*** Official St Louis Cardinals to the 2006 World Series Thread ***

[MyTurn2Raise]

Dave Duncan works well with certain types of pitchers

[StlCardsBlues]

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His ERA last year was half a run lower than any other year.

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Not true...

2003 3.57
2005 3.57

Yes 2004 was half a run higher at 4.16, but his WHIP and K/Walk ratio were almost identical to 2005 and his Batting Average Against was actually the lowest of his career in `04.

B.

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His ERA in 2003 was 3.57 while he was in Pittsburgh, he then was traded to Boston and got lit up. His total ERA that year ended up being 4.19. And if you wanna talk about WHIP and BAA, last year they both were pretty much the same as his career averages. Yet his ERA last year was more than a run below his career ERA. Basically he was lucky in '05.

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Yeah -- I forgot that he played for part of the year in Boston, so you got me there -- but I still don't think that his numbers, especially those over the past three years, are that bad for a number 4 starter with a lineup like the Cards. I still look for 15 wins, but maybe I'm a bit optamistic.

B.

[Flip_Dog]

Another good start by Carpenter wasted

[bigt2k4]

I like the old logo better




anyway,, they're a shoe in for the East and have a good chance for the WS

[MyTurn2Raise]

back on the winning side today...bullpen still looked ugly

Taguchi is stepping up. Encarnacion has been horrible so far. Here's hoping he's not another Tino Martinez. When Bigbie gets back, the outfield will be ok.
Luna looks good. Miles looks good. Even without Spivey, there are 5 solid infielders.
Molina has been a stud.
Starters=awesome. Wainwright looks like a good 6th starter option too.

Come on bullpen

[MyTurn2Raise]

As promised,
here is a 2p2 thread with some pics of my opening series visit to Busch

They were taken with a mid-line 4.0 megapixel digital camera.

My general observations on Busch:
pros:
fans are much much closer to the action-the stadium goes up much more than out
good sightlines
lots of room to roam--wide aisles and concourses
no longer have to circle the ramps up...nice
plenty of standing room in good locations
$8.25 for a 24 oz draft beer (good by modern stadium standards)
$4.50 footlong corndog is good too
kept much of the old charm...dugouts with pennants and WS titles, Stan the Man statue, old scoreboard, etc

cons:
didn't like the asymmetry between first base and third base lines
sucks that left field isn't finished yet
big aisles and asymmetry create a sort of fragmentation of the crowd

[MyTurn2Raise]

more pros:
lots of suites (thought I hardly ever watch games from those things)
lower level seats have cushions (like a movie theatre) for the bottom

[Flip_Dog]

Albert w. 3 HRs w. a walk off

[MyTurn2Raise]

That was awesome!

After watching the bullpen blow another one.....
MVP MVP MVP
[image]http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20060416/capt.sts10704162038.reds_cardinals_baseball_sts107 .jpg [/image]

[MyTurn2Raise]

I love it...ESPN just started the story of the game about how it's undecided whether Busch is a pitcher's park or a hitter's park. But we know it's Albert's park.