Holy SH..

Just like a Volkswagen commercial, I think even Cards fans still can't believe what just happened.

The St. Louis Cardinals just won the World Series in 2006.

Adam Wainwright threw the final pitch, some Molina brother named Yadi caught it and there was a lot of celebrating going on.

I can't help but think of Wainwright's curve ball as Bruce Sutter's split-finger and the rest as history.

Would you like to test your rationality? I'll say someone's name and you tell me the first thing that comes to mind:

David Eckstein
Yadier Molina
Jeff Weaver
Chris Carpenter
Jeff Suppan
Anthony Reyes
Adam Wainwright
Jim Edmonds
Scott Rolen
Albert Pujols
So Taguchi
Scott Spiezio
Randy Flores
Josh Kinney
Aaron Miles
Ronnie Belliard
Preston Wilson
Tyler Johnson
Chris Duncan
Juan Encarncion

In case you over-reacted to any one of the individuals, this is the list of contributors to the World Champion 2006 St. Louis Cardinals. But the list is not complete.

And don't take my word for it... straight from the pulse-->

"I'm STILL numb...

I don't even know what to say. And it's been 24 hours.

3 different bars I tried to go to actually ran out of beer. One wouldn't let any more people in.

It hasn't even come close to sinking in.

See some of you @ the parade maybe...." (Werkmeister, 2006)

P.S. What's the difference between the Cardinals and the Cubs?

P.P.S. The Cards have won a World Championship in their new ballpark.

Pardon Me If I Ramble, But This Is Awesome

Well, well, well. Between watching Game 2, work, watching Game 3, work, travel, sitting through what was to be Game 4 in the rain, running errands (since I'm not in St. Louis much anymore, gotta get my local flavor while I'm here), and witnessing the glory of the Real Game 4, there hasn't been much time to think about writing about this stuff. It's a shame, really, because a lot has happened in the past four days, with Pinetargate (my opinion: there's nothing that can be done about game 2 now, so why whine about it? If there's a game 6, Rogers cannot risk his hand being anything but spotless, and the Cards' hitters should be licking their chops.), the Busch Stadium Lockdown on Wednesday, and the major defensive issues for the Tigers' pitchers and outfielders last night all being newsworthy events. Most importantly, however, the Cards are up 3-1 in the World Series with the chance to close it out at home tonight.

As I write this, I can hear the fairly heavy rain on the roof. It's supposedly on its way out of town, but forecasters aren't quite sure at what point it will stop for good. So, tonight's game is still a bit up in the air - I believe it will happen tonight, although the start will likely be delayed.

The rain has played a huge part in this series as well as the Cards' playoff run as a whole, allowing pitchers to be moved up in the rotation on a few occasions due to the extra day of rest. Tonight's scheduled starters are Jeff Weaver, who (presumably) was scheduled to start Game 6 in Detroit before Wednesday's game got postponed, and Justin Verlander, the loser in Game 1. Given the way things played out the past two days, I am of the opinion that the Cards' rotation for the rest of the series should be set in stone barring further rainouts. That rotation would be Weaver tonight, and Anthony Reyes in Game 6 and Chris Carpenter in Game 7 if needed. If all of the games had been played as scheduled, the scenario existed where Suppan would've been able to come back and start in Game 7 on three days' rest after Carp started Game 6 on short rest. However, since Suppan started last night, and Weaver is scheduled to start tonight, Reyes and Carpenter have to pitch the last two games. So, why start Carp on short rest when you're not able to bump someone else up for Game 7? Also, would you rather have a rookie pitch in a Game 6 with Carpenter going behind him, or a Game 7 with everything on the table? Apparently the Cards have not announced their rotation for the rest of the series, citing the potential for another rainout, which is understandable. Yes, my points could be moot altogether if the Cards win tonight. But I'm not taking anything for granted - the Cards were the last team to blow a 3-1 lead in the World Series in '85, and also blew a 3-1 lead to Detroit in '68. If tonight's game is played and a Game 6 is required tomorrow, starting Carpenter on short rest could be a huge mistake.

In other news, it seems that Mr. Carpenter's methods have been called into question. Iron microfibers! Magnetic gloves! Oh, the humanity!

The folks in section 367 last night kept saying how amazing David Eckstein is, and Tom Verducci agrees. Two of his three doubles last night would probably have been easy flyouts had the Tigers' outfielders not been playing so shallow, but a 4-for-5 game is a 4-for-5 game, especially on the biggest stage of them all. The guy just gets it done, in whatever way possible, and because of that we give thanks. How's Edgar Renteria looking now, Red Sox?

Speaking of the Red Sox, it never ceases to amaze me how classless their fans can be. Oh well - hopefully we'll get ours this year.

