Welcome to the first of what we hope will be a weekly post here at the United Cardinal Bloggers website.  A dedicated group of UCB members will be writing this, trading off weeks so as to not burn anyone out or to take away from their own work at the various blogs.  Right now, we have the following bloggers lined up:

Bill Ivie, I70 Baseball
Chris Mallonee, Birds On The Bat 82
Christine Coleman, Aaron Miles’ Fastball
Corey Noles, Balls & Strikes
Daniel Shoptaw, C70 At The Bat
Kevin Reynolds, Cards ‘N Stuff
Nick, Pitchers Hit Eighth
Rodney and Ryan Knuppel, Saint Louis Sports
Tara Wellman, Aaron Miles’ Fastball
Tom Knuppel, CardinalsGM
Tyler Giles, Rally Birds

What you may find here could vary every week.  We hope to bring you something similar to what you see here, however.

WEEKLY RECAP

The Cards make sure that their bats made the trip from Houston to Phoenix, busting out 22 runs on seven homers in the series.  Carlos Beltran hit three of those, including a grand slam in the middle matchup.  Lance Lynn and Jake Westbrook both pitched outstanding games, but the bullpen sputtered a bit.  J.C. Romero allowed five runs without getting an out in the first game, while Mitchell Boggs made a 6-0 lead seem precarious in the second.  Kyle Lohse left the finale after five innings with a leg injury, but is expected to make his next start.

The roller coaster took a dip when the Cards returned home, as not even the pageantry and sentimentality of retiring former manager Tony La Russa’s number was enough to avoid being swept by the Atlanta Braves.  The Cardinals had chances Friday night, leaving the bases loaded twice in extra innings before losing and squandering another dominant Beltran performance (4-5, double, triple, 2 HR, 4 RBI).  The offense sputtered the rest of the series, scoring more in the ninth on Sunday (three on Allen Craig’s fifth home run of the year) than the rest of those two games combined.  Adam Wainwright was uncharacteristically wild on Saturday, walking in two runs in the first, and while Lynn put together a quality start, he allowed three runs with two out in the third and that was more than the offense could overcome versus Tommy Hanson.

SERIES PREVIEW

It’s the return of that blight on the schedule, the two game series.  The Cards host the Cubs for two before jetting out to San Francisco for two more.  Finally, the week wraps with a more traditional three games against one of the Cardinals’ most historical opponents, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This will be the third time the Cards have matched up with the Cubs, having split the first six meetings.  The Cubs are 1-2 in Busch this year, having ruined the ring ceremony but that’s all.  As befitting the fact that the Cards have stayed mainly in the NL Central, they have not faced the Giants or LA yet this season.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Monday: Jake Westbrook (4-2, 1.76 ERA) vs. Ryan Dempster (0-1, 1.02)
Tuesday: Kyle Lohse (5-1, 2.08) vs. Paul Maholm (4-2, 4.05)
Wednesday: Jaime Garcia (2-2, 4.09) vs. Madison Bumgarner (5-2, 2.80)
Thursday: Adam Wainwright (2-4, 6.16) vs. Matt Cain (2-2, 2.28)
Friday: Lance Lynn (6-1,1.81) vs. Ted Lilly (5-0, 2.11)
Saturday: Jake Westbrook vs. Clayton Kershaw (2-1, 2.56)
Sunday: Kyle Lohse vs. Chad Billingsley (2-2, 3.32)

Game of the week: It’ll be interesting to see if Lance Lynn can continue his early-season dominance against the NL West-leading Dodgers on Friday, but from a pure pitching standpoint, you can’t go wrong with Wainwright vs. Cain if Wainwright is, well, right.

TWEETS OF THE WEEK

“I’d like to point out that to honor #TLR10, the pitcher is now batting eighth.”–@gr33nazn

“Beltran has found his inner 2004.”–@dgoold

“Carlos Beltran just unlocked the ‘NL MVP’ badge on @foursquare for checking in to the right field bleachers at Busch Stadium.”–@CardinalTales

POSTS OF THE WEEK

Daniel Solzman took a look at Lance Lynn and his early season success over at Redbird Rants.

