Larry Brown Sports

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright loves baseball. If he didn’t, he probably would not be pitching professionally. But there is something in life he seems to love much, much more. That something is barbecue.

During a Q&A with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch earlier this week, Wainwright discussed how big of a foodie he considers himself to be. When Derrick Goold asked him what food he would equate to pitching Game 7 of the NLCS in 2006, the right-hander gave a convincing response.

“It would be a combination of steak and barbeque,” Wainwright said. “Because I can eat good barbeque every single day of my whole life, without question, no doubt. I can tell you that right now. I love it. I’m obsessed with it. Also, bad barbeque makes me want to fight somebody. When I have a really bad rib or a really bad pulled pork, it just makes me angry. It’s such a great piece of meat to ruin.”

You think this guy is messing around about his brisket? It certainly doesn’t sound like it. Remember, this is the same guy that hammers down a certain type of sandwich to survive a hot summer day. Food is a major part of Wainwright’s life — there’s really no denying that at this point.

Photo credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

The Cardinals reportedly plan to remove pitcher Jaime Garcia from their NLDS roster because of a shoulder problem, and his teammates are said to be furious with him over the issue.

Garcia missed over two months of the season from June-August because of a shoulder injury that landed him on the 60-day disabled list. He pitched fairly well upon returning from the DL, lowering his season ERA from 4.48 to 3.92. He was the Cardinals’ Game 2 starter for the NLDS, but he was removed after two shaky innings against the Nationals and replaced by Lance Lynn, who got the win.

Garcia was sent for an MRI on the shoulder, and the Cardinals reportedly are waiting for the results before deciding his future. St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Joe Strauss said on Twitter that Garcia was going to be removed from the postseason roster. Strauss also reported that several Cardinals players are upset with Garcia for starting a playoff game without telling the team that he was injured. Others reportedly question whether the injury was enough to prevent him from pitching deeper into the game.

GM John Mozeliak called Garcia’s handling of the situation “frustrating.”

We can understand why Garcia may have kept the shoulder issue to himself. He was probably trying to tough it out, give his team everything he could, and avoid letting down his teammates. But by keeping the news of his shoulder problems to himself, he let down his team because it prevented them from making an informed decision about the playoff rotation.

What’s odd is that he pronounced himself “healthy” in this pregame interview. He was obviously lying.

Photo Credit: Brad Mills-US PRESSWIRE

The St. Louis Cardinals decided to dress up for their short road trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles on Thursday. Even though it looks like they were headed to a costume party, the actual theme for the trip was “tacky tuxedos.” As you can tell, some of those were pretty ugly looking outfits.

Here’s a rundown of what some of the players were wearing:

Jason Motte went camo, Allen Craig had a leopard print trim on his white jacket, Marc Rzepczynski was in all red, Yadier Molina had a plaid coat and white pants, Victor Marte had the green shirt and plaid vest, Jake Westbrook wore white, Tyler Greene was in the red spandex, Lance Berkman was in pink, David Freese had the Dr. Seuss hat, and Matt Carpenter wore the Pee-Wee Herman outfit.

If you’re talking tacky tuxedos, naturally you’re going to see a few guys pull off the “Dumb & Dumber” look. Kyle Lohse (right) and Mitchell Boggs (left) accomplished that:

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I’m a fan. The uniforms you see above are the ones the Cardinals will be wearing during their home opener on April 13, when they will also be receiving their World Series rings. It’s almost gotten to the point where I cringe every time I hear the phrase “new uniforms” because of some of the absolute nonsense we’ve seen, but the Cardinals got it right with these. At first glance, they aren’t even that much different from their regular hats and jerseys. The gold adds a perfect touch in my opinion. The Cards are the champs and they just lost arguably the best player in baseball. Might as well flaunt what you have while you have it.

