The Critic

3 games without a goal. Yuck. Amazing what a difference two guys can make.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 10:36 PM) I agree, in theory, with every word of what you say. However, who the hell is going to play 3B for them next year? Joe Randa? They need Ramirez' home runs badly, as a team that is HORRIBLE with power as it is, and they have nobody in their system even close to MLB calibur at 3B. It's a catch 22, because losing a dog like him and his 11 million dollar a year paper isn't bad, but they have nobody that can play 3B for them if he leaves, and there isn't much out there on the market, unless of course you want to dump Carlos Zambrano for A-Rod. This is correct. Ramirez HAD to file - he'd be stupid not to. It's a contract ploy/escape clause to get a bunch more money and guaranteed years from someone in a weak FA year. If he doesn't file, he gets no "raise" and is obligated for the remainder of his deal. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him stay with the Cubs at more years and bucks.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Oct 29, 2006 -> 11:51 PM) It sure did help that the Mets lost half their starting rotation. And you can only go so far with the injury card. I'm sure every team could tack on 5-10 more wins if every single one of their players were healthy the whole year. The Cards won a horrible division in a horrible league. Do they have to apologize for it? Of course not. But I don't see what's wrong in recognizing that they were FAR from a great team this year. There's nothing wrong with it. It just seems like some people are assuming that the Sox would have destroyed them in the Series, and I don't think it's a fair assumption. The Cards were the underdog in every postseason series, with the possible exception of the opening round vs. San Diego, which could have been a toss-up. They played teams with better records and beat them all. I'd like to think the Sox would have fared better against them (I still believe that the Sox would've repeated had they gotten in, but we'll obviously never know if that's true), but I'll bet the Padres, Mets, and Tigers' fans thought the same thing and got sent home by the Birds. I guess I'm just more inclined to point out their accomplishments than their shortcomings, but I suppose that's because they're my favorite National League team. I've said everything I can about this topic, so I will also stop being an ass about it now.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Oct 29, 2006 -> 10:26 PM) Well the thing is they really didn't battle through the injuries during the regular season, they won 83 games which is the same amount of games we won in 2004 without Maggs and Frank. Look, I do have sour grapes cause I'm pissed off after watching that World Series knowing the Sox on talent alone could have ran through this damn thing but I hope the Cards fans enjoy this, there team did win it. I just don't respect this team that much. They did win the Series though and no one can take that away from them. I just think your anger (for lack of a better term) is misdirected. The Cardinals didn't break any rules to get in, they just won a bad division. The 2004 Sox didn't get in with the same record, but that's not StL's fault either. The Sox have no one to blame but themselves for their failure to qualify, but that takes nothing away from what the Cardinals did. One thing has nothing to do with the other. And bear in mind that in the postseason the Cardinals beat the best team in the NL record-wise and the team that was the best in the AL for most of the season, so I think that deserves some respect as well.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Oct 29, 2006 -> 04:02 PM) So wrong again my friend. It is the greatest time and if you sit a spell, I'll tell you why. Unless of course your musical taste are in line with 98% of the population, then it's as good a time as any. And if your taste isn't in line with 98% of the population, it is the finest time ever on this planet to be a fan. With the internet, you can experience bands of all sizes, those with contracts and those without. Bands that want a big audience but not finding it, and bands that are fine with just making music for their mom's and girlfriends. That has never been the case in the history of mankind. If I'm in the mood for some Icelandic atmosphere, I am a couple mouse clicks away, Some 8-bit garage music by some 14-year old with an idea, a couple mouse clicks away. Terrible time? Nope, the only thing terrible is how much is out there and so little time to explore. This is the best thing about the Internet. Any band can get their music out there, and there's a TON of great bands out there, if you take the time to search them out.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Oct 29, 2006 -> 12:34 PM) I don't think anyone is trying to make Cardinals fans feel worse about winning. In fact, I'd say nearly all of us are happy to have seen them win. It's just practically undeniable that this is the worst WS champion any of us have ever seen. I realize that, but I know we have several big-time Cards fans on the site, and it just looks like people are pissing on their team, instead of congratulating them for winning despite serious injuries to most of their better players throughout the season. If they had Isringhausen, Mulder, Bigbie, Rolen for the whole year, Edmonds for the whole year, (even Pujols missed some time), they'd probably have been a "better" team. They played with who they had, and they won the whole damn thing. That should be respected and celebrated, not spit on, in my opinion, especially from a fanbase who've used injuries as an excuse over the past few years ourselves. ("If we hadn't lost Frank and Magglio....")

