Last night, I really didn’t want to post about that debacle that was game one of the World Series. I had a parent-teacher conference for our daughter that happened to run one hour late, and I felt like I had to see more of the game to get more worked up about it than I was. Oh, don’t you worry, I received some text messages when Napoli hit a double. A couple more when the whole first Kozma issue happened. AND, at least one when the ball dropped between Wainwright and Yadi. I never really got a sick feeling, never once did I flinch when Waino walked the first hitter and eventually gave up that homerun to Papi, and certainly didn’t shed a tear. Why not? Because I have an immense amount of faith, and this was totally and completely expected. You can ask the fool I share a wall with at school (yes, yes, a teaching partner of mine is indeed a Red Sox fan). I called that loss two days ago. Two gosh dern days ago.
Let me tell you my rationale. Anybody catch game 3 of the NLCS this year in LA? Yeah, that was awful. Maybe not as awful as last night, but awful just the same. That new day being a visitor in a city, that really throws the boys for a loop. It happens. You ever had a bad day? They had a bad day. You ever not been on your game? Yeah, they had that, also. Now, did they pick the wrong day to have a bad day? Sure, but since when do we get to pick and choose when we have bad days?
Another thing we need to keep in mind–anybody been paying attention to how young many of the Cardinals are? Yeah, you know it, and you know I’m right. These are very young players being thrown onto the biggest stage in baseball. The place they’ve dreamed about since they were 5 years old, or younger. They are actually in the World Series…they have every opportunity to fulfill all of those fun super hero dreams they had as children. I think it’s only safe to assume they were a little nervous.
Now, I’m not going to make any excuses for the seasoned veterans who apparently did not have their best game last night, but what we have to remember is that it was one game. One game. If you read my post the other day, I mentioned it going 5 games, so as the Cards can win in St. Louis.. I still like my idea.
I get so tired of the haters, so tired of the analysts, so tired of all the talk. I live in a city that doesn’t exactly love Cardinals’ baseball (if I get to hear the mention of ’85 one more time..). I see all the words the critics write, but I still try and live by a motto my dear old dad taught me: “Don’t get mad, get even.” The Cardinals can choose to get upset, they can choose to not play and let Boston have their way, but I don’t believe they will. The number of times these guys have faced and overcome adversity this year is phenomenal. Ever hear of a closer named Jason Motte? Yeah, he was unavailable this year. What about Chris Carpenter? Another guy who was unavailable. Throw in those names of Garcia and Furcal, and the implosion of Mitchell Boggs. They’ve overcome it before, I don’t know why this has to be any different.
I don’t know about you, but I still proudly wore my Cardinal gear today….and I may have thrown on my necklace that has the word “FAITH” on it. That first game, it’s over. Jitters are almost out of their systems, and Wacha gets the call tonight. It’s going to happen. I know it.
Go Cards!
Photo: upi.com
