Playing Mind Games

by craig on Oct 26, 2006 6:53 AM EDT in News and Rumors

If St. Louis was doing this, it comes as no surprise to me.

Zumaya is known for routinely throwing pitches in excess of 100 mph and being proud of it, regularly looking back between pitches at the stadium readings.

But when he came into Game 3 on Tuesday, the stadium board was blank for a few pitches, then had him throwing 95-96 mph while the Fox TV readings had him in his usual 100-101 mph range. For most of the night, the Fox and stadium readings were usually very close.

Coincidence?

Not hardly.

Welcome to old school baseball Mr. Zumaya and the Cardinals have been practicing it for years. If they believe they can get an advantage by lighting up every bulb on the scoreboard (yes, I know that is an out of date statement) or putting up misleading information - they will do it. They always have.

Let's face it, this is a park that came by its original name in a rather dubious, albeit, entertaining fashion.

When August Busch bought the team and later the stadium in the early 1950's he wanted to name the park Budweiser Stadium but was not allowed to because naming a stadium after a corporate entity much less an alcoholic beverage would be a grave break in decorum. (Times have changed). So Mr. Busch asked if he could name the park after himself and then baseball commissioner Ford Frick said of course he could. So he declared the stadium's name would be Busch Stadium. Immediately after the meeting he went to a pay phone and called his brewery in St. Louis and instructed them to start brewing a new product, Busch beer.