Off Season Baseball

Is it too soon to say, I miss baseball? I truly do. I miss going to games, I miss getting autographs, I miss the feeling being caught up into something thats bigger than me. Some people do not understand why I would stand for five hours waiting on a autograph in 100 degree heat. Some don't understand why I would rather spend my time at a ballpark then with friends.

I will tell you why. Collecting autographs allows me to be close to the game. It allows me to talk to players, allows me to meet new people. These people have the same passion for the game like I do. Collecting a autograph allows me to capture a piece of the game in a certain place and time. It gives me a story to tell. It allows me to relive my boyhood. I know, this sounds silly. But we all enjoy doing something, or collecting something. For me, I enjoy my time in the park. 

Baseball is one game I use ALL my senses. I see my favorite players take the field or I see the new pattern the grounds crew placed into the grass hours before the game takes place. Have you ever closed your eyes at the ball park? Try it sometime. UNBELIEVABLE. You know whats going on without seeing anything! "Peanuts, Cracker Jacks," the vendor yells. You can hear the excitement in the other fans voices. "THIS IS OUR YEAR!" You can hear the crack of the bat or the heavy foot steps headed your way in a attempt to make a catch! I love hearing the ball players walk by and hearing the crunch sound their cleats make. I know I'm crazy...I prefer passionate... Feel. When you sit down, you know that seat it yours for the next three hours. The cold plastic turns warm on your back. My favorite ball-park food is the American classic HOT DOG! With mustard and that is it! The taste of a hot dog at the ball park is the best, nothing compares! My favorite sense is smell. At a ball park you smell 100 different smells each minute. The food, people, the morning dew that still lingers around. The one thing I always do when I reach my seat is sit down and close my eyes. I will take a deep breathe in. I LOVE Smelling the fresh cut grass! In my opinion grass makes a ball park. I am anti turf and always will be, turf takes away from the game. 

I love the game of baseball because I use to play baseball. I was not blessed with the talent that todays athletes have. I wanted to play pro ball so bad, what kid doesn't? The one thing that separated me from the others is the passion I had on the field and for the game. Every single day I wanted to improve and be the best player I could be, and I did. My best wasn't good enough and that's okay. I still love the game. I still love talking about today's game versus early 1900's. I love debating if Babe Ruth would still be the best if he could face today's pitchers. 

Winter Warm-Up is quickly approaching. This is a time where members of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team come together and sign autographs. This is also a time where I get excited because I know the season is right around the corner! I hope me writing this helps some who may not understand why some people love the game of baseball, I also hope this helps some to understand why some fans do what they do. 

I am slowly starting to get into collecting game-used items. I have slowly learned these items are great to display and look great in my memorabilia collection. I have learned as well these items if bought can be very expensive. I have never thought about asking for a players possessions, since especially in the minors most of the players have to buy their own stuff. But it doesn't hurt to ask and if they say yes, it just makes my day even better.

A quick opinion on the Josh Hamilton deal. Josh Hamilton is my favorite player. Yes I know I am a Cardinals fan, but Josh Hamilton said something to me in 2009 that gained my loyalty for life! I will go into that story a later time. I am happy for Josh. I feel the Rangers waited to long and the wait bit them in the ass. Josh is the BEST player on your team and you don't offer him a deal? Not even in winter meetings they offer Josh a deal to pondering on. I am assuming Josh took that personally and took the deal the Angels offered him. A very good and fair offer that will pay off for the Rangers. I could go way into more in this deal but my arms are sore from typing. If you have questions or comments hit me up on Twitter @beebe76. Until then I will see you at the ball park!

Winter Meetings

Is it to early to say I have the baseball itch already? Well, it is true! I have been trying to cure my appetite for baseball by watching MLB network, and I am looking forward to the Winter Meetings. For me, this is an exciting time for the off season. Winter Meetings is where all 30 clubs, agents and media come together. This is where teams look to get better, or look to unload. The Cardinals will be looking for a middle infielder and a lefty reliever. All which they need.

ROY, CY, MVP

I will have to say I was completely satisfied on the awards this year. I thought the baseball writers did a good job...especially on AL MVP.

NL ROY: Bryce Harper, although I feel he won solely on his name. I am still okay with it.
AL ROY: Mike Trout, 110% earned this award!

