Ryan Ray Franklin

Position: Pitcher
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 3", Weight: 190 lb.

Born: March 5, 1973 in Fort Smith, AR
High School: Spiro HS (Spiro, OK)
School: Seminole Community College (Sanford, FL)
Drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 23rd round of the 1992 amateur draft.
Signed May 21, 1993. (All Transactions)
Debut: May 15, 1999 (Age 26)   vs. KCR 0.2 IP, 3 H, 1 SO, 0 BB, 2 ER
Teams (by GP): Cardinals/Mariners/Phillies/Reds 1999-2011
Agents: Jay Franklin, Jeff Frye [*]
Final Game: June 28, 2011 (Age 38)
    About biographical information

Other SR Links: Olympics at Sports-Reference.com

• 5/3 Redbird Dugout: Fernando Salas: The Unsung Hero: I heard it again today after the Cardinals optioned Mitchell Boggs to Memphis. “Alright Boggs down, now can we get rid of...

• 4/29 STLCardinalBaseball: Bizarre Bullpen Makeover: This weekend saw another grotesque performance from the bullpen in two ugly losses. Cardinal relief pitchers threw 6.1 innings...
• 4/26 Mets Merized: Zack Wheeler Shaky, Allows Five Earned Runs Over Five Innings: So Zack Wheeler took the mound on Thursday evening to try and bounce back from a bad start – and for a while, it looked...
• 4/22 Redbird Rants: Mitchell Boggs still has nothing: Without a doubt Mitchell Boggs has been the biggest disappointment so far this month. He stinks like hockey pads that get used...
• 4/15 STLCardinalBaseball: GAME 12: Blowpen: In an ugly repeat of his start against Cincinnati on April 8th, Jaime Garcia twirled a masterful seven-inning start completely...
• 4/11 STLCardinalBaseball: Solutions For The Looming Bullpen CrisisSo apparently Jason Motte‘s elbow is shot. Until just a few weeks ago, Motte was one of the soundest aspects ......

• 3/25 i70baseball.com: Mitchell Boggs and finding a new answer for the ninth: With the unknown status of the full extent of Jason Motte’s injury, the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen will be the next unit that...

• 2/18 Lasorda's Lair: Top Ten Tommy Moments 2 Tommy Manages 2000 U.S. Olympic Team To Gold: In this new series, we will be celebrating the life and times of Tommy Lasorda. The man we consider as the most passionate Dodger...
• 2/12 mlbreports.com : Put That Coffee Down! Coffee Is Closers Only: Top 5 Closers Projected For 2013: Like us on Facebook here Tuesday February 12th, 2013 MLB Reports: From the movie Glengarry Glen Ross came one of the most compelling...

• 11/9 StanGraphs: 2012 Cardinals Review: The Pitchers: The Rotation Every time someone makes an argument that begins with, “If you’d have told me on [insert arbitrary past...

• 9/19 El Maquino: SHOCKER: LOHSE BEATS ‘STROS: THE POSTGAME Kyle Lohse did what Kyle Lohse does, going seven shutout innings and turning over to the bullpen and the offense...
• 9/5 StanGraphs: Shelby Miller and His Possible Uses: It seems like just yesterday when one of approximately 33 Lance Berkman injuries this season led to the call-up of heralded power...
• 9/4 STLCardinalBaseball: Greatest Cardinal Teams: 2011: Future discussions about the greatest teams in Cardinal history will begin and end with the Miracle Cardinals of 2011. This odd...
• 9/1 MLBTradeRumors: Notable Recent September Transactions: Although the non-waiver trade deadline passed a month ago, teams are still able to swing deals via the waiver process through...

• 8/14 El Maquino: WAINWRIGHT’S BACK: THE POSTGAME: CARDS 3, GIANTS 1 Looks like Adam Wainwright‘s back. Today’s game–seven innings, seven strikeouts,...

• 6/29 High Heat Stats: My oh my, how closing times have changed: 25 years ago today, on June 29th 1987, Steve Bedrosian recorded a save in a 6-5 Phillies win over the Pirates. It was the 19th...
• 6/18 STLCardinalBaseball: A Few Thoughts About The Recent Slide: Thank goodness for a day off! After the Father’s Day Massacre yesterday, I was so disgusted and disillusioned that I needed...
• 6/17 STLCardinalBaseball: Game 67: Exhausted: In the longest and most dramatic game of the season the Cardinals could not hold on in the 15th inning as they fell 5-3 to the...
• 6/13 The Cardinal Nation Blog: How often did the Cardinals score so few despite so many hits?: It isn’t very often that the St. Louis Cardinals manage to score no more than one run on 11 or more hits, but that is what they...
• 6/2 i70baseball.com: To Buy or Not To Buy?: The Major League Baseball non-waiver trade deadline is still a couple of months away, but the St. Louis Cardinals have to be contemplating...

• 5/15 El Maquino: Yadi Walks Off, Jay Goes Down And Right-Handed Lefty Specialists: Mike Matheny's approach to a one-lefty bullpen could be revolutionary or could be jumping off a skyscraper without a trampoline....
• 5/14 STLCardinalBaseball: The Return Of Eduardo Sanchez: In a move reminiscent of last spring’s release of Ryan Franklin and Miguel Batista, John Mozeliak today hacked off the gangrenous...
• 5/13 High Heat Stats: Quiz – How do you spell relief?: Relief pitching as a specialization has become increasingly refined in the past 50 years. Today we have closers, setup men, long...
• 5/11 Redbird Dugout: Who stays, who goes?: Who will stay and who will go is probably the question on a few players’ minds right now. The St. Louis Cardinals are due...

• 4/25 The Cardinal Nation Blog: Should MLB players and social media mix?Can professional athletes and fans get too close to one another for their own good?...
• 4/22 STLCardinalBaseball: 8 and 9: A bullpen love story: Last season the Cardinals began the year with Ryan Franklin as their closer and some guy named Miguel Batista as their setup man....
• 4/7 STLCardinalBaseball: GAME 3: All Too Human: Who knows what we really expected from Adam Wainwright on his first official start since returning from Tommy John surgery. A...
• 4/4 Tyler's Think Tank: 2011 MLB All Bust Team (NL): To see the AL team, go here C John Buck 2010: 53 runs  20 home runs  66 RBI  0 steals  .281/.314/.489 2011:...

• 3/31 STLCardinalBaseball: A look at the Opening Day Roster: The Cardinals look different on Opening Day every year than they do by the end of the season. For instance the opening day closer...
• 3/30 Blog Red Machine: The Utility Player: Bullpen, Business, Beginnings and More!: What a week it’s been to be a Reds fans. Ups met with downs. No worries, right? Let’s keep a positive outlook on the...
• 3/20 C70 At The Bat: Getting The Work In: It's getting to the part of spring training where the newness of seeing baseball scores and highlights is starting to wear...
• 3/6 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Prediction Week at PH8: Cardinal Player Stats: If you are interested in a time-consuming yet meaningless exercise involving baseball and geeky numbers, then you have come to...

• 2/21 Pitchers Hit Eighth: My only 2011 Cardinals game: an appreciation of baseball’s lows and highs: Up until last Sept. 28, when the Cardinals won in Houston and the Braves lost in Atlanta and the National League wildcard spot...
• 2/15 STLCardinalBaseball: Healing The Wounds Of The La Russa Era: Few Cardinal fans will ever forget 1996. Its significance has less to do with the start of Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa’s™...
• 2/4 i70baseball.com: (Draft) Picky, PickyEvery MLB team shows time and again that the ultimate weapon to wield is depth....
• 2/3 STLCardinalBaseball: Is Jason Motte the next great Cardinal closer?: The Cardinals have had some of the greatest closers of all time walk through their door: Bruce Sutter, Lee Smith, Dennis Eckersley,...

