Yes, I realize the Astros are now a mere 1/2 game behind the struggling St. Louis Cardinals, having won...what, 9 of their last 10? While the Cards have gone 2 and 8 (or something, I'm not bothering to look it up) over the same period, allowing Houston to overcome a seemingly insurmountable 7.5 deficit in the NL Central with 12 games remaining. Now, going into the last weekend of the season, Houston has a very real chance to take the division outright and make the playoffs.
I'm not here to stand up for the woebegone Cards, or to say the Astros are still going to choke, or even to offer myself up to your Muntzian chortles (though I realize that's a possible repercussion). No, I'm here to tell you I don't care.
The Cardinals, in case you missed the bulletin, stink. They've lost their closer, Jason Isringhausen (who, with 10 blown saves on the season, wasn't great shakes to begin with), for the season, the only pitcher worth a damn in their starting rotation is Chris Carpenter, and he's lost his last two starts, and even with the return of Jim "Sun-In" Edmonds, the only player who strikes any terror in opposing teams is Albert Pujols, and he's easy enough to pitch around.
In short, I hope St. Louis doesn't make the playoffs. Even if they limp their way into the post-season, they have no chance winning the NLDS, much less the pennant, at their current strength. I would rather, quite frankly, watch some other team get their ass handed to them by the Tigers or the Twins in the World Series than see the Cardinals get mangled any further.
No offense to Styx, but just let it end already.
Please, Cards, lose quickly and spare us any more embarassment.
Mets and Tigers would be cool, but I’m uncertain whether the Amazins still have enough left in the tank themselves. Could be anybody’s year.
Anybody’s but the Yankees’. Please.
Everybody’s pitching — rotations and bullpens — are all broken. And I’ve never seen a National League so bereft of hitters. Who’s left after Pujols, Berkman, Beltran and Ryan Howard?