So what kinds of Cardinals items would a mother love to receive as a gift?  I haven’t met a woman yet who doesn’t like jewelry.  Jostens, the class rings and jewelry company, has designed a line of very nice jewelry to commemorate the Cardinals’ eleventh World Series win.  There are rings, necklaces, and pins. I personally like the Women’s Championship Ring, the Eternity Pendant and the Championship Charm Bracelet. 

Caveat emptor – if you’re going to order a ring, make sure you know her ring size.  And if you’re going to order earrings, make sure her ears are pierced.  If you don’t know either one of these, stick with a necklace or a pin. (Note to hubby and/or adult daughter:  I have pierced ears and I wear a size 8 ring. Thank you.)  Mom would also probably love a Cardinals watch.  She will remember you and your thoughtfulness every time she looks at her watch.  You can find watches and other Cardinals jewelry here.

Does your mother love flowers?  If your mother or wife lives within 45 miles of St. Louis , you can bid for a package where Fredbird, the Cardinals’ mascot, delivers flowers to your mother along with 4 field box tickets to the game on Mother’s Day at Busch Stadium.  It’s David Freese bobblehead day at the game on Mother’s Day as well, so she’ll get 3 gifts!  Click here to bid, and don’t wait long – bidding ends on May 9.

Do you know your mother’s clothing sizes?  There is some nice ladies’ Cardinals apparel on the Cardinals’ web site, including T-shirts, sweatshirts and jackets.  And if your mother likes to accessorize, there are plenty of Cardinals accessories such as purses, tote bags, and sunglasses.

If you waited until the last minute (like the typical man) to purchase a present and you live in the St. Louis area, you can visit the Busch Stadium gift store or the Cardinals Clubhouse stores.  They may not have the Jostens jewelry, but I’m sure the nice folks who work there can set you up with something nice.  Or if your mom or wife enjoys reading, stop by your local bookstore and pick up a book about the Cardinals.

I hope I have been of assistance in shopping for your Mother’s Day gifts.  Remember, these gift suggestions would be great Christmas gifts as well (with the exception of the Mother’s Day flower package, which wouldn’t be available at Christmas time).

Thanks for reading!  See you next time!

Diane

If you’re a baseball player, there are reasons you would want to wear batting gloves. When it’s cold, batting gloves will keep your hands warm.  When it’s really hot, batting gloves will keep the bat from slipping out of your sweaty hands.  Batting gloves provide protection from errant pitches.  They also keep you from getting blisters and calluses on your hands.  They give you a better grip on the bat handle.

Batters are always adjusting their batting gloves at the plate. I’m not sure if it’s because the gloves slip around on their hands or they’re doing it to try to slow up the pitcher. If they don’t fit, they should get a pair of gloves that do fit.  It reminds me of back in the day when Terry Pendleton was batting, he would adjust his jock strap on live TV. That was distracting for the pitcher, I would think, and disgusting for the viewer.  But I digress.

Believe it or not, batters didn’t always wear batting gloves.  Bobby Thomson of the Giants reportedly wore golf gloves during spring training in 1949. In 1964, Ken Harrelson was the first player to wear a batting glove during a game.  Rusty Staub was the first player to wear golf gloves on a daily basis. In the 1980’s, batting gloves finally became the norm for all players due to Mike Schmidt teaming up with Franklin Sports to develop gloves specifically for batters.  Franklin provides the most batting gloves for major league players, but other athletic goods manufacturers have added batting gloves to their lineups.

Young Mr. Carpenter, however, is not the only current major league player that does not wear batting gloves. Jamie Moyer, that ageless pitcher, doesn’t wear batting gloves. Former Cardinals players who didn’t wear batting gloves are Terry Pendleton (probably so it would be easier to adjust his jock strap), John Mabry, George Hendrick, Tommy Herr, and Keith Hernandez.

I played co-ed softball in my younger years but don’t remember if anyone wore batting gloves or not.  I couldn’t hit worth a darn, so they wouldn’t have helped me anyway. LOL!

Congratulations to the winners of the Baseball’s Greatest Games:  Game 6 of the 2011 World Series Blu-ray/DVD combo sets!  The winners are:  Chris Hays, Lisa Weyenberg, Bob Hatter, Ross Willimann, JoAnn Johnson, and Kim Ahrens.  Thanks for reading and thanks to A&E/MLB Productions for providing the DVD’s.

And thank you for reading!  See you next time!

