Sen. Tom Coburn Gets It Too

From a piece written by Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn. Coburn, for my money, along with Sam Brownback, is among the very best in the Senate (though he does part his hair in the middle, which makes him look a little like an early 80's Michael McDonald album cover):

Although this election represents a short-term setback for Republicans, it could be an important turning point for the Republican Party and, more importantly, the country. Every incumbent was reminded that the American people, not party establishments, hold the reins of government.

....This election does not show that voters have abandoned their belief in limited government; it shows that the Republican Party has abandoned them. In fact, these results represent the total failure of big government Republicanism.

The Republican Party now has an opportunity to rediscover its identity as a party for limited government, free enterprise and individual responsibility. Most Americans still believe in these ideals, which reflect not merely the spirit of 1994 or the Reagan Revolution, but the vision of our founders. If Republicans present real ideas and solutions based on these principles, we will do well in the future.

What Republicans cannot continue to do, however, is more of the same.

We'll see if the party takes the advice and uses this as an opportunity to recapture it's vision, rather than an opportunity to sulk and become even more pseudo-Democratic.

(Hat tip: Brother Jon)

Related Tags: Tom Coburn, election, Republicans

"We Lost Our Way"

This is from Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), a true conservative who, with any luck, will be the next House minority leader. Hopefully there will be others who "get it" too. It's going to take guys like this to put the GOP back on track:

It is the duty of the losing party in a free election to humbly accept defeat and to acknowledge that the people are sovereign in the People's House.

As we examine the results of this election, it is imperative that we listen to the American people and learn the right lessons.

Some will argue that we lost our majority because of scandals at home and challenges abroad. I say, we did not just lose our majority, we lost our way.

While the scandals of the 109th Congress harmed our cause, the greatest scandal in Washington, D.C. is runaway federal spending.

After 1994, we were a majority committed to balanced federal budgets, entitlement reform and advancing the principles of limited government. In recent years, our majority voted to expand the federal government's role in education, entitlements and pursued spending policies that created record deficits and national debt.

This was not in the Contract with America and Republican voters said, “enough is enough.”

Our opponents will say that the American people rejected our Republican vision. I say the American people didn't quit on the Contract with America, we did. And in so doing, we severed the bonds of trust between our party and millions of our most ardent supporters.

Related Tags: Mike Pence, election, conservatism

Missed It By That Much

Well that was fun.

There's nothing else you can call it--the Republicans got beaten like the wife of a guy in a sleeveless undershirt on "Cops." Of course, I'm convinced that it's all part of evil-genius Karl Rove's master plan. He and President Bush masterminded the wildly successful alienate-the-base strategy as a way of giving up the House and the Senate, thus paving the road for a Hillary Clinton presidency which will be a miasma, ultimately setting the Republicans up for big wins in 2012. They've got it all under control, and are working from the master playbook.

The media is interpreting the election as being a referendum on the Iraq war. That's a simple explanation, but perhaps too simple. It may well be the explanation for why Democrats turned out so heavily, but there is a concurrent explanation for why Republicans did so badly. I did go to the polls and vote conservative yesterday (or at least as "conservative" as I could vote given who was actually on the ballot), but I never felt anything more than a sense of duty about it. There was no excitement, no anticipation, no sense of getting to be part of something great as in the last few elections. It was mainly apathy, barely overcome by duty. So I have to wonder how many conservatives' senses of apathy weren't overcome by a sense of duty. How many just couldn't bring themselves to be excited and moved on to other things? I suspect that it was millions.

Even with the Iraq war going badly (and all but the most impervious partisan hacks have to admit that it is), if Republicans were cutting spending and actively working to close the borders--you know, being conservative--they'd have won in a landslide. Think about that: Republicans were getting hammered by Democrats in the campaign on spending and immigration.

Two years ago, I wrote this now-amusing sentence:

[The 2004] election, following on the heels of the 2002 shocker, might very well be the death knell of the Democrat Party as a significant national force.

It looks amusing and quaint now. In 2004, the Democrats had gone further and further to the Left and gotten spanked, and I failed to foresee the Bush Administration's wildly erratic behavior over the following two years, from Harriet Miers (in which the administration accused its base of sexism) to the immigration debacle, to the disastrous near-deal to sell our ports to the United Arab Emirates (in which the administration accused its base of racism).

