Is Tony La Russa the only one who can't see that Jason Isringhausen shouldn't be used in the closer role right now? How many games does he have to blow before La Russa makes a change? Is this season all about Isringhausen, his stats and his feelings, or is it about the team winning? He now has 5 blown saves and 4 losses. If he were having just an ordinary year, the Cardinals would be 5 or 6 games ahead of the pack right now. I've been as big a fan of Isringhausen as anybody, but clearly the time has come to try somebody else in the closers role. What is La Russa trying to prove by continually sending him to the mound to get knocked around? Izzy's lost his confidence, his teammates are no doubt losing confidence in him, and they'll lose their confidence in their manager if he doesn't do something about this soon.

I was sorry to see Jim Edmonds released by the Padres. They didn't stick with him very long, only 26 games. He was hitting a dismal .178 and not making any plays in centerfield. Still, you'd think they'd give him more than 5 weeks to see if could battle his way out of his slump if, for no other reason, the Padres still have to pay him about 6 million dollars for this season. Edmonds was a terrific player for the Cardinals. The best centerfielder I've ever seen. But sometimes players get old very quickly in pro sports, and apparently that's what has happened to Edmonds. If he can't catch on with another team, and he says he'd like to, I hope he'll return to St. Louis and maintain a high profile here. He remains a very popular figure in St .Louis sports history, and it'd be great to see him often around Busch Stadium or at his restaurant "15". Meanwhile, the guy the Cardinals acquired for Edmonds in the December trade, David Freese, is hitting .283 with 4 homeruns at AAA Memphis. He could be the Cardinals starting 3rd baseman as early as next year.

It's great to see football back. Nobody seems happier about the start of mini camp than Scott Linehan. He can't wait to put last year's nightmare of season in the rear view mirror, and concentrate on a new start. The Rams have a lot of news players on their roster, 29 to be exact. That includes 8 free agents signed in the offseason, 8 drafted rookies,and 13 free agent rookies. Chris Long looked good in his first day of practice. Linehan says he loves the way Long plays with great intensity, but doesn't say much while he does it. I think all NFL head coaches love rookies who play hard and keep their mouth shut.

On the subject of head coaches, Joel Quenneville got a raw deal with his firing in Colorado. Q is one of the best coaches in the NHL, and shouldn't have been blamed for his Avalanche being swept by Detroit in the first round of the playoffs. Quenneville is the Blues all time winningest coach, and left here after being fired by Bill Laurie. He's now been fired by Laurie and Stan Kroenke (owner of the Avalanche). So both Wal-Mart brothers-in-law have given him the short haircut. Wonder if he'd be interested in returning to the Blues if things don't go well for Andy Murray next year?

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