Did You Hear It?

The Big One? The big explosion that rocked the Midwest today?

That shaking ground and rumbling resulted from a nation of Cardinals fans who have finally had enough of blown saves. Word has it the Post-Dispatch online forum servers crashed twice following today's debacle. Due to posts about Jason Isringhausen.

Number 10 happened today. TEN FREAKING GAMES BLOWN. By Jason Isringhausen. It was a beaut. Two walks, a HBP, and a two run single. Game over.

To put it in perspective, the man has never blown that many in his career in a single season. And it usually takes him two seasons to blow 10. If he just blows his average number this year, the Cardinals are 11 games up right now. And although they still wouldn't win 100 again this year, they'd be in great shape.

But I no longer blame Isringhausen. He clearly can't get the job done anymore. I'm no major leaguer, but I pointed this out way back in June in several posts. And tried to have a little fun with it. But now it's pathetic to watch. And I think everyone else sees it except for Tony LaRussa.

So I lay the blame for this loss squarely on his "genius" shoulders. It is his fault that he keeps trotting Izzy out there. What's Izzy going to tell TLR, "No, I'm not going in"?

If he were anyone but TLR, his job might be in jeopardy for such boneheadedly bad managing. But because he is who he is, he gets a free pass. Night after night after night.

Except from me. Maybe if his job were on the line, he might manage his team a little better. If I were the owner, I'd be more like George Steinbrenner. Well, maybe not that bad, but I'd still want to win. And I'd hold my manager accountable for stupid decisions like these. And stupid is what it is.

This debacle of a season has 2003 written all over it. A season where we all had to endure TLR bringing in Jeff Fassero and Esteban Yan over and over, and watch them get pummeled over and over. But he kept doing it. Over and over. Until we were beaten out by an overachieving Cubs team. Fortunately for this team this year, there is not a single good team in the division, making the Cardinals winners by default. Which is a pity, because the team doesn't deserve it.

How can a team with the MVP (Pujols), Cy Young winner (Carpenter), and probably Comeback Player of the Year (Rolen) be only 10 games over .500 at this point in the season?

Answer: Blown saves...yes. Bad managing...moreso.

The natives are restless. Just check out the Clubhouse Forums. Or the great Viva El Birdos, where there are over 200 comments about today's game, 200 in the overflow and over 200 in the post-game venting.

But this is nothing compared to the millions who will storm the New Busch if this happens in the playoffs. And I sense that it will.