life at replacement level
by lboros on Sep 26, 2006 2:25 AM EDT
in St. Louis Cardinals News
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Printi remain unmoved. i still think the cardinals are going to win the division -- more on that in a second -- but moreover (to repeat what i have been writing on a more or less daily basis since last friday) i won't lose any sleep if they don't. for me, the season pretty much ended when mulder's rehab came a cropper and edmonds' head injury became debilitating. those two personnel losses rendered the cardinals extremely unlikely to do much october damage; i lowered my expectations accordingly. i've continued to hope for the best, but i've been prepared for the worst -- like most cardinal fans. st louis has played the last six weeks without its starting shortstop and centerfielder (remember the cliche about good teams being strong up the middle?), the last three months without its #2 starting pitcher, and the last three weeks without its closer -- and it was a flawed team before all those injuries hit.
so why, exactly, is anyone stunned that they're losing games in bulk?
it's hard to watch them struggle like this; makes me sad. but i don't see them as chokers. they're losing these close games because they're fielding a replacement-level team --- because josh hancock and aaron miles and skip schumaker are not jason isringhausen and david eckstein and jim edmonds. the fact that they've given themselves a chance to win almost every night speaks well of their moxie; they have repeatedly fought their way back from deficits (including a couple of large ones) to forge ties. but why can't they get over the hump and take a single blasted lead? why do we now expect them to lose all the close ones?
because josh hancock and aaron miles and skip schumaker are not jason isringhausen . . . . . yadda yadda.
but here's the thing. at some point, just by random chance, one of those replacement-level guys will get a big hit. or a st louis pitcher will throw 7 innings of shutout ball. or the opposing team's starter will have an off-night and give up 8 runs. that's what happened earlier this year, when those seemingly endless 8-game losing streaks finally ended; odds are the same thing will happen at some point this week. i am well aware of the trouble the cards have played themselves into, and the seemingly unstoppable current sweeping them toward the shoals. i'm also well aware that they can't pitch, can't hit, and can't close. but above all i can add and subtract -- and for all the sturm und drang, st louis still leads the astros by 3 games in the loss column with 6 to play. that's a significant lead, and one that even a bunch of replacement-level players should be able to defend. if they keep their cool, continue to play hard inning by inning, and avoid getting mind-f**ked by the past week's frustrations, they will probably pull out of the tailspin and take the division crown -- however dented and tarnished it may be.
and if they don't? salvomania posted some wise words in saturday's game thread; you might've missed them since they appeared on the weekend, and if you did see them already they bear repeating: "Nobody likes to lose when you play a game, but handling losing with dignity and perspective is part of playing (and being a fan)." so if the cardinals really do blow this, we'll keep it in perspective -- too few assets on the roster this year, and too many injuries -- and get on with our lives. we'll watch the astros take that kick-ass rotation of theirs into the playoffs and scare the crap out of every opponent they face, possibly win another pennant and become the worst world series entrant since the '73 mets. houston even has the personnel to win a world series title -- and if that should come to pass, they'd be the worst one in history. i know that'd be tough for you houston-based guys to swallow; i get what that's like. i roomed with two loud, obnoxious, insufferable mets fans back in the mid-1980s, at the height of the "mets are pond scum" era, and had to live with their joy as they rooted their loathsome team to a world title in 1986 -- while i was still licking my wounds from the cardinals' 1985 series collapse. here's how i dealt with it: i admitted that the mets were damn good. better than my team. once i got over hating the mets and regarded them as just another ballclub, met-fan euphoria no longer galled me.
one final thing is this vein: five years ago, the astros led the cardinals by 6 games in the loss column with 12 to play. good astros team, too -- they arrived at that point in the season 30 games over, at 90-60. but they lost 8 of their next 9 games, while the cardinals went 7-1 in the same span to take a 1-game lead into the season's final weekend -- with houston coming to busch for a 3-game showdown. the cards had already clinched a playoff spot by then, but the free-falling -- and now 2d-place -- astros found themselves just 2 games up in the wild-card race over the giants. they'd been outscored 57-30 during the 9-game trough and, with 3 tough road games looming vs the surging cardinals, were in serious danger of missing the playoffs.