I70 Baseball focused in on the strong Cardinal offense.

The celebration of Tony La Russa this weekend prompted 10 observations over at Aaron Miles’ Fastball.

RECENT PODCASTS
UCB Radio Hour (Wednesday, May 9) with Dathan Brooks and Chris Mallonee
Conversations With C70: Episode 20 (Friday, May 11)
Gateway to Baseball Heaven (Sunday, May 13)

This week’s hosts for Wednesday’s UCB Radio Hour: Tara Wellman and Matt Whitener

Perhaps you remember last September, when A&E Home Video gave away some of Baseball’s Greatest Games: 1985 NLCS Game 5. Or maybe you took a shot at the Official World Series Film from some of the UCB members. We even had a number of giveaways of the full World Series DVD sets as well.

If you weren’t one of the lucky ones that won any of the above, well, your friends at A&E Home Video and the United Cardinal Bloggers are at it again.  We’ve got a new disc to give away, plus more World Series sets!  First, read the descriptions provided to us then check below for how you can win.

The St. Louis Cardinals thrilled Cardinal Nation with a game full of heart-stopping comebacks, including a spectacular 11th inning walk-off home run. Hometown hero and budding star David Freese smashed the solo shot in the final inning that provided a fitting finale to a spectacular Fall Classic matchup.

In Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, on the edge of elimination, the Cardinals trailed five times and were twice down to their last strike. But Freese, Lance Berkman and a resilient lineup evened the score each time until Freese delivered the second of his incredible moments–the wondrous walk-off homer. All of the drama, thrills, exhilaration and jubilation of this Fall Classic masterpiece are here to enjoy for the first time in pristine HD with the roar of the crowd in 5.1 surround sound.

Direct from the archives of Major League Baseball, this extraordinary television broadcast includes the quintessential making of an iconic moment, and one unforgettable baseball game available for the first time on Blu-Ray!

WORLD SERIES GAME 6, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011, BUSCH STADIUM

A special audio feature allows fans to watch the television broadcast and listen to the radio play-by-play in English or Spanish!

History unfolded before our eyes and every clutch pitch, game-winning hit, and record-setting moment is digitally preserved in THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 2011 WORLD SERIES COLLECTOR’S EDITION DVD. Featuring every game of this remarkable Fall Classic–including Game 6 which instantly became one of the greatest postseason games ever played–this eight-DVD set celebrates the Cardinals unforgettable, exhilarating, dramatic, and uplifting comebacks and victories. Each World Series game is now on DVD and wrapped with stats, player facts, and historic notes.

This eight-DVD collection displays the fortitude of the Red Birds under manager Tony LaRussa and the heroics of David Freise, Albert Pujols, Lance Berkman, Allen Craig, Yadier Molina, and Chris Carpenter along with every glorious Cardinals moment.

A special DVD audio feature allows fans to watch the World Series television broadcast and listen to Cardinals Radio Network announcers!

BONUS FEATURES

Walk-Off Winners; Milestones; Cardinals clinch NL Wild Card: Last Out and Celebration; NLDS Highlights, Last Out, and Celebration; NLCS Highlights, Last Out, and Celebration; NLCS Trophy Presentations; World Series Last Out, Celebration and Trophy Presentation; St. Louis Victory Parade; Multiple Audio Tracks Featuring World Series Announcers: Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, Ken Rosenthal (Fox Sports), John Rooney, Mike Shannon (Cardinals Radio Network), Eric Nadel, Steve Busby, Bryan Dolgin (Rangers Radio Network), Ernesto Jerez, Guillermo Celis (ESPN Deportes Radio)

So, you want to win one of these?  Check out these UCB blogs and enter the contests.  A huge thanks goes out to A&E for providing this opportunity.  Best of luck to you all!

