With all that said, after today's rainout, it looks possible that the Cardinals could still get wins from Garcia and Carpenter, it could just be in Games 6 and 7 instead.of 5 and 6. We of course have to win Game 6 to get to Game 7, but I certainly like our chances much better of both. Garcia's allowed runs in just two innings this postseason out of 18 2/3 at home and just four runs total. So, unless Tony La Russa makes more bonehead intentional walk decisions (and that's entirely possible), I really like Garcia's chances to get a win on Thursday. And as for Carpenter, does anyone remember his last winner-take-all start that he made? I do, but it's a bit hazy as I had a few beers. That was Game 5 of this year's NLDS, when he out-dueled Roy Halladay. Or as it's known in my household, the infamous police noise complaint night. I yelled every couple of innings and we were watching the game on my porch, so yes, it might have been a little bit loud. It was also before 10 pm on a Friday night. In St. Louis, Missouri. I said it that night and I'll say it again. If you don't like playoff baseball, move to Chicago or Kansas City. Both towns are in the Midwest and rarely have to deal with playoff baseball. End tangent. Carpenter was masterful that night, and while he'd have to pitch Game 7 on Friday with short rest, is their anyone else on the roster that you would trust more? And while Mitch Moreland's bomb was surely gone anywhere, anytime on Monday, Adrian Beltre's solo shot to tie Game 5 was probably just a long fly ball in the colder temperatures expected of Busch Stadium on Friday.I'll take my chances. I choose you, Magi-Carp! Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Prayers for Rain
Going into Game 5 of the World Series, there were two ways I thought it could end. I thought the Cards could win starts by Chris Carpenter and Jaime Garcia and take the thing in six games or that the Cardinals could lose the series in seven games. After Kyle Lohse's, well, awful Game 3 start, I didn't believe we could win another game with him starting. While the game ended up being a rout in our favor, a big key to that early was the blown Matt Holliday call at first base followed by a 2006 Tigers-esque Mike Napoli throwing error that allowed the Cardinals to score four runs and build a 5-0 lead. Lohse did all he could to let the Rangers back in the game, giving up two bombs in the next half inning, but luckily Holliday made a great play in left field, catching a fly ball and gunning down Napoli at home to preserve a 5-3 lead. And this time, Holliday didn't even need the benefit of a horrible call. Napoli was obviously out. That being said, Lohse didn't last much longer and the only reason his poor start wasn't too noticeable was because Albert Pujols went off the hook, tying three World Series records(three home runs, six RBIs, and five hits) and breaking two more (first player with four hits in four consecutive innings in the WS and most total bases at 14 in one WS game).
With all that said, after today's rainout, it looks possible that the Cardinals could still get wins from Garcia and Carpenter, it could just be in Games 6 and 7 instead.of 5 and 6. We of course have to win Game 6 to get to Game 7, but I certainly like our chances much better of both. Garcia's allowed runs in just two innings this postseason out of 18 2/3 at home and just four runs total. So, unless Tony La Russa makes more bonehead intentional walk decisions (and that's entirely possible), I really like Garcia's chances to get a win on Thursday. And as for Carpenter, does anyone remember his last winner-take-all start that he made? I do, but it's a bit hazy as I had a few beers. That was Game 5 of this year's NLDS, when he out-dueled Roy Halladay. Or as it's known in my household, the infamous police noise complaint night. I yelled every couple of innings and we were watching the game on my porch, so yes, it might have been a little bit loud. It was also before 10 pm on a Friday night. In St. Louis, Missouri. I said it that night and I'll say it again. If you don't like playoff baseball, move to Chicago or Kansas City. Both towns are in the Midwest and rarely have to deal with playoff baseball. End tangent. Carpenter was masterful that night, and while he'd have to pitch Game 7 on Friday with short rest, is their anyone else on the roster that you would trust more? And while Mitch Moreland's bomb was surely gone anywhere, anytime on Monday, Adrian Beltre's solo shot to tie Game 5 was probably just a long fly ball in the colder temperatures expected of Busch Stadium on Friday.I'll take my chances. I choose you, Magi-Carp!
