One for the Other Thumb

2006 World Series Champions!




Tigers - 2
Cards - 4 FINAL
St. Louis WINS 2006 World Series 4-1

The St. Louis Cardinals wrapped up their National League best 10th World Series title tonight with lights-out pitching, 2-out hitting and the federally-mandated throwing error by a Tiger pitcher.


The Real Story

How WRONG were all the experts? The word at the outset of this series was "Tigers in 3". The Cardinals were cast as a weak pitching team with a one-man offensive show, an injured group of core players and a shaky bullpen. They would wilt under the Tiger assault according to conventional "wisdom".


A funny thing happened on the way to the Tiger coronation.

As I mentioned before this series began, this series came down to a battle of nerves and the team with the nerve to stare into the face of World Series pressure without flinching would prevail. The deciding factor was the Cardinals' experience. In 2004 a far more loaded 105-win Cardinal team experienced the worst of World Series collapses vs Boston. They'd suffered through it, survived it and made it back to the show in 2006. They were the tougher team mentally because of it.


Dream Weaver

Jeff Weaver is born-again hard. This is not the same guy I saw pitch for the Dodgers against the Cardinals in the 2004 NLDS and literally melt down under the pressure. This Jeff Weaver could watch Chris Duncan make two potentially fatal Curly Joe plays in right field -- plays that would have broken the old Jeff Weaver -- shake it off, bear down and get out of the inning with the lead and eventually the win. That was pitching. That was will. Check out the line:

8 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K

Carpenteresque. Great job by a much-maligned man on a mission to stick it to the team that bad-mouthed him for years. Congratulations to him.


Pressure cooker

A lot will be made of the Tigers many errors and lapses in the series. The 8 team errors, 5 by pitchers in each game, were unprecedented. But what must be remembered is that their errors were borne of the pressure the Cardinals put on them. Leadoff doubles, well-executed sacrifices, numerous situations with runners in scoring position, 2nd & 3rd, bases loaded with less than 2 outs, hard-hit balls and the stress of being shut down offensively combined to crack the Tigers' will and shake their confidence. There are no errant throws by pitchers without runners on base to press the issue. The Cards did all of this, mind you, with an uncharacteristically scant offensive contribution from the one-man gang, Albert Pujols. In this series, the Tigers thought they could win but the Cardinals knew they could. Experience and heart won out.


The Rundown

In Game #2 Anthony Reyes came out and showed that this Tiger line-up wasn't as scary as advertised. It could be pitched to. Reyes did just that stole home-field advantage from Detroit. Even in Game #2, the game the Cards lost, Weaver pitched well in defeat but was out-dueled by a red-hot Kenny Rogers, who'd apparently prepared for his start by hugging Tony Snow's tar baby.

Then came the lockdown. Chris Carpenter pitches brilliantly Game #3 and cruises to a 5-0 win to take command of the series. Jeff Suppan bends but doesn't break to keep the Cardinals close enough to take a come-from-behind win in Game #4, setting up Weaver's Game #5, series clinching masterpiece.

Go crazy, folks!

Game balls:

David Eckstien earned the series MVP award by turning up the heat in the last 3 games and stroking the big hits in prime time.

Yadier Molina for being "that guy", the "it" guy, coming from nowhere to perform as the Redbirds' most reliable hitter throughout the post-season. He takes his place among the great "it" guys of World Series history as noted in my previous post.

Adam Wainwright is a grown man. This kid wasn't even supposed to make the roster this year but he pitched his way into the bullpen and moved up the ladder all season long making great major league hitters look like head-slapping idiots repeatedly. The way he grew into the closer's role on an emergency basis was one of the most impressive transformations I've ever seen. What a starting rotation we'll have next year when this guy steps in with Reyes, Weaver, Carpenter and whichever veterans the Cardinals retain and/or acquire in the offseason. This experience will be invaluable.

Tony LaRussa actually earned the "genius" label this year. Towards the end of the year his every move came up roses.

The Bullpen emerged from the dead to pitch light's out ball for the entire postseason. Guys who looked shaky going to the playoffs showed up like seasoned veterans. In addition to Wainwright, Tyler Johnson, Josh Kinney, Randy Flores and Braden Looper came through with flying colors. Great job!

