Stan’s Legacy

Stan Musial’s best seasons came in the 1940’s and 1950’s.  He had earned his nickname as “The Man” long before his retirement in 1963, and 24 years later, I was born.  Any baseball player who exists only in retellings of greatness and grainy old footage of a swing that was as unique as it was perfect should be little more than statistics on a page to me.  And yet, I find myself mourning with everyone else during this past week as The Man is no longer with us.  How does someone who I have never met, and I have never even seen play could have such an effect on me?

Maybe, in the answer to this question, lies Stan Musial’s legacy, at least to those of us who were not privileged enough to have admired him during our childhoods.  There was something about Stan that was different from any of the other players who came around Busch Stadium wearing their Cardinal red blazers and waiving to the crowd, and it was much more than the simple fact that he was the eldest of this group.  Stan was and will continue to be the symbol of a team and its fans more so than any other player could be for his former team.

Just think about it, St. Louis is known around baseball as a city that loves its baseball above all else, and as a group of fans, we are known for standing ovations for great plays by home and visiting players.  We are known for cheering as loud for players like So Taguchi after a well- placed bunt and nice catch in the outfield as superstars like Albert Pujols after doubling off the wall.  It is not difficult to see how this attitude of polite recognition of excellence could come from a player who was well regarded as the kindest and most appreciative player in baseball during his career.  To be a fan base like New York or Boston with insanity and rage ready to spill out with every error, Stan Musial just wouldn’t have fit as nicely as he did here in St. Louis.  Who knows, maybe Yankee fans have a tendency to be so nuts because they didn’t have the privilege of calling Stan Musial their own.

The Stan Musial that I know is not the same guy who terrorized pitchers through a long and ridiculously productive career.  To me, Stan Musial is the guy that my Grandmother would tell stories about because he was not only the best player in the Major Leagues but also a frequent attendee of local PTA meetings who could never find his hat.  I will remember him as the man that my father got an autograph from as a kid even though The Man looked exhausted in the parking lot after a long hot day on the baseball diamond.  I will remember him as the man for whom Opening Day seemed made for in St. Louis.  My children will never see Stan Musial play just as I never did, but no one’s life needs to be deprived of the kindness that he stood for.  In a way, Stan Musial will live on in the standing ovations at Busch Stadium for great plays or great players.  For my generation and those still to come, this legacy can live forever.

The Last of the Killer B’s

Maybe it was the barrage of the number 12 yesterday or the realization that the Houston Astros will never again be competing for a National League Central title, but I found myself feeling nostalgic the common thread that was shared between these teams, Lance Berkman.  Berkman leaves the Cardinals after spending an extremely short period of time here, and yet still it is difficult for me to think of him as anything other than an amazing player.  Could there be any higher praise from someone who spent most of his formative years wishing that Berkman would just take the day off?

Berkman spent parts of 12 seasons with the Houston Astros after being drafted in the first round in 1997.  During that time, he batted .296 and was the center of an offense that was good enough to meet the Cardinals twice in the NLCS in 2004 and 2005, series that went 7 and 6 games and ended with each team winning one pennant.  During his tenure with the Astros, he basically played an entire season against the Cardinals.  In 154 games, Berkman batted .313/.415/.601 with 39 HR’s and 118 RBI’s.  Only the Reds allowed more Berkman HR’s and RBI’s (although it was in 20 more games and in games that over the course of his career meant much less to any playoff races).  And then there was the postseason where Berkman hit .292 with 3 HR’s and 9 RBI’s over 7 games in 2004 as well as .286 with another HR and 3 RBI’s in 6 games in 2005 against the Cardinals.

With all of this destruction left in his wake, I still found myself respecting the hell out of Lance Berkman as an Astro, making the transition much easier when he signed with the Cardinals.  I know that this last season was a rough one for the Big Puma, but the truth is that his legacy as a Cardinal had already been written.  His 2011 season was enough to make me forget all of those homeruns he hit against the Cardinals for so many years in Houston.  He provided the perfect combination of veteran leadership and offensive prowess that the Cardinals desperately needed in order to make it into the playoffs that season.

