Could the biggest baseball fan in the country live in basketball-obsessed Memphis, Tennessee? Maybe.
Germantown resident and baseball superfan Drew Fleming is one of 52 finalists in the 2013 MLB Fan Cave competition. The winner will have the opportunity to watch and tweet about all 2,430 MLB games in the New York-based MLB Fan Cave.
“I saw a few other video entries and thought ‘hey I do this for a living, I love baseball,’ and I tweet way too much,” said Fleming. “I figured the MLB Fan Cave was right up my ally.”
Vote for Fleming here.
UPDATE: Listen to Drew Fleming’s MSL interview here.
Watch his 2013 MLB Fan Cave video submission:
SEE ALSO:
Email: kevin@memphisport.com
Twitter: @cerrito
(Photo by Justin Ford)
Highlights of the Memphis Redbirds 2013 promotional giveaways include a BBQ bobblehead, Memphis Belle 70th Anniversary t-shirt, and a homeplate welcome mat.
Here is the full list of free stuff:
Email: kevin@memphisport.com
Twitter: @cerrito
SEE ALSO: Grizzlies announce list of 2012-13 promotional giveaways
Photo by Justin Ford
Baseball season is finally here, and you don’t want to miss Opening Night at the Redbirds. Here are 5 reasons that you should check out the Redbirds’ at Autozone Park this summer:
1. Shelby Miller
Starting the home opener this Friday, righty pitcher Shelby Miller is someone you don’t want to miss. Signed out of high school, Miller has long been the Cardinals’ prize prospect, entering this season at #10 on Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein’s (@kevin_goldstein) top 101 prospects.
According to his twitter feed on Wednesday, Shelby is excited to be here, and we should be excited to see him.
“Getting this lift in. Ready for Friday. Hope it’s a big crowd.” Follow him: @shelbymiller19
2. The new video board
It’s 60 feet by 60 feet, the biggest in the minor leagues. This thing is gonna light up downtown Memphis when it’s on.
3. Matt Adams
Matt Adams will man 1b for the Redbirds this season, bringing his big bat with him. After destroying the Texas League last year (.300, 32 HR, 101 RBI), Adams is right back in form with a .419 avg and 3 HR already on the 2012 season. The guy is a threat to go yard every time he is at the plate, and shouldn’t be here more than a season or two. Don’t miss this guy.
4. BBQ Nachos
Memphis’ own Rendezvous BBQ Nachos. Enough said.
5. Fireworks
Saturday night marks the first fireworks night of the year for the Redbirds, and there’s nothing cooler than watching a ball game, eating a hot dog, spilling mustard on your shirt, drinking a beer, and watching fireworks at the end. Think ‘The Sandlot’ when the kids play ball under the fireworks, minus the tobacco and carnival rides.
Hit the comments section below with any reasons you love watching Redbirds games that I missed.
Drew Fleming is the last baseball columnist you have ever read. He covers the St. Louis Cardinals and Memphis Redbirds for Memphisport. Follow him on Twitter @thefilmjerk
The Cardinals finished the first week of the 2012 season 5-2. Let’s take a look at three aspects of why the team had such a good week.
Strike 2
Strike 3
We can expect Berkman to chip in some homers pretty soon, too, but he has been slowed by a bothersome hand as well as a minor calf tear suffered after legging out a triple in Tuesday’s game. Berkman is expected to stay out of the lineup until next week, with rookie Matt Carpenter manning first in his stead.
You’re out!
The Cardinals home opener is Friday, April 13th against the Cubs.
Check out our 2012 Cardinals season preview here.
This is Part 2 of our St. Louis Cardinals 2012 Season Preview featuring a position by position look at the roster. To read Part 1′s breakdown of the Cardinals pitching staff click here.