Aaron Miles’ Fastball
Balls & Strikes
Bleed Cardinal Red With Me
Born Bleeding
C70 At The Bat
Cards ‘N Stuff
Cardinal Diamond Diaries
I70 Baseball
Padres Trail
Rally Birds
Redbird Rants
Women Who Love Cardinal Baseball (Part 2)

Well, you’ve made it with us this far – is your team still alive?

Let’s review each team’s path to the finals and then get right to the voting.

1967

Round One – defeated 1903 Cardinals

Round Two – defeated 1945 Cardinals

Sweet Sixteen – defeated 1987 Cardinals

Regional Final – defeated 1931 Cardinals

Final Four – defeated 2011 Cardinals

1968

Round One – defeated 1948 Cardinals

Round Two – defeated 1974 Cardinals

Sweet Sixteen – defeated 2004 Cardinals

Regional Final – defeated 1934 Cardinals

Final Four – defeated 1942 Cardinals

Who wins?

There you have it – down to a competition between teams that shared many of the same players. One a World Champion, the other falling just short. Which is the best Cardinal team of all-time, according to you all, the readers of Cardinal blogs?

Voting closes at first pitch of Opening Day in Miami!

We’ve made it to the top four teams in Cardinal history. Why stop there?

In the first semi-final, the winner of the Musial Region – the 1967 Cardinals – will face the Gibson Region Champion – the 2011 Cardinals.

1967 (from regional host Pitchers Hit Eighth): This team wasn’t fair. Cha Cha, Brock, Flood, Maris, Carlton, Gibson, Hughes, the Moonman, et al – for the World Series win.

This team won the National League by 10.5 games over the San Francisco Giants, and behind the first-ever unanimous NL MVP Orlando Cepeda, went on to defeat the Boston Red Sox in seven games to win the World Series. The Cardinals also drafted some guy named Ted Simmons in July of this year. Not bad.

Bob Gibson pitched three complete games against the Boston Red Sox in the ’67 Series, posting three wins and an ERA of 1.00. Gibson and the rest of the Cardinal pitching staff (among the names on the ’67 squad – Steve Carlton, Dick Hughes, Nelson Briles) stymied the Red Sox and AL Triple Crown winner Carl Yastrzemski.

The ’67 Birdos’ best player (by bWAR) was Orlando Cepeda at 7.1 WAR. Their best pitcher was Dick Hughes, with 4.5 WAR. Yes, this team won a lot of games without a full complement from Bob Gibson.

The 1967 Cardinals repeatedly show up on various lists of the best Cardinal teams of all time. Their continued advancement in this tourney is great example of why, and they haven’t even really been threatened.

2011 (from regional host Aaron Miles’ Fastball): You don’t need much, if any, explanation about this team — they don’t even get their World Series rings for two weeks yet. Just in case, a few reminders: 10 1/2 back in wild card on Aug. 25 then 23-9; Chris Carpenter in Game 162, NLDS Game 5 and World Series Game 7; Rally Squirrel; the bullpen in the NLCS; Albert Pujols 3 home runs; David Freese; Game 6; #11in11.

…and in the other semi-final, our lone underdog hopes that the slipper continues to fit.

The 1942 Cardinals made it out of the Buck Region as the top seed, and they will face the lone team remaining that is not a number one seed, the winner of the Smith Region, the 1968 Cardinals.

1942 (from regional host I-70 Baseball): The 1942 Cardinals hold the record for the most wins in franchise history (106). They won the World Series, only losing one game to the Yankees. Enos Slaughter was the team’s top performing player posting a 7.1 WAR.

The 1942 team was the beginning of one of the few dynasties in Cardinals history, which would see the team play in four of five World Series and bring home three titles. A young rookie named Stan Musial had joined the team and pitcher Mort Cooper would bring home a Most Valuable Player Award for his performance.

