Even after last year, how many time we cam back from the dead, you still didn;t believe?

Thats okay, most of us were feeling the same but at least we kept watching the game. :p

I get few enough evenings with the Mrs. since I work second shift. Guess I had to take one for the team.

Here's hoping you get at least 8 more evenings with her over the next couple of weeks. :)

Cards take game 1 :rockon:

Great job by the bullpen. Lynn looks like a guy who surpassed his innings max for the year.

Freese hit a bomb the bullpen comes through. Looks amazingly like last year.

Bad day for teams from San Francisco to play defending champs. :spank:

Probably been said, but how cool will it be to win another title without Pujols this time.

Good news guys, Jocketty extended Dusty for two years.

I'd be in favor of Miller getting his start next time. Sure, he's a rookie but you just keep him on a short leash and back him up with Lynn or Kelley.

My position is that the WS is something akin to winning an exhibition after the National League season is over. I know, it's stupid, but I don't care. A successful season for me is one that ends with an NL Pennant.

The World Series is just delicious icing.

I'm not gonna lie - I'd love to see the Cards snag another pennant while Albert's ass is back home golfing and thanking God for telling him to take the biggest contract.

So, anything less than a National league pennant is a failure?

Our Time again eh?

Or a guy who was given a start on 2 days rest

Depending on the competition cycle, yeah. If you're rebuilding and you get a lot of good experience for your players, build on some stuff and charge up for next year - then it's a success regardless of the outcome (the Nats, for instance.

If you're a team like the Cardinals and you have all the talent this squad has, when the season begins you should set a pretty decent goal for yourself. I don't think WS or bust is fair, but I do think that the goal for this Cardinals team should have been a pennant. Otherwise you're setting your goals too low.

If you don't reach that goal, the season can't be a true success, though you could certainly get around not calling it a failure.

Did the Braves have a successful season? I don't think the die-hards would say they did. The Phils? Marlins? Mets? No, not at all. Reds? Nope 98 wins and a first round loss isn't a successful season, not with the veteran stars they have on the roster. I don't think anyone else in the Central can consider this a successful season either. The Bucs collapsed down the stretch again and the Brewers underperformed so badly early that they made re-building trades that bit them when they finally got their !@#$ in order.

The Giants are probably going to call this season successful after getting through to the playoffs even after their injuries/suspensions. The D-Backs can't possibly like it, nor can the Rox. Maybe the Padres with their strong finish, but that's a 'rebuilding' squad under the rebuilding rules.

If the Cards lose the NLCS, I'll consider this a fine season, but not one I would call a 'successful' one. An entertaining one and one where some guys developed, but this isn't a building squad - it's a championship caliber one and should be held to that standard.

I think that's a bit harsh.

We lost:
1. HOF Manager (yeah, I didn't like him, but still, he's a HOF manager)
2. Marquee star
3. Arguably the best pitching coach in baseball
4. Staff ace for most of the season
5. Berkman and Furcal, two seasoned veterans who were key to our success last year.

Also, Garcia is done for the post season and Lynn and Wainwright are shaky at best.

Even if we end up losing in 5, I think reaching this point is pretty damned impressive, all things considered.

But obviously I want more.

If we don't advance, then we failed to split a 6-game series where both sides had an even number of home/away games. I think it's time to admit that the Cardinals really should win this series.

If they fail, that has to be seen as a disappointment.

If you are not the top team out of 16 teams every year, its a failed season? That is way too high of a bar.

And if they lose, I'll be disappointed, but Christ, my other teams are the Chiefs and the Tigers. Hard to rip on a team that has overcome so much adversity and is still deep in the playoffs when the other two are mired in epic suck and don't even bother to show up for regular season games.

They've made it farther than I expected. Productive season. Everything else is just gravy. I do expect them to make mince meat out of this Giant squad however.

yeah that is BS to win the pennant or you are a failure.

Yesterday I saw in person my football team totally lay down and put forth one of the most pathetic efforts

Contrast that with my baseball team show some true grit on Friday. They had a never give up, keep trying your best, we are all in this together approach. They give their best effort no matter how much they are down, how long the odds are, they just keep going, doing their best.

