Carter

Thanks Toots.

WTF??? Rivera being honored at Fenway? And they are cheering???!!!!

Now you're talking!

Who said it was vaseline? Not me. It may have been smegma. But as I said, whatever it was, he was hiding it. Agreed?

I have to agree there. On Kosma: Matheny does not know his ass from a hole in the ground. For a while he likes Kosma, then he likes Descalso. If Freese boots one, Descalso plays 3rd the next game. But since they are all mediocre talents at this point, I guess it don't matter WHO starts.

I would appreciate it if you would not bad mouth Bucarver! They may suck, but they bleed Cardinal red. Who do you want to announce the game? Johnny Most!??

What has "level of success" have to do with Matheny and Mozielac? The farm system was in place long before they were.

Are you serious? The Sox don't givadam about that s***. Fans maybe, but not ball players.

Since I play the violin, I can assure you that it was not ROSIN. If that's all it was, why was Lester concealing it so slyly? I personally don't give a s*** what Matheny and the org. had to say about it. I don't have any faith in those morons anyhow!

I don't know what the f*** that green s*** was in his glove, but it was not rosin. (a powder) Whatever it was, I want Wacha to have some too!

Did you see the video?

Like who?

Good point...Matheny is still trying to figure out WHO will DH with Beltran sitting. The best hitter on the Card bench now is Wainwright!

VA....you know that there are visitors here so please have the decency to include the Cards lineup too!

I must eat my words on the Cards having a solid defense. I thought we did, but playing in that funky band box vs. a cro-magnum team with zany umpires was a bit too much for us. The only thing that softens the blow is that even w/o the errors we would have lost anyway. If we lose tonite, with our true ace on the mound, I will have to reluctantly tip my cap and say you're our daddy!

I see. Not to start an argument, but for the entire season the Cards were on top until Aug. when Molina went down and Sept Craig went down. Yet with the 2 best RISP hitters sidelined they caught and passed LA and Atlanta for the best record. I'm going to make a BOLD prediction: the Cards will hit more HR's in the series, even tho' they suck at HR's!

Everything you read and heard about Matheny is true. The guy flat out sucks in-game. I'm surprised you said the Cards offense was lacking.

Those metrics are very misleading, to say the least. No team THAT bad could win a pennant! It's true that Jon Jay is average at best, and Holliday is liable to puke up a game at any given moment on tough plays, but Beltran is smooth grace out there, and catches everything he should. And a decent arm. It's true, I guess about the range factor, but the Card infield makes their share of great plays. Kosma, Freese and Carp can shock you at times. I've been thinking about that short LF and Holliday. It occurs to me that a smaller field to tend is beneficial for ANY s***** fielder. The less ground to cover, the better. But on the other hand, how will he play balls off the wall??

I get that about the wins. As I said, that big curve is the key. In most games it takes him a couple of innings to get it going. You have to get to him in the 1st or 2nd. He's very tough after that. His BB to K ratio is sick. Lance Lyne takes a while to settle in as well. But he's liable to give up 3 or 4 runs before he does.

True and true. But Waino has his down times. If his big curve is not breaking, he is mashed! That happened this season for 5 strait starts at one point. He won 13 before the ASB and 6 after! As you said, Wacha is dominant. Almost unhittable, really. Will this enormous stage unsettle him?

You got that a little backwards Juice. The Cards were the worst extra inning team in the NL because Matheny BURNS up the pen in regulation! Get to extra innings and you got 'em by the balls.

Cards fan here. Reading this topic really brought home how little I know about the Sox. And how little you know about the Cardinals. But analyzing stats and making optimistic predictions is fun. You all have a pretty good overview on the Cards as a team, generally. But allow me to give you a heads up on them specifically. Most dangerous hitter in the clutch is NOT Allen Craig. It's Molina. If he had batted 3rd or 4th, (instead of 5th) and was not a catcher to limit his playing time, he would easily have led the league in RBI. Wainwright is not the ace. Wacha is. Rosenthal is not the hardest reliever to hit. Martinez is. Rosie is always around the zone, whereas Martinez is a tad wild. He will bounce one a foot outside and then paint the black at 100mph. It's hard for the hitter to get comfortable. Matt Holliday, batting 3rd, is actually the 5th best hitter on the team. Despite his decent looking numbers, he is by far the EASIEST Cardinal to strike out or GIDP. (led the NL) He is NOT a money player. Big Matt Adams: Reminiscent of Boog Powell, this kid is a masher. However, the NL employed an odd shift to deal with him. The 2nd baseman would drop back to short RF, and Matt did hit hard line drives to him for easy outs. Matt made adjustments with some success, but his HR's were greatly reduced. Matt Carpenter is a doubles machine (55) and will be a problem for the Sox. David Freese can still come up with a clutch hit, but is not the same player you remember from the 2011 WS. Jon Jay in CF is probably in the running for the worst in baseball, and he hits like s*** too. Bench player, Shane Robinson is better, but Matheny does not seem to think so. However, the St. Louis fans and media have been making a lot of noise lately, and Matheny may have to crack and put him in. Robinson is a burner. Very hard to stop on the bases unless stifled by Matheny and his station to station approach. The man to watch is Carlos Beltran. As you know, very dangerous in the playoffs, but it's unknown how he does in the WS. The manager Matheny: A baby clone of the incredibly over rated LaRussa. He likes to award outs after leadoff dbls with bunts... Dbl. switches EVERY single time he can.... A terrible bullpen manager. Will yank a lights out pitcher at the drop of a hat for the L/R ********. Boston's best shot at winning will be on Kelly and Lyne who are 5 to 6 inning pitchers. Get to the pen early, and watch Matheny get into a switching frenzy! Bench: Its extremely weak. The only decent hitter is Matt Adams, who is STARTING. You won't see much of this bench except in mop up situations. Of course you know that Cards fans are fairly slobbering at the chance for 2004 payback. But there isn't a single Card on this team from that season. I don't think it's an issue at all for the players. They just want to keep winning. But they DO have a sensational "Phoenix crushing" story line: Pirates....rise from the 20 year ashes, crushed. The Dodgers....mired in last place before the ASB and roared to 1st place...crushed! The Boston Red Sox....from the ashes of last place to Pennant winners. Crushed?? LOL, we shall see. My prediction: If the Cards win game 1, they win it in 6. If Boston wins game 1, the series will go to 7 and who knows who wins it!? OK, thanks for reading my rambling.