The Breathtaking Return of Matt Holliday

As someone who's seen Matt Holliday as a member of his own team...I have to say that this sight is a lot sweeter.

Matt Holliday last played for the Rockies 10 years ago. He was one of the offensive mainstays of what was commonly known as the Todd Helton era or Colorado baseball. In 2009, he was shipped to Oakland in exchange for...well, another guy that would end up playing in Colorado for ten years. And after a half year in Oakland, 8 years in St. Louis, and a season in New York, we all kind of thought Holliday's career was over.

And then...mid-year, the Rox took a chance on Holliday. And he started gestating in the minors, getting his average back up, and playing like he used to. And it was only a matter of time before he got brought up, and got to play for a first place Rockies team for the first time since 200

...wait a minute...

They came in 2nd in 2007 and 2008.

...this would be the Rockies' first ever 1st place finish, if they do manage to stay on top on September 30th. And that's something Holliday's Rockies teams couldn't even do.

This Colorado team actually has a chance at some dangerous October work, especially if they manage to keep the Dodgers and D-Backs out of the wild card race over the next few weeks. And it'll be tricky, seeing as the Dodgers are only one game behind, and one flip in the standings could doom the Rockies, and put them in the same position the Dodgers are currently in.

So, with Holliday playing well, Trevor Story breaking records, and Kyle Freeland pitching like a champ, they'll need to hold onto their momentum and keep someone else, like the Dodgers, from stealing their mojo...or their chance to end in 1st for the first time ever.

Coming Tomorrow- He's big, strong and hits home runs. And, with a few weeks left, that's honestly all the Blue Jays need.

Playing for the Good Guys

I feel like the Yankees have become a haven for ex-Cardinals outfielders. First Carlos Beltran, and now his teammate Matt Holliday. Hell, we get some pretty likable Cardinals- if we'd have gotten David Freese, I don't know if I would have stomached it.

So far, Holliday hasn't been doing half-bad for the Yankees. i mean, we haven't needed him to be more than a steady DH, which he's been doing alright as, but...I mean, he hasn't completely deflated, like Beltran had his first few years in the Bronx. We needed a piece like Holliday that could anchor the team, especially in its deepening youth movement.

I don't have a ton of qualms about Holliday, even if he is an ex-Cardinal. I never truly hated him when he played for St. Louis, as usually I saved my true scorn for people like Freese, Matt Carpenter and Stephen Piscotty. Holliday's a solid ballplayer, just gets nice work done. And now he's a Yankee, which is nice.

It's gonna take some time to see whether or not this Yankee team is actually going to exceed people's expectations this season, but my fingers are crossed.

Coming Tonight: He's lanky, he plays for a third-place team, and he looks like Pete Davidson, but he's still one of his team's best offensive suppliers.

Uncustomed Heroes of Baseball: Cardinals

The Cardinals, shockingly, did not make the playoffs this year.

This could be thanks to injuries, unsuccessful call ups, old-faithfuls that suddenly stopped being reliable, or just the fact that this once-strong World Series squad just isn't what it used to be.

Either way, when he was healthy, Brandon Moss was having one of the best seasons of his career. The guy's come a long way from being a bench player in Pittsburgh, and even if he's not a top-caliber star like he was in Oakland, he's still doing great things in St. Louis. Not sure if he's sticking around, though.

Mike Leake was an offseason addition for the Cardinals that didn't go exactly as planned. Leake's best numbers were as a Cincinnati Red, and he hasn't done the greatest job since his tenure there. His numbers this season were...surprisingly subpar, especially for Leake. Hopefully things will turn up.

Matt Adams has been doing a pretty consistent job as the first baseman in St. Louis, though he has been injured a bit too often. He's a great hitter, and he could step up in a big way, especially in Matt Holliday's absence.

Seung-Hwan Oh took over for Trevor Rosenthal, following his implosion this season (which was incredibly sad but pretty satisfying if you hate the Cardinals). Oh's been a pretty nice reliever/closer, and hopefully will keep the good work up.

As for Matt Holliday...though his final season in St. Louis wasn't his best, there's no doubt that he's been an outstanding presence ever since his arrival in 2009. He's helped them get a World Series ring, as well as reestablishing his career and contenting his great work at the bat. In 2017, he'll be suiting up for the Yankees, which will hopefully mark the next step in his career, especially considering the last Cardinals outfielder who joined the Bombers ended up revitalizing his career as well.

Coming Tomorrow- The little guys that took home the gold this year.

Holliday in New York

This was not the outcome I was expecting for the Yankees' DH, but...it's not an especially bad outcome, if we're being honest.