The team featured the top two finishers in the Most Valuable Player voting. Enos Slaughter, in his final season before serving military service for three years, would finish second in the voting after leading the team in Home Runs (13), Batting Average (.318) and Runs Batted In (98). The offensive presence was not enough for Slaughter to beat out Mort Cooper, however. Cooper would post a 1.78 Earned Run Average, 22 wins, ten shutouts, and a 0.987 WHIP in route to the MVP Award. Cooper’s success did not carry over into the post season, however, as he was roughed up in two starts against the mighty Yankees, taking the team’s only loss in the Fall Classic that year.

1968 (from regional host C70 at the Bat): The 1968 team is the Cinderella of this Final Four, being the only team left not rated a number one and the only team left that didn’t win a World Series title. Being the underdog hasn’t fazed them yet, though, taking down the Smith Regional #1 (2004) and #2 (1934) teams.

Just because they didn’t win the title doesn’t mean that this wasn’t a very good team. There weren’t many changes between this squad and the 1967 team that is representing the Musial Regional in this affair, plus it had Bob Gibson in the original Year of the Pitcher. It’s tough to imagine that he of the 1.12 ERA lost 9 times that season, but amazingly he did.

Most expected the Cardinals to win the 1968 World Series and, save for a ill-timed slip by normally sure-footed outfielder Curt Flood, they might well have done so. This was also the last great hurrah for the Cardinals until the Whiteyball resurgence in the ’80s.

Vote now! Polling will close tomorrow night (Tuesday) at 8pm so we can prepare and open voting on the final, to close right before first pitch of Opening Day!

Every March, the members of the United Cardinal Bloggers do our best to guess how the divisions will shake out and who will take home the postseason hardware.   Some will do it all in one post, some will spread it out over the week.  We’ll continue to update this post throughout the week with links to all those that are participating, so be sure to check back regularly.  (Also, don’t forget about the contest that is going on now as well!)

Lump-Sum Posts
Bleed Cardinal Red With Me
Born Bleeding
Redbird Rants
Redbirds Fun

American League
85% Sports
Balls & Strikes
C70 At The Bat
The Cardinal’s Base
CardinalsGM
Cards ‘N Stuff
Future Redbirds
The McBrayer-Baseball Blog
Pitchers Hit Eighth
RetroSimba
Saint Louis Sports
STL: Fear The Red

National League
Balls & Strikes
STL: Fear The Red

NL East
85% Sports
C70 At The Bat
The Cardinal’s Base
CardinalsGM
Cards ‘N Stuff
Future Redbirds
The McBrayer-Baseball Blog
RetroSimba
Saint Louis Sports

NL Central
C70 At The Bat
CardinalsGM
Cards ‘N Stuff
Future Redbirds
The McBrayer-Baseball Blog
RetroSimba
Pitchers Hit Eighth
Saint Louis Sports

NL West
C70 At The Bat
CardinalsGM
Cards ‘N Stuff
Future Redbirds
The McBrayer-Baseball Blog
Pitchers Hit Eighth
RetroSimba
Saint Louis Sports

Postseason and Awards 
Balls & Strikes
Born Bleeding
Cards ‘N Stuff
Future Redbirds
RetroSimba
Saint Louis Sports

If you’ve been following UCB member blogs Aaron Miles’ Fastball, C70 at the Bat, I-70 Baseball, and Pitchers Hit Eighth over the last week, hopefully you’ve been voting in the All-Time Cardinals Team Tournament.

Starting today, you’ll be able to find the Sweet Sixteen match-ups at those blogs as we wind down to the Cardinals team that you all vote as the greatest in history.

Now that we’re down to sixteen teams, the choices get tougher – the champions match up with the champions – and we’re going to sweeten the pot for you.

Courtesy of A+E Networks Home Entertainment/MLB Productions, the 8-disc 2011 World Series Champions Collectors Edition DVD Set contains each game of the 2011 World Series in its entirety, plus a bonus disc including highlights of the Cards’ improbable championship season.

We’re going to give away THREE of these sets to folks following along with this Tourney!

How do you win, you ask?  Simple.  First, keep visiting the regional host sites and voting through to the last four teams – when the voting will move to this site.  As for participating in the contest?

