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BCStone57 · 07-23-2003, 05:11 PM

Heading into the last week of the season the Cardinals are holding onto a 3 game lead over the Dodgers. In the past 10 games the Dodgers are 7-3 while the Cards have gone 6-4 and continue to play consistent baseball, Barring a total collapse the Cards should be able to hang on to win there 3rd straight N.L. title. But stranger things have happened such as the Cubs of "48" going undefeated the last week of the season, Only to tie the Cards on the last day of the season forcing a 1 game playoff that the Cards took.

All is not well in St. Louis, The pitching is a major concern ever since SP Murray Dickson went out with a season ending injury. Dickson was having a stellar year (18-5 3.17 ERA) leading the league in wins, Until his injury. He was the leading force of the team when staff ace Howie Pollet went down with a 5 week injury. SP Harry Brecheen has been a big disappointment this year going 11-17 with a 4.21 ERA, Certainly not the pitcher of past season's having won 63 games over the past 3 seasons, Prior to the "49" season.

Not all the news is bad, The team has had many great contribution's from a variety of player's, Leading the team this year has been Cardinal great Stan Musial, Posting numbers of .336 BA 24 HR's 123 RBI's and looks to be the N.L. MVP. Other key contributor's have been 3B Whitey Kurowski who has had a power surge this year, Which was a welcome sight with the departure of Hank Greenberg last year. Kurowski has batted .315 with 21 HR's and 112 RBI's. The RF platooning of Enos Slaughter and Pat Seerey have also produced some impressive numbers, Between the two they have combined to hit .293 27 HR's with 122 RBI's. And we must not forget the effort of last years acquisition from the Yankees, Al Gionfriddo who has been huge in the 2 slot this year, Gionfriddo has batted .342 with an OBP of .428 along with a SLG % of .481 while striking out only 8 times in 368 AB's.

To add to this, Youngsters Gil Hodges and C Les Moss have been playing the way the Cards had envisioned at the beginning of the year, Just in time for the final run of the season. This month Hodges is hitting .313 with a SLG % of .563 and has hit 5 HR's in his last 85 AB's hitting only 2 the previous 4 month's, It looks as if Hodges is coming into his own. Since being called up, Moss has hit .333 with an OBP of .467 in limited playing time, Clyde Klutz (.265 9 HR's 50 RBI's) will continue to be the starting catcher, But Moss is a major upgrade over backup catcher Dave Wilbur ( .211 .298 SLG %).

To sum it all up, The Cardinals offense can play with anybody in the league, While not dependent on the HR to produce there runs, The Cards rely getting on base, Hitting line drives, High team batting average, And pitching. With starting pitchers Howie Pollet ( 20-7 2.70 ERA ), Fred Martin ( 17-9 3.30 ERA ) and the addition of Al Brazle ( 9-1 1.48 ERA ) to the starting rotation, The Cards are in good shape going into the last week of the season, The big concern is the bullpen, Which is less than stellar and considered to be the weak link of the team.

After tonight, It will be decided which teams will be matched up against each other in the World Series, There is a great race between the Yankees and Bosox, The Yanks are stumbling abit going into the last week, Losing 4 straight, While the Bosox are gaining steam, Winning 2 in a row, Closing the gap to 2 games with 6 to go. The Yanks face Philadelphia and are 13-8 vs the A's this year, Then face the White Sox the final 3 games of the season. The Yankees are 12-7 vs the White Sox. The Bosox go up against the Indians and are 10-9 vs the tribe, And then finish the season vs the hapless Senators, The Sox taking 14 out of 20 meeting's between the two this year.

The National League could be interesting with the Cardinals going up against the Phillies, The Cards have not fared well vs the Phillies this year, Going a dismal 5-14 against a good young Philadelphia team. The Cards finish out the season vs the floundering Reds, Whom the team has owned this year, Going 15-4 vs the Reds. The Dodgers start out the final 6 games, Against the surprise team of the year, The Braves. Brooklyn has gone 10-8 against them this year. The final 3 games of the year for "Da Bums" are against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Whom the Dodgers went 13-6 this year. So it should make for a good finish, And my reaching for the Pepto Bismol in the medicine cabinet just before the first pitch is thrown to start the final 6 games of the year. My only calming thought is if my team goes 3-3, Then the Dodgers must sweep the rest of there games, Going 6-0 to tie my beloved Cards. But I havent forgotten the "48" miracle finish by the Cubs either..........."Honey" Will you get me the Pepto.......I'm not feeling so well !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