Diane

There is no commercial before the menu comes up.  You have the option to play the whole game from the beginning or choose the inning you want to watch, so if you want to skip the innings with all the errors or just watch the 11th inning, you can.  The DVD menu also allows you to select the audio feed of your choice – the Fox Network audio feed, the St. Louis radio network audio feed (Mike and John instead of Joe and Tim) or the Texas radio network audio feed. There is a disclaimer that reads, “For your enjoyment, we have included alternative broadcasts of the World Series games. Broadcasters often return to game action at different times; therefore, you may experience a delayed start to the half-inning play-by-play.”  According to the box, you can also select English or Spanish for the audio feeds as well. (I did not go that far in the menu on the DVD.)

Now for the giveaway.  I have six copies of this DVD to give away courtesy of our friends at A&E Entertainment/MLB Productions.  Last week’s winners are not eligible.  I have a simple question for you to answer.  Send your answer and your name and address to dmschultz1611@gmail.com to the following question: What were the runs, hits and errors totals for the Cardinals in Game 6? If you can’t wait to see if you win or if you don’t win, you can go here to buy your own copy:  http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12643416&cp=1452371.2366583.

Thanks for reading!  See you next time!

Diane

Baseball season has finally begun, and Cardinals fans are rejoicing.  The 2012 Cardinals have picked up where they left off in 2011, winning all but one of their first 6 games.  The bats are hot and the defense is great. Mr. He-Who-Will-Not-Be-Named is now Mr. He-Who-Will-Not-Be-Missed.  This is a different Cardinals team without Mr. You-Know-Who;  a real team, a sum of all its parts, not Mr. You-Know-Who and then the rest of the team.  No set of rules for Mr. You-Know-Who and another set of rules for the rest of the team.

Mike Matheny is a confident manager.  His players respect him and are supportive of him.  And Mark McGuire is turning out to be a great hitting coach.  And why not?  Surely the man who once hit 70 home runs in one season knows something about hitting.  Knowing how to hit and knowing how to teach players to hit are two different things, but McGwire seems to be melding them together quite well.

The only loss thus far this season is the game in which Adam Wainwright pitched.  He did well enough, considering it was the first regular season game that he had pitched since September 2010.  I think it will take a couple of starts for Adam to get the rust off and get his focus back. Batters had better watch out once he does.

Will the Cardinals be able to keep up this pace all season?  It is a long 162 game season, after all.  There is bound to be a slump or two. Hopefully, there will be no major injuries besides Chris Carpenter’s balky shoulder.  But I really like the new attitude and the new spirit of these 2012 Cardinals.  I think they’re going to be a fun team to watch this year. What do you think? Comments are welcome, as long as they’re civilized.

Congratulations to Matt Leffler, Matt McArthur, and Aaron Morey, the winners of the 2011 World Series Collector’s DVD sets!  If you didn’t win, stay tuned – there will be another giveaway of a different DVD later this week, thanks to my friends at A&E.  Thanks for reading!  See you next time!

Diane

Today is the day that Cardinals fans everywhere have anticipated since the last out of the 2011 World Series.  Today is the day the Cardinals defend their World Series title and hopefully add a 12th World Series trophy to the trophy case.  Can’t you just feel the electricity in the air?

This season will be very interesting, for a number of reasons.  Three big factors are missing from this year’s team.  Manager Tony LaRussa retired, first baseman Albert Pujols left for greener fields (literally and figuratively), and pitching coach Dave Duncan is on an “extended leave of absence” to take care of his wife, who has cancer.

Will the Cardinals be able to overcome these missing pieces?  Tony LaRussa’s replacement is Mike Matheny, who was a favorite when he was a Cardinals catcher, but who also has no major league managing experience.  But of the players who become managers, catchers are the best, due to their knowledge of what happens on the field and their ability to handle pitchers.  Ironically, Mike is now managing Yadier Molina, the catcher who replaced him in the lineup.

Lance Berkman has replaced Albert Pujols at first base.  Lance has plenty of experience playing first base from his days with the Astros, so there are no concerns here.  Lance’s move to first base left a hole in the outfield, which was filled by Cardinals killer Carlos Beltran.  Cardinals fans are thankful that Beltran is now hitting for us, instead of against us.

Dave Duncan’s replacement is Derek Lilliquist, who was Dave’s assistant.  Dave will be impossible to completely replace, for obvious reasons.  Dave could take old, washed up pitchers and make them able to pitch well again.  Whenever the Cards signed a new pitcher, I would joke with my husband that “here comes Dave Duncan’s latest reclamation project.”  But surely Lilliquist has observed Duncan’s techniques over the years and will be able to put them into practice.  He ran the pitching staff during Duncan’s absence in September and October last year, and I think things went rather well during that time, don’t you?

And there are other questions as well.  Who will start at second base?  Will this be Tyler Greene’s year?  Or will Daniel Descalso (a personal favorite) take over the position?  Will Skip Schumacher get any playing time at second once he recovers from his injury? And will WS and NLCS MVP David Freese be able to play for a full season without injury?

