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After winning the World Series in 2006, the St. Louis Cardinals stumbled for four seasons before righting the ship and recapturing the crown this past season. A similar pattern has occurred across the river from Busch Stadium, though unfortunately this news from the metro-east will provoke hand wringing. not hand clapping.

The year 2006 was the last time Madison and St. Clair counties were infamously ranked among the nation’s worst “judicial hellholes.” But after four years of relative improvements in the fairness of the judicial systems, the counties have landed back on the list of the nation’s worst “judicial hellholes” in the latest annual rankings by the American Tort Reform Foundation.

Madison and St. Clair counties were jointly ranked as the nation’s fifth worst “judicial hellhole.” ATRF defines a “judicial hellhole” as “a place where judges systematically apply laws and court procedures in an unfair and unbalanced manner.”

We saw a good example of this unfairness and imbalance earlier this month. The asbestos trial docket for Madison County for 2013 was set on Dec. 1 by Judge Barbara Crowder, and she awarded a whopping 82 percent of those future trial slots to three personal injury lawyer firms. On Dec. 5 and 6, those three firms gave Crowder’s campaign committee a total of $30,000.

It’s bad enough that this looks like a quid pro quo, but it’s just as bad that Crowder reserved all those 2013 trial slots for cases that haven’t even been filed.

This kind of questionable behavior encourages personal injury lawyers to file lawsuits in Madison County — even lawsuits that have nothing to do with the metro-east. The “judicial hellholes” report found that only about one in 10 of Madison County’s asbestos cases have any connection to the area, with most plaintiffs living in other states.

Being ranked as one of the worst places in the country for legal fairness may encourage personal injury lawyers to flock here, but it will just as likely keep new employers away. Businesses expand or relocate in places where the legal system is considered fair and balanced, so returning to “judicial hellhole” status will undoubtedly impede job growth efforts at a time when new jobs are desperately needed.

After the lawyers’ campaign contributions to Crowder were revealed, she was removed from overseeing the asbestos docket. Very soon, voters will have a chance to render their own verdicts on Madison and St. Clair County judges who have allowed metro-east courts to relapse into “judicial hellholes.”

Judges as well as judicial candidates on the ballot in 2012 will be pressed to spell out what they will do to strengthen reforms and restore fairness to metro-east courts. Good judges matter, and making the metro-east a more attractive place for job growth depends on a fair judiciary.

Down-ballot judicial elections often get overlooked, but climbing back out of the “judicial hellhole” and bringing jobs and opportunities back to the metro-east depends on voters placing a high priority on these elections.

Though we may all wish for a World Series repeat, let’s hope a “judicial hellholes” repeat is not in the cards.

Travis Akin is executive director of Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch (I-LAW), a grass-roots watchdog group dedicated to educating the public about the widespread costs of lawsuit abuse.

Fifth in a series of 10 Cleveland Browns wins in 10 days.

No Jim Brown, no Gary Collins, no problem as the Cleveland Browns defeated the St. Louis Cardinals, 27-24, on this date, Dec. 19, of 1965.

Long-suffering Cleveland Browns fans deserve a holiday treat. So we’re offering 10 victories in 10 days leading up to Christmas.

Here’s the game story, as it appeared in the next day’s Plain Dealer.

Browns Win With Collins, Brown Out

Busch Stadium, St. Louis

By Charles Heaton
Plain Dealer Reporter

The Browns’ wild regular-season finale in St. Louis may be just the
tuneup the team needed for the National Football League title match.

They rallied in the last quarter yesterday to topple the St. Louis
Cardinals, 27-24, at Busch Stadium. And they did it with both Jim Brown
and Gary Collins on the bench

Jim had been tossed out of the game
late in the second quarter along with Joe Robb, the Cards defensive end,
after a kicking, fist-swinging altercation.

Collins, the clutch
catcher and league’s leading punter, moved to the sideline earlier with
bruised ribs. Stunned by the loss of two standouts, the Eastern
champions saw the Cards score 17 points to take a seven-point lead.

Then the Browns slashed back with Tom Hutchinson taking a 24-yard pass from Frank Ryan in the end zone for the winning points.

Now the Blanton Collier club, which wound up with an 11-3 mark, must
start preparations for the Jan. 2 visit to Green Bay or Baltimore and
its bid for a second straight NFL crown. Yesterday’s finish, in which
the Browns beat the Cards after two straight losses to the Missouri
club, started out like a romp.

