The biggest crowd ever at Dodger Stadium got the privilege of watching the Dodgers go down in flames at the hand of Jeff Suppan and Cards. Woo-hoo!

I have to admit I was a little concerned when LA opened up with a home run, but the fact that the bats answered quickly put me at ease. Pujols jacking a three-run homer in the 4th put me over the top. Quite an impressive victory, especially in light of last night’s performance at the hands of Jose Lima.

The coolest thing about the game? The Dodgers graciousness and sportmanship after the Cards victory. It’s so frequent to see the losing team just sulk in the dugout while the winners celebrate on the field. The Dodgers let them celebrate for a few minutes, and then walked out and shook hands and slapped backs with the Cards. What a class team.

Anyway, tomorrow night, we find out who we play come Wednesday in the NLCS. And Tuesday, the Yanks and BoSox start their series — I’ll be watching that one, too!!!

The Dodgers were absolutely unstoppable tonight — or, more appropriately, Jose Lima is a machine! 🙂

Lima put on one of the best pitched games I’ve seen in quite a while, and I’m not at all surprised that LA came out of the gates with something to prove to thier home crowd. It had been almost sixteen years since their last playoff victory, and on the brink of elimination this year, I expect they had a great deal to prove to their fans and themselves.

Sunday brings Perez to the mound for LA, whom we knocked out after about two innings in game one. Of course, he could be fired up, and make for a very long day at the ballpark for the Cards. Then again, the Cards could have some confidence against him, and hit the ball well.

We shall see, eh?

As for their opponent, it sure looks like Houston is gonna be the other half of this equation in the NL. I don’t like that thought, and I am really rooting for the Braves to come from behind and win their series. I just don’t like our chances against the Astros!

And, the Yankees and BoSox will be meeting come Tuesday. That will be the series to watch — those guys just hate each other! 😉

Boston swept Anaheim tonight, and makes the possibility of a New York-Boston championship series that much more likely, especially given how the Yanks tore up the Twins tonight.

The Cards are on the move toward a sweep, too. A victory at Chavez Ravine tomorrow will earn them that, and a few days off. I think they’d do better without the time off, but Hoston and Atlanta have to figure out their series. I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see Houston and St. Louis in the NLCS — Houston just looks so strong. However, Rafael Furcal is my favorite Brave right now! 🙂

So, Cards-BoSox? Cards-Yanks? Even an outside chance at Cards-Twins….? I dunno, but I like the first part of those matchups.

The Cards killed the Dodgers this afternoon, 8-3, and made quite a bit of noise in the process — five home runs! Finally, the Cards that we saw in July and August returned to the field, and just tore apart Los Angeles.

Our next game is Thursday night, and I have high expectations from that one, too. Then, it’s off to the west coast, where hopefully, we’ll close the deal. If not, though, I like our chances at home in game five.

Our next stop would be either Houston or Atlanta, and given the way Houston played us in the last couple of weeks of the season, I’d rather face Atlanta!

So, whom after that? Some folks here want a rematch with Minnesota, although I think a series with the Yankees would be nostalgic. Anaheim I have no feel for one way or another, but it would be cool to extend the span of the Curse of the Bambino upon the BoSox!

Today, the Cardinals won the final game of the season, defeating the Milwaukee Brewers, and finishing the season with 105 wins.

This has been a magical season, and I’ve seen more games — both on tv and in person — this year than I have in a long time. It’s been fun to watch the Cards pull an incredible season out of a mediocre start. Put it this way: After starting 22-22, they came down the rest of the season 83-35. And, if you take the last week or two of the season out the mix, the winning percentage is even better.

So now, the attention turns to the playoffs. On the Tuesday afternoon, we will take on the Dodgers. I like our chances, and am thrilled that we are not facing the Giants again, as we did in 2002. That didn’t turn out so well! 🙂

Tonight, it was announced that the very troubled Montreal Expos would move to Washington DC beginning next season in RFK Stadium. I expect this will be well-received, as Washington has wanted a team for a long time, and after 33 years, it’s gonna happen.

When I was collecting baseball cards back around 1974, there was talk of moving the Padres from San Diego to Washington… so much so that Topps even issued the Padres cards as both the Padres and Washington “Nat’l League”. I’m sure there have been other close calls over the last three decades, too.

I’m sure there are folks that say that having the Orioles in the neighborhood will make for some good rivalries with the new Washington team. That may be true, although I don’t sense that same to be true for the Dodgers and Angels, Devil Rays and Marlins, Astros and Rangers or Giants and A’s. Seems like the cross-town rivalries are just stronger.

Myself, I would’ve preferred seeing them move to San Juan. Given the impact of Caribbean players on the sport, it seems fitting for them to have a team to root for. Of course, road trips to/from the west coast would be horrible!

So, what to call the new team? That, I’m sure, will be an interesting question. The Rangers still own the rights to the “Washington Senators” name, so that’s probably out. The Washington Filibusters? 🙂

Man, the Cards are starting to rack up some pretty amazing numbers. Today, they crossed 100 wins (with 10 games to go) by beating Milwaukee again. And, they’ve clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

This has been an unbelievable season.

Now, the question is who will they play? Looks like Atlanta could clinch the east in a couple of days, with the only race left in the NL west, which leaves the wild card up in the air. Obviously, there’d be some fun to playing the Cubs — St. Louis has owned them this year — but it could be the Dodgers, Padres, Giants or even the Astros. Just depends on who comes through in these last two weeks.

The folks at work are offering NLDS and NLCS tickets already, but I’m holding out for the World Series. I’ve never been to one, and it would be tremendous fun to finally go. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid. This just might be the year that the Cards give me that opportunity!

Tonight, the Cards clinched the National League Central Division crown, thanks to the Marlins defeating the hapless Cubbies in half their doubleheader today.

Technically, we had it clinched last night. It was possible if we lost ’em all, and the Cubs won ’em all, that we would end up in a tie for the Division, with the tiebreaker of head-to-head matchups putting the crown in St. Louis rather than Chicago. LaRussa last night, though, just about bit the head off a reporter when he mentioned this. Tony was mad, mad, mad. He wanted to win it outright, not let a tiebreaker settle it.

So I’m glad we clinched today — there’s 14 games to go in the season, and it can all be a warm up for the playoffs. And, truthfully, the Cards need it! The last couple of weeks have been tough to bear, with more losses than wins and more runners left on base than Carter has little pills. Now, with 97 wins and the crown in hand, hopefully everyone can relax, have fun, and play the game.

Let the champaign flow — on to the playoffs!

I started the longest season in sports tonight — bowling!

This is the ninth season I’ve bowled with this team, and they are a fun crowd. Lively conversation — politics and music mostly — flowing like the beer we drink, along with a reasonably decent shot on any given night of having an outstanding night all makes for a enjoyable time.

And, of course, the annual bowling team trips are legendary! 🙂

$1.769

Tonight, the Cards captured their 70th win. 70?! Hard to believe when you consider that they started out in the neighborhood of 22-22, and were nothing remarkable until June. More and more, they look poised for the post-season. Perhaps a Cards-Yanks World Series?

Today, they took a larger step in that direction by grabbing Larry Walker from Colorado. Now, that’s impressive! We already have one of the most fearsome offensive lineups; adding Walker only enhances that. I expect he’ll start showing up in the lineup this weekend against the Mets.

The last time I can remember this town being so excited about sports was when the Rams won the Super Bowl in 2000. There’s something about being in a town with a big winner that’s really exhilarating!