Change the Law Contest

I’ve been reading the experts predictions of the series. Naturally, they are all picking the Tigers. You can’t fault them. The AL was superior, and we won 83 games.

But one “expert” stands out. Keith Law. I’m worried about Keith. He may well be one Cardinal win away from climbing a Bristol bell tower and picking off his fellow employees.

It’s not that Law picks against the Cards. Everyone does that. It’s that he seems genuinely depressed by our success. The day after writing a Cards/Mets preview, Law wrote about how the Padres choked away the series.

He picked the Mets, of course, and seemed to feel like someone had beaten up his dog after we won. Just consider the lead of that story:

“The Mets paid the ultimate price for their inability to get the Cardinals' worst hitter out, and the National League's best team was toppled by its sixth- or seventh-best team, giving us Fox's worst nightmare of a World Series -- and a pretty sizable mismatch to boot.”

It got worse the rest of the way, basically saying the Mets stunk up the joint, and that the Cards didn't deserve to win.

Finally, in the preview for the Series, Law wrote:

“(By the way, why aren't the media calling Pujols a non-clutch choker after his one-RBI performance in the NLCS? Why aren't people arguing that the Cardinals would be better off if they had traded him?)”

Your anagrams are showing, Dr. Lector.

You can say the Cards are mediocre, or even a bad playoff team. But when you pile on Pujols, you're showing your bias. Perhaps the one RBI had something to do with the one at-bat with RISP. Perhaps the five runs scored, including three in a crucial game 2 may have been important in the eyes of St. Louisans.

Law seems blinded by depression or hatred. I can't tell which.

So here it is. I think Keith Law needs cheering up. I feel bad for the guy, and I’m worried that Jayson Stark and Buster Olney could be in danger.

So, I’m willing to spend $50 to cheer him up. The best idea I can execute for that price will be done.

Why not?

Every expert on earth is picking the Tigers to beat the Cards in the World Series; and they make a pretty good case. Heck, I almost felt pity myself. But there's just one more thing.

“Ladies and Gentlemen of this supposed jury, this is Chewbacca. Chewbacca is a Wookie from the planet Kashyyyk. But Chewbacca lives on the planet Endor. Now think about it; that does not make sense!”

Two weeks ago, we were in the middle of the greatest regular season collapse in the history of baseball. Now, we’re in the World Series. That does not make sense. I'm not making any sense.

I’ve been reading ESPN’s experts all say we would lose in each round of the playoffs. Some Schmuck in Baltimore says no one even cares we’re there. I would gripe about a lack of respect, but I’ve believed we’re underdogs in every round as well.

Fact is we’re not good. Nothing in this postseason has made any sense.

Move Yadier down in the lineup. You gotta get that kid extra at-bats. Pinch hit Duncan against one of the best lefty relievers in baseball. Use rookie relievers as your first three options out of the pen.Yadier with two homers, Suppan and Taguchi each with one.

I'm predicting TLR bats Albert out of the leadoff spot in the Series.

Look at the silly monkey.

So how do we matchup against the Tigers? Not well.

The Tigers will throw two lefties at us, probably in games 1-2. Kenny Rogers is on some sort of mission. Spezio has hit him well in his carreer, but this isn’t your father’s Kenny Rogers. He’s been in some sort of weird zone.

We’ll counter in game 1 with either Weaver on short rest (which would lead to Carpenter on short rest in game 2), Reyes, or Marquis.

Reyes looked cooked to me in Game 4 of the LCS. I think he’s worn down. I think, and it pains me, I think we’re about to see Marquis in Game 1 of the World Series. Yeah. Makes perfect sense. Really, the only thing that makes less sense than Marquis having his first good outing in six months would be starting Ankiel.

“Why would a Wookiee, an eight-foot tall Wookiee, want to live on Endor, with a bunch of two-foot tall Ewoks? That does not make sense!”