THE BROWNS jumped out to a 17-0 lead and seemed on the way to another score when the roof started to come down.

Collins had opened the scoring with a nice catch of a 13-yard pass from Ryan. That came in the first period.

Early in the second quarter, Jim Brown bulled three yards for a score
so the fullback’s banishment a few minutes later killed his chances of
moving ahead of Chicago’s Gale Sayers in the touchdown race. An
interception by Jim Houston, Cleveland’s all-pro linebacker, had given
the Browns those two scoring opportunities.

THEN LARRY BENZ picked
off a pass by Buddy Humphrey in the same period to set the Browns in
motion again. This time they settled for Lou Groza’s 44-yard field goal.
The mighty Toe also had one for 45 yards in the final.

Cleveland seemed on its way to clinching the victory on this bright
chilly day as many of the 29,348 fans booed the Cards in general and
Humphrey in particular. It was second down on the St. Louis 20 with
seven yards to go when Ryan fired in the direction of Brewer.

The slot end, who caught five passes for 51 yards, was well covered.
Larry Wilson, who finished the day with three thefts, grabbed the ball
and set out down the sideline.

Ryan tried to block the gutty
safetyman out of bounds about the Cleveland 20, but failed and Wilson
scooted in for the score. So the Cards trailed by only 10 at the half.

ST. LOUIS struck back in the third quarter with Terry Nofsinger, a Pittsburgh castoff, at quarterback.

Terry scored the first touchdown on a sneak and then accurate Jim Bakken evened the count at 17-all on a 23-yard field goal.

The Cleveland offense, with Charley Scales at fullback, and Hutchinson
replacing Collins, couldn’t move in the third period and Bobby Franklin
punted poorly.

So the Cards had field position and kept the pressure on as the finale started.

WILSON made
his third interception and returned 19 yards to the Cleveland 16. Five
plays later, Nofsinger passed to Bill Triplett, former Miami of Ohio
star, for five yards and the touchdown.

Bakken’s extra point
gave the Cards a 24-17 bulge and it seemed that the Browns would take a
second straight defeat into the title game.

Matters still
remained dark when Groza missed a 39-yard field goal. Minutes later,
however, the Toe redeemed himself with one of 45 right through the
uprights.

That made it 24-20 in favor of the Cards. A touchdown would mean victory.

THAT’S WHEN Vince
Costello made the biggest interception of all. The veteran middle
linebacker picked off a Nofsinger pass intended for Triplett and
returned 10 yards to the St. Louis 24.

On the first play, Ryan
fired a strike to Hutchinson, who beat Pat Fischer, a pro bowl defensive
back last season, to get open in the end zone.

There were more than four minutes left and time for a final St. Louis threat.

The Browns again were able to move into field position but the fiery
Fischer sliced through to block Groza’s try from the 38. And Pat,
picking up the ball about midfield, raced all the way to the Cleveland
23 before being slammed down.

THE BROWNS’
defense, which sagged in the third period, suddenly became a
championship unit again. Galen Fiss reached out with one arm to stop
Willis Crenshaw for a one-yard gain when the big back seemed about to
break away.

Then Nofsinger’s pass to Triplett made only three and Jackie Smith couldn’t hang on to another in the end zone.

St. Louis could have had a tie with the usually unerring Bakken ready,
but coach Wally Lemm went for the victory. Nofsinger couldn’t find Bobby
Joe Conrad with his pass, however.

It was an important victory
because the club shook off the loss of Brown and Collins and rallied to
win. Now on to Green Bay or Baltimore.

The St. Louis Cardinals lost the league’s biggest bat when Albert Pujols signed on with the Los Angeles Angels this offseason. So it’s going to need to find offense in all sorts of  new places next season.

According to ESPN, one new face that might be trying to help put runs on the board for the Cards next season is Carlos Beltran. The site notes that St. Louis is after Beltran and a “resolution (is) possible early in the week.” Word came Saturday from Fox Sports that Beltran was considering offers of two and three years. The other teams involved, according to Fox, are the Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays, and Boston Red Sox.