This one makes up for the 2004 October catastrophe. For me the 2004 season is finally over. After two consecutive season of being the best team in baseball only to be foiled by a wild card team the word was the Cards would fall short again. Their roughtly 290 wins over 3 season were to go to waste. But they got into the post-season with the worst record in the playoffs and won it all.

That's poetic.

It's just.

It's the 10th World Series title.

One for the other thumb.

Best Fan Sign: "Hit it to the pitcher!" LOL!

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Game 3 Underway

Chris Carpenter looks sharp early. Tiger fans overconfident. Good signs...

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Jeff Weaver Returns to Detroit

Tigers closer Todd Jones was kind enough to provide all the bulletin board material we could hope for:

"I am the wrong guy to ask about Jeff Weaver... I am not a big advocate of his, and I wasn't a big advocate of his when he was here... He was a good pitcher who never really panned out here. Maybe he found a home in St. Louis, but there's no love lost here [now] that he's gone."

Thanks, Todd.

Weaver for his part, when told of the comments during his press availability responded, "I've got nothing but good things to say about him."

Good answer. Play ball!

Game #2 will be soggy. Jeff Weaver is coming... NEXT!

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Reyes of Light

2006 World Series
Beertown vs Motown
The Drunk Driving Series
Game #1

Cards - 7
Tigers - 1 FINAL
Cardinals lead series 1-0

Wow, I stopped just short of calling the hell out of this one.

For those keeping score at home, THAT was the Anthony Reyes the Cardinals had tabbed as their top pitching prospect going into spring training. THAT was the Anthony Reyes who one-hit the White Sox and filled in so admirably early in the season. Strange delivery, goofy socks, flat-billed cap and nasty stuff. This experience is going to do wonders for this kid's confidence and helps set him up nicely to move into the rotation next season.

In other news, how long did anyone think Albert Pujols was going to go without driving in runs? Talk about a guy being due. Ditto Scott Rolen, helping the Cardinals bounce right back after Detroit took the early lead with that timely solo bomb in the 2nd. This was the St. Louis Cardinals of '04, '05 and the first half of '06. The imposters of August and September have vanished (thank goodness). Very exciting stuff.

Game #2 tomorrow: Jeff Weaver returns to Detroit...

Update 10/22/2006 6:11pm: I forgot to add, in my earlier post before this game I mentioned how I thought Game #1 could boil down to a contest of nerves. Well, in the first round the Tigers definitely looked like a nervous, rattled team. Maybe they'll shake it off in Game #2 but, either way, the difference in post-season experience showed in this game.

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Beertown vs Motown: The Drunk Driving Series

Every year there is a lame-0 mayoral or gubernatorial wager that is staged between the competing cities in major sports championships like the World Series. Another annual ritual is the naming of the series with something catchy symbolizing both cities. For example, the Mets and Yankees had the "Subway Series", the Cardinals and Royals had the "I-70 Series" and so forth. For this year's World Series I humbly suggest the moniker, "The Drunk Driving Series". To inaugurate it, we can have the Mayor of St. Louis can put up a cold one and Detroit's mayor can wager a Chrysler Pacifica.

They can partake of the spoils and hit the road...

...a winding mountain road...

...like the ones in the car commercials.

That sounds fair to me.

It's a rookie face-off tonight. Anthony Reyes of the Cardinals vs Justin Verlander of the Tigers. We all know what Verlander can do: 100+ MPH fastball, a change-up, good breaking curveball. Reyes doesn't come with that kind of heat but his change-up is nasty when it's on and he's shown himself to be a strikeout pitcher.

Reyes has been pitching the second half of this season with what is being called a "tired arm", but the good news for the Cardinals is that he's only pitched once this month. That outing in Game 4 of the NLCS was shaky. He struggled with his command. But he surrendered only two runs in just under 5 innings. It could be that the outing helped him shake the rust off after a long rest and he could be sharper today.

If that's the case and he shows up as the Anthony Reyes of the first half of the season he's capable of matching Verlander pitch-for-pitch. He pitched a one-hitter against a tough White Sox club in June but took the loss in tough luck, 1-0. If he turns in that kind of performance the game will come down to a battle of nerves between the two teams with the Cardinals holding the lion's share of postseason and World Series experience and a lot less of the pressure, being widely regarded as huge underdogs this time around.