Weaver in game 2, on regular rest, followed by Carpenter in Game 3 and Suppan in Game 4. You then have the option of coming back with Weaver on short rest in game 5, or your game 1 starter again. If you throw Weaver, Carpenter and Suppan in games 5-7, they would all pitch on short rest. It would be the only way to get all of them two starts.

Neither option is good. I was debating with my boss this morning about who to start. I said Marquis, he said Thompson. Yeah, we’re in the World Series.

The only thing in our favor is that the Tigers will, for the first time, be favorites. We can always hope they fail under the weight of expectations. Doesn’t seem likely.

So, to sum up, we face two fantastic lefthanded starters, two starters that bring outrageous heat, a bullpen with guys that throw 103, and a better offense. We do all of this with our subpar pitching staff in shambles, and the heart of our order either groggy or unable to lift their left arms above their heads.

I’d say the Cards win it in 5.

“If Chewbacca is a wookie on Endor, you must acquit.”

Already underdogs...

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=2632662&name=law_keith&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fespn%2fblog%2findex%3fentryID%3d2632662%26name%3dlaw_keith&skipPrestitial=true

And Keith Law seems to be blaming the Mets for losing to us. He hasn't picked us to win yet. Of Course, he hasn't gotten one series right.

It's worth mentioning that, of the 16 ESPN experts, only one had us leaving round 1. None had us in the Series.

That's not good. But absolutely none of them had Detroit passing round one. What do you bet they all pick Detroit this time. Perhaps they should. I'm never betting against this Cards team, though.

GAME 7 DIARY.

The following is what I typed as I watched from inning 7 on. All I'll promise you is I only corrected spelling errors. Everything else is a present sense impression. Enjoy.

Hope spings eternal as Taguchi takes the field in the top of the 7th. Can’t ask more out of Suppan. 100 pitches here in the bottom of the 8th, and he’s still going at it.
Wagner loosening in the Mets pen. Oh for Suppan to keep this 1-1.

Suppan goes 3-1 to Beltran. The third ball looked like a strike. Come on Jeff. But it isn’t to be, and Suppan walks Beltran to start the 8th. There goes our advantage. Not his fault, but you wonder if we’ve taken out the only Cardinal who really was plugged into tonight’s game.

For the 700th time, I endure someone failing to see a golf ball in a commercial you can see on some tv I don’t have and can’t afford.

It just feels like this is it. The Cards should be ahead. Rolen choked on that Homer At Bat, though. Should have hit it 6 inches further.

Now Delgado hits against Flores. Where is Tyler Johnson? Isn’t he the best lefty? Is this puzzling move going to work as well as all of TLR’s others?

Nice battle by Flores. 2-2 pitch. Please? AND HE WENT AROUND.

Could go with Kinney here. TLR is not doing it. At this point, I’m not questioning anything he does. Of course, Flores makes me nervous against lefties, let alone All-Star Third Basemen.

It’s 2-0 to Wright. Now 3-1 to Wright. Will Flores actually throw a strike? Gotta be something nasty. That strike will do. Now how about a strike’em out throw’em out dp.

I’ll take the K. AND IT’S A FAIR BALL TO PUJOLS. END OF THE INNING.

Amazing Pitching by our squad.

Is this the last at-bat for Jimmy in a Cardinal Uniform?

Now Rolen. The Man who was robbed. No way he has two HR in him.

Of course, the only way to end this year is with a Homer from Yadier. An inside the park homer.
Let’s see what Rolen does. How was that not strike 3?

And what a night by Rolen. Amazing Single.

(At this point, you really need to go read the open thread in the blog. At 10:24, with a witness, I called the Yadier at-bat.)

Is this the sort of night when moving Yadier makes the difference?

OH MY.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

A HOMER BY WHO? YADIER?????

It’s now 3-1.

And we’re handing the ball to Wainwright.

A bloop by Valentin? Really? Can this series end any other way?

Single by Chavez. Two on? I’m a shell. Now you face Floyd.

WHAT A K. Amazing job by Wainwright. Gotta love how he’s toughing this out.

GET REYES.

