Another Trip To The Ballpark

Like last year, my dad and I went to the game honoring the St. Louis Cardinals' 2015 Hall of Fame inductees on Saturday. Unlike last year, when the Cardinals chose that game to be the one they lost out of the 4-game series with San Diego, the Cardinals saved their bad game for Sunday.

Traffic going into St. Louis wasn't too bad, which was nice, since we were running a bit behind. In the conflict between my desire to get places early, and my father's general inability to get anywhere on time, I guess I won this round.

The inductees this year were Curt Flood, Ted Simmons, Bob Forsch, and George Kissell, who was a scout and instructor for the Cardinals for over 60 years. Unfortunately, Simmons was the only one still alive, but it was good to see Flood get honored, since he got sort of run out of the league for challenging the reserve clause. Forsch is really the only one I remember, and even him only vaguely, but still, it was  nice.

As for the game, the Cards won. John Lackey pitched well, which continues to surprise me (I wasn't terribly impressed with his performance after he was traded to St. Louis last year). He did balk in a run, which I don't think I've ever seen in a game I attended, so something new. Otherwise he pitched into the 9th, so the best performance I've seen from a Cardinals' starter in a game I went to since Todd Stottlemyre against the Marlins in '98. OK, so there were only 3 games in between those two, comprising mediocre to awful starts by Juan Acevedo, Jeff Suppan, and Shelby Miller, but still. My dad and I were both surprised Matheny pulled Lackey after one guy reached base in the 9th. We figured with a 4-run lead, Matheny would give the veteran a longer leash. On the other hand, it gave him a chance to use Steve Cishek, and it seems rare anyone other than Rosenthal, Siegrist, or Maness gets to pitch in relief.

Randal Grichuk hit a home run, making my continued doubting of him look foolish, though I've never doubted his power, it's his plate discipline I question. Mark Reynolds hit a home run later on to help stretch the lead. The Cardinals did try to steal a base on two occasions, both ending in failure, though one of those might have been a failed hit and run. I appreciate the team trying to be more aggressive on the bases, if only because I think it makes for a more entertaining game, but they aren't very good at it. They don't have much speed outside of Jason Heyward, Kolten Wong, and Peter Bourjos, and the latter two don't seem to be very good at using it effectively. If they have tells, the league is wise to them.

Most of the fans around us were fine, though a couple of ladies behind us didn't show until the middle of the 3rd inning. Unfortunately, fans on the other side of the field tried to start the Wave in the 6th inning, then again in the 8th. It died a quick death the first time, but lasted long enough to actually obstruct my view once the second time. Otherwise, it was a good time. Got out of the stadium without too much trouble, ditto for getting out of St. Louis. My sleep's still a little off, though.