I'm not predicting the upset in this game. Just don't be surprised if it happens.

Game #1 of the 2006 World Series is coming up... NEXT!

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Sup'd Up!

National League Championship Series:

Cards - 3
Mets - 1 FINAL
Cardinals win NLCS 4-3

What can I say about Jeff Suppan? The man is money in the postseason. I can forget about how he gets tagged in April, May and June. Come July, the man is on the money. By postseason he's incredible. They've got to re-sign this guy. Find a way to keep him around. A guy who pitches like this in the big time situations is priceless. He's the anti-Marquis.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Molina's lightning bolt against a drizzly Queens night stunned a crowd of 56,357 but didn't come in time to make a winning pitcher of series MVP Jeff Suppan for his seven-plus innings of two-hit ball. It didn't have to. Suppan already had established himself as an October rock by starting the Cardinals' third clinching victory in three years.

"I never thought I'd be in a situation like this," said Suppan, who has risen from an "innings eater" to a certified big-game pitcher in three years with this current team...

[Snip]

Suppan, a guy who reached the Cardinals via free agency three Decembers ago as a 62-75 pitcher, dueled for six innings with enigmatic lefthander Oliver Perez, a Pittsburgh Pirates castoff deemed too excitable and too much an injury risk to ever match his sizable potential.

The Mets reached him for a 1-0 lead with two outs in the first inning.

Beltran beat left fielder Preston Wilson's throw for a two-out double. Suppan then walked cleanup hitter Carlos Delgado for the first of three times before third baseman David Wright flared a single short of right fielder Juan Encarnacion.

The Cardinals' first chance came after Edmonds led off the second inning with a single. Advanced to third base by Molina's parachute single to left, Edmonds was in position to score when No. 8 hitter Ronnie Belliard perfectly executed a safety squeeze on a high fastball.

There the game froze as Suppan didn't allow another hit before being lifted in the eighth inning.

The Mets loaded the bases with one out in the sixth when Delgado walked, Rolen threw wildly into the first-base stands on Wright's ground ball and right fielder Shawn Green was walked intentionally.

Adopting a soft, softer, softest approach, Suppan struck out second baseman Jose Valentin as his velocity decelerated through the at-bat. Chavez, poised to join New York's line of October icons, instead ended the threat with a fly ball to center field.

Thursday's performance left Suppan with one run allowed in 15 innings this series. In five NLCS starts for the Cardinals, Suppan has allowed six earned runs in 32 innings for a 1.69 ERA.

Wow.

And then there's the poetic justice. This frozen moment:



Now, I ask you, what's better than that? Carlos Beltran has been killing us in the postseason for years now. It's like he's Godzilla and Cardinal pitching is Japan. I hated seeing him come to the plate in that situation but now, given the way it worked out, I'd wouldn't have had it any other way. That was PERFECT!

PS - Adam Wainwright is a beast.

PPS - And, like Jeff Suppan, Cards catcher Yadier Molina is the "It Guy". He's that guy, the one who comes from out of nowhere to dominate the postseason. Other "It Guys" from past years include Mark Lemke of the Atlanta Braves of the early '90s, Jim Leyritz of the San Diego Padres & NY Yankees in the mid-90s, Mickey Hatcher of the Los Angeles Dodger in 1988 and Billy Hatcher of the Cincinnati Reds in 1990.

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Good Carpenter, No Wood

Nuts!

Cards - 2
Mets - 4 FINAL

The Cardinals mostly got what they needed from their ace, Chris Carpenter, but were let down by their bats. Two wasted opportunities early sandwiched around a solo-shot by Jose Reyes to lead off the bottom of the first were the first several bad omens for the Cards. Carpenter left the game having surrendered only two runs but the Cardinals had none on the board despite putting runners in scoring position with less than 2 outs twice in the early innings. Having found ways not to score in those situation they found themselves pressing to compensate the rest of the way.