1-2 pitch…….nice foul by Reyes. I would love to have him on my team. Crazy good player. Yikes. Thanks Jimmy for catching that.

One bloop, one hit; one line drive, one out. One out from a World Series. No one but Beltran can be on deck.

This is insane.

GO ADAM.

Ball 1. Do we have to face our Beltran demon to go to the WS?

Strike 1 on a cutter. McCarver notices that Adam throws a slider from time to time. Obviously never saw Adam pitch.

Cutter low. 2-1. Gotta get LoDuca, and LoDuca has to know it. Need an out here.

High. 3-1. This is excruciating.

How was that a ball. And a walk to LoDuca. Proof that God is a baseball fan....with a sense of humor.

So we have to go through Beltran. Bases loaded. 2 Outs. Bottom of the ninth. A rookie on the hill.
The only way this series can end.

A batting practise fastball for 0-1. Come on Adam.

A foul for 0-2.

Think he’ll see a curve here?

YES.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THIS TEAM IS AN NL PENNANT WINNER?

Tony moves Yadier to number 7 in the lineup, and he hits the homer. I don’t know what to say.

The Cards win the pennant. Those were my realtime thoughts…..

I’ve written a check for a game 5 World Series ticket. I think someone just cashed a $200 check. Speechless.

Open Thread

To comment on the game, click below.

Game 7 is incredible...

*The following is a running diary from the moment the homer landed in Chavez' glove to the top of the 7th.*

It’s the bottom of the 6th, and I’m going to go ahead and share my thoughts on what I just saw. All of this is typed as I’m watching….a running diary.

Oliver Perez, called by many the worst game 7 starter ever. He, of course, shuts us down for 6 innings.

Rolen. Our hero. With no shoulder, with one on, drives one to left. It’s a homer. It’s brought back by Endy Chavez. Is there any way we win after that? How do you get up.

Gotta hand it to Suppan. He pitched great in the 6th. He didn’t deserve the bases to be loaded. Error on Rolen. Intentional walk. It’s almost as if God hates St. Louis.

And I’ve never seen a guttier performance by a pitcher. His team has abandoned him. No defense, no offense, bases loaded, and he’s throwing pitches I’ve never seen him throw to Valentin. And he K’s him. The man who isn’t close to a strike out pitcher, K’s Valentin.

The Mets Fans give Chavez a rounding ovation. Is there a rule about a player making a great defensive play and then batting the next inning? Surely, he’ll kill us.

He pops up. And we catch it.

I’m an emotional wreck. Only in a game 7.

Game 6 stunk...

Wasted opportunities.

For all of the team’s struggles this season, are we really going to be thinking about missed opportunities this winter? Our Ace against John Maine. Baseball is a strange game.

It seemed unlikely two weeks ago that we’d have any playoff success. It seemed unlikely five hours ago that we’d end our season in the NLCS. Now, everything seems likely.

Carpenter looked great. The Mets were fortunate to have their two runs. The Cards had plenty of opportunities to score, and just didn’t come close to putting forth a decent effort. It seemed we were waiting for the Mets to roll over.

In the past two years, you got a similar vibe from the Cards. In each series against Houston, the Cards looked like a team that expected its opponent to kow tow to it. The Birds seemed to think the Mets might not show.

I didn’t expect that from this team, that seemed to have found its comfort zone in pressure situations.

Even more disconcerting about the loss in Game 6 is the team looked out of gas. Edmonds, Spezio, Encarnacion, Rolen, Belliard, and Eckstein all took lousy at-bats until the 9th. The top of the order started four innings, and scored zero times.

Rolen did an outstanding job boosting TLR’s case that

The Cards continuously forced their at-bats, swinging at bad pitches. They played poor defense. They played poor baseball.

Molina failing on the pitchout was unexcusable. Did it cost the Cards the game? Perhaps. When Molina came to the plate with runners on second and third in the 9th, he was in the unique position to drive in two runs, thus making the two he let in an inning earlier the difference in the game.

