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NLDS: St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Diego Padres


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Posted

During the stretch run a lot of people compared the Cards to the 1964 Phils, who lost a 6.5 game lead with 7 to play. Except this Cards team survived. There's a parallel to the 1950 Phillies, who held a 7.5 game lead with 14 games to play, and a 5 game lead with just six games left. The Brooklyn Dodgers pulled to a single game back before they lost to the Phillies on the final game of the season.

 

I would say that the Phils' near collapse is forgotten because they won, but I doubt it. I suspect it's forgotten because the next year's pennant race included the Shot Heard Round the World.

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Posted

One of the interesting things that you can find on the Hardball Times website is stolen base/caught stealing data in regards to pitchers. Justin Verlander for example picked off eight runners while five were caught stealing. He allowed one stolen base the entire season! Chris Capuano was the most difficult pitcher to steal on in the NL this year, also allowing just a single steal.

 

Chris Young and Freddy Garcia meanwhile both allowed 40+ stolen bases while they were on the mound. Basestealers have an astounding 95% success rate against Garcia. In Chris Young's case, the results are obvious given that he is a 6'10" righthander with Mike Piazza behind the plate. If Young/Piazza are the battery in the playoffs, keep an eye on the running game.

Posted

The Cardinals were 25th in the league in stolen bases; they had 59 steals all year, with over a third of those coming from part-time contributors (Wilson, Taguchi). I'm not sure that St. Louis can really exploit that weakness.

 

Since the Cardinals decided to burn Anthony Reyes on short rest for the final day of the season, start Suppan in Game 2 on the road (red flag) and start Weaver in what could be a season-ending game (BIG fucking red flag), I'm going to say Padres in a massacre.

 

(But quietly hope for St. Louis in five.)

Posted

Tony really needs to play the numbers and start Weaver in game 2 because he has had much more success on the road this season. However, I am not too worried about the Cards' rotation seeing as Weaver has been decent over his last so many starts (I think they said his ERA was just over 4 in his last 10 starts or something), and Suppan has been excellent in the 2nd half, and pitched a great game on Saturday to end the season. Though Carpenter coughed up his last 2 games the guy is money. I think it's clear that he just had a tired arm. His last start was a week ago, so he should be feeling pretty good.

Guest NYankees
Posted

Espn BBTN predicts that the Padres are going to win a 5 game series 4-2.

Guest Felonies!
Posted

RUMBLIN BUMBLIN STUMBLIN

 

Which Berman voice is worse: Serious Business, or when he talks for a long time without taking a breath and gets really growly and strained?

Posted

Man...if the Padres could just score some runs, LaRussa will micromanage his club right out of this game!

Posted

No, Hershiser IS bad. He once declared "the wind is blowing...straight....down"...as he saw the Yankees flag NOT flying in any direction. That's just idiotic.

Posted

I wasn't expecting the Cards to look this impressive. Hopefully this an indication of what they will do throughout the postseason.

 

Oh wait, we can't start Carpenter every game....damn.

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