Sore Loser...

I'm not going to deny that this accurately describes me. For instance, when one of my former roomates called me late last night I picked up the phone and simply said, "Fuck You." before I hung up. When his brother text messaged me with a "Hahaha" I texted him back with "Die, Die, Die." They are both Yankee fans from Long Island soI already knew what was coming from them and was in no mood to listen to them blather on about how much the Cardinals suck. However, being a sore loser has nothing to do with I haven't posted anything yet today. All of the credit for that goes to the auditors who came to my facility this morning. I have spent pretty much all day with them going over member records and financial reports. It was actually fairly painless and I managed to get through it all without having my job threatened once. All in all, I'd consider that I successful day.

Anyway, the Cardinals were just flat out beaten by a better team (at this point in the season) last night. My Dad commented before the start of last night's game that he thought the Cards needed to get out to an early lead, and that if Houston did then all the momentum gained from Monday night would be rendered useless. Well, the old man was right and Houston jumped to an early lead on Mulder. Mulder didn't even have his average stuff last night. He couldn't keep the ball low in the zone and was never able to make the pitches he needed in the tight spots. I give all the credit to Roy Oswalt for pitching a great game and for going right after St. Louis' batters. He deserved that victory last night. With that said, the blown call on the tag at second on Molina was HUGE. Instead of having the bases loaded with nobody out and John "Coolest Batting Stance Ever" Rodriguez at the plate. Oswalt was left with 1st and 3rd and one out. It's alot easier to make pitches in the latter of those two situations. The aspect of the call that I found most vexing was the umpire's insistence that he made the correct call even though he had a totally obstructed view of the play. Once you get to the playoffs, it should be about making the correct call, not your ego. In this case, the first base umpire had a much better vantage point on the "tag". Put your pride aside and ask for some help. I'm not saying that the Cardinals win if this call goes their way. I'm just saying it would've changed the complexion of that inning and (possibly) the game.

A couple of notes about last night's game:

- Roy Oswalt doesn't get nearly enough credit for being a dominant pitcher. I think this stems from two reasons. (1) He only has two pitches, and often times (like last night) only throws one of them for the majority of a game. Analysts have trouble giving alot of credit to pitchers that they view as a one trick pony. (2) (and this seems like an even larger reason to me) He doesn't look like a great pitcher. He's small and has a boyish appearance. If anything, he looks like a utility infielder. I'm serious here. Perception becomes reality more than most will admit.

- St. Louis has one more year as presently constructed before their window closes. Even if Larry Walker retires they can go into next year with this team (if healthy) and have a legitimate shot of winning it all. After next year this team begins to fall apart in some key places.

-Julian Tavarez is done. It's not his fault. LaRussa rode him to death these last three years (less this year due to his ineffectiveness) and it's taken his toll. He doesn't have as much on his fastball as before and he can't consistently locate the ball anymore.

-I hate Chris Burke. That guy was in the middle of every offensively productive inning for Houston. Two weeks ago I'd never even heard of him and now the sight of him fills me with rage beyond words.

- Never tell your girlfriend that she can come over to watch a big game at your parents house. I know this is basic stuff, but somehow I totally blew it on this one last night. She came over to my parents house in the bottom of the second and from that point on it was like a two person knitting fair with all the damn chatting her and my mother did. At one point, I expected my Dad to throw up his hands and yell, "Shutup! Both of you shutup! Are you kidding me? It's Game 6 of the goddamned NLCS! Just go in the back room if you want to talk about cheeseball recipes damnit!" Of course, he didn't but I'm willing to bet that he had to stop himself at least twice.