HayesStreet
10-11-2005, 12:45 AM
Classic rivals reprise last year's classic series (http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/berniemiklasz/story/A6156C3D90C5103D862570960010DDD0?OpenDocument)
By Bernie Miklasz
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
10/09/2005
Sports Columnist Bernie Miklasz
[More columns]
Let's do it again.
It'll be the Houston Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Championship Series, just like last year, when the teams stretched the drama and thumping heartbeats of their fans through seven long, compelling games of stress-test baseball.
The Cardinals won in 7 for the right to be World Series patsies for the inevitable exorcism of "The Curse of the Bambino" in Boston.
Last fall the Cardinals and Astros played their special hardball in relative obscurity, as a baseball nation understandably fixated on the Yankees vs. Red Sox psychodrama.Advertisement
The Cardinals and Astros should have a better, more illuminated position on the stage this time, because there will be no repeat of Red Sox-Yankees on the AL side of the bracket.
The Cardinals and Astros are the best rivalry that no one talks about, or really knows about. That applies to St. Louis, where fans obsess over the Cubs. The Cardinals and the Cubs have a fun, fantastic rivalry. But it's become more of a social event, a baseball party, a civic-pride contest. The Cubs and Cardinals are mostly about bragging rights and beer.
The purists know that from a competitive-baseball standpoint, the Astros are the Cardinals' true rival. Since Tony La Russa became Cardinals manager in 1996, either the Cardinals or the Astros have won the NL Central in nine of the 10 seasons. The Cardinals have captured five division titles outright; the Astros have won three. The teams tied for first place in 2001. And the Cubs lucked out once, in 2003.
When the Astros and Cardinals hook up, it's baseball without the posturing. It's baseball without the tabloid-driven rancor. It's just baseball without the forced theatrics that are typical of the Boston vs. New York productions.
"As plain and simple as it can be, it's fun," Cardinals pitcher Cal Eldred once said of St. Louis vs. Houston. "It's mentally tough, but it's fun. With these two teams, I really think if you took all the fans away and put us in a back yard, like my kids play - like we used to play - I think you'd have baseball like this."
The 2004 NLCS was a classic.
Jimmy Edmonds' three-run double in the Cardinals' six-run sixth inning busted up a 4-4 tie and sent the home team onward for a 10-7 victory in Game 1.
In Game 2, Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen opened the eighth with consecutive homers to break a 4-4 tie and the Cardinals claimed a 2-0 series lead with a 6-4 win.
The series moved to Houston for the next three games. In Game 3, the Cardinals were stopped by Roger Clemens in a 5-2 loss.
In Game 4, the Cardinals couldn't make leads of 3-0, 4-1 and 5-3 stand up, and the Astros fought back for a 6-5 win. Cardinals reliever Julian Tavarez broke his left hand in an angry punch to a wall after giving up the winning homer to Carlos Beltran.
In Game 5, Woody Williams pitched seven innings of 1-hit, shutout ball, but Jeff Kent won it for the Astros in the ninth by popping Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen for a three-run homer. The 3-0 win gave the Astros a 3-2 lead as the series shifted back to St. Louis for a last stand by the Cardinals.
In Game 6, the Astros tied it in the ninth on a two-out RBI single by Jeff Bagwell, but the Cardinals prevailed 6-4 in 12 innings on Edmonds' dramatic two-run jack.
With the Cardinals trailing 2-0 in the second inning of Game 7, Edmonds saved two runs with a spectacular catch on a potential gap double hit by Brad Ausmus. With St. Louis down 2-1 in the sixth Roger Cedeno - of all people -got things started with a leadoff single. Pujols doubled in Cedeno, and Rolen followed with a two-run bomb off Clemens. The Cardinals and the town celebrated wildly after their 5-2 win.
How competitive was the 2004 NLCS? After six games, each team had scored 29 runs. Each team had an ERA of 4.80. And each team was batting .246.
The Cardinals and Astros have changed some since the last NLCS. Andy Pettitte has returned to join Clemens and Roy Oswalt to give the Astros a formidable rotation. But the Cardinals didn't have Chris Carpenter or Mark Mulder in last year's rotation, and so the arms race has intensified.
For Houston, Beltran and Kent are gone and Bagwell is in a limited role as he rehabs from shoulder surgery. For St. Louis, Edgar Renteria, Tony Womack, Mike Matheny and Woody Williams have moved on, and Rolen is out after undergoing shoulder surgery.
Each team has potential problems. The Astros have struggled to score runs, and the St. Louis bullpen was leaky in the first-round win over San Diego.
The Cardinals have baseball's best record. The Astros may have karma working for them after outlasting Atlanta in 18 innings Sunday in an epic game to clinch their first-round series. The Astros advanced to another showdown with the Cardinals. They'll do it again, and hopefully more people will be charmed by baseball's most overlooked rivalry.