Part 2: Position Players
First Base
Lance Berkman
2011 Stats: .301, 31 HR, 94 RBI
If you’re going to replace a guy like Pujols (.299, 37 HR, 99 RBI in 2011), a career .328 hitter, well you can forget it. But if you have a guy like Berkman, The Comeback Player of 2011, who can man first and put up numbers like he did in 2011, you’re on the right track. ( Same with adding Beltran, but more on that later.) With his age and previous knee issue, Berkman could be considered a risk. The Cards need him healthy and in this lineup as much as possible. A healthy Berkman is a dominant force in the stacked middle of this lineup.
Another pressing issue along with the loss of Pujols bat, is the loss of his glove. A two time gold glove winner, Pujols plays as aggressively at first base as anyone, and clearly has a step or two on Berkman. The Cardinals might want to think about ways to keep Berkman from straining too much at first, such as not holding runners on with lefties at the plate, and therefore letting Berkman have a few extra steps to cover ground balls.
Second Base
Tyler Greene
2011 Stats: .212, 1 HR, 11 RBI in 58 games (.323, 14 HR, 43 RBI in 66 games in AAA)
Second base is a key position for the Cards this year, with a need for offense and steady defense at the position. With Skip Schumaker on the DL due to an oblique injury, Greene will get the shot to start the season at second base. As of this point in his career, the 28 year old, who can flash the leather on the field, has yet to translate the offensive output he has had in the minors to the big leagues. Greene has said that being moved up and down so much while fighting for big league at bats has halted his big league success, so now is his chance to put up or shut up.
Along with the pop in his bat, Greene brings speed to the base paths, a spot where the Cardinals have been lacking in recent years. The team went 33 games in a row last year without stealing a base. Not good.
Greene, however, led the club in 2011 with 11 stolen bases, in only 56 games. With 13 walks and 4 HBP last year, Greene was on base 39 times, tried stealing 11 times and didn’t get thrown out once. Pretty good.
A full season of Greene getting on base and we could see some serious speed numbers in the form of stolen bags, as well as runs scored, should he fit in the top of the lineup.
Third Base
David Freese
2011 Stats: .297, 10 HR, 55 RBI
Third base is locked down for the Cardinals right now. As long as injury-prone Freese can stay healthy, his bat and plus defense will man the hot corner for years to come in St. Louis. If he can play a full season, he should hit about 20 home runs and have around 30-40 more RBI.
More importantly, the man is clutch. I’ve never seen anything like his game 6 performance in the world series, in which he delivered one of the most clutch hits in history, and THEN hit a walk off home run.
If the game is on the line, the Cardinals want this guy at the plate. Freese’s game 6 WPA (Win Probability Added, a stat that measures how much a player adds to his teams’s percentage probability to win) of .953 is the highest in postseason history. (Eat that, Kirk Gibson.)
Hopefully Freese can build on his monstrous postseason and add depth to the power in the middle of this Cards lineup.
Short Stop
Rafael Furcal
2011 Stats:.231, 8 HR, 28 RBI
Short stop is another key position for the Cards. Seems like ever since David Eckstein left the Cardinals have had trouble at short. (See Cesar Izturis, Khalil Greene, Brendan Ryan, Ryan Theriot.. to name a few.)
Furcal, 2000’s Rookie of the Year, came over at the trade deadline last year and added some much needed pop to the lead off spot. Though injuries and age have kept him down the past few years, the guy keeps fighting and knows how to win. 9 of the 13 seasons he has been in the league, his team went to the postseason. Once a phenom defender, Furcal still has some flashy leather and a rocket arm, but this spring training has been a tough one (.192 AVG/.222 OBP/.269 SLG- NOT leadoff numbers.)
So tough in fact, that his leadoff hitter position may be up for grabs to Jon Jay, Tyler Greene, or Descalso off the bench. Should Furcal falter mightily, a scenario could play out in which Greene moves over to his long time short stop position, and Descalso takes over at second.
Furcal needs to get going early on this year to help the team out from a leadoff perspective. Otherwise, he’ll be hitting down in the 8th spot.
