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Game 154 Open Thread: September 22, 2007

albers

thompson

4-9, 6.05

6-6, 5.14

it's not inconceivable that the cards could finish 5th this year. the reds are now just a game back and seem likely to pass st louis by year's end, and the astros (currently 5th) can move to with a game and a half of our team by sweeping the next 2 games. if the cards win either today or tomorrow, the 5th-place scenario recedes into very unlikely territory; if they don't, it looms as a significant possibility.

in case you missed this comment from last night's game thread (and you probably did), it's pretty cool:

Weird

got this e-mail on the sabr list on August 17th:

"Here is an early warning about the September 21 game for the Astros. Lance Berkman has hit at least one home run every 9/21 since 2001 --- six consecutive years. The Astros will be in St. Louis that evening to play the Cardinals. If Berkman can hit one this year, he will tie the record for most consecutive years hitting a homer on one particular day. Here is the list:

Batter Start Date Yr
Lou Gehrig 06/08/1932 7
Ralph Kiner 08/15/1947 6
Rafael Palmeiro 07/17/1993 6
Mike Schmidt 08/30/1981 6
Lance Berkman 09/21/2001 6

Vlad Guerrero had homered five straight years on August 11, starting in 2002, but missed this season to end the streak."

Wish I would have laid some money down on that before the game.

by Alxfritz on Fri Sep 21, 2007 at 07:27:22 PM CDT

berkman's homer last night ties the record and puts him in line to break it next 9/21. his season has been very similar to pujols'. both guys started out incredibly slow --- pujols was hitting .239 with only 6 hr as late as may 14, while berkman was hitting .241 with 8 homers as of june 8. but since the first day of summer (ie june 21) pujols has a 1.015 ops, berkman a .969. lance never did get his batting avg rehabilitated --- after last night's game he's at .276, and will probably finish with a career low in avg --- but otherwise he and albert have both ended up with presentable seasons.

i can't say the same for craig biggio, who plays his final two games in st louis this weekend. he's a large reason the astros are so terrible this year --- 500 at-bats with a 67 ops+ in the leadoff spot can kill a whole offense. but he has been a remarkable player, so if you're out there on sunday give the man his due. including last night's game, he has a career line of .298 / .378 / .445 against the cardinals.