I do not favor this one way or another so please do not take this the wrong way. Last year the Cardinals won more games than any team in baseball. They after having an intense series with the Astros laid over and died for the Red Sox. DO NOT put the cart before the horse here. The Cardinals are a GREAT TEAM. I support Chris Carpenter's run to the Cy Young award. Plus having a HEALTHY Carpenter goes a long way in the Cardinals quest for a title. I agree with all of that. But you NEVER know who you run across in a short series that has MOMENTUM. The Cardinals are probably the best team out there. But in this league a short series has a way of going the way of the team with momentum or a team that gets hot suddenly. The fact that you ran away and hid from this division means that you have not played a meaningful game since probably last October. Sometimes these teams playing meaningful games in September and October ride that wave and suddenly they ride it to a World Series title. Let's all keep in mind that it has been the WILDCARD team to win the World Series in each of the last 4 years and I think it is because they have to fight for that spot usually up to the VERY LAST DAY of the season. Trust me. I am a National League fan. I don't want to see the American League win again and heck why not the Cardinals? But be careful. There are still 25 games to be played and injuries do happen. NEVER PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE!!!unclebill said:
You know I understand what you are talking about in regards to the home teams koolaid. As you know, I am a Mets fan. I have been for 33 years. My dad helped build Shea Stadium with his crane operating expertise. But I really believe I am a realistic Mets fan. I called WFAN ( that is the radio station in New York ) and tried to get the Mets fans from jumping off the bridge ( ha ha). When this season started for the Mets ( keep in mind they won 72, 66 and 71 in the last 3 seasons ) with all the changes they made in the off-season the Mets were a huge improvement over the last 3 seasons. But with David Wright and Jose Reyes started the season they were 21 years old. Cliff Floyd had been injuried a lot over the last 2 years, and their bullpen my 12 year old son could probably hit about .600 off of when the season started. Lots of people were saying the Mets could win 80 to 84 games. I believed that as well. They were also saying if the Mets were to play meaningful games in September they had a good season. Well the Mets have done all of that and yet the Mets fans now expect the play-offs because they are with-in a few games of the wildcard. Well that in my opinion is not what we walked into this season with. They got good starting pitching all season long. Their bullpen has improved but still I get nervous and they DO NOT get clutch hits. But now the fans can't understand why the Mets are having their struggles down the stretch. Well to me that is crazy. You knew what you had walking into the season. What has changed? Nothing. If we make it, great. If we don't you know that have talent is some areas and some areas where we need to improve. Next year we will be stronger and teams will have to respect us more. As for this year, I have had fun all year long and I hope for an even better season next year.unclebill said:
Thank you. I appreciate that. Some of the big game last night included the Astros coming from behind to beat the Phillies 8-6. Craig Biggio's 3 run blast off of Billy Wagner in the 9th inning was the difference in this game. Braden Looper blew the lead twice to Atlanta last night as the Mets were swept away by Atlanta 4-3. In this game, Tom Glavine's 7 1/3 innings of great work went down the toilet along with the Mets hopes of a play-off spot. Mets fans got a dose of reality. If Looper is your closer, you are no better than a team that has Armando Benitez closing as the Mets did from 1999-2003. Speaking of Benitez he coughed up an 8-6 lead last night as the Dodgers beat the Giants 9-8. Benitez gave up a 2 run homerun to Oscar Robles with one out in the ninth to tie the game and after walking Jeff Kent, Benitez was gone and so were the Giants. Mike Edwards bases loaded RBI single provided the Dodgers their 4th walk-off victory against the Giants this season. Final score from la la land Dodgers 9- Giants 8.unclebill said:
I would expect that the Cardinals will take 3 out of 4 this weekend. Though ( and you might disagree ) I do believe that the Mets have the better pitching match-ups on Saturday and Sunday as Trachsel matches up with Suppan Saturday and Martinez gets Morris on Sunday. I am not selling either Suppan or Morris ( who is from my home county in Orange County, New York as he went to Valley Central High School and his parents still live in Circleville, New York ) short at all. They are 2 of the guys who got the Cards there. But the Mets have offered NO RUN SUPPORT to Glavine or Martinez or Zambrano this season or this would be a very different kind of season. Whereas the Cardinals have offered up lots of run support this season. But Chris Carpenter I would think HAS to win the Cy Young Award. Though there is Dontrell Willis moving up on the outside. Either or but it can not go to Clemens. Though he is deserving of about 8 more wins this season the fact that he has been a victim of NO RUN SUPPORT cannot win on maybes. I am not asking anyone to consider Glavine ( especially with the 2nd half he has had ) or Pedro who has been as advertised for the Mets. But because of NO RUN SUPPORT, I can not endorse either one. Tom Glavine and Pedro should both have 20 wins easy with any kind of run support as should Clemens. Carpenter cannot be penalize for being on a great team. He is 21 - 4 with an ERA of 2.21. He will probably win 25 games. Can any of the above compete with that?unclebill said:
That does not matter if he will do it again next year. How can you give the Cy Young award to a guy who has won 11 games? You can't do that. So what you are saying is we have to assume that Roger would have won more if he got run support. Then lets assume that for Pedro and Glavine. Glavine has has 12 starts since the All-Star break and has lost 8 game giving up 2 runs or less. I don't hear you singing his praises for Cy Young. And Glavine would easily have 20 win as would Pedro with any kind of run support. It does not matter what Carpenter will do next year. They vote on what they do this year. I mean if Carpenter who outpitched Clemens last Saturday wins 25 games ( which he might ) how come he has to share it with a guy who won 11 games? I gave you the stats earlier he is 21-4 with an ERA of 2.21.natural tickler said:
I see that he has 26 hits with 8 doubles, a triple and 1 homerun and 10 RBI. That is impressive. I think the jury is still out on him. He is a good pitcher. Lifetime he is 41-35. This year hasn't been bad for him either. Despite a 12-13 record his ERA is 4.11 which is not considered bad in this era of baseball. Plus he is ONLY 27 so he probably has it all in front of him. If Dave Duncan continues to work with him he could be a real good pitcher. Right now for your Cardinals he serves you well as a fifth starter and in the playoffs as a long reliever. I liked his stuff last night and he seems to be better suited for the Cardinals. I am not sure why Atlanta gave up on him. How was he aquired by your team? Refresh my memory. Usually the only time Atlanta gives up on a young pitcher is when they realize that he will not be a super outstanding pitcher. Which is why Bruce Chen is no longer in Atlanta. By the way, Roger Clemens ERA went up from a 1.57 to a 1.78 as the Brewers beat him up in 3 innings for 5 runs as the Astros lost 5-3. Cardinals magic number is down to 8 and Clemens record falls to 11-7.unclebill said:
milagros317 said:
He was obtained along with Ray King and pitching prospect Adam Wainright for J.D. Drew and Eli Mararro. It has turned out to be a pretty good trade for the Cardinals especially if Wainright develops. He is a 6 ft. 7 inch righthander who throws hard. Drew and Mararro are no longer in Atlanta.ticklingfeet4fu said:
I have to admit it looks fishy. Tavarez is a sinkerball pitcher. He and Tony LaRussa had words in the dugout after the incident and both had to be separated. I hope Piazza is OK. In my opinion there is no excuse for a big league pitcher to bean a batter in the head. At that level you should have better control.ticklingfeet4fu said:Mets have lost to the Cardinals 4-2 to up their losing streak to a season high 6 straight games. The Mets are now 1-8 on their current 10 game road trip. Today marked the return of Mike Piazza as he homered in his first at-bat then was removed from the game because JULIE ( printed the way I wanted it printed ) Tavarez decided to hit Mike Piazza with a fastball in the head. If the Mets were as classless as the Cardinals reliever was they would have drilled Pujols or Edmonds in the head instead of hitting Eckstein in the knee. But because the Mets are a classy organization the only hit Eckstein. Sorry there Bill but you have to admit what Tavarez did was classless. There was NO REASON to hit Piazza. For that move someone had to be hit. And PLEASE spare me that it slipped. Funny that everytime Piazza gets hit it just slipped. Maybe the bat that Clemens threw at Piazza slipped too.
Mike Piazza has a concussion and he as well as Cliff Floyd are listed day to day.unclebill said:
unclebill said:
You know that is a crock. When you watch Tavarez pitch he didn't come close to anyone before or after beaning Piazza.natural tickler said:
Then when you have Pedro pitching the next day ( and we all know he is a loose cannon ) and the Mets frustrated and pissed how the trip was going that is the last thing the Cardinals wanted to have. The Cardinals never dug in on Pedro. They barely were in the batter's box. They knew the Mets were pissed. As far as putting people in the morgue, how about some of your guys getting off the DL first before threatening to put people in the morgue. The Cubs with Dusty Baker have NO HEART. The Mets, at least, decided to show some character and pound the Cardinals yesterday. But don't tell me that my team couldn't get into a beanball war because Pedro, Aaron Heilman, Juan Padilla, Roberto Hernandez and Braden Looper all throw 92 MPH and over.