Catcher
Yadier Molina
2011 Stats: .305, 14 HR, 65 RBI
Molina has been called the game’s current best catcher by many within the game for some time now, most recently by Detroit Tigers’ skipper Jim Leyland. Though his offensive numbers weren’t eye-popping in recent years, Yadi set personal bests across the board in 2011 in most offensive categories – .305 avg, 14 HR, 65 RBI, earning him a shiny new 5 year, $75 million contract. Along with the way he is able to handle pitchers, throw out baserunners, and stay healthy, ( he’s caught 100 more innings than anyone else in baseball since 2009) Yadi should be considered a serious strong point for this team.
Left Field
Matt Holliday
2011 Stats: .296, 22 HR, 75 RBI
Left field is a position of strength for the Cardinals. Power hitter Matt Holliday mashes doubles and homers as well as any outfielder in the league. A few defensive miscues have given him a bad reputation on defense, but statistically Holliday is an above average defender.
After getting off to a hot start last April, Holliday’s year slowed due to an appendectomy and was further muddled by odd injuries, even having to leave a game once due to a moth flying into his ear. Holliday injured his pinky in a slide back to third in Game 6 of the World Series as well.
Injuries aside, Holliday is a monster hitter, and should be the cornerstone of this lineup for years to come. (He is currently in year 3 of his 7 year, $120 million dollar contract.)
Center Field
John Jay
2011 Stats: .297, 10 HR, 35 RBI
Speedy lefty Jon Jay can cover center field for sure. Not a power guy, Jay uses his speed to get on base and play the role of table setter for the power hitters in the lineup. (Though he can bring a little pop if he needs to, like the 10 HR he hit last year.) With Furcal needing to prove himself at leadoff, Jay could be the guy to step into the role.
Jay has established himself as a big league center fielder, and can clearly hit for average. Though he faded late for the Cardinals last season, the club hopes to keep Jay at center for a while with his plus glove. Look for Jay to put together his second full season in the majors and improve.
Right Field
Carlos Beltran
2011 Stats: .300, 22 HR, 84 RBI split between Mets and Giants
The Cardinals may have lost Pujols but still managed to come out of the offseason with an excellent short term replacement: A healthy Beltran is a force to be reckoned with from both sides of the plate. Adding Beltran gives the Cardinals two of the best switch hitters in the game from last season (Berkman is the other), so this lineup shouldn’t have much of a problem with lefty pitchers since Furcal can switch hit at the top of the order as well.
More on Beltran: injuries really kept him from producing at the level he could for the Mets, who gave him a monster contract in 2005. When he was healthy, though, he mashed. Traded to the Giants at the deadline last year, Beltran showed he could still patrol right field and had good offensive numbers (.323, 7 HR, 18 RBI in 44 games) even though the Giants around him were slipping. Since the Cards only signed Beltran to a 2 year deal ($26 million), they really aren’t on the hook for too long should Beltran fail to produce or stay healthy.
Bench
Tony Cruz
2011 Stats: .262, 0 HR, 6 RBI in 38 games with the Cardinals (.262, 4 HR, 25 RBI in 44 games at AAA Memphis)
Tony Cruz will give Yadi a break at catcher now and again, and add a little pop from the bench. Cruz beat out longtime Redbird catcher Bryan Anderson, who hit .478 this spring, simply because he had established himself as a reliable backup for Molina last season, and also due to his ability to make a spot start at the corner infield positions.
Matt Carpenter
2011 Stats: .067, 0 HR, 0 RBI in 19 Plate Appearances with Cardinals (.300, 12 HR, 70 RBI with AAA Memphis)
Carpenter had a flashy spring last year (.333 avg) and exploded this spring for a .357 AVG, 2 HR and 10 RBI, earning him a spot on the Cardinals bench. Normally a third baseman, Carpenter also got starts in the outfield and at first base this spring, showing that he can be valuable off the bench should injuries arise. Freese has yet to put a full season together so it wouldn’t be out of the question for Carpenter to man third for a decent amount of time, as well as spell Berkman at first here and there.
