bellyitcher

Look, I've already nearly cried reading about Busch Stadium a couple of times today. So I'm not takin' any crap from some 5th place team. Here's RHM's post. I think she used up all the funny with the Choose Your Own Adventure.

I'm trying not to let the lackadaisical, heads-up-the-ass play and confusing pitching get to me. But it's hard when all this happens on the day before it's Officially Still Dark when I wake up; that just made what would have been a slightly depressing day downright interminable. It's hard when the two guys you count on have been less than great. It's hard when you read that your team just doesn't have it. It's hard when KMOX replays Game 7 of last year's NLCS. It's hard when there's nothing specific to point to for the string of losses. For so long this season, the whole has been greater than the sum of it's parts. Now, things seem fractured. The list of Jimmy's aches and pains is longer than the OED, Albert's not right, Nunez is well off his mid-season tear, King's been ineffective (to say the least), and Carpenter, oh, Carpenter. But I really am trying.

And hey. I work with a Cubs fan and a Red Sox fan. The Cubs fan gave up long ago. I think the Red Sox fan may be developing a facial tic, he's very twitchy. So which is better - out of it all year, knowing you're in with problems, or burning everything just to get there?

The Reds come in tomorrow to close out the regular season. RHM and I will of course talk smack, but the Reds are mere bit players in this weekend's festivities. Let's see if we can make them extras on the field, too.

See below.

I'll be crying softly in the corner.

First things first. The magic number on the right and thingy up top? Yeah, bad luck. They're gone.

I don't care if Carpenter wins the Cy Young. When it was a debate of Carp vs. Clemens, I cared. If that was all the team had going, I would care. Willis is fine. (Albert vs. Andruw is a whole other story.) I just want Chris to pitch like he can. The Cardinals need that shut down guy. I don't know why he pitched the sixth last night; he was getting pounded. It's not like the Brewers were getting dinky little hits, even the pitcher was killing Carpenter. Combined with his back issues the only reasoning I can think of is that La Russa wanted him to get the win. And that's not much of a reason. I don't think his confidence and especially health should be put in jeopardy for one win he probably wasn't going to get. Tony, please please don't do that again. I know he didn't throw that much in his last start, but he's got to rest. I was concerned when the team said Carp would stay on five days rest for the rest of the season, though pitchers are weird creatures; they like their routine. But sending him back out there was ridiculous. I wanted to puke, too.

Julia's instituting Operation L.A.M.E.A.S.S. to avoid panic. This may be the post of the year; simply outstanding. There was a discussion of Red Sox fandom over at Cardnilly (personally, I'm not buying it-I [gulp] root for the Yankees now).

Onward. Today's game is the last game of the regular season I'll be able to see all of. So how about some liveblogging? (OK, I tried. Mulder sucked. I stopped.)

Where have all the aces gone?
Cy Young's passing
Where have all the aces gone?
Four starts ago
Where have all the aces gone?
Bad starts took them every one
When will we get him back?
When will we get him back?

Where have all the shut outs gone?
Cy Young's passing
Where have all the shut outs gone?
Four starts ago
Where have all the shut outs gone?
Tired arm in every one
When will we get him back?
When will we get him back?

Where has all the movement gone?
Cy Young's passing
Where has all the movement gone?
Four starts ago
Where has all the movement gone?
Up in the zone every one
When will we get him back?
When will we get him back?

Where has the dominance gone?
Cy Young's passing
Where has the dominance gone?
Four starts ago
Where has the dominance gone?
Makes me nervous every one
When will we get him back?
When will we get him back?

Where has the certainty gone?
Cy Young's passing
Where has the certainty gone?
Four starts ago
Where has the certainty gone?
Need an ace in every one
When will we get him back?
When will we get him back?

-Apologies to Pete Seeger

The Reds were an answer in today's WaPo crossword puzzle. First they steal our pennant, then they think that they'll somehow distract the populace from Griffey's latest season-ending surgery by showing up in a puzzle. Dammit, I'm not going to fall for it! This is our last stand in Cincinnati this year. The Cardinals have to show them who's boss.

...three to go.

Atlanta just lost to Philly, assuring the Cardinals will have the best record in the National League and home field advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs for the second year in a row.

That also means there's a new magic number.

I miss Kliner terribly. Can you imagine him as the color guy? Awesome.

Edit: I'm not feeling very witty today, so we'll just use this for the smack. RHM has a rather-more-intimate-than-I'd-like blurb about Albert.

