Moment of Truth
EDIT: When I publish new posts, they aren't showing up right away. I thought I had the solution figured out, but now it's back to posting in a delayed manner. If you're on my blog and you don't see newer posts, click on 'September 2008' on the sidebar. The new post will show up then. Thanks. Also, if anybody else has had this trouble and has an answer, please let me know in the comments. Also, I've had a couple people tell me that they have had trouble leaving comments because it says they "are not authorized." If you have this problem, try signing out and then signing back in. This has worked for me.
Remember, how I said that it's been a year since I had blogged? Well, what's interesting about that is that the Cardinals are almost in the very spot that they were this time last year.
And it's almost to the day that, a year earlier, I pronounced the Cardinals season dead on September 16th at 9:47 pm. And, here we are again.
On September 16th at 9:47 last year the Cardinals had just dropped the series to Chicago by losing 4-2. It was the third game of four they had lost, literally sabotaging any hopes they had at October. Here's what the standings looked like that evening. The Cardinals were 7 games behind the 1st place Cubs and 6 games behind the 2nd place Brewers with their elimination number at 7 for the division race. Sound familiar?
The wild card standings, however, were where the Redbirds fared worse. They looked like this. The Cards sat 11 games back and had six teams in front of them. San Diego, Philly, LA, Colorado, Milwaukee and Atlanta. Their elimination number for the wild card race was at 4.
Most of the same NL teams are in the hunt once again. The difference this time, of course, is that if the Cardinals are going to do it, they are going to have to do it by winning the wild card. I already stated that the Cardinals NEED to sweep Pittsburgh or, at the very least, they HAVE to take 2 of 3 or else I'm saying it's over. They've blown their chance for the sweep, but still have the opportunity to take 2 of 3.
Allow me to take you through a couple of scenarios.
Scenario 1
The Cardinals beat Pittsburgh the next two and at the very least they stay 5 games (or possibly 5 1/2 with the makeup game) behind the Brewers. At the best, they move to within 3 back of the Brewers (again possibly 2 1/2 with the makeup game), who are losing badly to the Phillies as we speak and making it all the more likely that we would be making up ground instead of simply standing still.
Scenario 2
The Cardinals lose these next two to Pittsburgh, completing the sweep. At best, we remain 5 (or 5 1/2 out) and now, at worst, we are 7 (or yikes...7 1/2 out.)
That second scenario simply cannot happen if we want to have a chance for October. Truthfully, the Cardinals should be out of it. They shouldn't have had a chance for the postseason. The Cubs and the Brewers could have walked away with the division and the wild card. But they didn't. Instead of fighting to the end, they have laid down and now everybody from Philadelphia to Houston to us has a legitimate fighting chance. We had no control over our fate at one point, but now we do. Now, we control whether or not we choose to get back into the fight or hand it over to one of these other teams.
3 games isn't that much and the Brewers have a tough schedule coming up with all of those games against Chicago. I see it as no problem to pass them. The tougher part, of course, is passing the Phils and the 'Stros. But, if we win these next two, we force them to keep pace with us and remember, we are currently only 2 behind both of those teams.
So, here it is. Do or die time. Are there any other Cardinal fans out there? How do you feel? I posed a question last year that is again appropriate at this time. When do you say it's over? Because that leads to a bigger question. When you actually believe it's over, it's time to start cheering for the Brewers to take away 1st place from Chicago. At what point does that happen for you?
Astros fans, I'd like to hear from you too. Do you still believe you're in it? We've discussed previously what an incredible September team the 'Stros are. Thoughts?
As for me, I plan to go watch a Redbird victory. And there's nobody I'd rather have on the mound than tonight's starter, Adam Wainwright.
Let's get Adam to double digits,
Tiffany
Remember, how I said that it's been a year since I had blogged? Well, what's interesting about that is that the Cardinals are almost in the very spot that they were this time last year.
And it's almost to the day that, a year earlier, I pronounced the Cardinals season dead on September 16th at 9:47 pm. And, here we are again.
