Another loss

The Palm Beach Cards' struggles continue.
Tuesday 5/29- After having Memorial day off the Cards’ were back in action of Tuesday, unfortunately the day off cooled the Cards’ who lost to Jupiter 5-3. The start of the game looked promising for the Cards when newly promoted outfielder Jim Rapoport reached base on a throwing error by the shortstop. The speedy Rapoport wasted no time hanging out at first base; he stole second the first chance he got. Rapoport got a great jump on a breaking ball from Jupiter’s starter Ryan Tucker and swiped second easily. The stolen base seemed to rattle Tucker, who walked Van Slyke on six pitches. Craig came up and put a charge into Tuckers pitch and drove the ball deep to right, unfortunately it was right at the outfielder, but the fly ball did allow Rapoport and Van Slyke to advance. Hamilton followed Craig and drove in Rapoport with a bouncing ball to first. That’s when the real fun began; Yarbrough stepped up to the plate but could not figure out Tucker, so the Cards’ runners took matters into their own hands. Van Slyke and Hamilton executed a perfect double steal, as soon as Tucker made his move towards home Van Slyke took off and stole home, at the same time Hamilton stole second and ends up at third after a throwing error. Unfortunately that was it for highlights from the Cards.

Hot
A.J. Van Slyke has been on fire this week racking up nine hits, three doubles, two RBI’s and two stolen bases. The hot streak has raised Van Slyke’s batting average to .261 and his stolen base total to eight.








Not
For the first time this season Allen Craig is struggling, he has only four hits in the past week with no home runs and zero runs batted in.

Cards turn it around

The Palm Beach Cardinals struggled to start the week, losing three straight heading into their Friday game against Lakeland. A late inning comeback helped the Cards’ end their losing streak with a 9-6 victory Friday. The Cardinals followed their exciting victory, with a dramatic three run ninth inning to win their second straight against Lakeland on Saturday. Lets take a closer look at their exciting victories and disappointing loses this week that have kept the Card’s in second place in the Florida State Leagues Eastern Division.

Friday 5/25- The Cards’ dropped their third straight on Friday losing to Lakeland 5-0. The entire line up was shut down by a overpowering performance by Lucas French of the Lakeland Flying Tigers. Cards’ starter Trey Hearne had a rough outing allowing eleven hits and five runs in five innings pitched. Hearne’s main problem was his inability to throw strikes, which forced him into hitters’ counts allowing Flying Tigers hitters to tee off. The only player who had any success with the bat against Lakeland was Nathan Southard; the outfielder had two of the Cards’ seven hits. His first time up, Southard didn’t even get to take a swing before Martinez was caught napping and was picked off first base. When Southard was eventually able to take his swings he was effective, in the top of the third he lined a rope to dead center field for a single and in the top of the eighth he hit another liner to center.

Saturday 5/26- Trailing 5-3 heading into the seventh the Cards’ looked like they were on their way to fourth straight defeat, but Martinez was not going to let that happen. Dan Nelson started the inning by grounding to the shortstop for what looked like a sure out, but the first baseman was unable to handle the throw and the hustling Nelson reached on an error. A.J. Van Slyke stepped up to the plate and skys a ball deep to left center that bounces off the wall for an RBI double, after a walk to Mark Hamilton, Yarbrough executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance Hamilton to second and Van Slyke to third. An intentional walk to Church to load the bases, Danilo Sanchez looped a fly ball to short center allowing Van Slyke to score. After a Southard groundout Martinez stepped up to the plate and hit a home run just over the fence in left. Gary Daley got the start for the Cards’ pitching four inning and giving up five runs, Fernando Salas came in the fifth earned the victory pitching a scoreless fifth and sixth. Luke Gregerson came on in the ninth and shut the door on Lakeland giving the Cards’ a 9-6 victory and earning his tenth save of the season.

Sunday 5/27- Van Slyke put the Card’s ahead for good in the top of the ninth, taking advantage of throwing error on the Flying Tigers. That topped and exciting ninth inning comeback by the Cards’ who were trailing 2-0 going into the inning. Martinez started the rally by hitting a line drive to left for his eighth double of the season. After back to back fly ball outs by Allen Craig and Southard, Nelson drove the ball into center for a RBI single. Van Slyke followed with a rocket double to left center driving in Nelson and tying the game at two. Hamilton appeared to have ended the inning with a fly ball to center but the center fielder dropped it and Van Slyke was able to score the eventual winning run. Gregerson came on in the bottom of the ninth and shut down Lakeland to earn his eleventh save of the season.

