Cardinals have championship edge
September 29, 2009
As a Cubs fan, it really hurts to type this.
Fingers cringe, feelings of self-loathing boil inside and horrible thoughts come to mind, but it doesn’t change reality. A cold, hard reality that not even Patrick Kane could beat out of my head.
The St. Louis Cardinals are going to win the World Series.
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Ouch.
Fans of the Cardinals are kind of squirming anxiously because the team has gone 5-5 in the last 10 games and its offense has gone cold.
Hey, guess what. The Cardinals have nothing to play for. They could clone Neifi Perez nine times and have him play every position on the field for the rest of the way and the result of the games still wouldn’t matter. Right now they have nothing to play for.
When the Cardinals do have something to play for, they are a truly ferocious team. There was a point in early August when the Cardinals were a half game behind the Cubs. Yes, the Cubs had a lead as late as August.
They now sit 7.5 games back of the Cardinals.
The Cardinals have done this by being a very balanced team on both sides of the ball. The most obvious improvement was adding Matt Holliday to the team, giving Albert Pujols a legitimate threat to back him up.
What makes them a winner though is their pitching. From one-to-three, the Cardinals have the best starters in the playoffs bar none. The Giants could have given them a run for their money, but San Francisco is looking less likely for the post-season every day.
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St. Louis’ ace pitcher, Chris Carpenter, is 16-4 and sports a National League leading ERA of 2.30 and with a WHIP of 1.01. Carpenter came into the season with people wondering whether he could stay healthy. Carpenter has done more than that, as he has completely humbled National League hitters.
The other ace, Adam Wainwright, is 19-8 with a 2.58 ERA and a WHIP of 1.21. While slightly less dominating than Carpenter, Wainwright hosts an ERA that is the envy of everyone in the National League except for Carpenter and San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum. Most teams are lucky to have one pitcher this good – the Cardinals have two.
Finally, there is Joel Pi’ntilde;eiro. He is not as dominant as Carpenter or Wainwright, but his stats are indicative of a typical No. 2 starter. He is slated to go up against the opposition’s third starter. His 3.44 ERA, 15-12 record and 1.14 WHIP is more than respectable.
The offense does not even matter when the pitching is that dominant. In a five-game series, the Cardinals look unbeatable. Carpenter and Wainwright could both start twice. There is not a team capable of knocking three wins out of St. Louis with both of those guys on their games.
The main threat for the Cardinals would come from the New York Yankees. The Yankees have one of the best hitting lineups of all-time. The problem is, the lineup isn’t so effective if it can’t score.
The Cardinals pitching should provide the team with smooth sailing through the playoffs.
Now excuse me while I turn off my TV all October (and early November, thank you WBC) and shut out this noise.
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Derek Robbins can be reached at 536-3311, ext. 261.
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