Daniel Descalso
2011 Stats: .264, 1 HR, 28 RBI
Though Matheny has said that the second base job belongs to Tyler Greene, Descalso may have to fill in should Furcal need a rest at short, moving Greene over. Descalso may also get the start every once in a while against righties, since he is a lefty. Descalso played late inning hero more than a few times last season, and earned respect as a guy who can come through in the clutch. Hopefully limited playing time won’t limit his ability to pinch hit against righties late in the game when it counts.
Erik Komatsu
2011 Stats: .277, 7 HR, 48 RBI splitting time between Brewers and Nationals AA clubs
Komatsu was acquired from the Nationals as a rule 5 draft pick, and would have to be released back to them if he didn’t make the opening day roster. An outfielder, Komatsu hit .278 this spring and made it worth giving him a shot at least to start the season as speed off the bench who could spell the aging Beltran.
Shane Robinson
2011 Stats: .299, 4 HR, 23 RBI at AAA Memphis
Fan favorite ‘Sugar’ Shane Robinson has been in the organization for a while now. A concussion put him on the bench for much of last year, but with Skip Schumaker on the disabled list, Shane gets his chance to open the year with the big club for the first time. Robinson, a right handed hitter, can cover center and may spell Jon Jay against lefties from time to time.
Well, there’s your rundown of the Cardinals Opening Day roster. Here comes the season, whether you are ready for it or not. I know I am.
What are you most excited about for this season? Hit the comment section below with your thoughts.
Click here to read Life After Pujols: 2012 St. Louis Cardinals Preview, Part I
Drew Fleming is the last baseball columnist you have ever read. He covers the St. Louis Cardinals for Memphisport. Follow him on Twitter @thefilmjerk
Welcome to the maiden voyage of Life After Pujols, a baseball nerd’s take on Cardinals baseball without Albert Pujols. In preparation for Opening Day on Wednesday, we are taking a two-part look at how the Cards stack up for the 2012 season in hopes of defending their World Series title.
We start today with a breakdown of the Cardinals pitching and will return tomorrow with a position by position look at the rest of the 2012 Cardinals starting lineup.
Part 1: Pitching
The Cards have shuffled a lot since winning the 2011 World Series. How does a team move forward after losing arguably the game’s best manager and hitter in the same offseason? With established veterans, and young talent, that’s how.
The young talent starts with new manager Mike Matheny, who has never managed at any level. A beloved former Cardinals catcher, Matheny has already had a great rapport with most of the Cards roster for some time now as a spot coach during spring trainings past.
As for replacing Pujols, well…I’ll leave that emotional distress until part 2.
For now, here’s a look at the Cardinals pitching for the 2012 season:
Starters:
Adam Wainwright 2011 Stats: 0-0, 0.00 ERA ( okay, okay, he didn’t pitch at all)
It wouldn’t be a new season without some bumps in the road for the Cardinals’ starting rotation. Adam Wainwright returns from Tommy John surgery that kept him from throwing a single pitch all season last year, and while he has had a successful spring training (2-0, 1.45 ERA and 9 K’s in 5 starts), a team must always be cautious with pitchers returning from injury. Though he has been a workhorse and league leader in ERA in the past few seasons, it would be unrealistic to expect Waino to instantly return to the form he had in 2009 and 2010.
Chris Carpenter 2011 Stats: 11-9, 3.45 ERA
Aging veteran Carpenter had a rocky start to the season last year, but put it together coming down the stretch and was unbelievable in his playoff starts on normal rest. (Let’s exclude the game that La Russa started him on short rest.) His 1-0 shutout of the Phillies in game 5 of the division series, in Philly, against Roy Halladay, will go down as one of the greatest pitched post season games in history.
A big issue for concern for this season is the injury status of Carpenter. A bulging disc in his neck has created a nerve issue that shortened Carpenter’s spring, and has put him on the 15 day disabled list to start the season, throwing Lance Lynn into the mix to fill in until Carpenter comes back. Lynn was an effective reliever last season, (40 K’s in 34 innings with a 3.12 ERA), and has always been a starter in the minors. A big thrower, he has the stuff to fill in the rotation for now.
On the plus side, the Cardinals do have the top right handed pitching prospect in the game, Shelby Miller, waiting in the wings. Miller will start the season at Triple A Memphis, and would be worth checking out at Autozone Park up close before he heads to St. Louis, most likely during this season.