must have been agonizing for those astros fans.
but after all that, houston ended up taking the season-ending series in st louis 2 games to 1 and earned the right to call themselves division champs on a tie-breaker (they'd won the head-to-head season series vs the cards, 9 games to 7). the astros promptly got swept in the nlds by the braves, but they avoided the indignity of being remembered as chokers. they rewarded their fans with two home playoff games.
so let the losses keep piling up. the cardinals will keep showing up for their games, and keep trying to win them; and they'll prob'y get out of this mess and make a proper, routine postseason exit in the nlds.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
and now a word about edmonds.
i'm very, very sorry i missed that dinger he hit last night. must have been a special moment. i did some quick research and found that edmonds' last hurrah --- if that's what last night was -- bears some interesting parallels to stan the man's parting shot. that, too, came in a critical game in a pennant race, played on september 16, 1963 -- the 153rd game of the year. the cards came into that contest having won 19 of 20 to close within a game of the league-leading dodgers, who were the opposition that night -- first of 3 games at sportsman's park. ernie broglio pitched his tail off for the cards -- yielded only 1 run in 8 innings -- but johnny podres no-hit the cardinals through five and still had a 1-hit shutout when musial stepped up with the bases empty, 1 out in the 7th. he was batting just .249 at that moment, with 11 home runs; but he launched his 12th, and # 475 for his career, in that at-bat. it tied the game 1-1 and placed the cardinals on the cusp of a dramatic win and a 1st-place tie. alas, they ended up losing the game in the 9th inning; got shut out in the 2d game; and carried a 5-1 lead into the 8th inning of the finale but yielded 3 runs in the 8th, the tying run in the 9th, and the losing run in the 13th. lost the game by a final score of 6-5.
sound familiar?
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Eckstein vs. Miles
AVG .293 | HR 2 | RBI 23 | OBP .351 | SLG .344
AVG .269 | HR 2 | RBI 30 | OBP .330 | SLG .357
Man
October came a little early this year.
disappointment
10.The Ozzie/Tony Feud:I have never taken sides on this, just feel it makes the organization look bad.
9.2001 team:This team played hard against Arizona, took Schilling to the brink in game five.
8.2000 team:With Darryl Kile the only pitcher they really had for the NLCS, I wasnt expecting much, and didnt get much, Ankiel was/is biggest player disappointment, and it may not have been his fault at all.
7.2005 team:This may sound bad, but after Pujols' homer in Houston, I didnt expect to win again, but just to get it back here one more time was great.
6.1996 team:Having a 3-1 lead over Atlanta and then losing hurt, but it would have been a lot worse if they lost close.
5.McGwire NOT talking to Congress.
4.2004 team:This one would have hurt a lot worse if they seemed to have had a chance.
3.1987 team:Had a 3-2 lead but could not win in Minnesota.
2.1985 team:F**k Denkinger, I will feel that way if I live to be 100, I still wish Whitey or Andujar had actually beaten the hell out of him in game 7.
1.2002 team:This may seem a strange pick, but after the deaths of Kile and Buck, this was the one time I thought we were a team of destiny, and I have to say, I was never more upset after a loss, because it felt like we failed THEM.
for me
only to lose to inferior teams. i'll never get over those.
i agree with most of the rest of your list --- certainly all of those playoff defeats hurt. i also remember how the 1974 team came to the last day of the season tied for 1st place, took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the 8th vs a weak expos team, and lost on a 2-run homerun --- off bob gibson. the pirates won the division.
i was 11 years old. that hurt a lot.
That wound had almost healed...