And then there were the playoffs.  I know that 2011 will go down as the year of David Freese and rightfully so.  Freese had an amazing postseason, but while Freese was getting the headlines and highlight-worthy moments, Berkman was the man behind the scenes, allowing the younger Freese the opportunity to succeed.  Look no further than Game 6 of the World Series.  Everyone remembers the triple and the walk off homerun by David Freese, but it would be purely neglectful to skip over Berkman’s 3 for 5 night including 3 RBI’s and 4 runs scored.  In that game, Berkman had 3 RBIs with two outs, (one more than Freese had) including the most exciting single I have ever seen in the 10^th inning to retie the game after Josh Hamilton all but ripped the breath out of every pair of lungs in Busch Stadium.  I remember not being able to sleep after that game, and I still find chills run down my spine whenever I watch the highlights or even think of the game.  It really was the most exciting and amazing moment in Cardinals’ history, and the man in the middle of all of it was the same man who only a few short years earlier had been destroying the Cardinals at every turn for their biggest rivals. 

Berkman not only was amazing on the field, but he brought a sense of humor and looseness to the team that was so often lacking under Tony LaRussa.  Who could forget the post-game interviews after Game 6 when Freese brought up Jim Edmonds’ homerun to win a game in the 2004 NLCS, only to have Berkman add in his self-depreciating humor to remind everyone that he had been at that game too, on the losing side.  Since Berkman’s joining of the Cardinals, we have seen ugly sweater days and an interview with LaRussa after an NLCS game where he referred to a fictional Tortie and a Squirrel in the same sentence (and no, hell did not freeze over).   

Berkman’s career has had some bumps in it, mostly due to injuries, but we will always remember the extremely high level he performed at for so many years.  My lasting view of Berkman will not be him going down with a knee injury or any of the numerous big hits he had as an Astro to break my heart as a teenager.  The memory that I will always hold onto for the Big Puma is going to come from him after the last out of the 2011 World Series.  I can still see the bearded Berkman raising a stunned LaRussa into the air with an embrace strong enough to break ribs and the words “Can you believe it?”  I couldn’t at the time, and I still can’t believe it.  Lance Berkman, the last of the Killer B’s, a Cardinal forever. 

The Drive

Sam Bradford has not had too many defining moments in his career so far.  In fact, he has probably had more moments he would rather forget than moments  he would like to hold onto.  Against the Buffalo Bills, he had one to hold onto, and it was amazing to witness.  Coming into this season, Sam Bradford had put together exactly 1 game winning drive coming against the Cleveland Browns last season according to pro-football-reference.com.  This season, Bradford has already engineered three of these game winning drives including today’s and another drive in San Francisco to score a touchdown and put the Rams ahead before the 49ers answered with a field goal and forced overtime.

In his first game winning drive, Bradford threw only one pass for 7 yards and benefited from a Browns’ special team fumble before Josh Brown converted a 34 yard field goal.  Hardly the type of drive to be impressed by, but it was a start.  This season, Bradford has engineered an 80 yard drive against the Redskins although most of the drive was completed in the third quarter without the pressure of the clock winding down.  Then there was the drive in the first 49ers game where Bradford drove the Rams 81 yards for a touchdown with 1:13 left in the 4^th quarter which relied on a 19 yard completion from punter John Hekker and only 50 yards passing by Bradford.  Although this game obviously didn’t end up in a win, it could be seen as the start of things to come.

Against the Bills today, Bradford graduated to quarterback of a full blown clutch drive to win the game.  When the Rams received the ball on their own 16 yard line, Sam Bradford had only 141 yards passing in the game before that time, not exactly the type of performance which seemed indicative of what came next.  Sam Bradford drove the team 84 yards while throwing for 68 yards on 5-of-8 passing including 2 3^rd down conversions and a 4^th down conversion before Bradford threw an 11 yard touchdown pass to Brandon Gibson which ended up being the winning score.  During the drive, Bradford threw to 5 different receivers and benefitted from an amazing catch by Chris Givens to convert the 4^th and 1 play, but he showed more than enough poise and ability to be impressive. 

Sam Bradford still has a long way to go before he will be compared to Joe Montana, but we have been watching the evolution of a quarterback who could be able to be counted on at the end of a close game.  There are going to be many more opportunities for Bradford to grow and expand his talents if the Rams are going to continue to win games.  It is exciting to see a young and talented player grow, and who knows, if his offensive line could hold things together (and Rodger Saffold could manage to be carted off the field less than two times a quarter), this team could actually go somewhere.  It should at least be exciting to  watch.

Post Mourning 2012 Cardinals Wrap Up

I know this is pathetically late analysis, but in order to avoid little more than a long string of expletives being my thoughts, I felt it was appropriate to wait a little while before writing about the end of the 2012 Cardinals’ season.  In the time since, I hope that I have gained greater piece of mind and perspective compared to the hatred I was feeling for Pete Kozma after breaking the wrong way on a groundball up the middle.  Yes, it was a painful end to a frustrating season, but I guess that was how 2012 was destined to end for this team.