Jaime Garcia 2011 Stats: 13-7, 3.56 ERA
Young lefty Jaime Garcia, in the second year of his contract, is expected to only get better as he ages in experience. He’s been nothing short of lights out this spring (1-1, 2.79 ERA, 19 K’s and only 5 walks in 19.1 innings). Caveat: In 2011, Garcia was 9-4 with a 2.55 ERA at home, and 4-3 with a 4.61 ERA on the road. If he can figure out how to achieve success on the road like he does in Busch Stadium, Garcia could be one of the best lefties in the NL. (Behind Dodgers phenom, Clayton Kershaw, of course.) In all likelihood, Garcia will be a staple of the Cardinals rotation for years to come.
Kyle Lohse 2011 Stats: 14-8, 3.39 ERA
With Carpenter injured, Kyle Lohse, though basically worthless in the playoffs last year ( 6.45 postseason ERA), takes the opening day start Wednesday in the brand new Miami Marlins ball park. Though he was quiet in the playoffs, Lohse led the team in wins and era a year ago and, when healthy, can be an effective starter. The perception of Lohse had previously been negative due to his poor performance in 2009 and 2010 from a rash of injuries just after signing his current contract, but if he puts up numbers similar to 2011, that would be a big plus to this team.
Jake Westbrook 2011 Stats: 12-9, 4.66 ERA
The tough part of the Cardinals rotation is veteran Jake Westbrook. While clearly a decent back end starter, Westbrook needs to stick to keeping the ball down and give the Cardinals a solid 6 innings every 5 days. Westbrook had the highest ERA of all Cards starters last year, and threw 183 innings in his 33 starts. While he was durable all season, he needs to do better than only averaging ~5 innings per start.
With Carpenter hurt and Wainwright coming back from injury, Garcia, Lohse, and Westbrook have to put up some good numbers early on to take pressure off Waino and Lance Lynn. Like much of the Cardinals this year, health will play a big role here. It will definitely be exciting, however, when/if Shelby Miller gets called up and can make an impact. Cardinal faithful have been eyeing Miller and his minor league success for years now, waiting for it to pay off.
Bullpen: Closer Jason Motte is poised to have a big year, building on his late season and postseason success (5 saves and a 2.19 ERA in the Cardinals postseason run). The closer position for the Cardinals was a circus last year, as Ryan Franklin basically fell apart and Tony La Russa decided to refrain from naming anyone the closer, while giving Salas, Motte, and even Boggs a chance to close. In a variation from La Russa’s style, Matheny has said Motte is his closer since day 1. Having the confidence of a world series win, and with the support and faith of manager and team behind him should put Motte in place to have a solid year with his blazing fastball.
The bullpen was a strong point for the Cards down the stretch last year, and should be again this year with newly added veterans Scott Linebrink and J.C. Romero, sturdy setup man Kyle McClellan, who also could start in a tough spot, tricky lefty Marc ‘Scrabble’ Rzepczynski, young power arm Mitchell Boggs, and flashy youngster Fernando Salas.
The Cardinals pitching staff has had a pretty successful spring: the team as a whole posted a 3.05 ERA, good for second in the majors. If Carpenter gets healthy and effective soon, this rotation is in the top 5 in the NL. And even if he doesn’t, well, Shelby Miller is on the way and let’s be frank- the Cardinals just won the world series without their best pitcher all year. They could do it again, right? Honestly, even with its injury issues, this rotation is strong. With an overall ERA of 3.74 last year, good for 12th in the majors, these starters should put the powerful offensive lineup in place to win plenty of games.
Look for Part 2 tomorrow, as we take a position by position look at the 2012 Cardinals starting lineup.
UPDATE: Click here to read Life After Pujols: 2012 St. Louis Cardinals Preview, Part II
Drew Fleming covers the St. Louis Cardinals for MemphiSport. Follow him on Twitter @thefilmjerk
Leading Off: After a strong 2011 campaign, the Memphis Redbirds came up just short of capturing the PCL Northern Division crown. The ‘Birds finished with a 77-66 record, just 2 1/2 games behind Omaha, and they certainly have nothing to hang their heads about.