Post three things in the comments below:

1. Which Cardinal team you think will win the tourney?
2. Who will be the runner-up?
3. How many votes will the winner receive?

Hopefully with those three things, we’ll have enough to distinguish three winners – based upon closest picks to actual.  If your runner up made it further than someone else’s, you win the tie-breaker.  If you and someone else both choose winner and runner-up, the closest guess to votes received wins the tie-breaker.

Click here for the full bracket if you need a refresher to make your picks.

One entry per person, no ballot stuffing (and we have ways of tracking and controlling these things!), and enjoy watching the rest of the tourney unfold!

Now get to voting at the sites above this weekend and don’t forget to post your entries below!

As you can see in the roundtable schedule, we added a wrinkle this year in the fact that we asked our readers and Twitter followers to submit a question for the bloggers to take a whack at.

This question came from kocakwords, who coincidentally was on the UCB Radio Hour last week talking about a book project that he’s doing.  Paul’s question was as follows:

“Do you like or dislike Houston moving to the American League?”

Check inside to see how the bloggers responded.

Daniel (C70 At The Bat): I’ll go ahead and put in my two cents. I don’t like it. I don’t like it for what it represents (constant interleague play) but I really don’t like losing a rivalry with a team that I’ve come to respect over the years. Those battles of the ’00s were pretty epic and not being able to relieve them regularly is going to be a disappointment.

Daniel (Redbird Rants): I don’t like it. If you move anyone around, move Milwaukee.

Ray (STL Cardinal Baseball): I like the move for baseball; it creates the possibility for some stronger regional rivalries. I’m also glad I won’t have to look at Minute Maid Park anymore (or, at least, very often).

As for our own rivalry with the Astros, it’s pretty much dead these days anyway. They’ve been a joke for five years at least.

Rodney (Saint Louis Sports): I like it. I’ve always thought a division with six and a division with four was asinine. I don’t feel any “connection” to Houston.  Sure, we’ve had some big series, but in all, they are about the fourth
rival of the Cardinals.

Christine (Aaron Miles’ Fastball): I dislike it, even though it absolutely makes sense to even up the divisions. That can easily be accomplished: move Milwaukee back to the AL.

The rivalry with the Astros in the early to mid 2000s was great — especially loved those NLCS battles in 2004 and 2005 (although 2004 was obviously better). And while of course it’s not the same these days, it would be great to still have that competition with the Astros moving forward past this season as Jeff Luhnow works to build them into a contender again.

Corey (Balls & Strikes): In short, I like it. As much as I have enjoyed watching us play them over the years, their franchise is struggling and a big change like that could be what they need to re-ignite fan interest and energize players. Another thing this does is to toughen up the NL Central and I think that’s why a lot of people are unhappy about the move. Losing one of the worst teams in baseball means having to play more against better teams. While it might not be great for win totals, it will make for more competitive games. I know the interleague play upsets a lot of people, but I really enjoy watching it. It’s nice to have a break and watch some of the teams that we don’t usually get to see. In a 162 game season, MLB is doing whatever possible to keep it interesting because over a season that long, casual fans come and go. Interleague play always does good in ticket sales and viewership and the big wigs have noticed it. Will it be an adjustment? Of course, all things are. But I think in the end it will be good for the game that we all know and love.

Dennis (Pitchers Hit Eighth): I don’t like it one bit. Say what you will about the Astros struggling as of late, but keep in mind that the Cardinals are actually 15-15 against them over the past 2 seasons. For the past 5 seasons, the Cardinals are 41-35 against them, so those numbers imply to me that the rivalry is better than some people may perceive. The Cardinals have been really good wile the Astros have not, and the Astros have played some of their best baseball against the Cardinals.

While the move may make the NL Central tougher from top to bottom, I don’t see the long term effect being much different than if Milwaukee had moved back. I’d happily put my money on Jeff Luhnow to turn the Astros around within the next 3-4 years and make it competitive. He will have the fat trimmed on that team’s payroll within 2 years, and I’m willing to predict that their drafts improve immensely.

