a lot of Cardinals fans get on the bandwagon once the team is doing well, and stop paying attention when they lose
I know many die-hard Cardinal fans. I know there are many true Cardinal fans, but I'm just saying that there are a lot of bandwagon fans too. And I'll be the first person to congratulate the Cardinals on a great season. No one expected a winning record from them, but they had a winning record in what might be the toughest division in baseball this year. Good job Cards. Yes, some Cardinal fans don't hate the Cubs, but a lot do. And turn on ESPN on any random day and you'll hear about the curse. And, I don't want to make excuses, because we lost, and nothing can reverse that. But in my opinion, the real reason we lost was because Lou Piniella decided to rest our starters for the last 10 days between when we clinched and the postseason. They couldn't get their swings back, and played horrible in the field. When Jim Edmonds seemed to be going through a drought at the plate, Lou kept sending him out there. When Fukudome kept swinging and missing, Lou Piniella kept him in the game. All four of our infielders made an error in game 2. You know how much pressure you have playing at Wrigley being a favorite to win the WS? A lot more than most teams. Now, I know the Cardinals are rebuilding, and I'm sure that in a few years they'll be really good and contenders. I admit that the Cubs will not be good year after year. I'll still be a fan through it all though.
1.) Big Z can't pitch in a big game. He can no hit the road-weary Astros that have been hit by a hurricane, sure, but doesn't have a win in 5 postseason starts.
Yes, he doesn't have a win in 5 postseason starts. I'd like to look at his stats in those starts though...
Oct 2, 2008 vs. Dodgers (NLDS): 6.1 innings, 6 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO, 1 HR. That one HR was a solo shot by Manny. Manny seems to be unstoppable since coming to the Dodgers. And, 3 ER. The defense (your 2nd point) let those other runs score. So, 6.1 innings, 3 earned runs allowed. In my opinion, that's not horrible. The Cubs offense should have scored that many and it would have been a real game from there.
Oct 3, 2007 vs. Diamondbacks (NLDS): 6 innings, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO, 1 HR. I know what happened this game. The game was tied 1-1 after 6, and Lou pulled Z with his pitch count low to get him ready for the game 4 that never happened. 1 Run allowed. That's good pitching right there...
Oct 1, 2003 vs. Braves (NLDS): 5.2 innings, 11 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 0 HR. He gave up a lot of hits in this game, and gave up 3 runs in less than 6 innings, but he did not pitch poorly. With 11 hits, his pitch count was high, and that was the reason he was taken out.
Oct 7, 2003 vs. Marlins (NLCS): 6 innings, 9 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 3 HR. After 6 innings, the game was tied. He didn't pitch well, but it was tied and he kept us in the game.
Oct 12, 2003 vs. Marlins (NLCS): 5 innings, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR. Pitch count was 113 after 5, so he was taken out. It just happens that Josh Beckett threw a complete game two hitter, and the Cubs offense could not back up Z.
Yes, no wins. His ERA might be high (4.34), but in some of those games, the Cubs offense didn't show up. He pitched well in two of those games, and in the other three still gave us a chance to win. I believe he still can pitch in big games, just not up to the standard people give him. He'll keep the Cubs within reach.
I agree that defense is key, and we have some holes.
We also need a reliable left handed hitter. Agreed on those two points.
But, the Cubs have some great pitching overall. All five of our starters had winning records, and had more than 10 wins. Our pitching in the regular season was great. Postseason, well, everything sucked. Hitting, pitching, defense, everything. But during the regular season, we had one of the best teams in all of baseball. We just didn't get the job done.
Cardinals postseason wins since winning the world series = Cubs postseason wins since 2006 = 0
Is this posted because it's an embarrassment that the Cardinals are as good (or bad) as the Cubs in the postseason, or just saying that if the Cubs suck, the Cardinals do to?
_________________ "The finish line is just the start of the next race."
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum