I figured I would start this thread because I want to get this statement out in the open. The Astros do not have a prayer. The Astros finished 11th in runs scored in the league, in a hitters' park. The Cardinals finished third. The Astros' rotation is impressive, and they did lead the league in least runs allowed. The Cards finished second and unlike the Braves, they feature the best bullpen ERA in the National League. Jason Marquis's 4.14 ERA was the highest ERA on the team, and he hit .310 to make up for it. Whereas the Astros have the big names, the Cardinals have a low-walk staff and a highly effective defense that makes it difficult for the opposition to score runs no matter who is on base.

 

I just can't see the Astros beating the Cards.

And we're one game away from seeing the Astros complete the beatdown of the Cardinals. That was some terrible umpiring today, but the Cards wasted a golden opportunity to tie it in the ninth. Awful baserunning by Pujols, followed by great baserunning by Walker. None of it is to any benefit of the Cards, though. We're going to get my nightmare World Series.

This series is making me look quite foolish. Of course, the Astros still aren't scoring runs, but the Cardinals are hitting even worse.

Jason Marquis didn't help matters. Guy goes public about his unhappiness with his "demotion" and then proceeds to mess up fielding a bunt and issues a walk that loaded the bases and led to the deciding run. That coming after Garner's stupidity of not having Burke bunt should've been the key move of the inning.

That may very well have been one of the greatest baseball moments I've witnessed as it took place. One out away from the World Series (one strike, actually) and the Astros can't hold down the Cards for Game 5. I was shocked they pitched to Pujols.

Well, hopefully Lidge fares a lot better than the last guy who gave up a two run lead in the ninth of a clinching LCS game.

 

I've been away for a while, so let me catch up by saying that the umpiring in this postseason - not just this series, or the Sox/Angels series, but the entire postseason - has been nothing short of horrific. Sportscenter made sure to replay Eddings' call every seven minutes or so, but I didn't quite catch the same melodramatic emphasis on Phil Cuzzi, who removed the Cardinal's go-ahead run from the game in the middle of an at-bat. God bless John Rodriguez for trying his damnedest in a nearly impossible situation, walking into a 3-2 count cold and almost adding more fuel to the fire by crushing a ball into deep centerfield that would have been a home run in virtually any other park but the Juice Box.

 

And even with all of these factors - even with Jason Lane sliding out of the baseline to try to cripple the starting third baseman ("he plays the game hard" says Steve Lyons, who would have been wearing his balls for a bowtie if Lane came sliding into him like that), even with David Eckstein getting nailed at second on a pickoff throw that would have been called a balk if Mr. Magoo was manning the first base line, even with virtually every non-Pujols Cardinal forgetting how to play baseball after Game 1 - the Astros have been barely pulling away with the win over the last three games before last night.

 

This Houston team is an absolute fucking disgrace, the spiritual reincarnation of the '87 Twins that parlayed a super gimmicky ballpark into a World Championship, and - should they win the NLCS - I'll congratulate them and wish them well as they get their collective dicks knocked to the dirt by a White Sox team that's just licking their chops in Chicago right now.

 

But, when I say that I will congratulate the Astros if they win, know that it is only congratulations and not respect, because I can't respect a team that barely wins a series when everybody in the ballpark - the umpires, the mainstream sports media, the Cardinals themselves - are almost tripping over themselves to give it to them.

Are you a Cardinals fan by chance?

No, not at all.

 

Most of the time, I'm more of an objective person when it comes to baseball, but the media's presentation of the series has helped build up a lot of pent-up frustration with the series. I freely admit that the Cardinals haven't played up to snuff in the series, but it's like it's a one team show, with Fox and ESPN portraying Houston as the paragon of baseball virtue and hyping the hell out of Pettitte and Clemens (re: former Yankees) in an attempt to bring the East Coast TV market back into the game.

Steve's post must've been passionate. Instead of the usual non-descriptive ads at the bottom of the page, I see a bold red banner for Cardinals tickets.

 

Anyway, I don't get the Houston love, either. Everyone I know (in real life) that likes baseball declared the Astros the NL champs before the series started. You can say umps can't be perfect all the time, but the way they've gone out of their way to give every call possible to the Astros, is disgusting.

I think everyone besides Al picked Houston at the beginning. I think this has more to do with how they finished up the year, despite starting 15-30, and who their starting pitchers were.

Yup, everyone was on the Houston bandwagon. I let my disdain for the club dictate who I thought would win. But whatever, we're gonna have the World Series with the two teams I stated at the outset that I could not stand to have in the series. I will say that it's not bad to see two fresh teams going for a title, but all of this is just making me more jaded about being a Cubs fan.

I figured I would start this thread because I want to get this statement out in the open.  The Astros do not have a prayer.  

 

*snip*

 

I just can't see the Astros beating the Cards.

Hey Al, can you pick the Sox so the Astros have a fighting chance

Here is my ticket stub for the last game ever to be played in Busch Stadium.

 

 

I've got lots of thoughts on the game, but my brain's a little fried, so in short, congratulations to the Astros, and White Sox in 6.

The Astros do not have a prayer.

Dude, you totally "mushed" the Cardinals.

Just a couple of notes about this series:

 

- Out of the six players that were in the Cardinals' starting lineup for all six games, only two players had an OPS over .650: Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina (.885 and .773, respectively).

 

- As hot as Reggie Sanders was in the NLDS, he was just as cold in his abbreviated turn in the NLCS, batting .167/.211/.333 with eight strikeouts in 18 at-bats. Much of Reggie's ineffectiveness was likely caused by injury: after hitting a home run in game one, he never had another extra-base hit in the series, nor did he draw a walk. (The eight strikeouts all came in his final 15 at-bats).

 

- If there was ever any evidence of LaRussa going into "panic mode" in the playoffs, check out his bullpen usage: Jason Marquis led all relievers in innings pitched, with 5.1 innings in three appearances. Ray King, sadly, never took the mound in this series (or the playoffs, for that matter).

 

- Normally a solid defensive team, the Cardinals seemed to unravel defensively at all of the wrong times in the series. Game 2 was the only errorless game by St. Louis, and it held a wild pitch (Tavarez) and a costly passed ball by Molina. Game 6 was the worst of all, with two wild pitches by Mulder, a wild pitch by Tavarez, and a bobble by Edmonds, all of which were crucial to the outcome of the game. If I had a Win Expectancy matrix, it would be interesting to see how the probabilities shifted on all of these errors.

 

- The Cardinals finished the series with a horrific .209/.276/.289 line, with 42 strikeouts in 187 at-bats.