The more I look back at this season, the more I wonder if this team actually over performed, although this does not make the final result any less difficult to swallow.  When you really look at it, the 2012 Cardinals made it within one game of the World Series with a starting rotation that was anchored by Kyle Lohse who had a solid season, but as we saw during the playoffs last season, he does not possess the type of swing and miss stuff to consistently get good hitters out the second and third time through the lineup.  They were also relying on Lance Lynn whose Nuke LaLoosh like million dollar arm comes with a ten cent head that gets in the way all too often.  On top of this, the team needed their co-aces to perform even though Chris Carpenter’s arm was only recently cut into in order to remove a rib, and Adam Wainwright was well beyond the recommended number of innings for a pitcher coming off of Tommy John surgery and looked like it at times.  They had already lost Jamie Garcia for the postseason with a shoulder injury, and they were reliant on a shortstop which had never had significant Major League playing time.

Even though all these factors seemed stacked against this team, the Cardinals had a chance to advance to the World Series and even looked destined to do so after taking a 3 games to 1 lead in the series.  And then it was time for Game 5.  I remember being almost giddy with excitement as I watched Lance Lynn blowing Giants hitters away with a dominant fastball and wondering just how good this guy could be.  He seemed confident and ready to take the next step forward as a pitcher capable of rising to the occasion of a big game.  On top of this, the Cardinals seemed ready to break through against Barry Zito in these early innings.  I mean, just how many times can the Cardinals get runners in scoring position and not score right?  The answer, unfortunately, was answered far too many times over the next three games as Barry Zito’s 84 mph fastball was made to look like it was 98.  Unfortunately, this was the closest the Cardinals would come for the rest of the season.

While a finger could be directed in any direction when trying to assign blame for the collapse of the Cardinals, there were a couple issues that seemed particularly glaring.  After a few clutch performances in the NLDS, it became evident that Pete Kozma was in completely over his head.  His defense was shaky, and his offensive approach left me wanting to tear my hair out as he seemed to be swinging for a homerun in situations with a runner on third base and less than two outs.  Then there was Matt Holliday who hit only .200 in the World Series with 2 RBI’s.  As the veteran leader and third batter, this was completely unacceptable.

And then there was Mike Matheny’s management of the bullpen.  In Game 7, Matheny found himself in a pretty difficult spot.  In the 3^rd inning, the game was in danger of being lost and it eventually was.  There was one move in particular that had me screaming, though.  Matheny had found a combination that worked for him.  I really can’t blame him for that.  His go to move was to bring in Joe Kelly first and then go with Rosenthal to fill the innings before eventually getting to his Mujica, Boggs, and Motte.  This combination had been shown to work, but Matheny cannot be inflexible in a Game 7 of the NLCS. 

When the Cardinal’s manager took out Lohse, the bases were loaded with 0 outs and the Cardinals already down by 2 runs.  In this situation, the Cardinals were desperate.  Any more runs allowed could turn out to be disastrous, and eventually it sealed the fate of the 2012 Cardinal season.  It does not take an inspired baseball mind to recognize that in this situation, the Cardinals needed at least one strikeout, and luckily for Matheny, he had a pitcher in his bullpen who would end up striking out 15 batters in 8.2 playoff innings including 4 strikeouts in two innings in this game.  Of course, this guy was Trevor Rosenthal, and of course, he was not the pitcher that Matheny elected to go with.  Instead, Joe Kelly was brought in, and the rest is history.

As with any team that loses a series that it was up 3 games to 1 in, there is definitely enough blame to go around.  We can only hope that this team can learn some things from the experience and improve in the future, especially the relatively inexperienced manager who will be trusted to make these types of decisions going forward.  The Cardinal front office has hopefully realized that it needs a more experienced and capable shortstop if they are going to make deep playoff runs whether that is Furcal or someone else.  And hopefully, the Cardinals offensive players can learn how to be consistent as opposed to the boom or bust unit that the Cardinals have seen far too much of this season.  2012 was an exciting year for the St. Louis Cardinals, and even though it ended in frustration, it was one heck of a ride.

Brand New Rams?

