Boy that escalated quickly. I mean that really got out of hand fast.
-Ron Burgundy
Leave it to the wise old Anchorman to sum up the Cardinals’ weekend in Houston and Labor Day meltdown in Arizona. Didn’t we just have a tight race between the Cardinals and Brewers - something like five days or a week ago? It’s safe to say the Cardinals did not keep their head on a swivel in this vicious cockfight.
All summer the Cardinals have been teasing us with Hard Nines and scrappy play, and now they’re 7.5 back of the Brewers. For reference, Milwaukee lost seven games in August. Good luck with that.
I take Keith Law with a grain of salt, but a few months ago I remember him saying (on the award-winning The Morning After) that the Cardinals’ early success was due to playing bad teams. The late season schedule would catch up to them, while teams like the Brewers and Cubs would surge ahead. Hmm, that sounds familiar…
So now what do we do? There are a few options left when it comes to the last month of the season, from a fan‘s perspective:
Fire Sale: Dump all your September tickets now (if you haven’t already). Ebay, Craigslist, message boards, etc. Shift all focus onto something else, like the NFL or Professional Bowling. The Chris Paul Celebrity PBA Doubles Invitational presented by the brands of Ebonite International is right around the corner. Don't act like you didn't just poop your pants in excitement.
Play the Season Out: It’s only one month left. The Cardinals are still enjoyable to watch, even if we don’t need to pay attention to the out-of-town scoreboard. Once mid-November rolls around, we’ll be counting the days until pitchers and catchers report. Might as well enjoy the season while it lasts. Plus, be sure to check out teams like the Rays, Marlins, Angels, and Phillies - all fun to watch (and none of them have Derek Jeter).
Youth Movement: Buy some cheap tickets from the “Fire Sale” gang, bring your underage sibling(s) to a game and get them hammered. This is similar to the September call-ups. Bring the kids up and see what they’ve got. You may have some quality potential down in the minors; might as well let them get their feet wet…with $8 Bud Selects.
Push All-In: This is my favorite guy - the one who believes the Cubs and Brewers will have an epic September collapse just because of the name on the front of their jersey. We all have a friend like this, and it may even be you. No matter what your level of hatred is for either NL Central team, they are flat out better. It’s okay to admit. Baseball Prospectus gives the Cards a whopping 3% chance to make the playoffs, so that probably means it’s over. Those aren’t good odds to be talking about October baseball in St. Louis. By the way, if you play poker in a similar manner, please call me to come to your home game.
Based on the options, our best bet now is to do what the players are doing - play the season out. Like I said, we’ll miss baseball after it’s gone, so enjoy September and October while it lasts. And go Rays.
On the bright side, the Cardinals would want me to remind you that the Winter Warm-up is right around the corner, so start saving your money now!
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