St Louis Cardinals Information
With Skipper Tony LaRussa coming back for the 2010 season as is Pitching Coach Dave Duncan, the Cards are looking to get back into the NL chase for the pennant. They did release hitting coach Hal McRae and replaced him with former home run champion Mark McGwire. The team made a number of moves in the offseason including signing Jason LaRue, Matt Holliday, Felipe Lopez, Brad Penny and Ben Jukich to deals.
Following their unceremonious departure from the NLDS at the end of 2009, season ticket holders can expect the Cardinals to push for another NL Central crown and get back into the NLDS.
The St. Louis Cardinals were swept from the 2009 playoffs at the hands of the LA Dodgers. The Braves have made it to the playoffs 13 straight years, and the Yankees are the Yankees, so the Cardinals appear to be ready to bounce back and start another streak in 2004. The Cardinals have won 9 championships in their franchise history, but many of those came in the early part of the 20th century, and the most recent championship came in 1967. They made two World Series appearances in the 1980s, but lost both times to Kansas City and Minnesota.
The Cardinals play their home games at Busch Stadium, which opened in 1966 and can hold more than 50,000 people. The stadium is completely circular and covers more than 12 acres while standing 130 feet tall from field level to the top of the stadium. Tony La Russa is entering his 27th season as a big league manager, and his 9th with the Cardinals. La Russa is one of the few managers in the game of baseball to earn 2,000 wins as a manager, but he’s only taken one team to a World Series championship, that team being the 1989 Oakland Athletics. La Russa still thoroughly enjoys his job, and has a certain way of making his players compete at only the highest level, so he doesn’t appear to be worn down or ready for a break, but he’ll definitely have his work cut out for him if he wants to beat out the Astros, Cubs, and Reds for the playoff spot out of the National League Central, widely regarded as the best division in baseball.
The superstar on this roster is Albert Pujols,
a player that can play any position and hit almost
anything that comes across the plate. He won’t
feel the pressure of previous years because he’ll
have help in the form of Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen,
Edgar Renteria, and Reggie Sanders, among others.
Rolen could be the best third baseman of this generation,
and Renteria had an unbelievable season last year
while playing shortstop almost everyday. Unfortunately,
he’s playing at a time with shortstops dominate
most of the news (Rodriguez, Tejada, Jeter, and Garciaparra).
Matt Morris will lead an older rotation in 2004. Jason Marquis, Woody Williams,
Jeff Suppan and Chris Carpenter will finish out the starting rotation this
season. Marquis is a young player with good potential, and Williams is looking
to build on a steady 2003 season. Suppan and Carpenter are both wildcard type
players, and if they can pitch well, the Cardinals will have a chance to make
a run late in the season. Jason “Izzy” Isringhausen will close
again this season, and should have numerous opportunities in 2004 to save games
for St. Louis. The Cardinals will need strong performances from these players
as well as others to be a factor in such a close division.