Bingo...
damn...
but i'll bet that was horrible. Gibson on the mound - you had to think it was money. and then that ball gets over Flood's head... ugh.
i've seen those replays dozens of times. it makes ME mad just watching it. i can't imagine actually having been there.
bitter pills
#3 - The loss of DK and Buck followed by the dissapointing ending in SF in the playoffs...
#2 - The WS debacle against Boston
#1 - The 3-1 collapse against ATL in 1996 in the NLCS.
My reasoning is that I don't really remember the 85 or 87 series all that much. I think the DK/Buck/SF season has to be in the top three for obvious reasons. I gave the '96 collapse the nod over the '04 no-show bc for however bad getting swept felt, it was the first WS that I have seen STL in, so it was still pretty cool to be NL Champs. I still can vision the Edmonds GW HR in Gm6 and than his catch and Rolen's HR in game 7, and my reaction to it all as they took the NL pennant. The 96 season takes top honors in my mind bc it was their first time in the playoffs since 87 and being SO close to the WS, only to have it cruely stripped away....man, that still stings.
by TheFranchise9 on Sep 26, 2006 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions
forgot to mention
by TheFranchise9 on Sep 26, 2006 12:13 PM EDT up reply actions
it can always be worse though...
Poor Cubs fans...haha.
by TheFranchise9 on Sep 26, 2006 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions
i amend my list
as alex fritz put it below, it really is only a game.
That
One of my buddies (who is a huge Astros fan) eyes glazed over in shock when I told him, as if he had lost a dear friend. Later that summer, I flew into Chicago and had a drink at the bar where he and Matty were hanging out the night that he died to have a pint and a toast. Obviously, I never knew him, but I still miss him. I'm still glad the DK57 sign is out there and hope it always will be.
It's odd that it was only four years ago now... Kind of seems like a lifetime, though.
That was a heatbreaker.
This is just a crappy September
very good point
I guess I was ranking dissapointing efforts by the Cardinal team rather than worst things that have happened. And losing how they did against SF after all that Cardinal Nation went through that year is what I would rank #3 on my list, not the actual deaths of Kile and Jack Buck ... those incidents can't even be placed in the same discussion of game results or blown calls, its totally different.
by TheFranchise9 on Sep 26, 2006 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions
That day takes it..
Remembering where i was
I spent the next week worrying at a ranch that didn't even have a phone, much less a TV. When i finally heard the news days later I was in complete shock. Everyone else wsa just starting to cope with it a little bit and I was just finding out for the first time. so sad.
RIP DK
I was on my way to the ballpark in Memphis...
Andy Benes was pitching for Memphis that night -- ironically, he had already been assigned number 57. He tore the nameplate off the jersey and went out and pitched a great game...
i was on a cruise in the caribbean
thanks for the perspective
no question that dk's death is my most awful cardinal memory, far outshadowing any on-the-field loss or performance.
'68 7th WS Game
I agree...
I agree 100%. I am also selfishly still upset because I had four tickets in section 351 for game three of the World Series that year.
My worst Cardinal (sports) moment.
I've never gotten so wrapped up in sports again. After the '04 series, I started looking forward to spring training a couple of days later. I love the Cards, and I want them to win, but it won't destroy me if they don't, the way it did in 1985.
by Archaeopteryx on Sep 26, 2006 5:22 PM EDT up reply actions
subject line
yep
by martin on Sep 26, 2006 11:14 AM EDT up reply actions
nothing good to say
like Lobors when Jimmy went down, Mulder went down, and finally Eck, I had a sick feeling we were done for the year. Began preparing myself for the worst, while still having some hope for the best. But I can no longer ignore the giant pink elephant in the room. We are a deeply flawed team, clinging to a playoff spot. If we make it great. I pray we dont get sweeped out in the first round. If not, well, my depression will get worse before it gets better. And I pray Walt gets some horses that can win it all for us next year. thats it. I'm finally going to bed. Below is what I said ealier, like any of you give a crap.
