They all have at least one homerun (Freese, Beltran, Holliday & Molina have 2), which is one more than Albert Pujols has. Albert's first at bat as an Angel? Hit into a double play, which I couldn't help it, I laughed.
Albert won't be like that all season, he'll get back into true Albert form. But, part of the reason why the Cardinals lead the league in double plays last season was due to Albert. So it was a bit of poetic justice to see him hit into a DP after bailing on the Cards to join the Angels.
I know, as a Cardinals fan, I shouldn't really care about Albert. And I don't, really. However, it is nice to see that the Cardinals are doing just fine without him so far, and proving to the critics that this team is good and will do just fine without Albert.
The Cardinals have looked fantastic so far, sitting at the top of the NL Central at 4-1. Hitting, starting pitching and defense have all been solid. And this is without Carpenter and Craig. This is good news. Granted, it is still very early in the season and things will change. You never know what will happen with injuries, players get into slumps, etc.
I'm going to make a bold prediction here. This team reminds me a lot of the 2004 Cardinals so far, only this team seems to almost have a better vibe overall as far as the players getting along, working together and having fun. So, with that said...I think this team will get 100 wins. I think they win the NL Central but it will be a close race with the Brewers.
Really excited about the season and can't wait to see how things turn out this fall.
This week starts the NHL playoffs, which lasts about a millenia. At least it feels like it. The NHL playoffs lasts at least 2 months. Round 1 starts Wednesday and doesn't end until April 25th. Then there's 2 more rounds before the Stanley Cup. Baseball and Football both manage to get the playoffs done in about a month. The NBA is just as bad as the NHL when it comes to playoffs.
Oh well. The Blues have a a solid chance at making it far into the playoffs. They are the #2 seed and will face The Sharks, which won't be easy but they have home field advantage and hopefully get their first playoff win since...I think I heard 101 ESPN say this morning since 2002. Wow. That's a 10 year drought. Time to break that trend boys.
The NBA season is winding down too, and soon we'll be knee deep in NBA playoffs as well. The big talk seems to be about the Bulls, the Heat and the Thunder, but odds are the Lakers will make it to the playoffs and could be a potential contender. Both the Lakers and the Clippers are neck and neck right now. Should be interesting to see how it all turns out.
At least they aren't Charlotte, who I saw has only won 7 games. OUCH. Sometimes it's easy to take for granted what you have. The Lakers may not win a title this season, but fans still saw a lot of good basketball. If you live in Charlotte, or New Orleans for that matter, you probably aren't buying tickets to basketball games unless LeBron or Kobe is in town and you want to watch them, because the hometown team isn't going to do squat.
And that's all I have for now. Very excited about baseball. It's so nice to be able to listen and watch games again.
The Cardinals, sans Pujols, have scored 31 runs, including 9 home runs, in 5 games. The Angels have scored 16 runs in 4 games, to which Pujols has contributed exactly 0 hits. (He has crossed the plate once after grounding into a fielder's choice. He's also advanced 1 runner via IBB, and 1 via BB.) I know it's somewhat of an anomaly, but it has to make the Cardinals feel pretty darn good right now.
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