News and Notes
5/29- Outfielder Jim Rapoport has been promoted to the Palm Beach Cardinals

Slumping Cards

The Palm Beach Cardinals struggled to start the week, losing three straight heading into their Friday game against Lakeland. Lets take a look at thier disappointing loses this week that have kept the Card’s from moving out of second place in the Florida State Leagues Eastern Division.

Wednesday 5/23- The Cards’ batters faced a real test on Wednesday when they faced off against Fort Myers. Miracles pitchers Yohan Pino and Eduardo Morlan combined to hold Cards’ batters to only three hits in a 3-1 victory for the Miracles. The Cards’ didn’t’ even register a base runner until Isaias Garcia’s two out smoking line drive single to center, any hope of a rally was crushed after Dan Nelson strikes out swinging on a wicked curve from Pino. The Cards’ went hitless in the top of the forth and after Brandon Yarbrough’s dribbler to the mound for the first out in the fifth the inning didn’t look promising. Ian Church stepped up to the plate and took one for the team and earned first base after being drilled by a Pino pitch. After a Jose Martinez puts a charge into a deep fly ball out into right field, Church caught Pino napping and stole second base to put him in scoring position for Nathan Southard, who promptly struck out swinging on a ball out of the zone, to end the inning. Things looked promising in top of the eighth after the Miracles changed pitcher and Morlan came into the game to face Cards’ hitters. Southard took advantage of the first strike Morlan threw and drove the ball deep into right center for a double; Southard’s aggressive base running allowed him to advance to third on throwing error from the right fielder. The Cards’ finally got on the score board after a fielders choice RBI from Garcia, but that was the last run the Cards’ would tally. Adam Daniels picked up the loss for the Cards’ tossing seven innings giving up three runs on five hits.

Thursday 5/24- The third inning was the undoing for the Cards’ on Thursday, starting pitcher gave up four of his five runs in the fourth giving the Lakeland Flying Tigers a five run lead. That was more than enough for Lakeland starter Burke Badenhop (4-3), who allowed only one run in seven strong innings. The Cards’ attempted a comeback in the top of the eighth scoring three runs off Flying Tiger reliever Paul Hammond. The Flying Tigers reliever got off to a good start, fooling Cards’ star Allen Craig on an off speed breaking ball for a swinging strike out. The rally started with Mark Hamilton’s worm burning single to center field, Yarbrough moved Hamilton to second with a scorching line drive that followed the identical path as Hamilton’s hit. Jose Martinez came up after a Church strikeout and singled on a ground ball that split the shortstop and third baseman driving in a hustling Hamilton. A throwing error on the left fielder allowed Yarbrough to score and moved Martinez to third. The rally forced the Flying Tigers to make a pitching change, bringing in Brendan Wise, who promptly forced Garcia to ground into a fielder choice out. The Card’s were unable to do anything in the ninth and fell to the Flying Tigers 8-4.

Palm Beach Cards'

Tuesday, 5/22- Tyler Norrick picked up his fifth win of the season, and the Cards won their fifth of the week after they held on to defeat Fort Myers 3-2. Norrick pitched five strong innings and handed the game over the bullpen, which did an outstanding job. Kyle McClellan and Scott Vander Weg each earned their first holds of the season and Gregerson picked up his ninth save of the season.

Wednesday, 5/23- After surrendering three runs in seven innings, PB Cards' Starter Adams Daniels fell to 2-5 on the season. The Cards' were only able to score one run on an RBI single by Isaias Garcia and fell to Fort Myers 3-1 on Wednesday.

Jupiter Hammerheads

Tuesday, 5/22 - After Tueday's 6-3 loss to Tampa, Chris Volstad's record fell to 3-5 on season. Volstad started, pitched six innings and gave up six runs. Catcher Andrew Jenkins was the offensive star driving in one on two hits.

Wednesday, 5/23- The Hammerheads ended thier four game losing steak, defeating Tampa 5-0 on Wednesday. Ryan Tucker(3-3) pitched over six innings and Wes Leston pitched the final three innings, giving Jupiter thier league leading sixth shutout. Colin Robertson lead the Hammerheads with two hits and his third RBI of the season.

Florida State League Standings

East

Brevard County 28 18
Palm Beach 26 20 2.0
Vero Beach 22 24 6.0
Daytona 21 24 6.5
Jupiter 19 27 9.0
St. Lucie 18 28 10.0

News and Notes

Allen Craig is second in the Florida State League in batting average (.341), first in home runs (10) and runs batted in (35).

Trey Hearne is first in the FSL in innings pitched (54.2) and Norrick is tied for the league lead in wins (5).

Tyler Norrick

The Palm Beach Cardinals are experiencing a much better week than last, they are winners of five of their past seven games. The Cards’ winning ways have put them back into second place in the Florida State League Eastern Division, only two games behind first place Brevard County. Lets take a look back at how the Card’s moved back up the standings.

