For anyone that has been under a rock for the past day or so, the Cardinals jumped into the national spotlight during last night's game. This wasn't because they have the best record in the National League or because they were facing the two-time defending National League Champions. No, it's for a far more comical reason.Last night, some 17-year old kid named Steve Consalvi decided to hop the fence and run a muck. Since FSN didn't want to give this kid the attention, they showed many of the players while security tried to round him up. They were all bursting at the seams. As you can see here, it was quite a comical scene. But then a cop had to end the fun by whipping out a taser and dropped the youngster like an anvil over Wile E Coyote. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Consalvi should've been on the field. He was trespassing and delaying a game which already was strung out by the Phillies manager Charlie Manuel getting tossed over a runner's interference call (Manuel was wrong, by the way, the correct call was made). However, tasing this kid was way out of line. Whatever happened to the normal protocol of just surrounding the fool and eventually tackling him? Sure, this might have taken a bit longer, but Consalvi wasn't endangering anyone, so there shouldn't have been that much urgency. It's rare, but tasers have occasionally killed people. If this guy had a heart defect or some other issue and had died from the charge, I doubt the Phillies would still be laughing or the police department would be defending the officer that used the excessive force as publicly as they have. There's certainly good reason for the internal investigation that's going on regarding the incident.
Perhaps the oddest part of this story is that Consalvi actually called his father to ask permission to run on the field or at least get his father's opinion on his stupid idea. His father told him it wasn't a good idea, but we've all been kids, and we know we don't always listen to reason. Consalvi will learn from his actions and hopefully will grow up at Penn State University next fall. I doubt we'll see him on the field again anytime soon, Happy Valley might soon be equipping their security guards with tasers as well, just in case.
As for the game itself, this wasn't necessarily one I expected to win. The Cardinals had a rookie going against the Phillies who were coming off a good series against the Mets. But this isn't just any rookie. This is Jaime Garcia, who out dueled the Mets' ace, Johan Santana, the Brewers' ace, Yovanni Gallardo, and stayed with two-time defending NL Cy Young winner, Tim Lincecum. Garcia doesn't appear to be intimidated by anything to this point and if those pitchers and the fans in Philly don't do it, I'm pretty sure nothing will. He kept the team in it long enough for the club's other star rookie, David Freese, to break the game open. Outfielder Nick Stavinoha hit a pinch-hit home run in the top of the seventh to give the Cards a 2-1 lead, his second pinch-hit dinger of the year. Freese then followed this by stepping in with the bases loaded and proceeded to clear them with a double, blowing the game open with a score of 5-1. Freese would come around to score on a single by the next hitter, Colby Rasmus to make it 6-1. The Phillies would get two runs back, but it wasn't enough as the St. Louis closer, Ryan Franklin was brought in and he shut the door with consecutive shutouts to end the game with a score of 6-3. Freese came through again on Tuesday with a 2-for-5 night including a double that led off the ninth. Yadier Molina would then follow that hit with a double of his own to drive in Freese and tie the game at one. This got Adam Wainwright off the hook for a loss that he didn't deserve, having given up just one run on four hits over eight innings. In the end, one run wasn't enough on the road, which really isn't surprising, as it rarely is.
The Cardinals offense, having scored six runs in each of the three games that preceded Tuesday's contest (yes, 25 cent drinks for all!), isn't even going on all cylinders yet. Pujols has been up and down this year (yeah, and he's still hitting .327), and Matt Holliday and his new $120 million contract has been a ghost for most of this season. If the Cards can get those two going in the near future, they could be 20 games ahead by the all-star break. They're already five games up without consistency from them. It's unlikely that Freese is going to hit .360 all year, but even if he keeps a similar pace, Pujols and Holliday will be needed in the long run. Pujols will be there. But will Holliday? We shall see.
The second round of the NHL playoffs is in full swing and the series are mostly going as expected. Vancouver and Chicago are headed to Canada tied at a game each, Boston held serve at home for a 2-0 lead, and the Pens are up 2-1 on the Habs after three. I expected Pittsburgh to win in 5 or 6, Chicago and Vancouver to go seven, and home ice to play a big role in the Boston and Philly series. One thing I did not expect was for the Sharks to take both games in San Jose from Detroit and then steal Game 3 in Detroit as well. The Sharks rallied from two goals behind in Game 3 to force overtime on Tuesday night before former captain Patrick Marleau finished off a 2-on-1 in overtime to send the Wings to the brink of elimination. I still think the
Red Wings can win a game or two before they get out their golf clubs, but I don't think even the group of chokers known as the Sharks can blow a 3-0 lead with two home games left. Detroit will not be making their third straight trip to the finals. However, the Penguins might be doing just that. They stole back home ice on Tuesday by beating Montreal 2-0. With the top three seeds in the east losing, the road to the finals will go through Pittsburgh.They have the best remaining goalie in the conference with Marc-Andre Fleury. They probably have the best two players remaining in the playoffs with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. All signs point to Pittsburgh to win their third straight Eastern Conference title. I also believe that they're the only club in the east that has a chance against a much stronger Western Conference. Here are my picks for the remainder of the playoffs:
- The Sharks finish of Detroit back at the tank in Game 5.
- Chicago loses in seven to Vancouver as Roberto Luongo stands on his head.
- A much more talented Sharks team pushes past Vancouver in six games to make their first finals.
- Pittsburgh takes out a Canadian team in Canada for the second straight round, finishing the Habs in six.
- The Flyers come back and force a Game 7 before the Bruins take care of business.
- The Penguins show the Bruins that they really don't belong in the Eastern Conference finals, knocking Boston out in just five games.
- The Penguins repeat as the Sharks kill their fans by waiting all the way until Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals before finally choking. Crosby is now up on Alexander Ovechkin 2-0 in cups and this time he takes home the Conn Smythe as well.
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