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Phil Looks to the Cardinals for Strong Phinish by Grammatica




When we last left lifelong Cardinals fan Phil Long 10 years ago, the Cardinals had come off of a fourth-place, sub-.500 finish in the National League Central Division, and were led by now-beleaguered, steroid-accused slugger Mark McGwire and a parade of journeymen. Phil was dismayed, as were many Cardinals fans, and doubted whether Tony La Russa could restore the team to championship glory.



But in the ten years since, the Cardinals have made the postseason six times, even winning a World Series in 2006—after giving Phil a heart attack by nearly giving the entire season away.



“Boy,” Phil said, “‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ was certainly the Cardinals’ theme song that year.”



Living on a prayer is exactly what the Cardinals did the first months of this year, trotting out Todd Wellemeyer every fifth day to give up a loss. As the trade deadline approached, Phil was adamant about the need to give up on Wellemeyer, even going so far as to say he’d take a “player to be named later” for him. But instead of giving up on Wellemeyer, the Cardinals went out and traded for Matt Holliday and Mark DeRosa, thus giving protection to the great Albert Pujols. Wellemeyer, not coincidentally, was demoted to the bullpen and later placed on the disabled list for a “sore elbow.”



“Sore brain’s more like it,” Phil commented.



However, even after a torrid August and those trades to retool the offense, doubts remain in the heart of Phil. Closer Ryan Franklin, once saver of 35 games in 37 opportunities, finds himself having blown two saves in the last week, one against the minor-league Pittsburgh Pirates.



“I think Tony just needs to shut Franklin down for a little while,” Phil said. “It’s time for what have you done for me lately? Blake Hawksworth looks good to fill in for a while. I say relax, Frankie.”



Will La Russa take Phil’s advice about the now-beleaguered Franklin? Only time (and Phil) will tell.





UPDATE: My apologies to Grammatica for the tardiness of this posting.  She was on the ball getting this ready for the debut. 

Tony didn't listen.  Frankie says, Relax! Don't Do It.  When ya' wanna come? Come!