NL CY: RA Dickey, a knuckleballer won the CY? I guess hell did freeze over.
AL CY: David Price, I thought Verlander would win this solely on the Tigers making it to the playoffs.

NL MVP: Buster Posey, though I was wanting Yadi to win. Buster deserved it.
AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera, Yes he deserves it over Trout. Triple Crown winner, should automatically win MVP. Although Trout did lead in a lot of categories. Unfortunately those categories don't matter. You know what does matter? AVG/HR/RBI The same categories that won Cabrera the Triple Crown.

December should be a fun month: Winter meetings, and Cardinals WWU tickets go on sale! I can not wait.
I want to remind everyone I love collecting baseball memorabilia. If you have something, tell me. Maybe we can work out a deal! Until then I'll see you around! @beebe76

Cardinals NEW Jerseys

It's Thursday night and I just caught wind of the Cardinals changing their alternative jerseys for 2013 season. First uniform change since 1998. Thought the Jersey are simple but cool! What do you think? Dont forget to follow me on twitter @beebe76

Mac is in LA

    It's official Mark McGwire has left St. Louis and now the batting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. This was the best move for him. I can olny imagine how hard it is to be away from your family for 6+ months. Especially all of his children. Now the kids can come to the ball park and enjoy their time with dad. "Big Mac" will be missed in St. Louis, and he has deffinately helped the Cardinals, but now it's time to focus on the 2013 season. 

    John Mabry has been named the new Cardinals hitting coach. I love this decision because he is my favorite player! Why you ask? He was my very first autograph back in 1998. Ever since, I have been a John Mabry fan! Time will only tell how he will do, but I have a hunch he will be just fine!!! Until my next post, I will see you at the ball park! Catch me on Twitter @Beebe76

Crazy April

HOLY COW, I have a lot to talk about. The month of April was crazy!!! My son decided it was time to come out early. He was born April 19 and 1 month premature. He had to stay in NICU for 2 weeks but he is now doing amazing now!

BASEBALL, BASEBALL, BASEBALL. April was a crazy month for baseball as well. First and foremost, the Cards got their WS rings!!! I was there and enjoyed the beating the Cubbies received.

There has been some surprises along the way so far. In the AL The Baltimore Orioles haven't looked this good in forever, and the Red Sox have been limping for awhile. Maybe a little hangover from last fall for the Sox. I'm sure they will play better, but their bullpen must get better!

Albert went homer-less in April, and coming from a Cardinals fan I have been enjoying it a little. I am still a Albert fan, but can you blame me for not be a little bitter about the whole situation? He finally hit a HR after 100+ at bats. That's an eternity for El Hombre.

The team that has impressed me the most is the Texas Rangers. Their offense has to be the best in the league. If I was an opposing pitcher I would be nervous. I do see the Rangers starting rotation starting to not look as sharp as they were, but they are still one of the best in the league.

I am very sorry its been so long since my last blog, needless to say April was very BUSY! Please follow me on twitter @Beebej I'll see you in the ball park!

Coming Home

Cardinals have been playing well early this season! Pitching has a ERA below 2, offense is leading in every category in MLB, except average (.315). I am looking forward to this weekend not only is it opening weekend for the birds, I get to go on Saturday and watch them get their rings! Ill take pictures like always on post on here asap! Until then enjoy watching the best game around!

Opening Night

I was thrilled the Birds won last night! Plus Mike Matheny got his first win, and he showed he wasn't afraid and argue a call with the umpires. I will admit he does have a long ways to go to get "Tony-esk," but its a start!

Kyle Lohse looked great too! Throwing a no hitter into the 7th inning, he finally gave up a hit to All-Star Jose Reyes.  Fernando Salas looked solid along with Mark Rzepczynski (scrabble). Jason Motte got the save and the Cardinals can mark one up in the books. Friday afternoon the Cardinals face the Brewers. I really don't care for the Brewers so I am wishing for a sweep in Milwaukee.

As fans we should be excited, fresh off a world series title and a big win for Mike! I can not wait for the rest of the season, until next time bloggers, don't forget to follow me on twitter @beebe76

New Era begins Tonight!

Can you believe it? Cardinals kick a NEW season off tonight in Miami! I feel I have waited forever for today to get here and finally at 6 P.M I will be sitting and watching my birds play. The season is not the only thing that is new. The Cardinals have a new manager, new first basemen, new right fielder, new pitching coach, and a new second basemen. They really have a new team. Some might ask, how can they win without all of that? I will tell you a successful season all starts with health. Lets face it, Tony and Albert CANNOT be replaced and wont be replaced. 

