I’m Off to St. Louis!
Written by Mike on July 3, 2008 – 7:49 pm -As I write this, the Mets are crushing the Cardinals 11-1 in the seventh. It’s actually kind of a relief that it’s not a nail biter, because I’ve got to be at the airport at six o’clock in the morning. So if the lead holds (ha!), the Cards will have split the series. The three game set with the Cubs could be huge. I can’t wait!
Funny thing about my flight. It leaves here and connects in Chicago, before finally arriving in St. Louis at one. It’s not really my idea of a good time, so I’ll have to make the best of it. I figure maybe if I deck myself out in Cards gear, I’ll have a decent chance of getting into it with some Cubs fans during my layover. Whether I end up in a bar brawl or just do a little smack talking with the Cubbie faithful, I should have a nice story to share when I get back on Tuesday.
I’ll be sure to take a ton of pictures from the games, and will share them with everyone next week, assuming I don’t die of alcohol poisoning. Wish me luck!
In the meantime, you can still get your Cardinals fix from some of the other blogs listed in my blogroll.
Cubs suck!
How Not to Win the Division
Written by Mike on June 18, 2008 – 8:29 pm -In today’s post, I’ll break down the three most important objectives that often times, winning teams overlook during a pennant race. In the game of baseball, sometimes these simple tasks get lost in the long, 162 game regular season. By sticking to the following guidelines, no team, regardless of their talent, should ever find themselves in the playoffs come October. In this example, I’ll use the St. Louis Cardinals as the ideal scenario.
1. Score as few runs as possible.
They say you can’t win if you don’t score, but even the least likely candidates are capable of plating a few runs every now and then. Take a look at what the Cardinals were able to do over the past two nights. Facing the Kansas City Royals, one of the worst teams in baseball, the Cards were able to limit their scoring to just one run in the first game of the series, and two in the second. By limiting their scoring, the Redbirds are able to put their opponent in a better position to win the game. This first rule sounds fundamental, yet is seldom executed from playoff teams.
2. Build a poor bullpen, and overuse it.
The nice thing about this rule is that no matter how good your starting pitchers perform, you’ll still have a decent chance of blowing the lead, even to mediocre offensive teams. Again, the Cardinals are a perfect example of this. The Cardinal relievers rank number one in losses in the National League with 18, and amongst the worst in ERA. Had it not been for the bullpen, the Cards would be in danger of winning the current series against the Royals.
3. Strategically plan your losses.
So often this one is overlooked. Take a look at the Cardinals again. They trail the division leading Chicago Cubs by only a few games. Knowing how seldom the Cubs lose, the Cards somehow manage to time their own poor play in direct correlation with the Chicago ball club. Notice the perfect execution over the last two days, as both the Cubs and Cards have lost back-to-back games, insuring no ground gained for St. Louis. If they can keep it up, they’ll be sure to come in second, or worse.
Keep these points in mind as you watch tomorrow’s game. Chances are, the Cards will only win if the Cubs do.
