Some Well Deserved Praise of the Team

by Titus Pullo on Jun 19, 2006 11:18 AM EDT Comment 3 comments

Although story of the impact Pujols' injury on the 2006 season has not yet been written, after the sweep of the Rockies, I feel justified in expressing my optimistic admiration for this team's response.

When Pujols went down, this team didn't wilt. Instead, almost every member of the line-up has increased their intensity and focus, and picked up their game several levels above what they were playing before. What better evidence can one look for than the fact that the Cards have scored more runs per game without Pujols than with him (5.61 versus 5.02 before, according the VEB's Perfect World calculation)?

Prior to Pujols' injury, as LBoros put it, other teams could beat the Cardinals, but they couldn't beat Pujols. Well, now those teams can't beat the rest of the team either.

In final analysis, the verdict very well may be that the injury to Pujols was a one of the best things that could have happened to this team--that it caused players who previously were coasting to take responsibility for their performance and their impact on the team's fortunes. If Pujols hadn't gotten injured, we may never have known how good the rest of the team could be.

Am I making too much of a single series sweep? Could be. The upcoming series against the Chi'Sox and Detroit will let us know for sure.

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Yeah...

these next two series will tell us a larger part of the tale, but it has been great to watch the rest of the team step up and play hard. If not for the pitching slump their record would be even better. Hopefully that's over now. Regardless, they did not completely fold like Chi did after losing Lee--and that's definately worthy of praise. Whatever we all think of TLR, he does have a knack for keeping this team competitive in the face of potential disaster.

by rockin redbird on Jun 19, 2006 11:39 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

well stated dude

the game that turned it around --- june 9 vs the brewers. they had just gotten their asses handed to them by the reds, were in 2d place, and fell behind 6-0 vs the brewers. . . . . that was also the day chris mihlfeld's name was making the rounds. they roared back and won the game 10-6, haven't lost a series since and are back in 1st place by 30 games or whatever it is.

and you know how the comeback began? with a two-out double steal while the cards were trailing 6-0. taguchi and rolen executed the dooblay, and both came around to score, and an inning later the cards had the lead.

my hat's off to la russa for making that call -- that's the type of leadership that kept the team from sagging after the injury, imho.

by lboros on Jun 19, 2006 12:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed.

The TEAM deserves praise. Really this is the first time all year you could say it that way. Up until now, Pujols, Eckstein, and a few others have deserved it. My only fear is that this recent winning epidemic does not hide the need for improvement with this team.

"Forget about the curveball Ricky...Give him the heater!!"

by BleacherBum on Jun 19, 2006 1:59 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs