World Champion Cardinals
In the Talent-Challenged National League Central, St. Louis is Back
The defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals are within 3 1/2 games of first place. This has happened for many reasons, but the Cards still are not a good team.
They are back again. No, not all the way back, but close enough to illustrate how diluted in talent teams have become. The defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals are within 3 1/2 games of first place. This has happened for many reasons.
The Cardinals are Contenders at Below .500
The first is that each league has three first place teams, so being in first doesn’t mean that the first place team has the best record in the league. The Mets are 67-52, the Diamondbacks are 68-53, and the Brewers are 62-58, records that do not illustrate a successful pursuit of excellence, but that are good enough for first place. The Cardinals, after a dismal start, are still a dismal team, but they have lifted themselves up by the bootstraps, are 57-60, and are a mere 3 1/2 games behind the Brewers.
St. Louis Trails NINE Teams
The Cardinals trail the Mets, Diamondbacks, Padres, Braves, Phillies, Rockies, Brewers, Dodgers, and Cubs. St. Louis is one of seven teams playing less than .500 baseball, they trail nine teams, but they are a real threat to win. The Cardinals do lead in one category. They have the best record of any team below .500.
The Team With Best Record Below .500 Makes the Playoffs
Perhaps in the near future, we can have three division winners, a wild card team, and the team with the best below .500 qualify for the playoffs. The division winner with the best record would play the best below .500 team in the first round as its reward. The powers that run the game should have no trouble solving the problem of a better than .500 team that doesn't qualify for the wild card being tempted to qualify by not always trying hard. After all, we’ve all seen David Ortiz, Wilson Betemit, and Hideki Matsui going to first base.
La Russa Uses His Bullpen a Lot
The Cardinals have a 4.71 team ERA. They allow the opposition 9.4 hits a game. Their ace is Adam Wainright, who is 10-9 with a 4.21 ERA and 160 hits allowed in 143 1/3 innings. Doesn't sound like an ace to me. Other starters include Kip Wells, he of the 5.24 ERA, Braden Looper, whose ERA is 5.08, Anthony Reyes, who is 2-11 with a 5.48 ERA, and the recently acquired Joel Pineiro, who is 2-1 with a fine 2.84 ERA, after having been 1-1 with a 5.03 ERA in Boston. With these starters, Tony LaRussa makes a lot of use of his bullpen.
A Weak Division in an Allegedly Weak League
The Cardinals average 4.49 runs a game. They have 103 home runs, a .273 batting average, a .338 on base average, and a 4.04 slugging average. Respectable, but not championship caliber with the lack of starting pitching. Albert Pujols is one of the greatest offensive threats in the game, but the drop off to Scott Rolen, Jim Edmunds, and Chris Duncan is tremendous. St. Louis is about a .500 team, and that is in a weak division in an allegedly weak league. It may all be irrelevant, as it was last season.
Everyone Will Qualify Her Predictions Based On Last Season
The 2006 World Champions won 83 and lost 78 (.516), but once the playoffs started, it didn't matter. The Cards beat the Padres in four games, the Mets in seven, and won the World Series in five games over the “vastly superior” American League’s Tigers, for an 11-5 (.688) October record. No one gave the Cards much of a chance in 2006, no one gave them any chance a few months ago, and no one will give them a good chance if they make the playoffs this season, but this season, everyone will qualify her October predictions by referring to what happened last year.
The Playoffs Are Nondiscriminatory
The playoffs are one of the most democratic institutions we have. They give everyone an equal chance to get into the playoffs. A team does not have to be among the elite to qualify, and a team doesn't have to win a "championship" to make it. This season, considering the National League Central Division, a team may lose more games than it wins and make the playoffs. It can't get more nondiscriminatory than that, can it?
