Didn’t we just leave this party?

With a postseason that joyously ran long and a participation level that was through the roof, the United Cardinal Bloggers spent from the end of October until  just before Christmas rehashing and discussing.  Now, as the calendar turns to February, it’s time for us to take up the discussions again.

This time, however, there’s a twist.

In an effort to engage our readers and followers a bit more, we are encompassing the UCB Twitter feed (@utdcardbloggers if you aren’t following it) into the discussions.  Every day, the question that the bloggers are discussing via email will be also put on our Twitter account.  Answers that are received will be eligible to be added to the transcript when the blogger posts it.

To keep things organized, we ask that you use the proper hashtag when responding to a question.  To answer the first question, use #ucb1.  The next day, use #ucb2 and so on.  The hashtag will be listed with the schedule below.

Then, during the last week of the roundtable, we are letting you–well, turn the tables seems pretty cliche there, doesn’t it?  We’ll ask you to submit a question you want the bloggers to bat around.  The best one will be put into the system and the transcript will be posted here on this site.

Please note that the date listed with the blog link is the day that the transcript is scheduled to be posted.  The question will be asked the day before.

Tuesday, February 7: Cards Tied For First (#ucb1)
Wednesday, February 8:  RetroSimba (#ucb2)
Thursday, February 9: Cards ‘N Stuff (#ucb3)
Friday, February 10: Cards Diaspora (#ucb4)

Monday, February 13: I70 Baseball (#ucb5)
Tuesday, February 14: Aaron Miles’ Fastball (#ucb6)
Wednesday, February 15: Balls & Strikes (#ucb7)
Thursday, February 16: Redbird Rants (#ucb8)
Friday, February 17: Pitchers Hit Eighth (#ucb9)

Monday, February 20: Fungoes (#ucb10)
Tuesday, February 21: Cardinal Diamond Diaries (#ucb11)
Wednesday, February 22: Redbirds Fun (#ucb12)
Thursday, February 23: Rally Birds (#ucb13)
Friday, February 24: CardinalsGM (#ucb14)

Monday, February 27: On The Outside Corner (#ucb15)
Tuesday, February 28: Pitchers Hit Eighth (#ucb16)
Wednesday, February 29: STL Sports 360 (#ucb17)
Thursday, March 1: MLB Voice (#ucb18)
Friday, March 2: STL Cardinal Baseball (#ucb19)

Monday, March 5: Birds On The Bat 82 (#ucb20)
Tuesday, March 6: STL: Fear The Red (#ucb21)
Wednesday, March 7: Saint Louis Sports (#ucb22)
Thursday, March 8: Bird Brained (#ucb23)
Friday, March 9: Question from the Twitterverse (#ucb24)

Monday, March 12: C70 At The Bat (#ucb25)

*–Denotes transcript has been posted

There are those moments that just immediately come to mind when you think of the St. Louis Cardinals.  Perhaps it’s Ozzie’s home run or his signature backflip.  Bob Gibson glaring from the mound and striking out a World Series record.  David Freese’s home run in this past postseason.

What are the top moments, though?  That’s what the UCB tackles in January.  Click below on those that have taken the challenge.  More will be added through the weekend, most likely, so remember to come back often!

Aaron Miles’ Fastball
Balls & Strikes
Bird Brained
Born Bleeding
C70 At The Bat
Cardinal Diamond Diaries
CardinalsGM
I70 Baseball
On The Outside Corner
Pitchers Hit Eighth
Redbird Rants
Redbird Rants 2
RetroSimba
Saint Louis Sports
STL: Fear The Red

Every December, the UCB ends the year by reviewing just what was important over the last few months.  This year, there are plenty of things to choose from.  Read through all the links and revisit one historic year.

C70 At The Bat
Cardinal Diamond Diaries
Cards ‘N Stuff
Craving Cardinals
I70 Baseball
The McBrayer-Baseball Blog
On The Outside Corner
Redbird Dugout
Redbird Rants 1
Redbird Rants 2
RetroSimba
STL: Fear The Red
Women Who Love Cardinals Baseball

Every year the Cardinal Blogger Awards brings together some of the best blogs on the internet to vote on all things Cardinal and this year was no exception.  As you can tell from going through the ballots, a lot of hard work and thought was put into these.  Now, all the votes from the bloggers have been tabulated as well as the “fan ballot” put together by 30+ readers and followers of the UCB.

Without further adieu, the winners are:

Player of the Year–Lance Berkman

Berkman dominated the voting, scoring 15 nods.  Yadier Molina was a distant runner up with four.

Pitcher of the Year–Chris Carpenter

As much as Berkman ran away with his award, Carpenter did even more so.  He received 18 votes, with only Fernando Salas (2) garnering more than one.

Regular Season Game of the Year–September 28

The last game of the season, where Carpenter shut out the Astros to pitch the Cardinals into the playoffs, received seven votes and just nudged out September 24, the Carlos Marmol wild pitch game.