If he came through, he’d be the goat. He didn't, but suddenly streaking So did. Which was followed by a third poor at-bat by Eckstein. He doesn't look any healthier than Rolen.

So now it’s Suppan against Oliver Perez on three days rest. If Oliver faulters, we’ll see Oliver, Darren. If that Oliver fails, Glavine will be used. We may not see a righty again in this series.

If the trend for this team's ability to confound holds, we’ll win 11-0.

Nothing shocks me now.

The Game 5 experience.

Have I mentioned I love watching this team?

On game days, I’m worthless at work. I want to be productive, but everyone at the office knows I won’t be. Perhaps that’s why I drew the assignment of driving the window expert to the pool house at a local neighborhood for an inspection.

The expert was an evangelical Christian from Chicago. Our contact to open the pool house was a retired English professor who specialized in, and I’m not kidding, profanity. Apparently, he’d written two books on the subject.

Strange as that was, it was only a small part of the weirdness that was Tuesday. I got home in time to receive a phone call from my boss. I, like many of you, am an associate….whatever that means. Today, it means I have four bosses. The highest ranking of my bosses called me to ask if I could send him text messages during the game. He’s on a school board somewhere. Apparently, there is a statute that says they have to meet.

Sure, I’ll text the boss.

I watch Weaver the way you watch Weaver. I keep waiting for the Weaver that has shown up in every game he’s pitched for the Cards this year. I keep waiting for the five run fourth, or the three run homer. It hasn’t come. Still, I’m convinced that’s a coincidence when I’m watching him pitch.

Today, however, Jeff Kellogg was only calling pitches over the plate strikes. You want to make some money? Start a fantasy baseball web site that rates umpires, and tells you when Jeff Kellogg is behind the plate. Glavine would go 5-15 if this guy was his ump every game. Advantage Weaver.

I loved the Fox Track on that pitch in the first inning when Eckstein was stealing. McCarver did about five minutes about how LoDuca had not given the umpire a good look at the pitch, and, if LoDuca hadn’t thrown to second, the ball would have been called a strike. Followed by the Fox Track showing the pitch so much a ball that it was off the charts.

McCarver gets paid for this.

The Valentin double was exactly the sort of hit you expect off Weaver. Only it was all he’d give the Mets. Amazing.

Everyone has been talking about Albert, and his “struggles.” No runs batted in, they say. No runners on, I say.

The Mets have scored in ten innings in this series. The Cards have come back to score in seven of the following half-innings. Gutty. Purely Gutty.

Albert was up in the half-inning after the Mets’ two run outburst. He nailed it.
Or, as my 3-year-old would say, “A lo profundo... y no... nono, nono, no...! ¡Dígale que no a esa pelota!" The boy loves him some Ernesto Jerez.

I immediately, and dutifully, texted the boss to tell him. “thankyou” he wrote back. When Wilson doubled, I think he was really stunned. “Wow,” he sent to me. It was tied.

You know the rest. The Cards loaded the bases and failed to score. However, I was convinced the game was about to break. So I started typing into my phone what each player did. “Albert walked, Encarnacion singled to load them up. Rolen k’d. Edmonds grounded into a force at home. Belliard " So much detail.

Then I stopped typing. I figured, if Belliard comes through, then I’ll complete the text, and send the greatest message to a school board member ever. If Belliard fails, I’ll simply delete.

Belliard failed. I went for the delete key.

I hit send.

Now read that message again, and you'll know why I'm taking empty boxes to work tomorrow.

I immediately sent another message letting the boss know what Belliard did. I got a reply that the bosses meeting was done, and my messages no longer were required. I’m getting fired.

After the Cards tied it, I realized I actually had to fold that laundry that had been sitting in the drier for three days, or I would risk certain expulsion from the house. I called a fellow sufferer, Jason, and we chatted as I watched the sixth and folded.

Only Jason has cable. I have DirecTv. Jason has the game 8 seconds before me. As we watch the top of the 6th, Jason keeps making comments like, “damnit” when Valentin walked. And “Yes,” when Chavez took a strike. Only I didn’t know how bad the “damnit” or the “Yes” was. I told Jason I was 8 seconds behind, and I was being deprived of my watching experience.

