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| Yadi celebrating his grand slam yesterday. (AP Photo/Jim Prisching) |
This quote, from Yadier Molina after yesterday's win over the Brewers, caught my attention. It might be because I'm very much a "rules" kind of person (the result of attending Catholic schools from third grade through high school), but it's also the simplicity of it. Yadi knows what needs to be done, and certainly the rest of the team does as well. They have to win. Period. Although it might have helped if Yadi had made this rule several weeks or months ago ...
He gets a break, though, since his grand slam yesterday gave the Cardinals an 8-6 win over the Brewers on a day when the Reds, Braves and Phillies all lost (although the Phillies also won game two of their double-header) to make it a productive day in the NL Central and wild card standings. With 27 more games in the next 27 days, anything still could be possible.
Yesterday was a productive day for the Memphis Redbirds too, as they beat the Iowa Cubs to give the Redbirds the division championship. They start the Pacific Coast League playoffs on Wednesday night. Hopefully that will be a productive night all around, as the Springfield Cardinals and Quad Cities River Bandits also began their playoff hunts that night. Tonight, it's the Batavia Muckdogs. Hopefully all the levels of Baby Birds are aware of Yadi's rule and they all win from now on.
Jaime Garcia has been winning a lot this year, as his rookie year has been very productive. What are his chances of being named National League Rookie of the Year? He keeps expanding his credentials with each start he makes, and that's just what I explored today for Baseball Digest. You can read that here.
So, here we go. Time to see how productive Jaime and the Cardinals can continue to be, in addition to how well they follow the rules.
I loved waking up this morning and seeing the shift in the numbers. " The Cardinals MUST win "
ReplyDeleteI wonder how long it is going to take the "experts" to quit saying that the Cardinals farm system in such a terrible shape. All they seem to do is win championships. 4 teams this year ?
ReplyDeleteThe series in Des Moines is one for the ages.
Every day players seem to have the advantage over pitchers when Rookie of the Year votes are cast. I sure hope that changes this year. I've been watching baseball a long time, and Garcia is a rare treat.
It is definitely nice to see the numbers shift as well!
ReplyDeleteBob, I wondered the same thing about the so-called experts who judge farm systems. It says a lot that there are so many Cards teams playing in the post-season -- and I forgot to mention Johnson City, which already won their league championship.