How are we doing against the NL Central this year? 25-30. Against the Cubs, the second worst team in the NL, 3-10. Against the Pirates, the worst team in the NL, a barely over .500 7-5. This weekend’s sweep was again, hard to watch, just like all the other series’ sweeps we’ve witnessed this year.
Valatan over at VEB writes a very good post about the fact that we don’t need to be the best team in the league to win the WS; we just need to get hot at the right time. Getting hot at the right time is all well and good, but with the lifeless baseball this team is playing, a brand of baseball that can’t beat the worst team in the NL, how are we going to get hot at the right time, or, ever?
I mentioned in my last post/rant/vent that I think Mark Mulder is the key to our playoff chances. I’ve decided to add a new key to our chances: losing first place.
If the Cardinals happen to play poorly against the Reds in this upcoming series and suck against the Cubs over the weekend, it is very possible that we will be out of first place. With all the crappy baseball the Cardinals have played over the course of the year, they have had no reason to play with a sense of urgency. The most pressure being applied to them is by a team who is playing little better than .500 baseball, and after all the poor baseball the Cardinals have played, the Reds still find themselves trailing these birds in the standings.
If and when the Reds overtake the Cardinals in the standings, I believe the Cardinals will be forced to play a more inspired brand of baseball. If losing first place for a period of time cannot inspire them, I believe that we should set our sights on the 2007 version of this team, because the emotion and passion is completely drained.
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August 15th, 2006 at 11:26 am
[…] If things go poorly this series, chances are good that people will remember these six games (the Pittsburgh sweep and the present series) as the equivalent of the five-game series against the Cubs in 2003. Admittedly, there are still six weeks to go in the season, and any number of things can happen over that period. But still, last weekend’s sweep has touched off a nasty reaction from the Cardinal faithful, viz. Bernie, The Birdwatch, Deadspin, Reverend Redbird, Fungoes, The Diaspora, The College of Cardinals, Luck O’ The Redbirds, redbirdbrain, The 26th Man, The Cards Deck, The Daily Redbird, and The Red Crush. […]