Cardinal Nation

[rockchalk]

They've still got the best uniforms in baseball, the best fans in baseball and a history that most teams would love to call their own.  And a gleaming new stadium waiting for them in '06.  It could always be worse.

You mean like being a fan for that other team in the state?

[FiddySicks]

The Cardinals are the class of the NL, both historically and this year.

Their biggest issue is that they're built for the regular season.  In short series, teams like the Astros can knock them off.  The Astros are built for the playoffs - 3 killer starting pitchers, a tight bullpen, and clutch hitting.  These are the teams that trip up the Cardinals, who play quality baseball all season because they're built for the grind of 162 games.  If we were living in pre-1969 times, the Cardinals would've won a couple more World Series because they would not have had to get through a couple of playoff series where they're not set up to win.

They've still got the best uniforms in baseball, the best fans in baseball and a history that most teams would love to call their own.  And a gleaming new stadium waiting for them in '06.  It could always be worse.

Yes, the Cardinals are certainly the class of AAAA League (aka NL) baseball.

They don't win when it counts, therefore they cannot be that good.

Any GM with half of a brain would have traded some of the St L offense knowing that it needed a bullpen to win the World Series. FACT: You need a bullpen to win the world series.

Their uniforms are above average, and the fanbase is strong, though they bring nothing to the field. They don't realize they should try to mentally attack the other team's players. It's why teams tend to win more at home. Visting teams fear the negative crowd noise.

Somebody please trade Arod to the Cardinals so they can win 120 games in the regular season next year, and get embarrased in the playoffs yet again.

It counts

they won

fact: the cardinals have the best bullpen ERA amongst playoff teams.

fact: a team playing NL style ball won the AL crown this year.

A friendly, knowledgeable fan base brings in players that WANT to play in St. Louis instead of just want a bigger paycheck.

I feel that anyone who feels that La Russa needs to be fired is nuts. My dad has the opinion that La Russas approach is a bit different than most managers. His approach is more of a full team approach and an inning by inning approach. Most managers seem to take it game by game and say things like we need to win this game and then we'll worry about the next, where La Russa takes challenges by inning. Also, where managers often try to win games on individual performances, La Russa's teams have been known to win by playing more of a team styled form of small ball. This form always is successful in the regular season because it works so well over the course of 162 games, but, in small series teams with a more agressive style of play could beat you. The Cardinals do another thing really to win games and that is that they slow down games and force teams to play their style of ball because thats the best way for them to win, but if theyre forced to play another teams style of ball, such as in the case of the World Series vs Boston last year, theyre toast

[ProvidenceRI]

nice stab at walk jocketty but if any fan with half of a brain had been watching the LCS he would know that the cardinals pitching has not been the problem. Its their lack of clutch hitting with runners on.

But the Cardinals pitching staff has given up a lot of runs to a poor Houston offense... if Houston was in the AL, they would of had the second lowest run total.

Freakin KC Royals score more runs than they do... and good AL pitchers shut them out.

FACT: ChiSox won Pennant with good pitching, not NL style ball.

[pcgd]

nice stab at walk jocketty but if any fan with half of a brain had been watching the LCS he would know that the cardinals pitching has not been the problem. Its their lack of clutch hitting with runners on.

But the Cardinals pitching staff has given up a lot of runs to a poor Houston offense... if Houston was in the AL, they would of had the second lowest run total.

Freakin KC Royals score more runs than they do... and good AL pitchers shut them out.

FACT: ChiSox won Pennant with good pitching, not NL style ball.

They won the ALCS with good pitching. But small ball got them there.

17 runs in 5 games isn't what I'd consider a ton. More than some would like perhaps. But none of these games have been dominated.

And jocketty had no control over the best arm in the bullpen going down on the last day of the year.

[gashouser27]

Anything can happen in a short series. The Cardinals have been in every game and with a couple of bounces the Cardinals could just have easily swept the Astros, even with their pitching and team "built for the playoffs".

If anything this is LaRussa's style. There are several books people can read if you want to be knowledgeable. He analyzes everything. He puts his team in the best position to make big plays. Then the players have to deliver.

The Cardinals have won 100 games two years in a row, so anyone who belittles their lineup doesn't follow baseball. Last year without pitching depth and this year without Rolen most of the year and without Walker, Sanders and Molina a good part of the year. Jocketty is a genius.

It is these post season injuries!!!

But then Albert hit the biggest post season home run since Roy Hobbs!

And we are going back to Busch.!

[Swiss]

But then Albert hit the biggest post season home run since Roy Hobbs!

Hahahahaha I like your sense of humor.

[yh]

The St. Louis Braves..

That is all.

Please explain what a minor league hockey franchise from the mid 1960's has to do with this discussion.

Look, only one team can win the big prize every year and no team has an entitlement to the crown regardless of what they may have accomplished during the regular season. Any team that wins at least one postseason series is capable of winning the whole thing and thus it's an insult to the ultimate champion as well as the person you are denigrating if you simply attribute the outcome of a World Series to the failure of one person or one team. I don't care whether it's LaRussa, Buckner, Denkinger, Mayer, Bartman - whomever. There's another whole team out there playing like hell to take home the ring and they had to do something in order to put the other guy(s) in the position to "choke."

Anyone like myself who followed the Cards during the horrid '70s (when, believe it or not, the FOOTBALL Cardinals had more success), will recognize the great job that Jocketty has done assembling this team and the great job that LaRussa and Duncan have done to revitalize the vets that a lot of teams overlooked and to get the most out of young or otherwise marginal talent.

One more thing. Say what you want about the Cards being a regular season dynamo that can't get it done in the playoffs, but keep in mind most of their huge lead was built in the first 7 weeks of the season. From May 25 on, Houston actually had a better record, so technically they're the "hot" team right now.