One final note: I'm generally not the superstitious type, but the past few months I've been obsessed with whatever lucky charms I could conjure up for the Cardinals. This is the first year I've grown a playoff beard - needless to say, if we win, it's going to be an annual tradition (and no, that's not my site). I've had two $1.50 red wristbands that I wore to work with my Cardinals gear the day of every playoff game. I wore the exact same outfit to watch Games 5, 6, and 7 of the NLCS because it "worked" in Games 2 and 3. I purchased red sneakers back in August to wear to games; they've hardly left my feet this month (and will probably be ruined because of the rain here, but I could care less if we win). I even bought my plane ticket back here for this week after the first game against the Padres, when it was apparent that we'd be seeing a different Cardinal team in October. Evidently, whatever the hell I've been doing has (in my head, anyway) given the Cards the luck they needed to beat teams that were clearly superior to them over the course of a 162-game season. Nobody gave the Cards a chance at the beginning of every round, but somehow each time we found a way to win - and now our team stands on the brink of the first championship many of us have ever seen. Yes, a whole generation has grown up without a World Series victory parade down Market Street, and that wrong is about to be undone. If we win this thing tonight at home, St. Louis will truly be Baseball Heaven.

A Quick Refresher

It's amazing how quickly people have forgotten about Kenny Rogers' recent "anger issues". I'm guessing he's expecting that tonight's game won't be televised.

Game 2 is 3½ hours away. Football is inconsequential today, so I'm on pins and needles. Go get 'em tonight, Jeff - keep pretending you're Jered and that'll be okay with me.

Detroit Shock

No, this post does not refer to the WNBA.

Anthony Reyes, you done good... real good. Reyes' start tonight was reminiscent of his best outings of the year: pounding the strike zone with fastballs, working quickly, giving up a ton of fly balls (3 GO, 17(!) FO), but few runs. The camera focused on Reyes and Dave Duncan having a conversation in the dugout during the top of the 2nd, and whatever was said there apparently worked (I'm thinking it was something to the effect of "throw fastballs, don't nibble"). The ton of fly ball outs didn't hurt him in the cavernous Comerica Park, especially with probably the Cards' best defensive outfield out there. Indeed, lboros noted in his Series preview over at VEB that a Tigers weakness at home was the hugeness of the outfield neutralizing their home run power. It definitely did, and even more appropriately, Pudge Rodriguez hit a ball a mile to the warning track in left late in the game, and So Taguchi hauled it in without blinking.

I mentioned earlier Taguchi's start in Game 1 of the '04 Series, for outfield defense, and that I wasn't anticipating that happening this year given the bevy of outfield options. But sure enough, La Russa did it again - So was solid as usual in LF and went 1 for 4, killing his postseason OPS. Preston Wilson, who I had hoped would start in LF, came in to get yet another K late in the game, replacing Chris Duncan at DH. Duncan had an RBI double in the third inning, likely sufficiently rattling Verlander before the Tigers' decision to pitch to Pujols put them behind 4-1 and took the crowd out of the game. Even Juan Encarnacion contributed, sort of, by drawing a walk (!) and getting an RBI groundout on the wacky obstruction play that scored 2 runs in the 6th. Ronnie Belliard actually had an awful game, going 0 for 4 with a K while missing a diving stop of a ground ball, but had perhaps the biggest intangible contribition of the evening, so he's off the hook.

So, Jeff Weaver faces Kenny Rogers tomorrow night. Rogers has been dominant this October, posting 15 shutout innings with 7 H, 14 K, and 4 BB, and supplying some snarling, fist-pumping excitement for the crowds at Comerica. Weaver has also been solid, posting a 2.16 ERA in 16 2/3 IP despite some not-so-pretty peripherals (12 H, 7 BB, only 5 K). The biggest news, however, could be the weather - it's supposed to be downright ugly in Detroit tomorrow. If this game is rained out until Monday - which doesn't look a whole lot better, so MLB might try to get it in tomorrow in the rain anyway - the Cards could come back with Chris Carpenter in Game 2 on normal rest, just like in the NLCS, moving Suppan up to Game 3 in St. Louis, and pushing Weaver back to Game 4, Reyes Game 5, and Carp and Suppan in 6-7 if necessary. Although given Reyes' performance tonight, starting him twice in the series might not be the worst thing in the world.

Every game that goes by, the more I realize we have a great shot to win this thing. The Cards are playing hungry, and do not want to be denied. Go get 'em tomorrow night.

Ronnie Belliard's Glorious 'Fro

Wow. Unlike 2004, even if we don't win this series, at least we'll have something to remember fondly.

No Sympathy

Is anyone else sick of all this crap (mostly on the Fox pregame show) about the Tigers "rescuing Detroit, saving the city", etc.? Yeah, they're a nice story since they've been so awful up until this season, but it's not like the city of Detroit hasn't had any championships lately. After all, they have the Pistons, who won an NBA title just two and a half years ago. Then there's the Red Wings... and oh, the Red Wings. As a Blues fan, this World Series means a bit more, as the Wings have haunted the Blues whenever they've been up against them in the playoffs. Not to mention their three Stanley Cups in the past ten years. No, I don't feel bad at all for Detroit, whose teams have won seven championships in the four major professional sports since 1981, the year I was born. (St. Louis has won two, for the record.) St. Louis is a baseball town; we deserve this, Hockeytown does not.

Game 1 time. GO CARDS!

They Were Saving It For October

(Courtesy AP)

I still haven't quite come down from my high of Thursday night. What an unreal ending to an absolutely unreal game.

It's also hard for me to believe that the Cardinals go right back at it tonight. Detroit's been out of the spotlight so long - after all, they finished off their sweep of the A's a week ago before the Cards even started Game 3 - it's made the postseason that much more disjointed. But they're playing, sure enough, and we'll all be watching.