• 1/29 i70baseball.com: St. Louis Cardinals Might Have Long-term Closer In Jason Motte: St. Louis Cardinals closer Jason Motte has seen a lot of ups and downs in the early stages of his career, but he might now be...
• 1/22 i70baseball.com: Bullpen Could Be A Strength For St. Louis Cardinals In 2012: After having a bullpen that appeared to be one of the worst in the league less than 12 months ago, the St. Louis Cardinals could...
• 1/5 The Cardinal Nation Blog: Reviewing the predictions: TCN Blog’s top five Cardinals stories of 2011A look back at the top projected stories across the Cardinal Nation in 2011 from one year ago....

• 12/31 STLCardinalBaseball: 2011 a year in review: Cardinal edition: With today being the last day of the year, I felt it necessary to take a look back at the year 2011 in baseball, and a month by...
• 12/30 Through The Fence Baseball: A Dodger fan’s MLB resolutions for the New Year: As 2011 comes to a close and the hope of a brighter 2012 dawns, people are making all sorts of resolutions. Some people vow to...
• 12/29 Redbird Dugout: UCB Project: Top Stories of 2011: This month’s United Cardinal Bloggers project is to break down what we thought the top-5 Cardinals Stories of 2011 were....
• 12/19 The Cardinal Nation Blog: The Cardinal Nation Blog 2011 top story #16: Out went the old in the pen: Four veteran relievers began the 2011 season with the St. Louis Cardinals but they did not perform and were soon gone, replaced...
• 12/18 STLCardinalBaseball: A look at the promising bullpen of the 2012 Cardinals: With the recent signing of left handed reliever J.C. Romero the Cardinals bullpen seems to be set, unless the Cardinals decide...
• 12/18 The Cardinal Nation Blog: The Cardinal Nation Blog 2011 top story #17: Closer changes: Eight different relievers collected saves and four of them lost the closers job, but the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals secured the...
• 12/8 Fungoes.net: 25 in 25, #7: Cardinal bullpen redeems itself in playoffs: The Cardinals bullpen usually made headlines during the regular season for its failures. But when the playoffs began, it was a...

• 11/21 Fungoes.net: 2011 United Cardinal Bloggers awards: Award 1: Cardinal Player of the Year Lance Berkman Matt Holliday Albert Pujols Comment: Berkman was the most-valuable Cardinal...
• 11/15 i70baseball.com: Experience Can Be Overrated: Matheny Is The Right Choice For Cardinals’ ManagerFormer Catcher has Leadership Qualities Necessary to Lead World Champs into 2012 Season ...
• 11/3 Fragile Freddy's: Free Agents - Relief Pitchers: With the World Series over players will begin filing for free agency.  With that in mind let’s have a look at the available...
• 11/1 Fungoes.net: Cardinals make easy but smart call on Dotel and Furcal: The Post’s Derrick Goold and Joe Strauss reported the Cardinals’ first act of business of the offseason: The Cardinals...

• 10/30 STLCardinalBaseball: Battle Tested: Why The 2011 Cardinals Won The World Series: Older Cardinal fans fondly remember the 1985 team as one of the best units ever assembled. It had blinding speed, astonishing...
• 10/30 i70baseball.com: Game 7 From The InsideAttending a game seven of a World Series in St. Louis is a magical event....
• 10/24 MLBTradeRumors: Cardinals Links: Pujols, La Russa, Franklin: While we wait to see if the Cardinals can retake the series lead over the Rangers in the Fall Classic, let's round up some notes...
• 10/20 Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness: MSTI’s 2011 in Review: Center Field: This is the one you’ve been waiting for, friends. No moaning about overpaid veterans or underperforming rookies, no noting...
• 10/19 Blog Red Machine: St. Louis Cardinals Bullpen in Review: 2011 QAR: The National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals.  The very words jar my soul.  When the season began I was overcome by mixed...
• 10/18 Through The Fence Baseball: Like starting pitching? Hide your eyes during World Series: The St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers match up with one another in the World Series beginning on Wednesday. If you predicted...
• 10/10 Fungoes.net: Why the Cardinals will (still) beat the Brewers: [The original version of the following article was first posted at ESPN. We have since updated it in the wake of Game 1 of the...
• 10/8 C70 At The Bat: Operation: Squash the Plush: After a season of discussion about how the NL East was the best division and how weak the NL Central is, for the third time...
• 10/5 Fire Brand of the American League: Pedro Gomez and Steroids: In case you were wondering, the debate over performance enhancing drugs, the Hall of Fame, and the steroid era’s place...

• 9/26 i70baseball.com: The 10 Most Disappointing Cardinals Losses – The Top Five: On Thursday afternoon, a ninth inning meltdown by the Cardinals bullpen may have cost them a playoff spot. Where does this this...
• 9/15 i70baseball.com: The Cupboard Is Not BareThe Cardinals may be able to check one thing off their shopping list if they just look in the cupboard....
• 9/13 MLBTradeRumors: Cards Lone Team To Embrace September Extensions: Since John Mozeliak became St. Louis’ general manager after the 2007 season, four Major League players have signed extensions...

• 8/30 i70baseball.com: Garcia’s Endurance Raises Questions About FutureWith $27 million invested and a less than stellar bullpen, Garcia must eat more innings...
• 8/19 i70baseball.com: Luck, Momentum, And Credit Where It’s DueThe 2011 National League Central Division belongs to the Milwaukee Brewers. Sort of....
• 8/18 i70baseball.com: Is Fernando Salas A Closer ?: Fernando Salas has just blown his fourth save for the Cardinals. How does that compare among the other closers in St. Louis ?...
• 8/3 Crashburn Alley: Checking Historical Trends with Vance Worley: On July 18, I posted what I thought were reasonable expectations of Vance Worley going forward. I compared the start to his Major...

• 7/22 MetsToday.com: Where To Shop Jason Isringhausen: K-Rod is gone and we’ve covered Carlos Beltran. Next on the trading block is Jason Isringhausen, who has proven to be healthy...
• 7/21 Redbird Dugout: The lefty-lefty matchup: (Photo: Scott Ableman/Flickr)I don't like playing armchair manager the next morning after a game and saying how I would have done...
• 7/13 NY Baseball Digest: The Closing Situation Post K-Rod: Now that Francisco Rodriguez is in Milwaukee the Mets are in need of a closer. Bobby Parnell and his 100 mph fastball appear...
• 7/6 MLBTradeRumors: NL West Notes: Stewart, Padres, Dodgers: On this date last year, the Rockies scored nine runs in the ninth inning to overcome a six-run deficit and beat the Cardinals...
• 7/3 MLBTradeRumors: Week In Review: 6/26/11 - 7/2/11: We're officially into July, and the trade deadline is less than a month away, so things will really start to pick up around...