By Bernie Miklasz
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
10/09/2005
Sports Columnist Bernie Miklasz
[More columns]
Let's do it again.
It'll be the Houston Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Championship Series, just like last year, when the teams stretched the drama and thumping heartbeats of their fans through seven long, compelling games of stress-test baseball.
The Cardinals won in 7 for the right to be World Series patsies for the inevitable exorcism of "The Curse of the Bambino" in Boston.
Last fall the Cardinals and Astros played their special hardball in relative obscurity, as a baseball nation understandably fixated on the Yankees vs. Red Sox psychodrama.Advertisement
The Cardinals and Astros should have a better, more illuminated position on the stage this time, because there will be no repeat of Red Sox-Yankees on the AL side of the bracket.
The Cardinals and Astros are the best rivalry that no one talks about, or really knows about. That applies to St. Louis, where fans obsess over the Cubs. The Cardinals and the Cubs have a fun, fantastic rivalry. But it's become more of a social event, a baseball party, a civic-pride contest. The Cubs and Cardinals are mostly about bragging rights and beer.
The purists know that from a competitive-baseball standpoint, the Astros are the Cardinals' true rival. Since Tony La Russa became Cardinals manager in 1996, either the Cardinals or the Astros have won the NL Central in nine of the 10 seasons. The Cardinals have captured five division titles outright; the Astros have won three. The teams tied for first place in 2001. And the Cubs lucked out once, in 2003.
When the Astros and Cardinals hook up, it's baseball without the posturing. It's baseball without the tabloid-driven rancor. It's just baseball without the forced theatrics that are typical of the Boston vs. New York productions.
"As plain and simple as it can be, it's fun," Cardinals pitcher Cal Eldred once said of St. Louis vs. Houston. "It's mentally tough, but it's fun. With these two teams, I really think if you took all the fans away and put us in a back yard, like my kids play - like we used to play - I think you'd have baseball like this."
The 2004 NLCS was a classic.
Jimmy Edmonds' three-run double in the Cardinals' six-run sixth inning busted up a 4-4 tie and sent the home team onward for a 10-7 victory in Game 1.
In Game 2, Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen opened the eighth with consecutive homers to break a 4-4 tie and the Cardinals claimed a 2-0 series lead with a 6-4 win.
The series moved to Houston for the next three games. In Game 3, the Cardinals were stopped by Roger Clemens in a 5-2 loss.
In Game 4, the Cardinals couldn't make leads of 3-0, 4-1 and 5-3 stand up, and the Astros fought back for a 6-5 win. Cardinals reliever Julian Tavarez broke his left hand in an angry punch to a wall after giving up the winning homer to Carlos Beltran.
In Game 5, Woody Williams pitched seven innings of 1-hit, shutout ball, but Jeff Kent won it for the Astros in the ninth by popping Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen for a three-run homer. The 3-0 win gave the Astros a 3-2 lead as the series shifted back to St. Louis for a last stand by the Cardinals.
In Game 6, the Astros tied it in the ninth on a two-out RBI single by Jeff Bagwell, but the Cardinals prevailed 6-4 in 12 innings on Edmonds' dramatic two-run jack.
With the Cardinals trailing 2-0 in the second inning of Game 7, Edmonds saved two runs with a spectacular catch on a potential gap double hit by Brad Ausmus. With St. Louis down 2-1 in the sixth Roger Cedeno - of all people -got things started with a leadoff single. Pujols doubled in Cedeno, and Rolen followed with a two-run bomb off Clemens. The Cardinals and the town celebrated wildly after their 5-2 win.
How competitive was the 2004 NLCS? After six games, each team had scored 29 runs. Each team had an ERA of 4.80. And each team was batting .246.
The Cardinals and Astros have changed some since the last NLCS. Andy Pettitte has returned to join Clemens and Roy Oswalt to give the Astros a formidable rotation. But the Cardinals didn't have Chris Carpenter or Mark Mulder in last year's rotation, and so the arms race has intensified.
For Houston, Beltran and Kent are gone and Bagwell is in a limited role as he rehabs from shoulder surgery. For St. Louis, Edgar Renteria, Tony Womack, Mike Matheny and Woody Williams have moved on, and Rolen is out after undergoing shoulder surgery.
Each team has potential problems. The Astros have struggled to score runs, and the St. Louis bullpen was leaky in the first-round win over San Diego.
The Cardinals have baseball's best record. The Astros may have karma working for them after outlasting Atlanta in 18 innings Sunday in an epic game to clinch their first-round series. The Astros advanced to another showdown with the Cardinals. They'll do it again, and hopefully more people will be charmed by baseball's most overlooked rivalry.