Cardinals 2B Kolten Wong hits a game-winning home run vs. the Pirates on July 9th. Wong has hit 5 of his 6 home runs in the past week.
So, first things first, you all will probably notice that I’m a new writer here, so a little bit of background information on me. My name is Bryan Mink, I’m 17 years old and will be a senior at Van-Far High School. I am a huge fan of St. Louis sports teams and the Missouri Tigers. Also, for the last two years, I’ve been writing for a Mizzou related blog site, so I’m definitely not new to writing about sports. It’s definitely a wonderful opportunity that I get to write for Arch City Sports, and I hope you get to see more of my writing in the future. So now, it’s time to move on to what I’ll be writing about today.
Watching the Cardinals trounce the Brewers today 10-2 was fun to watch, but was also bittersweet. It was a wonderful thing seeing this team gel together and blow out a good team like that, especially after the roaring comeback from 6 runs down we made last night and tie them atop the NL Central division. However I and everyone else who is a fan of Major League Baseball were deeply saddened to hear the news of Jean Segura’s 9 month old son passing away today, and send him and the Milwaukee Brewers fan base and organization our deepest condolences. But that’s not all I want to write about today.
During the game today on Fox Sports 1, retired MLB outfielder turned commentator Gabe Kapler had something to say about the situation involving Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina’s thumb injury, sidelining the all-star for two to three months. During the broadcast, Kapler said that he believed the injury, giving Brewer’s catcher Jonathan Lucroy his first ever all-star game start was “poetic justice”, on national television, no less. Cardinals fans and fans of other teams alike did not take too kindly to this, calling out Kapler on Twitter.
Kapler calling Yadi’s injury poetic justice for Lucroy. Yes that happened. on a national broadcast
Yadi’s injury is poetic justice? I think you could have found a more poetic way to make your point, @gabekapler. #stlcards
.@LangoschMLB If you have a chance ask @JLucroy20 if he feels @Yadimolina04 injury is “poetic justice.” @gabekapler said so on broadcast.
Now, I was also appalled at his statement, especially when it was made in an atmosphere where unbiased sports commentary is critically necessary. I’m not sure whether or not Kapler actually meant what he said, or was not as eloquent as he should have been when making that statement, and I’m not going to try to judge that, but either way, I believe that an apology to Molina and the Cardinals Organization is absolutely in order, especially when Molina “almost cried” when he learned about the severity of his injury. When you’re in an atmosphere where you have to be unbiased, you cannot make slip-ups like that, intentional or not. If he wants to say that on a Brewers broadcast, he can go right ahead and do that if he wants to. But don’t get on national television and go and do something like what you just did, Gabe. It not only makes you seem less credible as an announcer, but you also make Fox Sports seem less credible as a company.
Other than the comment and the subsequent hashtag #PoeticJustice started by Cardinals fans on Twitter in response to Kapler, the game was pretty fun to watch, and was very exciting to say the least. As a fan, I was glad to see that the Cardinals offense may just be starting to heat up, outscoring the Brewers 17-8 in the first two games of the series. Kolten Wong has also caught my eye, hitting five home runs in the past week, and hitting one today in the second inning off of pitcher Jimmy Nelson. Maybe this offense is heating up at the right time, and will wake up the seemingly hibernating bat of Allen Craig. The Cardinals have one more game before the All-Star Break, and will try to take sole possession of first place in the division tomorrow night. It will be Carlos Martinez (2-3, 4.12 ERA) versus Wily Peralta (9-6, 3.95 ERA) on the mound, and I’m sure that we will see a great game tomorrow to finish up the first half of the season.
So, in conclusion:
- The Cardinals are gelling as a team at the right time.
- My condolences to Jean Segura, his family, and the Brewers Org.
- Gabe Kapler: Apologize to Yadi!
- Kolten Wong is starting to turn it on like we knew he would.
And with that Cardinal Nation, I will see you next time.
Twitter: Bryan Mink – @vanfar15
Photo Courtesy: USA Today