My suspicion is that Republicans are going to try to move to the Left as a result of this election (pointing to the defeats of swing-staters Jim Talent and Rick Santorum as justification), culminating in the nomination of John McCain for president in 2008. If they do, it will officially mark the end of the Republicans' 21st century dominance, as conservative and evangelical voters will have even more reason to sit it out.

If they're smart, however (and I frankly see no evidence of that), they'll see this as a well-timed wakeup call to begin becoming conservative again to reinvigorate their underwhelmed base. Fortunately for them, this was not a presidential election year. They still have time to right the ship (and it does need to be turned Right) in time to avert an era of disaster.

We'll see what they decide to do. I'm not optimistic.

Related Tags: election, Republicans, Democrats, Bush Administration

It's Like Playing A Really Dull Video Game

Make sure to do your duty and head to the polls today. Have conservatives given us a lot to be excited about over the last couple of years? No. Well, everyone got excited about the scuttled ports deal and potential amnesty for illegal immigrants, but, but I'm talking about positive excitement. It's been scarce, to be honest. But here's why conservatives still need to hit the polls today. To borrow from Justin Taylor, here's why the election still matters:

All eyes are on Alito in abortion case

First clues on how he will treat Roe vs. Wade may come tomorrow

Tuesday, November 07, 2006
BY ROBERT SCHWANEBERG
Star-Ledger Staff

Six years ago, Samuel A. Alito Jr. joined two other federal appeals judges in striking down a New Jersey law banning partial-birth abortion. Alito made a point of stating he had no choice: A month earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court had declared a nearly identical Nebraska law unconstitutional by a vote of 5-4.

Tomorrow Alito is scheduled to hear arguments on the constitutionality of a nationwide ban on partial-birth abortion signed by President Bush in 2003. This time, Alito has a choice. It is the first abortion case to come before the U.S. Supreme Court since Alito succeeded Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who cast the decisive vote against the Nebraska law.

Alito is only on the bench today because of a Republican Senate. And there's a hot rumor in Washington today that Justice John Paul Stevens is getting ready to retire. Now, there isn't one Republican in ten that I'd walk across the street to see, but ultimately this is why the election still matters.

So get on out there while you still have a few hours. The lines aren't too bad (since most people don't care about midterm elections), and you get one of those apple-polishing, brown-nosing "I voted" stickers to slap onto your chest to help you feel superior. There's no downside. Head on over to that library or school or malaria clinic or wherever you're registered to vote--especially you folks in Pennsylvania. Rick Santorum is one of the few I would walk across the street to see. We need him.

Related Tags: election day, Rick Santorum, Samuel Alito, Justin Taylor

Around the Horn

• Tim Challies has written the best thing I've seen yet on the Ted Haggard scandal. It needs to be read and reread.

• It's been widely linked on the Internet already, but if you haven't yet read Dilbert creator Scott Adams' account of his sudden recovery from an incurable disease that had taken his voice for a year and a half, you really should. It's fascinating. (HT: Jollyblogger)

• Geoff Robinson meets up with anti-religious zealot Richard Dawkins and has an interesting exchange. And he finds Dawkins being inconsistent.

• A couple of (world champion) St. Louis Cardinals are actively opposing the cloning/embryonic stem cell ballot initiative in Missouri. [This is the infamous initiative that prompted Michael J. Fox to make an ad for Senate candidate Clair McCaskill.] In my recent visit to Missouri, I was pleasantly surprised to see the pro-life passion on this issue and the degree with which even the average St. Louisan is now able to articulate the crucial difference between adult stem cells (which do not damage embryos and which have been used to develop truly amazing treatments already) and embryonic stem cells (which kill embryos and which have produced zero treatments).

• I know the participants are all distancing themselves from it (mainly complaining that they had been assured it wouldn't run until after the elections), but this preview of a piece to run in Vanity Fair in which "neocons" Richard Perle, Kenneth Adelman, David Frum, Michael Ledeen, Frank Gaffney, and others who were among the strongest voices advocating war in Iraq, is absolutely brutal. The president is in deep trouble on this war.