The San Francisco 49ers are among the best teams in the National Football League.  They were one win away from making it to the Super Bowl just last season, and they were more than one expert’s choice to make a similar run this season.  The 49ers have a defense that dominates and the type of power running game that should have been able to churn out yards against the 2^nd worst team in the league last season against the run.  After tying the Rams earlier in the season, the 49ers were coming into St. Louis motivated for revenge and ready to play.  They had just promoted their dynamic new quarterback, Colin Kaepernick who had already beaten the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints.  There was no reason to believe that these Rams, the same team that lost to both the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets this season, should have any chance at beating the vaunted 49ers right?

Recent Rams teams would have not only lost this game, they would have been lucky to make it close.  But something is different about these Rams.  Yes, you could say this is a new team because they won the game, but it goes deeper than that.  The Rams won a close game down the stretch by making clutch plays against a team that is much better seasoned to win games like these.  The Rams defense was able to put points on the board when the offense could not, and instead of shooting themselves in the foot with bad penalties and consistent lapses in concentration, St. Louis actually had fewer penalties than the 49ers.

            

This is not the first time Rams fans have been teased by this team, however.  We have seen them finish at 7-9 in 2010, which was sadly enough for optimism, only to watch the Rams earn the second pick in the 2012 NFL draft.  I guess there is no way to know this for sure, but could this be a sign of actual change for this team?  I think it could be, and the reason behind this is Jeff Fisher.  With all due respect to Steve Spagnuolo and the rest of the coaches the Rams have had over the past few years, it feels good to have a legitimate NFL head coach for a change.

          

Just look at how Jeff Fisher has taken control of this team.  Perhaps the best examples of this is the two players that he benched for the first game the Rams played the 49ers.  The troubled Janoris Jenkins was sat down for a game and since he has scored 3 touch downs in the last two games.  That’s pretty impressive considering he plays on the defensive side of the football.  Then there is the Rams wide receiver, Chris Givens who has had 20 receptions in three games since being sat down by Fisher.  These may be chalked up to pure coincidence, or it could be signs of two young and extremely talented players buying into a coach’s system that has been proven to work in the past.

            

There have been a few grumblings about even making a run at a .500 or better record this season and even the possibility of a wild card berth.  I don’t think the playoffs are in the cards for this season’s Rams team, but to be honest, they don’t have to be.  As a Rams fan, I am simply looking for signs pointing to improvement which there have been multiple so far this season not the least of which came with the 49ers games.

The past few seasons, I have found myself rooting for the Rams to lose so that the team could fall into a better draft pick.  There was hope that the Rams could continue to get more talented players in hopes that this would solve all of the team’s problems, but there are only so many top draft picks a team can get before they need to produce.  After a while the team becomes little more than a collection of talent that has no idea of how to play together and win games.  In a game like football, talent only gets you so far as we have seen for a the past few years (although some of the draft decisions have left us wondering just how great the talent truly is).  This season has meant something else for these Rams.  This is the season that they start to build a winning culture, not just put another talented name on a roster.  In this case, change is so sweet.

Joy, Frustration, and One Win Away…

If I were to draw up how this series should go for the Cardinals to win the World Series, I would say that they needed to win one game in San Francisco, two in St. Louis, and then finish the series off on the road again in San Francisco.  The Cardinals have followed this script almost to perfection, and in doing that they have beaten the likes of Madison Bungarner and Matt Cain already to get to their three wins.  The problem is that guys like Barry Zito have given this Cardinal line-up fits, and pitchers like Lance Lynn have looked completely unhittable for three innings before completely falling apart.

Before the 5^th game of the series in St. Louis, feelings of excitement could not have been any higher.  This team was on a roll, and the Giants were sending a pitcher to the mound that had been beaten up by the Cardinals in the past and had been a pretty substantial disappointment ever since signing an enormous contract to go play in San Francisco.  The Cardinals were at home and ready to end the series there, but that was simply not to be. 

For a team that is only one win away from the World Series and an offense that has put up some big games in the postseason, this team is about as frustrating as could be imagined.  When I talk to my non Cardinal fan friends, they all roll their eyes when I act this frustrated about a team that is one win away from back to back World Series berths, but I do not think that there is a Cardinals fan out there who would not at least on some level agree with my frustrations.  For one, they came out flat in Game 5… How in the hell is a team one win away from the World Series and considered to be a veteran team with postseason experience give away a game like that when they know that they will now have to win the final game of the series on the road? 

