FanPost

NLCS Game 7 Open Thread: October 19, 2006

Here is the game thread Larry gave us.  First pitch on MLB Network at 8 pm EST.


suppan               perez
12-7, 4.12        3-13, 6.55

over at tradesports.com, the cardinals are trading at $45.60, the mets at $53.70 . . . . at those odds, cards seem like a pretty good buy, but damned if i'm buying any shares --- i'm the kiss of death in the markets. guaranteed new york win if i'm holding a contract on st louis.

miklasz has the lineups:

ST. LOUIS NEW YORK
eckstein ss reyes ss
wilson lf lo duca c
pujols 1b beltran cf
encarnacion rf delgado 1b
edwards cf wright 3b
rolen 3b green rf
molina c valentin 2b
belliard 2b chavez lf
suppan p perez p

this is only suppan's fourth career start at shea stadium. his last came on may 19, 2004, his 8th start for st louis -- matched zeroes with steve trachsel (tonight's passed-over met starter) for six innings, departed with a no-decision. the cardinals scored in the 8th and won 1-0. he pitched another good game at shea on may 4, 1998, against a met lineup that prominently featured matt franco, butch huskey, and carlos baerga. supps (pitching for the arizona diamondbacks in their 1st season) went 6 and a third, allowed 1 run on 4 hits, got another no-decision; his team won 4-2 in 11 innings. and his first start there came on friday the 13th -- june 13, 1997 -- during supps' first full season. he gave up 10 baserunners and 2 hr in five innings, but the two dingers were solo shots and he stranded ev'ybody else; picked up a cheap win thanks to 8 runs of support from his bosox teammates.

i'm sure we'd all take our chances with any such like out of jeff this evening. they're a win away from the pennant -- get that win boys, and we'll all be celebrating later tonight.

Links:

Main Thread

Overflow I

Overflow II

What is it about 2006 that we seem to discredit?  When we talk fondly about NLCS Game 7s, it is 2004 with Edmonds catch and Rolen's HR.  Even taking back further, we talk about the series as a whole in 2004 as being incredible.  This 2006 series was no worse.  Sure, it didn't have the last-at-bat game ending hits but it had excitement. 

Game 1 was a pure pitcher's duel. 

Game 2 the Cardinals were down 6-4 with 7 outs to go and thanks to the bats of Speizio and Taguchi the Cardinals tacked on 5 to even the series. 

Game 3 featured tonight's pitching protagonist FREAKING WINKING AT THE OPPOSING PITCHER AND THEN DEPOSITING THE BALL IN THE BULLPEN!

Game 4, well...I was at Game 4 (my only game ever at the new Busch and I'd rather not talk about it)

Game 5 Pujols put his bat where his mouth was against Tom Glavine, leading us up to

Game 6, the Cardinals had their Ace on the mound and once again he left it with the good guys trailing.  With the World Series a mere 27 outs away, our backed-into-the-playoffs-heroes let us down. 

So here we stand, again, in a Game 7 of an NLCS game.  And, yes, again Jeff Suppan will take his bizarrely clutch self out to the mound and hope to pitch his way to another pennant for the club that snatched him off the scrap heap.  And yes, again Scott Rolen will hit another HR...but, er wait...we'll get to that later tonight.

I ask you, VEB bretheren, why do the 2004 and 2005 teams mean more to us than the 2006 team?  Why does Pujols' HR vs Lidge matter more than Yadi's giddy scamper around the bases?  Seemingly the only thing from the 2006 NLCS that rises above the two juggernauts the years before is Wainwright's nasty curve.

Soup's Word of the Day: pertinacity

Here's LB's link to the overflow thread that went up right after Molina's HR (didn't mean to ruin the ending for you, sorry!)