I've been trying to come up with something fuuny or inteligent to say to help this all seam better than it is. But I cant. This teams bad luck, and worse play has me at a loss for words. Good thing Jimmy's back. Now lets hope he can stay and be productive. Tony said if tonights game was in a movie, that the Cardinals would have won. But if that was true, we would have won a WS in 2002 after we lost DK. Face it folks, as Cardinals, for whatever reason, we never win. Since 85 something always happens to us that makes it impossiable for us to win. I wont say we are a cursed team, but for more than 20 years, the baseball gods have not been our friends. This is just so depressing. It always seams to happen to us. Why do we always have to be the team to loose? When will it be our turn to make history and finally win?
After all the injuries to this team this season, I think its finally catching up to them. Scotty is just dog tired. Cant buy a hit. Yadda too. Being behind the plate has taken a lot out of him. A lot of you jump on him for not hitting. But not every catcher is a Pudge, Joe Mauer or Bench. Great D, plus great hitter. Even the great Albert is wearing down. And without IZZY, our bullpen is lost. Sure everyone should know their role since Tony said Looper and Adam are the closers. But for some reason that has not worked. And when your lefthanders cant get other lefties out, you have serious issues. Add Carp and Sup coming back down to earth and the exact wrong time, and all these issues lead to what we now have. A tired team trying despertly to hang on to a fleeting playoff spot. I just dont think we have any bullets left to get this team over the top. I had hope that playing at home would rev them up. But that didnt happen.
It sucks to close out a season like this. But its happening before our very eyes. Face it everyone, the 2006 Cardinals will not go to the playoffs. I cant believe I am saying that. But we are done. And for everyones sake, I hope you all realize this is happening and prepare yourselves. For a day or two ESPN will be all over their butts for choking at the end. I feel for all the ones in Houston and Chicago. We have no comebacks for them. Other than 9 rings we have, and the zero rings they have. I know chicago won in like 1850, but that doesnt count. and they know it.
To close, I am very depressed about this teams play this season. Our pitching let us down. Other than Duncan and Pujols, we have no regular go-to hitters. Sure Scotty made a great comeback after the lost season. And Eck did very well till he got hurt. But Juan didnt to well in the begining,and now he is doing bad at the end. Jimmy got hurt right has he finally figured out his swing. Ronnie never panned out. So its fitting that this team will not play in october. Although all of us belive they should. but they wont. Its sad. I hope and pray Walt is able to get us the horses we so desperatly need to finally win us a World Series. This is all just so depressing. I dont know what else to say. I am so sad about going out like this.
If we can make it to October
I won't give up till the last out, myself. If we can clinch the Central, then we have at least a puncher's chance.
Houston 2.5 Back
by saladdin69 on Sep 26, 2006 7:38 AM EDT reply actions
you're right about the personnel
as for the comments about houstonians, the difference is, the mets WERE damn good. the astros are at least as flawed as the cards. hell, they have that rotation and are still 3 back in the loss column w/ 6 to play. they will scare anyone in the playoffs though and I don't want to hear about this until next october.
Go cards!
All the Cardinals need
C'mon you Birds. Just win one or two to change the dynamic...
by Pokey Joe on Sep 26, 2006 8:17 AM EDT reply actions
Atleast if we have to play the SF game...
by Ankiels Missing Curveball on Sep 26, 2006 8:59 AM EDT reply actions
Jimmy
by Edmonds is baseball on Sep 26, 2006 9:05 AM EDT reply actions
Weird
by Edmonds is baseball on Sep 26, 2006 9:11 AM EDT reply actions
Playoff odds...
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/ps_odds.php
New Day, New Motivations
Sorry about that obituary I posted yesterday. It was pretty morbid, and bad form coming in the midst of a playoff race. I was pretty down in the dumps after that sweep by the 'Stros. Broke my spirit, I'm afraid.
But it's a new day, and I've got new motivation.