Postseason Game of the Year–World Series Game 6

This one was another runaway, as the game that made David Freese a legend got 17 votes, with the only other game receiving votes being the Carpenter/Roy Halladay battle in Game 5 of the NLDS.

Surprise Player of the Year–Lance Berkman

Berkman collects his second award of the evening, easily outdistancing Allen Craig by seven votes.

Disappointing Player of the Year–Ryan Franklin

Franklin, who began the year as the closer only to lose the role after blowing four of his first five chances, received 10.5 points, two better than another player no longer on the squad, Colby Rasmus.

Rookie Cardinal of the Year–Allen Craig

Craig just slid under the rookie requirements and was able to use that to get 13 votes.  Daniel Descalso came in second with five nods.

Preseason Acquisition of the Year–Lance Berkman

Berkman gets yet another award, this time in a unanimous manner.  Even if the offseason had been better Berkman would have rolled here, but the fact that none of the other acquisitions were worth mentioning didn’t hurt.

Midseason Acquisition of the Year–Rafael Furcal

While all of the pieces of the Rasmus trade (save Corey Patterson) got about equal support, bringing in Furcal from the Dodgers was the pick of 10 voters.  Edwin Jackson led the ex-Toronto delegation with five selections.

Most Anticipated Cardinal–Shelby Miller

A large majority (16 votes) want to see the flame-throwing top draft pick take the mound at Busch Stadium.  Matt Adams, the slugging first baseman, was a distant second.

Best Individual Cardinal Blog–C70 At The Bat

Since the author of that blog is writing this post, it seems disingenuous to do much discussion of it.  C70 was honored with 11 votes, with On The Outside Corner coming in second.

Best Team Cardinal Blog–Aaron Miles’ Fastball, I70 Baseball, Pitchers Hit Eighth

While a few other team blogs also got some support, three of the main pillars of the Cardinal blogosphere wound up in a dead heat.  All three of them received five votes, with no other team blog garnering more than one.

Best Professional Blog–Bird Land

Derrick Goold’s blog has won this every time out and this year is no exception.  Matthew Leach’s Obviously, You’re Not A Golfer was second, but still some distance behind in the voting.

Best Rookie Cardinal Blog–Aaron Miles’ Fastball

While there was a quality crop of rookie blogs to choose from this year, AMF handily won this award with ten votes.  Four other blogs were able to tie for second with two votes each.

Post of the Year–Happily Ever After

C70′s post after the season received 5.5 votes, with I70 Baseball’s stirring Backyard Dreams coming in a very close second.

Best UCB Project–Roundtables

The twice-yearly email discussions among members walked away with this award, with three other projects tying for second eight votes behind.

Most Optimistic Cardinals Blog–Cardinal Diamond Diaries

There was a definite female presence in this voting, as the ladies at Diamond Diaries outpointed another female blog, Aaron Miles’ Fastball, by four votes.

Best UCB Podcast–UCB Radio Hour

The granddaddy of them all was still popular enough to garner 10 votes, almost double of the runner-up (Conversations With C70).

Best UCB Twitterer–gr33nazn

Dennis from Pitchers Hit Eighth edged out Bob of On The Outside Corner (throatwarbler) by a couple of votes.  No other member received more than one.

Best Fake Twitter Account–TortyCraig

The account that purported to be coming from Allen Craig’s pet tortoise won over a large chunk of Cardinal Nation, as it handily beat out TrollStrauss by double digits.

Congratulations to all those that won, but there’s no doubt that even those blogs that weren’t mentioned here still put up quality writing day in and day out.  The UCB very well may be the best group of team bloggers out there and it’s a joy to read them on a regular basis.  Keep up the great work!

While the October/November/December roundtable is still going on, another project also gets a little play.  Every November, the UCB votes on certain awards, both on the field and in the blogging arena.  This is the fifth straight year that the awards have been handed out, and this year there is a twist.

We’ve added a fan voting portion to the awards, so you the reader or Twitter follower can also get a say in the action.  The fan blogs will be compiled into one vote to go into the mix with all the other blog ballots.  You can vote for your selections on this form here.

If you want to read how the UCB members are voting, follow the links below.  As always, continue to check back as more ballots are added.

Aaron Miles’ Fastball
Birds On The Bat 82
C70 At The Bat
Cardinal Diamond Diaries
Cards ‘N Stuff
Cards Tied For First
Craving Cardinals
Fungoes
I70 Baseball
The McBrayer-Baseball Blog
On The Outside Corner
Pitchers Hit Eighth (Dennis)
Pitchers Hit Eighth (Josh)
Pitchers Hit Eighth (Nick)
Redbird Rants
Redbirds Fun
RetroSimba
STL: Fear The Red

While the Cardinals continued their push to the World Series title (and you can read all our thoughts on that here), they also pushed our traditional roundtable back down the calendar a week at a time.  Now that the season is triumphantly over, it’s time to get down to it.