I had Matt Holliday on my fantasy team for a little while this year, and he didn't give the numbers I was thinking he would. He's aging a bit too normally by baseball standards. His best seasons are likely behind him, and his 2016, while it was pretty alright and he had some good moments here and there, was overall a disappointment, especially considering his start in 2015.

So I'm slightly skeptical about him joining the Yankees. However...SLIGHTLY is a word I used there.

Look, the way I see it we're probably gonna be using Matt Holliday primarily as a DH, which could work if Matt Holliday stays injured and decides to hit like he usually does. Seeing as DHing means he won't be spending as much time in the field, I don't think he'll be as injury-prone as he has been in the last few seasons. So, if all goes according to plan, Matt Holliday will be a pretty solid presence in the lineup in his one year in New York.

I'm just gonna be optimistic. Besides, it's Matt Holliday in a New York Yankees uniform. That's gonna make an awesome baseball card, right?

Uncustomed Heroes of 2015: Cardinals

So the Cardinals had a pretty nice season. I don't think anybody was surprised. They also got knocked out in the first rung of the playoffs by the Cubs, which I don't think anyone expected. Still, they did a lot of very good things this year, including the first-half explosion of Matt Holliday, who proved that he can indeed carry a team in Albert Pujols' absence.

Trevor Rosenthal had another nice 40-save season, reestablishing his status as one of the most consistent closers in the NL.

Peter Bourjos, still leftover from the David Freese trade, had a pretty nice season as the third outfielder, though he didn't make the outback the rest of the outfield did. In 2015, he will be playing for the Philadelphia Phillies. God help him.

Lance Lynn had another strong season on the mound, though he has slipped to a 2nd-or-3rd position in the rotation, especially given the rise of John Lackey and Michael Wacha, and the impending return of Adam Wainwright. Lynn is looking like he's gonna start the season on the DL.

Matt Adams sat out most of the season due to injury, but when he was healthy he was one of the more fearsome Cardinals at the bat, still proving he can get a lot done with sheer strength.

In his absence, Mark Reynolds, who has spent the last few seasons ping-ponging through the MLB, and spending last year with the Brewers, finally had the comeback season people had been waiting for, proving he could be a starter again, and still hit for distance.

Stephen Piscotty was one of the many rookie sensations in St. Louis this year (along with Randal Grichuk and Tommy Pham), and he actually did pretty well for himself. Pictured doing a perfect David Freese impression...which means I'm beginning to despise him.

Finally, Brandon Moss was doing a pretty damn good job in Cleveland until he was snatched at the trade deadline, after which he proceeded to start hitting like a pro either filling in for Reynolds or off the bench. He'll likely be starting somewhere else next year, but his stuff in St. Louis will be remembered.

Coming Tomorrow- Of course, the Cubs were the real story in the NL Central this year, and tomorrow we hear from them.

The Future

Change can be a very good thing sometimes.

I mean, it's daunting as hell, and going in is a little uneasy, but it can turn out to be something really cool.

This post is a bit of a transitional one for me, and a pretty momentous one, for a few reasons. And before you ask, no, I am not leaving the blog. I'd probably tell you first, anyway.

The first reason for all this change is that today I graduated from high school. I walked onstage at Temple's Liacorus Center in Philadelphia, which my high school had rented out, got handed a diploma, waved, shook hands, and walked off. That was it. Something that had taken me twelve years of training and preparation had ended with nothing more than a few handshakes and a piece of paper. And it's eerie, how it just goes by like that and it ends without really...ending.

But yeah. This custom is the first one I am posting as a high school graduate. My tassel's on the left side now. And don't be surprised if it shows in this blog's content over the rest of the ride.

The second bit of change also has to do with my future, and I figured I might as well get it out of the way. You see, next year I won't be blogging from my usual place of leisure. As with most eighteen year olds, I'm going to college.

No, I didn't get into Harvard.

Above all else, my passion is writing, as you may have noticed. So, for the next four years, I'm going to a quirky artsy school in the Westchester area of New York, in an effort to speed along my dream of being a professional screenwriter. The upside to being in Westchester is that I'm near White Plains. And yeah, I've heard they have a fairly large card show over there from time to time...

The downside is that I'll be away from my PC, which has been producing my customs for the last five going on six years. I thought about being away from customs, and Photoshop, and all the stuff I'd been doing for most of my blogging career, and I decided I didn't want the heartbreak.

So I got a laptop.

