This is hilarious. Mainly because when I was at the game and the Royals were winning, the Royals fans were acting as though it was game 7 of the World Series. I loved it.

and Kowboy Koop was blowing his load in a corner somewhere...wherever he may be

Was just thinking about Koop after getting pasted by the Royals...he still around?

has been non-existent since last year and no records of him even playing online poker since then either

I didn't like him, but I hope nothing bad happened to him.

So Ankiel hit 3 bombs the other night bringing his total up to 19 on the season. My dream is for him to triumphantly return to Cardinal land as a starting OF and start raking like there's no tomorrow. That would be awesome. He just wouldn't be able to throw anyone out at home. GG him.

If he is ever called back up to St. Louis I could imagine the roar of the crowd to be deafening. I might also have to get tickets for that game.

Good thing there's an offday today. Otherwise, there'd be no one left to pitch. Nice win last night though.


Ankiel WILL be a September callup at least this year, unless something goes really south for him the rest of the way. Be nice if he can replicate that power at the major league level next year.

September??? I say bring him up right now.

That's really awesome. I'm really rooting for him.

out of options, so if he struggles, you're stuck with him taking up a roster spot, cause you can't send him back down w/o exposing him. Plus, he needs to play everyday in the minors to get ABs in.

Mike Maroth to the Cards for ????. Curious to see what we get. Rumor is a minor league prospect. Enjoy Mike. Not so bad. Gives up 5 runs a game like clockwork but pretty decent. Not the same since Tommy john surgery last year.

right now that might be an improvement for the redbirds.

I was thinking the same thing. With Kip Wells in that rotation I think a sock full of popcorn would be an improvement.

Well said.

So we traded Dan Haren to Oakland for Mark Mulder. Looks like that one turned out real well.

Mulder hasn't exactly been Kip Wells in that rotation...give him some credit. Although I thought it was a mistake when they traded Haren in the first place.

Well, that whole Pujols not playing thing and mad at Larussa about the ASG was pretty overblown. Nevertheless, you gotta play Pujols in that situation. C'mon, he's one of the best hitters in the league, and one of the most clutch as well. Good thing the Cards have little to no shot of being impacted by the HFA in the WS this year.

I still cant understand why LaRussa didnt hit Albert there. Simply dumbfounding.

There is still something fishy about the whole thing. LaRussa said he was saving Pujols in case the game went tied into extra innings. I think he's blowing smoke up our asses with that comment since he was preparing Pujols to pinch hit earlier in the game. I have no problem with Rowand batting, but Orlando Hudson didn't need to be in there.

Maybe he thought it would provoke the tear he is currently enjoying

Cards aquire Joel Pinero... seems like another weak/cheap move to get a halfass starter, ad really I don't think he needs to start this week unless you take Maroth out of the picture. Wells isn't too good right now, but he's coming on, and Reyes deserves another start. We'll see Pinero in September, at least I think.

Ship the repeat.

Piniero might surprise you. He's better than people think.

Lol..must suck to not be the best team in the state anymore. Get used to it...it's gonna be that way for a while...KC going up...STL going down.....

fukk you whitey.

Thanks for confirming it.

Someone made a joke account right, he's not really back is he?

he still disillusioned about the Royals so I would say he's back

although he is right about one thing, the Royals are on the way up

lol @ Koop.

Why oh why didn't the Cards sell off apiece or 2 from the bullpen to get ready for next year?

I'm disallusioned about the Royals being on the way up....yet you then agree with me that the Royals are on the way up??? Lol..okay.

