Athletes are preternaturally competitive beings.
During the heat of competition, the passion that courses through combatants can sometimes take a turn into uglier territory.
World Series Game 5 Preview and Prediction: Texas Rangers v St. Louis Cardinals Series Hinges on Left Arm of C.J. Wilson
October 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Every 9 inning baseball game is a weird, fickle, mysterious entity all its own during which anything is possible. Over large sample sizes, certain aspects of baseball can be predictable and follow expected trends, but in the small sample size of 9 innings, especially when those innings come during playoff time, we often see things we don’t expect.
Did you expect to see Albert Pujols jack three home runs in a single game? He did.
Did you expect the signature pitching performance of the 2011 playoffs to come from the mustachioed Derek Holland? It did.
Did you expect a team to win by driving in the tying and winning runs on consecutive sacrifice flies? It happened.
So I present this World Series Game 5 preview to you with absolutely no certainty that anything I say (except for one thing at the end) will come true or even seem reasonable once the 54th out of the night is recorded.
World Series Preview: St. Louis Cardinals v Texas Rangers Position-by-Position Analysis, Prediction, and Poll
October 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
It pains me not to be writing about the Milwaukee Brewers in this space, but I think I’ll recover faster from a 12-6 loss than I would had the Brewers lost on a Cardinals walk-off.
If I were to write a World Series preview from a Cardinals perspective, it would be full of bias and spite, so I’ll instead focus my efforts on my new (temporary) favorite team, the Texas Rangers, as I preview the 2011 World Series, which starts tomorrow night (TV schedule and pitching probables here).
Chris “When He’s Healthy, He’s Virtually Unhittable” Carpenter: NL Cy Young Favorite?
August 24, 2009 By 3 Comments
A week ago Monday night, as Chris Carpenter labored through his first two innings at Dodger Stadium, the ESPN commentators claimed “something wasn’t right.” Apparently they were wrong, as Carpenter dominated the NL’s best team the rest of the way en route to eight innings of two run ball and another win.
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My father, who attended the game and has watched baseball for nearly 60 years, emailed me the following morning:
“This guy is a classic pitcher –Â gets stronger as game goes on, which is rare these days.”
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Carpenter was strong again all Saturday night on San Diego — seven shutout innings on just three hits — prompting this Sunday afternoon email from a good friend who works in the Padres scouting department:
“When he’s healthy, he’s virtually unhittable. Completely shut us down on Saturday.”
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Carpenter’s continued success has enabled Tony Larussa to confidently “bump him up” to start this Thursday afternoon vs. Houston due to injuries in St. Louis’ back end of the rotation. There, ”Carp” will seek his seventh consecutive win. He has not lost a decision since July 22, and despite missing over a month, is now tied for the NL lead in wins at 14.Â
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Chris has the league’s lowest ERA as well, putting him, in my view, in the driver’s seat for Cy Young — though many believe Tim Lincecum is right there as well. Lincecum has struggled his last four starts and, even with four extra starts, has two fewer wins and a higher ERA than does the durable St. Louis righty. It’s therefore Carpenter’s to lose, though the media has been favoring Lincecum all season to this point.
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Not bad for a 34 year old who basically missed the past two seasons entirely after a World Series winning season (2006) and Cy Young prior (2005).
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I shall endeavor to personally watch the potential two-time Cy Young winner Labor Day weekend in Pittsburgh.
Who should win the NL Cy Young?
- Chris Carpenter (0%, 0 Votes)
- Tim Lincecum (0%, 0 Votes)
- Kevin Gregg (0%, 0 Votes)
- I thought about answering Kevin Gregg and then realized I'm an idiot. (100%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 0
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* – Chris Carpenter fist pump photo credit: Mike Shannon’s Cardinals Blog
* – Chris Carpenter cap wave photo credit: Arches and Ivey