• 6/30 El Maquino: CARP TOUGHS OUT CG WIN: THE WRAP-UP, GAME 81 9:07p Wow, half way already? Anyway, the Cardinals took down the Baltimore Orioles tonight, inching closer...
• 6/30 Redbird Dugout: **** gets the call: Brandon **** gets the call for his major league debut.(Photo: Dave Nelson/Flickr)After the news of Ryan Franklin's release settled...
• 6/30 C70 At The Bat: A Changing Of The Guard: The Cardinals may have gone out of town, but that doesn't mean out of sight out of mind.  There's been plenty to...
• 6/29 Redbird Dugout: Franklin to be released: Ryan Franklin has seemingly pitched his last game in Cardinal red.(Photo: Michael Noirot/Flickr)The story out of St. Louis according...
• 6/29 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Happy Trails, Chinzilla!: While it may be tempting for some fans to bid Ryan Franklin a not-so-fond farewell, I think it better to look at his time with...
• 6/29 MLBTradeRumors: Cardinals Release Ryan Franklin: The Cardinals have released right-handed reliever Ryan Franklin, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The...
• 6/29 Call to the Pen: Cardinals Nearing Decision on Struggling Franklin: The St. Louis Cardinals appear to be edging closer to a decision on what to do with struggling reliever Ryan Franklin. …...
• 6/29 MLBTradeRumors: Decision Expected Soon On Ryan Franklin: The Cardinals "may be closer to a decision regarding relief pitcher Ryan Franklin," writes Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. ...
• 6/29 The Cardinal Nation Blog: Relief for Cardinals reliefTwo St. Louis Cardinals relievers did their jobs Tuesday night, but one once again did not....
• 6/27 Bronx Baseball Daily: 10 Relievers the Yankees Could Trade for at the Deadline: With the trade deadline drawing nearer and the Yankees targeting bullpen help it seemed like a good idea to take a look at...
• 6/22 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Inheritance Tax: In baseball, walks are far more frustrating than hits.  In walking a batter, the pitcher removes all possibility for the defense...
• 6/20 C70 At The Bat: Bringing Winning Back: Apparently, I'm just not supposed to be on the wrong side of the Mississippi when it's baseball season.  The Cards went...
• 6/16 MLBTradeRumors: Potentially Available Right-Handed Relievers: The Rangers and Cardinals are just a few contenders who might look to add relief help at the trade deadline.  Let's take a...
• 6/15 Redbird Dugout: Should Cards have an interest in Kazmir?: Scott Kazmir poses some interesting questions.(Photo: angelswindotcom/Flickr)Reading MLB Trade Rumors today and it appears that...
• 6/9 C70 At The Bat: Shows What I Know: I've occasionally said that Albert Pujols reads this blog, because I'll write something and he'll either go out and justify or,...
• 6/9 StLCards.net: Bud Norris does it again, Cardinals only get 2 hits in loss: Cards LOSE Ok, that will be the last time I say anything about Bud Norris. The Cardinals simply were flat against him yesterday....
• 6/8 The Cardinal Nation Blog: How rare is Fernando Salas’ 44-pitch save?Very few St. Louis Cardinals pitchers have thrown more pitches in securing a save than did Fernando Salas on Tuesday night....
• 6/3 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Pitchers Hit Eighth Podcast – Episode 2.0: “Self, this is not what I would do in this situation.”: Daniel Shoptaw of C70 At The Bat joins us to discuss United Cardinal Bloggers, Baseball Bloggers Alliance, Cardinal baseball and...
• 6/2 C70 At The Bat: It's No Holliday: Sorry for the delay in posting.  Between the holiday weekend and some back trouble, it's been a while since I've had a chance...
• 6/2 StLCards.net: Salas blows first save, Cardinals lose in 11: Cards LOSE It was bound to happen eventually. Fernando Salas was going for his 11th save in 11 tries last night and got two outs...
• 6/2 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Oh, Bell No!: Rumor has it that the Cardinals have inquired about the Padres’ all-world closer, Heath Bell.  Why not?  What team wouldn’t...
• 6/2 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin suffers relief loss: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin allowed two earned runs, three hits and a walk in two innings of relief in a loss Wednesday,...[+] June 1, against the San Francisco Giants.
• 6/1 The Cardinal Nation Blog: Salas: Fastest Cardinal to 10-for-10 in saves: No St. Louis Cardinals closer has ever logged at least ten saves without a blown opportunity before June 1 until Fernando Salas...
• 6/1 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Chris Carpenter: Too few outs for too many pitches: Chris Carpenter once again pitched well enough to win, yet received a no-decision. See, it’s not that Carpenter hasn’t...
• 6/1 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin picks up relief victory: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin struck out the side in a perfect eighth inning Tuesday, May 31, against the San Francisco...[+] Giants, picking up his first relief victory. It was his first win since July 30 in his first home appearance dating back to April 23. He has worked three straight scoreless outings over 4 2/3 innings. 'It feels good,' Franklin said. 'It feels real good.'

• 5/31 MLBTradeRumors: Cardinals Have Inquired On Heath Bell: Fernando Salas has converted all ten of his save opportunities in 2011, so the Cardinals may not need another closer this summer....
• 5/31 Pitchers Hit Eighth: No Long Relief for the DL: **** TLR!  Is this thing even on?  Has anybody besides me noticed that Matt Holliday hasn’t exactly been pounding the...
• 5/30 Redbird Dugout: Ryan Franklin wants his job back: Ryan Franklin wants his old job back.(Photo: d-deee/Flickr)Fernando Salas and Eduardo Sanchez, be forewarned: Ryan Franklin...
• 5/29 StLCards.net: Cardinals win first game at Colorado, lose second: Cards WIN Colby Rasmus tripled twice, drove in 3, and Albert Pujols drove in two runs in the first game in Colorado. The Cardinals...
• 5/25 StLCards.net: The 50 Game Waiting Peirod Ends…And The Cardinals are in First. 200th Post!: Well, here we are. After opening day and during the first weeks of the season the buzzword is always wait 50 games. (At least...
• 5/25 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin unlikely to close again: St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan acknowledged that RP Ryan Franklin probably doesn't have the stuff to be a closer...[+] again, but he thinks he can still serve a meaningful role in the team's bullpen.
• 5/24 MLBTradeRumors: The Offseason Closer Market: I've seen some talk about the 2011-12 offseason featuring a strong free agent market for closers.  However, it's possible the...
• 5/24 C70 At The Bat: A Late-Night Extravaganza: You can't beat fun at the old ballpark, even when that fun keeps you up too late and makes you yawn through the morning the next...
• 5/23 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Mitchell Boggs could be sent down: The St. Louis Cardinals are expected to option a relief pitcher to the minors Monday, May 23, to make room on the roster for 2B...[+] Skip Schumaker (elbow). The leading candidate to be sent down is RP Mitchell Boggs. Other options include RPs Ryan Franklin and Miguel Batista.
• 5/21 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Miguel Batista, Ryan Franklin working on side: The St. Louis Cardinals starting pitchers have been so efficient lately, that the relievers are having a hard time getting their...[+] work in. Pitching coach Dave Duncan said RPs Miguel Batista and Ryan Franklin have been staying sharp in bullpen sessions.
• 5/19 Redbird Dugout: April Approval Ratings: Lance Berkman gets the biggest boost of any player.(Photo: d-deee/Flickr)This year's monthly project continues with April's Cardinals'...
• 5/17 C70 At The Bat: Frustration, Then Vindication: A terribly frustrating weekend book-ended by wins both satisfying and encouraging.  Let's take a look at the last few days.Thursday...
• 5/16 The Cardinal Nation Blog: Cardinals offense not helping with blown saves: The St. Louis Cardinals are blowing ninth-inning leads at a record pace, but aren’t receiving any help via offensive comebacks....
• 5/16 MLBTradeRumors: 2012 Contract Issues: St. Louis Cardinals: The Cardinals are next in our 2012 Contract Issues series, and their offseason should have plenty of intrigue.  Here's what...
• 5/15 Redbird Dugout: Game Notes: Games 29 through 41: Eduardo Sanchez has given Cardinals fans excitement this season(Photo: d-dee/Flickr)It's been a 6-6 run for the Cardinals while...
• 5/14 MLBTradeRumors: Quick Hits: Broderick, Reds, Moseley: Saturday afternoon linkage.. Nationals GM Mike Rizzo believes that pitcher Brian Broderick has a bright future in the big...
• 5/14 The Cardinal Nation Blog: It is time to appreciate Fernando SalasFernando Salas is the only St. Louis Cardinals reliever not to blow a save or take a loss in 2011....
• 5/12 StLCards.net: Cardinals lose to Cubs after rain delay: Cards WIN What I was afraid would happen on Tuesday just waited a day to happen. The Cardinals seemed to fall apart on the field...
• 5/12 C70 At The Bat: Misery: That game made Tony La Russa close his good eye to keep from watching it.(By the by, TLR has really never had to be away from...
• 5/12 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin tagged for four runs : St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin suffered through a four-run fifth inning Wednesday, May 11, as the Cardinals lost 11-4 to...[+] the Chicago Cubs.
• 5/7 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | GM wants Ryan Franklin back in closer mix: St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said Saturday, May 7, that he would like to see RP Ryan Franklin get some future...[+] opportunities to finish games. 'Whoever is available and whoever is hot,' Mozeliak said about the closer-by-committee approach. 'Still, we'd like to get Franklin into that mix. We have to make the opportunity available (to him). If you are in the snake-bitten mode the only way to get out of it is pitching.'
• 5/5 Baseball Press: Under the Radar - Mixed Leagues: Time is running out to snatch up Bud Norris of the Astros. (Getty)Each week, Baseball Press will be providing some "under the...
• 5/3 My Pinstripes: FullCountPitch - The Closer Goes To The Movies: Baseball has progressed over the last few decades from starting pitchers going the distance to a closer entering the game as...
• 5/2 Pitchers Hit Eighth: My Soapbox is Bigger Than Yours Is: Yep, my soapbox is bigger than yours is, because it has to be sturdy.  I like to eat 8 lb burritos with a spork while I’m...
• 5/2 C70 At The Bat: Big Weekend For Cardinals: While the national news of Sunday night overshadowed the diversion that is this game we love, it was still a strong weekend for...
• 5/2 Roto Think Tank: N.L. FAAB Log: May 1, 2011: Fernando Salas $16.  Other bids: $12, $8, $7.This is a very aggressive, and likely unwarranted, bid on Salas.  I wrote...
• 5/1 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin loses again: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin came on in tie game and allowed one unearned run, one hit and one walk in 1 1/3 innings of...[+] relief in another loss. Franklin is 0-3 with a 8.68 ERA.
• 5/1 Redbird Dugout: Game 28: Braves 6, Cardinals 5: It was a crazy game. A game that saw Jaime Garcia perfect through four innings and fall apart in the fifth. It also saw Albert...
• 5/1 MLBTradeRumors: NL Central Notes: Cardinals, Braun, Pena, Pirates: After losing five of their first seven games, the Cardinals went 14-5 to finish April with a two-game lead in the NL Central....