Also, the Royals are a better team than the Cards...and it's really not even close. The Royals pitching is much better, MUCH better, right now than the Cardinals.........better ERA while pitching in a way way way way way harder division/league.....4.46 ERA for KC, 4.87 for STL.........that's pretty significant considering the AL is obviously a way harder league to pitch in....also, we've scored 39 more runs that the Redbirds (thought yes, the AL has the DH, so it isn't that much of a difference...I know).....put the Royals in the NL, ESPECIALLY the NL Central, and we are at least a .500 team..probably a couple games better.......we've got young talent in the offense, we've got some young emerging arms in the rotation/bullpen (Meche, Bannister, Greinke, Soria (by far the best......sickest curveball ever....), Nunez and more coming in the minors..........make your last few Royals jokes while you can...they've been playing winning baseball for over two months now and it's not gonna stop for a while...they have a LONG LONG LONG way to go before they reach their potential...just wait until Gordon and Butler start actually hitting like they can and wait until Greinke and Soria become rotation regulars............I've been saying this was happening for two years now....it's starting to produce results....but oh, yeah, lol....all you guys just thing KC sucks just because they are KC...lol..okay, remember that when we're embarrassing the NL again (oh, by the way, we have a winning record in interleague plays for I think three years in a row now.......)

His location says my town, If I get bored this weekend, I might go revoke his posting privileges permanently.

Explain yourself Koop, why are you disgracing my neighborhood?

He really isn't. He had potential to be better than people think, but he blew it. I watched him pitch in Seattle for years, and I used to think he was going to become and ace, but, at best, he's could become a 4th or 5th starter somewhere.

Congratulations are in order if the royals are finally possibly a tad bit better than the Cards worst team in a decade. Really, some accomplishment there. Only, we still have a better record than the Royals. Our ERA is somewhat skewed by the fact that when we lose, we lose big time (we're good for a 10 run loss about once a week...you know, the day kip Wells pitches).

Our pitching certainly wouldn't be better if we had our Ace Carpenter in there every fifth day instead of Kip Wells or someone like that.

It really is nice going to sleep at night knowing your team has won a championship within the last 20 years

It is a small accomplishment on our way to much bigger ones....we're gonna be the better team for a while with all of our young talent AND our expanding payroll.....but you say you guys are better this year b/c you have a better record?? Lol...there goes all of your credibility.....you know, the AL just might, JUST MIGHT, be a little little bit better than the NL........let us play the NL Central teams all the time and we'd have a winning record. (Oh yeah...we did do that in interleague play and, surprise, ended up with a winning record.) Put STL in the AL Central and they might barely avoid losing 100 games........NO team in the NL wins ANY division in the AL.....the Tigers, Indians, BoSox, and Angels are all better than every single NL team...and it's really not even close.

also..the ERA is skewed b/c when "we lose we lose big?""" LOL...what a horrible argument......you think the Cards are the only team that ever gets blown out?? Lol..besides...Wells ERA isn't even THAT bad..if you wanna go there, check out Scott Elarton's stats for us...in 11 starts for us I believe his ERA is well above 10.00......so take out Wells (ERA in the high 5s I believe) and take our Elarton (10+ ERA) and KC's ERA would likely be much better than STL's than it is now....lol.

Awww...a pitching injury....yeah, that sucks that you are the only team that suffers injuries. Nice excuse.

Oohhh..we haven't won a title since '85, yeah, you got me there...great point as to why our team isn't getting much much better....good one.

lol, must be fun to live in Royals fan fantasy land. The Royals basically best case scenario for the next decade is getting 2nd to Detroit every year. Talk about a team w/ young talent and a payroll!

OK I still take the Cardinals this year. It will never get old hearing Royals fans talk about the future of the team. The Cardinals lineup embarasses anything KC can put out. Sure Pujols isn't on, he's still twice as dangerous as any Royals bat. Edmonds is nothing special, unless you compare him to someone like DeJesus who somehow gets all of this credit for nothing. Duncan is a monster bat along with Scott Rolen who's starting to hit, slowly but surely.

Our bullpen is ALWAYS strong and is nothing different, I think one of the better in the league. Total depth and Tony might drive you crazy with his moves but this pen has always gotten it done. Percival has been throwing bebes and Springer and Franklin could close in lesser pens. Izzy is, well, Izzy and may be a tad over rated but all four of these guys outshine Soria with ease.