That giving of maximum effort, never say die scrappy team is the one that I want to root for, the one I want to follow. No matter the results on the field, I can be proud of their efforts and being a fan.

Agreed. We're playing with house money at this point. Win or lose, I'll sport my Cards stuff with pride. And I won't even wear the other shit out of the house.

I figured you'd go to the Chiefs game with it being in Tampa. That had to suck. :shake:

maybe :thumb:

Was watching MLB's baseball tonight and the old geezer was telling about a question that he had asked Mike Methany about why Waino came back out to cheer on the club after failing badly, why all the players are always on the first steps on the dugout and not sitting on the bench or back in the clubhouse.....MM's response............. I think they are afraid that if they sit on the bench or go back into the clubhouse that Carpenter will rip their heads off. LMAO

Had a lot of fun tailgating with my Arrowhead South group but it was hot and totally embarrassing.

I'm currently reading through the Cards/Nats Game 5 thread on the NorthSideBaseball.com forum. Cub fans elated/nervous/furious/suicidal in just a few short pages. It's like popcorn for the soul. LMAO

That game was the World Series for them. Of course they ended up in misery.

That's probably similar to the feeling I get when I read Red Sox loss threads on http://sonsofsamhorn.net/, except way more epic.

Was that a dirty slide by Holliday? The Giants seemed upset about the slide.

Tim McCarver doesn't want players to run into catchers above the waist now. Good luck with that idea.

I didn't see a problem with it.

I couls see MLB saying that you have to give the runner a part of the plate. You cant completely block the plate.

God knows I've seen worse. I can see how they're pissed about it, though.

Giants making some noise now. We need a nice double play here.

Man, they're getting some lucky bounces this inning.

Craig seems to lack some baseball sense, that bunt was going foul for a 3rd strike.

Yep. That's two in a row he ****ed up.

lol Holliday is a joke in LF.

Flood gates open. And **** Holliday's shitty fielding allows another run to score that (at least temporarily) shouldn't have.

His legion of ballwashers will be along shortly to tell us how great he is.

Finally out of that mess. Bad bounces, bad fielding, and not too great pitching, either.

I am just happy the Cards were able to win yesterday. If the Giants end up winning tonight, it's a ton different being 1-1 instead of 0-2. I didn't have a good feeling about this game. We will see, there are 5 innings left.

Schumaker....... :shake:

If they are still down by the 8th inning and things are looking bleak, a tidal wave will come in and destroy AT&T park and the remaining games will have to be played in Busch. The Cards will get to rest and come back swinging to win the game and finish the Giants off in 5.

Yep. I'm not worried about beating the Giants.

It's going to rock to have a rested and healthy Carp and Waino next year. They are just not themselves.

Honestly I don't know if Carp will ever be the same.

Bite your tongue.:cuss:

Well, we certainly got screwed on that call at first, but I doubt if it will matter in the long run.

And IF we make it to the WS, hopefully they'll let Holliday DH and get somebody that can actually play left field to play left field.

The ump is looking directly at the call in front of him. How does he miss the tag? And anyway he was way out of the baseline.

Giants fan with sign that read........ "Orange you glad you are a Giants fan?"

Enjoy your night pal. When its all said and done you are going to look like the Phillies, Brewers, Rangers, Braves and Nationals fans looked.

Like it mattered, GO GIANTS!!!

nah, it had no impact on the outcome. But, instant replay or at least one coach challenge should be allowed per game. And while I'm bitching, how about some replays in the stadium, The umps dont want to be shown up? Tough shit.

And you really think youre going to win the series BigDaddy?

I have always been for replay. If I had it my way the strikezone would be done electronically. I am for eliminating the errors of the game as much as possible and the influence these umps have on the game

Baseball games are already long enough. Replay should be designated for base running plays (tags, bang-bang throws, etc), catches, and HR's. Anything more and it's just going to drag the shit out too ****ing long.