Detroit's been resting and scouting for a week, and the Cards' pitching is not on a good rotation to start the series tonight. Plus, the Tigers have home field advantage thanks to Phil Garner and Miguel Cabrera. So, can the Cardinals actually win this thing? Let's take a look.

WHY THE CARDINALS WILL NOT WIN THE WORLD SERIES

1) The Tigers are eerily similar to the defending champs.

Many people have compared the 2006 Tigers to the buzzsaw that was the 2005 White Sox, and rightfully so. Both teams only lost one game in the first two rounds of the playoffs combined, both teams had the best record in the league throughout most of the regular season only to give it away during the last month, both featured four starting pitchers who tossed 186 innings with an ERA of under 4.08, both featured eight starting position players with at least 13 HR. Also:

2005 White Sox
OBP - 11th in the AL
HR - 4th in the AL
RS - 9th in the AL
ERA - 1st in the AL
DEFF - 1st in the AL

2006 Tigers
OBP - 12th in the AL
HR - 3rd in the AL
RS - 5th in the AL
ERA - 1st in the AL
DEFF - 1st in the AL

Offenses heavily reliant on the home run and exceptional pitching and defense are the hallmarks of both teams. The White Sox swept an 89-win Astros team in last year's World Series; the Tigers find themselves against an 83-win Cardinals team in this year's. Ouch.

2) The Cardinals have too many holes in their lineup.

Tony La Russa loves his matchups. Thanks to Juan Encarnacion's fairly empty .316 BA during the regular season against lefthanders, Tony has placed him squarely behind Albert Pujols against lefthanded starters. He's responded with a 4-for-17 performance vs. LHP with only one extra-base hit and zero walks. His line against RHP isn't much better either, giving him a .626 OPS overall for the postseason (he has one more total base than So Taguchi despite 37 more PA). Preston Wilson has managed a .231 OBP batting primarily in front of Pujols. Scott Rolen has struggled with a left shoulder injury and the associated negative publicity and is slugging .250 despite seeing a lot of pitches. For all the talk about Scott Spiezio's ability in the clutch, he's only managed a .227/.292/.455 line. Ronnie Belliard is apparently nothing but a singles hitter. Chris Duncan is 2 for 14. Even David Eckstein is hitting .195/.313/.293. They've had some clutch hits in big spots, but the offense has to get more consistent in order to score against a Tigers staff that is significantly better than the Mets'.

3) Karma.

Tony La Russa historically hasn't been very good in the World Series, posting a 5-12 overall record. Jim Leyland has won it in his only appearance. Leyland, if you didn't know, was La Russa's third-base coach for the White Sox in their early days, scouted for the Cards after leaving Colorado in '99, and remains very good friends with La Russa. They've vowed not to talk about their relationship during the series, but you know Leyland wants to show his old boss what he's learned. He certainly did in June, when the Cards came out of an awful sweep at the hands of the White Sox only to be swept again in Comerica Park.

Oh yeah, and the kiss of death: Bernie Miklasz picked the Cards to win.

WHY THE CARDINALS WILL WIN THE WORLD SERIES

1) The DH.

With the likes of Scott Spiezio, Chris Duncan, and/or Preston Wilson on the bench, the Cards have plenty of offensive depth to offset the extra bat that the Tigers will have at home. In Game 1 at Fenway in 2004, So Taguchi was that guy - he started in LF while Reggie Sanders started at DH - because of the goofy wall at that ballpark. No such worries exist in Comerica, despite its huge outfield, so we'll likely see Wilson start in LF and the lesser defensive outfielders Duncan or Spiezio at DH, depending on matchups. It might not be a terrible move to start Spiezio will at 3B in Game 1 against the power righty Justin Verlander to give Scott Rolen a break, but given the amount of publicity that caused the last time it happened, it likely won't again.

And seriously, who doesn't want to see Nate Robertson (1/14, 1 RBI, 6 K, 1 SH career), Jeremy Bonderman (0/19, 12 K), and Justin Verlander (0/1, 1 SH) bat when we'll see the likes of Jeff Suppan (.195/.241/.223 career), Chris Carpenter (.095/.122/.104) and Jeff Weaver (.206/.231/.249) out there for our side? Yeah, Carp sucks at the plate, but the other two guys are almost like another Yadier Molina (the regular-season version, that is) in the lineup opposite the gaping hole that the Tigers will see.

2) The clutch, and the mojo.

Seriously now, did anyone expect Scott Spiezio, Yadier Molina, Jeff Weaver, Jeff Suppan, and So Taguchi to be heroes? It's happened once, why can't it happen again? Or maybe a Ronnie Belliard, Preston Wilson, or (gasp) Juan Encarnacion will shine? Especially in a Busch Stadium that will be absolutely insane with joy - no rich New Englanders scalping tickets this time, right? It'll be a little weird after what experiences we've all had at New Busch in its opening season, but I fully expect Cardinal Nation to rock the house. Anything less would be disappointing.

3) The Cards have nothing to lose, and they're playing like it.

Back when we all watched the first game against the Padres, you could tell something was up. The Cards were playing with an energy we hadn't seen for most of the season - or at least, not since April when Albert Pujols was playing God - and good things were starting to happen. Then, in Game 2 against the Mets, it really took shape - Carp struggled, the Mets took the lead again and again, but the Cardinals kept... coming... back. You knew then that you weren't watching wasn't the same team that went 22-28 in their last 50 games and nearly blew the division. This team was not playing under pressure like the Cardinal teams of the last two years, both of whom were favored to win it all. This Cardinal team was loose, having fun, and playing good baseball. Who's to say they won't keep doing that against the Tigers?

