30 Comments - Highland, IL - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 12:24 pm: Yes, they have the three great pichters to get them through any series, and their line-up is greatly improved with Holliday hitting behind Pujols. - Louis G. Atsaves - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 12:27 pm: Yes. They have the best manager in baseball history who routinely brings out the best in his players. As a Cub fan, it pains me deeply to admit this. - downstate conservative - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 12:28 pm: As long as Ryan Franklin gets straightened out before the playoffs, they have as good a shot as anyone. With a playoff rotation of: Carpenter, Wainwright, Pineiro & Smoltz, no other team can match that. Their line-up is very dangerous and if Franklin can close games, they should be in good shape. But it’s now 101 years and counting for the Cubs. - Speaking at Will - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 12:35 pm: First, the Cardinals are just as much a part of Illinois as the cubs and sox, at least for folks who live south of springfield. There are 33 Cardinal radio affiliates in Illinois and if it wasnt for SIUC bringing a bunch of transplant cub and sox fans to this part of the state, I would never see a Cub or Sox hat. As far as the Cardinal chances, they are as good as anyone else who is gonna be in it. With 3 solid starters and Albert in the lineup anything is possible. Also, Tony LaRussa has over 2500 career wins, that can make as much of a difference as anyone on the field. - 47th Ward - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 12:37 pm: I’m betting the Cards give the Dodgers a lot more trouble than the Cubs managed last year, but getting past LA isn’t a slam dunk. But if it’s St. Louis v. the Yankees in the Series, I’ll be rooting for the birds. - VanillaMan - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 12:43 pm: Yeah - they’re great - whoopie! ‘yawn’ - OLD TIMER - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 12:45 pm: I agree with an earlier poster that the Cardinals are as much a part of Illinois as the Cubs or White Sox. They have the talent to get to and win the World Series. But they have many health issues and who sometimes makes moves that fans thinking “what the heck?” Also, the Phillies look like the team to beat. - shore - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 12:48 pm: No. After Mark Kirk, my biggest source of pride is the boston red sox who play baseball at a hall of fame level compared to the team from the sticks in southern illinois also known as the cardinals. We will destroy any national league team, but I’d love for it to be from st.louis. - Levi voted for Judy - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 1:06 pm: Without a doubt the Cards can go all the way. The acquisition of the year was Matt Holliday. His ability to protect Pujols will be invaluable. Also, the Carpenter/Wainwright combination will make each of their starts winnable. Smoltz could be the key. If he can bring it back for a month, that is the third key, veteran starter that will be needed. Or, he could play a role like El Duque when the White Sox won and play a vital middle relief role. It doesn’t hurt to have a Hall of Famer around in a critical situation. The Cards have the ability to explode and blow a game away on offense and can squeeze out a win playing small ball, with good pitching. Finally, LaRussa has been there before. October Prediction: Cards vs. Yankees in 6 games. - Ray del Camino - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 1:11 pm: As they used to say for Orlando Cepeda, “bravo, El Birdo!” Pitching, temperament, experience, Albert. What else do you need? And I agree with other downstaters: a big chunk of the Cards’ fan base is on the East Side. - Ron Burgundy - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 1:14 pm: Sure they can go all the way. There is more talent on this team than the 2006 team, and they found a way to do it. - Tunes - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 1:22 pm: Yes, they can. It all depends upon the closing pitching. I am hoping that Smoltz ends up in that role becasue Franklin looks shot at this point…he also doesn’t have the ‘hard stuff’ that good closers need to finish against the really good teams. Great late season pick ups in DeRosa, Holliday, Smoltz, and Lugo is what got them over the hump this year. - not on the clout list - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 1:38 pm: Of course they can-Tony LaRussa’s the manager, duh! (Thanks Hawk!!) No seriously, they’re built for a playoff run with that lineup - shore - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 1:49 pm: That cardinals team would be in 3rd place in the al east. if they get passed the nl, they are toast in the series. midwest baseball isn’t anywhere near the caliber of east coast ball. - Josh - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 2:00 pm: Shore, it doesn’t matter where the Cards would rank in the AL east, it matters how they play going into the playoffs and who shows up in the series. Damn right Cardinals have it where it counts this year! GO CARDS I’ll be there tomorrow! - Amuzing Myself - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 2:11 pm: shore…you might have a valid point if it weren’t for a funny thing that happened in 2006 and then more recently with the Phillies. Hmmmmm…. how could that be?! - Bill - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 