Friday Wrap-Up

As the calendar flips from August to September, baseball season begins to wind down and both the college and NFL football season starts to get under way. It’s also the time that I start realizing that college really is over and that I’m kind of an adult now. With all of that being said (and that last part having absolutely NOTHING to do with anything in this article) here are the three things we learned this week and the three things to look for in the days ahead.

WHAT WE LEARNED

1. THE CARDINALS CAN DEFINITELY WIN AT HOME

Traditionally, the formula for a team to make it to the playoffs is to dominate on their home field and to play .500 ball on the road. The Cardinals had done okay at home, but they definitely have made up for it on the road with a 36-30 record. Before this last nine game home stand, St. Louis was 36-24. To put that in perspective, the Los Angeles Dodgers had the best home record in the National League with a record of 40-25. After going 7-2 on the home stand, the Cards over took the Dodgers for the best home record by a full game. The Cards now stand at 43-26 at home with twelve games left to play at Busch. With the Cardinals able to dominate teams at home and take advantage of a full house every night, home field advantage in the playoffs becomes that much more important and the road to the World Series becomes that much easier.


2. THE OFFENSE IS CAPABLE OF PICKING UP THE PITCHING STAFF

Both Carpenter and Pineiro had off-nights this past week as they left their team trailing after one inning. For the majority of the season, if the Cardinals are trailing after just one inning, the game is usually over. Before this week, the Cards were 6-25 when their opponent took an early lead. But two nights in a row the Cardinals erased an early 3-0 deficit for Pineiro and an early 1-0 deficit for Carpenter. After about a two week stretch where the offense barely hit .230, it was nice to see the pitchers get a lift and not have to be perfect for nine innings. If both the pitching and offense can get rolling together come the playoffs, this team is looking unstoppable against anybody.



3. THE SCOTT LINEHAN FOOTBALL DRAFTS WERE JUST AWFUL

This fact was probably already known by many fans, but the trading of Tye Hill to the Falcons for a 7th round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft essentially just confirmed it. This was just a poor pick as Hill was drafted way too high. People forget that Hill’s pick in the draft by the Rams was actually acquired via a trade with the Broncos. The Rams traded their 11th overall pick to the Broncos for the 15th overall and the 68th overall. The Rams drafted Tye Hill with the 15th pick and defensive tackle Claude Wroten. The Broncos drafted quarterback Jay Cutler with the 11th pick (you may have heard of this guy). Cutler has gone on to have a productive and very promising career. Wroten missed four games in 2007 and the whole season in 2008 after he failed to comply with the NFL’s substance abuse policy three different times. He now plays with the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

1. THE PITTSBURGH PIRATES ELIMINATED FROM THE PLAYOFFS

If the Cardinals sweep the Pirates this weekend, Pittsburgh will officially be eliminated from the playoffs and will clinch another losing season. While this may not seem significant, three more losses will break a Major League record. With their 82nd loss this season, the Pirates will break the Philadelphia Phillies record for consecutive losing seasons with 17. The Pirates have not had a winning season (or a trip to the playoffs) since 1992. The Phillies had 16 consecutive losing seasons from 1933-1948. Not only will this be a Major League Baseball record, but no team in any of the four major sports has ever had 17 consecutive losing seasons.

It’s amazing how such a historic franchise has become a minor league team to the rest of baseball. Does anyone realize how many great players have come up through the Pirates system? Here’s a look at a lineup the Pirates could have potentially fielded this year if they hadn’t traded away all of their players.

1B: Adam LaRoche
2B: Freddy Sanchez (2006 batting champion)
3B: Aramis Ramirez
SS: Jack Wilson (still leads the league in flashy plays)
LF: Jason Bay (3-time All-Star, 2004 Rookie of the Year)
CF: Xavier Nady
RF: Brian Giles
C: Jason Kendall (2,062 career hits, .290 career batting average)
SP: Ian Snell
CLOSER: Mike Gonzalez

That’s not the best lineup in the National League, but it’s definitely competitive and not an easy one for any starting pitcher to face.

2. WHO ARE THE MISSOURI TIGERS?

After two record setting seasons, the Tigers will take the field at the Edward Jones Dome on Saturday in the annual Arch Rivalry Game against the Illinois Fighting Illini. No team in the Big XII this year has more question marks this season than the Tigers. After losing superstars Chase Daniel, Jeremy Maclin, Chase Coffman, William Moore, Ziggy Hood and Jeff Wolfert (who was the most accurate place kicker in the history of NCAA football), it’s hard to grade where the Tigers will be. The team will definitely look to improve on defense from last year, when they ranked 116th out of 118 teams. The biggest question of all is can Blaine Gabbert orchestrate the spread offense? He has one year under his belt and had the privilege of watching Chase Daniel (the master of the spread offense) run the spread almost to perfection. Illinois will prove to be a good team to read the Tigers as the Illini are ranked 27th nationally and the Tigers are ranked 47th. This season will also solidify Pinkel as either a one-hit wonder with recruiting classes or a recruiting genius. If this team ends up going to a bowl game, Pinkel will have officially changed the face of the Tiger program.

My prediction: 8-4 with a trip to the Sun Bowl (Sorry. I’m a Homer when it comes to the Tigers and sometimes I’m blindly optimistic).

3. WAINWRIGHT TRIES TO SEPARATE HIMSELF FROM THE PACK

Cy Young or not, Adam Wainwright will end up having one of the best seasons by a Cardinal pitcher since Chris Carpenter in 2005. Right now, Wainwright and San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum are neck and neck for the NL Cy Young. Last night, Lincecum lost to the Phillies in a pitcher’s duel, 2-1. However, he still struck out eleven batters. While Wainwright can’t possibly pass Lincecum in total strikeouts, he can extend his Major League lead with his 17th win tonight against the Pirates. Depending on how well and how deep Wainwright goes into the game, Wainwright can overtake Lincecum for the 2nd lowest ERA in the National League and only trail the Cardinals other ace, Chris Carpenter.

That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter for up-to-the-minute opinion.