I've been waiting for the right game to motivate me into starting a baseball blog. This Sunday, the Mets came into town and my college New York friends couldn't have picked a better game. In the parking lot, the boys all painted their faces with the new york colors. Much respect to these very very faithful fans. Surprising to see that my blue friends weren't harassed by the locals too much. Then again it is Cardinals nation who really aren't the most aggressive fanbase. We had great seating on the upper levels, first row, above the home team dugout. The matchup was John Maine (12.50 ERA) against the Mets killer Wainwright (1.50 ERA) and the view was spectacular from the side.
Around inning 5, Fredbird was catupulting t-shirts into the stands and Mets friend #1 started doing his dance on the upper levels. We kept telling him that Fredbird has NEVER shot a t-shirt up here. He just let his buttcrack continue it's thing in the family friendly environment. A miracle: Fredbird aimed, fired, and hit Mets friend #1 squarely in the chest. He caught it! I think Fredbird was consciously aiming to knock him off the railing.
Brewers Fan #1 came a little late in her full Brewers get-up haha! That is how much she loves her team. The score was very tight and tied throughout the night. The Red Birds won thanks to the Rasmus and Ludwick home runs : ) It is sad to know that this might be my last college game ever as us seniors graduate within weeks. But what a game to go out on!
Adam Wainwright:
I've seen Adam Wainwright (1.50 ERA prior to 4/20/10) in a dominant game in 09' against the Mets before (with give or take the same metsfans here) and have been a strong supporter of the Cy Young contender early on in his career since 06'. He didn't fail to surprise as he kept my friends yawning with a 4 hit, 9 innings pitched performance. This comes right when the Cards bullpen needed a rest after a 20 inning, 7 hour game the day before. I guarantee that Wainwright will make a strong case for the Cy Young award this year. ESPN's stats and info writer Mark Simmons recently wrote an article praising Wainwright for possessing the best curveball in the sport. Sadly it is a paid subscribers article thus I can't just simply link it. But some key stats:
On 0-2 count: average MLB player misses 31% of his swings on curveball. Wainwright gets batters to miss 42% of the time.
On 1-2 count: average MLB player misses 22% of his swings on curveball. Wainwright gets batters to miss 44% of the time.
In 2010, Wainwright has thrown 60 curveballs with opponents having 1 hit, 7 whiffs, and .063 avg in that time period. We aren't considering the statistics in this Mets game yet. Keep an eye out for this future stud.
Before I say goodbye to Busch, I'll need to visit the Musial statue one last time. It truly is one of baseball's best landmark : )
