Red Birds Lurking

Isn't it strange how little love the St. Louis Cardinals are getting?

Maybe it is because the Dodgers got off to such a fast start... or the Phillies made the key acquisition of Cliff Lee... or the Yankees have been on such a roll... or the Angels bats seem to be clicking all at once...

But the team that at this point might have the biggest shot to win the World Series is St. Louis.

Call me a Red Sox centric fan, but until this morning, I didn't realize they had the biggest division lead in the National League.

I thought there was a race going on... as recently as July 30th, the Cardinals were in second place.

As recently as August 5, they were tied with the Cubs with the Brewers and Astros in striking distance.

They have been 9-2 since while rest of the division has been sub .500.

Suddenly they have opened up a 6 game lead and are sneaking up on the Phillies to get home field advantage in the Division Series.

Seriously, did you know that?

As of now, who would WANT to face the Cards in a short series?

They have Albert Pujols, who could sit out September and still win the NL MVP.

They have Matt Holliday hitting behind him.

They have as good a 1-2-3 punch in their rotation with Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright and Joel Piñeiro.

And the way Dave Duncan can turn broken down pitchers into playoff heros (see Weaver, Jeff) then watch John Smoltz regain his Hall of Fame stuff when he signs with them.

And oh yeah, they have the genius manager I don't like.

What I am saying is the Cardinals could sneak under the radar, like they did  in 2006.

And if they do, let's take a look at their decade...

2000 - NLCS

2001 - Division Series (and one of the best ones ever against Arizona)

2002 - NLCS

2003 - No playoffs

2004 - NL Champion

2005 - NLCS (With the Pujols homer)

2006 - World Champion

2007 - No Playoffs

2008 - No Playoffs

2009 - ???

Everyone says the Yankees and Red Sox have dominated this decade.

The Red Sox have 2 World Series titles... the Yankees 1 and the Cardinals have 1.

The Red Sox have 4 trips to the LCS... the Yankees also have 4... the Cardinals have 5.

If the Cardinals win the World Series... wouldn't THEY be the team of the Decade?

Look out for those pesky red birds... they might just be having a dynasty.