Tomorrow Is Election Day

With the national elections tomorrow, it's only appropriate to point out that:

It's Peanutbutter-Jelly Time.

(HT: My kids)

From The Onion

This is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time (though be warned that The Onion can get obscene at times. I didn't find anything objectionable on the page I linked to, but if you were to click around there, it wouldn't take you long to find something not so good):

Cardinals Apologize for Winning World Series

ST. LOUIS—Calling Friday night's victory on baseball's grandest stage "a terrible mistake," members of the St. Louis Cardinals issued a formal apology for making the playoffs, winning the World Series, and depriving baseball fans everywhere of a season featuring the kind of heartwarming, storybook ending to which they have grown accustomed in recent years.

"I'm still struggling to understand how this could have happened," said a sober Tony La Russa during a press conference following Game 5. "It seemed all but certain coming into this series that we were going to be a part of something truly special, that we would easily put the finishing touches on a magical season that inspired millions of fans around the country, but instead we somehow ended up winning."

"It's disappointing, to say the least," La Russa added. "We were rooting for the Detroit Tigers just like everyone else."

....According to Albert Pujols, some teammates took the World Series victory harder than others.

"For a lot of young guys like [Anthony] Reyes and [Yadier] Molina, this was their first chance to see an exciting, inspirational, and truly deserving team win a championship," Pujols said. "Even though the outcome of this series has definitely left a bad taste in my mouth, I can handle it, because I was there in 2004 when we were able to see Red Sox beat us in the World Series. Man, what an incredible feeling that was… Just watching those guys celebrate, I really felt like I was seeing history unfold before my eyes. It was definitely my greatest baseball moment."

"I hope we have the chance to see something like that again next year," Pujols added.

Related Tags: The Onion, Cardinals, Tigers, World Series

It's Italian For "The Russa"

Okay, one more baseball post before I let this glorious season pass on into eternity. I know there's an election in a few days, but I'm a native St. Louisan, so baseball trumps it.

I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what makes Tony La Russa a great manager. As anyone who's ever read this blog can see, I'm often highly critical of him. So are the fans in St. Louis--they've never fully warmed up to TLR the way they did Whitey Herzog, who is considered the managerial gold standard in the Gateway City.

The criticism is not without merit. Whereas Whitey was a beer-driking, steak-eating Midwesterner who delighted in sharing his strategic thinking with the media, Tony is an animal-rights activist Californian who you suspect might eat soy and rarely tries publicly to justify a managerial move. When Whitey did something odd (as he often did, including stationing closer Todd Worrell in left field a couple of times), he would explain it afterwards in a way that, even if you didn't agree, you had to admit made some sense. Tony leaves baffling moves (having the cleanup hitter try to bunt for a base hit, batting Juan Encarnacion fourth, etc.) largely unexplained, causing those who watch the team daily to accuse him of overmanaging.

Nevertheless, La Russa's record is undeniable. He's won more games than any manager alive today. He's now one of only two managers to win World Series championships in both leagues. He's managed ten division-winning teams. He's won four manager of the year awards. If you Google the phrase "managerial wins" (which I just did), you'll find that six of the first seven entries that come up are specifically about him.

So what gives? Why is La Russa so good? First, I'll talk about what I think it's not, and then we'll look at what it is.

What it's not: Strategy. Tony La Russa is not a great strategist. There. I said it. Let the mountains fall down and the planets explode. I know this is contrary to everything you hear the sportscasters and sportswriters saying. But that's because most sportswriters are drunk, and most sportscasters are hired for having nice voices or pretty faces rather than for their understanding of sports.

The Common Baseball Wisdom is that La Russa is a master strategist, squeezing each percentage out of ever move he makes (and boy does he make a lot of moves). La Russa encourages and cultivates this portrait, which has been propagated by George Will in Men at Work and Buzz Bissinger in Three Nights in August (both of which are delightful, must-read books, by the way). Here are the facts:

• La Russa's strategy is often downright baffling

• La Russa rarely deigns to explain said baffling strategy.

• La Russa wins a ton of games.

• Ergo, the sports commentators assume it must be brilliant strategy even though they don't understand it, because he wins.