Even the best rivalries tend to be cyclical in nature. The Reds and Brewers are the latest examples, but think of how long fans went without a huge interest in Cards vs Reds. Prior to winning the division in 2010, the Reds hadn’t fielded a 90+ win team since 1999. The Brewers have a similar story. That franchise went from 1982 to 2008 without a playoff appearance. I’m sorry, but it seems that relatively recent history is impacting perception an awful lot right now.

As for interleague play, I’m not sure that anything that approximates constant interleague play or even more interleague play helps the game over the long haul. Once you get past the natural geographic rivalries and a few old time ones, you are left with a lot of match ups that simply may not interest the fans. The end result could eventually be very predictable. Fans will show up for the weekend series against a team from across town, but they won’t be so nearly ready to pack a stadium for something like Cardinals vs Orioles in the middle of the week at Camden Yards. Sure, I get that MLB wants to increase interest over the long season, but tinkering with a good formula may just end up alienating the true fans who found the 162 game season to be interesting enough by itself. I’d take more Cards vs Phillies or Braves games over interleague play anyday.

Kevin (Cards ‘N Stuff): I don’t think I like it.

For one, I hate the idea that a team has so little defensible identity in a league and division worth protecting that they can be just up and moved at a whim by the Commissioner. If the Cards were moved out of the NL Central, I would have a fit!

For another, I love that Missouri has a team in each league. If I want to see American League teams play – like Boston or NY – I just have to drive about 3 hours and catch the right Royals game. If I want to see the Braves, I just drive about 5 hours to St. Louis and watch them there. For baseball fans in Texas, they will now limit the entire state to AL ball with that ridiculous DH rule. Entire generations could grow up only knowing DH-driven baseball. That’s a tragedy. The St. Louis/KC rivalry has blossomed appropriately – interstate pride and bragging rights without dramatically impacting standings – without placing the teams in a dogfight for a playoff spot. Also, it eliminates any possibility of an I-70 or Subway Series type of World Series for the state of Texas.

Finally, I loved the Houston rivalry of the 00′s, and I hate to lose the presence of a team/organization in our division that pushed us so hard.

On a side note, I hate that an organization could be shifted over to the AL with the DH on a whim. What does that do to how the organization builds from within or veteran re-signings? Would a team have chosen to retain aging hitters, develop different prospects, hold onto prospects that have been traded, traded for different prospects, etc. if they had known they would soon be playing with the DH? I know that’s weak…and that’s why I say it’s a side note…but it’s worth mentioning in a sport that plans/develops players and teams years in advance.

Chris (Birds On The Bat 82): I’m not as bothered by the even-ing of divisions or not playing Houston as much as the direction this seems to take baseball.

2 wild cards, constant interleague play, my guess is next moves are universal DH and shorter season to add more playoff teams.

Selig is cheapening our beloved game.

Bob (On The Outside Corner): A great question, thanks to Paul for asking it.

The Houston move to the AL is a horrible thing for the game of baseball. The current Milwaukee franchise started out in the American League, and if any team needed to move back, it should have been Milwaukee. End of discussion. Fine. Done.

Houston’s heritage is being one of the great expansion franchises as the National League expanded west. Other than a feigned cross state rivalry, there’s no relationship between the Colt 45/Astros and any team in the AL West. Throw in all of those west coast games that will start at 9pm local time, it is a significant punishment to a fan base for no reason.

If baseball were that interested in rivalries, the Royals would have been the team to move to the NL instead of the Brewers. Whether by design, or sheep happenstance, the interleaving of AL and NL teams across the US have led to fans having relatively close access to both types of baseball. A few relocations and some odd divisional alignments have made things a bit less than optimal, but moving Houston to the AL West is just wrong.

