Thursday, May 31, 2007

Cardinals!

Okay, so the Cards have been less than stellar so far this season. I have been really busy with work and not feeling well, so I haven't blogged on the Cards lately, so here is a summary of whats up with The Birds on the Bat:
*Catcher Yadier Molina was placed on the DL yesterday, he has a fractured wrist and is expected to miss 4 to 6 weeks. This is a double blow to the Cards, not only will they miss his defense, his offense is much better this year.
*Starting Pitcher Chris Carpenter is on the DL and is expected to return mid July- early August.
*Starting Pitcher Braden Looper appears to be the best of the bunch and the biggest suprise. Looper has a record of 6-4.
*Starting Pitcher Kip wells has two whole wins under his belt. Hopefully, his time with pitching coach Dave Duncan is starting to pay off.
*First Baseman Albert Pujols seems to have shaken his slow start. His batting average is up and he is looking more comfortable at the plate.
*Third baseman Scott Rolen and Center Fielder Jim Edmonds have also started hitting more consistenty.
*Closer Jason Isringhausen is phenomenal! He has had 13 saves in 14 opportunities. He appears to back to his old self. Finally!
*Short stop David Eckstien is on a day to day DL. He is suffering from soreness in the middle of his back and hasn't played since Sunday. He is doing better.
*Left Fielder Chris Duncan is temporarily sidelined with bursitis in his left knee, and also has an ifection in the same knee. He is resting at the hotel and staying of his feet as much as possible. Duncan was sent back to St. Louis for some testing today.
*The Cardinals are 6 and a half games out of first place. The Brewers, The Pirates and (shocker of shockers) The Cubs are ahead of them.
*Late reliever Josh Hancock is being honored for the rest of the season with all players wearing the number 32 on the left arm of their jerseys. His jersey also hangs in the bullpen.
*The All Star Game is fast approaching. All members of the Cards starting line up are eligble but 2 questions, (1) Do any of them deserve to go? and (2) Will any of them make the team. Manager Tony LaRussa is managing the National League team and can bring whomever he chooses.
*Anthony Reyes was optioned to Triple A and righty Todd Wellemeyer was brought up. Wellemeyer got his first major league win last night with a Cards victory of 8-4.
Do the Cards have the chance to repeat and win the World Series? Sure, its a possibility. Is it a sure thing, no it never is. As much as we would all like to see a repeat, at this point, I am doubtful on that happening. Cards need to pick up the pace, stop making costly errors, and start giving more run support to the pitchers. Also their players need to get healthy. With aces Carpenter, Mark Mulder on the DL and not expected back until August, and Molina out of the picture for at least 4 weeks, getting everyone healthy is not going to happen any time soon.
I am still a fan of the Cardinals, always have been and always will be.
*Por Siempre, Let's Go Cards!!

Friday, May 11, 2007

I got an iPod!


I have joined the modern world. I have my very own iPod nano. It's a 4GB blue iPod Nano. I am very happy with it so far. I split the cost with my parents w/ my brother giving me $20 towards it. The picture on the side features my new iPod nano and Bandit (my newest Build-A-Bear edition).

St. Louis Zoo

Last Sat., May 5th, was my 25th Birthday. Since I couldn't get Cardinals tickets, I decided to got to the zoo. I got to see Maliha, Raja's first baby, for the first time. She is adorable. I took lots of photos and laughed at the animals and how they sleep. Apparently "nap time" at the zoo is around 11 AM. The majority of the animals were snoozing when mom and I visited. I also visited Build-A-Bear Workshop at the Zoo and picked up a birthday present for myself: a ring tailed lemur (monkey). I dressed him in a railroad conductors outfit and have since named him Bandit. Click here to see my pics of all the animals including Bandit.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Gardening

I love spring! Spring means flowers! I love flowers; I love looking at them, smelling them, buying them, planting them, and watching them grow. Basically I love to garden. Now that it is officially spring, I can go flower crazy. I have been busy beautifying my garden and the front garden. The back garden still needs some work, but not done with the front garden yet. Home Depot has some great geraniums and Marshall's Nursery has some great snapdragons. Home Depot and the Nursery are the best places to find flowers. Walmart is another good source of flowers. The next step is to get some more hanging baskets. We already have two "tropical looking ones for the back, but we need a few more. At least one for the front and I think 3 for the backyard. Click here to see my work so far.