07-23-2003, 05:11 PM	#72
BCStone57 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 129	Heading into the last week of the season the Cardinals are holding onto a 3 game lead over the Dodgers. In the past 10 games the Dodgers are 7-3 while the Cards have gone 6-4 and continue to play consistent baseball, Barring a total collapse the Cards should be able to hang on to win there 3rd straight N.L. title. But stranger things have happened such as the Cubs of "48" going undefeated the last week of the season, Only to tie the Cards on the last day of the season forcing a 1 game playoff that the Cards took. All is not well in St. Louis, The pitching is a major concern ever since SP Murray Dickson went out with a season ending injury. Dickson was having a stellar year (18-5 3.17 ERA) leading the league in wins, Until his injury. He was the leading force of the team when staff ace Howie Pollet went down with a 5 week injury. SP Harry Brecheen has been a big disappointment this year going 11-17 with a 4.21 ERA, Certainly not the pitcher of past season's having won 63 games over the past 3 seasons, Prior to the "49" season. Not all the news is bad, The team has had many great contribution's from a variety of player's, Leading the team this year has been Cardinal great Stan Musial, Posting numbers of .336 BA 24 HR's 123 RBI's and looks to be the N.L. MVP. Other key contributor's have been 3B Whitey Kurowski who has had a power surge this year, Which was a welcome sight with the departure of Hank Greenberg last year. Kurowski has batted .315 with 21 HR's and 112 RBI's. The RF platooning of Enos Slaughter and Pat Seerey have also produced some impressive numbers, Between the two they have combined to hit .293 27 HR's with 122 RBI's. And we must not forget the effort of last years acquisition from the Yankees, Al Gionfriddo who has been huge in the 2 slot this year, Gionfriddo has batted .342 with an OBP of .428 along with a SLG % of .481 while striking out only 8 times in 368 AB's. To add to this, Youngsters Gil Hodges and C Les Moss have been playing the way the Cards had envisioned at the beginning of the year, Just in time for the final run of the season. This month Hodges is hitting .313 with a SLG % of .563 and has hit 5 HR's in his last 85 AB's hitting only 2 the previous 4 month's, It looks as if Hodges is coming into his own. Since being called up, Moss has hit .333 with an OBP of .467 in limited playing time, Clyde Klutz (.265 9 HR's 50 RBI's) will continue to be the starting catcher, But Moss is a major upgrade over backup catcher Dave Wilbur ( .211 .298 SLG %). To sum it all up, The Cardinals offense can play with anybody in the league, While not dependent on the HR to produce there runs, The Cards rely getting on base, Hitting line drives, High team batting average, And pitching. With starting pitchers Howie Pollet ( 20-7 2.70 ERA ), Fred Martin ( 17-9 3.30 ERA ) and the addition of Al Brazle ( 9-1 1.48 ERA ) to the starting rotation, The Cards are in good shape going into the last week of the season, The big concern is the bullpen, Which is less than stellar and considered to be the weak link of the team. After tonight, It will be decided which teams will be matched up against each other in the World Series, There is a great race between the Yankees and Bosox, The Yanks are stumbling abit going into the last week, Losing 4 straight, While the Bosox are gaining steam, Winning 2 in a row, Closing the gap to 2 games with 6 to go. The Yanks face Philadelphia and are 13-8 vs the A's this year, Then face the White Sox the final 3 games of the season. The Yankees are 12-7 vs the White Sox. The Bosox go up against the Indians and are 10-9 vs the tribe, And then finish the season vs the hapless Senators, The Sox taking 14 out of 20 meeting's between the two this year. The National League could be interesting with the Cardinals going up against the Phillies, The Cards have not fared well vs the Phillies this year, Going a dismal 5-14 against a good young Philadelphia team. The Cards finish out the season vs the floundering Reds, Whom the team has owned this year, Going 15-4 vs the Reds. The Dodgers start out the final 6 games, Against the surprise team of the year, The Braves. Brooklyn has gone 10-8 against them this year. The final 3 games of the year for "Da Bums" are against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Whom the Dodgers went 13-6 this year. So it should make for a good finish, And my reaching for the Pepto Bismol in the medicine cabinet just before the first pitch is thrown to start the final 6 games of the year. My only calming thought is if my team goes 3-3, Then the Dodgers must sweep the rest of there games, Going 6-0 to tie my beloved Cards. But I havent forgotten the "48" miracle finish by the Cubs either..........."Honey" Will you get me the Pepto.......I'm not feeling so well !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Last edited by BCStone57; 07-23-2003 at 06:55 PM.