11 games in to the Cardinals 2010 season and for two prominent Cardinal members we have the following lines:
Ryan Franklin: 9.82 ERA, 1 Save, 4 Earned Runs in 3.2 innings
Albert Pujols: .182 Average, 1 HR, 4 RBIs, in 44 at bats
It’s early of course, but these ugly starts have been over-analyzed already by every sports talking head both in and out of town, but they’re all wrong. Who has the real answer? Well we do of course! Albert could probably adjust his stance a little bit and Franklin needs to keep the ball down but also…this:
If you’ll recall, this infamous photo of a grumpy and bottom-less Cardinals first basemen was taken by one Ryan Franklin durring Spring Training, and both men are now off to horrible starts to the season proper. Coincidence? No. We think not. Remember that this picture supposedly angered Pujols so that Franklin quickly removed everything he could from the internet ASAP. Could this teammate strife have led to poor starts by both Cardinal mainstays? Yes. Do we like to ask questions and then emphatically answer them immediately following? Totally. Do we not really believe this but just wanted an excuse to show the photo of Pujol in his undies one more time? Oh yeah.