St. Louis Sports Online

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Mike Huss "The Fuss According to Huss" St. Louis Sports Online lead columnist and host of "Sportstalk" on WGNU AM-920 (8:00-9:00 pm Tuesdays and Thursdays)

Weeks 1 through 6 of the 1999 Baseball season have been like watching the Stock Market. Some days are up: some days are down: some days are up and down. One day you are happy, another day you are sad. No interest rate hike. No Home Run race either.

Ditto with the 1999 edition of the Cardinals. The month of April was encouraging. The team demonstrated quality relief pitching, character, as well as an 8-3 record on a four city road trip. Everyone in town was smiling and talking baseball.

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Yet, at this writing, May has been discouraging. The Home Team went 4-6 on a recent home stand: surrendering an average of over 11 hits per game with more putting up more "E's" on the board than Vanna White.

Donovan Osborne made his annual reservation on the Disabled List. The Bullpen has been shell shocked and overused. The original designated Closer Juan Acevedo has been reassigned from the bullpen to the starting rotation. In his first start; which lasted less than three innings, #53 was bombed by the Dodgers. Those April smiles diminished.

To make matters worse, St. Louis' immediate competitor, Houston, seems to have hit their stride. They are arguably the best team in the National League at this writing.

So where does the team go from here? As they said in the movie Animal House: "Road Trip"!!

Upon reviewing the itinerary for the next few weeks, the Red Birds find themselves away from the Gateway City for nineteen of the next twenty-two games. Actually, this may not be a bad thing. Much like the Blues, the Cardinals seem to enjoy being road warriors.

Aside from the traveling, the competition seems favorable. On the initial six game West Coast Trip, the Red Birds will play three games in last place San Diego before driving up the coast for a weekend get together with the Millionaires in Los Angeles.

After a quick Busch Stadium series with first place San Francisco, the Home Team will then jet off to Wrigley Field for a Memorial Day weekend series with the Cubs. Then, our travelers will head to Florida, Detroit, and then up Interstate 70 to Kansas City.

Long Road Trips??-Yes Favorable Opponents??-Also Yes

Is this good or bad??--You be the judge.

The next twenty two games could be the most important for the Cardinals this season. You may recall: a year ago in late June and early July, the Red Birds were also trailing Houston, before playing a stretch of games against Baseball's lower echelon. That 1998 team did not advantage of their schedule. The result: fans began setting their sights on Mark Mc Gwire, as the Red Birds quickly fell out of contention by the All Star Break.

It's now 1999, and it is deja vu, all over again. The Red Birds once again are trying to catch the Astros in the N L Central. Once again, the immediate schedule appears to be in their favor. After thirty six games, the 1999 Cardinals have an overall record of 19-17. The 1998 model, had a win/loss record of 18-18 after three dozen games.

To avoid horrible visions of a re-run, the 1999 Red Birds have to address those areas which they can control. Specifically errors: both recorded and non-recorded. At this writing, the Cardinals have committed thirty-four errors in thirty-six errors. Even the Atlanta Brave or New York Yankee pitching staffs can not compete if their fielders make an average of almost one error per nine innings.

The Red Birds also need to address those errors which are not posted in the scorebook. Defensively, they can not afford to throw to the wrong bases and/or watch fly balls soar over the outfielder's heads. Offensively, they can not afford to continue to run themselves out of innings on the base paths, fail to run out ground balls or forget the number of outs.

Again, these are areas which the Cardinals can, and must, control. In order to succeed this season, their margin for error (no pun intended) is quite small. For the Red Birds to qualify for the post season, everything must fall in place.

Although they can start addressing the controllable, the Home Team needs to avoid fretting over the uncontrollable. The Cardinals have no Number One Starting Pitcher. The likelihood that one will surface in the near term is unlikely. This is a fact. Deal with it. (That fact also implies that Richard Ankiel should remain in the Minors. Another reminder to the Cardinal Brass: PLEASE avoid the temptation!!)

J D Drew does not appear ready to accept the National League Rookie of the Year right now. One can not reasonably expect Joe Mc Ewing to continue to hit over .330, or Fernando Tatis to blast home runs at a clip of 8-10 per month. Eric Davis will require more and more rest as July and August approaches.

Does anyone have a crystal ball or the telephone number of the Physic Hot Line??

Traditionally, Memorial Day is the first benchmark in the baseball season. In all likelihood, when that first Bar-B-Que of the summer occurs, the Cardinals will find themselves pursuing rather than being pursued. Yet, the Red Birds need to immediately start making up ground in the standings. Otherwise, over 2.8 million tickets sold may see a repeat of 1998, without the Mark Mc Gwire sideshow.

That is still the beauty of baseball: its predictability and its unpredictability.

So admit it: predicting those Internet stocks looks easier now, doesn't it?