The custom attached to this post is the first ever custom made with my laptop. Even more, it was made with ACTUAL Photoshop, as in NOT Photoshop Elements, which I'd been using since the blog's inception. So this Matt Holliday custom is really the beginning of a new era for me. Which is kinda nice.

So yeah. New laptop, new photoshop, a change of venue around August-ish, and a new...motivation. That's all you can expect to change. I'll try to be the same old guy.

Well, great

Just what I needed, another St. Louis win. Seriously, it will not be fun if I have to sit through another Cardinals-Red Sox series. More and more I'm feeling like that's going to happen. A season that began so optimistically will end with my two least favorite teams in the World Series.

It's like 2004 all over again. Only without the incredible Yankees roster. And without Jason Giambi.

But yeah. Dodgers need to cut it out and start playing real baseball again. Pretty please.

Custom Card of the Day: Holliday Edition

You can probably guess why posting Cardinals customs has become such a chore for me. I don't particularly love the team, but when they're playing well, I kinda have to make some customs. Good news is that every once and a while I get to make a good custom I don't really hate too much, like Holliday up there.

The reason I'm posting this Genuinely Awesome Holliday (or GAH) so damn early is because today is the first day of my senior year of high school, and I need to kick things into full gear yet again. So I'm getting up exhaustingly early and throwing the custom out there early enough that I don't end up forgetting it late at night, you know, like I've done 3,000,000 times this year.

Good news is I'm on my last lap until college, which is fitting, because the MLB season's in its last month until the postseason. I imagine the postseason will be slightly less exciting than my college education though.

You know, unless the Yankees squeak in there.

Coming Tomorrow- I'm like a month late on this one, but a former White Sox star traded to (where else?) Arlington.

Year by Year Customs: 1978

 

Sorry these came so late today. I've been really cracking down on schoolwork, since they wanna get all that stuff done before break next week. So I was crammed until an hour ago. And now here they are, in all their clearly-not-rushed glory

Holliday's become the star of the Cardinals, thankfully. Pujols' shoes weren't too big, either.

 

Now the newest member of the ever-growing Angels pitching staff.

 

Not to be confused with the 1980's singer of the same name. Like I do all the time.

 

Coming Tomorrow- Customs I will likely be working on...tomorrow. Good news is that 1979 is an easy design to customize. Not the prettiest one, but still fun.

Well, Crap

Wasn't really looking forward to a Cards-Rangers Series. Oh Well.

Go Rangers! And yes, this may be the only time you ever hear that phrase out of me.

Custom Card of the Day: Holliday Edition

In any other season, the Cardinals would by vying for first right now. But since the Pirates have sprung up from the Abyss like 0 people thought they would, St. Louis has been pushed to third. In a way, the Cardinals and Brewers seem like Danny Ocean and his gang, from the Ocean's 11 movies. Whenever the Pirates lose, they win, it's all orchestrated in some convoluted scheme. And Matt Holliday would be Matt Damon. Why? Because he knows he's not the head of the operation, but he still plays a huge part in securing team victories.

Okay, maybe it is just a crappy analogy...but the Cardinals don't go for subtlety.

Coming Tomorrow- An outfielder for Boston who's actually been doing pretty well this season. Unfortunately, there's the Boston part.

Custom Card of the Day

This guy may be quite a fixture on the Cards. He me take Yadda Yadda Yadier Molina's place as Pujols' seconds banana. At least he was successful beforehand, because if he wants to prove that the Colorado days are behind him, he has to start making people forget his OAKLAND days.

Tomorrow- Straight from Texas, this player is returning to the team where he made himself famous- let's just hope he's not upstaged by Adam Jones.

...And now the Transactions

First, we have to say goodbye to one of those pitchers where if he retired right now, he's be a lock with Cooperstown. Randy Johnson has retired, and I hope to see him in bronze someday.

Also, Troy Glaus has signed with the Braves, which isn't that bad of a deal. He's a good third baseman, so the Braves might need him.

In other third baseman news, Adrian Beltre has signed with the Red Sox. Now my opinion

AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGHHHH!

...In other news, Matt Holliday has signed with the Yaank- sorry, with teh Cardinals. You guys can have him. He'll be great over there.

and OH CRAP! The Red Sox also traded for Bill Hall. Someone has to go to Boston and direct the GM to the me's room where we'll find all of the past Red Sox trades.

Holliday in...St. Louis

Matt Holliday was one of the smartest moves of the offseason, being traded to the A's for a few prospects and Huston Street.

Now, being as he hasn't been hitting, I saw him last night in the last game he'd ever play as an A.

Yes, Mr. Holliday is now a Cardinal.

I say if things have already gotten this wacky, who's next?