Cubs Series Comments

Well, that was quite a series. On the surface, I would say we played fairly well. The Cards pieced together some fairly good opportunities to win on Friday and Sunday and blew the Cubs out of the water on Saturday. Unfortunately, we are now 3 games back of Milwaukee for the Wild Card, but I still think they will fold at some point. The Cubs are going to be tough (if not impossible to catch). I still think the Cards have a great chance of making the playoffs, and I would not place any bets against us if we meet the Cubs in the NLCS. The first game was lost by Franklin who should never come within 20 feet of a baseball in a close game. If we have Wainwright/Perez plus other bullpen help down the stretch with September call-ups, that can probably be arranged. The third game was essentially lost by AK's big error. He has been sure-handed all season, so I am not too worried about that one.

Of course, the biggest concern at this point is Carpenter's tricep injury from last night. The word out of the clubhouse per the St. Louis Dispatch is that Carpenter was feeling fine after the game and is on his normal schedule this week (bullpen session Tuesday, start Friday). Hopefully this is the case. The Cardinal's medical staff has been prone to underestimate injuries, but we can be optimistic!

And how about the Cubs fans booing Carpenter as he left injured. Of course, Cardinals fans are the classiest fans in baseball. The only reason that there is any competition for the "best fans in baseball" between the Cubs and Cardinals is that Cardinals fans appreciate good baseball, even if it comes from another team, and so they are not exclusively supportive of their team. They don't necessarily boo too many opposing players (save Manny), and they even gave Edmonds a standing ovation, even though most Cardinals fans are pretty darn torn about that whole situation. Then you have the Cubs fans booing a injured player. Wow. Marty Brennaman (Hall of Fame Red's announcer) made a comment about the obnoxious Cubs fans, calling them the worst in baseball. I'm not sure I totally agree with that (from experiencing Miller Park this year, I would rate the Brewers as worst that I have seen, solely because they are obnoxious and many don't care about the game in the least bit). However, there was an interesting article in a Chicago paper (I'm struggling for the reporter's name) after the Brennaman incident that agreed, saying that Cubs fans had gone downhill since 2003. I'm certainly not saying that a majority of Cubs fans are bad sports and bad fans, but there are a sizable number. I will say this, I would definitely be cheering for a non-NL Central team to win the NL of the Cardinals don't. The "It's Gonna Happen" signs around Wrigley are WAY to premature in my opinion.....basically the mark of a fan base and team that doesn't know how to deal with success.

Anyway, the final result of the series (1 win, 2 losses) was not necessarily what the Cards were looking for, but there were definitely some positive moments in the series, and they were a few bad breaks away from sweeping the series.