• 4/30 The Cardinal Nation Blog: Four different Cards relievers with saves in last four winsWho will be the next closer of the day for the St. Louis Cardinals?...
• 4/30 Fungoes.net: Blown saves are overblown: What’s the deal with blown saves? Erstwhile St. Louis Cardinals closer Ryan Franklin recently blew up on the mound for...
• 4/28 Redbird Leader: Who's Still Around at Closing Time?: Take a look at the numbers, and you'll see that Cardinal Nation has been spoiled the last couple years. Ryan...
• 4/28 StLCards.net: Cardinals bullpen makes it too interesting: Cards WIN …but, the bullpen gave up 5 runs in 2 innings last night. I guess if they have a quota of runs they must give...
• 4/27 StLCards.net: Boggs blows it for Cardinals: Cards LOSE Lance Berkman’s go ahead RBI in the 9th inning was storybook, but it wasn’t the ending. The Cardinals lost...
• 4/26 Pitchers Hit Eighth: The J.O.B. (Early/Late Edition): Greetings on a night where the big club hopefully escapes the weather and builds upon a very successful few turns through the...
• 4/26 The Cardinal Nation Blog: Boggs’ 3-for-3 in saves a good start, but not unusualSt. Louis Cardinals closer Mitc**** Boggs is 3-for-3 in saves, but so were 45 other Cardinals since 1950....
• 4/25 Through The Fence Baseball: Fantasy baseball preview for 4/25-5/1: It’s been an exciting week in the world of fantasy baseball, with a lot of closer jobs continuing to change hands, some starting...
• 4/25 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Was Brandon Phillips right?: …about the 2010 Cardinals? “I’d play against these guys on one leg,” Phillips insisted before the game. “We have...
• 4/25 Redbird Dugout: Game 21: Reds 5, Cardinals 3: For the second straight game of the series, rain played a major role. Unfortunately, it was the Reds who took advantage after...
• 4/25 C70 At The Bat: Cards Win, Come Tantalizingly Close To Sweep: It was a wet weekend in St. Louis, but they got all the games in.  After Friday's sleight-of-hand, as it were, with the start...
• 4/25 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Using My Time Unwisely – ECI Stat: I’m BACK!  After over a two week “hiatus” which consisted primarily of being forced to do what’s known...
• 4/24 Blog Red Machine: The Taking of Game 2It almost went a different way in the 8th with Bruce facing a lefty on the mound......
• 4/24 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin tosses up some zeroes: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin allowed two hits in 1 1/3 scoreless innings Saturday, April 23, against the Cincinnati Reds....[+] It is just the second appearance this season in eight games which the deposed closer hasn't allowed at least one earned run.
• 4/23 MLB Fantasy Recon: Buy or Sell - The Best of the April Pick Ups: How come Boston used Masterson out of the bullpen?Charlie Saponara over at Fantasy Baseball 365 takes a look at those hot pick...
• 4/23 StLCards.net: Tony La Russa, Genius Move (+1): Cards WIN Tony La Russa knew it was going to rain yesterday so he started Miguel Batista instead of Kyle McClellan. It rained...
• 4/22 Mastersball.com: Questions? We All Get Questions: I have a problem with and idea of Ron Shandler’s. That epiphany of the BBHQ guru is idea to place a moratorium on free agent...
• 4/22 Redbird Leader: Big Red Machines Set to Battle: When the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals face off tonight at Busch Stadium, the top 2 lineups in the National League...
• 4/22 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin was tipping pitches: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin has tipped his off-speed pitches this season and believes that working in non-save situations...[+] will help to fix that and improve his pitch selection, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• 4/22 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Not impressed with Ryan Franklin: Scouts are not impressed with the stuff of St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin in the bullpen, according to ESPN.com's Jayson...[+] Stark. 'He's got the biggest guts in that bullpen - and the worst stuff. To be honest, his stuff hasn't been there the last two seasons. And the last thing you want to say about your closer is: 'He's gotta be fine,'' a scout said.
• 4/22 Baseball Press: Under the Radar - Mixed Leagues: Travis Hafner is fantasy-relevant again. (Getty)Each week, Baseball Press will be providing some "under the radar" fantasy players...
• 4/22 MLBTradeRumors: Quick Hits: Braun, Lohse, Franklin, Wood: Some news items as Matt Kemp is once again a walkoff hero for the Dodgers... Ryan Braun and his agent, Nez Balelo, initially...
• 4/21 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Don’t look now, but Albert Pujols is heating up: Remember NBA Jam?  Whenever a player got going, put together a streak of baskets, was getting hot… you know where I’m...
• 4/21 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Not rushing to announce closer: The St. Louis Cardinals are not rushing to announce a set closer after demoting RP Ryan Franklin from the role earlier this week,...[+] according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Bernie Miklasz. RP Mitchell Boggs got the first crack at the closer's role and recorded an uneventful save Wednesday, April 20, and looked impressive doing it. However, pitching coach Dave Duncan said the team may go to Boggs earlier in the game in a tough situation, which would leave RPs Jason Motte or Eduardo Sanchez available in the ninth inning. 'I think probably the favorite candidate right now is Boggs,' Duncan said. 'But rather than anointing him as the closer, it might be better for the time being to have him available for whenever we need to use him.' Sanchez relieved Motte Wednesday, serving as the eighth-inning setup man. Franklin could also return to the ninth before long.
• 4/21 Wahoo's Warriors: Tony Sipp is on fire: Tony Sipp recorded his 6th hold of the season today, and has yet to allow a run in eight appearances. He is just the 7th pitcher...
• 4/21 C70 At The Bat: Boobirds Overshadow Redbirds Split: There were a lot of good things that came out of two games of baseball in St. Louis yesterday.  Then there was something...
• 4/21 The Cardinal Nation Blog: Who will start for St. Louis on Sunday?: Jake Westbrook, struggling in 2011, may be asked to pitch on three days rest on Sunday night. He has had mixed results doing this...
• 4/21 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin rips fans, apologizes: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin ripped the fans for booing him after he gave up a home run Wednesday, April 20, The Associated...[+] Press reports. 'Sure, I hear it,' Franklin told reporters after Game 1 of a doubleheader. 'I guess they've got short memories, too, because I think I've been pretty good here. It doesn't bother me, but you know, it just shows some people's true colors, you know? They're supposed to be the best fans in baseball. Yeah, right.' Franklin released a statement following the second game. 'I'm frustrated with myself. I can understand why the fans are frustrated,' Franklin said in a statement to St. Louis media. 'I've loved my time here in St. Louis. It's my favorite place to play. It's just a frustrating time for me right now, because I feel like I'm letting everyone down.'
• 4/21 MLB Fantasy Recon: Update Closer Report from the Buzz: Be sure Aardsma is not on your wireHoward Bender over at The Fantasy Baseball Buzz brings a hot off the press closer report for...
• 4/21 Redbird Dugout: Game 17: Nationals 8, Cardinals 6: For Jake Westbrook, it wasn't a fun game. Once again Westbrook battled through the game, leading many Cardinals fans believing...
• 4/20 StLCards.net: Cards lose first game of Double Dip, Garcia pitches second game: Cards LOSE Jake Westbrook had another horrible outing, Fernando Salas saved the bullpen by pitching 3 innings and giving up just...
• 4/20 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Pitchers Hit Eighth Podcast – Episode 0.75: “It’s hard as heck to defend the guy.”: We’re slowly inching our way back into the game, and closer to Episode 1.0. Josh and I took about thirty minutes today to...
• 4/20 SocraticGadfly: Time for a new Cards' closer: Sorry, Bernie Miklasz. You're wrong, Bernie. The Cardinals need to replace Ryan Franklin as closer. Jeff Gordon gets it right....
• 4/20 C70 At The Bat: Nature 1, Baseball 0: To the surprise of no one that knows how to read a weather radar, there was no baseball in Busch Stadium last night.  Thankfully...
• 4/19 StLCards.net: Walkoff hangover, Nationals come to town (Game 17): I couldn’t bring myself to post anything yesterday after that ridiculous loss so I took a day off with the team. The Cardinals...
• 4/19 MLB Fantasy Recon: Closer Alert - Ryan Franklin Out in St. Louis: Mitc**** Boggs is the hot pick upTony LaRussa has officially announced Ryan Franklin has been removed from the closer role for...
• 4/19 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin bumped from closer role: The St. Louis Cardinals are removing RP Ryan Franklin from the closer's role after he has blown four saves to begin the season,...[+] according to The Associated Press. Manager Tony La Russa did not say who would be replacing Franklin in the ninth.
• 4/19 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin's sinker not effective: One scout believes St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin's struggles are rooted in the fact that his sinker is not sinking, according...[+] to ESPN's Buster Olney.
• 4/19 C70 At The Bat: Back Home To Busch: Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.  At least not to the fans of the Cardinals, who got a little bleary-eyed...
• 4/19 The Cardinal Nation Blog: Eduardo Sanchez cannot top John Goody UrreaAn almost-forgotten name from the 1970’s had an unbelievable start closing games....
• 4/18 Redbird Dugout: Off Day Thoughts: Cardinals second baseman Skip Schumaker(Photo: Michael Noirot/Flickr)It's been awhile since I wrote something other than a game...
• 4/18 COSFBA: Line of the Day: April 17th, 2011: OF Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers went 3-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and a run scored in a 2-1 win over the St. Louis...