He said it was in his cable contract to do this to me.

When Chavez grounded out, Jason yelled, “Nooooooooooooo.”

“Bastard,” I replied, when I saw the actual result.

In the bottom of the sixth, I convinced him to try to adjust his TiVo to sync with me. He tried. He was still trying when Duncan hit that homer. “Yes,” I screamed, as Duncan hit a Lefty Pitch out. “Bastard,” Jason said when he saw he had rewound too far.

It’s in my contract.

Tony LaRussa is having an unbelievable post-season. I suppose you could make a blind pig joke here. But really. He’s been amazing. Tonight, he pinch-hits Duncan against a lefty pitcher. He benches Duncan against lefties in favor of Taguchi, normally.

This was TLR’s “Lou Brown” moment, pitching Wild Thing Vaughn against Clue Haywood in Major League.“I know he hasn’t had much luck against this guy, but I got a hunch he’s due.”
Jeez. It worked. Mets fans have to be insanely upset.

To add insult to injury, Cliff Floyd pinch hits in the ninth. He grounds to Pujols, and it’s pulled hammy v. torn Achilles to the bag….and pulled hammy wins. I swear Albert raced Floyd to the bag just to put more stress on Floyd. Nice.

And one guy in New York was excited. One guy in a hotel. Yep. He threw his first side bullpen session in a month on Monday, and found his curveball. He can bring the Cards, the 83-78 Cards, to the World Series.

Carpenter, the hill is yours. Take us home.

I HATE RAIN

So it’s Cards 2, Mets 2, and rain 2.

Did I mention I hate rain delays? The Writers that Be were left with nothing to write about at Busch yesterday, so they wrote about Rolen being unhappy, Pujols being mean, and Pujols having a bad hammy.

I think one of those items is noteworthy.

I could care less if Albert was nice to the press. I could care less if he was a meanie. It’s been a tough month on the entire team. They nearly collapsed, opened the playoffs on the road in a tough environment, endured an extra day in New York, followed by a late flight Friday night.

Because players still went to the park for Games 1 and 5 before they were cancelled, I’m not sure you can call those rain delays “off-days.” Certainly not in the traditional sense. If I’m a sportswriter, I’m more concerned about fatigue with the Cards right now than I am about Pujols being mean.

He certainly doesn’t mimic Bonds in any way. There are dozens of players who dislike the press. Thousands more who have disliked them on a periodic basis. None of them are compared to Bonds. I think Burwell simply went for the cheap comparison. Lousy column, in my opinion.

I don’t view Rolen as much of an issue either. So he’s mad. He and Tony aren’t eating meals together. Bob Gibson, by some reports, hated Tim McCarver. That seemed to work out ok.

Rolen has been better in Games 3 and 4 then he was the entire San Diego series. We don’t pay to watch them get along. We pay to watch Rolen play. End of story.

Pujols Hammy does concern me, though it’s tough to tell how hurt he is. With Tony, you never know how “honest” he’s being. He doesn’t necessarily lie. But he doesn’t release information unless he thinks he needs to.

I haven’t noticed a limp on Albert. I wonder if Tony is just trying to take some heat off him for not having an RBI. If so, he could simply point out that no one in front of Albert is getting on base. That may be why he hasn’t had any Runs Batted In.

Like I said, I hate rainouts. We’ll see how it plays tonight. Either win or lose, it will be nice to see the story switch to baseball.

Game 5 Rain Preview

It’s now a three game series. The Cards have gone toe-to-toe with the best team in the NL, and are more than holding their own. It’s nice to watch. Relative to talent level, I think we’re seeing the best playoff performance of any Cardinal team since 1996. We’ll see if they can close it out.

Right now, neither of these teams is clicking on all cylanders. They resemble two battered heavyweights at the end of a fight. Each side has gotten its punches in, both sides have taken some punishment.