With all that said, after today's rainout, it looks possible that the Cardinals could still get wins from Garcia and Carpenter, it could just be in Games 6 and 7 instead.of 5 and 6. We of course have to win Game 6 to get to Game 7, but I certainly like our chances much better of both. Garcia's allowed runs in just two innings this postseason out of 18 2/3 at home and just four runs total. So, unless Tony La Russa makes more bonehead intentional walk decisions (and that's entirely possible), I really like Garcia's chances to get a win on Thursday. And as for Carpenter, does anyone remember his last winner-take-all start that he made? I do, but it's a bit hazy as I had a few beers. That was Game 5 of this year's NLDS, when he out-dueled Roy Halladay. Or as it's known in my household, the infamous police noise complaint night. I yelled every couple of innings and we were watching the game on my porch, so yes, it might have been a little bit loud. It was also before 10 pm on a Friday night. In St. Louis, Missouri. I said it that night and I'll say it again. If you don't like playoff baseball, move to Chicago or Kansas City. Both towns are in the Midwest and rarely have to deal with playoff baseball. End tangent. Carpenter was masterful that night, and while he'd have to pitch Game 7 on Friday with short rest, is their anyone else on the roster that you would trust more? And while Mitch Moreland's bomb was surely gone anywhere, anytime on Monday, Adrian Beltre's solo shot to tie Game 5 was probably just a long fly ball in the colder temperatures expected of Busch Stadium on Friday.I'll take my chances. I choose you, Magi-Carp! 
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
A Statistically Significant Pair of Pumped Up Kicks
For me, sports, especially in the playoffs, are all about patterns and superstitions. I make note of stupid things like what I'm wearing, what I'm doing, and even where I am at the time of wins and losses. I wore the same shirt, without washing it, for five games, and we won the first four until a loss in Game 4 of the NLCS forced me to switch it out. My current shirt, the Matt Holliday number 15 shirt I got on clearance, (because who cares about the number on the back when it's five dollars) is currently on a two-game winning streak and will be on my back tomorrow when I head downtown for Game 1 of the World Series. I'll also be wearing hat number 2, my me shoes (Christmas gift from Natalie pictured here), and my gray shorts. I'm well aware that tomorrow's low is 41 degrees and that rain is also in the forecast. I don't care. Sacrifices must be made.My liver perhaps understands that best of all. When I drink this postseason, the Cardinals are 7-1. When I don't, they're 0-3. It doesn't take a statistics professor to tell you that there is a significant difference between those percentages (.875>.000). And it only takes a slightly eccentric baseball fan to tell you that you should ignore sample size and logic. After all, the Cardinals being in the playoffs, overcoming an 8.5 game deficit, the largest in National League history, defied logic too. I'll be playing the odds tomorrow at Paddy O's, because well, the Cards are 2-0 when I have a drink there this postseason. Also, I promise I'm not an alcoholic. I'm drinking a cherry coke right now and haven't had a sip of alcohol since Game 6 ended. I'm simply a baseball fanatic who will do just about anything to see his team win the World Series. Even if it seems stupid to you.
Monday, October 3, 2011
The Cardinals Keep Making Me Look Stupid, but I'm Okay With This
Every time I start to doubt the Cardinals, they do the unthinkable. First, they go 18-8 during September to make the playoffs (thanks Braves). Then, last night in Game 2 of the Division Series against the Phillies, they fell behind 4-0, going up against Cliff Lee, and they came back to win. Lee wasn't exactly Roy Halladay last night, as he was in out of trouble. He gave up a leadoff triple in the first inning and a leadoff double in the second inning and managed to get out of it unscathed both times.
At that point, it's starting to look like one of those nights and one of those series, too. But then, the Cardinals finally managed to string together some hits in the fourth inning and rallied to score three runs. They nearly tied it that inning, as Jon Jay made the final out at home. But after that, the Cardinals knew they were in the game. Even with Carpenter getting lit up early, they were still in the game. We then were witness to the bizarro baseball world. Carpenter was pitching like the Cardinals bullpen for much of the season and the bullpen started pitching like Carpenter. The combination of Fernando Salas, Octavio Dotel, Mark Rzepczynski (or as several of my friends have come to call him, Scrabble), Mitchell Boggs, Arthur Rhodes, and Jason Motte threw six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, while striking out six and walking no one. Rhodes struck out Ryan Howard with the tying run at first. The guy should be signing up for AARP, not striking out the guy that hit the ball three miles the day before. But this shit actually happened.
