Spring Training 2010
Cloudy BP in Florida
RBD: Thursday started out a little sketchy. The skies were overcast and the weather people were predicting rain starting in the afternoon. The ducks were especially loud this morning (our hosts have 3 ducks!), but we were going to see another Cardinal baseball game and I
Kyle Loshe
couldn’t have been happier! Today, Kyle Loshe was the starting pitcher for the Cardinals and I was excited to see how he was progressing this year. When the Cards acquired him in 2008, he did very well, better than expected. He was a solid middle part of the rotation. His 2009 year, however was not as good. It wasn’t his fault, but it was a rough year. For the first time in his career he
Kyle Loshe follow through
went on the Disabled List. He jammed his knee covering first base, twisted his ankle making another play, got hit in the arm and elbow batting. Needless to say, a rough year. Loshe, just like Brad Penny the previous day, pitched 4 scoreless innings. Looks like he is recovering just fine!
We were THAT CLOSE to Jose Oquendo!!
mda: Well, thank you RBD, thank you for the history for Kyle Loshe. I have to say that these were the best seats we’ve had all week! Four rows behind the dugout, although we were both disappointed that we were behind the Marlins dugout and not the Cardinals dugout as we had assumed. We were disappointed for other reasons too…will explain in a little. The rain pretty much stayed away. I knew it was going to be an interesting game because the wind was gusting (10-15 mph maybe more) the entire day. The defenses had their work cut out for them for sure.
RBD: A windy day and the locals were having a hard time dealing with the cold, wet and windy
The douchebags!
weather…well, not all the locals. Halfway through the first inning, two rather large gentlemen arrived, one dressed in a camouflage hat and jacket. His shorts were plaid. Apparently this guy knew everything about everything. I could tell because not only was he spitting his ‘chewing tobacco’ into an empty plastic Mountain Dew bottle, he was speaking loudly…oddly enough, though, not about baseball all that much. Here we were, at a Cardinal baseball game, 4 rows back and some jackass sits down and is an asshole. He was talking smack about the Cardinals, he was jeering his own team and generally was an idiot. He would ask questions loudly, then answer his own questions with wrong and loud answers. At one point, some guy two rows up and 5 seats over turned around and corrected the loud assholes self answering question. Why do people need to get noticed? Did I need to know that he and his college buddy drank a whole 12 pack in one night? Then they found 3 beers in his refrigerator and split those too? Do I really care that he sells insurance in the Jupiter/Palm Beach Gardens area? Do I care that he is moving to Nashville Tennesse to sell insurance? Do I care that a large account there is $10,000 which is a below average size account down in Florida? Do I care that he will NEVER root for the Tenessee Titans because he is a Miami Dolphins fan? Do I care that he thinks Torry Holt ruined the Wide Receiver position in football because he could catch the ball and go out of bounds or drop so he wouldn’t get hit? No, I don’t care about any of that, but I was subjected to his rambling loud dumb assed bullshit all day long.
mda: I concur. I don’t think I could have said it any better. But for some reason, RBD and I tend to attract or sit close to loud douchebags at baseball games. Maybe it is the law of averages working against us. It was an exciting game despite the mind numbing noice coming from behind us. Let’s talk about that.
There they are...can you see mda in the blue hat and jersey to their left? He was having fun!!
RBD: OK. Enough about the camouflaged douchebags behind us. Let’s talk baseball. Once again, Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday were out of the lineup due to minor muscle strains. It would have been great to see one or both of those guys play, but hopefully I’ll get a chance later in the season to see the team. However, with those guys out, it gave the opportunity to see some
The 5th Starter...Jaime Garcia!
of the younger talent strut their stuff. We saw prospects Jon Jay, David Freese, Allen Craig, Jaime Garcia, Ruben Gotay, Joe Mather and Shane Robinson play! David Freese is more than likely going to be the starting 3rd baseman for the Cards, and Jaime Garcia is likely to be a started in AAA Memphis or the 5th starter. Some of the real young guys, Ruben Gotay and Allen Craig, really stepped things up! Craig saw his first action of the Spring and he didn’t disappoint! He is a monster hitter and is really developing as an infield prospect. Some say that the Cardinals traded away their best prospects last year in acquiring Matt Holliday and Mark DeRosa, but the young birds and baby birds are looking pretty darn good! Joe Mather, who came up and played some games for the Cardinals in 2008 had a very disappointing 2009. He had a wrist injury and was never at 100%, this year though, he is looking like the prospect and threat he is cracked up to be! I love the St. Louis Cardinal tradition and it looks like that tradition will continue for years and years to come!!
mda: What RBD didn’t mention is that the Cardinals won the game!! It was an exciting win too. The Cards were down three to nothing in the 9th inning. There they rallied and scored a total of 5 runs against the Marlins closer, Leo Nunez.
Birds on the beach
RBD: Overall a great day. After the game we decided to go to the beach. We were on the coast and had yet to see the ocean. We found it! It was beautiful, but it started to rain, so after
Piscin the cat
getting soaked from the rain and waves, we headed home. We came back to where we were staying and were met by Piscin the cat who was enjoying her meal on the car in the garage while looking outside! A pretty nice dinner was a nice way to end the day…then the rain started and boy did it rain! We ended the evening hanging out on the porch talking with our
The Atlantic Ocean
hosts Perry and Lynn. A great couple in a beautiful house!
mda: Yeah, that was a nice evening, hanging on the porch and talking. We were even serenaded by Perry and Lynn! They sung a song Perry wrote called Ode to Homer. It was a funny, yet sadly poignant song about the importance sports gets in our educational system while music, art, drama and literature is pushed aside.
RBD: mda and I do appreciate baseball, but we also know that a good education includes the arts. It is not a coincidence that the top students in graduating classes are also involved in band, orchestra, choir, theater or some sort of artistic endeavor.
mda: Next up, another game on Friday. This one is the Cards against those dreaded Red Sox. I hope the Cardinals win…
RBD: I’m sure they will…I’m sure they will.
Renaissance Brothers 