To conclude, I woke up this morning to find an advertisement on my computer from AOL Shopping saying "Red is your color. Really." That has to be a good sign. Go Cards.

Wishlist

This postseason has been an emotional roller coaster for me, from watching the first game against the Padres during happy hour at a small-town bar near where I work to watching Game 3 of the NLCS at the ESPN Zone in Times Square, from the excitement of Game 2 against the Mets to the offensive malaise of... well, a few others that shall remain nameless. Some argue this hasn't been a great series despite the all-or-nothing affair tonight, but I beg to differ. Each team has had their flaws, and not every game has been close - but the emotion has been there, and for me, that's all it takes to consider a series "great."

Unfortunately, that doesn't make it okay if we lose. A few wishes for the evening and beyond, if I may:

I'd love to see Albert Pujols smile again.

I'd love to see Scott Rolen get a big hit.

I'd love to see Preston Wilson do something important enough to keep him from being referred to as Mookie's stepson.

I'd love to not have to deal with Oliver Perez, of all people, being a hero. (He was a second-round fantasy draft pick of mine back in '05. A win tonight would be salt in the wound.)

I'd love to see Jeff Suppan and So Taguchi keep doin' what they're doin'.

I'd love to see Juan Encarnacion do something... anything.

I'd love to see David Eckstein sprint to first on a walk... several times.

I'd love to see Adam Wainwright's playoff beard grow a little longer.

I'd love to not have to root for the Detroit Tigers next week.

Speaking of which, I'd love to see Kenny Rogers - did everyone forget what an asshole he is? - get the Glavine treatment. (The Game 5 version, that is.)

I'd love to see Chris Carpenter pitch in a World Series game.

Most of all, I'd love to see Games 4 and 5 in St. Louis, like I've been planning all along. Good luck, guys, and Godspeed.

What a Game

This is what the Cardinals needed, in many more ways than one. This is what Cardinal Nation needed, a crash cart shock to the heart to let us know we have a real ball club out there. That was about as exciting a Game 2 as I could have wanted, down twice throughout the game and coming in tied to face Wagner, it seemed like we had fought hard to come back and now were going to have to flip a coin on some late inning chance. Instead, we taguchied the game into our own hands and sparked a powder keg of momentum and confidence that has been missing in the last few years.

Carlos Delgado is a true monster. And even though it was an early inning in game 2, I couldn't help but think that Bill Buckner's karma was coming full circle on Monster's little error at first. The Mets are an incredible opponent, but I think we have found the backdoor to this team. Enough about them.

What the Cardinals did right:

We hit.

With a nice mix of patience and contact, the Cards put a lot of pressure on young, shaky John Maine early in the game. With the lack of rest days and the obvious weakness of Met starting pitching, it appears our best attack is straight against these starters. Not only will we tire the arms of their formidable bullpen by forcing as many pitches from them as early as possible, we will get a lot of looks against these guys. This could be very important if we get to a game 6 or 7.

The Card's infantry stepped up.

We got timely hits and great at bats from the off spots of our lineup. Spiezio, Belliard, Eckstein, Encarnacion and YADY! all posed problems for opposing pitchers. There is nothing more we can ask from these guys, other than the solid team defense they're putting on the field. No easy outs. Make contact.

We won in spite of Carp and Pujols.

By the second half of the game, Pujols had lightened up and started spraying the ball to the corners. Albert also drew a key walk from a tenacious at bat. But in general, this game was won without our go to guys. Carp did not have his best stuff or even his second best stuff, and Pujols did not have to carry the whole team on his back. Instead, we picked both these guys up and carried them to the finish with a flood of effort.

Rolen and Edmonds are doing their part.

Yes, Rolen is obviously not 100%, but he is contributing when he can and is not hurting us with stubbornness. Edmonds is just a great player for us and is showing his steadiness at the plate with power and patience. We would all rather have a healthy Rolen and a non-concussed Edmonds, but for now I'll take these guys as-is.

TLR is showing us how he has won so many games.

Could last night have been any more of a feather in the cap of Tony LaRussa? Finally, he has pushed his micromanagement skills to the side and has dealt well with the major issues of the team. In past postseasons, a valid criticism of the Tony has been his stubborn starting of the veteran guys, in spite of any result. Benching Rolen must have been a difficult decision, but it is that kind of hard decision that managers need to make and that TLR is finally showing stomach rather than brains for. Speizio's start couldn't have paid more dividends. And even though Duncan didn't do much at the plate, I liked his start as well. Then, as if LaRussa had access to the game from the next day's paper, he subbed in Taguchi and Rolen for defensive purposes. Rolen comes up huge on a great play to his left, and of course we all know what Taguchi did. Wow. It seemed too perfect. TLR is showing that before you worry about splits and peripherals, you get in touch with your players and give your team the best chance to perform from the opening pitch. Keep it up Tony.

Card's Mojo.