Now the Cardinals can come home and have a chance to close out the series in four games, without having go to back to Philadelphia. And if the Phillies don't want to throw Halladay on short rest, the Cards could also avoid facing him by closing out the series at home. I'll make this decree just like I've done over the past couple of months and will probably be proven wrong again, but the Cards won't win a Game 5 in Philly against Roy Halladay. That just doesn't make sense. After Lance Berkman's three-run bomb in the first inning of Game 1, that was pretty much all we got. Skip Schumaker got a leadoff single in the second, but after that, Halladay pulled a NASCAR and "shut her down." And while this may seem like my first NASCAR reference since I began this blog close to three years ago, it's really just my first Brian Regan reference. If anything, I'm making fun of NASCAR and how it's not a sport, but just a bunch of red necks turning left. I'm not saying that driving in circles at really high speeds isn't difficult, I'm just saying I don't find it entertaining and a machine shouldn't decide the outcome of something that is actually a sport. There, I said it! End tangent! But yes, Halladay retired 21 consecutive batters after Schumaker's single. He didn't even do that in his first start of the playoffs last year. And that was a no-hitter! So yes, I definitely don't like our chances in that scenario.
Let's just win the next two and not worry about that...
Also, just a word to the Rams' offensive line. Blocking is not optional. It's your job. Maybe, do it? And wide receivers, you should probably receive the ball every once in a while too. I heard an unofficial number today, which was that the Rams had 20 drops in Sunday's game. TWENTY! Bradford's completion percentage could've jumped from 47% to 93%. I don't expect them to catch all of those balls, but even most of them would make Bradford's numbers respectable and he deserves better. I just don't know that he'll get what he deserves this season.
Photo from http://www.batman-superman.com
At that point, it's starting to look like one of those nights and one of those series, too. But then, the Cardinals finally managed to string together some hits in the fourth inning and rallied to score three runs. They nearly tied it that inning, as Jon Jay made the final out at home. But after that, the Cardinals knew they were in the game. Even with Carpenter getting lit up early, they were still in the game. We then were witness to the bizarro baseball world. Carpenter was pitching like the Cardinals bullpen for much of the season and the bullpen started pitching like Carpenter. The combination of Fernando Salas, Octavio Dotel, Mark Rzepczynski (or as several of my friends have come to call him, Scrabble), Mitchell Boggs, Arthur Rhodes, and Jason Motte threw six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, while striking out six and walking no one. Rhodes struck out Ryan Howard with the tying run at first. The guy should be signing up for AARP, not striking out the guy that hit the ball three miles the day before. But this shit actually happened.Now the Cardinals can come home and have a chance to close out the series in four games, without having go to back to Philadelphia. And if the Phillies don't want to throw Halladay on short rest, the Cards could also avoid facing him by closing out the series at home. I'll make this decree just like I've done over the past couple of months and will probably be proven wrong again, but the Cards won't win a Game 5 in Philly against Roy Halladay. That just doesn't make sense. After Lance Berkman's three-run bomb in the first inning of Game 1, that was pretty much all we got. Skip Schumaker got a leadoff single in the second, but after that, Halladay pulled a NASCAR and "shut her down." And while this may seem like my first NASCAR reference since I began this blog close to three years ago, it's really just my first Brian Regan reference. If anything, I'm making fun of NASCAR and how it's not a sport, but just a bunch of red necks turning left. I'm not saying that driving in circles at really high speeds isn't difficult, I'm just saying I don't find it entertaining and a machine shouldn't decide the outcome of something that is actually a sport. There, I said it! End tangent! But yes, Halladay retired 21 consecutive batters after Schumaker's single. He didn't even do that in his first start of the playoffs last year. And that was a no-hitter! So yes, I definitely don't like our chances in that scenario.
Let's just win the next two and not worry about that...
Also, just a word to the Rams' offensive line. Blocking is not optional. It's your job. Maybe, do it? And wide receivers, you should probably receive the ball every once in a while too. I heard an unofficial number today, which was that the Rams had 20 drops in Sunday's game. TWENTY! Bradford's completion percentage could've jumped from 47% to 93%. I don't expect them to catch all of those balls, but even most of them would make Bradford's numbers respectable and he deserves better. I just don't know that he'll get what he deserves this season.
Photo from http://www.batman-superman.com
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