I just think it's cool that Eldred is doing that.

I know Eck is our leadoff, but look how he swings with 2 strikes. I think that is what a 2 hole hitter should do in front of Pujols. Swing hard until you get 2 strikes. They are going to keep the pitches close because they don't want to pitch to Albert.

But what do I know, he got the rbi and shut me up last night.

1. The Albert HR seemed to spark the team; not the first time, nor hopefully the last.
2. On Duncan PH, it's either him or J Rod. And Duncan does have one attribute that J Rod generally doesn't; if you make a mistake, Duncan can hit it a long way.

3. Did he stay too long with Kenney? Perhaps, but the pitch that Wright hit was down.
4. In the game story it said that Valentin has 5 hits in a row batting RH. Perhaps that combined with a) Flores numbers against RH and B) AW's beautiful curve balls made the decision for TLR.
5. I suspect it will be Duncan in RF and Spiezio in LF tonight.

After I recovered from my initial shock at the fact that she recognized him, I said "yeah, he's doing great!"  

She then replied "He does need a haircut, though."

There's too much bullshit going on in this series to write in an organized fashion, so here it is, in bullet form...

    * Why THE F was Aaron Heilman completely buried this postseason? Since when do Guillermo Mota and Roberto Hernandez get the ball over him? What'd he ever do to you, Willie? I sure hope it's not a race thing, and there's a legitimate reason for him not getting innings this month. Game 7 is scheduled for tomorrow...and Aaron Heilman IS A STARTER. He should pick up a baseball, walk right into Willie's office if the Mets win Game 6 tonight, and DEMAND THE BALL FOR GAME 7. If he doesn't, 95-year-old Darren Oliver, who hasn't started a game in more than 2 years, will probably get the ball. Earth to Willie -- Heilman's DIRTY, and SHOULD HAVE BEEN STARTING ALL SEASON.

    * Could the home plate ump's strikezone have been any worse last night? He was calling balls a foot off the plate for strikes, and calling strikes in the lower part of zone for balls...sometimes...until he decided that a pitch that painted the outer black wasnt a strike, but another foot outside was a strike. It sounds lame to blame the umps for a loss, but home plate ump, Jeff Kellogg, was clearly wearing red last night...you can't even argue that, Cards Scum, so don't bother.

    * Can Jose Reyes and David Wright PLEASE WAKE UP TONIGHT. You guys have both been awful. D-Wright, WTF are you swinging at? Weaver must have walked you 5 times last night, but you continued to swing at his CRAP until he got you out. TAKE A GODDAMN PITCH AND TAKE A WALK. And when you did swing at his fat garbage he left over the plate, you weren't even close. You smoked those pitches in April and May, how about doing something.

    * Can Tony La Russa have gotten ANY luckier last night?? Failing to pinch hit for Weaver with the bases loaded and a chance to break the game open-->Weaver goes on to dominate for another 2 innings...Pinch hitting a LEFTY, who hits .170 against lefties, against Pedro Feliciano, who's given up 2 homeruns in 117 AB's to lefties this season, and the GUY GOES YARD...How about when La Russa took out his southpaw reliever and brought in the right-hander, turning Valentin around to his stronger side in the 8th, only to strike him out looking...I mean, come on. He couldn't have gone against "the book" any more than he did...and every stupid string he pulled that would have gotten him KILLED in the media had the Cards lost, ended up making him look like a frickin' genius. Tony La Russa is NOT A GOOD MANAGER. Apparently he and one of his star players, Scott Rolen, are not on "speaking terms." What kind of manager doesn't speak to his players? Even his own players know he sucks.

    * WTF is wrong with the Cardinals grounds crew? They seemed almost as stupid as Cardinal fans themselves yesterday, taking 10 minutes in the middle of the inning to get the first base bag out of the ground and put in another base...that was absolutely pathetic.

    * Are the mets really losing a series to a team that has a shortstop who throws like an 8-year-old girl, a pitcher who irons his hat, and a utility man who DYES HIS FACIAL HAIR PINK???

    * Could David "my dead grandma throws harder than you" Eckstein be any more of a sissy-boy drama queen? Trainers had to come tend to him in the first inning after he dove for a ball, and then again late in the game for like 5 minutes after he completely botched a bunt-attempt and fouled it off his hand. Do you really need someone to come out every inning and kiss your boo-boos, Eckstein? Grow up already. Well, how about you try growing first...we'll work on the emotional side of things once you're big enough to ride the rollercoaster at Six Flags.

    * Chris "I should've won my second straight Cy but I'm a choking dog and gave up 12 runs in my last two starts" Carpenter starts for St. Louis tonight. Against John Lame. I mean, John Maine. This series is all but over. Too bad nobody's beating the Tigers.

or

Eckstein
Wilson (0-5, doubt he is in against Maine)
Pujols
Edmonds
Rolen
Encarnacion (1-6, 1B)
Belliard
Molina
Carpenter

I just want to say that I think tonight is a "must win" if we want to have a chance at the World Series Title.

If we win tonight the rotation for the WS would be... Suppan, Weaver, Carp, Reyes, Suppan, Weaver, Carp.  I think that gives us a fighting chance to win it in 7 games.

If we loose tonight then we will not have any of the "Big Three" (Thats what I am calling Carp, Soup, and Weaver now) ready on regular rest for game 1 of the WS.  If we win in 7 there is a small chance gasp that we would have to activate Marquis for the WS at the expense of J-Rod.

Enough about that... we have a game to play tonight so lets enjoy last nights thriling win for now and try to drink some champeign tonight.

On a final note, I do not belive I like Brian Burwell.  I read his article today and I dont belive that his conversation with Albert went EXACTLY the way he said it did.  

Burwell makes it sound like Albert is spilling his guts to him, and begging for acceptance and the Judge Burwell says "I'm not sure I belive you Albert"  if thats really how the conversation went then I think Burwell is the "Surley" individual here.

Thanks for reading my first post and I hope to become a part of this great VEB community.

LETS GO WIN A PENNANT!

I unstand the Lefty-Lefty stats but Tony wanted to get his best guy out there with the game on the line.  There is no reason to argue with that.  If Flores had give up a hit there the game would have been tied.  Adam Wainright is on fire and this is just a case of Tony riding the hot hand.  

Stats are important, but Tony is a Hall of Famer becasue of decisions like this one.

She didn't like my idea of naming them Alberta and Christina.

Anyway, I'll be away from the internets for a spell but I've enjoyed reading all the posts over the past few months.

Go Cards.