Can The Cards Take a Game From The Tigers?
October 20, 2006 – 9:09 amThe St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets last night in game seven of the National League Championship Series and now move on to face the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. The often asked question this morning appears to be “Can the Cards take a game from the Tigers?” A Tigers sweep is a popular pick these days.
I get very leery when picks are this seemingly unanimous. Remember when everyone thought Miami was going to destroy Ohio State in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl? Remember how Texas probably shouldn’t even have shown up against USC in last year’s Rose Bowl? Or what about the Rams supposedly running the Patriots off the field in Super Bowl XXXVI? Yeah, those didn’t turn out so well.
That being said, I think the Tigers are going to win, and maybe for one particular reason: the Cardinals barely squeaked by a pitching staff consisting of Tom Glavine, John Maine, Steve Trachsel, and Oliver Perez. That isn’t exactly the pitching equivalent of Murderer’s Row. In fact, ESPN’s Rob Neyer, in a recent Insider column, called Perez “almost certainly the worst pitcher who’s ever started a Game 7.” Those are the four men the Mets sent to the mound to start the seven games of the National League Championship Series, and the Cardinals lost to them three times.
Compare that Mets group group to Kenny Rogers, Jeremy Bonderman, Justin Verlander, and Nate Robertson. How do the Cardinals stand a chance if they had to put on their rally caps to get past Oliver Perez? Tom Glavine was the best pitcher the Mets had available last series, and it could be argued quite effectively if you add the four Mets starters to the four Tigers starters, Tom Glavine is the fifth best pitcher in that group. I think the Tigers’ starting pitchers are capable of doing what the White Sox’s starting pitchers did last year: go deep into games allowing two runs or less, giving their offense ample opportunity to secure the win.
Okay, I’ve gone over why I think the Cardinals may get creamed. The thing is, though, the World Series is only seven games, and as the saying goes, anything can happen in a seven game series. One hot offensive game here, one pitching disaster there, and the series can change abruptly. All it takes is one bloop single by the Cardinals number two hitter and then one bad pitch to Albert Pujols, and the Cardinals have two runs. Two runs would have won them the game last night.
So, while I think it’s a bit much to assume a sweep is inevitable, I must admit I would be surprised if the Cardinals force a game seven. My pick is Tigers in five, though I can see them taking it in six. But based on what I wrote earlier about being leery of the unanimity of these types of predictions, I am perfectly prepared to eat crow if the Cardinals force a game seven or win the series outright.
3 Responses to “Can The Cards Take a Game From The Tigers?”
So, let’s see:
Game 1: Stl - 7, Det - 2
Game 2: Stl - 1, Det - 3
Series tied 1-1. I guess the answer is yes. Maybe they can only take 1, but they did take it. But I guess this is why the World Series is 7 games instead of 1. It takes out some of that “Any given Sunday” effect.
Speaking of football now: Props to Texas for beating Nebraska in a squaker. Tennessee did the same against Bama. And I’d like to draw attention to the fact that RICE UNIVERSITY WON this weekend, 40-29 against Central Florida. That brings Rice’s record to 3-5 this year! Granted, the other teams we beat were U. Alabama Birmingham and Army, but hey… we’re winning games, which is a change for us.
By Adam on Oct 22, 2006 at 10:12 pm
Yeah, the Cardinals definitely got a game. And they almost pulled off a miracle to take game two. Let’s just say the Cardinals are playing much more competitively than I thought they would at this point. And with Chris Carpenter and Jeff Suppan going back to back in games three and four, things might get plenty bleak for the Tigers if they don’t keep up the lights out pitching.
I was very disappointed that the Texas game wasn’t broadcast here on the west coast. We got the San Jose State/Nevada game instead (yippee). I was able to listen to bits and pieces of the game through updates on AM radio, and boy am I glad we were able to pull out that last second field goal. I was thinking back, and I can’t remember a game where missed field goals directly cost us the game; this would have been one of those games, with Texas having missed two earlier field goals.
Rice is definitely turning around. This year will be more successful than previous seasons. The real key will be building on that momentum into next year, trying to avoid the perception of just having had a fluke of a decent season.
By jjk on Oct 23, 2006 at 11:02 am