To win a post season series, you need to have some breaks go your way and you need surprise peformances to elevate the play of your team. Taguchi and Speizio did this for us in a huge way. The ebb and flow of this game could not have helped the Cards anymore. Simply put, it completely demoralized the Mets and their sorry fans. Jose Reyes couldn't do his spritely little dance by the end of the game and half of the fans had left before the bottom of the ninth. What kind of fans are these? They're Mets fans. Showing we could withstand two shots from Delgado as well as Reyes scoring from first against a half-cocked ace and still come out on top on a chilly night at Shea is as debilitating for the Mets as it is uplifting for the Birds on Bats.

There's still a lot of baseball to play, and the Mets are still a dangerous team, but now we have some momentum coming into our home park and a hyped crowd to boot. And don't be surprised if the Red Imperial starts showing up on fan faces everywhere.

Breakfast in Bed

That's what I'm listening to, as I lament the loss of Cory Lidle, by Dusty Springfield. What an odd and sad end to the Yankees' season. False reports that NYC pulled a STL on Joe Torre, Yanks Viagra lineup can't score runs, and now a good baseball guy does a sorry number while flying his plane. RIP Cory Lidle.

And a fitting rain on that tragedy knocks the Birds and Mets out of the sky as well. The only thing on the field tonight is the tarp, but the fact remains we're back in Shea. The alleged mortal wound of losing Pedro and El Duque has turned into a flesh wound, as the Mets cruised down an easy street covered in Dodgers' jerseys and lead by John Maine, Tom Glavine, and Steve Trachsel. What the? We'll see how these guy hold up against a much more solid STL lineup. The bigger than El Duque loss is the loss of Duaner Sanchez, the strictly unhittable righty from their bullpen. Aaron Heilman and to a lesser extent Pedro Feliciano and Chad Bradford are still hanging around to keep it respectable after the seventh, but I think a 7 game series will show more holes in the Mets pitching than their season team averages might make us think.

This rainout also gives us a nice potential for some flexibility with Carpenter. After Suppan, our staff gets quickly flat. The good news is that LaRussa appears to have his head about him and left Marquis off the roster in favor of Anthony Reyes. Who knows when we'll need this kid to pitch, but it will be a lot more often than we'd need Marquis to pinch hit. But the key to us getting through a 7 game series is managing momentum through Carpenter. Suppan is a great play, he's nearly guaranteed to give up 3 runs, no more, no less in 6 or 7 innings. Weaver seems to have the odd ability to dominate a game, but count on him getting tagged hard sometime. David Wright, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado are absolute monsters, possibly the best threesome in the game. You show them Jeff Weaver one too many times and one of those guys is gonna break a car window with a baseball.

This should be a classic series.

Instead of Cardinal red, I've been watching the A's and Tigers play for the second night. I tell you, I'm a renewed fan of pitchers who can throw the ball more than 95 mph and locate at all. I'm also a big fan of Jim Leyland, Thames and Monroe hitting deep in the lineup, Milton Bradley ("I'm Milton Bradley, who the Frank_Thomas are you?"), Nick Swisher, Carlos Guillen, Placido Palanco (remember this guy who TLR couldn't find a daily spot for?) and Ivan "Nomar Pudge" Rodriguez. How about Detroit's starting pitching? We can't hear enough about Oakland's rotation, but Detroit is downright dangerous from the first pitch. Enough about the human interest story of Kenny Rogers, the guy is great in action and great to watch.

Oh, to manufacture or not to manufacture, that is the question.

The Cards can do both, and will need to against the Mets' pitching and solid offense. We'll need to both pick away, grab run-by-run innings as well as put up the 3-run homer sometimes. We'll need tight pitching from Johnson and Wainwright. We'll need honesty from Rolen and good eyes from Edmonds. We'll need pitching from guys we don't expect and hitting from our corners. We'll need Belly from Belliard. We'll need Albert to be Albert and Carp to be Carp.

And we'll need to play hard. This is a fight now, we have no calculated edge coming into this thing. As Fela Kuti would say, "I don't be gentleman at all, no." It's time to step up.

Cards Push Through

Well, that's a winner. The Cards take care of the Pads in nifty fashion and move ahead to face the only real baseball team in NYC. What we lack on paper we've managed to make up for with swagger and grit. This is probably the least talented team we've put in the playoffs in the last several years, but I can't help feel some hope against the Mets this series.

Of course, it all starts with our super stars Pujols and Carpenter, who should by any reasonable account go back-to-back with MVP and Cy Young awards. Not sure how many times that's been done before, not only two guys going back-to-back on them, but those two guys being on the same team. I am finally pacified now that most announcers no longer stutter when proclaiming Pujols the best overall baseball player on the planet. I was slightly sideways, however, at the underwhelming reserve used by announcers to conclude that Carpenter is clearly a number 1 pitcher. Carpenter is more than an ace, he is the best starting pitcher left in the playoffs, the best starting pitcher in the national league over the regular season and remains a perennial combination of innings workhorse and big-gamer. There are only a few pitchers in MLB who can match up against him, and at this point in October, Carpenter stands alone. He deserves more credit; there should be more gushing.

After the way the games this series have unfolded, there should be a lot of hope in Budweiser country right now.

