Hunt and Peck: Special NLCS Edition

Matt Carpenter became the first Cardinal to homer in 3 straight games of a single postseason series. #PostCards pic.twitter.com/vI5lT5joJQ

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) October 7, 2014

#PETE RT @keelynstl: when u hear ur friends talking about what they did on the weekend and they didn't invite u pic.twitter.com/Ws40jApAeh

— John (@johnjf125) October 7, 2014

Thanks for getting the word out everybody! pic.twitter.com/yC8iFTXy8u

— viva el birdos (@vivaelbirdos) October 7, 2014

Carp: "I can't explain it. I'm just trying to have good at bats...I'm never looking to hit a home run."

— FOX Sports Midwest (@FSMidwest) October 7, 2014

WONG. https://t.co/55Zm4Og4lf

— Drew Silva (@drewsilv) October 7, 2014

.@MattCarp13 has HRs in all three #NLDS games. So, "clutch" would be an understatement: http://t.co/oOdkbSCgN2 http://t.co/4OnUXDacXJ

— Cut4 (@Cut4) October 7, 2014

Umpire squishes eyeball balloon is sad and beautiful: http://t.co/QZMBlLNXyq https://t.co/uJR6S4EHmj

— SB Nation (@SBNation) October 7, 2014

LETS GO!! @Cardinals #CardinalNation #HYPED !!!!!

— Rob Kaminsky (@Kaminsky21) October 8, 2014

NLCS!! Like I said, it's our year!! Keep it up fellas! #CardinalNation

— Sam Tuivailala (@Stuivailala) October 8, 2014

Don Mattingly benched his .296/.382/.480 star for a guy who hit .249/.322/.370. AND THEN PINCH RAN HIM

— Rui Xu (@rui_xu) October 8, 2014

Four consecutive trips to the #NLCS. Congrats to the @Cardinals on an incredible run. #Postseason pic.twitter.com/M0h4Tx3RUC

— MLB Fan Cave (@MLBFanCave) October 8, 2014

.@Tsunamy27 is coming. You've been warned. #PostCards https://t.co/xEKbDvrWzc

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) October 8, 2014

Cardinals have now reached the National League Championship Series in 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

— Drew Silva (@drewsilv) October 8, 2014

Who gets a bloody nose in the 7th inning in the playoffs?? Unreal. #rallybloody

— Marco Gonzales (@MarcoGonzales_) October 8, 2014

what else is going on in baseball...

• THE ROYALS FAN GOT HER PUPPY. - Cut4
• Josh Hamilton doesn't like to be booed. - Hardball Talk
• What even is a Dodger? This cute video explains it all. - 101.1 ESPN
• Josh Beckett retires after fourteen seasons. - Sports Illustrated
• The ALCS is for the underdogs, the NLCS is for the imperialists. - SBNation
• The bullpens have been the key to the postseason so far. - MLB
• The keys to the Giants and Cardinals postseason dominance. - Gammons Daily
• Yogi Berra's World Series rings and MVP plaques were stolen! - Hardball Talk
• Baseball happens. - Fangraphs
• 250 miles separate and history Kansas City from St. Louis (thanks flood!). - New York Times

what the cardinals are up to...

• Hittin' dingers. - STL Today
• Kolten Wong, hero. - STL Today
• Matt Adams, hero. - SBNation
• Check out his game winning homer in gif form. - Viva el Birdos
• This is a very cool Q&A with Dan Kantrovitz, the Cardinals scouting director. - Fangraphs
• Clayton Kershaw was undone in game four by one pitch. - SBNation
• And Adam Wainwright called the shot. - MLB
• Matt Carpenter is the main agitator of the Dodgers. - Fangraphs
• Which earned him Stan Musial comps, which is sort of sacrilegious and made Carpenter uncomfortable. - Yahoo
• And gets a cool baseball card! (thanks flood!) - Topps
• The Cardinals and their fans are evil. We get it. (thanks flood!) - Rolling Stone
• Even Roberto Clemente was intimidated by Bob Gibson. - Just a bit outside
• Check out this great interview with Matt Carpenter from 2013. - ESPN
• Clayton Kershaw was not tipping pitches, nor were the Cardinals stealing signs. Brisbee explains why, with pictures! - SBNation; Dodgers Digest
• Lefties to homer off Kershaw since 2008, according to Baseball Savant. - Baseball Savant
• Pat Neshek collecting baseball cards is like, the cutest thing I have ever heard. - MLB
• Twitter takes a crack at writing the all-too-familiar postseason Cardinals article and it is wonderful. - SBNation
• The Cards hangout at the Blues opener.
  

  http://t.co/zdmGoMIKwY

  — Daniel Doelling (@Daniel_Doelling) October 10, 2014

  
  

  Tarasenko's goal is Matt Adams and Michael Wacha approved. http://t.co/NsU6drNZFZ

  — Daniel Doelling (@Daniel_Doelling) October 10, 2014

KNOW THINE ENEMY

the nl central...

• The Pirates outright Jose Tabata. - Bucs Dugout
• Some Brewers with options. - Brew Crew Ball

the san francisco giants

• Michael Morse should return for the NLCS. - McCovey Chronicles
• Is Bruce Bochy one of the best managers in history? - Grantland
• A preview, in Q&A format. - SBNation
• Cardinal70 also does an actual Q&A with a Giants blogger. - Cards Conclave
• The NLCS broadcast crew! - Fangraphs
• Brisbee does a preview of Cardinal pitching. - McCovey Chronicles
• And talks about hating the Cardinals. - McCovey Chronicles
• Joe looks closely at the Giants best pitcher, Madison Bumgarner. - Viva el Birdos
• Fink previews the series for us. - Viva el Birdos
• Check out McCovey Chronicles for more Giants infor! - McCovey Chronicles

viva el stuff...

• There is new Cardinals bar in Chicago. - Viva el Birdos
• catchersmit3 is conducting a poll for a paper he or she is writing. Just takes a few second to help a Birdo out. - Viva el Birdos
• dr. howl has a wonderful write-up comparing this NLCS to 2012. - Viva el Birdos
• The NLCS schedule as we know it so far. - Viva el Birdos
• Episode six of the Viva el Birdos podcast is out, this time featuring Ben and the red baron. - Viva el Podcast
• Remember when azruavatar wrote this and jinxed us? - Viva el Archives

other things...

• Katy Perry is reported to do the Super Bowl halftime show. - SBNation
• The Blues drop their opener against the Rangers 3-2. For more Blues info, check out St. Louis Game Time. - St. Louis Game Time

weekly scoreboard:

Monday, October 6 (NLDS Game III)	Dodgers	1	Cardinals	3	VEB Recap	TBLA Recap
Tuesday, October 7 (NLDS Game IV)	Dodgers	2	Cardinals	3	VEB Recap	TBLA Recap

Adam Wainwright, presumptively, and Madison Bumgarner, presumtively, look to square off tomorrow as the NLCS begins at Busch. Wainwright, presumtively, throws his first pitch at 7:07pm CST.