• 4/18 Through The Fence Baseball: Fantasy baseball preview: April 18-April 24: This is the first of what I hope will be a weekly feature. I’ll highlight some good two-start pitchers, players to start, players...
• 4/18 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Could be making change at closer: St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak hinted the team could be moving CL Ryan Franklin out of the closer role after...[+] his fourth blown save Sunday, April 17, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Joe Strauss reports. Asked if he believed there was value to Franklin receiving a mental break from the role, Mozeliak said, 'I think that's certainly something that will be discussed.'
• 4/18 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin blows another save: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin allowed a home run Sunday, April 17, against the Los Angeles Dodgers, blowing his fourth...[+] save of the season to take a loss, reports Joe Strauss, of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 'I don't know. It's just frustrating for me. It's frustrating for everybody when we lose because I'm not doing my job,' Franklin said.
• 4/17 The Cardinal Nation Blog: Blown Saves, Inc.: Franklin, Thornton and Marshall: St. Louis Cardinals closer Ryan Franklin joins select company in having blown four save opportunities in his team’s first 16...
• 4/17 Baseball Musings: Saving the Runs Until Needed: Chris Carpenter and Chad Billingsley each pitched a short shutout, Carpenter walking none and striking out six in seven innings...
• 4/17 Redbird Dugout: Game 16: Dodgers 2, Cardinals 1: Once again, Carpenter throws a fantastic game. Once again, Franklin blows it. For the Cardinals, the only bright side to today's...
• 4/15 C70 At The Bat: Cardinals Continue To Hit: At times, you really have to like the law of averages.For the fourth straight day, the Cardinals scored eight runs or more.  A...
• 4/15 StLCards.net: Cardinals beat Dodgers – Game 13: Cards WIN Albet Pujols hit a HR last night but his average actually went down because he was 1-5. Jaime Garcia didn’t pitch...
• 4/15 StLCards.net: How to pull the closer, by Jim Tracy: One thing I wanted to discuss before talking about the Cardinals game yesterday was Game 1 of the Rockies at Mets double header....
• 4/15 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin serves up another: St. Louis Cardinals CL Ryan Franklin served up a homer in a non-save situation Thursday, April 14, ESPN.com reports. He has a...[+] 9.64 ERA on the season.
• 4/14 Baseball Musings: More Replay: Major League Baseball is thinking about extending instant replays to traps and all fair/foul calls: Commissioner Bud Selig and...
• 4/14 StLCards.net: Cardinals win series against D’Backs with cavalcade of runs: Cards WIN Fifteen was the number of runs the Cardinals scored last night. 15. Lance Berkman had a grand slam and Skip Schumaker...
• 4/13 MLBTradeRumors: The 1991 Amateur Draft 20 Years Later: Of the 1600 players selected in the 1991 draft, five are still on Major League rosters. Each one of the remaining players was...
• 4/13 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Mitchell Boggs, Jason Motte not ready to be closers: St. Louis Cardinals RPs Mitchell Boggs and Jason Motte combined for 2 1/3 scoreless innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks Tuesday,...[+] April 12, and Boggs showed better command of his slider while striking out the side in the ninth inning, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold. Manager Tony La Russa recently said Boggs and Motte are not ready for ninth-inning duties if RP Ryan Franklin needed a rest. 'They're making progress,' pitching coach Dave Duncan stated. 'We're not the kind of club that can afford on-the-job training. We don't consider ourselves a developing club. We consider ourselves a club that is contending for a division championship. I don't think it's in their best interest or our best interest to do on-the-job training with those guys, so to speak. There'll be a point in time when one or both of them will be ready to do that.' Franklin was warming up to pitch the ninth inning Tuesday, which shows the team is still confident that he can serve as their closer. If Franklin is unavailable to pitch in the ninth, the team is more likely to use RPs Miguel Batista or Trever Miller for a save. La Russa thinks Motte needs to expand his repertoire and Boggs needs to control the types of pitches he uses, most notably his slider.
• 4/12 StLCards.net: Game 7 Thoughts (-2): Cards LOSE Imagine you’re a baseball fan. You happen to love the St. Louis Cardinals. You’re not a fan of the guy...
• 4/12 StLCards.net: Post Game 9: Cards WIN Ok, 3 series completed, 3 wins. The Cardinals had an offense today, Albert Pujols was still MIA however. Most importantly,...
• 4/12 StLCards.net: Sunday Post (-3) & Pre: Cards LOSE That wasn’t a routine play last night that Colby Rasmus dropped. It sure would have been nice if he hadn’t...
• 4/12 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Reasons for optimism: For those of you who follow on Twitter, you know that I announced I was going to err on the side of “blinded optimism”...
• 4/11 Through The Fence Baseball: Don’t panic: Early-season fantasy pickups (AL edition): If there’s one thing common among most baseball fans, media and fantasy owners, it’s the overwhelming tendency to overstate...
• 4/11 MLB Fantasy Recon: Updated Closer Report from FBV - Rauch, Papelbon, Thornton: Ryan Franklin could be the next man downBrett Barton over at Fantasy Baseball Vision offers up an updated Closer Report.  We've...
• 4/11 C70 At The Bat: Getting Serious Helps Cleanse The Palate: If I'd written much this weekend, it would have been a depressing take on the state of the Cardinals today.  Thankfully,...
• 4/11 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Miguel Batista next in line?: St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said he's sticking with CL Ryan Franklin, but he hinted that RP Miguel Batista could...[+] be next in line if a move were made, Yahoo! Sports' Brad Evans reports.
• 4/11 Roto Think Tank: National League FAAB Log April 11, 2011: Once, again, it is time for our Sunday night/Monday morning National League FAAB log.  I will be using my 13 team National...
• 4/10 StLCards.net: Post Game 9: Cards WIN Ok, 3 series completed, 3 wins. The Cardinals had an offense today, Albert Pujols was still MIA however. Most importantly,...
• 4/10 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin blows another save Saturday: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin (0-1) suffered his third blown save in his last four opportunities against the San Francisco...[+] Giants Saturday, April 9, according to The Associated Press. He allowed two runs on two hits and a walk over two-thirds of an inning.
• 4/10 StLCards.net: Sunday Post (-3) & Pre: Cards LOSE That wasn’t a routine play last night that Colby Rasmus dropped. It sure would have been nice if he hadn’t...
• 4/10 MLB Fantasy Recon: Wiver Wire Fliers from FB Tools: Hey, Nice BoeschJordan Walden, Sean Burnett, and Kyle Fanrsworth were all obvious pick ups this week as they all secured 9th inning...
• 4/10 MLB Fantasy Recon: Adds and Drops with COSFBA: Goodbye John LackeyI dropped John Lackey for Edwin Jackson.  I'm probably not the only one.  Both Jackson and Lackey...
• 4/9 Redbird Dugout: Game 7: Giants 5, Cardinals 4: It was an ugly, ugly game. Someone called it a great game and I corrected saying that basically both teams had been equally mediocre....
• 4/9 Johngy's Beat: It's Just A Fantasy: It took 15 long baseball seasons.  It took me adding my nephew Matt as my General Manager.  It took some prayers and...
• 4/8 StLCards.net: Game 7 Thoughts (-2): Cards LOSE Imagine you’re a baseball fan. You happen to love the St. Louis Cardinals. You’re not a fan of the guy...
• 4/8 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin blows save chance: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin allowed an earned run, two hits and a walk in the ninth inning Friday, April 8, against the...[+] San Francisco Giants. Franklin has blown two of his first three save opportunities.
• 4/6 MLBTradeRumors: How Teams Obtained Their Current Closers: The day before the season started, MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith looked at how each team acquired their Opening Day starter. Let's...
• 4/6 Fungoes.net: Sabermetric post-game notes: Cardinals 3, Pirates 2: Team R RC TB BB Pirates 2 3.5 12 3 Cardinals 3 3.1 8 6   Individual Performances Pirates Cardinals Starting-pitcher...
• 4/6 Redbird Dugout: Preseason Approval Ratings: Pitchers: All eyes are on Chris Carpenter in 2011(Photo: Dave Herholz/Flickr)Continuing my post series on the preseason Cardinals' approval...
• 4/6 StLCards.net: Game 5 Thoughts: Cards WIN Kyle McClellan did an really nice job in his first career start. He pitched 6 innings and got 7 strikeouts, gave up...
• 4/5 Redbird Dugout: Game 5: Cardinals 3, Pirates 2: Is that the hallelujah chorus I hear? No? Well it should be! The Cardinals eked one out tonight with a hit by Albert...
• 4/5 PaulLebowitz.com: Challenge, Catastrophe Or Both?: In yesterday’s NY Daily News, Bill Madden wrote about Tony La Russa and the spate of injuries that could derail the Cardinals...
• 4/3 Fungoes.net: Padres outhustled, outfocused Cardinals in opener: The Cardinals dropped Opening Day in frustrating fashion, 5-3 in 11 innings to the Padres, though in some ways, they lost in the...
• 4/1 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Opening Day Recap – 2011: The rumors of Albert Pujols‘ demise have been greatly exaggerated (already).  He may have another 700 plate appearances...
• 4/1 C70 At The Bat: A New Beginning, The Same Ending: In all the hoopla surrounding the start of the season, perhaps I misunderstood.  I thought we were turning the page to 2011,...
• 4/1 StLCards.net: Game 1 Wrap/Thoughts (-1): Cards LOSE Aside from Albert Pujols hitting into three double plays this was a Cardinals game that I feel like I’ve seen...
• 4/1 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin blows save on Opening Day: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin allowed a game-tying solo home run in the top of the ninth inning to blow his first save...[+] opportunity Thursday, March 31, against the San Diego Padres, reports Rick Hummel, of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