But if they were a little smarter, they'd trust their first instinct. La Russa's most befuddling moves are confusing because they're usually wrong. It's not "genius" to have cleanup hitter Larry Walker try to bunt for a base hit (like in the 2004 Series) when he's the only guy on the team hitting for average. It's not good strategy to place huge strikeout hitters in the four and five holes in the lineup (like he did frequently through the post-season). It's not wise to pull a pitcher who's throwing well just to do the lefty/righty thing.

Herzog used to say that the best manager could strategize his team into an extra three or four wins a season, at most. That seems like a modest estimate, but I think it's possible even that is overstated. Some (like the guys at Baseball Prospectus) have even crunched numbers that lead them to believe that the absolute best thing a manager can do during a game is stay out of the way, since not even batting order has a substantial impact on a team's overall output. According to some of these analysts, most managerial contributions to a game will actually be harmful. In any case, it's clear to me that it's not strategy (despite his reputation) that make La Russa great.

What it is: LaRussa, perhaps more than any manager in the Major Leagues, gets the absolute most out of nearly every one of his players. Whether superstar or third-stringer, players give LaRussa everything they have. All one has to do is see how players thrive under him as opposed to other managers they play for.

Some examples: Chris Carpenter (who never had an ERA under 4 before coming to the Cardinals and is now in line for a possible second Cy Young award), Woody Williams (who made an All-Star team with the Cardinals and was otherwise mediocre both before and after playing for La Russa), Mike Matheny (who was in the majors for six years before he was acquired by the Cards and immediately started winning Gold Gloves), Jim Edmonds (who began putting up the biggest numbers in his career offensively and defensively in mid-career after being traded to the Cardinals), Jose Canseco (who was never the same player again after being traded by Oakland in 1992), Fernando Vina (who, though he did make an All-Star team before coming to St. Louis, had the best three-year period of his career and won his two Gold Gloves under TLR), Dennis Eckersley (who's career was badly fading when La Russa and Dave Duncan turned him into a closer and bought him a ticket to the Hall of Fame--all while TLR played Deuling Mullets with him throughout the 80's), and many others. That's not even to mention guys from this championship team who played way over their heads like Jeff Suppan, Jeff Weaver, So Taguchi, etc. People forget that even future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols, a 13th round draft choice, was not considered to be anything special even within the Cardinals' organization until after he was already playing for La Russa on the big league roster and started tearing the cover off the ball.

So why do players play so well for La Russa? I don't really know, to be honest. Whatever it is, it's rare and it's important. It's probably the kind of thing you'd have to be a fly on the wall to know--interpersonal stuff that the public never gets to see. Certainly pitching coach Dave Duncan deserves some of the credit for the pitching turnarounds. But tons of position players have also had their best years under La Russa. Tony shows faith in his players and goes to the wall for them. He defends them in the media. He orders retaliation when one of them gets beaned. He protects them with the umps. Somehow, some way, Tony La Russa has conducted himself in such a way where many of his players would walk through a wall for him.

The lesson is that managerial strategy is overrated. Joe Torre's terrible strategy looked awful in St. Louis in the early '90's when he had no players. Give him Derek Jeter and Roger Clemens, and suddenly he's got four rings, even with the same lousy strategy. A manager has to protect his players and handle the media, which is no small thing. If he has some talent on his team and does those things right, they can win. Tony La Russa has done that better than just about anybody. It's not strategy; it's knowing how to take care of a team. The St. Louis Cardinals are fortunate to have one of the best.

Related Tags: Tony La Russa, Cardinals

Meet Me In St. Louis

A couple of quick photos from World Series Game 5:

This is John while the initial celebration is taking place on the field:



Here he is amidst the hubub closer to the field a little later in the evening:



And the scoreboard tells the story:

Champions

On Wednesday, John Jr. and I flew up to St. Louis where it was rainy and cold. Our tickets were for Game 4, and so we headed down to the new Busch Stadium late that afternoon with the Cardinals up 2-1 in the Series. At game time, the tarp was still on the field and they told us that no time had been set to get the game underway. Finally, at about 9:15pm Central (about 1:45 after the game was supposed to have started) they announced that the game would be cancelled for the night.

We assumed that we'd be coming back to try again the next night, but oddly that turned out not to be the case. For reasons I still don't entirely understand, it was announced that Game 5 tickets would be honored the next night (in what would chronologically be Game 4), and that our Game 4 tickets would be honored on Friday night (in what would chronologically be Game 5).

