View from the cheap seats

VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS

Your ticket to all things Cardinal. We'll talk about the goings on both on and off the field, from trade rumors to game analysis -- even the occasional heckle - Scott Wuerz.

Visit the St. Louis Cardinals website here.

The Man

I had to work an afternoon/evening shift on Sunday. It wouldn't have been a big deal if not for the fact that it was Stan Musial day at the ballpark. The game was at 1:15 and I had to be in the office — 18 miles away — at 2:30... Ugh.

Stan the Man, the greatest Cardinal of them all, was feted on the excuse of the rededication of his famous statute in what is now known as Musial Plaza on the west side of Busch Stadium III. But there was a tremendous sense in the stands that the real reason for the event was so the suddenly frail icon may could make one last public appearance before he became unable to make it to the ballpark. And I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

I packed up my one-year-old son and drove to the ballpark, paid to park and passed my tickets to the usher for the sole purpose of paying tribute to The Man. As soon as the ceremony was over, we jumped back in the car and I headed to the office to report for work without seeing a single pitch. That didn't matter.

My son is way too young to remember. But more than taking him to the ballgame, I wanted my little boy to be in the presence of such greatness — not just on the field, but as a representative of his community and a leader by example. Besides, my son's favorite thing to do is clap. So what better occasion for his specialty than this?

Interleague

I'm really over this whole interleague play thing. I mean, it's mildly interesting to see the Rays come to town for the first time.

But I can really do without seeing the Royals come to town again this year. And I'm sure the people in Detroit aren't very excited about seeing the Cardinals come into Motown for the third season in a row.

I think if Interleague play is going to continue, there should at least be a good reason for it. My proposal is that the use of the designated hitter be flip flopped from it's current configuration.

Could the Cardinals offense use a Holliday?

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal lists the Cardinals as a potential trade partner with the Rockies for Matt Holliday, a corner outfielder who would potentially give St. Louis the power cleanup bat it needs behind Albert Pujols while improving the defense at the same time.

Holliday has a year remaining on his current contract with Colorado, but the Rockies are struggling and know that they'll have a difficult time re-signing the Scott Boras client at the end of the 2009 season. So they may sell him off now to a contender.

Holliday, a two-time All-Star with a .319 career batting average, makes $9 million this year. But Boras is believed to want a contract similar to the $152 million over eight years that the Tigers gave Miguel Cabrera, according to Rosenthal. And the Rockies say they won't come close.

It would be a heckuva commitment from the Cardinals. But the team really needs another cornerstone player to fill the roles that Scott Rolen and the recently disgraced Jim Edmonds once filled for the team.

Once thought to be devoid of prospects, it would now seem that the Cardinals are well positioned to package some young players with Nick Stavinoha, Joe Mather and Bryan Anderson tearing the cover off the ball in AAA Memphis. Mitchell Boggs, Hugo Castellanos, P.J. Walters, Chris Perez, Jaime Garcia and Anthony Reyes are all pitchers who are creating some interest. Top prospect Colby Rasmus as well as major leaguers Chris Duncan, Ryan Ludwick and Brian Barton could also factor into the potential deal.

Cardinals vs. Rays, May 17

The got out of a game with a win. But I'm none too pleased that the Cardinals one again blew a huge lead and had to pull one out in dramatic fashion.

The Cardinals pitching situation is a real catch 22 right now. The starters are getting overworked because the bullpen is so lousy. But now the worn out starters are starting to give way and they're not getting the job done, either.

The bullpen troubles forced manager Tony La Russa to leave starter Adam Wainwright in with men on second and third with one out in the bottom of the fifth. He couldn't drive in either of the runners, then he couldn't make it through the top of the sixth without allowing a run and requiring relief.

Maybe if La Russa would have pinch hit, the Cardinals could have added a run or two before the 'pen men got involved. That would have saved the team from extra innings. But I can see why the skipper would want to keep his starter in the game instead of turning it over to a bullpen that is giving up runs in bushels.

Cardinals vs. Rays, May 16

p>Andy Sonnenstine pitched a great game for the Rays, don't get me wrong.</p>

<p>But Friday's performance by the Cardinals offense is one of the worst that I have ever seen in a major league baseball game.</p>

<p>St. Louis batters didn't do anything to make Sonnenstine break a sweat. Down by three runs in the seventh inning, the St. Louis batters made Sonnenstine throw four pitches to get three outs. FOUR PITCHES! It's nearly impossible to make it any easier on a hurler. And that's just not doing their job on any level.</p>

<p>On the rare occasions that the Cardinals got anyone on base, they could do nothing at all to move runners around the bases. It was like they had no plan whatsoever.</p>