A Throwaway Game

Let's face it, with a double-digit lead on the Cubs and a sure shot to the postseason, the Cardinals just want to get out of this weekend alive. Only a scrappy Pirates bunch stand in their way.

Since the days of Bonds and Bonilla, or rather, since the awful days AFTER Bonds and Bonilla, I've always had a fondness for the Bucs. As a historic ball franchise, they deserve a better fate in the House of Selig than constantly being bottom-feeders in the NL Central. With a shrewd trade, dealing a middling pitcher like Benson, and the obvious development of young guns, the Pirates could very well be in contention at a ballpark near you.

And throw away the record -- they WERE in contention tonight, outplaying the consensus best team in MLB.

Tolstoy once wrote "All happy families are alike, but each unhappy family
is unhappy in its own way." That same analogy does not apply to this baseball team, as this unhappy family of Cardinals is usually unhappy in familar ways. All of our losses seem to come off a game filled with defensive gaffes, offensive woes, and complaints about the umpires.

But the Cardinals made their own deluxe King sleeper. Let's lie in it tonight, get a good night's rest, come back and win two tomorrow.