Cards Can't Spoil Astros' Opener

Cards Can't Spoil Astros' Opener

By Mike on McClellan

The winning streak may have come to an end, but the streak of brilliant outings by the Cardinals' starting staff remains intact. What started out as a pitchers' duel between St. Louis starter Todd Wellemeyer and Houston's Wandy Rodriguez, ended with some offensive fireworks.
Wellemeyer took a two-hit shutout into the seventh before surrendering back-to-back home runs to Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee. His night was through after seven, allowing the 2 runs on 5 hits, while striking out 7. I was very impressed with his performance, even without the bloody nose. Both starters were very good, but Rodriguez was slightly better. The Cards managed to string only 3 hits against him in 7 1/3 innings.

The game really changed gears in the ninth, when the Cards rallied to tie it at three, but ultimately lost it on a Miguel Tejada walk-off in the bottom half off of rookie Kyle McClellan. It's certainly a blow to the young righty, but I feel worse for Wellemeyer. He pitched a terrific game, save the solo home runs from two of the league's best. The Cards flashed the leather tonight too, with great plays from Aaron Miles, Troy Glaus, and Cesar Izturis. Here's the full box score.

So while we're not raising our glasses to another Cardinal victory, we do have reason to lift 'em up. From Anheuser Busch:

In case you didn’t know, today April 7, 2008 is a solemn and joyous anniversary in the annals of beer history. It’s the 75th Anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition for beer in the United States.

During the summer of 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt campaigned on the platform that he would repeal Prohibition (he called it the “stupendous blunder”), put American workers back on the job and help end the Depression.
So, of course it’s no surprise that he won the election by a landslide.

True to his word, with one stroke of the pen 20 days after taking office, he signed the Cullen-Harrison Act, making 3.2% beer once again legal in the U.S. This meant that Lager Beer which was predominantly
3.2% alcohol by weight would precede heavier beer styles and hard liquor by almost 8 full months.

So, at 12:01 a.m. on April 7, 1933, beer was back. 25,000 people celebrated here at our St. Louis Brewery that night and the rest of the country listened to a special live broadcast from August “Gussie” Busch, Jr. that was carried on radio stations coast to coast. Happy days were here again!

So today on the 75th Anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition, raise a glass to the wisdom and fortitude of great men like Gussie Busch and Franklin Delano Roosevelt with a Budweiser, the Great American Lager.

Click here to listen to the broadcast.

The Cardinals will try to even the series tomorrow, with Brad Thompson facing Shawn Chacon. The first series loss of the year is on the line.