Cardinal baseball

[kennyboyerfan]

Squeeze play....hit and run with our best player....four double plays.

God, I love it when we play Cardinal baseball.

This team is a direct descendant of the Gas House Gang and Whiteyball.

Say what you want about Mr. LaRussa -- and I certainly have, and certainly will again -- but you look at the way we play, and then look at the way a team like, say, the [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cubs.gif[/img] plays, and you start to wonder if maybe the manager doesn't have a little something to do with that.

Sorry. I really have no point....other than when your favorite team plays the sport you love, and plays it the way it's supposed to be played, well, it's just wonderful.

[backstop]

Agreed.

I also reserve the right to enjoy grand slams.

[cardinalgirl]

I love this team.

think we can beat Woody?

[kennyboyerfan]

QUOTE(cardinalgirl @ Oct 7 2005, 08:52 AM) Quoted post

I love this team.

think we can beat Woody?
[/b][/quote]

I think we could beat Cy Young.

Of course, he's dead, but still.....

[Charlie Sheen]

For those of you that watched on TV, did you happen to notice Pujols calling Grudzielanek back to the batting cage/clubhouse to talk after Grudz failed to bring the Reggie Sanders home w/ 1 out after his 2 run triple?

Grudzielanek had an absolutely terrible AB, Pujols was getting aggravated/cheering him on in the dugout. After Grudzielanek struck out on a terrible swing, after only seeing 3 pitches, Pujols walked down to the bat/helmet rack and told Grudz to "come here" and they went into the hallway outta the site of the camera.

It wasn't a tense moment or a disagreement in anyway, but it definitely showed me that Pujols is not only a lead by example guy, but he'll pull players to the side and tell them what approach they should use next time...or offer any advice he might have...I must say I loved seeing this. It was also good to see Grudzielanek follow Pujols without skipping a beat...

Just another example of how professional and focused this team is.

[Stan_Papi]

This team just wins. Whether it's with power, or "smallball" or defense or pitching. We just seem to find a way to win. We didn't necessarily dominate either game, but the difference is that we'd get the key hit to drive in that 2-out run, or we'd make the key play to turn a rally-snuffing DP, or we'd make the key pitch to get out of a jam.

Carpenter wasn't dominating - neither was Mulder. They just got the outs that they needed to get with men on base. With the exception of Sanders' grand slam, we didn't really crush their pitchers. We just manufactured runs, or took the walks, or got the hits that we needed.

I can see where if I'm the Padres, I'm leaving town thinking I could have won either (or both) of those games. But they didn't. And that's why they're the Padres, and that's why we're the Cardinals.

I honestly came into the series thinking that there was a realistic chance of us getting upended in a short series. But I apparently underestimated the fact that even when this team isn't clicking on all cylinders, they have a knack for finding a way to win. That bodes well for the rest of October, especially once we really get rolling...

[Reggie Cleveland]

These two games kinda remind me of a little kid running in place, being held back by a bigger kid with a stiffarm to his forehead.

We haven't really begun to "play" yet. Just holding the Padres back is all that's been required so far.

[kennyboyerfan]

QUOTE(Reggie Cleveland @ Oct 7 2005, 09:08 AM) Quoted post

These two games kinda remind me of a little kid running in place, being held back by a bigger kid with a stiffarm to his forehead.

We haven't really begun to "play" yet. Just holding the Padres back is all that's been required so far.
[/b][/quote]

Horse bettors have seen this many times before. The jockey on the superior horse lets another horse gets close, but won't let it pass, no matter how hard it tries....

I just don't think this team is going to allow itself to lose....they've shown that all year long. I've said it before -- it's very difficult to remember a game that we lost in which we didn't have the tying or winning run on base in the ninth inning.

[Stan_Papi]

You know how I can tell the Cardinals have been playing well lately?

When I use 10 "we" or "us" in a 4 paragraph post.

Rest assured if we were down 0-2, there would have been a whole lot more "they" and "them" in there... [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif[/img]

[Reggie Cleveland]

QUOTE

I just don't think this team is going to allow itself to lose....[/b][/quote]

I'm not willing to go that far, with the memory of the inexplicable collapse one year ago a little too fresh. But certainly, so far, so good.

[slow groove]

QUOTE(Reggie Cleveland @ Oct 7 2005, 10:08 AM) Quoted post

These two games kinda remind me of a little kid running in place, being held back by a bigger kid with a stiffarm to his forehead.

We haven't really begun to "play" yet. Just holding the Padres back is all that's been required so far.
[/b][/quote]
Great example, Reg. Good info, too, Stan.

Oftentimes a team either has the luxury or misfortune of "playing down" to their competition. Doing so is especially dangerous in a short series. But at no time have I ever felt we were in real jeopardy, even when the Padres had bases loaded, or men on base (prior to the DP's) with no out.

A quiet confidence is certainly exuding from this team. Not a cockiness, but an assurance that if they are behind, they have the ability to come back -- or if they are ahead, they will maintain the lead. Everyone is quietly doing their part...noone is attempting to do to much.

This fact was best exemplified in yesterday's contest: With no out (if I'm not mistaken) and men on base, Pujols put both his anxiousness and reputation aside and calmly accepted a BB. Noone here would have protested if AP had left his shoes swinging trying to drive in runs to qualify his worth to a national audience. But he didn't. Instead, he "took one for the team." A second example of selflessness occured when AP properly hit behind a breaking Edmonds from 1B for a base hit.

Execution. Quality baseball. Winning by committee.

[kennyboyerfan]

QUOTE(Reggie Cleveland @ Oct 7 2005, 09:21 AM) Quoted post

QUOTE

I just don't think this team is going to allow itself to lose....[/b][/quote]

I'm not willing to go that far, with the memory of the inexplicable collapse one year ago a little too fresh. But certainly, so far, so good.
[/b][/quote]

The difference this year is, it's not just a matter of mindset. We have the talent to get the job done this year. We really didn't last year, not with the condition of the starting rotation.

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
--Albert Einstein

[kennyboyerfan]

QUOTE(Stan_Papi @ Oct 7 2005, 09:19 AM) Quoted post

You know how I can tell the Cardinals have been playing well lately?

When I use 10 "we" or "us" in a 4 paragraph post.

Rest assured if we were down 0-2, there would have been a whole lot more "they" and "them" in there... [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif[/img]
[/b][/quote]

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

They've actually done studies on this and found it's absolutely true. Sports fans say "we" when their team wins, "them" when they lose. I'm absolutely serious about this. It's another example why professors have too much spare time.