Unlike the Cardinals I am not dead...

No, I did not go and jump off a building in September as the Cardinals proceeded to fold up like cheap lawn furniture.  Honestly running a fantasy football league, work, and just plain apathy towards September baseball caused me to take a self imposed break from the blog.  Just because the Redbirds will not be participating in the 2007 Postseason does not mean I can't enjoy it.  In fact I can probably enjoy the playoffs themselves more because I won't have so much invested.  That said before I jump into my 2007 pennant race/playoff thoughts let me tie up a few loose ends on the 2007 Redbirds.   

It was obvious that the Rick Ankiel HGH scandal was the straw that broke the camel's back.  The Cards through smoke and mirrors fought hard to pull themselves back into the NL Central race, but the Ankiel scandal (which was total B.S. by the way) coupled with Rolen's season ending injury, Duncan's injury, Mulder's ineffectiveness just put the team over the top.  Bottom line is they completely ran out of gas after fighting to get so very very close to the top of the division.  I am incredibly disappointed we won't get a shot to defend our crown in October, but its for the best.  Albert gets an extra month to get healthy and this team just plain wasn't very good.  Its time for a complete overhaul of the starting rotation (Wainwright excluded) and plug in some parts for the outfield.  I'm not sure what to expect in 2008, but I am cautiously optimistic.  Remember in 2004 after missing the 2003 playoffs the Birds re-tooled to win 105 games and the NL pennant. 

Now then the fun part, I'm gonna re-tool the blog for the post-season a new name and a new format.  Only for the playoffs though.  Thats a Winner returns in February 2008.  This will be all about the baseball post-season.  The best playoff system in sports.  Lets first look at the pennant races as we head down the final weekend.   The NL East looks to be Philadelphia's to lose.  It should be interesting to see if the Amazin's can get off the mat, but these look like 2 teams going in opposite directions.  They both play bottom feeders in the NL East.  I think Philly sweeps the Nats and wins the East without needing a play in game.  In the Central as much as it kills me, and as much as they are trying to give it away the Cubs are gonna win this thing.  The Cubs have given the Crew every opportunity the past two nights and their inability to get one of the last two has cost them the NL Central Title.  The West is what will really be fun to watch.   If the Rox sweep the D-Backs this weekend and win the West by winning their last 14 games in a row where would that rank on the list of all-time great comebacks?   It isn't even Arizona tanking...Its just a red hot Colorado team.  Matt Holliday is my pick for NL MVP if they pull this off.  Coors Field should be rocking this weekend like it hasn't rocked since the days of the Blake Street Bombers in the mid-90's  That will be fun to see.  As for San Diego they are lurking as well.  There are some really outrageous tiebreaker scenarios that could play out next week.  I'm the kind of person who cheers for mass hysteria so I'm really hoping for the four way tie.  Think about this for a second.  If the Mets, Phils, Rockies, and Padres all finish with identical records they would all have to go into essentially a double elimination tournament while the Cubs with anywhere from 4-6 less wins sit back and watch the carnage.  How exactly does that seem fair?    Anyway, check back next week for the new look blog and to all a Happy October.