Renteria, Marquis, Walker-Not Necessarily in that Order

I. Marquis has an excellent outing--against Leiter no less. He settles down after a 1-run first to win his 9th straight. To paraphrase the Little Rascals: (Insert Buckwheat's voice) Pretty Good Pitching.

II. Just realized that my new neighbor might be as big of a Cardinal fan as I am--NAH! Is there a way to measure--fanship? The level of a fan is equal to the square of the sums of his knowledge of the team and his/her attendence at the ballpark? But what about transplanted fans? Their mecca-like trips across country to Redbird Headquarters should factor in as well...right? I am passing this one over to the math department at the liberal arts college in town. I'll keep you updated on their progress.

III. Renteria goes 5-5 to tie the best hitting game of his career. (No homers) Which leads us to...

IV. Walker, 2nd or 4th. If Pujols, Edmonds, and Rolen don't clear the table with one of their many home runs, surely one of their doubles will leave them on base. Wouldn't Walker be good here--as a greater homerun threat than Renteria? With all due respect for Matheny and Sanders, why put Renteria in a place where he won't necessarily score runs. What a great problem to have!! I salivate every time I look at the lineup.

Womack .293
Walker .321
Pujols .319
Rolen .338
Edmonds .300
Renteria .294
Sanders .252 (Reggie is in a funk, and with his weak glove it's the one place where I can complain).
Matheny .253 (Matheny is worth his weight in gold via his golden glove behind the plate).

V. The two players that were "to be named later," have been named: Chris Narveson (AA) a 5-10 Southpaw who was a promising prospect (he has been strong as of late) and John Gall (AAA) outfielder, batting .297 with over 20 homers. Neither have seen MLB action. Seems like great tidings for the Cards, but many Fred-Bird faithful don't realize that with Walker comes a surplus in the OF. Ray Lankford, who was scheduled to come off the 15-day DL last friday might ask to be released rather than be demoted. You can't help but love Lankford. Here's wishin' him the best--whatever decision he makes.

VI. At some point I might have to demand that we do the impossible and find someone that wants to pay Cedeno his outrageous salary. Trust me. He'll clear waivers.

I'll be here all week. Try the veal.
-CJ