A FEW THOUGHTS while watching the Cardinals advance to the Fall Classic:
- Ron Darling is just as good in the broadcast booth as he was in Shallow Hal. Seriously, that was on Sunday night.
- Texas is the only team in MLB that hasn't played at Busch Stadium? Didn't know that.
- To quote Mr. Darling, it's an "embarrassment of riches" to have Mike Napoli (.320, 30 homers, 75 RBI) batting sixth for Texas. And still surprises me to see Nelson Cruz batting seventh. The ALCS MVP had six home runs and 13 RBI, both records for a postseason series.
- That's now 121 career postseason games for manager Tony La Russa. Chris Carpenter, asked about the skipper, said, "Tony is the most prepared person I've ever been around. He lives and dies by numbers, by matchups, by lineups."
- Carpenter goes for a franchise-record 8th postseason win in Game 1 of the World Series at St. Louis. Likely C.J. Wilson for the Rangers. As Tom Verducci reminded us, the Cards have home-field advantage thanks to Prince Fielder's homer off Wilson in the All-Star Game. That's awesome.
- The Rangers won the ALCS without a starting pitcher earning a victory.
- Front Row Amy gave it her best shot.
- That Shaun Marcum for Brett Lawrie trade is looking better and better for the Blue Jays.
- Good luck to Game 6 winning pitcher Marc Rzepczynski, the first New Hampshire Fisher Cat to reach the World Series. Now if I only I'd grabbed one of those squirrel T-shirts at Busch.
Catching up with "Zep" in the NLCS: That's the face of Prince Fielder's worst nightmare.