On September 16th at 9:47 last year the Cardinals had just dropped the series to Chicago by losing 4-2. It was the third game of four they had lost, literally sabotaging any hopes they had at October. Here's what the standings looked like that evening. The Cardinals were 7 games behind the 1st place Cubs and 6 games behind the 2nd place Brewers with their elimination number at 7 for the division race. Sound familiar?
The wild card standings, however, were where the Redbirds fared worse. They looked like this. The Cards sat 11 games back and had six teams in front of them. San Diego, Philly, LA, Colorado, Milwaukee and Atlanta. Their elimination number for the wild card race was at 4.
Most of the same NL teams are in the hunt once again. The difference this time, of course, is that if the Cardinals are going to do it, they are going to have to do it by winning the wild card. I already stated that the Cardinals NEED to sweep Pittsburgh or, at the very least, they HAVE to take 2 of 3 or else I'm saying it's over. They've blown their chance for the sweep, but still have the opportunity to take 2 of 3.
Allow me to take you through a couple of scenarios.
Scenario 1
The Cardinals beat Pittsburgh the next two and at the very least they stay 5 games (or possibly 5 1/2 with the makeup game) behind the Brewers. At the best, they move to within 3 back of the Brewers (again possibly 2 1/2 with the makeup game), who are losing badly to the Phillies as we speak and making it all the more likely that we would be making up ground instead of simply standing still.
Scenario 2
The Cardinals lose these next two to Pittsburgh, completing the sweep. At best, we remain 5 (or 5 1/2 out) and now, at worst, we are 7 (or yikes...7 1/2 out.)
That second scenario simply cannot happen if we want to have a chance for October. Truthfully, the Cardinals should be out of it. They shouldn't have had a chance for the postseason. The Cubs and the Brewers could have walked away with the division and the wild card. But they didn't. Instead of fighting to the end, they have laid down and now everybody from Philadelphia to Houston to us has a legitimate fighting chance. We had no control over our fate at one point, but now we do. Now, we control whether or not we choose to get back into the fight or hand it over to one of these other teams.
3 games isn't that much and the Brewers have a tough schedule coming up with all of those games against Chicago. I see it as no problem to pass them. The tougher part, of course, is passing the Phils and the 'Stros. But, if we win these next two, we force them to keep pace with us and remember, we are currently only 2 behind both of those teams.
So, here it is. Do or die time. Are there any other Cardinal fans out there? How do you feel? I posed a question last year that is again appropriate at this time. When do you say it's over? Because that leads to a bigger question. When you actually believe it's over, it's time to start cheering for the Brewers to take away 1st place from Chicago. At what point does that happen for you?
Astros fans, I'd like to hear from you too. Do you still believe you're in it? We've discussed previously what an incredible September team the 'Stros are. Thoughts?
As for me, I plan to go watch a Redbird victory. And there's nobody I'd rather have on the mound than tonight's starter, Adam Wainwright.
Let's get Adam to double digits,
Tiffany
Hey, Tiffany. Nice blog. I'm a Yankee fan (don't hate me). I'm always looking for smart baseball blogs, especially those by women. We just have that certain kind of passion for our teams, right? I have a book coming out next Feb about my season following the Yankees on the road and I promoted it the other day on a live video show (check out the blog for details). We took emails during the show and one of them was from a diehard Cardinals fan (female) who was feeling pretty desperate about this season. Since my Yankees have fallen out of contention, I shared her pain. It's way more fun to win games but I'm hoping for better things next season. Oh - and in your bio you said you like to read. Maybe one of my novels (they're romantic comedies) will give you a laugh.
- http://janeheller.mlblogs.com
- www.janeheller.com
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Jane,
Thanks for the compliments on the blog. And actually I like the Yankees a lot. I would rather see them win the division over the Red Sox any day. The Cardinals are trying to give away the division, but you always want to believe they can still do it. The Yanks, though, will more than likely have to wait 'til next season.
- Tiffany
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