Monday, January 29, 2007
Five years ago the ownership group of the Cardinals approached St. Louis wanting a new stadium. One of the reasons they gave was they claimed this would give them the ability to remain competitive so money would not be an obstacle to signing higher priced players. Since the opening of the new stadium the Cardinals have brought no new significant free agents to the Cardinals organization. Losing Jeff Weaver for a measly three million dollars was the final straw. Isn’t the three million dollars in the Jeff Weaver contract exactly what you promised would be there when the new ballpark was built?
This ownership group does not care about winning. They dangled the hope of signing better talent in front of the St. Louis fans to get their stadium built and have now abandoned them to count their money. Instead of AJ Burnett we got Josh Hancock. Instead of Jason Schmidt we got Kip Wells. Now both Jeff Suppan and Jeff Weaver have gone elsewhere, leaving the Cardinals with only one healthy, bonafide starting pitcher for the season.
Winning the World Series last year was a surprise but it had nothing to do with ownership bringing in talent. We won because Walt Jockety, Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan have continued to work miracles with absolutely no help from above. They pulled a St. Louis miracle by winning with guys on the scrap heap. Jeff Weaver, Ronnie Belliard, and Preston Wilson all contributed to the post season but were throw-away players other teams did not want.
During the first day Cardinals tickets went on sale a record 250,000 were sold but the ownership rewarded the fans by letting three of the five starting pitchers leave a championship team. The two guys you should have let go were Marquis and Mulder and then kept Suppan and Weaver. I suspect if Mulder was healthy he would have left too because you wouldn’t have paid him either. Facing the possibility of selling out all the home games for another season was not incentive for you get at least one more pitcher? Or are you hoping to keep Cardinals fans happy by letting them catch a barrage of home run balls from opposing hitters?
What do the fans have to do to get a decent payroll increase to bring in more talent? We sell out every home game, we follow the team on the road and increase attendance in those parks, and we purchase every piece of Cardinal merchandise you throw at us. We pay the highest ticket prices and highest concession stand prices in the league. Tell us what more can we do? Do you want our rent money? How many millions do you have to steal from the pockets of fans before you give some back?
The Cardinals have a talented group of core players which have dominated their division for a decade. But only having one championship to show for it is disturbing. Cardinal fans stepped up and sold out every home game last season and it is realistic to think that it will happen again this year. But the ownership group is again slapping the fans in the face by not signing any free agent pitchers for the second season in a row. Now the Cardinals are faced with the reality of Kip Wells being their number two starter. Kip Wells being another player claimed from the scrap heap.
This ownership group does not care about winning. They dangled the hope of signing better talent in front of the St. Louis fans to get their stadium built and have now abandoned them to count their money. Instead of AJ Burnett we got Josh Hancock. Instead of Jason Schmidt we got Kip Wells. Now both Jeff Suppan and Jeff Weaver have gone elsewhere, leaving the Cardinals with only one healthy, bonafide starting pitcher for the season.
Winning the World Series last year was a surprise but it had nothing to do with ownership bringing in talent. We won because Walt Jockety, Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan have continued to work miracles with absolutely no help from above. They pulled a St. Louis miracle by winning with guys on the scrap heap. Jeff Weaver, Ronnie Belliard, and Preston Wilson all contributed to the post season but were throw-away players other teams did not want.
During the first day Cardinals tickets went on sale a record 250,000 were sold but the ownership rewarded the fans by letting three of the five starting pitchers leave a championship team. The two guys you should have let go were Marquis and Mulder and then kept Suppan and Weaver. I suspect if Mulder was healthy he would have left too because you wouldn’t have paid him either. Facing the possibility of selling out all the home games for another season was not incentive for you get at least one more pitcher? Or are you hoping to keep Cardinals fans happy by letting them catch a barrage of home run balls from opposing hitters?
What do the fans have to do to get a decent payroll increase to bring in more talent? We sell out every home game, we follow the team on the road and increase attendance in those parks, and we purchase every piece of Cardinal merchandise you throw at us. We pay the highest ticket prices and highest concession stand prices in the league. Tell us what more can we do? Do you want our rent money? How many millions do you have to steal from the pockets of fans before you give some back?
The Cardinals have a talented group of core players which have dominated their division for a decade. But only having one championship to show for it is disturbing. Cardinal fans stepped up and sold out every home game last season and it is realistic to think that it will happen again this year. But the ownership group is again slapping the fans in the face by not signing any free agent pitchers for the second season in a row. Now the Cardinals are faced with the reality of Kip Wells being their number two starter. Kip Wells being another player claimed from the scrap heap.
posted by DarthImmortal at 7:32 AM
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