I will not be pointing and laughing at the Reds' pitcher tonight. I know how fickle the Baseball Gods can be. The trash talking RHM and I will do tonight is more than enough to anger them, no reason to pile on.

As I watched today's game (which despite early reports, had a pretty B-team line up that only got more Memphis) I realized I'm just not that excited about winning the division. The Cardinals have been in first place since what, mid-April? Last year had a measure of redemption. After missing the playoffs in 2003 and being picked to finish third by pretty much everyone, the Cards ran away with the Central. This year it was kind of...expected. (God, I sound like a Braves fan, if there are such creatures). Yes, it's very nice to win the Central. Lovely, wonderful, great.

That and three bucks will get you coffee at Starbucks.

Am I spoiled? You bet.

We all knew coming into this season what the goal was. Some teams want to have a winning season, some want to contend, some want a first playoff appearance in a number of years. The Cardinals want to win the World Series. Winning the division is the first hurdle. A long, difficult slog, but just the first step nonetheless. There are a few more things to accomplish before I start screaming my head off. The first, as I see it, is securing home field advantage for the playoffs. To that end, the magic number on the right will be tracking HFA.

Today, the Cards looked as I expected, perhaps even a little peppier. I don't want to think about Carpenter's outing other than to say I blame champagne and Dusty's bench jockeying. They scored more runs than I thought they would off of Zambrano, so that's nice, but I also think the bullpen had a really big party last night.

Anyhoo, the next series is against the Reds, so RHM and I will be talking some smack. These silly Eastern time zone games mean I'll miss the first few innings, though. Monday's an off day, so here's a game: Who will the Cardinals play in the first round?

Whoooo-hooooooooo!

So even though we won the season series with Houston, meaning the Cardinals are the Central Division Champions, the Magic Number remains at one. The team decided they wouldn't celebrate if Houston won tonight, and that's what I'm going with. I don't care what ESPN says. But this win feels so anti-climatic; after waiting for ever to see the final out, it never came. It's almost like a win by default or a forfeit. Don't get me wrong, I'll take it. And it's very nice winning in Wrigley.

The game happened so long ago, I've almost forgotten what happened. Suppan once again come up big. He's certainly got a knack for that - I'd rather see him after Carpenter and Mulder than Morris next month. The boys wanted to win and win they did. Prior was roughed up early, which is they way we like things to go.

Anyway, thanks to an all-day meeting I am going to miss tomorrow's game. Seriously, this is a travesty. I'm going to go waaay out on a limb and suggest that Matt shave. Completely. The beard has lost it's magic. We need a bounce back game from him.

Just call the freaking game already.

Well, Carpenter was bound to have a rough outing at some point. Thing is though, he's got everything working for him so well his bad starts just end up as no decisions. He had such an interesting mix of emotions on his face sitting there in the dugout. He looked pissed and upset and sad and a little wistful. As soon as I got home, the bats went to sleep and Chris got into trouble. Things like this can give a girl a complex. So I guess the way to avoid late-season ennui is to have a couple of walk off wins. While those are fun, I don't think I can take more than two in a row.

As you keep your eye on the Houston/Florida game tomorrow night, join Red Hot Mama and me as we engage in some smack talk. Turns out the Reds are playing the Cubs.

Even when he gets knocked around a bit, the Cardinals get a lead (on a Pujols pinch hit single, no less) and Ray King has some sort of mental breakdown to allow the Pirates to tie it up. Sure, King got three outs in a row (a major accomplishment these days), but that brain fart was inexcusable.

Perhaps Tavarez is jealous of Mark's good looks. Maybe Izzy feels uncomfortable having another Illinois native around. King might be sad he's not the city's favorite lefty. Thompson must have tried to borrow Mulder's razor then remembered he's too young to shave. Flores is probably tired of having so many people on the team with the initials "MM." Cal was sick earlier this season so I don't know if he harbors ill will towards Mark, but I bet his down-home Iowan sensibilities chafe at Mulder's highlights. Al Reyes is too upset about another Reyes being on the team to even notice.

The bullpen hates Mark Mulder.

I bet she picked Jimmy to spite me.

The Cubs were eliminated from the division today.

