The St. Louis Cardinals have hired Mark McGwire as the team’s new hitting coach. The move was somewhat surprising considering that McGwire has kept out of the public eye since steroid allegations rocked his world.
Now there is a question that needs to be answered: Does Mark McGwire deserve our forgiveness? As a country, we usually give people a second chance. But that second chance usually comes after an apology. McGwire, on the other hand, hasn’t admitted to anything.
If McGwire wants to get back into the baseball world with his head held high, he should come clean. Tell us what he …read more

The Los Angeles Dodgers limped to the end of the 2009 baseball regular season. However, in their first game of the postseason, the Dodgers looked like the team that dominated the National League for much of the season.
After Ryan Ludwick hit a single to put the St. Louis Cardinals up 1-0, the Dodgers got a two-run blast from Matt Kemp — and never trailed again. Los Angeles ended up winning the ballgame 5-3.
Chris Carpenter, who is likely to win the 2009 NL Cy Young Award, didn’t fair well. In five innings, he gave up nine hits, four walks and four …read more

Chris Carpenter had a busy day when the St. Louis Cardinals faced the Cincinnati Reds. On the mound, he was his usual stellar self. At the plate, however, is where Carpenter turned some heads.
In the second inning, Carpenter came to the plate with the bases loaded. The result? Carpenter hit a grand slam to put the Cardinals up 5-0. But he wasn’t done. In the fifth inning, Carpenter hit a two-run double. He finished the contest 2-for-3 with six RBIs.
On the mound, Carpenter went five scoreless innings and gave up only three hits and one walk while striking out six …read more

As we head into the stretch run of the 2009 MLB season, it’s time to take a look at the power ranking and separate the best from the rest.
1. New York Yankees
After a rough start to their 2009 campaign, the Yankees have easily been the best team in baseball. As of late, they look like the clear cut World Series favorite.
2. St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals have been good for most of the season but right now they are playing especially well. If they can keep getting good pitching, Albert Pujols could supply enough runs by himself.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers …read more

It’s safe to say that the Chicago Cubs won’t see their World Series curse end this year. Alfonso Soriano, arguably the team’s best player, could very well miss the rest of the 2009 baseball season due to a knee injury. According to the Chicago Tribune, Soriano went on record as saying he’ll have arthroscopic surgery later this month.
Even when healthy this season, Soriano didn’t do much to justify his $17 million salary. For the year, he’s hitting .241 with 20 homers, 64 runs and 55 RBIs. In fact, 2009 could go down as Soriano’s worst year since becoming an everyday …read more

After getting released by the Boston Red Sox, it didn’t take John Smoltz too long to find a new home. On Wednesday, Smoltz signed a deal for the rest of the year to pitch for the St. Louis Cardinals. Since the Red Sox are still paying him money, the Cardinals will only have to pay Smoltz around $100K.
With the Cardinals, Smoltz will likely begin as a starting pitcher. However, down the line, he could switch to the bullpen. Many team insiders have speculated that if the team makes the playoffs, Smoltz would likely be the the Cardinals’ setup man.
As it …read more

Since the All-Star break, Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals had been in a slump. He was hitting just .226 with two homers and five RBIs in 62 at-bats. On Tuesday, that slump came to a screeching halt.
Against the New York Mets, Pujols was 4-for-5 with two homers, three runs, five RBIs and a walk. His first homer came in the 8th inning but it was his home run in the tenth that was the story. With the bases loaded in extra inning, Pujols blasted a grand slam to put the contest out of reach.
When all was said and …read more

Mark DeRosa hasn’t gotten off to the greatest start since being traded from the Cleveland Indians to the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s 0-9 at the plate in three games. And now he’s injured.
DeRosa got hurt on Tuesday and has been diagnosed with a strained left wrist. He underwent X-rays and was relieved to learn that there wasn’t a broken bone or any other series injury.
Said DeRosa: “It’s the best case scenario. I was back at the hotel last night kind of panicking a little bit.”
The Cardinals are not expected to put him on the disabled list. Instead, DeRosa will probably …read more

Tim Lincecum is on fire. After getting off to a relatively slow start, the ace for the San Francisco Giants is at the top of his game. Against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, Lincecum threw a two-hitter to improve his record on the season to 8-2.
His final stat line was nine innings, two hits, no walks and eight strikeouts. His ERA on the season was lowered ton 2.37. In his last eight starts, he has only given up nine earned runs. Lincecum also has three complete games in his last four outings.
The Giants got one run in the top …read more

Cliff Lee, the 2008 American League Cy Young Award winner, almost threw a no-hitter on Sunday. After pitching seven hitless innings, Lee finally gave up a hit to lead off the eighth inning. Although he lost the no-hitter, he was able to shutout the St. Louis Cardinals to lead the Cleveland Indians to a 3-0 victory.
Lee finished with nine innings pitched and six strikeouts while allowing three hits and two walks. On the season, he’s 4-6 with a 2.88 ERA. Last season, Lee was 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA.
At the plate, the Indians got their runs via the long ball. …read more