Opening Day 2009
The St. Louis Cardinals opened their season this afternoon with a wrenching loss in the ninth inning to the long-inconsequential Pirates of Pittsburgh. The Birds' rookie closer, Jason Motte-- he of the 98-miles-an-hour fastball and no other discernible big-league pitch-- surrendered four runs and a two-run lead in the top of the 9th.Any game that the Cardinals' bullpen blows during 2009 will not be on the head of any one relief pitcher, however-- it will be on the team general manager. John Mozeliak failed to sign or trade for an established stopper to protect the final inning even after the Cards' bullpen led the league with 31 blown saves last year, flirting with the all-time single-season record. Mozeliak's solution was to sign two 30-plus-year-old lefty specialists, let their most reliable middle-inning man from a year ago, Russ Springer, walk away, and nothing else. I can't deal with another summer of these semi-nightly late-game collapses. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Motte was loudly booed when he left the field tonight after the 9th inning, but the boos being hurled at my television were directed at management.
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I hope that he's learned to emotionally-distance himself from the action better than I have in my old age. Otherwise, this is the type of game that could kill Stan Musial.
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In less-sacred sports news, tonight is the NCAA men's basketball championship game pitting Michigan State against North Carolina. I can understand the excitement people feel about the NCAA tournament. It starts with 64, goes to 32, then 16, 8, 4, 2, and finally one. It's just like General Motors stock.
posted by CM @ 6:54 PM
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