WORLD SERIES GAME ONE
Thanks much Walt Jocketty. What a job. Again. What a team he's put together! The additions of Weaver and Belliard were the missing pieces. At the time of their acquisitions no one thought so.

Tied by owners' greedy paws, Walt was restricted financially. But the man knows talent. He's got to be one of the best GMs in history. From the Kent Bottenfield for Jim Edmonds trade several years ago, to the signing of David Eckstein and Chris Carpenter, well, he doesn't miss much.

And don't forget, he's constantly battling with GMs of big market teams for the services of these players. Walt usually comes out on top.

When ESPN was televising the presentation of the NL Trophy, on the platform were TRL, Bill DeWitt, and Jocketty, along with Suppan, I believe. All I know is that Walt was the only one not interviewed.

I don't think he minded. He doesn't seem that way to me. A ham-and-egger, Walt certainly must be enjoying his latest success. But I think he's scouring over free agents and trying to make some deals for next season's run.

GO CARDINALS!!!

YADI, YADI, YADI

What a night! And what an unsung hero!

When I was a kid, I always thought I might occupy that catching mask for the St. Louis Cardinals. Of course, it wasn't quite as advanced back then as the one pictured. My minor and little league ones weren't either. They weren't much more than two razor thin bars that separated ball and bat from my young face. And I didn't even know how cool I was back then getting to wear my cap backwards.

I know Mr. Molina has not received the credit he deserves this season. As a catcher, he gets to call the game, basically, and he possesses a great throwing arm. He has long been respected for the game he calls, and his pitchers enjoy working with him. Yet not many talk about his hitting. A fan I sat in back of at the first round playoff game in San Diego told me, "He's hitting a hard .216. He's got 49 rbi's." I laughed to myself. Hey, I've been overly critical of his stance and his movement before he swings. I've suggested, no, stated in blog entries, that he needs to stay behind the plate instead of trying to formulate a strategy with his pitcher. You see, I'm guilty of underestimation, too.


I used to love to throw to second base before the pitcher got the ball back to start an inning. I loved to"peg it" as I called it where the shortstop would merely lay his glove on the bag and the ball would hit it. I never recall bouncing it to second though I know more than a few sailed into centerfield on overthrows. Like Yadi, I batted 7th a time or two, but mostly 2-4. But I never hit a home run to win a game. Any game. And not the 7th game. And not in the 9th inning. And not in one of the best games I ever saw.

"Swing..get up baby, get up," the voice of Mike Shannon begged. This time it did. Into the rainy, late New York night, Yadier Molina became a legend. Cardinal Nation will adore him forever now. He doesn't have to do anything else. I know they moved, but Yadi, Yadi, Yadi became a giant killer in New York. On to the World Series. Thanks to Yadi. Along with Soup, Waino, and Randy Flores. Three more unsungs.

As for me, I was home in Arizona watching someone else fill that catcher's mask. I've seen Simmons, Porter, Matheny, and others wear it instead of me. But it doesn't fit any of them better than it does Yadi.

TAPESTRY OR CAROL KING OR PEPTO BISMOL

Ok, Carol King and Tapestry are the same. At least that was the name of a great album in the 70's. And it describes the masterpiece St. Louis Cardinal Jeff Weaver pitched last night. This guy is money, and who'd a thunk back when?

"The Cardinals have to the luckiest team in the world," lifelong Cub fan Ben Martin told me one time. "Pujols. Who knew what he could do?" he continued. I haven't talked to Ben, who, by the way, gets so angry at the news that he watches it with the sound turned to mute, but I'm sure he's thinking the same thing about Weaver.

What a job of turning around a career. I suppose Coach Duncan gets credit. He certainly gets credit dor Chris, his son, whose pinch hit home run gave the Cardinals an insurance run in last night's victory. And I'd think he deserves a modicum of credit for Kinney, Flores, Johnson, and Wainwright.

So it's back to the Apple for Game 6 tonight. If I throw in one more allusion it could be from "West Side Story," also set in NY. "Tonight, tonight won't be just any night.." Oh, and about that Pepto Bismol. What an upset it will be if Chris Carpenter can pitch the Cardinals into the World Series! Like Carol King and Jeff Weaver, another tapestry tonight which will have a slew of Mutts fans reaching for that Pepto Bismol.