The Tigers have to be licking their chops.

That this is now a three game series is not a terrible development. There are three legitimate starting pitchers in this series. Carpenter, Glavine and Suppan. We’ll send our two to the hill at some point in the series, if it goes 7. The Mets will send theirs whenever Game 5 is played. That puts us in our best position to take our best shot.

I’m having a hard time imagining we’re going to play tonight. According to the interviews, the new Stadium has some sort of superior drainage system. It was designed so that all 8 Clydesdales can whizz in the same spot and the game can still be played. Truly state of the art.

That said, there is no sign this rain is letting up anytime soon, and I’m prepared for this game to be played Tuesday.

I keep hearing on the radio that the rain helps the Mets. That’s the easy, conventional wisdom. I think it’s wrong.

The wisdom says that Glavine is old, and therefore shouldn’t pitch on 3 days rest. Weaver is young(er) and can handle it. The wisdom ends there.

I actually watched the first game of this series. Weaver threw 98 pitches, and he was bringing it that night. He ranged from 93-96 on the Fox Gun, which I know was inflated, but it looked for all the world as if he was putting all he had into every pitch. I’d rather him have five days rest than four, after that performance.

Weaver hasn’t been consistently effective all season, and pundits think he’s got an edge on three days rest? Really?

Glavine, on the other hand, threw 89 pitches, and looked effortless doing it. I’ll bet he didn’t even have to wash his uniform after Game 1. I know he wasn’t sweating. If the game is played tonight, I fear Glavine will last longer than Weaver.
That may hold true tomorrow as well, but there are other reasons I’d rather see rain.

The Ultimate Sports Endurance Challenge.

It was a day most sports fans dream of. It’s a day that’s a test of endurance, requiring the stamina of a really long run, or a hard three hours of basketball. I always use exercise to convince myself I’m not sick, dead, or dying. If I can run 14 miles, I probably don’t have lung cancer. That sort of logic.

Well, Sunday was 12 hours, four pulled pork sandwiches, two hot dogs, a few beers, a few sodas, two free tickets, and about 10 miles of walking. If I could live through this, I definitely didn’t have Encephalitis. By the end of the day, some may have wondered if I had Tourette’s.

The day began at 10:00 am, with a drive in my neighbor’s company car. My neighbor is an insurance adjuster, so his company car resembles a NASCAR, loaded with advertisements. We loaded the cooler, the tray of pulled pork, and strategically placed 17 magnets on the Impala before leaving for the game.

I was ready. I had on my Rams shirt, and had packed my Cards gear so I could make the change. I had jackets for rain, for wind, for snow and for my wife.

There is nothing like tailgating before a football game. There is no other activity that features middle-aged men learning to use a crockpot. The pulled pork was fantastic. We spent an hour or so eating, drinking, and listening to Creed on the stereo of the truck parked 12 spaces away. Apparently, by the grace of God, they had the loudest sound system.

As game time approached, you could see the crowd suddenly start to buzz. I don’t mean energy, I mean alcohol. The line by the port-o-johnny’s got long, the average age of the people throwing the football around increased by 22 years, and the truck that had been playing Christian Rock switched to Eminem.

It was a stunning change in atmosphere, really. You felt like you were in a Hitchcock film, and completely at the mercy of a higher power. In this case, the power was Gus Busch, but no one was complaining.

I don’t go to many Pro-Football games. Neither, apparently, do many people from St. Louis. Rams fans need to take some lessons from Cleveland or Buffalo. Heck, we could even learn from Seattle.

In the first quarter, it was clear the crowd wanted to try to disrupt the game. In Seattle, the fans are famous for causing false start penalties. They have an open air stadium, and it’s always raining. We have a dome, and we could only cause one penalty. We barely tried after a quarter.

It was disappointing.

By the five minute mark, the majority of fans had left. I wondered if they were ever there. Fortunately, my neighbor doesn’t leave early. Watching Holt catch that amazing TD pass was incredible. The dome hadn’t been louder all day, and there were only 35,000 left. Of course, a minute and 35 seconds later, we were as deflated as you can be at a sporting event.