Barry Zito was not throwing above mid-80’s all game.  I am not saying that this makes him easy to hit.  I am not going to suggest that velocity means that much.  There have been plenty of soft tossing left handed pitchers who have had a lot of success, but those pitchers usually flip in a bunch of curveballs and changeups to get outs, Barry Zito seemed to strike out Cardinal hitters with high fastballs, and at 85 miles per hour, there is no excuse to be late on the pitch.  In the first couple innings, the Cardinals seemed to be only moments away from exploding for a bunch of runs.  They had runners on second and third with no outs in the inning and were unable to come through with any runs.  This is almost difficult to do against a pitcher who struck out only 5 and a half batters per 9 innings this season.  That is Jake Westbrook territory, a guy who is definitely better known for getting ground ball outs than getting big strikeouts.  Of course Zito was able to throw a high fastball by Descalso and escape with a double play ball.  The rest is history.

I suppose we should not be too surprised by this Cardinal team.  It is not because they lack the talent or ability to put this team away, and it is not because they will somehow be unable to close out the series.  We have seen this team successfully close out 4 series in a row at this point in the postseason, so with a one game lead and Carpenter on the mound, I still have faith.  The reason that we should not be surprised that the Cardinals did not finish this series at home in Game 5 is because that just isn’t how they do things.  This team is like Felix Baumgartner, the guy who jumped from space and broke the speed of sound.  What does he do next to get that same adrenaline high?  After being down to a final strike in an elimination game in the World Series twice, winning a Game 5 in St. Louis just does not seem to get their heart pumping enough to qualify it as enough of a high.  They need to get a little adversity built up and have a few people count them out before they can win the game in dramatic fashion.  This is why watching this team is so frustrating; it is like we are just waiting for their parachute to fail because we know that the law of averages says that at some point, it has to.

The Cardinals will be going back to San Francisco with the goal of winning only one out of two games there, but this goal may seem a little too simplified for this team.  They are going to need to win Game 6 or face Matt Cain in Game 7 on the road with all the momentum having shifted over to the Giants.  I would say that this would be too much even for this Cardinals team, but I would have said just about the same thing for the Cardinals when they faced the Nationals in the NLDS.  I guess, I am hoping for a series clinching win tonight more to ease my nerves and indigestion than because I do not think they can win in Game 7.  I just hope I do not have to watch another game while waiting for the parachute to not open.

And now that we know we are hoping for a rematch of the 2006 World Series, we also know that it could be possible that the Cardinals are fighting just to be able to lose to Justin Verlander three times in the World Series.  I do have one suggestion for this team going forward though.  There has been talk about Lance Lynn being removed from the Cardinals rotation if they made it to the World Series, and the logical choice would be to bring back Jake Westbrook to pitch if his oblique muscle strain has improved.  My thought is a little more unorthodox, but it could work perfectly for a home game against the Tigers if they were to get that far.

My suggestion is to start Lance Lynn just like normal.  Let him go his three innings if he is able to get that far, but have Joe Kelly ready at a moment’s notice.  The goal would be to keep Lynn in the game long enough to bat once if the Cardinals are able to get a few hits early in the game, but if he would not bat until the third inning, the Cardinals should pinch hit for him regardless of how well he is throwing.  This would essentially make the Cardinal’s lineup into an American League lineup without the pitcher’s spot while taking advantage of the depth they have of pitchers who can go multiple innings and can also be ready in relief.

After Kelly is brought in, preferably in the 4^th inning, the Cardinals would be all but set up for the rest of the game.  If Kelly could throw the 4^th and 5^th innings, then they could pinch hit for him when his spot came up before putting in Rosenthal who would be trusted for two more innings at which point Matheny could go directly to Mujica, Boggs, and Motte if they were ahead or close.  The drawback to this plan is that if the game were to go into extra innings, they would have burned most of their bullpen, but the Cardinals still have a starter in the pen in Shelby Miller who could be counted on to be the long man.  Another drawback to this plan would be the potential loss of Kelly and Rosenthal for the next game which would make this plan more realistic if it were to take place either before a travel day or perhaps in the game before Lohse or Wianwright were to start and could be leaned on to throw 6 or 7 innings without the backup of the Cardinal’s two starters turned long men in the bullpen.

This is basically the strategy that La Russa used last season to win the World Series.  He went to the bullpen early and often to mix and match with hitters in a way that would be most effective, and it could be argued that this season’s bullpen is even better set up for that type of usage.  The only issue with it is the complete lack of a left handed reliever with enough ability and credibility to be leaned on in a late game situation.  I know, I know.  I am getting ahead of myself.  As far as the Giant’s series goes, the Cardinals are still one game away from being able to look at strategy against the AL champ.  I still remember the 1996 Cardinals who could not put away the Atlanta Braves after taking a 3 games to 1 lead, and I would rather not see the second Cardinal team to do that during this season.  Hopefully, tonight the Cardinals can do things the non-dramatic way and score some early runs and hope Carpenter can pitch his way into the 6^th inning.

