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Herzog and Taylor were right
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By Jeff Mayfield
[OCT. 26, 2004]
And
I was wrong! Whitey Herzog proudly proclaimed in the 1982 World
Series, "Just get me back to St. Louis, and even if we are down
three games to two, we will find a way to win it." He was right. A
less-than-spectacular rookie pitcher by the name of John Stupor
picked up a 13-1 victory in Game 6 of that series, handing the ball
to "One tough Dominican" Joaquin Andujar for Game 7. Joaquin pitched
the game of his life and the Cards captured the world title.
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I fished
for Whitey's quotes this year as the Cards returned from their NL
series in Houston down 3-2 in games, with potentially one or two
more in St. Louis. Pete Munro would toil for the Astros in Game 6
and the Cards would send Matt Morris to the hill. Though that is
probably not what I would have done, it worked. Mainly because Jim
Edmonds hit the biggest home run of his life in the bottom of the
12th inning to give the Cards a harrowing victory. In fact, I
remarked to several that, had Edmonds not struck when he did, the
Cards likely would have gone down on that fateful night.
That set the stage for St. Louis to
face Roger Clemens, the guy Houston signed expressly for the purpose
of pitching a Game 7 in the NLCS to send the 'Stros to their first
World Series ever! To say that I was then less than pleased about
the whole scenario would be a mild understatement. And then after
watching the comfort zone I saw Roger in the first few innings of
that game, it made me think that I might not have to worry about
watching any World Series games this year.
BUT, I didn't know that Cardinal
skipper Tony LaRussa had been reading the all-time best seller "The
White Rat." I didn't know that Tony has secretly been meeting The
Rat out on the bass boat. What else can explain the way the Cards
scored their first run after spotting Houston to a precarious
two-run lead? Womak on third, one out and what does Suppan do? He
squares and executes the prettiest little suicide squeeze bunt that
you have ever seen. Whitey probably fell out of his boat or least
needed smelling salts to finish viewing the game.
That play gave the team hope, and
when pride and stubbornness refused to pitch around Pujols, the
Cards did something that few outside of Cardinal Nation knew much
about… the cobralike speed in which the Redbirds can strike. Would
you believe two pitches? That's right. Pujols doubled home the tying
run when Clemens refused to pitch around him, and Rolen deposited
the next pitch on the shelf right next to where Mark McGwire's 62nd
homer landed. For all intents and purposes you could have hoisted
the pennant right then. For one of the first times all year, I had a
good feeling about our chances.
[to top of second column in
this article]
 |
 Cards crash back down to earth
Of course now my biggest fears have
been realized. I told anyone who would listen that the Cards may be
out of gas for the Series and that I certainly have huge concerns
about the St. Louis pitching staff. Do you believe me now? In
addition, coming back from the huge deficit in the first game and
then letting it slip away does not bode well for any team, much less
the Cardinals.
Hey, but let's throw caution to the
wind. The Cards are 6-0 at home in the postseason. And they have won
their last three in a row World Series games at home, so in the word
of Joaquin Andujar himself, "Youneverknow!"
Congratulations to the LCHS football
team for another outstanding season in just missing the playoffs,
but STILL making very positive strides!
Congratulations to the LCHS soccer
team for winning the boys' regional title at Williamsville 3-2 over
Springfield Lutheran.
ISU had another cardiac game as the
gridders upended Youngstown State 30-24. According to ISU's SID, the
Redbirds will need to win out in order to make the playoffs.
No other volleyball, soccer or
football reports were available.
Team of the week: the Harvest of
Talents task force under the direction of Carolyn Neal and Pat
Snyder and crew who brought in an amazing $73,566.21. The 21-year
total has now busted the $1 million mark and has risen to an
incredible $1,021,151.57 to feed hungry children and adults around
the world. The LDN salutes you all!
That's it for me… Have a great week,
everybody!
[Jeff Mayfield] |