Doesn't even have to be delayed really. Just need 1 ump mic'd into the CC that is watching replays somewhere in the box and just radio's it in. **** this shit with the umps leaving the field for 5 mins to walk where ever the **** they go to watch a replay.

I agree it can be done upstairs but then again the strikezone could be done on full auto. I know it's never going to happen, just saying

Well, lucked into some free tickets for game 5. At least now I know I'll be going for sure!

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/E5Dp-DxfAlc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Check out this Joe Morgan "slide" from the 70s.

After the first two games, it's clear. Tim McCarver is the ****ing worst. He gets names wrong more frequently than Harry Caray after 3 cases of beer. Joe Buck isn't good, but it's tough to be good when you are needing to correct that dumbshit every 45 seconds.

http://sports.cbsimg.net/images//vis...shot/mcrae.gif

The game has changed.

That dude needs to have his ass beat. He should have stomped him in the face.

:thumb:


Electronic balls and strikes would be a HUGE improvement for the game of baseball. The subjectivity of the strike zone bugs me to no end.

Players make too much nowadays for that kind of shit to go on. That happen to "Captain :whackit:" they'd have the opposing player dangling from a noose.

It was late. It was poor execution of a clean takeout slide.

If he goes down a step earlier, it's fine. He started his slide right at the bag though. If it happens to Descalso, I'd be pretty pissed off about it.

That said, Scutaro was foolish to hold his ground there - everyone knows that Holliday is going to bull your ass at 2b (he's done it for years). And really, it's one of the things that is always admirable in Holliday - he may be a lummox at times, but that guy absolutely plays his ass off. He's a gamer in the same sense that Rolen was - he knew it was his job to bust up that DP and he did everything he could to make it happen. Scutaro used the back of the back to dig in and get more muscle on the throw as opposed to getting in the air and mitigating the impact.

Moreover, it's the 2b (or SSs) job to drop down sidearm and get that runner on his ass. I know when I was playing infield, I was taught that if I take a pivot and a runner is bearing down on me, tilt my shoulders and come in from low with the throw. That runner will get his ass on the ground or he'll take it in the face. It's pretty damn apparent as a baserunner what's happening as that windup starts - they always get down.

Holliday's slide was late, Scutaro didn't do nearly enough to protect himself. Both parties had some fault in it but in the end I'll at least recognize that I'd be looking for heads if someone did that to one of our middle infielders (unless it was Tyler Greene or Ryan Theriot).

Danny D should keep his head on a swivel around the bag.

I found the blog post that the .gif KC Connection posted was from - here's a quote from Billy Martin in there:

That's. What. You. Do.

Sure, Holliday slid late - that's why the 2b puts your ass on the ground. It's easier to do from SS, but the 2B can do that drop-down as well and it gets the baserunner's attention really quickly.

To me it's kinda like a batter that dives over the plate every AB and finally gets hit in the head with a fastball. Sure, the pitcher shouldn't have come that far up and in, but if the batter wasn't diving into the plate, he wouldn't have gotten hit either.

Sometimes guys need to take responsibility for failing to protect themselves and this is absolutely one of those times. Next time Scutaro will do a better job.

Just give them a single challenge a game.

He's gotten old and entering Madden at the end territory. For crissakes, he was catching Bob Gibson when he played.

Mujica Salas Jr. :facepalm: Luckily Sandoval is slower than molasses. HUGE storms rolling in. This thing is getting delayed soon.

1st and 2nd for Pence, one out. Turd out, Boggs in.

Should have stayed with rosenthal

Score update, please

Rain has to be hitting downtown St. Louis soon.

2-1 STL Top 7

BOGGS!!!! Threat over. Thanks for the favorable call ump ROFL

Thanks. What happened to Beltran?

Tornadoes just north. Huge storms rolling in.

Carpenter played and went deep earlier for the only runs :clap:

Thats what I figured. It hit Mid-Missouri two hours ago, figured it would be in St. Louis by now.

Beltran started, though. GIDP in the 1st and was out of there (replaced by Carpenter) when StL took the field in the top of the next inning. Haven't heard for sure; maybe it's one of the knees.

Bases loaded one out