• 3/31 PaulLebowitz.com: The Grinch Who Stole Opening Day…: …or the voice of sanity through the wilderness to calm your frazzled nerves. I suppose it depends on your point-of-view;...
• 3/31 Redbird Dugout: Game 1: Padres 5, Cardinals 3: It was a game that the Cardinals had every opportunity to win. Chris Carpenter turned in 7 stellar innings for the Cards, but...
• 3/29 Redbird Dugout: Opening Day Roster Set: Bryan Augenstein throws during Spring Training.According to Derrick Goold, the final two players have been sent out of major league...
• 3/29 MLB Fantasy Recon: Updated Closer Rankings - The Top 50 RP for Saves - Holds: Matt Thornton is the 3rd best closer?If your getting your roster straightened out for opening day, be sure to take a...
• 3/28 The Biz of Baseball: Attendance Watch 2011: The St. Louis Cardinals: In looking ahead to all 30 clubs in Major League Baseball, David is nearly complete, having  wound his way through all the...
• 3/28 C70 At The Bat: Starting the Final Practice Lap: It's time to get down to it.  The lasts of spring training are happening this week: Chris Carpenter and Kyle...
• 3/27 Fungoes.net: Garcia is Cardinals’ X factor: Of the Cardinals’ several players with strong but unpredictable influence (among them Lance Berkman and David Freese),...
• 3/26 B-R Blog: Is Kevin Milwood really that bad?: Kevin Milwood finally has a team after signing a minor-league deal with the Yankees. I'm surprised it took him so long to find...
• 3/25 MLB Fantasy Recon: 2011 Fantasy Baseball Closer Predictions: Far beyond closer rankings, Fantasy Baseball Cafe brings us Closer Predictions.  Mathew Robertson goes team by team and picks...
• 3/25 BomberBanter.com: Bomber Banter 2011 Fantasy Baseball Team Roster: As mentioned in my previous Fantasy Baseball post, I'm targeting short stop and catcher this year, and since I have the first...
• 3/23 COSFBA: Finding Keepers: St. Louis Cardinals: The St. Louis Cardinals were one of only two teams to finish the 2010 season with three players in the Top 20, according to ESPN's...
• 3/19 Call to the Pen: Why Jordan Lyles Could Be an Ace: Astros righthander Jordan Lyles has been the talk of Houston's camp this spring. Although he's just twenty years old (and he didn't...
• 3/16 Pitchers Hit Eighth: One Last Desperate Plea: This is one last desperate plea from Statler, Waldorf, and myself.  Kyle McClellan joined the two Muppets in the back of the...
• 3/8 C70 At The Bat: Freese-ing Them Out: We've been waiting for David Freese to get into the ballgame.  Apparently, so has he.On a day where everyone was...
• 3/7 C70 At The Bat: The Name of the Game Is Pitching: Three different games, three interesting pitching lines.  Granted, one of them was interesting in the car-wreck sort of way,...
• 3/4 MLBTradeRumors: Papelbon: Future In Boston After 2011 Is "A Tossup": Jonathan Papelbon says there’s a “50-50” chance that he returns to the Red Sox after the season, according to Ken Rosenthal...
• 3/3 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Build it Backwards: It’s one thing to look at the 2011 Cardinals and think about tweaking one thing here or making an adjustment there.  Rebuilding...

