Tomorrow night, the World Series will begin in St. Louis. The Cardinals get the home field advantage -- even though they just barely made it into the playoffs at all -- because the National League won this year's All-Star Game. Such is the logic behind the MLB playoffs.
I think the time off between the League Championship Series and the World Series was a great thing for St. Louis, because they will need great pitching to get past Texas. I also think Texas's pitching is a little deeper than the Cardinals' staff.
For the Cardinals, this will mark their 18th trip to the World Series. Only the two old New York teams (the Yankees (40) and the Giants (19)) have won more pennants since the Series began in 1903. Only the Yankees (27) have more championships than St. Louis's 10. The Cardinals' appearances in the Series are listed below, with their World Championships in bold:
1926, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1982, 1985, 1987, 2004, 2006, 2011
The Cardinals are so old that they've won the World Series over three teams that are no longer in the American League: the Philadelphia A's (1931), the St. Louis Browns (1944), and the Milwaukee Brewers (1982).
Texas, on the other hand, has a very different heritage. While St. Louis is the oldest major city west of the Mississippi, for most of the 20th Century Dallas was too far south and west to be considered for a major-league franchise. Their chance came after the 1971 season, when they stole the Washington Senators. Significantly, the Rangers never had any post-season success until Washington returned to its rightful place in the majors. But now that curse has been lifted, and the Rangers are making their second trip in a row, after losing to the Giants last year.
To me, when I think of a sports competition between St. Louis and Dallas, I remember the happy days when the St. Louis (football) Cardinals were still part of the NFC East, and they played Dallas twice a year. Here is a classic NFL Films episode for anyone who seeks to remember those halcyon days. And Eric, you will notice that this game took place in 1974.
I love those old blue uniforms the Cowboys used to wear. I wish they had stuck with those.
ReplyDeleteThose are also great unis for the football Cardinals.
ReplyDeleteBusch Stadium, on the other hand, looks as terrible as it ever did.
ReplyDeleteWhatever happens in this game, I'm convinced that Don Coryell is building a new dynasty in the Midwest.
ReplyDeleteLet me just say that you have completely, completely rocked my world with the discovery of "Game of the Week" episodes at Hulu. ROCKED MY WORLD!
ReplyDeleteYou are really onto something, by the way, with this curse-of-the-stolen-Senators thing.
ReplyDeleteI am rooting for the Cardinals in the World Series, by the way. In 1983, when I heard that St. Louis pitcher Dave LaPoint was going to be in Paducah for the WPSD telethon, I decided that landing an interview with him for the other Heath Post was going to be my first giant career break.
ReplyDeleteYou are so correct about the uniforms.
ReplyDeleteI will say, however, that there's something about the absence of center strip from the Cardinals' helmets that make their whole getup have a bit of pajama feel for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see that Calvin Hill's toe appears to be better.
ReplyDeleteThis squib-all-kickoffs order that Efren Herrera is under is very interesting. The whole kicker situation in Dallas this season has just been a mess; I think it's got Tom Landry completely rattled.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that great touchdown catch and run by Jackie Smith right before halftime is when Landry decided he wanted to eventually employ the tight end.
ReplyDeleteJackie Smith's chicken-wings recipe.
No, I do not believe that Terry Metcalf's late, 56-yard kickoff return "proves the wisdom of the squib-kick philosophy;" I think, when you start messing around with stuff like that in football, you start creating doubt in your own players' heads. Football is not baseball. Overthinking loses so many football games.
ReplyDeleteWow. If Roger Staubach woke up with a creaky lower back this morning, I'll bet he remembered that final-drive piggyback sack by Leo Brooks.
ReplyDeleteTom Landry's whole Bing Crosby-cool exterior was obviously an overcompensation. That poor guy was jittery as all get-out. Great football mind, obviously, and apparently just a fantastic guy. But, man, he sure did outthink himself sometimes.
ReplyDeleteTom Boswell referenced the curse-of-the-Stolen-Senators in his column today. He says he now officially gives Texas permission to win the World Series.
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