The key is in my opinion is to do better in areas last year and the following years we haven't done as well. For example, steals and being more aggressive on the base paths. Do you realize the leader in steals last year was Tyler Greene?  He played a third of a season. Relief pitching, last year Cardinal relievers gave up a bunch of leads. See, I am just a fan, not a english major- as you can tell and not a statistic guru. I don't have "real" numbers, but what I can tell you I watched every Cardinal game last year and I know we lost a lot of games early in the season because of our middle inning relief. Health, Health, Health. We have a nice mixture of veterans and new talent. What these two groups have in common is staying healthy. I counted ten players who are hurt now or were injured and missed significant time last year. Beltran, Holliday, Wainwright and Furcal have to stay healthy this year. If we want to be a contender in September, these players must stay healthy. Carpenter is already out and we do not know for how long. Craig and Schumaker are healing. There probably is more factors that can result in more wins, but these three areas could help us add 10-15 more games in the win column. 

I am ready for a new season. I am ready for Mike Matheny as our manager. I am ready for baseball. Are you? 

Kick Off to Baseball

What a night last night! Perfect weather in Missouri. Hammons Field was packed for the exhibition game last night and baseball was in the air. The vendors yelling "cold beer" and smelling the fresh cut grass, is there anything better than that? This was my first chance to get a glance at both AA Cardinals and the big league Cardinals. This game was much like any other exhibition game starters stayed in for 3 innings and the extras started to fill in. The St. louis Cardianls did end up winning 3-2. As I stated before not all of the starting nine made the trip to Springfield. I did get to watch Matt Holliday, David Freese, Tyler Greene, Daniel Descalso, Jon Jay and others.  The starting pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals was AA prospect Trevor Rosenthal. He pitched great against his teammates allowing no hits and only two walks through 4 innings of work. He is someone we might want to watch through the season.  Another prospect I will be watching in the future is Palm Beach stand out pitcher Carlos Martinez. He was was hitting triple digits on the gun, with his highest being 102mph. That's bringing the heat!


Our seats were in the first row so automatically yes I will be getting autographs. Before I start I want to begin on saying. I get autographs for my wife, son and myself. I do not sell them. I LOVE collecting sports memorabilia, especially Cardinals memorabilia.

We made out great last night, with nine baseballs signed, and a 16x20 picture signed by Matt Holliday. Only mistake I made was I did not bring the other three balls I had because I never would have thought I would have got nine balls signed! Players that signed for me were Matt Holliday, David Freese (2), Daniel Descalso, Tyler Greene, Jon Jay, Mike Matheny, Skip Schumaker, and Allen Craig. Not a bad day. Matt Carpenter and Mark McGwire signed too, but I had no balls! :)

Matt Holliday (right) stood out to me last night. He signed for at least a hour striaght before the game and then continued to sign during the fourth inning after he was finished playing. I have not seen players do that before and if there was any talk on Matt not signing that is completely not true! All of the players I mentioned before were complete professionals and treated the adults and kids with the up most respect. Thank you Matt Holliday and the other Cardinals for making my wife and I night so special!

Reminder tonights game

For those of you who have twitter you can follow me at @beebe76. I will be posting pictures of tonights game on there. Tonights pitchers are  Missouri Native Trevor Rosenthal for the St. louis Cardinals and lefty Tyler Lyons to pitch for Springfield. Should be a fun time!

Springfield vs. St. Louis

Since this is my first blog please be easy on me I am trying to figure this technology thing out and make the experience as interesting as possible.


Today is the big day! I will be attending the  AA Springfield Cardinals versus St. Louis Cardinals exhibition in Springfield, Mo. I am super excited and a little bummed. Come to find out some of the big league Cardinals will not be coming to Springfield. The starting pitchers, as well as Yadier Molina, Lance Berkman, Rafael Furcal and Carlos Beltran, will remain in Florida. David Fresse, Matt Holliday and Jon Jay are some of the big leaguers coming to Hammons Field along with Shane Robinson, Erik Komatsu, Matt Carpenter, Daniel Descalso and Tyler Greene. Needless to say I am ready for tonight! I will be taking several pictures and maybe grab a autograph or two!?!