Wednesday- After winning both games of a double header against The St. Lucie Mets on Tuesday, the Cards’ dropped the final game of their three game series. The Mets scored early and often in their 5-2 victory over the Cards, who were lead offensively by Allen Craig and his three hits. Gary Daley started the game and gave up five runs in just over four innings pitched, Donnie Smith and Matt Trent came out of the bullpen and combined to pitch three scoreless innings.

Thursday- After the Cards’ defeated the Devil Rays 10-7 in their completion of a rain suspended April 15th contest, the Cards’ and Rays played their scheduled game. Starting pitcher Tyler Norrick finally got back on track Thursday, he pitched six innings allowing only one run on two hits. Norrick was literally un-hittable for the first five innings of the game, he took a no-hitter into the sixth. Matt Trent picked up the save allowing no base runners in his inning of work. Left fielder Ian Church drove in one of the runs in the first innings and Mark Hamilton drove in what turned out to be the deciding run in the third.

Friday- The Cards’ won their second straight over the Devil Rays, this time by a score of 9-5. Adam Daniels got the start and tossed five decent innings scattering five hits and allowing three runs, only one earned. His solid work allowed Daniels to pick up his first victory in over a month. Offensively Craig was the story, the talented first base man drove in four and smashed his tenth home run of the season.

Saturday- Their third straight victory was aided by a strong outing by starting pitcher Adam Ottavino, who fanned nine while tossing five scoreless innings. Ottavino extended his scoreless inning streak to twelve innings. Craig continued his hot hitting, driving in two, hitting two doubles and scoring a run. Mark Hamilton, Jose Martinez and Church also contributed to the victory by driving in two each.

Sunday- Cards’ starter Trey Hearne lost a pitchers duel by a margin of 2-1 on Sunday. Hearne pitched eight innings allowing only two runs on eight hits, but was outdone by Oswaldo Sosa of Fort Myers. Starting Catcher Brandon Yarbrough drove in the only run for the Cards’.

Monday- The Cards’ got back to their winning ways on Monday, defeating The Fort Myers Miracles 3-2. Gary Dailey got the start and picked up the victory while pitching six innings allowing no Miracle runner to advance past second base. Reliever Luke Gregerson picked up his eighth save of the season. Church was the offensive star of the game driving in two on a RBI double in the third.

Hot
Starting Pitcher Adam Ottavino extended his scoreless inning streak to twelve on Saturday. He was dominate in his start striking out nine, picking up his third win of season and lowering his earned run average to 2.14.

News and Notes
5/19-Utility player Casey Rowlett was called up to Springfield. With his time with the Cards’ Casey hit .259 with one homerun and ten runs batted in.

The Myth of Dan Marino

Ok, this is something that has bothered me from the moment I moved down here: the idea that Dan Marino is the greatest Quarterback that ever played, or even in the top 5, is the most preposterous idea I've ever heard in my life. I'm from the North, and Marino doesn't even come up in the discussion about best QBs ever. It's my opinion that Marino will go the way of Fran Tarkington, the previous leader in most passing categories and, outside of Florida, Marino will become irrelevant thirty years from now. Before I get into the comparisons, I want to get this straight: Marino is a great passer and had a quick release and a cannon for an arm, but you need to be a winner to be a great QB.

1) John Elway- When he retired he was the all-time leader in victories(146), fourth quarter comebacks(47), and Super Bowl starts (5). Elway also has a Super Bowl MVP, two Super Bowl wins and was a nine time participant in the Pro Bowl.

QB Rating: 79.9 Yards: 51,475 TDs:300 Rushing Yards: 3,407

2) Joe Montana- Without question, one of the greatest clutch QBs of all time as evident by his three Super Bowl MVPs and four Super Bowl wins. Montana went to eight Pro Bowls and led thirty-one fourth quarter comebacks.

QB Rating: 92.3 Yards: 35,142 TDs:244

3) Peyton Manning- He was further down this list and was on track to finish his career in disappointment like Marino. That was until last season when he was able to beat another great QB (Tom Brady) in the playoffs and earn Super Bowl MVP against the Bears. His Super Bowl victory and seven Pro Bowls already puts him ahead of Marino on my list.

QB Rating: 94.4 Yards: 37,589 TDs: 275

4) Brett Favre- He was a mobile QB who carried his team to a Super Bowl victory and won three MVPs in a row. Don't forget, Favre had to do a lot of his passing in very poor weather conditions, which many of these other players didn't have to deal with. Favre has gone to eight Pro Bowls and holds the highest all-time records in wins, completions, consecutive games started, and soon, TDs. Finally, it is possible that after this season he will pass Marino as the all-time leader in yards.