Beltran, of course, spent most of the last six seasons with the New York Mets, missing large chunks of two of them due to injury. This past season, the team traded him to the San Francisco Giants as the Giants tried to inject some offense into its World Series defense. Unfortunately for Beltran, he had a  stint on the DL soon after arriving there. However, he did hit .323 with seven homers when he was in the lineup for the Giants. For the season, the switch-hitting outfielder had 22 dingers and batted .300.

For his career, the 34-year-old six-time All-Star has won three Gold Gloves and two Silver Slugger trophies, but hasn’t taken home any of those awards since 2008.

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Related: Albert Pujols, Carlos Beltrán, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays

Read More: Albert Pujols (1B – STL), St. Louis Cardinals, Florida Marlins

According Jon Heyman, the Miami Herald suggested this morning that the Miami Marlins believe Albert Pujols may have lied about his age:

@SI_JonHeyman: Dan lebatard writes in miami herald, marlins believe pujols is older than 31. me: wonder if they asked him that question (doubt it)

A free agent this offseason, Pujols has long been one of the league’s most durable and effective first baseman. He has played over 140 games in every season starting in 2001, collecting an impressive 445 home runs to go with a .328/.420/.617 slash.

Albert Pujols has played each of his 11 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, but several teams, including the Cards and Marlins, have been courting Pujols. According to the league records, Pujols was 21 when he entered the league in 2001, making him 32 at the beginning of next year.

Reports of the Marlins’ suspicion have yet to be confirmed.

Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Cardinals be sure to visit Viva El Birdos. Visit Baseball Nation for more news and notes around the league.

The MLB Hot Stove is heating up and the St. Louis Cardinals have some big questions facing them. Not only do the Cardinals need a new manager, they need to deal with their All-Star first baseman, Albert Pujols, who is a free agent for the first time in his career and is poised to become the highest-paid player in the sport.

In his “Rumblings & Grumblings” column, Jayson Stark of ESPN polled 28 separate MLB executives, and all but one agreed:

…[Pujols] won’t even have to bother forwarding his mail — because he’s not going anywhere (except back to St. Louis).

According to Stark’s research, the overwhelming majority of baseball executives polled expect the Cardinals to retain the face of their franchise, though the price promises to shatter the Cardinal’s modest piggy bank:

The Pujols [contract] prognostications were fascinating. They ranged from 10 years, $300 million to one (mostly tongue-in-cheek) prediction of three years, $90 million. But otherwise, nobody forecast a deal shorter than seven years. And the average contract worked out to 8.5 years, at just over $28 million a year.

A few weeks ago, former Cardinals infielder David Eckstein suggested Pujols would re-sign with the Cardinals if they promoted third-base coach Jose Oquendo to the manager’s position, but the Cards have yet to conclude their managerial interviews.

Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Cardinals be sure to visit Viva El Birdos. Visit Baseball Nation for more news and notes around the league.

By Bradley Woodrum

– Newsdesk contributor

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Nov 10, 2011 – The MLB Hot Stove is heating up and the St. Louis Cardinals have some big questions facing them. Not only do the Cardinals need a new manager, they need to deal with their All-Star first baseman, Albert Pujols, who is a free agent for the first time in his career and is poised to become the highest-paid player in the sport.

In his “Rumblings & Grumblings” column, Jayson Stark of ESPN polled 28 separate MLB executives, and all but one agreed:

…[Pujols] won’t even have to bother forwarding his mail — because he’s not going anywhere (except back to St. Louis).

According to Stark’s research, the overwhelming majority of baseball executives polled expect the Cardinals to retain the face of their franchise, though the price promises to shatter the Cardinal’s modest piggy bank:

The Pujols [contract] prognostications were fascinating. They ranged from 10 years, $300 million to one (mostly tongue-in-cheek) prediction of three years, $90 million. But otherwise, nobody forecast a deal shorter than seven years. And the average contract worked out to 8.5 years, at just over $28 million a year.

A few weeks ago, former Cardinals infielder David Eckstein suggested Pujols would re-sign with the Cardinals if they promoted third-base coach Jose Oquendo to the manager’s position, but the Cards have yet to conclude their managerial interviews.

Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Cardinals be sure to visit Viva El Birdos. Visit Baseball Nation for more news and notes around the league.

Read More: David Eckstein (2B – SDP), Albert Pujols (1B – STL), Jose Oquendo (PH – STL), St. Louis Cardinals

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