First of all, our corner OF platoon of Encarnacion, Wilson and Duncan is superior over our corner OFers from last year. I mean, these guys aren't superstars or anything, but they have the ability to strike at any time, get streaky and punish mistakes. Last year, I had a hard time justifying keeping Taguchi on the bench with the sad performances of Walker and Sanders, but this year, Taguchi is a defensive roll player or a last resort, and I like it that way. Many on this blog lamented the loss of Sanders, and some of my friends have tried to stall my current favor by reminding me of his performance last year against SD. My simple response is that Larry Walker is now retired, Reggie Sanders is barely playing ball in KC and aside from that grand slam Reggie bombed, I mostly remember the pleasant and steady breeze created by Sanders and Walker trying to catch up to strike after strike thrown by Houston's pitchers. That situation has changed.

Rolen and Edmonds. These guys continue to be the support structure for Pujols and a Jekyll and Hyde to each other. Both players are on the down swing of their talents, and both already have supporters for Cooperstown mention. Critics of Edmonds abound, often accusing him of being wimpy and offensively nonexistent during the playoffs. But now we see the dramatic California boy playing through pain and demonstrating some veteran grit. Rolen, on the other hand, having a reputation of playing the game "the right way," may have gotten benched for trying to be a little too tough. And in reality, it has been every bit as much of Rolen who has had a career of season and post-season injuries that have hurt the teams he has played for. We will see if Rolen will be healthy enough to contribute this October, otherwise, I'm happy with the way Edmonds is playing.

Our roll players and above average guys. Eckstein is the main roll player on our team, and you can never count him out. He appears constantly caffeinated, and what he lacks in natural athleticism he makes up for with consistency and fiestiness. Ron "Belly" Belliard has seriously grown on me. Not since Tommy Herr have I been this happy with our second baseman. He shows nice range, soft hands, and an all around quick bat at the plate. Spiezio is a great backup for Rolen, has plenty of playoff experience and is a sneaky dangerous bat in our lineup. Still not sure how I feel about the red soul patch, but I like the guy. (The announcers tonight tried to call it an "Imperial." Weak...)

Adam Wainwright and the setup boyz. I am personally very happy with the poise Wainright is showing as our ad hoc closer. Johnson just humiliates opposing lefties, and Kinney keeps keeping the other guys confused. They may not stand up in comparison to the Mets superior pen, but they are getting the job done so far and are showing some pluck.

Having Yady in the lineup is like batting two pitchers sometimes, but whatever he lacks in his ability to wave the bat, he more than makes up for behind the plate. This kid is the best defensive catcher I have ever seen play baseball.

Tony LaRussa. I have never been a huge fan of TLR, but I do credit him with being possibly the game's best tactician manager. He proved himself right by benching Carpenter to close the season down leaving him available for 2 compact, early wins against SD. He has shown both touch and smarts in his handling of games too. I think he knows we are under-dogs now and is taking less for granted than he may have in previous years. I like starting Spiezio tonight, whether it was a no-brainer or a message sent. Unlike Joe Torre 2006, TLR is showing that he is very in tune with his club and is using his guys and his many, many stats in the right way.

We just had to know we would eventually hurt Woody Williams tonight. All our hitters were showing patience through the first three innings. We were taking breaking ball after breaking ball, getting our timing down and getting WW's pitch count up. Then the 4th happened. Three pitches, three outs. What the...? 5th inning, and the only one who looked like he had a clue at the plate was Carpenter. Again, what the...? We have Woody up against the ropes and give him 6 outs on 9 pitches? Clearly, this was a strategy. Someone in the Card's dugout had flipped a switch. And what we gave up in the 4th and 5th innings by aggressiveness, we made up for in the 6th. My brother had told me early that he thought we'd knock Woody out in the 5th, and he wasn't far off. That appeared to be our strategy against the well-known, well-scouted Woody Williams. Spar with him the first couple times through the lineup then start trying to rip the cover off. It ended up working.

Cardinal Magic? Something maybe we've been lacking for a few years is good luck. Yes, of course, I'm not discounting the incredible win last year when Pujols shoved 50,000 socks in the gaping yams of Houston's fans with a forget-me-not off of Lidge. But I'm talking more about the middle-of-the-game punches every successful team needs to get away with to make a difference in a series. That throw pulling Bard off of home plate when all they had to do was throw-catch, followed by the perfectly called and executed squeeze play made me think we might have a little mojo going in our locker room.

Let's hope we can keep this going against the Mets, a team I grew up absolutely hating; and a team we will need more than talent on paper to beat.

Tidbits

News and notes from the week that was:

After a couple months of purgatory, the Cubs fired Dusty Baker this week. Joe Girardi, canned by the Marlins after a disagreement with management, is being hailed as the frontrunner to replace Baker. With Baker now out, I must thank him for doing his unintentional best to destroy the tiny bit of hope that Cubs fans had for their franchise. While guiding the Cubs to the division title in 2003, he repeatedly overstressed the arms of his two best young pitchers, then proceeded to lobby to have his roster stocked with speedy, flashy-gloved, albeit terrible-hitting position players while running a fan favorite out of town. So we must bid adieu to you, Dusty; Cardinal Nation will miss you.

Other managerial firings: Girardi, Felipe Alou, Buck Showalter, and Frank Robinson. Having followed the saga of the Expos/Nationals and rooting hard for the nomadic '03 and '04 wild card-contending 'Spos, I developed a huge amount of respect for Robinson. If this is indeed his final managerial campaign, it's a sad end to what was a fun couple of seasons as manager of that franchise. However, his overall managerial career was fairly unimpressive, and thus is probably coming to an end at his advanced age of 71.