This was, without a doubt, the game the Cards wanted to win rather than extend it to a do-or-die Game 7 on the road. However, if I had to face a Game 7 I'd like to face it with the matchup we have tonight.

It'll be a tough game and Jeff Suppan tends to be less effective on the road. Still, in light of his late-season and post-season history, the Cardinals have to feel better about relying on him in this situation than the Mets feel about Oliver Perez. Despite the hype and his Game 4 win, Perez was not impressive in his first outing at the new Busch. He gave up 5 runs in just over 5 innings but benefited from the batting practice session tossed by some members of the Cards bullpen that day. His job was reduced to holding the Cardinals short of 12 runs which isn't exactly a high-standard.

Of course, because I said that, the bum will probably end up throwing a no-hitter... But I hope not.

Game 7 for the all the National League marbles... NEXT!

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Dream Weaver

Mets - 2
Cards - 4 FINAL
Cardinals lead series 3-2

Jeff Weaver delivers again, teaming up with the bullpen to pitch the Cardinals back into the lead. His performance late in the regular season through this postseason has been as outstanding as it is utterly unexpected. What a turnaround!

If the Cards earn at least a split in NY he'll be going back to Detroit to face his old team NEW & IMPROVED!

Meanwhile, Albert Pujols goes deep, Josh Kinney and Adam Wainwright are brilliant in relief and Beltran actually makes outs. Great day!

Chris Carpenter goes for the throat... NEXT!

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Stormy Monday

Game 5 of the NLCS has been postponed by rain. Now both pitchers get an additional day of rest which I can only think helps the Mets. Glavine, who pitches poorly on 3-days rest now doesn't have to.

On the flipside, Carpenter gets an extra day of rest as well. But I don't think that will make as big a difference for him as it will for Glavine.

Either way, it wont matter much if guys come out of the Cardinals' bullpen and pitch batting practice they way they did last night.

It's a good series so far. The Cardinals may have missed a great opportunity last night but the Mets are still in for a fight. The series looks like a good bet to go 7 games regardless of the outcome tomorrowt. Glavine looks like a scary matchup but at the same time the Mets can't be counting on Carpenter pitching poorly twice in a row. It could all come down who the Mets Game 7 mystery starter will be and whether Jeff Weaver can keep up his outstanding post-season.

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Black Sunday

Mets - 12
Cards - 5 Final

A missed opportunity for the Cardinals. You can't lose at home to Oliver Perez with Tom Glavine coming up next.

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Sup's Up!

Cardinals' right-hander, Jeff Suppan pitches 8 shutout innings and belts a solo HR, Spiezio is clutch again and Josh Kinney mops up in the 9th.




NY Mets - 0
Cardinals - 5 FINAL
Cardinals lead NLCS 2-1

Vindication: All the analysis before the series began portrayed the Cards as a one-man team, focusing on stopping Pujols to stop the Cardinals. After three games, Pujols has ZERO RBIs and the Cardinals lead 2-1.

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The Hunt for Red October

I'm taking a little time-out from all the heaviness to engage in a little baseball-induced frivolity.

So, we meet again!

Re-live all of So Taguchi's brilliant, game-winning at-bat vs Billy Wagner that kicked off the Cards' 3-run, 9th inning rally and sent the series back to Bussssssssch tied at 1-1.



Oh-my-Gawd! He is like, So Taguchi! Like TOTALLY!

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A Brief Note to the Media About the MLB Playoffs

The four remaining teams in the Major League Baseball playoffs are as follows:

The St. Louis Cardinals

The New York Mets

The Detroit Tigers

The Oakland Athletics

For the 2nd year in a row, the NY Yankees have been eliminated in the first round. Can we get just a little less coverage of the team that's been eliminated and a little more coverage of the teams that actually might win the World Series?

• They didn't fire the manager for winning 97 games (Imagine that!).
• A-Rod is a good ball-player
• They lost because the Tigers are good

Now, listen to me very carefully. I know this may come as a shock to you so maybe you should take a seat before you read on. Here it is:

Not everyone who watches baseball is in awe of the Yankees.

There. I said it.

Got it?

Good.

There's nothing to see here so please, pretty please with sugar on top...

Enough already!

And I couldn't care less about every time "T.O." farts either. As you were.

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