AMITTYVILLE AT HALLOWEEN

I read The Amittyville Horror story years ago but don't recall much of it now. I've read many Stephen King novels and while It was the scariest for me, the book that was his grossest was the one where the fan of the author made him write her a story while she took care of him after a car had run him over. The name escapes me now, but it might have been Misery. It's where she tortures him physically. Where blood abounds. And I don't like blood.

Bloody ER's and giving birth scenes are as bad to me as seeing some hot shot director spray blood all over the place. Blood's blood and it doesn't matter if it's the old movie Prom Night or Carrie, it doesn't appeal much to me. My own blood or a family member's blood doesn't spook me; it's just something, obviously I'd rather not deal with. The only exception is baby tooth extraction. I always like to pull my kids/grandkids/friends kids' baby teeth. (You better watch out, Grant; I heard you have a loose one.)

Once in Florida, I had rented one of the aqua trikes for 30-minutes. I pedaled and one of our kids rode and enjoyed it. For about 10 minutes. Me, too. But then I started thanking my lucky stars I hadn't chosen the other option of a one-hour rental. When we finally returned to the beach, I met a dumb walker who wouldn't move to get out of the way. I turned hard so as not to hit her and caught my index finger in the place where the handlebars meet the separation point.

Pain. It was very similar to catching your finger in a door. As I pulled the handlebar away to free my finger I saw blood soaking through the other side. I turned my paw over and sure enough, I'd smashed it pretty good. I wore a black fingernail on that hand for awhile.

I haven't rented an aqua trike since. And it wasn't even close to Halloween when I might have appreciated the blood somewhat.

...REARED ITS UGLY HEAD AGAIN: GAME FOUR

The bad news is--the Cardinals are back. Back to the 83-game winners they were this season. Back to the crummy play and questionable pitching match ups that TRL chose last night. Ultimately back to New York where the Cardinals will win or lose this series. This series that they had a fairly good grasp of until Darren Oliver and Oliver Perez threw puzzling pitches from the wrong side and silenced Cardinal bats for the most part.

Things went sour before the first pitch for me. That line up. No Preston Wilson? What did he do to ride the pines? Spiezio in left? Rolen back at third? And hitting ahead of Edmonds? Juan hitting clean up? Those questions were shoved to the back of my mind. Oly Perez was on the hill which meant many walks, I thought. But I forgot about the impatient hitters. Down 11-3 they were still swinging at the first pitch.

I just knew Pujols would hit. (Only close blog readers will notice I haven't referred to him as Mr. Pujols since he slammed Glavine in the press. That was beyond tacky; it was stupid.) But he didn't show up last night either. Let's see: 0 RBIs in this series. I think Beltran has 9. Delgado got 5 last night. Hey, Albert, it's showtime. And Glavine on the mound. Put up or shut the heck up.

Game 5 tonight in rainy St. Lou. Let's hope it's not the final home game of the season. Let's keep that other bird (pictured) out.

MET AND JEFF

Ok, Maybe the fireworks are a little premature for the Cardinals/Met NLCS. But only because the Cardinals don't have another pitcher named Jeff.

After two tremendous starts by Jeff Weaver and Jeff Suppan, things are looking very good for the Cardinals. And no I haven't forgotten Chris Carpenter. Isn't his middle name Jeffrey? Well, it should be.

What a great night for Soup! And on the national stage. All the cliches came out:

"He put on a clinic." "You just have to tip your hat to him." "He gave 110%." (Ok, I never heard anyone say that, but someone probably did.) "He increased his value as a free agent." "He was in control from start to finish."

The Mutts are reeling now, putting their hopes on the left wing of Oly Perez. Granted, if the Cardinals can't figure out Darren Oliver, how are they going to hit this lefty in Game 4? Motivation for one thing. When you have a comfortable lead and your starter is cruising, your intensity isn't magnified as much. Sometimes you go through the motions, subconsciously, to get back into the field and let the master finish his masterpiece. And I'm not pulling a Pujols here--Darren Oliver was a stud, but only after he allowed two inherited base runners to score making it 5-0 rather than 3-0.

So the Met and Jeff show continues tonight. Let's hope "Jeff" Reyes can re-discover his magical game against the White Sox and shut down the New Yorkers.