As I write this, I'm watching the Oakland A's take on the Twins in Game 3 of their Division Series out in Oakland. The A's have gone small-market this season, shrinking the 50,000-plus seat McAfee Coliseum to a capacity of 34,077 by placing a green tarp over the seats in the third deck of the stadium, which they share with the Raiders. That worked fine during the regular season, as the A's averaged 24,000 or so at home. But seeing the tarp up for this game was a bit of a surprise - upon further research, it appears that they will be keeping it that way for the playoffs, for whatever reason. Maybe it's just me, but if the A's end up in the World Series, wouldn't playing in a "sold out" ballpark with a tarp covering 16,000 empty seats be a bit embarrassing?

And to top it all off for irony, right as I started writing all that, my McAfee VirusScan came on and reeeeeeeally slowed down my computer.

Apparently, Anthony Reyes was left off the Cardinals' playoff roster. Jason Marquis was not. WTF? This means that Jeff Weaver would start a possible Game 5 in San Diego on three days' rest. If pigs fly, anyway.

Yeah, that's because the Cardinals took the first two games of the Division Series in San Diego. Carp was dominant in Game 1, and then Jeff Weaver, he of the 0-2, 9.72 postseason career, shut out the Padres for five innings in Game 2. The ideal situation for the Cards would obviously be to sweep with Suppan in Game 3, saving Carpenter's next start (and setting up the rotation perfectly) for the NLCS. As for Weaver, the Padres have the worst lineup of the four NL playoff teams, so I'm not holding my breath regarding the rest of his October - but getting a victory with him on the mound is like stealing a game. We can only hope it happens again elsewhere.

Update 11:45 p.m. ET:

Yes, we will. We are thankful that he, in some way, has enriched our lives. As one of baseball's greatest ambassadors, he will be missed.

Why Not?

83-78.

After 205 wins combined in 2004-05, the Cardinals regressed to their worst record in seven years in 2006 - Tony La Russa's eighth best regular-season performance out of his eleven seasons at the helm. However, thanks to their good fortune of playing in one of the worst divisions in recent memory, they're in the playoffs. Can they actually do anything, at least within the National League portion of the bracket? Well, as TBW's most optimistic contributor, I think so. However, just as I took a look at their chances over the last weekend of the season with the Astros surging, I'm going take a look at both the bad and the good when I dissect the Cards' prospects this week against the Padres and beyond.

Yes, I'm doing bad ahead of good this time. But this time, the former is much more likely than the latter. It is recommended that you skip the next few paragraphs if you have a weak stomach. I'll be short but sweet with the positives when I come to them, but they're reason enough for me to believe in the team going into the playoffs.

WHY THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS WILL NOT WIN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE PENNANT

1) Accentuating the negatives.

As stated above, the Cardinals have struggled mightily since the end of July. In their last 61 games, they are 25-36 (.410). National, local, and internet media outlets are all over the team. Jason Marquis, Aaron Miles, Jeff Weaver, and Juan Encarnacion have played key roles throughout the season. Their staff ERA is 4.54, 9th in the National League (worst among playoff teams). Their starters' ERA is even worse at 4.79, 12th in the league (also worst among playoff teams). Their hitters have drawn the 9th most walks in the league (once again, worst among playoff teams). Their confidence is low after their whopping nine-game losing streak that took place in the last two weeks of the regular season. Shall I carry on?

2) Carp, Soup, and pray for rain?

The Cardinals' likely pitching matchups for Round 1:

Game 1 (Tue): Chris Carpenter vs. Jake Peavy
Game 2 (Thu): Jeff Suppan vs. Chris Young
Game 3 (Sat): Jeff Weaver (?) vs. Woody Williams (or David Wells?)
Game 4 (Sun): Carpenter vs. Peavy
Game 5 (Mon): ? vs ?

With off days on Wednesday and Friday this week, the Cards will be fortunate to get their ace Carpenter to pitch twice in the first four games, most importantly in Game 4 at home. Suppan struggled mightily in his two starts against San Diego this year, but had a brilliant second half to finish his third consecutive solid season for the Cards. Weaver pitched well this year in his only start in 2006 against the Padres, albeit as an Angel, and put together a decent last month. However, a pretty big hole behind Weaver exists, and I'm not sure the Cards can get by with just a three-man rotation for much of the playoffs, not to mention the fact that Jeff Weaver is still Jeff Weaver. Options for a fourth starter include:

Jason Marquis: 194 1/3 IP, 6.02 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 4.45 K/9
Anthony Reyes: 85 1/3 IP, 5.06 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 7.59 K/9 (plus 84/2.57/0.96/8.79 in AAA)
Uh... yeah, that's it.

Admittedly, I'm probably one of the few Jason Marquis fans left among Cardinal Nation. When he pitches well, it's more fun for me to watch than even a Carpenter gem. I would love nothing more than to see Jason get a shot at redemption in the playoffs, and pitch out of his mind for a game or two. However, I just don't see that happening - see the link below - but if he does pitch, Marquis is extremely unlikely to perform well. He hasn't had a single month with an ERA under 4.50, and it's gotten worse every month since July, which probably explains his 3-10 record since the All-Star break. A Jason Marquis start at this point would pretty much doom the Cards.