There are two things left that are keeping me going. First is pride. It's one thing for the Cardinals to fall short of contention. It's another thing for them suffer a humiliating breakdown at the finish line. Blowing things at this point simply is unacceptable. We do have a reputation to maintain, after all.
My second motivation is my mostly irrational feelings of rivalry with the Astros. I simply cannot view the Astros with as much equanimity as, Boros, our esteemed bloghost. I don't like the 'Stros, and that's where the motivation comes in.
If rooting for the Cardinals was not enough to motivate me, rooting against Astros still would be. Were the Cardinals, at this late date in the season, to snatch the pay-offs from the waiting grasp of that wretched team from Houston, well, that would just about make my day, and it might just make my season.
So I'm running on some pretty negative fumes now, but that's still something.
Go Cards! Screw the Stros!
You're right
I sure hope Edmonds homer is on Youtube
Youtube takes down MLB stuff
Otherwise I'd put it up for ya.
by Hardcore Legend on Sep 26, 2006 11:02 AM EDT up reply actions
Jimmy's bomb
by Edmonds is baseball on Sep 26, 2006 11:05 AM EDT reply actions
I have learned a lot about loyalty this year
I talk to friends and they all bad mouth the Cardinals about how horrible they are. But they are all I got. They are MY team so regardless I just have to stand by and root for them.
I was getting so emotional earlier in the season. After the many losing streaks finally brought me down to earth. I sank to new lows and bad mouthed the Cardinals, ownership, La Russa, Duncan,... Then I realised that it is only a game.
I had to take a step back and relearn to just watch the game. To enjoy it for just being a great sport regardless of the outcome. These recent ninth inning losts seem to be the worst of them all. But they don't bother me anymore because I don't have anyway to change their outcome. I am only a fan.
I can only root for my team even when it looks the most bleak. We should just be happy that we still have a chance to go the playoffs. Most teams right now don't even have that. I just try to stay grateful that I was not born a Cubs fan.
by DimitroffVodka on Sep 26, 2006 11:35 AM EDT reply actions
Thank You
Granted, one of the main reasons I decided to go to school and to live in St Louis is the Cardinals, and when they were firing away on all cylinders like in '04 & '05, going out with some friends and watching the game was almost always the best way to spend an evening, but stepping back, there a whole hell of a lot more things important in our lives than a bunch of grown men playing a game. If the Cards losing is enough to have a dramatic impact on the quality of your life, it may very well be time to readjust priorities.
That being said, I'd really love to have a fun October, so Go Cards!
Expectations
some may complain that they didnt spend good money on an OF howvere this year if they did spend good money and got giles or Jones we wouldnt have had the emrgence of lil Dunc
by punchinjudy on Sep 26, 2006 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions
Yep--
by rockin redbird on Sep 26, 2006 1:21 PM EDT up reply actions
...and
by rockin redbird on Sep 26, 2006 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions
Astros are selling NLDS tickets...
by Ankiels Missing Curveball on Sep 26, 2006 11:57 AM EDT reply actions
Thanks lboros. You're right.
I'll be pulling for these "replacement-level" Cardinals. I hope we win the division.
by redlou on Sep 26, 2006 12:19 PM EDT reply actions
hardcore or Lbros
Shave the poodle?
Is this a proposed haircut for Aaron Miles? Hope not. I've grown rather fond of the little perm-mullett.
it was initially(sp?) hardcore
Rolen's #'s versus Trevor Hoffman...
by Ankiels Missing Curveball on Sep 26, 2006 12:52 PM EDT reply actions
heartbreaks
1)losing darryl kile, my favorite pitcher before he was even a cardinal..i couldnt even follow baseball in 2003..
