The Chris Moeller Archives

NLCS Preview: Not an annual feature (or is it?!)

-- The Cardinals return to the National League Championship Series for the third consecutive year, and the CM Blog is there. Not literally, of course. I have responsibilities. I can't just leave my job and a small child at home and run around the Eastern seaboard and the lower Midwest, spending my life savings, watching all the baseball games I can, and drinking a case of Bud Select for every game the Cardinals win.

But Alex Rodriguez can. He has the rest of the month off.


-- It's great to be the underdog in the Championship Series for once. It's amazing how relaxed I am when my expectations are so low. Of course, the more I hear about the John Maines, Steve Trachsels, and Oliver Perezez in the Mets starting rotation, the more confident I get. (First prediction: We'll hear a lot this series about the injuries to the Mets' Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez, and not much about the injuries to the Cards' Mark Mulder and Jason Isringhasuen.) The '06 Cardinals are not the '04 or '05 Cardinals, but Glavine, Maines, and Trachsel are not Oswalt, Clemens, and Pettitte.


-- At this point, any predictions about the Mets and Cardinals series from baseball's ESPN intelligentsia is meaningless. Eighteen of 19 commentators on their website picked the Padres to beat St. Louis so it's all endarounds and BS from here on.


-- Darryl Strawberry will be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch between stints in rehab tomorrow night at Shea Stadium.


-- On the New York Daily News website today, I counted 11 stories about the Yankees and one about the Mets. That respect is just rolling in.


-- I have no way of linking to it now, but that same website had a unique juxtaposition of picture and headline this morning. Their Kim Jung Il story carried the headline, "Despot Going Ballistic," but above it was a picture of George Steinbrenner talking on his cell phone. Maybe George saw the irony in that before deciding to retain Joe Torre as manager for another season.


-- I could care less about Torre at this point. The former Cardinals MVP and manager sold his soul long ago. It was bad enough he whored himself out to Steinbrenner to begin with, but then, throughout a run of 10 Division Championships and a Wild Card berth in 11 years, plus 5 pennants and 4 World Championships, he still allows his coaches to be insulted (Don Zimmer), and fired (Mel Stottlemyre) by the boss, and stands by helplessly for the decision on his own fate each year. Jesus, have the fortitude to walk away before you get axed. If you can't do it with that record, when can you? There are plenty of good managerial jobs out there, including an opportunity to prove you can win a championship without a payroll large enough for four teams.


-- Oakland, Detroit, New York, and St. Louis. If murder rates count for anything, the Big Apple is the sissy-est city left in the playoffs.


-- I hope you get Fox Sports Midwest where you live so you could have seen the Cards' post-game locker room celebration Sunday night. John Rodriguez busted out the new classic line, "I'm just here for the Bud Light."


-- I'm feeling very confident. Cards in three.

posted by CM @ 8:42 PM