I bet Cards fans care as much about being called the "worst World Series winners ever" as much as we cared about people calling the Sox "lucky" after the Graffanino error, the AJ "steal of first" and the Biggio dropped popup. Which is to say, not one bit at all.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Oct 29, 2006 -> 10:18 AM) I love Mark and out of any other Sox player of all time, it'd be the hardest for me to see him in another uni. That being said, it's getting real annoying having to deal with this saga every damn year. Just take it with the grain of salt it deserves and you won't be nearly as annoyed. Works for me!

The Tigers will be motivated next year by their World Series failures. The AL Central division will be double-tough again in 2007, and the Sox will have to address some of the things they failed at in 2006 if they want to compete. I fully expect KW and the organization to make the changes they feel they need. It's going to be a lot of fun at the Cell next year, for sure.

I look for good things from Mark in 2007. I think he'll adjust from what happened the second half of this season, and come back strong.

Finally saw The Departed last night. Enjoyed it immensely. Can't wait to watch it a bunch more times on DVD.

Eckstein wins the MVP, as he should have. He was in the middle of everything good that happened to St. Louis in the Series.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 10:33 PM) It's one of their worst, IMO. Then they REALLY suck.

All it's going to say in the record books is: 2006 World Series St. Louis (NL) 4, Detroit (AL) 1 No one has to like it, but they earned their title by qualifying for the postseason and winning 11 games after that. It's not their fault that the NL was super-weak and the Tigers played like Little Leaguers. They did what they had to do, and hats off to them.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 10:30 PM) This is comical, the Cardinals wouldn't even be a playoff team in the AL and they win it. Worst team to ever win the Series by far. Yeah, and it's gonna say that on the trophy, too. They played well enough to be better than the team they played against. That's all they needed to do.

This celebration is making me jealous that the Sox won on the road. How great does that have to be for the Cards fans?

Congratulations to the 2006 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals!!! If it couldn't be the Sox, at least it was my favorite National League team. But it is with heavy hearts that we all must OFFICIALLY declare the Sox' title reign.....OVA. In my mind, Eckstein is the MVP of this series.

Add the choke-o in 2003 and that's 4 straight October nutshots for Cub fans.

Sean Casey doing his part. He's been a hitting machine in the Series. 2 outs to go, come on Cards!

Looks to me like both teams are trying to throw the Series and only the Tigers are "succeeding". ...or it could just be REALLY BAD baseball...either/or....

HRAY FOR DEFENSE!!! This is truly embarrassing.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 01:38 PM) Man I hope these guys sell a billion records and end up rich and fat....*sigh* but they're not Justin Timberlake, so they won't. Click on the 'Chips Ahoy' video and crank it up, hope it works for you. http://www.spinner.com/2006/10/17/video-pr...S00050000000039 I like that song, but to be honest it's the first song from The Hold Steady that I've liked. Luckily, they have a free mp3 of the song on the Pitchfork site, so I have the song on my iPod now.

Another Detroit pitcher throwing error. THERE'S a shocker..... 3-2 Cards.

This World Series has been a total mess. What a crappy display of baseball.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 07:21 PM) I'm unsure, but him in a Cardinals hat has to be against some rule... f*** that, he's losing my love with this bulls***. A rule against being a fan of your favorite childhood team would be the dumbest rule ever written. I have no problem with Mark talking about the possibility of pitching for StL when his contract is up, because I believe he's professional enough to give his all to the Sox while he wears their uniform.