Well that sucks. I was pulling pretty hard for the Mets. I thought Beltran was gonna pull it out up until strike 2. At least a hit to tie. F the Cardinals, who the hell likes them?
World Series: Tigers in 4. In fact, not only Tigers in 4, but the Tigers may repeat what the Red Sox did to the Cardinals in \'04 and never be behind for even one half inning in any game of the World Series.
F the Cardinals, who the hell likes them?
I may be wrong, but I believe Mark Peters is a Cardinal fan.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^ NOW That Is What I\'m Talking About !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I say congrarts to STL, after 2004, and how gracious they were more power to \'em.
F the Cardinals, who the hell likes them?
I may be wrong, but I believe Mark Peters is a Cardinal fan.
Todd and Paul, you guys are very slow today. You think that I don\'t know that Mark is a Cardinals fan after 5 years on this stupid message board?
Let\'s try this again: F the Cardinals...Who the hell likes them?
The Cardinals: The Fans\' Choice
By WILL LEITCH
Special to THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
October 22, 2004 11:09 a.m.
Larry Walker has played major league baseball since 1989, hit 378 home
runs and once even volunteered to play for the Canadian national team, which
is insane even though he is, in fact, Canadian. Considered one of
baseball\'s most respected stars, he turned down countless trade requests from
contenders wanting to get him out of Colorado, citing his no-trade
clause and love for Denver. Until this year, when the St. Louis Cardinals came
calling. Walker, a family man, extremely popular in Colorado, reconsidered immediately.
"My wife had a lot to do with it," he said. "I told her about it, and she
started crying before I even said yes." In his first at-bat, Walker received
a standing ovation. He struck out. He then received another one. "It was amazing," Walker said.
No city in baseball, perhaps all of sports, loves its team more than St.
Louis loves the Cardinals. Even more, no team in sports succeeds because
of its fans. Much has been written about the competitive economic disparity
in baseball, how small market teams like Kansas City can\'t compete against
major metropolitan areas. But look at the two cities\' estimated
populations as of July 1, 2003:
Kansas City: 442,768.
St. Louis: 332,223.
The Cardinals do not have their own cable station. They do not have
owners who made billions selling their dot-com. They are building a stadium
with their own money. They have the seventh-highest payroll in the game
despite having fewer people than Portland. Why? Because of their fans. Busch
Stadium has passed the three million mark in attendance six times in the last
seven years, the team\'s merchandise sells better than every team\'s but the Red
Sox, Yankees and Cubs and the team is regularly one of the top draws on
the road as well. Without such devotion, the Cardinals are the Royals. The
fans are devoted enough to offset the economic shortcomings.
Cardinal fans do more than just fill the coffers, though. St. Louis GM
Walt Jocketty has built the current team (the best in two generations) not by
the draft, or by free agency: He has built it mostly through trades -- and
it is one thing to trade for a player; it is another to convince him to stay,
often for under market value. Enter the fans. Mark McGwire, Scott Rolen
and Jim Edmonds came to the Cardinals right as they were approaching free
agency; all it took was one week in a Redbird uniform for them to sign
long-term deals. The second day in uniform, Edmonds was asked about the
Cardinals fans and said, "I want to kiss the ground every day for having
come here."
And the fans support their Cardinals no matter how they\'re playing. They
are not fickle; just loyal. How long do you think a tortured soul like Rick
Ankiel would have survived in New York or Boston? Five wild pitches in a
postseason game? A complete meltdown on the grandest scale? They would
have set him on fire -- at best. In St. Louis, he was never booed or blasted
on talk radio. Fans were actually worried about him. After a three-year
sojourn in the minor-league and rehab wilderness, Ankiel returned in September
of this season. Hard feelings? Of course not. He received a deafening
standing ovation in his first game back, an ovation that took so long the umpires
actually stopped the game.
In an age when fans constantly complain about out-of-touch players and
an excessively corporate atmosphere at the ballpark, no team is more
connected with its fans and no team\'s fans have more power than in St. Louis.
The Cardinals are the company in a company town.
And now they\'re in the World Series, and it occurs to me that this essay
has been far too logical and sober. This is a team that has gone through
heartbreak (the in-season death of Darryl Kile in 2002; the loss of
legendary broadcast Jack Buck just a week earlier) and has emerged
triumphant, while being underestimated by the rest of the world, who
were all agog over their Fuzzy Cubbie rivals to the north. The Cardinals are
everything that is right about America: modest, professional (watch
Rolen when he hits a home run; he just puts his head down and runs to
first, just punching in, doing his job) and based in the fundamentals of hard
work and rock-solid consistency. And not a single player on the team has hair
that looks like a Simpson\'s character.
And that\'s not to mention Albert Pujols. I mean, have you seen that guy?
So ... For Willie McGee. For Jose Oquendo. For Glenn Brummer. For
Darrell Porter. For Darryl Kile. For Jack Buck. Go Cardinals. That\'s a winner.
Go crazy, folks.
F the Cardinals, who the hell likes them?
I may be wrong, but I believe Mark Peters is a Cardinal fan.
Todd and Paul, you guys are very slow today. You think that I don\'t know that Mark is a Cardinals fan after 5 years on this stupid message board?
Let\'s try this again: F the Cardinals...Who the hell likes them?
yea, I know/knew he was, but I didn\'t feel like doing the searches to confirm it. I\'ll tell you one thing - mlb would have much rather had the mets in it. either new york team, or boston = $$$ revenue in comercials and viewership. Even last year with the white soxs breaking a curse, ratings and viewership was way, way down. These teams means alot less money than the mets would have. Nothing against the cardinals, they are a good team and now that they are not playing the red sox, it\'s ok if they win.
I would like to say that despite the Mets? domination of the National League East, their 97-win season, and the obvious upswing the franchise is on, I still consider this year to be a massive disappointment. My expectation was for the Mets to win the World Series and the fact that they didn?t hurts me a great deal. They didn?t hit in the clutch, their bullpen?especially their closer?failed them, and they don?t deserve to make it to the World Series, let alone win it. Game 7 was the most heartbreaking experience I?ve ever had as a sports fan.
Ticket to Toads - $12.50
Newcastle on tap - $5.00
Moxie Epoxy - $15.00
Watching the Cardinals win the World Series as The Brekfast takes the stage at The Freakout - PRICELESS!!!!!!
That\'\'s a winner!!!
wasn\'t sure where else to put this and didn\'t want to start a new thread. and hey
technically it\'s still 2006.
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Red Sox signed RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka to a six-year, $52 million contract.
The Matsuzaka addition would seem to give the Red Sox a rotation with as much upside as any in baseball. Still, time will tell whether Josh Beckett will bounce back and whether Jonathan Papelbon will hold up as a starter. Our guess is that Matsuzaka will post the best ERA on the staff, finishing in the 3.50-3.80 range. He should be a top-20 fantasy starter.
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yes, congratulations to the 2007 world series champion boston red sox. you fans certainly deserve it. break out the saki!