• 2/22 MLBTradeRumors: An Early Look At The 2011-12 Free Agent Class: If this winter’s class of free agents intrigued you, just wait until next year. Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth...
• 2/21 C70 At The Bat: Shifting Focus: With Albertageddon in the rearview mirror and getting farther away by the hour, the focus has finally shifted to all those that...
• 2/18 Blog Red Machine: 2011 Preview: St. Louis CardinalsBRM's final preview centers around the St. Louis Cardinals. Grab a seat and take a look....
• 2/17 MLBTradeRumors: A Challenge For The Cardinals: If the Cardinals sign Albert Pujols to an eight or ten-year deal when he hits free agency after the season, they'll be counting...
• 2/15 Mastersball.com: Early Auction Trends: Like many, with the Super Bowl on Sunday, the fantasy baseball analysts and writers who are parti**** in the preview leagues for...
• 2/14 Blog Red Machine: Comparing the All NL Central TeamsAll three versions of the All NL Central Team (BRM, NL Central bloggers and the fans) are seen side-by-side....
• 2/10 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin to have starter's regimen: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin will have a starter's regimen early in camp in order to give him time to work on all of his...[+] pitches, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold.

• 1/24 Blog Red Machine: The Rivalry Renewed: Cincinnati Reds vs. St. Louis CardinalsA look at who will be the better team in 2011 Cardinals or Reds...
• 1/22 Pitchers Hit Eighth: “Closer” Inspection: As the Cardinals go into 2011, there is concern among some members of Cardinal Nation that the closer, Ryan Franklin, won’t...
• 1/21 The Cardinal Nation Blog: Projected top five St. Louis Cardinals stories of 2011A look ahead to the top projected stories across the Cardinal Nation in 2011....
• 1/16 MLBTradeRumors: Ryan Franklin Wants To Play Beyond 2011: Just a few months ago, Ryan Franklin announced that he intended to retire after the 2011 season, when his current contract is...
• 1/16 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin wants to pitch beyond 2011: St. Louis Cardinals CL Ryan Franklin said he is reconsidering his statement from last year that he was going to retire following...[+] the 2011 season, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 'I've done a lot of that (thinking) this offseason,' Franklin said. 'I've come to the conclusion that if this year goes well, I'm going to keep playing. If I stay healthy, and I don't see why I shouldn't. The family has told me to keep playing, so I'm going to keep playing.' Franklin said he would be open to closing or setting up and would be open to changing teams if necessary.
• 1/15 The Biz of Baseball: Arbitration Watch: Kyle McClellan, Ben Francisco, Alex Gordon and Luke Hochevar All Sign: Cardinals Keep McClellan with One-Year Deal Cardinals GM John Mozeliak cleared the Cardinals arbitration slate agreeing on...
• 1/14 Pitchers Hit Eighth: “Closer” Inspection: As the Cardinals go into 2011, there is concern among some members of Cardinal Nation that the closer, Ryan Franklin, won’t...
• 1/12 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Chris Perez chat at Cleveland.com: Nothing earth-shattering here, but felt it worth passing along a couple of quotes from a chat that Chris Perez – of former...
• 1/6 Pitchers Hit Eighth: The Cardinals? They’ve Gone To Plaid!: Yes, I’m pretty sure the Cardinals have gone to plaid, but I’ll explain that later.  Focus on poker first, because...
• 1/6 My Pinstripes: BD Hot Stove: You Won’t Be Sori | Baseball Digest: BD Hot Stove: You Won’t Be Sori | Baseball DigestWhile many a set up man has inked a pricey, multi-year deal, closer Rafael...
• 1/2 MLBTradeRumors: The Twins' Rebuilt Bullpen: The Rays have been the center of the free agent defection universe this winter, most notably losing franchise player Carl Crawford...

• 12/29 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Top 5 Stories of 2010 – UCB Style: Just when I thought it was safe to venture into my backlog of blog pieces, I remembered the December project for the United Cardinal...
• 12/9 Pitchers Hit Eighth: One Step Ahead: In just about anything you do, it often pays to at least be thinking one step ahead of everybody else.  That doesn’t necessarily...

• 11/30 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Rule 5 Draft Tidbits: For me, one of the most interesting aspects of the baseball offseason is the 40-man roster adjustments and the “Rule 5 Draft”. ...
• 11/29 Baseball Musings: Players A to Z, Aaron Heilman: Aaron Heilman pitched in relief for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010. The Diamondbacks offered him arbitration as Heilman became...

• 9/30 MLBTradeRumors: Padres Could Put Bell Back On Trade Market: The Padres' late-season collapse has no doubt been tough to take for San Diego fans, but it could get even tougher when and if...
• 9/30 Pitchers Hit Eighth: I’m A Lousy GM, But I’m Good At Adding Payroll: In this follow-up to “Play GM For A Day”, you get to see just how poorly I play the aforementioned game.  While I...
• 9/27 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Play GM For A Day: Okay, let’s play GM for a day.  Why not pretend to spend someone else’s money and run our favorite baseball team...
• 9/20 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin earns save Sunday: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin earned his 25th save in 27 chances against the San Diego Padres Sunday, Sept. 19, according...[+] to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Joe Strauss. Franklin threw two knuckleballs during the outing.
• 9/19 MLBTradeRumors: Week In Review: 9/12/10 - 9/18/10: Sundays might mean hours upon hours of football for most sports fans, but around here it means it's time to look back at the past...
• 9/17 MLBTradeRumors: Ryan Franklin Reconsidering Retirement Plans: Cardinals' closer Ryan Franklin announced his plans to retire from baseball following the 2011 season earlier this year, but he...
• 9/17 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin reconsidering retirement: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin said Friday, Sept. 17, that he is reconsidering his plan to retire after the 2011 season,...[+] according to MLB.com's Matthew Leach. Franklin rejoined the team Friday and is available to pitch.
• 9/16 MLBTradeRumors: Mozeliak: Cardinals' Payroll Might Increase: Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak told fans that the team's payroll might increase over the next couple of seasons at the...
• 9/16 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin out until weekend: St. Louis Cardinals CL Ryan Franklin has left the team due to a personal issue and likely will be out until the weekend, FOXSportsMidwest.com's...[+] B.J. Rains reports.
• 9/11 El Maquino: Boggs Blows It: Cards 3 | Braves 6 (73-67; Trail Series, 1-2): September 11, 2010 Cards lose again, if you can believe that. Mitc**** Boggs gave up a walkoff homer to Alex Gonzalez despite...
• 9/5 El Maquino: Karp Kills: Cards 4 | Reds 2 (71-63; Win Series, 2-1): September 5, 2010 Finally!  A big hit!  Matt Holliday homered after an Albert Pujols intetentional walk, putting the Cards up,...
• 9/4 El Maquino: “We’ve Got Nothing to Do but Fight and Give Everything We’ve Got”: Rick Hummel interviewed the 3 relievers that pitched 2 1/3 hitless after Jaime Garcia last night about what they thought of the...
• 9/4 El Maquino: A Step in the Right Direction: Cards 3 | Reds 2 (70-62; Lead Series, 1-0): September 3, 2010 Yes!  As soon as the Cards needed a win, our good friends from Cincinnati rushed in to help. There is still...