On Deck: A strong finish to the season will see the Redbirds anxious to try again in 2012. What happens with Albert Pujols in St. Louis will largely decide what Memphis’s roster will look like.
Single: Brandon Dickson finished fifth in the PCL in both ERA and strikeouts. It might not be realistic to expect him to spend much time in the minor leagues next year. He will certainly get a long look in Spring Training with the big club.
Double: Nick Stavinoha had a spectacular season in Memphis, finishing with 28 home runs and 109 RBI. He was easily the Redbirds’ most valuable player. He will also likely spend a great deal of time in St. Louis next season.
Triple: Attendance numbers were up from last year’s total, a sign that the front office is doing something right. With the likelihood that highly touted pitching prospect Shelby Miller will spend at least some time in Memphis next year, look for that number to possibly go up again.
Homerun: Though the ‘Birds couldn’t quite make a championship run again this season, the year has to be viewed as an overall success.
Bases Loaded is a weekly recap of the past week’s storylines and news from the Memphis Redbirds.
Michael Jones covers the Redbirds for MemphiSport. You can follow him via Twitter @MemphisMJ.
Photo by Justin Ford.
Leading Off: Memphis now finds itself only 4 games back of Omaha, having gone 8-2 over their last 10 contests, while the Storm Chasers posted a 7-3 mark. Although they still have some ground to make up, ‘Birds continue to hang within striking distance.
On Deck: The Redbirds will play 8 of their final 13 games at home, where they have been phenomenal this season, going 40-23 versus 29-38 on the road.
Single: Prior to the start of Wednesday’s game, Memphis led the PCL with a 4.11 ERA. Brandon Dickson leads the staff at 3.73, which puts him 3rd in the league. If they somehow manage to catch Omaha for the PCL North crown, it will be largely due to the efforts of the pitching staff.
Double: The team batting average has slowly crept up to .271, but the ‘Birds still find themselves 14th out of 16 teams in the PCL.
Triple: Nick Stavinoha is quietly having a stellar season at the plate and is making a good case for team MVP, having reached the 100 RBI plateau along with 27 home runs. Those marks find him tied for third and and second respectively in the PCL.
Homerun: 10… the Redbirds elimination number as of August 24th, meaning that any number of Omaha wins and Redbirds losses totaling that number will see Omaha win the division.
Bases Loaded is a weekly recap of the past week’s storylines and news from the Memphis Redbirds.
Michael Jones covers the Redbirds for MemphiSport. You can follow him via Twitter @MemphisMJ.
Photo by Justin Ford.
Leading Off: Over the last 10 games, Memphis has been able to make up very little ground over Omaha. The Redbirds have gone 7-3 while the Storm Chasers have posted a 6-4 mark, leaving the ‘Birds at 5 games back.
On Deck: The Redbirds finish up with 7 games against Albuquerque and 8 against Nashville, both of whom have similar records to Memphis. So if they have any chance of catching Omaha, they’ll have to do it against winning teams.
Single: Memphis has fallen to fourth in ERA in the PCL, with a mark of 4.14. Anyone hoping that their pitching would carry them to a division title will likely end up being disappointed when all is said and done.
Double: Although their team average has improved to .271, the ‘Birds still finds themselves 15th out of 16 teams in the PCL.
Triple: With the big club having made a few additions via trades and other acquisition methods, some stability will probably be welcomed in the near future. Constant callups from the Cardinals have made it difficult for to Memphis find their rhythm. Unfortunately, the beginning of September also means that MLB rosters will be expanded.
Homerun: 18… number of games the ‘Birds have left in the 2011 regular season as of Aug 18th.
Bases Loaded is a weekly recap of the past week’s storylines and news from the Memphis Redbirds.
Michael Jones covers the Redbirds for MemphiSport. You can follow him via Twitter @MemphisMJ.
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