In spite of several prognosticators who keep predicting that the Cardinals of St. Louis will hit a bad patch and that other teams will eventually surpass their record, they keep winning.
It is true that their offense of late has been rather punchless with a rash of injuries being exacerbated by hitting slumps of those in the lineup. Recently, the Cardinals lost a rare home series when they got only one hit in a three game series that batted in a run. They were shut out twice but, fortunately, the one RBI hit was a grand slam that salvaged one game of three.
Cardinal pitching still has their ERA under 3.00, an outstanding accomplishment this late into the season. A lot of faces have graced the position players lineup with manager Mike Matheny trying his best to come up with more offense.
At last report, St. Louis is 31 games above .500 with the Pittsburgh Pirates (19) the only other team in the National League in double digits in that category. The Cards are the first team to win 70 games this year with everyone else in the majors in the low 60s or less.
If the playoffs were set today, the Cards would play the New York Mets in the first round. The Chicago Cubs would play the Pirates in a one game playoff to see who would play the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Cubs have been hot lately, overtaking and leading the San Francisco Giants by one and a half games for the fifth playoff spot.
While St. Louis didn't score much in July, All-Star Matt Carpenter has gotten back into the groove and hitting like he is capable of and rookie Randal Grichuk is fielding and batting well, well enough to be considered the leading candidate for the 2015 Rookie of the Year Award. The Cards made several acquisitions before the deadline to bolster their bullpen and hitting too.
When the injured players are back on the field, don't be surprised if St. Louis goes on a tear and wraps up the division quite early.
Over in the American League, it looks like Kansas City may make it a Missouri sweep as they have a wide lead on the rest of the league and have made some astute trades to toughen up an already tough lineup. It looks like it might well be the I-70 Series all over again (named for the highway connecting the two cities in the Sho-me State).
The series last happened in 1985, won by the Royals when the Cards were denied a final out in one of the worst calls in World Series history. With 2 outs, the K.C. batter hit a grounder was thrown out by almost a full step which would have ended the game and the series in St. Louis favor. Inexplicably, the runner was declared safe. The pitcher then melted down with K.C. coming back to tie then win the game and then the series. If replay had been allowed then as it is now, the Cardinals would have 12 World Series titles rather than the 11.
Along with Kansas City, other divisional leaders are the New York Yankees and the Houston Astros. At present, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Angels would be in the wild card one game playoff game to most likely play Kansas City. After the hundreds of millions of dollars the Angels have spent over the past five years, maybe they will start to finally get something back for their money.
Most folks are good people, a lot of them Cardinal fans
With the myriad problems besetting our country and with the news filled with reports of violence, crimes, and people's ill treatment of one another, it sometimes seems that our society is headed for you-know-where in the proverbial handbasket. Like everyone else, I've had experiences with rude, dishonest and unkind people at one time or another and if you are not careful, it might seem to you to be the wave of the future. Then something happens to remind you of what a great country, with all its ills, that we live in.
My wife needed to attend a fitness conference (she's a certified health coach) in Florida but she lacked the time to drive there and back due to her personal responsibilities. I decided to take off and drive to an airport there and pick her up so she could travel by air. It would be a 1,200 mile drive one way and I was up for it, though some of my relatives worried about a lone traveler driving so far with all the stories of random attacks on people in cities.
By the time I got to my destination, I had a much brighter view of ordinary folks in the different states. After I began my journey early one morning, I stopped at a visitor center in Lake Village, Ark., by the Louisiana border. I was wearing my St. Louis baseball cap that I picked in St. Louis at a ballgame in June. While there I was approached by a couple of folks who were Cardinal fans from Louisiana and we had a nice discussion of our shared interests and also where we were headed.
I later stopped at the visitor center in Vicksburg, Miss., to get and mail a postcard. Asking a visitor center employee if she knew where I could get any stamps, she offered to get some out of her car and just give to me, but I politely declined, thanking her and asking where the post office was. Getting to the post office, I had a problem locating the machine when another patron noticed my uncertainty and offered to help. When she told me there was no machine, she wanted to know how important it was and that she could go home (she lived close by) and get me one. I thanked her but declined, and after a few pleasantries, went on my way.
Next stopping at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, I got a chance to view some different styles of art along with getting a break from driving. Once again, my hat drew some comments and questions from some other visitors which led to some pleasant conversations.
Stopping at a motel in Mobile, Ala., I had a pleasant exchange with the desk clerk lady while checking in. I remarked how I was going to bed early and getting up real early to catch a plane in Florida and she responded by moving my room to a different part of the complex. It seems the motel was next to a bar which was having some kind of event which would create a lot of noise until late in the evening, so the clerk placed me away from the noise, since my assigned room was directly across the parking lot from the other facility.
Hitting the road early the next day, I got into the heavy traffic coursing up and down Interstate 10. When I got caught behind a slow moving vehicle, to my surprise, when I put on my turn signal someone would always let me into the inside lane to pass. I did the same for several truckers who all flashed their lights in appreciation. When I passed one of them, I even got the airhorn and a thumbs up out the window. Whether they were Cardinal fans, I will never know.
Pulling into a truck stop in north Florida, I got to the store entrance at the same time a group of leather clad, beard wearing, bikers got there. To my surprise, they made way for me, opening the door for me to pass first. Once inside, one of them remarked that he followed the Cardinals and we talked for a bit. The bikers were part of a Vietnam vets group who were retired and just driving around the country.
Finally getting to my destination, I decided to go to the WalMart Neighborhood Market by the airport to fuel up and get some snacks. Yep, once again my bright red Cardinals hat was noticed, leading to a conversation with an employee who actually used to live in St. Louis. There was no one else in line and since I had no idea of how the Cardinals had done in the two days I had been traveling, he filled me in.
The few days I was in the great state of Florida, nearly every time I stopped to take a photo of my wife, someone nearby would volunteer to take the picture for me so I could be in the photo as well. Store clerks were uniformly polite and cordial, and except for the occasional rain storms, it was a very nice trip.
The United States is a great place to live, and most people in it are good, down-to-earth people no matter their color or appearance. Yeah, there are and will always be those who bully, and try to intimidate others, but they are a minority.
Maybe if more people were Cardinal fans.
•••
Editor's note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist and sports writer. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 08/12/2015