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Although we tired of the “Best Fans in Baseball” rhetoric in St. Louis a few hours after it was self-appointed during the Mark McGwire era, there are a few other honors we hold near and dear.

We’re currently the industry leaders in mullets - and we’re not far behind in mustaches and tattoos either.

However, in our recent fan hunting expeditions, we’ve discovered a growing trend amongst Cardinals fans that we’d like to document here and now - extreme hair that extends well beyond the realm of mullets.

We’ve done mullets, and Cardinals fans have collectively made the decision to move on.

Rat Tails.

[hat tip to P.W. for the middle pic]

If you listened to the ITD Morning After on Team 1380 this morning, you might have heard show’s interview with Cards pitching coach Dave Duncan.  According to Duncan, anything and everything - and nothing - is a possibility. 

Based on Duncan’s answers, Cardinals fans now know the following:

– Mark Mulder is pithcing the best he’s pitched in quite some time.  Not only is feeling better physically since making a minor adjustment in his delivery, he’s also more positive than he’s been in two years.  Allow me to speak for Cardinals fans everywhere and let out a collective “HUH?”

– When asked what Mulder’s velocity was, Duncan said he didn’t know because they weren’t using the gun, but did note that bullpen catcher Jeff Murphy was impressed, and he, Marty Mason and TLR stood behind Murphy and thought Mulder’s velocity looked good.  Alright then.

– Matt Clement has been pitching great in his rehab stints.  Huh?  Do boxscores not mean anything these days? 

– Jason Isringhausen is looking great in his rehab outings.  If you say so, Dave.

– Anthony Reyes won’t be called up to fill the void left by Wellemeyer/Wainwright any time soon, mainly because it’s only a “one-time” start.  This actually makes sense and I tend to agree with it. 

– Jamie Garcia is the likely fill-in for Thursday’s game against the Reds.

– Joel Pineiro could be back in the starting rotation soon.  Not exactly grounbreaking or uber-specific, but we’ll take it. 

– Kyle McClellan will most likely stay in the bullpen, a move that I also agree with.

It’s almost as if Mike Martz warped into Dave Duncan’s body to give a positive 30-Day Forecast.  Duncan also went on to say he was very upset by the media’s portrayal of son Chris, but failed to offer any specifics so as to avoid name-calling.  He viewed the treatment of Chris as very “unfair”. 

I don’t want to be Mr. Cynical or Negative here, but Cardinals fans don’t have a short term memory.  We remember EVERYTHING, and as long as we remember Cody McKay lacing up the cleats for the Redbirds, we will forever have the right to question why a family member holds a roster spot.  That isn’t to say Chris Duncan shouldn’t be a Cardinals outfielder, but right now, he’s where he belongs: in Memphis, playing everyday, trying to improve so he can have a positive impact on the big club again.

You can listen to the interview here… or at least have the link for what should be the interview. 

Beware baseball fans, we may have just heard the worst three words in the Cardinals dictionary - “rest was prescribed”. 

For fans of most teams, that prescription coming from the doctors office after a visit by an injured star is a small victory.  It means no surgery, right?  Worst case scenario averted.  Not exactly.  For followers of the Cardinals, it’s like you were just told that the distorted color on your new 50 inch plasma isn’t anything to be worried about.  Safe to say, you’re going to be freaking out a little. 

Adam Wainwright left Saturday’s game after losing feeling in one of the fingers on his pitching hand.  After visiting the team doctors, they have placed him on the disabled list with a “sprain” and ordered him to rest.  According to the official team release:

The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that pitcher Adam Wainwright will be placed on the 15-day disabled, retroactive to Sunday, June 8, following an examination of his right middle finger earlier today that indicated the pitcher is suffering from a sprain to the finger. Wainwright will rest the injured finger and be re-evaluated next week, at which time the team hopes to have a better projection as to when he might be expected to return to the active roster.

That’s the same prescription the team doctors jotted onto the notepad for Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder and Scott Rolen amongst others. 

Publicly they weren’t alarmed when Chris Carpenter first showed up with elbow problems in 2007.  He hasn’t pitched since. 