QB Rating: 85.1 Yards: 57,500 TDs: 414 Rushing Yards: 1,774

5) Troy Aikman- Aikman will likely be passed by Tom Brady in the next year or so, but regardless, Aikman was vastly underrated as a QB. Aikman was one of the most efficient QBs in history and was able to lead a team full of characters to three Super Bowl wins. He went to six Pro Bowls and has the most victories ever in a single decade (90 in the '90s).

QB Rating: 81.6 Yards: 32,942 TDs: 165

6) Tom Brady- Is battling with Peyton Manning for the crown of best QB of the past ten years. Brady has three Super Bowl wins, three Pro Bowls, and two Super Bowl MVPs. Brady has plenty of time to rise up this board and this season his team is loaded with talent.

QB Rating: 88.4 Yards: 21,564 TDs: 147

7) Steve Young- This is actually tough for me; I think Young deserves to be higher on this list but I couldn't justify moving anyone else down. Young won two MVPs, went to seven Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl. Young is the all-time leader in passer rating and rushing TDs for a QB. In his four seasons as a back up to Joe Montana, he threw twenty-three touchdowns and only six picks. Young was an important part of Montana's Super Bowl winning teams.

QB Rating: 96.8 Yards: 33,124 TDs: 232 Rushing Yards: 4,239 Rushing TDs: 43

8) Terry Bradshaw- Was very underrated as a QB. Like Aikman, his numbers suffered for the greater good of the team. If that's not the definition of a great QB then I don't know what is. Bradshaw won four Super Bowls, went to three Pro Bowls and eight consecutive AFC Championship games. When he retired, he held records for most passing yards(932) and TDs (9) in a Super Bowl career and won two straight Super Bowl MVPs.

QB Rating: 70.9 Yards: 27,989 TDs: 212

9) Dan Marino- No Super Bowl wins and he went to only one Super Bowl in his career. And don't forget he flat out missed the playoffs seven out his 17 years in the league. Marino is the Karl Malone of the NFL; great numbers but he was not a winner. Marino won one MVP, and went to nine Pro Bowls and when he retired, he was the all-time leader in many passing categories. The point is records can disappear, Super Bowl wins don't.

QB Rating: 86.4 Yards: 61,361 TDs: 420

So I've made my point. If you're going to be a great QB you need to win at least one Super Bowl. If Marino's numbers were leaps and bounds above everyone elses then maybe you could be considered great without winning. That doesn't apply to Marino. His records are slipping away and he hasn't been gone that long. So, Dolphin fans, enjoy that while your watching your team bottom out this season. Maybe next year you can pick a great QB like Brain Brohm.

What to do in Jupiter

Ok, this blog is for the Jupiter campus, I'm sure you already know that the Palm Beach Cardinals play right next store to you at Roger Dean Stadium. What you don't know is that is a good cheap way to have fun, before or after your summer classes. Monday is 'belly buster' days where you can eat and drink as much as you want for fifteen dollars. Also if you have a dog, there are multiple games you can bring you furry friend to. Finally there is great compotition and players out there, a cheap way to see future MLB players. This is not an advertisment, I'm a Cubs fan, but just a suggestion of something for FAU students to do this summer.

Tyler Norrick- Tyler is a talented lefty that has dominated the FSL with a variety of pitches that have baffled opposing hitter. Norrick started the season with an impressive streak of eighteen scoreless innings, and has only given up one run in twenty four innings. His record is an impressive 3-0 and a ridiculous earned run average of .038 and allowing only twelve hits. What makes Norrick’s numbers so amazing is the fact that he is not a strike out pitcher, he only has twelve. Norrick is the type of pitcher that allows batters to put the ball in play, the key to his success is that he excels at putting the ball where the hitter can’t drive it.

Gary Daley- Gary is just one of the talented arms that are available in the Cards’ bullpen. Daley has been making hitters miss this season, striking out five in only eleven innings pitched. Hitters can’t figure him out batting only .187 against big right hander, which has contributed to his unbelievable zero earned run average.

Michael Cooper- Michael has been the anchor of the bullpen, coming in stressful positions and holding opposing hitters at bay and stopping big innings. Cooper has one win against one loss and an earned run average of 1.64 and opposing hitters are only hitting .190 against him.

Jason Motte- Jason is the closest thing the Cards’ have to a closer, leading the team with three saves. What makes Motte an interesting player is the fact that he is dominating as a pitcher even though he was a catcher last season. He was more than just an average position player; Motte was an all-star catcher in 2006. Before that season was over he was demoted to the New York State League and was learning how to pitch. Motte has done well with his adjustment pitching his earned run average is a paltry 1.29 in his seven innings or relief.