Football is an emotional sport. You work 349 days a year for 16 days of playing. Those 16 days are decided by a handful of plays. Bulger was sacked twice to be pushed out of field goal range. Seattle converted three 3rd downs with more than ten yards to go in their TD drives. Make a play. Just make a play. That keeps you in it.

Seattle made the plays when they needed to. The Rams didn't. Simple as that.

I told myself that the Rams game was less important than the Cards game, and started to buck up for the evening.

I had about 3 hours to kill before my wife, Jason and his wife showed for the baseball game. I killed time by wondering through Kiener Plaza picking up freebies. They were handing out red beads. Wow. Red beads. I think St. Louis is starting to get bored with the playoffs. I did manage to find something that lit up for my son. It’s a walking, glowing advertisement for Fox 2 News, but at least it looks like it cost a quarter to make.

I recapped the game below. The crowd at Busch tried to rise for every 2-strike pitch, but Reyes rarely threw a strike with two strikes, so we all sat, and tried the quieter approach. It didn't help. By inning four, my wife was resting her head on my shoulder, and we felt like we were waiting for something bad to happen.

Suffice to say by inning 6 I was out of gas. The first two innings took an hour and a half. Things didn’t bode well for my energy level. I thought about buying a Monster Energy Drink. It has a lot of stimulants I can’t spell. But I thought better of it. If I was going to survive, it would be all natural. No juice for me.

Delgado did in the fourth and fifth what Delgado does, and we decided to leave. Tired as I was, I wasn’t the reason. When two of the four in your party are expecting children, you make them as comfortable as possible. I didn't fight them. After my day, I knew I needed to sleep indoors. I wasn’t going to cross the wife.

Two games, two free tickets to the biggest football game of the season and a playoff game. My teams lost them both. Grrrrrrr. They say that would beat the best day working. I’m working today, and am tired. Very, very tired. But, I’m reasonably sure I’m going to live at least another week.

Game 4 recap---

Sometimes you can tell when things are about to unravel. Sometimes you can feel it. Maybe it’s a skill you acquire as you watch movie after movie.

Like when you’re watching The Godfather, and Sonny’s car is pulling up to the tollbooth. Something doesn’t look right. Then the toll-worker ducks, and you know Sonny’s gone.

You could feel Game 3 unravelling. Through four innings, Reyes looked extremely shaky. Perhaps he’s tired, though that seems unlike since he hasn’t pitched since October 1. Perhaps he’s worn after a long season. Perhaps he’s not the second coming of Mark Prior. His velocity topped out at 89, and he barely threw more strikes then balls.

Tony has been extremely good this postseason. Every move he’s made since he benched Carpenter on October 1 has worked out. Nothing he did last night worked. You could argue that pulling Reyes after four innings was a smart move. You probably didn’t want Carlos, or, for that matter, Carlos, to get a third swing at the rookie. Reyes had thrown 86 pitches in four innings, and allowed 7 baserunners. He was lucky to be tied.

You could even see the logic in throwing Thompson, hoping he’d get through two or three innings. I wanted to see Flores pitch against Carlos and Carlos, but I get the Thompson move.

I truly don’t understand Hancock to start the fifth. The Cards had scored in the bottom of the fourth to make it 5-3. Carlos and Carlos are coming back up. Don’t you have to go with Tyler Johnson there? Get through the fifth unscathed, and, obviously, this is a different game.

Hancock took the hill, and things looked out of sorts. Reyes and the rest of the lineup seemed to feel they were due. Three batters later, the tollbooth worker was ducking.

The Cards had to keep it close, and they used Thompson and Hancock to try to do it. The Mets can hit, and hit they did.

Much as I disagree with the manager for this one, it’s hard to argue he lost it when the final was 12-5. Afterall, Johnson didn’t even retire Valentin, so it’s hard to imagine he’d have gotten Carlos, or, for that matter, Carlos. Still, I like the matchup better.

