Why I Don’t Care
Perhaps I’m beating a dead horse, but Ray and Rex both weighed in on this and, being
ornery, I thought I’d contribute my own opinion on the matter.
It’s easy for me to second guess Tony La Russa, but on some level I don’t
care if he includes Matt Morris and not Jason Marquis, or if Ray King makes the roster at all. I think the clearest problem is that
La Russa has taken his “iron man” mentality a little too seriously. A quick look at the Chris Carpenter’s last three starts would indicate
that not skipping a start might not have been the best idea. Combine that with the fact that Matt
Morris is looking like he should have missed a few starts since the All-Star
break and the rotation isn’t looking nearly as impenetrable as it did even a
month ago.
La Russa has been good at keeping his patchwork lineup motivated with the
mantra of “we play nine” but that has meant seeing Pujols almost everyday, the
starting five pitching with only two starts going to other pitchers all
season. And while I’d love to see
Pujols win his long-overdue MVP and Carp nail down the Cy Young that he
deserves, I want to see them lift the hardware in October more. What’s more, Pujols and Carpenter have
said the exact same thing. While I
applaud La Russa trying to back his players’ in their individual achievements,
he’s playing Russian Roulette with a couple players who’ve been banged up for
the majority of the second half (Pujols and Edmonds), his ace starter, and guys
like Eckstein and Nunez who seem to go on forever.
Am I the only one who remembers how out of gas the Cards looked in the
World Series last year? Tony seems
like a guy who learns from past mistakes, but this seems to be blundering ahead
without consideration. It’s a nice
notion to keep the regular guys plugging away and appealing to their journeyman
mentality at grinding forward, but this isn’t about the regular season—it’s
about one more month of extra, high-pressure baseball against the best teams in
the league.
So, as much as on some level it pains me to say it: I don’t care. I don’t care if Barry Bonds wins the MVP
again (and I suspect someone, somewhere is thinking it should happen) or if
Roger Clemens wins the Cy Young. I
don’t care if Marquis is bumped or if Morris is finally sat on the bench for the
postseason. I want the big
one. I want four wins against the
American League in the postseason and I want these last games to reflect that
the Cardinals are serious about making it happen, and right now I’m not seeing
it.
Sit Pujols for three or four games.
Better yet, take a road trip and leave him behind. He’s a gamer and being around the game
is going to drive him nuts if he’s not going to play so just let him kick back,
maybe play some golf, whatever—rest the heel, rest the hamstring, clear the
head. Same thing with Edmonds and Carpenter and
give Eckstein and Nunez a day or two off while you’re at it. Let’s face it, after watching the series
against the Brewers, it’s hard to believe that the team would have looked much
worse if those guys had been resting instead of starting.
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