Sorry about the late post, my browser crashed, destroying my original post.
So, I had a bunch of school work to do last night, so I stayed up and witnessed the seventh innings on on my mlb.tv feed. Much like most of the 2007 Cardinals season, that game was just exactly compelling enough to be really depressing. They fought back, they struggled, they ultimately collapsed under the weight of their injured, aching roster. At least I got to see Brett Myers blow a save. I was hoping that TLR would take a page out of his strategy book and use Jim Edmonds in a pinch hitting appearance last night, however.
I vividly remember a game, it must have been around 2002 or 2001, as Edmonds was a new Cardinal at this point. José Mesa was pitching Mesa, out of nowhere, started yelling irrationally when he saw Edmonds in the on deck circle. He threw a wild pitch (or perhaps a really wide fastball, I don't quite remember) to put the batter ahead of Jimmy on. He then threw directly at Jimmy, all while screaming. Edmonds dodge this ball, but wasn't quite so fortunate at dodging the next ball, straight at his chest. Mesa was then obviously thrown out of the game, and proceeded to destroy everything in the Phillies' dugout. It was truly the strangest thing I have ever seen. The announcers were just flabbergasted at Mesa's unprovoked freakout, and could only say something like "I guess there's some bad blood between them from the days they were both in the AL West." Anyway, I would have thought that using Edmonds may have been a decent way to try and induce a Mesa Meltdown<sup>TM</sup> last night, rather than the Pujols appearance, which also just induced four wide pitches and a pinch runner.
Regardless, it seems like the team just got me fired up last night to let me down. lb described your 2007 cardinals as zombies, but I think a more apt comparison might be the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This team keeps on fighting, lord bless them, they are trying, but, contrary to reality, they just no longer have the ability to compete. They just keep coming at you, with a more and more futile effort each time:
You lost your ace! "'Tis but a scratch!"
Your pitching has fallen apart almost completely!! Just a flesh wound.
Look, you stupid bastards, 21 of the 25 guys on your opening day roster have spent significant time on the DL. Your best player, the heart of your team, is playing through an entire hospital's worth of injuries. Your other best players are showing age and injury, and this team is dependent on the likes of Kip Wells and Mike Maroth to succeed. What are you going to do, bleed on the opposing team?
I am invincible!!!!!
And yet, I will still be watching your 2007 Cardinals. There is still the chance to see how the September call-ups will do. Perhaps there will be some glimmer of hope from the rotation. Perhaps we will see the Cardinals affect one of the postseason races. And, of course, we still do have the chance to at least see Adam Wainwright pitch.