Picture via MLB Public Relations twitter
H/T Joe Sports Fan via SI Hot Clicks

In all likelihood, we will never know the real reason Albert Pujols ended up in an Angels uniform.  Some will insist it was about the money.  Angry Cardinals fans have demanded an explanation from Pujols, a player they insist lied when he said he wanted to be a Cardinal for the rest of his life.  It’s quite possible he was simply telling the fans what they wanted to hear when he made that statement, or it’s possible it was the truth.  Perhaps Pujols made that statement assuming the Cardinals would match any free agent offer he received and not expect him to give them a hometown discount.  Albert’s wife, Deidre Pujols, tried to bring some clarity to the situation on Monday.

“When you have somebody say, ‘we want you to be a Cardinal for life,’ and then only offer you a five-year deal, it kind of confused us,” Deidre told 99.1 Joy FM in St. Louis.

The Cardinals’ initial offer to Pujols was reportedly for five years and $130 million.  Contract negotiations always need a starting point, but that sounds more like C.C. Sabathia money.  When you take into account the fact that the Red Sox gave Carl Crawford a seven-year, $142 million contract, you can understand why Pujols’ wife called the offer an “insult.”  The Cards’ final offer is said to have been 10 years, $210 million with $30 million deferred with no interest.  It was still far too low.

“I’m going to tell you what, listeners especially, had that offer been given to us with a guarantee (i.e. no deferred money), we would have a Cardinal on our bat,” Deidre continued. “Albert and I never, not one time ever, made plans to leave this city. We had no reason, not one reason, to want to leave. … People were deceived by the numbers.”

Fans have already begun customizing their Pujols’ jerseys and newspapers have accused him of turning his back on the city, but none of us know what went on behind closed doors.  The Angels gave Pujols $254 million without a cent deferred.  The fact that Pujols took the deal would seem to indicate money was important to him.  It could also show that the Angels cared more about acquiring him than the Cardinals cared about keeping him.

Albert Pujols has signed with the highest bidder.  Given what we know about today’s day and age, that should come as a shock to absolutely no one who pays even a little bit of attention to professional sports.  As Yahoo! Sports’ Tim Brown reported Thursday morning, the Los Angeles Angels swept in out of nowhere and offered Pujols a monstrous 10-year contract that is believed to be worth between $250-$260 million.  The last reported offer from St. Louis was in the range of $210-$220 million, so as you can see Pujols decided to take the extra $30-$40 million and run.

Most fans would probably take it too, but good luck getting them to admit that.  You certainly won’t hear anyone in St. Louis admitting it, as evidenced by the LeBron James treatment the St. Louis Post-Dispatch gave Pujols on the front page of their website after the deal was announced.

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David Freese. David freaking Freese. We’ve never changed the title of the website here in nearly five years of operation, but it felt like the appropriate way to honor the man for his incredible performance in Game 6.

Freese clutched up in the bottom of the 9th inning with a two-run triple to tie the game at 7. Nelson Cruz slowed as he neared the right field wall and the ball went over his and off the wall. We still wonder if Cruz could have made the catch if he went balls to the wall, but he slowed to avoid a crash. It cost Texas.

In the 10th, after a gimpy Josh Hamilton hit his first home run of the series — a two-run shot to go up 9-7 — Lance Berkman delivered a two-run single to tie the game.

Then facing Mark Lowe in the bottom of the 11th (seriously, who is Mark Lowe and why was he pitching in the World Series?), Freese had a full count and blasted a walk-off shot to straightaway center field. It was a magical moment.

Have you ever batted in the bottom of the 9th with the game on the line? Have you ever batted with your team’s season on the line? How about being down to one strike with the World Series on the line? David Freese did it all, and he delivered. One of the most clutch baseball performances I’ve ever seen. I still love what Scott Spiezio and the Angels did to rally in ’02, but Freese’s performance was awesome.

Freese donated his bat and jersey from the game to the Hall of Fame. That jersey, by the way, was ripped to shreds by his teammates:

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