How's About a Chat This Afternoon?

Five in a row.

Five in a row.

Five in a row.

Feels good to say, doesn't it? Even just the sound the words make inside your head, without actually hearing them. Although, it's even better to hear them. Go ahead, say them out loud. I'll wait. No, don't worry that you're in the middle of a budget meeting. Just say, "Five in a row," out loud. Now say it again, louder. Now shout it, and hold both of your hands up for a double high five. See? Doesn't that feel good? Sure, security will probably be along shortly to escort you out of the building, but trust me, in the long run it will be worth it. You'll feel better about yourself having shouted five in a row than you would with a job.

The Cardinals are now five games over .500. Their Pythagorean record is still five games better than that, at 45-30. They've actually been holding relatively steady recently at five games worse than their Pythag; I can't quite decide if I find that comforting or not.

It is nice to be back in second place, however. Obviously, first place would be much better still, but looking up at the Pittsburgh Pirates isn't a very good feeling. No offense, Pittsburgh, but you have to understand there's a certain pecking order in the NL Central we've all become accustomed to around these parts. When things are out of whack, we all start to get antsy, you know? Actually, come to think of it, the Pirates appearing competitive for a certain percentage of the season before falling off and turning back into the post-1992 Pirates is kind of part of that accepted pecking order by now, I suppose.

I'm going to do a chat for the next, say, hour and a half. The format is as usual; conversational topics are limited only by your imagination. (I'm doing that thing where you imitate a rainbow with your hands while I'm saying Imagination, by the way, just so you know.)

I'll be here for a bit. Let's talk, shall we?