Mark Mulder’s shoulder was viewed as a “strain” after he got rocked versus the White Sox in that historic game in ‘06.  He was apparently showing great strides towards returning only a few weeks after he started “resting”.  He hasn’t pitched an effective game in two years after multiple shoulder surgeries.

And who can forget when the team mishandled Scott Rolen’s injury to the point where he was audibly screaming when he swung the bat, all the while Tony LaRussa was insisting that he couldn’t injure it any more.  Rolen was soon on the operating table and while his shoulder was repaired, his relationship with Tony never was. 

Those are just the three most glaring examples of when “rest and rehab” are fed to the public as the path to recovery for a player shortly before they are shelved for the season with major surgery.  Can’t blame the team for trying to be optimistic, but when it happens over and over again, the fans also can’t be blamed for being skeptical. 

Should Wainwright’s sprained finger magically become a torn tendon over the next two weeks, he will likely have the same fate and we won’t see our burgeoning ace again until 2009. 

Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya suffered a finger injury in 2007 that was first feared to be a dislocation or sprain.  After determining that he had ruptured his tendon, he didn’t pitch from May 1 through August 20.  

On the bright side, our other rest and rehab case, Todd Wellemeyer, is set to rejoin the rotation after missing only one start.  Let’s just say, I’ll be watching that start with a very concerned eye.  Inflammation in the elbow sure does seem to turn into Tommy John surgery a lot these days.

It’s amazing how boring the day-after a scheduled off-day can be for us fans.  No Cardinals last night usually means nothing to talk about today.

That’s not the case today.  Plenty of action went down at the Cardinals Headquarters last night, and it aint good.

Cardinals ace, Adam Wainwright, becomes the 10th pitcher to land on the disabled list in 2008. [STLToday]

Perhaps Brad Thompson could be *that guy* to replace Wainwright in the rotation?  He certainly wasn’t sharp in his first rehab start in Memphis last night. [FutureRedbirds.com]

JoeSportsFan.com (love those guys) takes a look at the growing trend of rat tails in the seats on Cardinals home games. [JoeSportsFan.com]

Former CBC wrestling standout has a chance to make the U.S. National Team. [STLToday]

Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 500th home run in St. Louis a few years ago.  He hit his 600th last night, and fans are fighting over the ball.  Sweet. [Courant.com]

Random former-Cardinals link: Dmitri Young is massive. [Mister Irrelevant]

The Blues will be celebrating this year’s draft with what their calling “Hockeyfest“, a weekend including hockey games, autograph signings and celebrity appearances at Scottrade Center on Friday, June 20 through Sunday, June 22, all of which will be centered on the 2008 NHL Draft. High profile Blues prospects T.J. Oshie, Lars Eller, Patrik Berglund, and the Blues’ eventual 2008 first round draft pick are scheduled to play in the All-Star Hockey Game.

And I’ll tell ya, nothing screams “celebrity” like Dr. Jason Seaver of Growing Pains fame.

“As long as we’ve got each other… … …”

So yeah; somehow, somewhere along the way, the Blues got in contact with Alan Thicke’s “people” and realized he’d be a perfect fit for a Blues celebrity hockey game.  While it may seem funny and far fetched to have Thicke on the ice, know that Alan never let in a goal when he played against Kirk Cameron and Jeremy Miller in the original Ice Hockey on Nintendo during film breaks. 

Over the course of 3 seasons, Sidney Ponson has been given 6 different Major League jerseys.

Baltimore, Toronto, St. Louis, New York, Minnesota, and Texas.

Sidney Ponson’s reign in St. Louis was short, but certainly not forgettable. His numbers in the box score were less than impressive after the Cardinals signed him to a one-year contract in 2006. But, there’s more to Sidney than the sweaty posterior.

If nothing else, the portly Sidney Ponson is beloved across baseball circles because he’s 10-15 lbs. away from being the fat first baseman on your softball team.

After fizzling out in Minnesota in 2007, Mr. Ponson was given another chance in Texas this year. His 2008 was seemingly on the right track - 4-1 with a 3.88 ERA in the worst rotation in baseball. But, all went South this past weekend.

