Cardinals a Sure Thing…Not so Fast

Last year, the St. Louis Cardinals appeared to be a dominant enough of a force to contend with the Phillies before folding in the divisional series. I had highly anticipated an exciting NLCS between the Phillies and the Cardinals, but was disappointed for baseball when the Phillies received a free pass to the World Series, playing against Manny Ramirez for the Pennant. Having the same strong lineup as last year and the same slightly below average division, St. Louis will certainly win the NL Central again this year.

However, I have tried to think of how they are going to win the Pennant. The Phillies continue to stack their team with ace pitchers who have been feared for a few years now. Does anybody know who to fear on St. Louis. They have Kyle Lohse, who failed miserably for the Phillies in past playoff experiences. They also have Ryan Franklin, who is very good, but I do not remember hearing his name last season. My guess is that St. Louis is really going to have to show something magical this year as far as their pitching goes or they will easily fall to the powerhouse offense that is the Phillies, or maybe Manny will beat them again.

The Cardinals have their own hitting perspective though. I am sure everyone is aware at this point that Mark Mcgwire is again working for baseball, but is anyone as frustrated as I am about it. He conveniently apologized so that he could become the hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. He also wrote a book about his experiences, but he couldn’t say it all in court a few years ago. St. Louis has welcomed Mcgwire back with open arms and believes that he has done the right thing. Is this what the American culture thinks is acceptable behavior?