Even the Playing Fields

¡Ay Chihuahua! The night of June 10th was far and away the scariest moment in recent Cardinal History. As the count grew to 1-2, the greatest player in baseball screamed in pain and grabbed his leg. Cardinal Nation was quiet with angst, as we all watched the trainers tend to Pujols. We all gasped as Pujols himself couldn’t put any weight on his leg, literally having to be carried off by his teammates. The first thought that popped into every Redbird fan’s head was, “Oh, s**t, there goes the season”. Yet, we were all right to think this, due to the fact that even though Albert Pujols has played the most games over the past few seasons besides Ichiro and Tejada, he still has an extensive injury history. Also, you have to remember that our de-facto ace was recently put on the DL, so we’re now short the best position player in baseball and one of the best pitchers in baseball. As devastating as that can be, there are 2 or 3 things that ease the burn a little bit.

Braden Looper tossed a 4 hit CG SHO last night, with NO BB! And this was in Great American Ballpark, the best homerun park in the majors. Immediately after Wainwright went down, it looks as if someone is willing to step in and fill his shoes for at least the next 15 days.

The offense is really picking up. Seriously, by a show of hands, who predicted at the beginning of the season that Ryan Ludwick would be this dominant in a limited role? Also, Troy Glaus has been hot of late, ever since people promised that, as the weather turned around, so would his bat. Even Roy Hobbs has come back from injury and performed decently.

Not find pleasure in the injury of others (well, sorta), but the fact that the Cubs leading homerun masher/speedster leadoff man went down eases the burn greatly. Yes, the Cubs still have other players that I admit are better than average (Lee, Fukudome, Ramirez, Jimmy Baseball, Soto), this is still a huge shot in the arm for them, and appears to even the playing field, especially since Alfonso is out for 6 weeks or so, while Big Al is only out 3.

Reinforcements! The Cardinals have a slew of players who expect to be back within a month before and after the Midsummer Classic, and of the 7 who expect to come back (it looks as if Encarnacion’s career is done and Tyler Johnson is out for the season), excluding Wainwright and Pujols, 4 of them (Mulder, Clement, Isringhausen, Carpenter) are former all-stars! The fact that the team has been able to compete the entire season without Mulder, Clement, Carpenter, and 2006 World Series heroes Kinney and Johnson is a miracle. Once Isringhausen, Mulder and Clement come back within the next two weeks or so, the team will give the Cubs a run for their money. Hell, once Carpenter comes back right after the All-Star Break, their rotation will sound like a fantasy team- Wainwright, Carpenter, Mulder, Clement, Wellemeyer.

Don’t you count the Cardinals out just yet! If the Cardinals are able to hold down the fort just until Wainwright comes back in a week and a half, they will be able to stay competitive, and be able to gather reinforcements on the way, eventually spreading their wings and flying away with the division title. Watch your backs, Cubs!