As usual, there are injuries to report.  Chris Carpenter is once again having shoulder problems and as of right now, it’s not certain when he’ll be able to pitch again.  Allen Craig is coming off of knee surgery, but his return has not been scheduled.  Skip Schumacher is suffering from a pulled oblique muscle.

Now let’s move on to some good things.  Adam Wainwright is back and pitching like it was 2010 all over again.  Yadier Molina, unlike Albert Pujols, did not make the team and the fans wait all season to see if he would sign with the Cardinals or move on to greener pastures.  He got the deal done during spring training and Cardinals fans everywhere heaved a big sigh of relief.

The Cardinals signed Rafael Furcal to a 2 year deal to plug the hole at shortstop.   The shortstop it position has been a rotating door, so it’s good to have this position filled on a permanent basis.  And Jason Motte has finally been designated the closer.

All in all, I believe 2012 will be a promising year.  The Cardinals cannot rest on their laurels; they will have to go all out and play as a team.  If all comes together and there are no major injuries, I think the Cardinals will win a 12^th World Championship in 2012.

And now for the giveaway!  The folks at A&E Network Home Entertainment/MLB Productions have given us Cardinals bloggers 3 more sets of the 8 DVD 2011 St. Louis Cardinals World Series Collectors Set to give away.  Send the answer (and your name and address) to dmschultz1611@gmail.com to the following question:  In what Midwestern city did the Cardinals hold spring training during World War 2?  If you’re not lucky enough to win, click on the link to purchase a set of your own:  http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12179276&cp=2366583.2498437

Thanks for reading!  See you next time!

Diane

P.S.:  I am no longer writing for Diamond Diaries, since they decided to go back to a two writer format.  I will voice my Cardinals opinions here on this blog, so please bookmark it for future reference.  Thanks!

1.  2011 World Series Championship

If you had asked me in the middle of August whether I thought the Cardinals would win the World Series this year, I would have laughed in your face.  After all that happened in the 2011 season, who would have thought they would win the World Series?  It was destiny, written in Heaven by a benevolent God who must enjoy baseball.  How else do you explain a September Cards surge/Braves swoon, or the Rally Squirrel, the dramatic comeback in Game 6, or a fortuitous rainout that allowed Chris Carpenter to pitch Game 7?

2.  Albert leaves the Cardinals and signs with the Angels

Contract talks broke off between the Cards and Pujols before the season began, which led to a season of speculation – would Albert stay or would he go?  Albert did indeed leave and signed a 10 year contract with the Angels.  There are not too many people upset about Albert leaving, however.  Not signing Albert means there is money available to sign other players such as Carlos Beltran, etc.  At least Albert will be playing in the American League, where the Cards won’t be facing him unless they play the Angels in interleague play or the World Series.  Wouldn’t playing the Angels in the World Series be divine justice?

3.  Tony LaRussa retires

Cardinals fans were still aglow about the World Series win when Tony announced his retirement.  It was like a bubble had been burst.  The Cardinals manager with the longest tenure was retiring.  Love him or hate him, you have to wish him well for the future and congratulate him on what he accomplished while managing the Cardinals.

4.  Mike Matheny named manager

Surprisingly, the Cardinals named the candidate with the least amount of managerial experience to be the manager.  This puzzled many Cardinals fans.  But those of us who remember Mike as a player know that he had a great deal of experience running the game from that position behind home plate.  He has a great rapport with players and coaches from his playing days here.  I’m sure he’ll do just fine.

5.  Adam Wainwright’s season-ending injury in spring training

Imagine how different the season might have been if Adam hadn’t injured his elbow.  The Cards could have won the division outright rather than sneaking in via the wild card.  Tony probably wouldn’t have to use the bullpen in middle relief so often.  With Adam pitching, the playoff series would have ended earlier, since he would win one game in each series.

The 2011 season was anything but boring.  I’m looking forward to the Cardinals’ 2012 season and perhaps 12 in 12?  Thanks for reading!  I wish for you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Diane

Each game of the World Series is commemorated on its own DVD.  The exterior cover for each DVD contains the length of the game, the starting pitchers, the temperature at game time, the attendance, the line score (on the front), the complete box score (on the back), and various factoids.  The interior cover contains the scoring summary for each inning.

Each game DVD starts out with an advertisement for the Hot Stove show on MLB Network.  There is a montage of World Series games.  Then the menu for the DVD appears. You have 3 options – Play Ball!, which takes you directly to the Fox broadcast, Inning Selection, in which you can go directly to the inning you want to watch, and Audio Set-Up, in which you can select either the Cardinals’ radio announcers or the Rangers’ radio announcers to call the game.  In the Audio Set-Up selection, you can also select whether you want to listen in English or Espanõl.  Once you select the audio set up, you click on main menu and then you can select Play Ball!