Team sources said Ponson was put on notice after creating a serious disturbance at the hotel bar in St. Petersburg during the team’s last road trip. He was told that further problems would not be tolerated.

Two more incidents occurred this week. Ponson started with three days’ rest on Wednesday against the Indians and allowed six runs in four innings. Only two were earned because of three errors committed behind him, and Ponson reacted furiously after being taken out. His actions were interpreted as “showing up” his teammates.

The second incident occurred when manager Ron Washington informed Ponson on Thursday that he would be pushed back in his next start so that Kevin Millwood could start Tuesday on his regular four days’ rest. Ponson would have pitched on Wednesday on six days’ rest. Ponson wasn’t happy with that decision and made his feelings clear in a heated discussion with the manager.

Ponson’s rap sheet is about as big as his waistband.  Let us count the ways.

- 2004: Assaulted an Aruban judge - spent 11 days in jail
- January 2005: DUI in Broward County, Florida
- August 2005: DUI in Baltimore, Maryland
- December 2005: Sentenced to five days in jail, and fined $535 for previous DUI charges.

We’re not sure if Roger Goodell has the authority to punish players external to his league, but this might be a case worth looking at.

So much for witnessing history on Saturday.  As a 30-year old horse racing fan (sort of oxymoron, I know), I was all sorts of pumped up in anticipation of seeing my first Triple Crown winner.  I even drove out to Fairmount on Saturday afternoon to mingle with Illinois’ finest tank-top wearing horseplayers and lay down a few bets.  I made a couple bucks off the place/show horses but Big Brown’s dud in the Belmont did well to put a negative twist on the remainder of the weekend.  News of Wainwright’s finger injury didn’t help, either. 

Speaking of, between Ankiel’s knee, Wellemeyer’s elbow, Wainwright’s finger and Pujols’ calf, we’re not even half way through June and it seems like the Cardinals roster is starting to buckle.  Even with the latest rash of injuries, they still managed to squeak out another series win in Houston win an improbable comeback win on Sunday.  Depending on the extent of the injuries to Wainer and Wellemeyer, this team may be limping to the All Star break. 

Astros hand Cardinals another win [MLB.com] 

With the Cardinals pitching staff on the mend, which new faces will we see pick up the slack? [STL Today]

The heat in LA is starting to crank up on Kobe as the Celts go up 2-0 [LA Times]

Better cancel those PETA rallies.  There just doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with Big Brown [The Rail]

Yahoo Sports counts down their list of the Top 11 best helmets in football history [Shutdown Corner]

What good is following the MLB Draft is you can’t giggle like a kid at some of the names that were drafted? [Bugs and Cranks]

What to make of Rams running back Brian Leonard… [Ramblings]

When we met last Friday, the Cardinals stood at 33-23 - which was good for 1.5 games back of the division-leading Cubbies.  Over the course of the week, the Cards played .500 ball and now stand at 36-26 - which is good for 3.5 games back of Chicago.

Next up for the Cards: division rivals Houston (31-30) and Cincinnati (29-32).

Next up for the Cubs: Los Angeles (28-32) and Atlanta (32-29).

Let’s take a look at the past 7 days in SportsMag land.

Scouts Inc and ESPN ranks Steven Jackson as the third best running back in all of football. [Thursday]

A summarized look at the Cardinals’ picks in the Major League Baseball Draft . [Thursday]

Todd Wellemeyer has tremendous hockey hair, and a National League Pitcher of the Month award. [Tuesday]

Hey, that Adam Wainwright character isn’t bad - especially when compared to a healthy Chris Carpenter. [Monday]

The debut of the July issue of St. Louis Sports Magazine features a look at the future of the Cardinals. [Monday]

Without further ado, we present the video of Superman vs. Mr. McLovin’.  Enjoy your weekend.

Just kidding. Well, not really. If you’re anything like me, you turned off the Cardinals game around inning #3, thinking Parisi and the boys blew game two of their “double hetter” against The Washington Nats.

Well, my friends…the Cardinals mounted a gradual comeback, including two runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 8-8. They then took to lead 9-8 in the top of the 10th…

…only to lose the game in the bottom of the 10th on a walk-off by Elijah Dukes, he of wife beating infamy.

Take a look.