After about thirty seconds of math, my son and I realized something. IF the Cardinals would win Game 4 the next night, they would go up 3-1 and we would be in a position to see the possible clincher. It seemed like a long shot, since in reality they were only halfway to a championship at that point and they'd have to win two more consecutive games. But the possibility was there.

And then it happened. We watched Game 4 on television with friends and family, and I don't know if I've ever been more invested in a game. We wanted that win so that it would be 3-1 heading into our game. When they won, we were ecstatic. One more win to go.

After raining all day Friday, things cleared up a couple of hours before game time on Friday night. Busch was absolutely crackling with electricity. Certainly we couldn't take anything for granted--after all, the Cardinals have blown two 3-1 World Series leads in the past--but something seemed different this time.

I've been a Cardinals baseball fan since I was old enough to talk. My parents have pictures of me wearing an StL hat as a toddler. I got to go to playoff and World Series games (even got pulled out of school!) in 1982 and 1985. My dad and I were sitting in the stands on the third base side when Ozzie Smith hit his first-ever left-handed home run against Tom Niedenfuer to beat the Dodgers in Game 5 of the NLCS. But at 10:22pm CDT on Friday night, with my son and I sitting in the upper deck in right field, Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge swung through an Adam Wainwright curveball and the Cardinals provided me with the sports highlight of my lifetime. After 24 years--after Don Denkinger stole the 1985 Series from us, after the crazy air conditioner in the Metrodome blew our '87 title away, after the disastrous Joe Torre/Mark Whiten/Ray Lankford/Todd Zeile years, after Darryl Kile died, after losing the great Jack Buck, after a 100-win team was humiliated by the Red Sox in the '04 Series, after a 105-win team was bounced from the playoffs by the Houston Astros last year, after they tore down the stadium that held so many memories--the St. Louis Cardinals were the World Series champions.

A lot of people are whining about how bad this World Series was, about how the Cardinals didn't belong there. All I can say to that is: We were owed. This is a great franchise that does it the right way in the best baseball city on earth. We were on the other side of this deal in 2004 and 2005, falling short after winning in the triple digits. I don't recall anyone complaining in 2004 about the unfairness of it all when the Cardinals were swept out of the Series by the Red Sox, who were a wild card team. Nobody said the Cardinals "handed over the series" to the Sox despite the fact that the heart of the lineup had one hit that year. You gotta play the games, and the Cardinals did--better than any other team this postseason. They beat teams that were heavily favored in three straight series, all while never having the home field advantage. The Cardinals have the winningest record in baseball since 2000 while teams like the Diamondbacks and the Marlins and the White Sox have come and gone. Don't tell me they don't deserve a world championship.

At the end of the game with Inge batting, I started shooting some home video from our right field perch. The camera shakes as the stadium explodes and Yadier Molina runs out and jumps on Wainwright. I then pan to my son sitting next to me, and he has a look of unbridled joy on his face like I've never seen before. "It's incredible!" he keeps saying. He's a 14-year-old kid who, like his dad, was wearing a Redbirds cap before he could walk. He went to his first game when he was four months old. He devours sports pages his grandma sends him from St. Louis with Cardinals articles. He watches every out of games they play against Pittsburgh in May. And his team has just won its first World Series in his lifetime.

You don't ever top that. Anything the Cardinals ever do from here out is just icing on the cake for me.

Related Tags: Cardinals, World Series, World Series champions

Wayne Grudem Interview Audio

Earlier this month, I interviewed Dr. Wayne Grudem about his new book Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism? on the radio. The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood has posted the audio from the hourlong interview here.

Al Mohler has also written a comprehensive review of Dr. Grudem's book.

Related Tags: Wayne Grudem, Evangelical Feminism, Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, CBMW

It All Makes Sense Now

I have a theory (spurred by some comments on ESPN Radio) that I think now makes sense of all this Kenny Rogers weirdness. Here goes (and remember, everything I'm stating here is simply theory):

Most big league pitchers probably use a little sticky something in cold or wet weather in order to help them grip the ball. The probably see it as not really cheating, because they're not using it to alter the flight of the ball--just to help them hold it properly.

