smirk

Ehh, you lucked out, since I was away from the computer.

Should have started a Carpenter/Sheets "Who misses a start first pool?", though. I could have cleaned up!

(Of course, I'd probably have taken Sheets, too... so that wouldn't have done me a lot of good)

Milwaukee? This just makes it more likely that Houston will annoyingly sneak through despite not really being much good offensively or defensively. Of course, if they're in first place or not far out, Clemens will probably pitch for them, in which case they'd be decent.

Hmm, it seems the Cards have an early MASH unit going on in their OF:

Edmonds, who missed all but the last week of spring training games, has "ouches," La Russa said after the first game. La Russa is not sure how long Edmonds will be able to play tonight.

Scott Spiezio, who started many games in the outfield this spring, will not start tonight either because "his back is barking," La Russa said.

Who says "his back is barking?" Seriously?

Who says "his back is barking?" Seriously?

Authorities believe alcohol was involved!!

Kill me now.

"his back is barking,"

Maybe it will wake up whoever is asleep at the wheel.

MLB.com:

Carpenter has been examined by head team physician Dr. George Paletta as well as the team's training staff, including head athletic trainer Barry Weinberg and assistant athletic trainer Greg Hauck.

"Early indications are that it's not the kind of serious thing where we're making a move immediately," La Russa said.
...
"After the game, when I went home, I could tell there was something going on," [Carpenter] said. "It just felt funny, and when I woke up the next morning, it was swelled up pretty good. They'll evaluate again in a few days."

He explained that some fluid is present in the elbow, but it is not expected to be drained. Carpenter has not undergone an MRI examination. He is due to be re-examined on Wednesday or Thursday.

Apparently it's just inflammation. Still...ugh.

#10
Last time I checked inflammation is swelling. Is there any situation in which swelling is good? Not counting when attractive women are in the room....

Jeez. My Opening Day trifecta of Shilling/Lowe/Carpenter hasn't worked out well at all.

The latest from the STL Post-Dispatch: Sore elbow slows Carpenter

The Cardinals' ace will miss at least his next scheduled start against the Houston Astros on Friday after notifying team trainers of elbow stiffness, soreness and swelling after Sunday's season-opening loss to the New York Mets.
...
Though the club did not discuss the probability of Carpenter landing on the disabled list for a third time in four seasons, a club source said such a move becomes likely if there is no significant improvement in the next three days.

The Cardinals declined to make medical supervisor Dr. George Paletta available for comment.
...
Carpenter said he first noticed the problem Tuesday morning when he could not touch his right hand to his right shoulder as he attempted to adjust his shirt while speaking on the phone with his parents.

Last time I checked inflammation is swelling.

The medical gurus will correct me, but I believe inflammation is technically heating up due to an irritation or injury (i.e. becoming inflamed). The body deals with that by rushing cooling, stiffening pus to the scene!

Anyway, if you've ever been injured, touch the injured area and you'll notice a definite temp difference to an uninjured area.

inflammation is:

-redness
-swelling (edema)
-pain
-heat
-loss of function/impairment of function

There's a really cool study involving athletes and injection of 1 cc (about a thimble-full) of saline into their knees and testing their strength...it decreased about 15-20%. This is important because it shows the body compensates by protecting itself, even with an amount of swelling unnoticeable to the eye or even with swelling so slight it is still painless. That's part of why I get so perturbed when they say "it's just a bit of inflammation," because it doesn't really tell you if it's part of the normal post-start healing proces--pitching hurts, after all--or pathologic. When it hurts, that's usually not a good sign, though as we've seen, lots of guys are fine with rest.