And boy, what a difference a week spent mowing lawns and poking wives makes to the bats of a Major League ballclub. It appears as if the Tigers and Cardinals have truly saved the best for last, as the Cards suddenly found their offense in their Game 1 victory in Detroit tonight. And all this behind a stellar 8 innings from a pitcher who went 5-8 in the regular season and wasn't even on the roster after spring training.
And surprised they were in Detroit. I said earlier today that Detroit got to the World Series on momentum, and apparently a long layoff was not what the Tigers needed. I read one of those "kiss of death" stats today (you know, the ones like when the announcer says "so-and-so has not given up a home run to a left-handed batter in 97 innings, and you wince, because you know the next pitch the guy throws is going to be in the bleachers) saying that the last 6 or so teams coming into the World Series with more than five days of rest have gone on to win it. Detroit was supposed to be rested and ready, St. Louis was supposed to be bruised and weary from their battle with New York.
St. Louis's "weariness" gave them seven runs tonight, and Detroit's "rested" bats went cold and never threatened except for a run in the 1st inning and a gimme in the 9th.
I still stand by my prediction, but I have to let you in on a little secret: I'm kinda sorta rooting for the Cards.
I'm an American League man all the way. I grew up in an American League town. Seeing pitchers bat is foreign to me, and were double switches or pulling pitchers for a pinch hitter rather than tiring arms commonplace for my favorite team, I'd have to learn a lot more baseball strategy. Generally, I cheer for the American League team in the All Star Game and the Fall Classic.
But this year, it's a bit different.
First off, I really don't care much about either team. While the Tigers have a great history going back to before the turn of the last century, they've never been a team of mystique to me like the Yankees or the Red Sox. They've never really had players I liked, they've never been a perennial contender, and they've never captured my imagination. St. Louis is an NL team, which is one strike against it already. And though it too has a storied history, the team that was for many years the furthest West AND South in Major League Baseball has never captured my fancy either, though I do like seeing Busch Stadium all full of fans in red (hey, we stole their color, but dammit we stole the RIGHT color!)
With that said, in normal circumstances I'd fall back on the familiar and root for the Tigers to win. But I find my allegiance in this series has been swayed to the Cardinals now. And it's not for their red uniforms or a sudden appreciation of the National League. In fact, it has less to do with the uniform they wear than those wearing the uniform.
Though they have long left my Angels, I'm pulled toward hoping for a St. Louis victory because of David Eckstein, Scott Spezio, and especially Jim Edmonds, who wasn't around in 2002 with the other guys.
But definitely not for Jeff Weaver.
Screw Jeff Weaver.
Had he pitched even half as well as his younger sibling and man who replaced him in the Angels rotation, Jered Weaver, we may have been a lot less back in the AL West than 4 games. In fact, we may have won the division for a third straight season and seen how the Detroit momentum held out when it met us instead of Oakland Moneyball.
Yeah, yeah, if ifs and buts were candies and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas. And if 3-10 pitchers signed as free agents could pull their weight and pitch .500 ball, we may have had a different playoff picture.
Sorry, but I wish Jeff Weaver the best and I hope he gets a ring, I really do. But seeing him pitch (very well, at times) in the playoffs while we're still paying him the $11 million for this season and St. Louis is chipping in the league minimum (about $350k) is like a piece of beef jerkey stuck in a cracked tooth.
At least that's money we'll have free next year to bring in a bat or two.
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