2)in 2004, i was able to watch the cardinals again, and it was a magical season. it is hard to explain, but it was the best team ive ever followed in any sport. everytime the opposition made any mistake, we absolutely pounced. if we had the lead late in the game, ya just knew we would hold it, and if we were trailing late in the game i wasnt even worried. we would come back, no doubt, no matter the deficit. a charmed team. with an almost supernatural ability to win. it wasnt even like watching a baseball team, we could get 1 hit and win the game. it was like the baseball gods themselves were playing thru our guys.
when boston made 4 errors in that first WS game and we lost, i knew then our fairy dust had run out. just 4 stinking games too soon. when the sweep was complete and Tony was asked a question at the postgame press conference, and he couldnt even compose himself to speak for 60 seconds, that summed it all up for me. agony. injustice. boston was a fuckin joke. swing from the heels, no defense. hell their pitchers werent that good either. that will hurt forever. our guys deserved it. we got beat by a bunch of idiots..
tha old saying, its better to have loved and lost, than never loved at all, well, id almost have preferred not to have loved in that case. a 100 loss season would have hurt less.
3)present day. not because we havent been very good, and even if we dont win the division or even make the playoffs, i cant call it choking either. we were just shorthanded. our guys have been playing their guts out. we are in all these games, it is just like the opposite outcomes of 2004. it is like payback for the blessed 2004 team, reverse karma, except we didnt get our fuckin title. what is upsetting to me is all this losing is straining relationships within the team. Tony and Edmonds, Tony and Rolen,etc. Tony is caught between his loyalty to his veterans and trying to field a lineup that might pull out a win, and it is sad. it almsot seems like Tony is losing his team, and it isnt anyones fault really. it would break my heart to see Tony go out like this, or Edmonds, etc.
anyway, i hope we make the playoffs, cause anything can happen. imagine winning a title with all we been thru, highly improbable but it would heal so many wounds. it would be a hollywood ending, but hey sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
by 2ndprize on Sep 26, 2006 12:53 PM EDT reply actions
Disappoinments...
My top 5:
- 1996-I was 15. They were up 3-1...and were blown away in the last three games. That one was hard to swallow. Even though they would have had their butts handed to them in the WS (most likely), it would have been amazing to see. I'd never celebrated a pennant at that point.
- 1985-Enuff said. I don't even remember it and I'm still heartbroken.
- 2003-The five-game series in Chicago. I went to Illinois State University at the time...this one was REALLY HARD TO SWALLOW.
- 2004-The WS was...well...a debacle. Like a deer caught in the headlights. But winning the pennant was awfully sweet.
- 2001-I still believe this team would have won the WS if they had gotten past the D-backs. They were just that hot, and the Morris/Kile 1-2 punch was great that year. This would be higher, but there's no shame in losing to the best-and let's face it-Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling won that title almost on their own.
by matt reeder on Sep 26, 2006 1:26 PM EDT reply actions
tonites game
Reading these posts...
I must admit it's kind of fun... Can't do it too much though, gotta win tonight.
Busch/Busch Lite?
2007 Roster
haha!
"Miles definitely won't hit enough to play 2B every day; that's why they brought Belliard in. I think the Cards will either re-up Belliard or snag a scrappy Mark Loretta/Adam Kennedy type. Said scrappy player will then be foolishly called team's MVP by John Kruk despite presence of the best hitter of my generation at first base."
that is a classic!
Like your kids
They asked a Packers fan, and the fan said, "The Packers are like your kids. You don't cheer for them because they're good. You cheer for them because they're yours."
The Cardinals are ours.
Where i was
by Edmonds is baseball on Sep 26, 2006 2:40 PM EDT reply actions
Kile...
I'm really enjoying all the perspective given here today. We've all shared our stories of heartbreak and collapse, and for me it's been therapeutic. It IS just a game, but it's a game we care a great deal about. We all want to see this end well, regardless of whether or not there are more important things in life.
