View from the cheap seats

Cardinals Museum unveils new displays

The Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum has several new exhibits on display and ready to be gawked at just in time for the holiday weekend.

Newly added exhibits include:

- The home plate used in the 2006 World Series

- "Magnificent Managers," a display that recounts the careers of the Cardinals top five skippers: Tony La Russa, Red Schoendienst, Whitey Herzog, Billy Southworth and Gabby Street

- Unique Uniforms," an exhibit that shows off the Cardinals duds through the years including the 1956 jersey, the only Cardinals uniform since the 1930s that doesn't have the birds on the bat on the front and a uniform of Pepper Martin's Mudcat Band from the Gashouse Gang era.

FSN to show top 10 Cards moments of the 1980s

Fox Sports will bust out another edition of its Cardinals top 10 shows on the fourth of July, this time examining the top Redbirds moments of the 1980s.

The moments the show will examine are listed below, with my personal ranking in parenthesis:

· August 22, 1982: Glenn Brummer steals home in the 12th inning vs. the Giants (6)

· Game 3 of the 1982 World Series: McGee hits two home runs and makes his memorable catch (7)

· Game 7 of the 1982 World Series: The Cardinals win their ninth World Championship (1)

· August 1, 1985: The Cardinals steal four bases on one play at Chicago, with Vince Coleman swiping third and home (8)

· Game 5 of the 1985 NLCS: Ozzie wins it; Go Crazy Folks (2)

· Game 6 of the 1985 NLCS: Jack Clark homers in the top of the ninth to send the Cardinals to the World Series (3)

· April 18, 1987: Tom Herr hits a 10th-inning grand slam to beat the Mets and the seat cushions fly at Busch (10)

· September 11, 1987: Terry Pendleton homers to dead center at Shea off of Roger McDowell in the ninth to tie the game in the heat of the pennant race (9)

· Game 7 of the 1987 NLCS: Jose Oquendo homers to put the Cardinals ahead to stay (4)

· Game 4 of the 1987 World Series: Tom Lawless hits an unlikely homer (5)

These were a lot more difficult for me to rank than the last list, the Cardinals top 10 playoff moments of the last decade. As far as the current list goes, I think it should be about an eight-way tie for first.

Jose Oquendo and Jack Clark's homers were the most meaningful in terms of their games and series. But is there a bigger moment in modern Cardinals history than Ozzie Smith's homer off of Tom Nidenfuer? How many people choked on their lemonade or burned their hands on their barbeque grill when Glen Brummer stole home? I almost can't live with myself for having to rank Willie McGee's monumental game in Milwaukee so low.

Glitch

Sorry, readers, for any trouble you may have had logging onto this blog in the last couple of days.

A technical glitch prevented me from updating or answering mail as often as I would like. But all seems to be well now.

It just doesn't make sense

Although the Tigers are under the .500 mark right now, there's no doubt that they are one of the most dangerous teams in baseball. So the Cardinals series opening win Tuesday night was a big one.

It's funny how the Redbirds have fared so well against the best teams in baseball and so poorly against the bottom dwellers. Below are the best teams and worst teams in baseball with their records against MLB compared to the Cardinals record against them in parenthesis.

Boston          47-32    (2-1)

Tampa         44-31    (2-1)

Philly            42-35    (2-1)

Chicago        48-29     (2-1)

Detroit deja vu

Cardinals fans may be sick of seeing the Tigers in interleague play? Me, too. But apparently Motown loves to see the Redbirds, according to a story in the Detroit Free Press.

That publication cites the history of three World Series between the clubs spanning the Gashouse Gang's 1934 victory behind Dizzy Dean through the Cardinals loss to the Tigers comeback after being down 3-1 in 1968 to the 2006 tilt between the clubs.

Click here to read the Free Press story.

Bait and switch

They say you can be a baseball fan for 50 years and that every week you'll see something that you have never seen before.

That was certainly the case in a game between the minor league Brooklyn Cyclones and the Staten Island Yankees.

In what me the most bizarre case of delaying a game in the history of the horsehide, the contest came to a screeching halt when a Brooklyn switch hitter came to the plate to face Staten Island's switch pitcher.

Whaaaaa???

FSN to air highlights of Cards playoff exploits

Fox Sports Midwest, as I insist on calling it even though the channel officially goes by FSN Midwest, plans to air a special on the top 10 Cardinals playoff moments of the past decade starting Thursday night. It's the first in a series of countdown specials about the hometown team.

After looking over the list of highlights, two things stand out:

1) It was an incredibly great time to be a Cardinals fan, and

2) It's sad to see Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen featured prominently and think about what might have been if their paths wouldn't have taken such an unfortunate turn.

In my mind, Rolen's homer off of Roger Clemens in game 7 of the 2004 NLCS rivals Ozzie's Go Crazy Folks homer as the greatest Cardinals offensive play of my lifetime (which doesn't quite span back to the glory days of the 1960s.) And Edmonds made two absolutely unforgetable plays -- one with the bat and one with the glove -- to almost single-handedly carry the Redbirds to the World Series. And now they're gone...

Keep reading to see the list and schedule of showings.

Make or Break time

While most are suprised to see the Cardinals hanging around, swapping first place with the Cubs in late May, the next six weeks are going to make or break the team's season.

The Cardinals have had the luxury of a lot of home games and a lot of contests against weaker opponents in the first two months of the season.

Through the first two months of the season, when the schedule has been loaded with the Giants, Padres, Rockies, Pirates, Brewers and Reds, the Birds have benefitted from 32 games at home where they are currently 18-11. They've played 26 games away from Busch Stadium where they are 13-12.

In June they play nine games at home and 18 on the road. The schedule includes trips to Boston, Detroit (AGAIN) and Houston. Then as June turns the page to July, the Cardinals host the Mets and Cubs before heading back on the road with a trip to Philadelphia.

In the blink of an eye

I hope Padres starter Chris Young is alright after Albert Pujols line a ball off of his forehead Wednesday night.

It was so scary of a moment that Fox Sports wouldn't show a close up replay. But it was plenty gruesome enough to see all of the blood on Young's jersey front and all the way down his pants legs. And that's a long way. Young is 6-foot-10.

On Wednesday, he probably wished that he was about 6-foot-2. He still would have given up a hit. But he would have remained on the mound instead of being on his way to the hospital.

Home cooking

The Cardinals booted away a chance to fatten up their record on the road. Let's hope home cooking agrees with them as they host series against the struggling Pirates and the suprising Rays starting today.

Pittsburgh is only 6-12 on the road and is 4-7 against National League Central foes.

Tampa Bay is half a game out of first in the best division in baseball, the American League East with a 22-16 mark. They have won five in a row, but they're under .500 on the road at 8-9.