The Blog Page

News, commentary and humor about bicycling and other topics of the day

 

So much for the World Series....

First of all, congratulations to the Boston Red Sox for sweeping my beloved St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. The Red Sox clearly were the superior team in this series, and they are most deserving of the title after winning eight straight -- four against the Yankess and four against the Cardinals.

That now leaves Chicago's two baseball franchises alone among baseball's most cursed franchises. The White Sox have not won since 1917, and the Cubs, of course, have not won the World Series since 1908.

As for the Cardinals, I am extremly disappointed we saw a shadow of the team that those of us in the Midwest saw during the regular season. They lacked heart, and they forgot the fundamentals that they accomplished so well through the NLCS.

I normally am not a Tony La Russa basher, but I have noticed his Cardinals postseason teams seem to run out of gas at some point during the playoffs. They play with a great deal of intensity during the regular season, but then the bottom drops out. I have no idea why that happens. That's why I design newspaper pages for a living rather than manage major league baseball teams.

It's a shame the Cardinals bowed out the way they did because it does tarnish everything they accomplished in 2004. But still, it was a great season. The Cardinals were picked to finish third in the NL Central and won it running away. They beat the Los Angeles Dodges and Houston Astros -- two most worthy foes -- to get to the series.

Thank you, Cardinals, for a wonderful 2004. Let's hope the Cardinals find what they need to take it to the next level in 2005.

Roger 0 comments 1:44 AM