For me, I've been a Cards fan since birth more or less. I was a fan living in Oregon growing up following box scores and getting to hear/watch games only when I was back in Illinois visiting family. The first game I ever saw in person was in 1991, and they lost 13-1 to the Reds. One of my fondest baseball memories was of being at the game where McGwire hit homers 69 and 70 in 1998, and regardless of what we've learned about the man since, it's still one of my fondest memories. Seeing the Cards win the pennant in 2004 is my single greatest moment as a baseball fan, because I've probably never been happier in my life. It was like walking on air...and that feeling remained even after the ensuing debacle that was the 2004 World Series. Even now, living in Oregon again, I listen to pretty much every game via MLB Radio, and I still follow the team as closely as I ever have.
Why? Because, as a poster said previously, they're ours. We love them because they're a part of all of us.
And we'll still love them no matter how this turns out.
Even though we all want it to turn out well.
by matt reeder on Sep 26, 2006 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Highs and lows
I guess for me '85 and '87 were the worst. I was pretty young in those years, but I remember the agony of the Denkinger call and the subsequent collapse. I remember '87, and having to watch my dillhole schoolteacher wave a homer hanky in the classroom to taunt me. (What a shitbag that guy was. He kept digging at me until I popped off to him, then he yelled at me for being disrespectful. Fucker.)
I was in college in '96, and newly married, so I didn't find as much time to follow the Cards as I would have liked. I do remember the collapse against the hated Braves. I remember how sick I got of hearing the word "momentum" used by the sportscasters when discussing Atlanta (their use of "dynasty" for the Pats a couple of years ago paled in comparison), and how gleeful I was when their momentum tank sprang a huge leak and they lost to the Yanks in six games.
I know that the sweep in '04 is a really low point for alot of people, but for me it wasn't so horrible. I was in Baghdad during the entire season, and getting to follow the Cards remarkable run was a wonderful thing for me. I wasn't getting to watch games, but I did have limited internet access and could track the progress of the season. It really helped take my mind off of missing my wife and infant son...not to mention everything else that was going on around me. Happily, when October rolled around that year and the playoffs were being broadcast, I actually got to watch some of it. I missed Jimmy's walk-off in game 6, but I got to see Albert's RBI double and Scotty's go-ahead HR in game 7, and I got to see Izzy record the final out. Sure, the WS sweep hurt, but I mostly just felt gratitude to the players for going so far and making it such a great ride. I'll never forget it.
Sorry for the long-winded post fellas...
Revealing Numbers ...
THE BAD:
Wilson .189
Rolen .191
Belliard .208
Encarncion .209
Molina .218
THE SO-SO:
Spezio .283
Miles .266
The GOOD:
Pujols .368
urban pawnee you
Illinois-bred -
Yup, Molina's "swoon" is now in its sixth month. Didn't Metheny have one season of comparable offensive futilitly?
by Urban Pawnee on Sep 26, 2006 4:21 PM EDT up reply actions
ouch
i just watched the video of the edmonds homer on the site, and when edmonds is coming into the dugout, watch tony la russa...what is that about? he doesnt even look at edmonds...did i just miss his initial reaction? if you just watch the clip its crazy. it is almost like it's worse for tony that edmonds came thru, cause we have so desperately needed him. anyway, that just goes along with my previous post about the strained relationships.
phew, im spent, i already have written too much today..and its depressing..
by 2ndprize on Sep 26, 2006 3:52 PM EDT reply actions
I noticed that too...
It Actually
by glennrwordman on Sep 26, 2006 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions
Bernie says
Remember Tony's...
We ARE free however to read into their public semi-pissing match statements that have been made since Jimmy was left out of the lineup (in Cincy) a couple months ago.
same here
quick p.s.
a title in 2007 would be great, or any year, but it wont be this "team" that did it.
unless they win it all this year..and until the cardinals have no more games scheduled ill hold out hope.
by 2ndprize on Sep 26, 2006 4:00 PM EDT reply actions
good deal
i would think the professional relationship tony has with guys like edmonds and rolen are strong enough to survive a bit of strain..but ozzie smith is out there showing it can go the other way too.
by 2ndprize on Sep 26, 2006 4:30 PM EDT reply actions
More WPA stuff
When the starter posted a value of +0.100 or better (helping his team win by 20% or better), I credited the pitcher with a win. When the starter posted a value of -0.100 or worse (helping his team lose by 20% or better), I credited the pitcher with a loss. When the value fell between the two limits, it ended up as a "no decision". (All of these values included only pitching performance, not batting.)