2:36 pm: I thought that the Cardinals moved to Arizona years ago. - charles in charge - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 2:54 pm: Yes, the Cardinals can go all the way. Even if Pujols and Holliday are the only ones to produce, their front-of-the-rotation starting pitchers should keep things close regardless of the opponent. It’s true that when you get south of about Peoria, the state is 50% Cards fans or more. Still, you’ll never catch me rooting for a Missour-uh team. - Jimmy Ballgame - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 3:39 pm: shore, that tends to happen when the AL East has two of the top four payrolls, and the highest payroll in baseball, the Yankees’, is $52 million higher than the second. As a division the AL East is probably tops, but that all means bunk come October 7. Toast? That’s what they said about the Cards in 2006. Can the Cards go all the way? You bet. They have solid offense and solid pitching. Pujols-Holliday is fearsome and has a good supporting cast with Schumaker, Lugo, Molina and Ludwick. There is no better 1-2 than Carpenter and Wainwright, Piniero is a solid #3, good middle relief, and they have an All-Star closer in Franklin, despite his recent shakiness. But the playoffs are a funny thing. The Cards were arguably the best team in 2004 in 2005, best records in baseball but coming up short both years. No one gave them a chance against the Padres in the NLDS in 2006, let alone against the Mets and Tigers, but they got clutch hits and their ho-hum pitchers got hot at the right time and they won it all. - Central IL Guy - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 3:54 pm: It depends on their relief pitching and whether somebody beside Pujols and Holliday can step up and help create some runs. I think they’ve got a shot. - Reddbyrd - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 4:33 pm: Cards will go all the way Pitching is better than the 2 previous World Series teams this decade. Hitting has more balance. Defense has more balance too. Thanx to Capt Fax for devoting this outstanding degree of attention to a real professional team Now you can go back to: — ordering the ambulances for the slaughter of the Bears, — the replacement for Jenks, — the retirement party for the senile old man on the north side - Vote Quimby! - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 4:51 pm: Cardinals fans think they are a bigger deal in Illinois than they are….they don’t understand just because they hate the Cubs it is true in reverse. They don’t get how great the Cubs-Sox rivalry is and the Brewers are becoming more of a natural rival (thanks to Bud Selig, who is reaping the benefits). But they still boo Ted Lilly at the All-Star game…I guess if you’re paying $7.75 a beer you can do what you want. Heck the beers are cheaper at the East Side strip clubs! (So I hear) Crap, they still bring up the Brock-Broglio trade to this Cub fan…and that’s been almost 50 years! I remind them of more recent trades like Steve Carlton for Rick Wise; Ivan DeJesus for Larry Bowa and Ryne Sandberg; even throw in George “Taco” Bell for Sammy Sosa and Ken Patterson. But to answer the question: yes, they can go all the way. Once you get in, as in 2006, it’s back to square one. - Yadier - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 9:24 pm: Hey Vote Quimby, don’t forget getting rid of Jason Marquis and Mark DeRosa to free up $$ for Milton Bradley. The Cubs have a monopoly on stupid personnel transactions. - downstate conservative - Friday, Sep 18, 09 @ 11:39 pm: well, the Cards took Game 1. Smoltz was very good and Franklin was outstanding in the 9th. Oh, and the Cards have some guy named Holliday who hit a walk-off HR. From Springfield on down, it’s definitely Cardinal Nation. - bored now - Saturday, Sep 19, 09 @ 3:09 am: aren’t the rams in st. louis??? - win or lose,,,,, - Saturday, Sep 19, 09 @ 1:17 pm: Okay…it was very nice to offer this opportunity to Cardinal fans. I”m done… let’s go back to being an Illinois site. Enough : ) - Swift - Saturday, Sep 19, 09 @ 2:27 pm: snore, you may recall the red sox had a 1st baseman who emodies royko’s theory of cubbiness. know what i mean. how bout i toss you in the time machine and you out out and crowd the plate with gibby on the mound, weeee doggies the redbirds on the wing cordially, tom - wordslinger - Saturday, Sep 19, 09 @ 6:50 pm: Tony LaRussa’s a genius — just ask him, he’ll tell you. Or maybe trot out George Will to do so. A manager can lose games, basically by screwing up the pitching, but they “win” very few. St. Louis has had a great year, thanks to the amazing Pujos and the return (finally) of Carpenter. But the pickup of Lee by the Phils puts them over the top. Did you see Tony bat the pitcher eighth? What a genius! Yanks over Phillies in the Series. Offensive firepower, two lights out starters and Rivera do the trick for The Evil Empire. - Downstate - Saturday, Sep 19, 09 @ 7:32 pm: Rich, I grew up thinking the Cards were Illinois’ second team. Until the state built that new stadium for the White Sox, and all Southern Illinois got was the Arts and Crafts Marketplace at Rend Lake (thank you Senator Rea), I didn’t realize the White Sox actually was the second Illinois team. - LincolnLounger - Sunday, Sep 20, 09 @ 3:06 pm: Whether or not they go all the way, it will be nice to have a National League Central Division Champ win a playoff game — unlike the Cubs who got swept the past two seasons. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.