The Wednesday Wrap-Up
-Don't expect Joel Pineiro to be going anywhere after his Wednesday morning emotional outburst. John Mozeliak appeared on The ITD Morning After and said he didn't think Pineiro's frustration with Jose Oquendo (see below) will not be an issue in camp or during the season. Furthermore, the fact that Pineiro is due to make 7 million this year makes it incredibly unlikely that even if the Cardinals wanted to that they could move him.
-STLToday.com's Joe Strauss introduced the idea of the conspiracy theory that Tony La Russa and/or Dave Duncan influenced Oquendo's decision to keep Pineiro out of the Puerto Rican rotation...so as to keep Pineiro at Cardinal camp all Spring. The Cardinals deny that had anything to do with Oquendo's decision.
-Our interviews with Albert Pujols and former Cardinal/current coach Larry Walker over the last couple of days have restored my faith in professional sports in some capacity. Pujols' interview confirmed what I already suspected/knew about him: he's obsessed with winning. However, Larry Walker told us Wednesday on The ITD Morning After that---despite all of the huge individual accomplishments in Montreal and Colorado---his favorite memory of his nearly Hall of Fame career is making it to the World Series with the Cardinals in 2004. That fun fact may not be all that surprising.
What is surprising, however, is the fact that five years later, Walker says he still finds himself sitting up at night thinking about the Cardinals getting swept by the Red Sox in that World Series.
"You just think about what could've been. What you could've done differently," Walker said.
"That Game 1 was the turning point, wasn't it?" I asked.
"Yeah, we came back to tie it at 9, and then Mark Bellhorn of all people comes up and hits that home run," Walker said of the smallish infielder who broke the tie and led the Sox to that Game 1 victory.
Once Boston won that game, it was all but over, and the Cardinals never led a game the rest of the way.
Walker says he wonders if he should've come back to play in 2006 as opposed to retiring after the Cardinals lost to the Astros in the 2005 NLCS, so that he could've experienced that World Championship season.
"At the same time, maybe they needed me to retire so they could win the whole thing," Walker joked.
Either way, even though it sucks that the guy is still bothered by a sweep from five years ago, it's refreshing to hear how a couple of this decade's stars are focused much more on winning than their individual accomplishments. As sad---and perhaps unbelievable as it may sound---that's not as commonplace as you'd think...or hope.
-Expected to appear on Thursday's ITD Morning After live from Jupiter, Florida: Adam Wainwright, Chris Duncan, and Skip Schumaker.
-Brief aside: what is it with ITD Morning After/Morning Grind co-hosts and mancrushes on Skip Schumaker? I'll have to keep a close eye on Doug Vaughn during the Schumaker interview to make sure he keeps his hands above our lavish picnic table.
Live From Roger Dean Stadium: The Wednesday Report
In Camp Today: ESPN's Tim Kurkjian, Former Cardinal/Red Sox Outfielder And Belleville Native Brian Daubach
Throwing Today: Bullpen: Wainwright, Wellemeyer, Kinney, Trevor Miller
Throwing Today: Live Batting Practice: Royce Ring, Francisco Samuel, Blake Hawksworth, And Clayton Mortensen
-An emotional Joel Pineiro, out of absolutely nowhere, called for a press conference around 8:00 this morning (St. Louis time) just steps away from the Cardinal locker room to vent---big time---about his frustration with Cardinal third base coach Jose Oquendo. Sounds odd, right? Why would a pitcher have anything to do with the third base coach...unless it's Jeff Suppan. Well, Pineiro was pissed because Oquendo told him he wasn't good enough to pitch as a starter on Puerto Rican team in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Pineiro's claim was that only he and Javier Vasquez have been mainstays on Major League starting rotations for a number of years, and yet Pineiro, according to Oquendo, would have to pitch out of the bullpen. So, what's Pineiro's solution?
He's now decided not to pitch for Oquendo and the Puerto Rican team in the World Baseball Classic.
So, how will this effect things for Pineiro and the Cardinals with some tension between the third base coach and him?
Well, at least as of this morning, Tony La Russa is comfortable with the seemingly uncomfortable situation between one of his starters and one of his coaches.
La Russa had no problem with Pineiro's spontaneous eruption. "Maybe it will work as a motivator for him," La Russa said.
Keep an eye on this situation over the next few days. Pineiro's making around 7 million dollars this year, and if the Cardinals wanted to trade him---if this situation led to some problems around camp---it'd be most likely difficult to find a taker.
-Rick Ankiel joined the radio program to start things off on The ITD Morning After. Ankiel said one of his favorite parts of Spring Training so far has been watching Skip Schumaker at second base. If there's one person who can relate to someone making a huge change in his career via position switch, it's Ankiel. In the current centerfielder's opinion, Schumaker can make the transition from the outfield to second, because Schumaker is "such a great athlete."
-Kyle McClellan is working out with the starters so far this Spring. McClellan doesn't think it's all that big of a deal, because he pitched as a starter in the minors.
-Brad Thompson still thinks he holds the minor league record for consecutive scoreless innings. For that feat, Thompson was supposed to receive free Krispy Kreme donuts ("for throwing up donuts all season," Thompson said). However, Thompson never got anything from Krispy Kreme, and he wants that wrong to be righted. As we say when someone calls in and asks a legitimate question and we don't know the answer, "we'll look into that."
Wednesday's Show Audio:
Segement 1 (Rick Ankiel) - Click Here
Segement 2 (Kyle McClellan) - Click Here
Segement 3 (Brad Thompson) - Click Here
Segement 4 (Trever Miller) - Click Here
Segement 5 (Larry Walker) - Click Here
Segement 6 (Joe Strauss) - Click Here
Segement 7 (John Mozeliak) - Click Here
Segement 8 (Email of the Day) - Click Here
Wednesday's Videos:
Joel Peneiro Press Conference - Click Here
Rick Ankiel Segment - Click Here
Kyle McClellan Segment - Click Here
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