How the roundtable works is the blogger of the day poses a question to the rest of the group via email.  We spend the day batting it around, and the next day the blogger posts the transcript of our talk on their blog while the next person in line throws out another question.

You know that you are going to want to read them all.  As transcripts are posted, the links below will change to a direct jump to the answers and a * will be placed next to the blog name.  The days on the schedule are the days when they should be posted on the listed blog.  Lots of good baseball talk coming to heat up the winter!

Tuesday, November 1–I70 Baseball*
Wednesday, November 2–RetroSimba*
Thursday, November 3–Aaron Miles’ Fastball*
Friday, November 4–Welcome To Baseball Heaven*

Monday, November 7–On The Outside Corner*
Tuesday, November 8–Pitchers Hit Eighth*
Wednesday, November 9–MLB Voice (rescheduled)
Thursday, November 10–El Maquino*
Friday, November 11–Gas House Graphs

Monday, November 14–Cards Tied For First*
Tuesday, November 15–Cards Diaspora*
Wednesday, November 16–Cardinal Diamond Diaries*
Thursday, November 17–Cards ‘N Stuff*

Tuesday, November 22–Birds On The Bat 82*
Wednesday, November 23–Fungoes*

Tuesday, November 29–View From The Cheap Seats
Wednesday, November 30–Rob Says Really?
Thursday, December 1–Redbird Rants
Friday, December 2–STL Cardinal Baseball*

Monday, December 5–The McBrayer-Baseball Blog
Tuesday, December 6–CardinalsGM
Wednesday, December 7–Intangiball
Thursday, December 8–MLB Voice
Friday, December 9–Cardinal Diamond Diaries*

Monday, December 12–The Redbird Menace*
Tuesday, December 13–Redbird Dugout*
Wednesday, December 14–STL: Fear The Red*
Thursday, December 15–Bird Brained
Friday, December 16–Redbirds Fun*

Monday, December 19–Cardinal Diamond Diaries*
Tuesday, December 20–C70 At The Bat*

The St. Louis Cardinals, left for dead many times during the regular season and the postseason, have won their eleventh World Championship.  See how the members of the UCB are celebrating this amazing accomplishment!

Aaron Miles Fastball (One and Two)
Birds On The Bat 82
Bleed Cardinal Red With Me
C70 At The Bat
Cardinal Diamond Diaries
The Cardinal Virtue
Cards ‘N Stuff
El Maquino
I70 Baseball (One and Two)
The McBrayer-Baseball Blog
On The Outside Corner
Pitchers Hit Eighth
Redbird Dugout
The Redbird Menace
Redbird Rants
Redbirds Fun
RetroSimba
Stan Musial’s Stance
STL Cardinal Baseball
STL: Fear The Red

A number of years ago, Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch asked us to help him with a project he was doing, lining out the top 7 prospects of the Cardinals organization.  We liked the idea so much that we’ve put it into our regular rotation, doing this every September.

Check out all the various bloggers and their arguments, then come back later for the combined UCB list.

85% Sports
Aaron Miles’ Fastball
Birds On The Bat 82
C70 At The Bat
Cardinal Diamond Diaries
I70 Baseball
The McBrayer-Baseball Blog
On The Outside Corner
Pitchers Hit Eighth (Josh)
Pitchers Hit Eighth (Nick)
Redbird Dugout (Jon)
Redbird Dugout (Jerry)
RetroSimba

Below are the combined results, with a first place vote being worth seven points and working down the list until a seventh place vote is worth one point.

August is the last “freestyle” month of the year for the United Cardinal Bloggers.  September through December, there are regular projects that are done every year, but the August project tends to vary.  This year, we thought it’d be a good idea to get together and find out a little more about each other.  Bloggers were paired off and they exchanged Q&A.

To find out about this diverse group, follow the links below.  Due to the Cardinals scheduling Social Media Night the day before this was due, some postings have been delayed, so check back and continue to read!

Nick, Pitchers Hit Eighth and Rob, Rob Says Really?
Pip, Fungoes and Angela, Cardinal Diamond Diaries
Aaron, El Maquino and Jon, Redbird Dugout
John, STL: Fear The Red and Tara, Aaron Miles’ Fastball
Daniel, C70 At The Bat and Marilyn, Redbird Rants
Dathan, Good Morning Good Afternoon Goodnight and Bob, On The Outside Corner
Cole, Redbird Report and Mike, Stan Musial’s Stance
Bill, I70 Baseball and Dustin, Welcome To Baseball Heaven
Christine, Aaron Miles’ Fastball and Chris, Bird Brained

Spend the last day before the All-Star Break chatting with your favorite members of the United Cardinal Bloggers.  Find us here or at blogs around the UCB.  Let’s talk Cardinal baseball!