Here is how the starters fared:
- Carpenter (19-9, 3 ND)
- Marquis (11-14, 7 ND)
- Mulder (6-9, 2 ND)
- Ponson (6-4, 3 ND)
- Reyes (5-5, 5 ND)
- Suppan (13-12, 6 ND)
- Weaver (4-4, 6 ND)
- Thompson (1 ND)
- Narveson (1 ND)
good discussion
Baseball
The Kile comments brought to mind my personal scaling back up baseball vs. the real world. The day after the Cards got eliminated in 2000, I was so completely down. On my way to work, I heard about a plane crash in Missouri on the radio, and heard my cousin's name read aloud as one of the dead. Talk about being brought back to what matters and what doesn't.
I still love baseball, and I still get frustrated, up, down, whatever. But it has been in a much different perspective since that day.
Next time
It could be worse.
by Matt @ Viva El Birdos on Sep 26, 2006 4:57 PM EDT reply actions
Geeeeeez...
oh my sweet fancy moses
from a combination of laughter and feeling like i've been assaulted.
i'll find it difficult to criticize rancor here ever again.
ummm
I counted
Most definitely, my signature below explains this situation perfectly.
If we win tonight
by Hardcore Legend on Sep 26, 2006 5:59 PM EDT reply actions
Yup
The reverse, and the once-unfathomable becomes . . . fath, or some such word. More than fath: probable.
Oughta be interesting.
by Youneverknow on Sep 26, 2006 6:21 PM EDT up reply actions
No way we lose tonight
(gotta stop hitting my Cardinals flask this early in the afternoon...)
by RosevilleRedbird on Sep 26, 2006 6:10 PM EDT reply actions
Cards line up
Duncan
Pujols
Rolen
Encarnacion
EDMONDS
Belliard
Molina
Carp
Jimmy is going to save our season tonight.
by Poooo Daddy on Sep 26, 2006 6:37 PM EDT reply actions
That looks like a playoff lineup
by Hardcore Legend on Sep 26, 2006 6:43 PM EDT up reply actions
This season could be much, much worse - from ESPN:
BEIJING, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Shenyang Ginde player Liu Jianye will miss the rest of the domestic Chinese Super League season after suffering a split scrotum during a club match, local media reported on Monday.
The 19-year-old midfielder's injury, sustained after Xiamen Lanshi defender Meng Yao kicked him after 15 minutes of Sunday's game, was the latest in a series to plague the northeastern China club, the Beijing News said.
Liu's injury would require an operation and at least 10 stitches, the newspaper said.
Last month, Ginde paid 1.3 million yuan ($164,000) in compensation to former player and Guinea international, Ousmane Bangoura, who lost the sight of his right eye after his eyeball was ruptured by an opponent's studs in a club match against Qingdao Luneng in July.
Ginde, lying third from bottom of the Chinese Super League with three games left in the 2006 season, also lost defenders Wang Jiaduo to a broken nose and Wang Qiang to a broken cheekbone earlier in the year.
'Ginde has had four serious injuries this season and countless light injuries,' Ginde's Dutch coach, Martin Koopman, told a news conference after the game.
'The whole club is like a hospital. Our players have suffered too much.'
oh. my. god.
by stlcardinalsfang on Sep 26, 2006 6:49 PM EDT up reply actions
or you could be
I was going to embed the photo but it's kind of disturbing ... it's from Deadspin so you've been warned.
by dontEATnachos on Sep 26, 2006 6:52 PM EDT up reply actions
How bad do things have to be
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