I too am going through the September doldrums. I mean, what else can you say about Chris Carpenter and Albert Pujols? How many times can you describe a nice backhanded grab by Nunez or a Taguchi clutch hit without sounding rote - or worse - ungrateful? Scott is stopping to smell the roses before October, Rob is thinking about a nap. Both sound like excellent ideas. Perhaps I'll adopt a rookie (I'm thinking Tyler Johnson) or read the Wild Card hopefuls' home town papers. Maybe I'll invest too much in the series with the Cubs next weekend. Whatever I end up doing, after the next week or so I think the nervousness will start to build. It will be easy to watch the team and see how the players are doing. But, easy does not mean not scary.

Jayson Stark threw message boards into a twitter. I'm not going to really get into that, I'm far too biased, but honestly Stark, have you seen Carp pitch? Having that on espn.com gets us into that whole "East Coast Bias" and "The Cards Never Get Respect" malarkey. If this is what people are bitching about, things are good. Paul Sullivan is also not making friends in St. Louis.

Why can't we win a series against the Cubs?

It's goddamn infuriating.

That could have been a lot worse.

Said by Harry Caray after the Cards tied up the first game played at Busch - replayed the other night on KMOX. Here's the upcoming schedule:

Monday, September 5 -- Game 7, World Series, 1967
Wednesday, September 14 -- Game 7, World Series, 1982
Thursday, September 15 -- Game 5, NLCS, 1985
Friday, September 16 -- Game 7, NLCS, 1987
Monday, September 26 -- Game 6, NLCS, 2004
Thursday, September 29 -- Game 7, NLCS, 2004

For those not in KMOX's range, you can listen online (but only using IE).

Ok, back to the Cubs/Cards game.

Edit: I just ran across this article. Extensions for Hendry and Baker? That's FANTASTIC.

On the KMOX post-game, Marquis said that the bullpen session he threw in Pittsburgh (the 40 sinkers, and obviously I'm paraphrasing) got his head on straight. The results have certainly been there his last two starts. In 18 innings: 7 hits, 1 run, 0 walks, 8 Ks. I have to admit I kept expecting a meltdown. Not necessarily a big one, but a lapse in concentration that led to another that led to another. It never came. There wasn't even a hint of one; after Berkman's home run, Marquis gave up only a single in the 7th. I'm in no way convinced he's completely fixed. He'll make me nervous all season. However, I no longer dread his next start. Marquis also made some nice plays, though he went 0-2 at the plate. I'm sure it won't happen, but how funny would it be if he won a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove?

Nunez continues to make me...well, not forget about Rolen, but not miss him too terribly. So made a fine sliding catch, but Grudz's leap over him was extra cool. Pujols' foot is not keeping him from stealing bases. The Astros must really hate seeing Jimmy. He just kills them.

Outstanding starting pitching this series. I heard La Russa's explanation for bringing in Izzy on Friday this morning on Talk With Tony. I understood his reasoning, that Mulder wasn't doing well against the batters due up, and playing what-would-have-happened-if is academic. But. It would have been really cool to have three complete games against the Astros.

When the two Cy Young candidates squared off tonight, it was pretty clear who had the upper hand. In his five innings, Clemens gave up two runs, two walks and had two strike outs. Carpenter had two walks and allowed two runs in nine innings (with eight strike outs). Yeah, I know Clemens left with a strained hamstring. But it's not like he was going to pitch much longer anyway, maybe into the 7th. The Rocket's dropped to fourth in the Cy Young predictor thingy (Mulder's at 9th, who knew?). Keep your eye on Willis....

Albert's foot is acting up again. Not good. Need to get that taken care of toot(sies)-sweet.

Does 116.3 seem a little high to anyone else? It has since come back to a more reasonable 98.1 and the playoff odds are at a season-high mark.

According to Bernie, Bissinger is doing an article on our favorite first baseman for ESPN The Magazine. Should be interesting.

P.S. Suck it, Roger.

I'm still mad about the game last night. La Russa and Edmonds can talk about battling and it being a good game, but in truth - it was terrible. The game should have been won three separate times. Our usually lovely bullpen had a relapse and spoiled a fantastic outing from Mulder.

But it was just a game. A few minutes from Minute Maid Park tens of thousands of people are getting ready to spend several months living in an old stadium.

Piggybacking off of VEB:

FEMA has a list of relief organizations accepting monetary donations - it's cheaper and easier to transport money than food and water. If you can't write a check, consider donating canned goods or old clothing to your local chapter of any of those organizations; it'll help them allocate what they can to the Gulf coast.

I forgot to put up the off day game. So it's late, but here ya go. What day will the Cardinals clinch the division?