, I was quite surprised.  Of course I didn’t expect McGwire to get elected, but I thought he’d get a handful more votes than he did the first time around.  It’s possible that his Hall status could hinge on the outcomes of the Clemens and Barry Bonds situations.

It’s time we Cards’ fans tip our caps to Gerry Staley, former Redbird pitcher, who passed away last week at 87.  Staley pitched for six different teams, including the Cardinals.  He won 54 games for St. Louis, and was a member of the National League All Star team in both ’52 and ’53.  Read more on this story here, and view his career stats here.

Speaking of stats, you may have noticed that I’m now linking to The Baseball Cube, instead of Baseball Reference.  Both sites are great, and although the latter is more well known, I find The Cube to be easier to read, especially when researching younger players.  It allows both major and minor league numbers to be viewed simultaneously.  Let me know which you prefer.

And finally, Matthew Leach published his second installment of “Around the Horn”.  He discusses the corner infielders here.