Cardinal Nation Thread: Championship Magic Number now 7

[Kojak]

jman,

LY Cardinal team was better statistically but really don't know what that means. I did not expect them to put up same stats with Walker,Edmonds,Sanders getting older and losing Renteria. I think this team like Patriots have learned to sacrifice numbers for the sake of the team and winning. That is what this season has been about. I thought first month would tell me a lot about this team and it did as they had rough April/May schedule and moved ahead out of the box. It told me no hangover and what this team was about. Character and heart. National media beat up on this team and Larussa and knocked shine off of what they have accomplished. I really don't think people outside of STL really understand right now about what that motivation coupled with closing of Busch means. These fans won't let STL lose this year in STL. If someone can't win in STL they will not win a series vs Cards. What has impressed me about Cards is their killer instinct . They have not let anyone get it going vs them this postseason or have a chance in regular season. Like Tony Larussa's 89 A's team, they were on a mission after embarrassment vs Dodgers and it was a dominating postseason. Same thing this year and likely same result. For the record, though ly team was better but this year's team playing with more killer instinct,heart, and emotion!

 

[Kojak]

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10-13-2005, 08:56 PM <!-- / status icon and date --></TD><TD class=thead style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal" align=right> #20 </TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=alt2 width=175>Journeyman<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> vbmenu_register("postmenu_2244197", true); </SCRIPT>
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Our very own Kojak, last week outside Busch Stadium before game 1, deciding what to do.:drink:
<!-- / message --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>:lolBIG: Funny stuff jman!

 

[Journeyman]

I was thinking in the first inning how both teams had questionable cleanup hitters, for being the NL's best and thinking back to when was the last time we saw two less likely cleanup men, Ensberg an Sanders....and before I was finished the thought, Reggie Sanders hits a 475 ft moon shot! goodness!

Sanders has been in the thick of quite a few post seasons for a guy who is somewhat of a 'tweener 3rd to 4th outfielder' for significant parts of many seasons...he is locked in, again!

 

[DrunkenHorseplayer]

D2,

A smart baseball man would know that when you are squeezing the pitcher in the 3rd inning that they are playing to get as many runs as possible. Most of the time in same situation, you would sac runner to first and play leadoff hitter to get hit to knock in 2 runs. Tony played to make sure he got a run. He has been doing this entire playoffs. He is reducing role Cards bullpen will play by giving starters more room for error and limiting stud closer on other team opportunities to play a significant role in outcome of a game. Bochy for Padres obviously not into moving runners along and GArner did not show any signs of it by always playing for big inning. Larussa has outmanaged both so far which is saying a lot with Larussa's chokes managing in playoffs over the years. He has been outstanding and a definite plus this year imo.

Outmanaging? Limiting the other team's closer? Any bozo can look good when your hitters stake you to a three or four run lead early; let's see what happens when they get a close game. It might not happen this series but come WS time they fall to the Angels.

 

[quantumleap]

Kojak:Who loves ya baby? I'm going with STL -1.5 +159.

Hou/Oswalt-
Good:
HOU is 8-2 in Oswalt's last 10 starts.
Oswalt's record is 21-12

Bad:
Road record is 8-10.
vs. STL 1-2, 5.21 ERA

STL/Mulder-
Good:
Record is 17-8, STL is 13-3 at home during his starts.
vs. Hou 1-1, 2.48 ERA
STL is 4-1 in Mulder's last 5 starts.
Cards are 6-0 in their last six home games and all have been by 2 runs or more.
STL is 11-4 in the last 15 meetings. 2 of those losses were after STL had the division wrapped-up.