Last night, the cameras caught Kenny Rogers not being careful enough about it. Tony LaRussa is now in an awkward spot. He knows his pitchers use the same stuff, and it's just an unspoken agreement that nobody will make a big deal out of it as long as it's not causing the ball to flutter. But the FOX cameras have just shown it to the world. So he goes out between innings and says to the umpires, "Look, I don't want to make a big deal out of this, but Kenny's making me look like an idiot here. The clown's not even hiding his sticky stuff--he's got it right on his hand. The whole world sees it. If I don't squawk about it now, I'll be crucified. Tell him to go clean up his hand, and we'll leave it alone." Which the umpires do.

That would explain why TLR didn't do more at the time. It would explain why he still doesn't want to talk about it. It would explain why even the Cardinals players have been quiet on it. And it would explain why the umpires didn't nail him to the wall. I have to admit, I find this theory persuasive (though there are some holes--the pictures below clearly show Rogers using the stuff on a sunny day in July). If my theory is right, we'll continue to see the Tigers, the Cardinals, and Major League Baseball just try to make this story go away. I'm really starting to lean more and more in the direction of, "If it doesn't bother the Cardinals, it doesn't bother me."

Related Tags: Kenny Rogers, Kenny Rogers' hand, World Series, game 2, Cardinals, Tigers, pine tar

Kenny's Persistent Mud Spot

July 5, 2006 vs. the Oakland A's:



July 20, 2006 vs. Chicago White Sox:



A comparison of Rogers' hand from Game 3 of the ALCS (left) and last night's Game 2 of the World Series (right):















[photo from WireImage.com/US PRESSWIRE

Another question that's been presenting itself as the photographic evidence begins to mount: does dirt usually shine?

Here's an interesting note for discussion from an article at Yahoo Sports:

La Russa's failure to officially ask for an inspection baffled even his own staff and players.

"They're not arbitrarily going to go out there and check him," Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan said. "They have to be asked to check him."

Why didn't the Cardinals ask?

"You have to ask Tony that," Duncan said.

Mud?

The next 48 hours are going to be very interesting indeed, especially as the New York media jumps all over the fact that tapes show Kenny Rogers with a foreign substance on his hand in the series against the Yankees, too. Somebody needed to tell him he didn't need to cheat to beat the Cardinals--being lefthanded is more than enough.

Well, we're tied 1-1. It's now a best of five series!

Baseball Heaven

Okay, I lied. I lied about not getting excited about the Cardinals until they won a game in the World Series. Fact is, I'm so thrilled today I can hardly see straight.

I always worry about talking about this kind of stuff, because I can only imagine how trivial it sounds to the many non-sports fans. It couldn't possibly make sense to you. But I'm sitting here realizing that you only get a relative handful of days in life when you feel like I feel right now. I can't work. I can't concentrate. Coworkers have been lining up at my office door all day to congratulate me. I just keep sitting here thinking "The Cardinals won the pennant!" When you've grown up a baseball fan, there's a lot of memories (and future memories) tied up in something like this. Watching these games (and this sometimes-frustrating, always-exciting Cardinal team) over the last few years with my rabid Redbird-fan son only heightens that meaningfulness.

I grew up watching Cardinals baseball. I earned my stripes as a fan. I was born about 6 weeks after their 1968 World Series loss, and they didn't reach another post-season until I was almost 14. I watched a few brilliant players during that span, like Lou Brock, Keith Hernandez, and Ted Simmons (Bob Gibson was nearly finished when I started watching). I also watched a lot of guys like Kenny Reitz, Mike Tyson (the chubby second baseman, not the cannibalistic boxer), Bake McBride, Jerry Mumphrey, and Tony Scott. I went to games where there were only 5000 people in the park. I watched Whitey Herzog yank Garry Templeton into the dugout and take a punch at him after Templeton flipped off the crowd--on Ladies' Day, no less. There was a lot of ignominy at Busch Stadium in those days. But I didn't care. I loved walking into that monstrous stadium with all the arches around the top. I loved the look of clean, white, new bases and freshly raked infield dirt. I loved the treat of eating a ballpark hotdog. And I loved those birds on the bat.

