Squarely on their shoulders

Wednesday night's game was definately not one of the most enjoyable games I have ever been to: it was bitterly cold, the Cards acted like they didn't want to be there, and a little kid was kicking the back of my seat all night. Now, I did enjoy just being at the game, and a few things I saw were encouraging. The Cardinals pennant we all received is pretty cool, the smokeless stadium made it easier to breathe, and the game wasn't that bad up to the 6th inning. There's enough to say about the game, which probably was one of the worst I've ever attended, in other blogs, so I'm going to choose to not comment on the game in-depth. It seems the first thing we're eager to do is complain - release So Taguchi, demote Preston Wilson, get rid of Russ Springer, trade away the team and start over, yada yada yada. We have played a grand total of 3 games this season. Don't tell me that this team is finished when we haven't even seen the entire starting rotation yet - which is pretty promising, I might add.

There seems to be a disturbing trend breeding among Cardinal Nation - a trend that sparks up whenever we have faced controversy so far: "Well, we're the World Series Champions!" I have absolutely no problem with that statement in itself; in fact, I couldn't be prouder and happier about what our team did last year. But that was last year. Instead of cheering for a new team in a new season, we seem content to be critical of a new team trying to replay an old season. So Taguchi misplays a fly ball, and we're quick to say, "We're the World Series Champions, what is he doing out there," forgetting that this is the first game of the season and So was a main reason we even are World Champions with his heroics in the NLCS. Preston Wilson has a bad night so as we boo him we say, "We're the World Series Champions, get rid of that guy," as if J-Rod is the savior to our problems. Our hitting is slow and the relief pitching is shaky so we jeer, "We're World Champions, why are they playing so bad?" Forget the fact that this is a completely new year, and it becomes easy to judge this team for not playing like World Series Champions. Remember that not only are we in a new season with new players, and that, for the most part, last year was a struggle, and it becomes crucial to take it one step at a time with the 2007 Cardinals, cheering for them, and not for the 2006 Cardinals, along the way.

Tonight's game:

Cardinals (0-3) @ Houston Astros (0-3), 7:05 PM. Game Preview.

Wainwright, RHP (0.00, 0-0) vs. Wandy Rodriguez, LHP (0.00, 0-0)

Look for the Cardinals' bats to get rolling as they play against another struggling team in a much warmer weather forecast, mid-70's. Wandy is 0-3 with a 11.20 ERA in 13 innings, so I think we have a good tee for our bats tonight.