The Cardinals and Colt 45s/Astros have 50 years of shared history. Lots of players and coaches have crossed paths – Mike Cuellar, Jerry Reuss, Hal Woodeshick, Jose Cruz, Scipio Spinks (well, that’s not such a great story). The two teams have played some incredible baseball over the last half century, culminating in a fantastic NLCS series in 2005. Transplanted Cardinals fans in the area flock to Minute Maid Park to see the Cardinals when they are in town – and that too will come to an end.

It is a shame, but if and of this mattered to the current owner of the Astros, the move would not be happening. Maybe this nostalgic look at the two teams is more one-sided than I would like to think. One thing I do know, the my impressions of the Commissioner and the Milwaukee Braves has been lessened (again) significantly by this move.

Dennis: Well, said Bob. Having lived in Houston for 10 years, I can assure you that nothing compared to the anticipation of having the Cardinals come to town. Awful lot of Cardinal colors in the crowd at Minute Maid and the Astrodome. Also, excellent use of the Freudian slip with “sheep”.

Bob: LOL! Can’t even blame autocorrect on that one

Dennis: I plan to use the phrase “sheep happenstance” in various conversations today.

Angela (Cardinal Diamond Diaries): Hate what it means for baseball. Hate that it wasn’t Milwaukee making the move. Hate the constant inter league and DH.

So… I have a lot of hate today? Baseball is doing well, Bud. Quit cheapening the game we love.

Tom (CardinalsGM): I don’t really care which team moved although I think it should have been Milwaukee but Commish Selig is shown how he gets involved with things related to the Brewers like Ryan Braun.

But again, someone needed to move to even up the teams in each division so let it be Houston. I don’t feel any rivalry to the Astros particulary…. the biggest in division rivalry is the Cubs, then Reds, Brewers, Astros and Pirates in that order, IMO.

Mark (RetroSimba): Because of interleague play and how it has changed Major League Baseball, Houston’s move to the American League doesn’t bother me. The successful move of the Brewers from the AL to the NL (it seems today like the Brewers always were in the NL) also impacts my perceptions.

Aaron (Cards Diaspora): Wait… Houston still has a professional baseball team? Are we sure about this? Or is “American League” a euphemism?

I guess it anyone had to leave the NL Central, Houston would be the odd man out. Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Cincinnati — those are truly awful places.*

And while Houston has its misgivings, it’s doesn’t get cold during the winter. They can’t feel our yearning for spring.

Plus they play in the one stadium we could all jerk one out of.

We had a nice little run with the Astros. But that’s all over. They deserve a DH. And they’re going to get one.

* Probably.

JE (STL: Fear The Red): I am basically neutral on this one. I am not a big fan of having season long interleague playground, but at the same time I (perhaps because of my slight ODD tendencies) like the idea of having all the division equal, as far as the number of teams go. It will take a little getting used to, but I kind of see Berman returning to the Astros as a DH and retiring from there at some point in the next couple of years. It has its pros and cons, but it is what it is. Plus, the Cards will play the Reds, Cubs, and Brewers more often, so that will help those rivalries.

Nick (Pitchers Hit Eighth): I dislike it, but for me it’s less about rivalries and taking wins or losses away from the Cardinals.

I think it’s awful for the precedent it is setting, or furthering, in baseball’s ownership ranks. Jim Crane is basically told that he must move the team to the American League or he won’t be approved as an owner? Now, it doesn’t help matters that Crane appears to not give a whit anyway, but then he furthers the issue by negotiating for personal gain? Yes, I know, why wouldn’t he? Bigger picture though, Selig wanted regular inter-league play – he got it by wielding his considerable clout over the owners and forcing his will upon the new pledge to the ranks.

Baseball ownership has always been an exclusive club, for obvious reasons. It’s one thing to only have a certain pool of buyers/investors to choose from when trying to find new ownership for the league’s member teams. Now the Commissioner’s Office is creating further barriers to entry by dictating (and not in the “we don’t want him in the league because they make deals with Bernie Madoff” type of protecting the game …. OOOOPS) who can and can’t buy a team based on requiring a league move for the advancement of inter-league play?

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: St. Louis 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