In the first decade of the 21st century, those Cardinals are now a perennial contender. They've won two pennants in three seasons. They have the best player in baseball (whom I like to call A-Poo, though ESPN's Bill Simmons steals it from me today). They have a beautiful new stadium. I've told my son, "Enjoy this. You may go through decades later in life when your team doesn't even sniff a post-season. You're getting to be a Cardinal fan at one of the great times ever to be a Cardinal fan."

Do I get too wrapped up in it? No doubt. Is it silly to put such stock in mere entertainment? Most likely. Often I find myself wondering, "Why do I put myself through this?" During the late innings of last night's game, as my stomach felt like I had eaten nails and chased them with a shot of acid, I wished for a moment that I could be one of those millions of people who couldn't care less. The vast majority of the nation was going about it's business last night as if baseball didn't even exist. Is this worth it? Is there any point to this?

Today I know the answer. You just don't get many days to feel like this. The sure agony of the World Series hasn't started yet, and everything's even. Today, for this day, it's only joy and optimism. Whatever happens in the World Series, my team...my son's team--the St. Louis Cardinals--are winners of the National League pennant after one of the most thrilling and gut-wrenching games in postseason history. Yadier Molina has taken his place next to Ozzie Smith, Jack Clark, and Albert Pujols with a heroic, game-winning NLCS homer. Our voices are hoarse from screaming after it went over the wall. We're tired from staying up until 2am watching postgame interviews over and over again. It's not just entertainment. This is about my history. My grandparents and parents. My children. My city. My home.

Earlier this morning, I got the stunning word that two tickets to Game 4 of the World Series at the new downtown home of the Redbirds are available for my son and me. I booked the flight a couple of hours ago.

Does it get any better than this?

[P.S. I've just realized that today is the 24th anniversary of the the night Bruce Sutter blew one past Gorman Thomas to win last Cardinals World Championship. Which reminds me that it can get even a little better than this.]

Game 7

Tonight's the big one, and we just may bounce it around a little bit in the comments section live during the game tonight if any of you baseball fans feel like stopping by.

The Cardinals played disappointingly last night. Tonight's pitching matchup favors the Cards. Home field and the fact that the pitching matchups have gone the opposite of what's expected favor the Mets. The middle of the Cardinals lineup favors the Mets. Indefinable post-season mojo favors the Cards. It's a coin-toss; we'll see what happens.

Tonight's lineup has already been posted (courtesy Bernie Miklasz of the Post-Dispatch):

Eckstein
Wilson
Pujols
Encarnacion
Edmonds
Rolen
Molina
Belliard
Suppan

It's not the one I'd go with. Rolen should be benched, and if he doesn't like it, trade him. He's killing this team, and he's a proven post-season liability. He hurt the team by lying to Tony LaRussa about how hurt he is, and last night even his defense stunk. Has there ever been a postseason Rolen showed up for? If I played him at all, I'd hit him eighth.

And Encarnacion cleanup again? Please. They guy on his best day is about a .230 hitter, and strikes out three times a game. Between Encarnacion, Edmonds, and Rolen in the middle of the lineup, plan to see a lot of 0-2 counts and runners left on.

Of course, any of them can shut me up by being the hero tonight.

See you in the comments!

UPDATE--Late Thursday night: The Cardinals win the pennant! The Cardinals win the pennant! It's gonna be a rematch of '68! New Busch Stadium will host a World Series!

St. Louis will be the underdogs again. Good. It's working well for them so far.

Chip Off The Ol' Block

I was watching the baseball game last night with my son when, during a news break, they mentioned the NFL bomb threat story.

JOHN JR.: What's that all about?

JOHN SR.: Apparently there's been some kind of terrorist threat on Dolphin Stadium.

JOHN JR.: Probably football purists.

In The News, One Last Time

Sometimes something is so familiar that you don't even notice it. It just becomes part of the wallpaper.

Such was the case with a voice familiar to anyone who grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons in the 1970's--Christopher Glenn of "In the News." "In the News" was a little one or two minute news vignette CBS plugged in between the cartoons to teach children about current events. I don't actually remember a single thing they showed on there, but the voice of Christopher Glenn and the theme "song" (though you can't really call it a song--it was really more of an annoying sound) are indelible.