Disc 8 has the bonus features.  The exterior cover has the World Series line score and various factoids.  The interior cover has the World Series stats and the World Series pitching stats.  The bonus material appears to be the same as on the main DVD of the other 2 World Series sets.

Now on to the contest! The folks at A&E/MLB Productions have been gracious to allow me to give away one DVD set.  I will permit previous winners to participate in this contest.  The first person to answer this question is the winner:  Chris Carpenter joined _________, ___________, and ___________ as Cardinals pitchers to make three starts in a single World Series championship.  Fill in the blanks and e-mail your answers, name and mailing address to dmschultz1611@gmail.com no later than 9 PM on 12/22/11. Good luck!

I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!  And may the Cardinals win a 12th championship in 2012!

Diane

I am now in possession of the Blu-Ray version of the 2011 World Series DVD.  There is only one disc, but since it’s Blu-Ray, there are additional features that are not on the regular edition.  They include a segment from “This Week in Baseball” with Lance Berkman, and the “Prime 9″ episode with Tony LaRussa.  It also contains everything from the 2 DVD set, but all is in high definition.  I note the following on the DVD case:  “These games include every pitch from the original broadcast feeds.  They may contain minor video and audio imperfections that are inherent in the broadcast-quality feeds.” So that explains the audio static in the broadcast of NLDS Game 5 that I heard in the DVD set.  This DVD has 4 hours of material on it.

My friends at A&E have graciously given me 3 Blu-Ray DVD’s to give away to 3 lucky winners.  Previous winners are not eligible.  I am in the Christmas spirit, so I will only make you answer one trivia question to win.  So here is the question – how many flags are on this year’s World Series trophy?  The first 3 people to send the answer to dmschultz1611@gmail.com no later than 9 AM on December 15, 2011 will get their very own copy of the Blu-Ray DVD.  Good luck! In case you don’t win and you want one, click here to purchase one:  http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12328343&cp=1337489.

In my next post I will review the creme de la creme of the World Series DVD sets, the 8 disc 2011 World Series Champions Collectors Edition DVD set. Stay tuned!

Diane

The first disc starts out with spring training.  There is an overview of the Cardinals 2011 season. The injury problems were discussed.  I enjoyed the interviews with the players, the coaches/manager, and others.  The playoffs and World Series games were summarized. The flashback method used for Game 6 confused me, however.  I cried when the Cards won Game 7 on the video, just like I did when it happened in real time. It also talked about LaRussa’s retirement.  For those of you who notice gaffs, early in the DVD when Berkman is being interviewed, he has a beard, but when he’s being interviewed about Game 7, the beard is gone.

Now for some technical notes.  St. Louis native and long time Cardinals fan Jon Hamm (Mad Men) narrated the story.  He started out slow and flat, but gained confidence as the disc went along.  Perhaps narrating is not Jon’s forte?  The graphics are very nice and the backdrop behind the interviewees is also very nice.  There were some interesting stats shown that I didn’t know before.  The sound quality and the picture quality on this disc was excellent.   The slo-mo  was used effectively and there are some interesting camera angles. There are also some beautiful camera shots of downtown St. Louis.

Now on to disc 2.  This disc contains Game 5 of the National League Division Series. You can select between watching the whole game or whichever inning you want to watch.  The TBS broadcast of the game is what is on the disc, minus the commercials (too bad you can’t do that with a game in real time! LOL!).  The sound quality was poor on the original broadcast, and this is also the case here.  It’s a shame that the static in Dick Stockton’s microphone couldn’t have been removed for a clearer audio track.  It wouldn’t have been too hard to do with today’s technology.

Now for the contest!  A&E/MLB Productions has graciously given me 3 copies of the DVD set to give away.  I have 3 trivia questions for you to answer.  The first 3 people who send the correct answers to dmschultz1611@gmail.com, along with your name and mailing address, will win the DVD sets. The contest ends December 1, 2011 at 9 AM.  Here are the questions:

1.  Name the player who as a pinch hitter was the first to pinch hit RBI’s in back-to-back World Series games.

2.  Who was the player that set the new postseason record for most RBI’s?

3.  Who is the 9th manager to win 3 or more World Series?

I will post the winners’ names (and the answers to the questions) in a comment below after the contest is over. Thanks for reading!

I will review this DVD set in my next post next week.  Included in that post will be a contest for you to win your very own 2011 World Series DVD set.  If you can’t wait to see if you win the contest, you can purchase your very own DVD set of the 2011 World Series here:  http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12328342&cp=2366583.2498437.

Thanks for reading!  Have a great Thanksgiving!  See you soon!

Diane