• 8/29 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin unavailable Saturday: St. Louis Cardinals CL Ryan Franklin (neck) was unavailable against the Washington Nationals Saturday, Aug. 28, because of a stiff...[+] neck, according to The Associated Press.
• 8/27 El Maquino: Nats Strand 14, Albert Gets to Work on 500: Cards 4 | Nationals 2 (69-57; Tie Series, 1-1): August 27, 2010 Cards finally beat a last-place team! The 4 runs came on an error, and 4 hits; 2 by Matt Holliday (SotG).  Matt...
• 8/27 PaulLebowitz.com: I Am Trying To Break Your Heart: Truths, hard and cold: Reality is (or should be) setting in for certain teams that have to realize that their aspirations...
• 8/27 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin blows chance at win: St. Louis Cardinals CL Ryan Franklin allowed a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth Thursday, Aug. 26, to send the game into...[+] extra innings, The Associated Press reports. He came on in the eighth inning before the team rallied to take the lead and served up the homer.
• 8/9 Fungoes.net: Jim Edmonds and the ex factor: The Reds continued their makeover in the Cardinals’ image Monday, acquiring "the great betrayer" Jim Edmonds from...
• 8/7 El Maquino: Franklin Throws Miracle 9th Into the Fire: Cards 4 | Marlins 5 (61-49; Tie Series, 1-1): August 7, 2010 T9: Yadier Molina (SotG) got a 2-out hit in the 9th to score Albert Pujols; Aaron Miles drives in Matt Holliday,...
• 8/5 Pitchers Hit Eighth: Adventures of a Traveling Cardinals Fan: Occasionally real life (read: day job) takes me to various cities (read: airports) across the country, and this Tuesday and Wednesday...
• 8/4 El Maquino: Cards Hit Right Back: Cards 8 | Astros 4 (60-48; Lose Series, 1-2): August 4, 2010 After getting plastered last night, the Cards give it right back to the Astros by scoring 8 runs with help by Albert...

• 7/29 Fungoes.net: Quotebook: Cardinals 8, Mets 7: We kind of thought that Holliday was, at least tonight, swinging the bat a little bit better than Albert. It was a tough call....
• 7/26 El Maquino: Stat Update: July 26: Stats after the Dodgers, Phillies and Cubs series. SUMMARY: 19 improvers, 6 decliners and 3 non-movers. PITCHERS: Adam Wainwright:...
• 7/15 El Maquino: Stat Update: July 14: Stats after the Rockies and Astros series. SUMMARY: 11 improvers, 10 decliners and 3 non-movers. PITCHERS: Jason Motte: 23|1.5...
• 7/8 Fungoes.net: Franklin meltdown one of worst all-time: The Cardinals as a team made dubious history in their Tuesday-night meltdown. And Ryan Franklin, the primary culprit in the...
• 7/8 El Maquino: Crazy Couple Days: The past few days have been crazy for the Cards and all of baseball; and since I didn’t have internet access yesterday,...
• 7/7 Fungoes.net: Some good news from a bad loss: Coming up with a description conveying the shock, anger and disgust from Tuesday night’s ninth-inning meltdown is rather...
• 7/7 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin admits blame: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin admitted that he didn't make the pitches he needed to during his nightmare outing against...[+] the Colorado Rockies Tuesday, July 6, in which he allowed six runs in one-third of an inning, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold. 'I was trying to make pitches,' Franklin said in the aftermath. 'Bottom line is I just didn't get it done. That's all you can say. I thought that I could have gotten out of it with any one pitch. That's my game - making the hitters hit balls. They just hit it kind of hard.'
• 7/7 Pitchers Hit Eighth: A microcosm of the Cardinals’ 2010 season: Take a look at the win probability graph for last night’s loss from Fangraphs: It’s almost as if this graph, for last...
• 7/7 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin allows six runs Tuesday: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin allowed six runs on six hits in one-third of an inning Tuesday, July 7, to suffer his first...[+] loss of the season, according to The Associated Press' Arnie Stapleton.
• 7/5 El Maquino: Cards Stat Update: July 5: Stats after the Diamondbacks and Brewers series. 12 [+] 7[-] 5[X] PITCHERS: Adam Wainwright: 21|1.5 [+] Jaime Garcia: 22|1.4...

• 6/30 El Maquino: Cardinals 2 | Diamondbacks 4 (43-35; Win Series, 2-1): Summary: The loss wasn’t so bad.  I was just glad that the 4 hour, 6 minute game ended. Jeff Suppan would’ve won...
• 6/30 El Maquino: Franklin Will Be SotG*: Cards:     Schumaker, 2b Lopez, 3b Pujols, 1b Holliday, lf Rasmus, cf Stavinoha, rf LaRue, c Ryan, ss Yadier Molina is taken...
• 6/26 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin records save Saturday: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin pitched a scoreless 1 1/3 innings Saturday, June 26, to pick up his 15th save of the season,...[+] reports Doug Tucker, of The Associated Press.
• 6/23 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin earns save Wednesday: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin earned his 14th save in 15 chances against the Toronto Blue Jays Wednesday, June 23, according...[+] to The Associated Press.
• 6/22 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin battling infection: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin (sinuses) said he has been battling a sinus infection for the past few days, according to...[+] the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold. Franklin allowed two hits, one walk and a run to the three hitters he faced Saturday, June 19. Manager Tony La Russa wanted to avoid using Franklin Sunday, June 20.
• 6/20 The UpperCard Network: Around The Diamond: Jake Fox, Mets Interest In Another Pitcher: Some news from Around the Diamond on Sunday Morning: Jeff Zriebec of the Baltimore Sun is hearing that the Athletics and Orioles...
• 6/20 MLBTradeRumors: Ryan Franklin Plans To Retire After 2011: Ryan Franklin's $6.5MM contract keeps him under St. Louis's control through 2011, and when it expires, the right-hander isn't...
• 6/11 Fungoes.net: Glory days (have passed the Cardinals by?): I had a friend was a big baseball player back in high school He could throw that speedball by you, make you look like a fool...

• 5/20 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin earns save Thursday: St. Louis Cardinals RP Ryan Franklin earned his 10th save in 11 chances against the Florida Marlins Thursday, May 20, according...[+] to The Associated Press.
• 5/18 B-R Blog: Consecutive Games Without Allowing 4 Runs: Last night  Jonathan Papelbon imploded , allowing 4 runs in the 9th to the Yankees. Amazingly, it was the first time in his...
• 5/15 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin earns save Friday: St. Louis Cardinals CL Ryan Franklin earned his eighth save of the season against the Cincinnati Reds Friday, May 14, according...[+] to The Associated Press. He allowed one run on three hits in one inning of work.
• 5/10 MLBTradeRumors: Players Who Were Once Designated For ****: We see it all the time. Most weeks a handful of players are designated for **** and more often than not casual fans barely notice....
• 5/8 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin records win Friday: St. Louis Cardinals CL Ryan Franklin (2-0) blew his first save but was credited with the victory Friday, May 7, against the Pittsburgh...[+] Pirates, according to The Associated Press. He allowed one hit and recorded one strikeout in 1 1/3 innings of work.
• 5/2 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Ryan Franklin earns win Saturday: St. Louis Cardinals CL Ryan Franklin (1-0) struck out two batters in 1 1/3 perfect innings Saturday, May 1, in a victory over...[+] the Cincinnati Reds, according to The Associated Press.

• 4/28 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Jason Motte picks up a save: St. Louis Cardinals CL Ryan Franklin was unavailable Tuesday, April 27, after recording saves in the previous two games, according...[+] to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Jeremy Rutherford. RP Jason Motte worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings for his first save of the season and second of his career.
• 4/26 KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Cardinals | Three pitchers combine on shutout: St. Louis Cardinals SP Brad Penny, RP Jason Motte and CL Ryan Franklin combined on a nine-hit shutout Sunday, April 25, according...[+] to The Associated Press, in a 2-0 win over the San Francisco Giants.