Glenn died yesterday of liver cancer at 68. CBS News' website has a nice look back at his career.

Related Tags: Christopher Glenn, In the News, CBS News

Games People Play

As I said, I'm not going to get excited.

But last night's game was a big step towards the World Series for the Cardinals. Tony LaRussa, except for when he insanely ordered his cleanup hitter to bunt in the fifth inning, largely resisted his overmanaging urge, and the Cardinals pulled off a nice victory against the Mets' best starter. Tony even showed a bit of the "genius," pinch-hitting Chris Duncan in a situation in which Duncan normally hits about .100. He homered.

Even though game six (and game seven, if necessary) is at Shea, I honestly find myself liking the spot the Cards are in. Tonight it's Cy Young candidate Chris Carpenter against...um...non-Cy Young candidate John Maine. Though Carpenter was not sharp in his last outing, you can't like this matchup if you're a Mets fan. And if it goes seven, you likely have Jeff Suppan, who was spectacular in game three, going up against either Oliver Perez or Darren Oliver. Or perhaps Oliver Stone. Or Oliver from "The Brady Bunch." One doubts the Mets would go to Trachsel again after the game three disaster. In any case, all the future pitching matchups heavily favor the Cardinals.

Okay, maybe I'm starting to get a little bit excited. Why do I do this to myself? This can only end badly. I should get out now while the gettin's good.

Oh, and at one point the Fox crew cut to a shot of a dude wearing a John Calvin t-shirt. You don't see that very often; even less so at major sporting events. Which reminds me: whatever happened to that guy with the rainbow hair and the "John 3:16" sign? I thought I remembered he went to prison or died or something horrible. I guess that's the tradeoff for great seats.

Related Tags: Cardinal, Mets, Tony LaRussa, NLCS, World Series

Have The Cards Run Out?

The Cardinals and Mets are now tied at two, and I can't help but feel that the Redbirds blew their best chance to win the pennant last night. In a position to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series, they were facing Oliver Perez, at 3-13 perhaps the worst starting pitcher ever for a LCS game--and a guy they owned this season. Furthermore, the game was at Busch, and Perez hadn't won a single game on the road this year. And the Cardinals lost to him.

The shame of it is, I think the game was blown by Tony LaRussa, who up until this point had somehow resisted his overmanaging instincts and done a very nice job of guiding his team through the playoffs. But he just couldn't resist showing his "genius" any longer. Though I know few will agree with me, here's my reasoning for pinning it on TLR: he yanked a starting pitcher, Antonio Reyes, who was doing a serviceable job in a tie game after four innings.

This isn't mere 20/20 hindsight on my part. When LaRussa told Joe Buck after the fourth that Reyes was done, I said to my son, "That doesn't make sense to me. I'd much rather go with the devil I know--a guy throwing an OK game--than the devil I don't know. There's no guarantee you're going to get five good innings out of any bullpen, and if the first guy you bring in stinks, you're in a real mess." You don't change horses midstream when your horse is keeping pace with the others. About a minute later, that kid who looks like he's twelve (I forget his name) started giving up bombs and it was all over. There was nowhere left to run, and all the rest of the bullpen could try to do was mop up.

Willie Randolph understands what I'm talking about, which is why he left Oliver Perez in the game despite the fact that...well, he's Oliver Perez. You don't make the decision based on who he is, you make the decision based on how he's doing. On any given night in baseball, a scrub can turn into Sandy Koufax. Nobody last night was Sandy Koufax, but LaRussa gave the hook to a pitcher who was keeping his team in the game before it was even half over. Randolph stayed with his guy a little longer and got him a win by simply outwaiting LaRussa.

Now the Cards are in a jam. Yes, the series is tied. But tonight's is a must-win game (since you can't expect two win two straight in New York), and they're going against Tom Glavine. Last night was their best chance, and unfortunately Tony couldn't keep his genius in the box for one more night. Tonight I fully expect him to overreact to the loss and go back into full overmanaging mode--bunting Pujols, using every pitcher in his bullpen for those five-hour-game-inducing right/lefty switches, and having the pitcher hit third or something.

Like I said--I'm not getting my hopes up.

Related Tags: Cardinals, Mets, Tony LaRussa, Willie Randolph, Antonio Reyes, Oliver Perez