A few quick thoughts:
Rolen looked good again last night. He had a solid single and kept the ball down for the most part.

Edmonds is locked in, which is nice.

Apparently, Yadier Molina can hit. Who knew?

The Met offense is alive, kicking, and brimming with confidence. Beware Jeff Weaver.

The Cards cannot hit lefties. The Mets had the option of putting Dave Williams on the roster. I’ll bet they’d like to have that one back. If this goes to game 7, expect Darren Oliver, a cast-off from the 1999 Cardinal pitching staff, to start.

Expect too, for Marquis to be back on the roster if we go to the series. He’ll have one more chance to earn some money for next season.

After the last two games, the Mets pen is rested, and ready to go. That could be big if the teams play tonight with both starters going on three days rest.

In retrospect, how good was Suppan to shut that explosive lineup down? Amazing.

It's Reyes v. Perez---in the majors...really.

So it’s Rookie time at Busch, Reyes against Oliver Perez.

The Mets are down. They looked tired after the flight from NY that landed early Saturday. (McCaver obvious comment alert) A win today would be huge. (Warned you) The Mets haven’t scored since the 6th inning of Game 2. The Cards have scored ten during that time.

We have momentum. I’ve written about that in the past. Momentum is only as good as today’s starting pitcher. And to preserve or change momentum, we’ll have Anthony Reyes and Oliver Perez. It’s the NLCS on Fox.

If both teams had healthy pitching staffs, this would be Weaver v. Maine. As it stands, you have to wonder how much of an underdog the NL team will be against Detroit.

The problem with losing momentum in this series is there are very few pitchers who can steal the momentum back the way Oswalt did from us in Game 6 last year. He was unhittable. Only Glavine or Carpenter have that ability. Glavine pitches on three days rest, while Carpenter doesn’t pitch until Game 6. The Cards at least know there will be a game 6.

However, both of tonight’s starters could give the momentum away.

Reyes is completely unlike Suppan. Suppan lives on his location. Reyes, on changing speeds and blowing hitters away. Reyes has a compact delivery, when he’s on, and his fastball darts around the strike zone. He doesn’t paint corners. But when he’s on, no one can get comfortable against him because of his devestating changeup.

I’m looking forward to seeing what the Fox Gun says the velocity on Reyes is. If Weaver can throw 95, what can Reyes do?

Reyes can be hittable. He’s especially seceptible to the longball. That can be scary. We need Reyes to get off to a good start, and make it once through the lineup unscathed. If the Mets get a bloop and a blast early, momentum will have waned.

Oliver Perez is a lefty. That’s never good for us. You need look no further than Darren Oliver to see how we do of soft-tossing lefties.

The stats aren’t rediculous against lefties. We have an ops of .731 against lefties and .784 vs. righties. That’s a significant difference, but I’m not sure it leads to a 23-34 record against them, with a 60-44 record against righties.

Perez, the former Pirate, is a guy we’ve actually hit; maybe he throws too hard. Pujols is hitting .375 with 3 HR in 24 at-bats. Rolen, hopefully rejuvinated, has hit .450 off Perez.

Tony said last night that he would be benching Spezio because he's not that good against lefties, or something. This year Spezio hit .318 against lefties. That's only 118 points above the Mendoza line. He wants Rolen, for obvious reasons, Encarnacion and Wilson.

Wilson has crushed lefty pitching for us. But he's hitting .091 against Perez. Neither Perez nor Wilson is what he was. However, Spezio hasn't been Spezio for a month or so. He's been Roy Frickin' Hobbs during October.

Put it this way, if the series ended 2-1, the MVP would be Spezio. Tony's benching him for shaky matchup reasons. Spunky. That's what that is.

I hate spunk.

Oh well, nearly everything else Tony has done during the past two weeks has worked, so what the heck.

Today will be the Great Sports Exposure Day, as I’m going to the Rams game and the Cards game. I’ll post about it all later. Meantime, burn some sage for Reyes.