That said, Anthony Reyes probably would be the fourth starter, if necessary. Reyes complained of a tired arm in September and was skipped in the rotation, only to be thrown on three days rest on the last day of the season. I honestly have no idea what to expect from Reyes, although he does have a quality start against the Padres to speak of, in one of the bigger games of the season. I'm personally optimistic if Reyes makes a start - after all, he'd be on plenty of rest, and his last two starts on greater than normal rest were both solid - but it's still awfully dangerous to be starting a rookie in a postseason elimination game.

3. You can't win if you don't score.

The Cards' offense showed how one-dimensional it can be during the month of September, when they scored only the ninth-most runs in the National League despite hitting the third-most home runs (36). The culprit? The NL's 5th-worst on-base percentage, driven by the 4th-worst batting average for the month. While this slump might be based mostly on bad luck (their strikeout and walk rates are both closer to the middle of the pack), the offense does need to get it going in order for the Cards to have October success. The addition of a healthy David Eckstein (who has hit well since his return), in addition to some sort of positive contribution from James Patrick Edmonds, should be a start. But the Yadier Molinas, Ronnie Belliards, Juan Encarnacions, and Scott Rolens of the world (each had a .705 OPS or worse in September) need to hit, or else it will be a quick and ugly exit this week.

WHY THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS WILL WIN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE PENNANT

1) Who else is going to do it?

Seriously, the NL is butt ugly. Three of the four playoff teams finished with 88 victories or fewer, and even the 97-win Mets limped to the finish at 10-13 in their last 23 games. With Pedro Martinez done until next July and various others nursing injuries, the Mets certainly don't appear as unbeatable to the rest of the league as they did a month and a half ago. The Padres clearly have the best pitching staff of the bunch - grizzled David Wells is likely the fourth starter, behind Peavy, Young, and Woody Williams. The Mets have arguably the best lineup, with a murderer's row of Reyes-Lo Duca-Beltran-Delgado-Wright-Floyd. The Dodgers are a nice story, with young guys like Andre Ethier, Takashi Saito, and Russell Martin making solid contributions, and Greg Maddux and Nomar Garciaparra enjoying quality seasons in the twilight of their careers. But the Cards have Pujols, and that has proven that can win a few games by itself.

2) Weeding out the ugly.

Jason Isringhausen, and his ten blown saves? Gone. Mark Mulder, and his 7.14 ERA? Gone. Jason Marquis, and his nearly 200 innings of 6.02 ERA? Likely done. So, what's left? Perhaps a big improvement, albeit an unproven one, at closer in Adam Wainwright. A decent third starter in Jeff Weaver. And Marquis' replacement fifth starter is thankfully not necessary in the playoffs. So, the Cardinals have likely added by subtraction.

3) The 2000 New York Yankees.

After beating the Blue Jays behind Roger Clemens on September 13, 2000, the Yankees opened up a nine-game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East. They were the two-time defending World Series champs, and were coasting into the playoffs. Two and a half weeks later, they were the laughingstock of baseball. Why, you ask? They closed the regular season with a 3-15 stretch, including losses in the final seven games, to finish at 87-74 overall - and were lucky Boston's and Toronto's poor play kept them from blowing the division lead. After losing the first game at Oakland, however, the Yanks won 11 of 15 against the A's, Mariners, and Mets to improbably take their third straight championship - giving them the fewest wins for a World Series winner since the '87 Twins, who we all know so well.

There's few similarities between the 2006 Cards and the 2000 Yankees - the Yanks' offense was fairly consistent, not relying on a Pujols to lift them in their times of need. Mariano Rivera was unbeatable at the end of games, unlike Jason Isringhausen. The Yankees' second two starters (Pettite/El Duque) put the Cards' (Suppan/Weaver) to shame. I could go on, but I won't, as it's late. The point of this argument: despite a near-collapse at the end of the season, the Cards could very easily regain their focus and play like they were in April and May. The playoffs are a crapshoot; the previous two years, the Cards have been favored but were eliminated by a team with a worse record. Perhaps they can turn the tables on the rest of the league in 2006.

You never know... you never know.

Shuffling the Cards

Thanks to the Astros' victory last night, the Cards still had not clinched the division title going into today's game. However, with the possible makeup game Monday afternoon and John Smoltz's scheduled start against the Astros, Tony La Russa decided to scratch Chris Carpenter from Sunday afternoon's start, effectively buying time in a gamble to make Carpenter available for Tuesday's potential NLDS Game 1. If necessary, Carpenter would be called upon to start Monday's makeup game.

If you ask me, this move is a no-brainer. As Carpenter's replacement, Anthony Reyes was likely to struggle on three days rest after diagnosing himself as having a tired arm earlier in September - and he did, giving up 4 runs without completing the first inning. But the gamble still paid off, as the Astros were taken down by the Atlanta Braves 3-1 earlier this afternoon. So, it's the best of the both worlds - we win the division, and we have our ace pitching Game 1 of the playoffs. Thankfully, it eliminates the need for Carpenter be wasted in the makeup game on Monday.

Congratulations go out to the 2006 National League Central Division Champion St. Louis Cardinals.