Starting pitching, I don't know much about a lot of your starters, but I concede to any team. Keep in mind, though, our two best starters have been invisible all year on the DL.

To any Cards fans, doesn't it seem a little sickening that our three 'big' offseason moves were signing Kennedy, Mulder, and Edmonds?

The Cards offense is a little bit better than the Royals offense...but pitching...Royals pitching is better AINEC. ESPECIALLY our bullpen...right now our bullpen is a legit top 5 bullpen in baseball, look it up...........our bullpen has been incredible this year......the Royals are a better team than the Cardinals this year, just face it. The AL Central is WAY tougher than the NL Central..the Twins would easily win the NL Central..yet they aren't even contenders in the AL Central.....the Brewers/Cubs would likely be just a bit above the ChiSox if they played in the AL Central...

I'm not saying our division is any good. All I really know about the Royals bullpen was Riske who went terribly as closer but has picked up I guess recently, Braun who has put up good numbers, and Soria who has put up good numbers. But comapre that to the Cardinals... Franklin has a 1.45 ERA and has been steady alll year and has better numbers than anyone in the Royals pen. Izzy has a sub-1.4 ERA and no losses on the year. Percival is a huge help right now and is throwing total bebes and it's not out of the realm of possibility for him to close next year for us. Russ Springer has been strong as well, ad it's amazing that bad starting pitching kills us so hard with such a strong bullpen.

wow, if you're criticizing the bullpen, you clearly don't know what you're talking about. Izzy/Franklin have basically been lights out all year. They just rarely get the chance to pitch in meaningful situations...when they do, it's usually over.

I love how you make all of the accusations, but can't provide a single link to back any of it up. Show me some prose from any baseball expert on this to prove it.

No, Koop, that is not correct. That isn't even close to correct. I have never heard you say something that was more wrong. Take it back please.

For the record the top five bullpens would be something like..

Boston
Seattle
Dodgers
San Diego
Minnesota

I don't know thats a quick list, but all 5 are clearly better than the Royals.


But you are right. Minnesota would likely be running away with the NL Central.

Here's something.

I'm reading some of this guy's other stuff and it's a little hack-y, but in this along with other things, you should consider the argument on its own merits, not the source of the argument itself.

I love the Cardinals. But the impending Football seasons has me all atwitter.

FINNALLY. Ricky Ankiel is up and starting tonight. IM EXCITED AGAIN.

batting second tonight...my eyes will be fixated on this game this evening

I swear to GOD I called that homer. I LOVE IT. Ankiel goes deep.

Bump.

man, that is crazy. Hope he's in the lineup again tonight (I'm going to the game tonight!). Really hope this kid succeeds.

You really need an expert's opinion to tell yout that the AL is better than the NL?? Lol...okay....


...also, I stand by my point that the Royals bullpen is better than the Cardinals bullpen.

Greinke has been near lights out in the pen, Riske has been lights out, Peralta has been good...Joakim Soria has been a monster.

Here are our bullpen guys who actually get in the game when it matters.

Greinke - - 3.24 ERA as a reliever, 49 K in 48 innings.
Riske - - 2.34 ERA
Nunez - - 1.93 ERA (only in 14 innings)
Gobble - - 3.13 ERA
Peralta -- 3.72 ERA (an ERA so bad by our standards right now that he was almost demoted...)
Soria - - 2.22.....55 K in 48 innings....(23 years old, already racking up saves, throws a 93 mph fastball and a 65 mph curveball....can throw four pitches for a strike..and will be in the rotation next year...remember the name.....has already thrown two perfect games in the minor leagues...)

Also, in the minors we have a reliever named Neil Musser, who hasn't allowed an earned run in AAA Omaha all year.......like 50 innings or so I believe. That's not bad.

someone forgot to tell Koop this thread is now the Rick Ankiel Appreciation thread. Only posts relating to that will be recognized. What a story!