Lessons From San Francisco

We are now two games into this playoff series and nothing is set about which team will separate them enough to make it to the World Series.  The Cardinals have met their match in this Giants team.  The Cardinals biggest advantages during the first series was their experience and belief that all things are possible and that they could come back from any deficit that may be thrown their way by the Nationals who were largely inexperienced.  The Giants have their own past history of success.  Like the Cardinals, they have won a World Series in the past few years and feature a roster that is full of the type of talented and experienced players that the Cardinals rode to get to the NLCS.  Like the Cardinals, the Giants are coming off of their own miraculous comeback in which they had to win 3 games on the road against one of the best teams in the National League.  It has only been 2 games so far, but the lessons we have learned in those 2 games may very well be played out over the course of a long and competitive 7 game series.

Lesson 1: Carlos Beltran is unbelievable in the postseason.  You can count me as one of the people who thought that Beltran was just about all washed up.  He was slowing down quickly at the end of the season offensively, and it was looking more and more like those balky knees of his may not allow him to catch a fly ball or make it around the bases in one piece.  I was sure that the high work load early in the season had all but doomed the old man to the same mediocrity that we had seen at the end of the season.  Who knew that Carlos Beltran would start to hit like it was 2004?  I just hope that he can get enough hits to balance out the futility of those around him.

Lesson 2:  While Beltran, Freese, and occasionally Allan Craig are hitting, there are just too many holes in the Cardinals lineup right now.  John Jay, Yadier Molina, and Pete Kozma are all hitting below .200 during these playoffs, and Matt Holliday is hitting all of .250 in the third spot in the order.  There are just too many spots in the Cardinals order where hitting streaks will have a tough time of continuing, and that leads to the enormous amounts of stranded runners that they have had during this postseason.  The Giants will not walk the bases loaded and give the Cardinals runs like the Gio Gonzalez and the Nationals did regularly.

Lesson 3:  If the Cardinals are going to win this series, much like last year, they are going to need to rely heavily on their young bullpen.  While Cardinal starters like Chris Carpenter are inspirational, to hope for more than a solid 5 innings out of Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, or Lance Lynn would not be realistic or responsible.  If the Cardinals are going to win, they are going to need a consistent 4 innings out of a bullpen that is populated mostly with extremely young pitchers.  It has no consistently effective left handed reliever, but this relief corps that has been patched together, seems capable of some pretty impressive things.  We will just have to hope that these impressive things include another trip to the World Series.

Lesson 4:  Matt Holliday looks lost.  While there are plenty of times when I feel like I want to completely bash the guy, something about him makes this impossible.  Matt Holliday has given nothing but his all every day since he has become a Cardinal.  He may have frustrating moments where he cannot perform with runners in scoring position, but the way he took out the Giant’s second baseman Marco Scutaro shows that he is trying almost too hard.  He looks even more lost at the plate than he does on the base paths.  He seems to either flail away at curveballs in the dirt or take fastballs over the plate because he almost seems to be trying to work a pitcher for a walk.  This combination of over aggression and over patience is just not going give them the type of production that this team is desperately needing out of its third hitter.

Lesson 5:  This series very well may come down to Kyle Lohse vs. Matt Cain.  These two right handers very possibly could match up both in game 3 and game 7 of this series if it gets that far.  If the Cardinals could win the third game of the series, they will have a good chance to at least head back to San Francisco needing only a win to take the series, and a potential Game 7 needs no extra hype or stated importance.  Luckily for the Cardinals, Kyle Lohse has been the most consistent and steady pitcher, and if there is a man this team could at least stay with the guy who threw a perfect game this season, it would be Kyle Lohse.

There will be quite a few new lessons to be learned over the course of this series.  Will this series get ugly as so many Cardinals vs. Giants playoff series in the past seem to have after Matt Holliday’s aggressive slide?  Whose postseason magic will run out first?  Which of the game’s best catchers will have a bigger impact, Yadier Molina or Buster Posey?  Will the Giant’s pitching staff filled with former pitching stars turned 5^th starters such as Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito be able to channel their old selves enough to lift the Giants to the World Series?  We will learn the answers to these questions and more, and the answers will start to come tomorrow…