Skip to main content

Cardinals Remind Everyone What is Possible

On August 25 the St. Louis Cardinals were coming off a 3 game losing streak as they had won just 3 of their last 10 sports betting matchups and were given up for dead in the National League wild card playoff race, as they were over 10 games behind the Atlanta Braves who seemed to be cruising along towards the post season. But St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa is as tough as they come and never gives up on a single pitch. LaRussa is relentless and his team reflected his character as they still came to play every single day and amazingly enough got back into the playoff race in September with a phenomenal run that coincided with the collapse of the Braves. The Cardinals went 23-9 down the stretch to steal the wild card spot from the Braves, who just died at their home of Turner Field with a chance to clinch the playoffs there against Philadelphia. At the end of the day this was a great lesson on how the marathon baseball season is truly “not over until it’s over.”

The Cardinals certainly showed signs of being a team that could pull of such a feat as they ranked 5th best in Major League Baseball for run production and 12th for staff earned run average. St. Louis was equally tough at home or on the road as they won 45 games as a host and racked up 45 more wins away from Busch Stadium.

Another major factor in the Cardinals advantage was their veteran presence on the roster with such stars as Albert Pujols, Lance Berkman, Yadier Molina, and Matt Holliday. The veteran lineup gave St. Louis the toughness and perspective of a long season and the guts to take on the number one seed Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Division Series and pull off a stunning 3-2 upset. Another tough veteran, starting pitcher Chris Carpenter, went “old school” with a complete game win to clinch the series at Philly for a huge sports betting upset.

The Cardinals' toughness and determination proved to be the difference in a 4-2 series win over the talented but soft and sloppy Milwaukee Brewers for the National League pennant.

In the World Series, the Cardinals simply refused to die, as they kept coming back against the Texas Rangers including a game 6 for the ages when they were down to their last strike and twice rallied in the late innings to take the series to a 7th game, which they won going away.

With toughness, resilience, determination, and retro attitude the Cardinals proved to be an inspiring champion.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...